Coronavirus (Covid19) Corner

[Stanley]

That just proves how much we have to be thankful for Sue. I didn't know it was that ad hoc though.....

[Tizer]

Take a look at this world map LINK to see how covid infection rate can be different from country to country due to different weather conditions. The map is coloured to show the average local ambient temperature based on data for the 2-month period March-April 2019 (2020 data not yet analysed). Covid-19 is spreading faster in a cold climate, as does influenza. It's worst in the green, cold band which covers most of the worst hit areas. Note that only a part of China falls in that band so it's debatable whether comparisons between, for example, China and UK are valid.

[PanBiker]

She now has a pattern for scrubs and is waiting for material to be delivered which will be next week now, 3.5m x 58" width minimum per set of scrubs.

Further to my previous post, Sally was contacted by the leader of the WASPI women's group she is involved with. She, (Trudy Baddams) has had money donated for fabric so is ordering on behalf of Sally and will have it delivered to our address. We will have quite a stock of fabric by next week. Locally, Sally is expanding the sewing group and has contacted another friend who is making masks and is willing to have a go at scrubs.

Someone from one of our local Care Homes in Nelson is calling this afternoon to pick up some facemasks.

[Big Kev]

M6/M62 Saturday April 11th 2020

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[Stanley]

No commercial traffic either? Strange times...
Ian, according to Hancock Sally is wasting her time....

[PanBiker]

Well Hancock can go and do one! In the real world two other friends have stepped up to knit or crotchet the small strap attachment with a couple of buttons on that a mask user can wear at the back of the head. It stops the elastic from the mask chaffing with long use if it is the majority type that secures behind the ears with loops of elastic. A small but practical aid which won't even be on the ministers radar. I repeat he can sod off, the man is toxic and buggers up everything he touches.

[Wendyf]

Some moderation required?

[PanBiker]

Can you tell I'm a tad angry? You have the tools Wendy if you think my post is over the top.

[plaques]

My nephew's wife nursing in what we would consider a general hospital is now being moved over to more surgical work but still taking in patients who are very ill for various causes but have been in close contact with family members who are showing signs of coronavirus. The nurses on these wards are now wearing surgical masks, aprons and gloves. The masks have a recommended usage time of 38 mins but they are allowed to wear them for a hour. All the nurses are really stressed out and feel as though they are not really being protected as the conditions demand. It is possible to read the full report (81 pages) on operation Cygnus that BigKev highlighted. Written in 2014 lists all the necessary actions together with detailed lists of equipment and staffing levels that would be required. All that is going on now had been detailed and then ignored. No wonder PanBiker is annoyed.

[Wendyf]

Just to make it clear that I'm not commenting on Ian's opinions, just his choice of language.

[PanBiker]

I could have used a lot worse Wendy. The lack of forward planning when all the information was at hand is nothing more than criminal. Saying PPE is available to all who need it is simply untrue. Thousand of applications from Hospitals and Care Homes attests to the simple fact that this government has failed but is continuing to try an bluff their way out of the crisis with what are clearly empty promises.

It has been stated today that the UK will almost certainly have the highest death rate in Europe. This should not be the case, we do not have the same level of aged population as the hardest hit Mediterranean countries have due to their healthy diet. This is why Italy and Spain and others on mainland Europe were hit so hard. It simply should not be like that here. Angry, too right I'm angry, over ten years of austerity and systematic run down of the most precious institution we have ever had and this is the result.

The government are also being reluctant to re-open parliament which can be done remotely but they are not up to scrutiny it would seem. We have been ungoverned for over a month.

[Stanley]

That one word, 'scrutiny' lies at the root of what is happening. Ian is right, for ten years austerity has been justified by weasel words and in some cases downright lies. Exactly how Brexit was treated. Johnson and his government avoid direct questioning and the infection risk of Parliament was a gift to them. There are plenty of ways of running a debating house without close contact, it simply means adopting modern technology and ditching tradition. Democracy is a sham if it can't be questioned and examined. Hancock keeps making promises about PPE that don't stem the flood of enquiries from the people Sally is dealing with. Who is right, Hancock or the staff?

[PanBiker]

Sally is four pairs of scrub pants in this morning, but had to strip down her machine and give it a coat of lubrication. It's getting quite a bit of hammer at the moment. No access at the moment to the sewing machine engineer over in Nelson that she uses to service her machines. Her overlocker is behaving itself which is good. We have a reserve Brother machine available which will probably be pressed into use.

[Stanley]

Ian. Put in to Matt Hancock for a maintenance allowance?
Susan and Mick definitely recovering now, much stronger. Thank God!

[PanBiker]

News said the government are going to release figures of how many have died in care homes and at home. The daily updates have never included these. I reckon it will be a shock. Regional news reported that 13 died in a single care home in Cumbria yesterday, extrapolate this across the county and it is going to be bad, add in those who have died at home and it will be dire.

Sorry for the negative post but we have been fed bum figures for the last three months.

Government are still sending mixed messages about facemasks. I will make my own decision.

[PanBiker]

Just done our weekly top up at Aldi. Queue back down as far as the entrance but only 10 minutes or so to get to the front. Trolleys are still free from their £1 bounty and there are paper towels and spray sanitiser at the entrance to wipe down the trolley handle. Still some folk aren't bothering, (their funeral). In the main, most folk inside are sticking to the protocol but why is it that there is always one complete idiot who has to go the opposite way, often abandoning his trolley and then darting between isles regardless of others space. He cut in right in front of me when I was around the dairy section. I told him to go away in no uncertain terms and he looked at me as if I was the mad one! No spacial awareness or regard for anyone else at all. Got most of the stuff on my list, no hand wash that I could find, no strong flour, (but they had SR) and no prunes. I wiped down my trolley on entry and when I took it back but I had to ask a woman to move from the sanitisation point that she was blocking, totally oblivious to anyone else's requirement, not bothered I suppose as she didn't use it herself.

No accounting for stupid!

[Stanley]

I seem to be able to manage with one small early hours shop a week and so see hardly anyone. That and my meat delivery do me up to press. Mind you, I work my way slowly into the stocks my mother taught me!

[Big Kev]

The Orange Knob is off again, I'm surprised he's not been locked up yet...

See this BBC report Trump stops WHO funding

[Stanley]

It's a disgrace isn't it. He's trying to cover up his own failings. Remember him saying it was all fake?

[Tizer]

BBC: `Germany's foreign minister Heiko Mass tweeted that strengthening the "under-funded" WHO was one of the best investments that could be made at this time.'

[Big Kev]

I wasn't sure where to put this, I think this is probably the best place as it's not a joke...

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[Stanley]

You're right Kev, definitely no joke.
I'm beginning to wonder how much trust we can place in any of the statistics that are thrown at us. Whether it's deaths or the numbers of millions of items of PPE that have been delivered.
Later... Further to that thought about stats, questions are being asked about how deaths are recorded. It's possible for someone to die of Covid19 infection but if they have not been tested and proved to be infected they can be entered under other causes. Belgium has a very high proportion of deaths in care homes but they record deaths as Covid19 related if there were symptoms that fitted the diagnosis whether tested or not.

[PanBiker]

Fifty laundry bags sent last week. Six pairs of scrubs and theatre hats being dispatched today. More in the pipeline. Waiting for bolts of material to be delivered, (two lots on order). Not short of material at the moment though, Sally is on her morning shift as I post this.

[Marilyn]

Panbiker...I just had to break my silence today to give both you and Sally a huge cyber-hug. You are both doing a wonderful thing. Salt of the earth, both of you.
I shall make no comment about the tragic death rate in UK, both in hospital records and in the ( uncounted) community.
But you and Sally are “SOLID GOLD”.

[PanBiker]

Kind of you to say so Maz. We are only doing what we can, Sally has sewing skills so why not use them. We have had help from friends both on the sewing side of things and the purchase and supply of the material. Others are sorting the postal charges as their contribution to the effort. It's a team effort if you will. Folk are just tipping up with offers of help which is very humbling. Huge task as there are a lot of shortfalls in what the government can deliver, that's not a political pop for the sake of it just the facts of the matter on the ground.

Anyway onwards and upwards, stay safe and well and nice to hear from you.