Coronavirus (Covid19) Corner

[Tizer]

Trump is pressing for British firm Glaxo to release their vaccine early so it will be available before the US election and make him look good - he can say `Look I've provided you with a vaccine to make you all safe'. Glaxo have said no chance of that, it has to go through full safety testing and they're not going to risk putting out a product that harms people. Trump also wants to do it because his mate Putin is short-cutting the Russian vaccine roll-out. Even Trump's own top virus expert Dr Anthony Fauci has said the vaccine should be fully tested and not rushed out too soon. Trump is an absolute menace...
`Coronavirus: Dr Anthony Fauci warns against rushing out vaccine' LINK
`The top US virus expert has warned against rushing out a Covid-19 vaccine before it has been proven to be safe and effective. Speaking to Reuters news agency, Dr Anthony Fauci also said doing so could hurt the development of other vaccines. US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering plans to put out a vaccine before it has been fully tested. Such a move could boost his chances of re-election in November's presidential election. Democrats accuse the US president of being prepared to endanger American lives for political gain. On Saturday, President Trump tweeted that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines". The Financial Times reported the Trump administration was exploring granting emergency use authorisation (EUA) to a vaccine currently under development by the University of Oxford and drug manufacturer AstraZeneca.

[Stanley]

And if it went wrong he would blame the manufacturer.

[Stanley]

One paragraph from MD's Covid article in PE this week. He makes so much sense and is worth reading.

[Wendyf]

There has been an announcement this morning about financial support becoming available in Pendle for those having to self isolate, this should help.

[Tizer]

I thought this must be a Trump idea until I looked at it further but it's genuine and the work has been done at Porton Down. But it's only a first, small trial and much more needs to be done. The Daily Express has done a front page on it which will probably make its readers think they should spray the stuff up their noses to cure them of virus!
`Coronavirus: Product found in an insect repellent may have anti-viral properties' Science Focus

[plaques]

Suddenly or perhaps not too suddenly Porton Down have come up with the suggestion that chemicals in an insect spray may be useful to fight covid-19. Fast forward to the Russian 'sputnik' vaccine and how quickly that has been brought into use. Without going into conspiracy theories its not hard to imagine that the Russian military have been working on similar vaccines for some time and that their trials have used military personnel but kept quiet about it. Obviously it wouldn't do to give Russia credit for being the first to develop a vaccine neither would it be as profitable for the western pharmaceutical companies to make it under licence. What's a few thousand more deaths among pals?

[Tripps]

Without going into conspiracy theories

[Tizer]

Plaques, you almost got it right. Just write bacteriophage instead of vaccine and drop the military bit. While the rest of us struggle with antibiotic resistance Russian scientists and medics over many years have developed phage therapy as an alternative to antibiotics. It's not secret or military but if we succumb to resistant bugs they'll have a laugh at our expense. Sue could fill in any details about the phage technique.

[Whyperion]

Sorry Tizer, the specifcs are over my head, Viruses bad enough to keep thinking of without wondering about bacteria - interesting actually you can infect a bacteria with a virus, this may kill the bacteria - or convert it so much that the bacteria changes to something else (is that how we got here ?)

China is reporting being fairly advanced with Vaccines - but they have a shortage of people to test on in control groups. Of course China can produce cheap and sell expensive relatively if successful - Its partnerships in Pakistan and Africa might help - helps its funds, maybe not the wests.

[plaques]

Mine wasn't a true conspiracy theory it was more in the way of a thought experiment. The word 'Imagine' should have given the game away. We all know Russia is a backward country not far removed from Third World status. Just because they have atomic weapons, sorry should say devices, ballistic and guided intercontinental rockets and appear to be able to poison people without leaving a trace of the poison doesn't mean they can develop a world beating vaccine or bacteriophage*, thanks Tizer for something else* to worry about. But having said all this I wouldn't have thought it was beyond the wit of western man and do a blood count on someone who has been vaccinated with 'Sputnik' and do antibody checks but that wouldn't be playing fare would it?

[Stanley]

I hadn't forgotten the phage research the Russians have been working on for years Peter and have always thought it was an interesting approach. I wish them well with it. Too much suspicion is allowed to cloud certain matters.

[Big Kev]

The restrictions to remain in Pendle...

We can't see our grandchildren in our own back yard but my wife can work in school with a class of 30 'other people's grandchildren'.

Confused now...

[Tizer]

Whippy, the mitochondria which power our cells and those of all animals are derived from what were once free-living bacterial cells. Likewise, the chloroplasts in plants, which capture energy from the sun, are also derived from bacteria. It all happened a very, very long time ago.

[plaques]

We can't see our grandchildren in our own back yard but my wife can work in school with a class of 30 'other people's grandchildren'.

Confused now...

As a group of people MPs probably have numerically the highest rate of corvid infection than any other equivocation group. Logic says they should all be put into quarantine for the duration of the pandemic. This would certainly make people safer and less confused about what is going on.

[Stanley]

I'll second that Ken. Cummings should be put in protective custody. (To protect us!)
Later.... See THIS BBC account of the latest Sage report and make up your own mind. Not good news.

[plaques]

Boris is encouraging, some would say threatening, people to go back to work in city offices rather than working from home. The thinking behind this is that once in the city they will frequent cafés and bars and boost the economy. These workers will then return to their offices possibly with a dose of the virus and......... Oh never thought of that.

[Stanley]

I thought it was particularly nasty to suggest it was easier to sack someone working from home and I heard it suggested this morning that the older you are the more danger there is. As if people haven't enough weighing on them.

[Tizer]

Later.... See THIS BBC account of the latest Sage report and make up your own mind. Not good news.

It's not worth worrying about. The article has lots of caveats, the information is out of date, it was not a prediction but an attempt to see what a worst case scenario would look like, and the scientists who wrote it say the data have a wide range of uncertainty. Somebody leaks it to the press and the press runs with it knowing they can work up a story out of it.

[Stanley]

I suppose you are right Peter. I shall not lose sleep but continue to shield! (Bearing in mind Ian's postie's comment, "Avoid the Idiots!")

[Tripps]

Wide publicity on many media outlets of the testimony of a lady called Stephanie Whitfield who says the infected people who travelled from Zante to Cardiff by TUI airline, last Tuesday, flouted the rule on face coverings and the crew didn't seem to care about it.

Now a chap called Lee Evans says -
Passengers were not keeping 2m apart at the gate before boarding the flight and staff members handled passengers' phones to check boarding passes. "It was a free-for-all to get on the plane," he told the BBC. "There were people switching seats."
While the requirement to wear masks was reinforced (sic) on board, Mr Evans added: "There wasn't much in terms of policing what customers were doing on the aeroplane." He described an email telling him and his family to self-isolate - which came almost a week after the flight - as a "shock". "Someone needs to be held to account," he said.

Tui said in a statement on Monday: "Passengers are informed prior to travel and via PA announcements on the flight that they have to wear masks throughout and are not allowed to move around the cabin. "Masks can only be removed when consuming food and drink"


Now I'm not one for conspiracy theories ( ) but what if they had all scrupulously worn the coverings and still brought the infection to Cardiff - where would that have left the Government policy on face coverings? In some difficulty I'd suggest.

[Stanley]

I agree David. Then there is the small matter of inadequate air exchanges. Seems like an ideal environment for infection and in truth, always was even before Covid.

[Tizer]

The main problem in an airliner may be passenger to passenger transmission but what about the planes air circulation system? In a newspaper the company was quoted as saying the virus cannot be transmitted through the air circulation in their planes. I didn't know whether there is any evidential basis for that claim but found this recent FT article...
` How safe is air travel during coronavirus pandemic? Aviation industry battles to restore confidence that flying is not as risky as it may seem' LINK
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Mrs Tiz's hairdresser told us some tales about customers she visits who claim the virus news is all false, it doesn't exist. It's mind boggling how closed some people's minds are. She explained the virus to one of them who then said she never been told that and has gone away with a totally different attitude. Many are getting their meagre information only through social media.
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One of my geology friends in Cornwall emailed me yesterday. I'd said we're not able to go to Cornwall at the moment and he replied..
`You are actually wise to avoid Cornwall at the moment, one of my collecting friends came up from Perranporth this morning to escape the madness, he told us that cars were queuing from Goonhavern to the town with the car parks already full.'
We're glad we're not there - it's about 2 miles from Goonhavern to Perranporth! All this and covid too - we feel really sorry for the locals down there and in similar holiday spots. They also have to put up with the mess left by the people who are often not the usual holidaymakers but rabble from the cities. I noticed from a newspaper report that seaside towns in southern France are having a similar sort of problem with a different type of visitor. They're not getting the Brits and instead have to put up with two problem types which they describe as those from the big city housing estates and others who would normally be going to Thailand or Algeria for their hols. They say these people are much worse even than the boozy Brits!

[plaques]

The main problem in an airliner may be passenger to passenger transmission but what about the planes air circulation system? In a newspaper the company was quoted as saying the virus cannot be transmitted through the air circulation in their planes.

Can't access the Times Report but from what I've gleaned from other sources is that the air is circulated through boxes that contain bundles of fibres like cotton wool where it is impossible to find a direct way through without hitting and sticking to the filter medium. This is different to layers of mesh where micro particles would go straight through the relatively massive holes. So I believe.

[Big Kev]

Wasn't sure where to put this but it seems relevant, got a couple of these for just short of £5.70.

Screenshot_20200901-200131_eBay.jpg

[Marilyn]

We just pull our sleeves down over our fingers
I haven’t been in a public toilet since Covid hit.