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General => The Stay Safe Board => Topic started by: Llwyd on Tuesday 14 April 20 19:41 BST (UK)
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The UK Biobank is making available its data in Covid-19 research.
https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/
Worth a read I think.
:)
Topic continued from: https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=828624.0
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As a participant of Biobank I was a bit taken aback when I read the first line of your post Llwyd. However, having read further I see it's Biobank participants who are confirmed as having Covid19 whose data is being used. A good move in my opinion.
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It's quite staggering the amount of research that is going on at the moment. Amazing stuff.
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Very interesting article. I'd not heard of biobank.
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It's funny to read all the moans from people who are actually allowed out of their houses to exercise. The rules are much more stringent here in Ecuador. There is a general curfew from 2 PM to 5 AM every day which applies to everyone except essential workers. The rest of the time, only those from 18 to 55 are allowed out on the streets and only on days determined by the last digit of their ID card number. In theory, they can only go out to purchase food or medical supplies; other businesses are closed. Of course, there is a great deal of rule breaking, though not in my neighborhood which is dead silent.
Today, I broke the rules. I donned a mask and gloves and crept 20 yards to the end of the alley, looked both ways - no cops in sight and only three pedestrians in view at a distance. I crossed the street to the mini-mart - only one customer allowed inside at a time, so I had to wait outside on the sidewalk. Another customer joined me there, wearing a mask and keeping a safe distance. Finally I got in. Marco, the owner, was cheery and wearing a mask and gloves. I bought two ice cream bars for later. I figured I deserved a treat after a month of this. It's only my third trip out - once just to peek and once to take out the trash to the dumpster.
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As if we hadn't enough to worry about
More mobile phone masts set fire to because stupid people think they spread the virus. One was the mast that served the new Nightingale hospital in Birmingham, which thankfully hasn't had to be used, yet. At a time like this good communication is essential.
And a report that social media were spreading a campaign to light sky lanterns in support of the NHS. There was already an incident reported at the weekend of fires on moors in Derbyshire, one caused by people having a barbecue
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-52280733
The crass stupidity of some people at the moment is beyond words
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The mobile phone mast problem is not help by people like Eamonn Holmes saying on live TV that he thinks the 5G signal could be causing the virus. Yesterday he had to make a grovelling apology.
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The trouble is these apologies often get minimal coverage compared to the original broadcast. See it to with newspaper articles.
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And a report that social media were spreading a campaign to light sky lanterns in support of the NHS. There was already an incident reported at the weekend of fires on moors in Derbyshire, one caused by people having a barbecue
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-52280733
The crass stupidity of some people at the moment is beyond words
Someone has set off fireworks on the past 2 Thursday evenings immediately after clapping for carers.
There was a moorland fire in Lancashire. The smoke may have wafted in Viktoria's direction.
Both events could be harmful to people with health conditions and at most risk from Covid-19.
Edinburgh council has banned garden bonfires for that reason.
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Someone has set off fireworks on the past 2 Thursday evenings immediately after clapping for carers.
I have seen a notice online where Key workers are requesting that fireworks are not let off as they are going home from work to find their pets really stressed.
I have to stay indoors as my dog gets stressed with the saucepan lids etc being banged as well as the odd firework.
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The UK Biobank is making available its data in Covid-19 research.
https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/
Worth a read I think.
:)
Very interesting and not only for the present situation.
I recommend "BBC Inside Science" on Thursday, 9th April, Radio 4. It's probably on BBC Sounds/IPlayer. Apart from the items on coronavirus, I had a particular interest in another piece about genomics testing of cancer tumours which benefitted me recently.
Adam Rutherford, regular presenter of "BBC Inside Science" was recovering from coronavirus when the programme was made. He was interviewed on a Radio 4 news programme and said he was shocked at how it had affected him, a healthy person in his 40's.
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Lancashire’s Fire Chief ,Justin Jarman
stated the fires were either deliberate arson or very careless use of a barbecue at a picnic.
The mind boggles ,how stupid and probably careless too!
I did not see or smell any smoke ,only saw it on the TV news.
Has anyone else found that
some people ,because we are old ,treat us as if we have the virus?
My young neighbours,two young children,think nothing of having many relatives round ,for example on Easter Sunday laden with Easter Eggs, no distance between them .
Yet they keep a good distance between themselves and me!
However we can chat across the narrow lane and over the fences.
Lovely weather again, lots done in the garden.
Hope everything is alright with you all.
Viktoria.
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Whilst I have every admiration for the NHS and other key workers, I cannot help but feel that there is now an element of "competitive showing of appreciation" creeping in and that the Thursday night event is now almost obligatory, with some postings, it seems, on social media being critical of people who do not take part - social shaming. That is not right, there is a choice.
The 5G mast problem is really beyond belief, especially when you think that the 5G system is being used by these half-wits to disseminate this ridiculous mis-information. As I have previously said, I assume these people, had they been around at the right time, would have been out hunting down and burning witches.
Also, apparently, Boris Johnson hasn't been seriously ill in hospital. It seems that a great number of people are in on the conspiracy to hide the fact he was avoiding our current situation and hospital staff have had to sign the Official Secrets Act to prevent them from whistle blowing.
Yeah, right!.
I was always under the impression that the more people involved in a conspiracy the less the chances of it remaining a secret.
It really is concerning that there are so many idiots out there.
:)
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Has anyone else found that
some people ,because we are old ,treat us as if we have the virus?
My young neighbours,two young children,think nothing of having many relatives round ,for example on Easter Sunday laden with Easter Eggs, no distance between them .
Yet they keep a good distance between themselves and me!
No, quite the opposite I believe. They are doing that, as they see you as older and more vulnerable to the virus so are doing their bit to keep their distance from you. It's a good thing.
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I was going to suggest the same Trystan.
When we go for our walk and see people approaching, more often than not younger people are the ones to cross over or move away first so that we don’t have to do so. I must admit, not feeling old, it seems a bit strange but I think they are being courteous. We always say thanks and exchange a greeting.
It was lovely today when a young mum with a toddler in his pushchair stepped aside and as we passed and thanked her, the little one waved and called bye bye’.
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Radio 4 is on most of the time I'm staying home. Different aspects of the pandemic on 3 programmes today.
"Inside Health: the Virus" (series) mentioned some research on runners and joggers. Findings unproven - more research needed. All the same, I paused on my walk to let a jogger put a long distance between him and me so that I wasn't plodding in his jetstream.
"Costing the Earth" - impact on the environment.
"Fallout" - impact on healthcare. Programme 3 of 4.
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With UK and international News especially the USA now starting to hint at relaxation of the lockdown this I believe is the wrong action at this time.
We need to remain vigilant for at least the next few weeks and maintain the lockdown and only to start relaxing when the infection rate has been on a steep downward curve for a couple if weeks. Even then to maintain social distancing and a gradual return to work.
There is not a quick fix, it is a long haul.
Better to be safe than to drop ones guard and be caught out.
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Two women were coughing behind me in the Aldi queue (for the weekly food). I thought the furthest one away sounded like a smoker's cough who just happened to cough openly my way into the air, just when I turned round. The nearest had a hum dinger, deep lungy cough!
Now I know what it feels like in the 1840/1850s for my Hood ancestors during the Cholera outbreak!
Having money, better living conditions and owning their own town houses was still no barrier, because four adult children in the household died per my ancestor's Death Certificates (newspaper says some after long illnesses).
A National Report (summarised in a Newspaper) names the town and says the town was also infected from the liquid through the churchyard wall onto the pavement.
Part of the Abbey Churchyard today is still almost level with the top of the boundary wall and our Government's Home Office ordered its closure 1850s on Public Health grounds.
Mark
Added
There are several Home Office series of Volumes and Files at TNA, Kew, regarding Burials 1840s & 1850s.
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_ep=Burials&_cr=HO&_dss=range&_sd=1830&_ed=1860&_ro=any&_hb=tna&_st=adv
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Well I admit I did not think they were protecting me, so I have slapped my own wrists !
I agree with Colin,better to carry on with the lockdown too long than end it too soon.
My second son’s Birthday today,61, I have just phoned him, he is working from home .
I have heard of three little dogs needing re- homing as their owner has died from Corona Virus.
I would only want one, no great distance from me but anywhere is too far these days.
Lovely sunny day again and once more I hope you are all well and safe .
Viktoria.
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Well we are about to extend the lockdown for at least another three weeks and I am still amazed by number of the people who make no attempt to stay 2 metres away from you. Despite there being very little traffic cyclists are still riding on the pavement expecting pedestrians to get out of the way. I fully support extending the lockdown but unless people do change their ways the virus will just get out of control again when it is lifted.
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Has anyone else found that
some people ,because we are old ,treat us as if we have the virus?
My young neighbours,two young children,think nothing of having many relatives round ,for example on Easter Sunday laden with Easter Eggs, no distance between them .
Yet they keep a good distance between themselves and me!
No, quite the opposite I believe. They are doing that, as they see you as older and more vulnerable to the virus so are doing their bit to keep their distance from you. It's a good thing.
We have not met many people on our daily exercise, and mainly the same people. Most days a maximum of 4 occasionally as many as six, possibly 12 different people over the entire week. How they react depends on whether our granddaughter is in her wheelchair or walking between us.
If she is in her wheelchair we walk in single file either myself or my wife pushing and most will walk up the opposite side of what was the track bed, none will come less then 2 metres from us, if there is room they or we will stop in a slightly wider part until we or they pass. If our granddaughter is walking between us we take up 90% of the available space so we will move to one side and stop while they walk past. In some places there is a path on the embankment and if we are seen the dog walkers will if possible use that route if they are near an access path to it.
Everyone is very friendly & cheery and will give a wave or say good morning, sometimes our granddaughter will get get encouragement or congratulations for her effort from someone on the embankment which makes her really pleased.
I know this is a tiny example but is a very encouraging example of the community spirit that exists.
Cheers
Guy
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I've lost track of these statistics they keep serving up to us every day.
I naively thought they were figures for all deaths attributed to the virus for that 24 hours. Now, we're told that they're only hospital deaths and don't include deaths in Care Homes or in family homes. So what on earth is the point in comparing these figures to those from other countries?
Are we to understand from this that elderly people's deaths don't matter because - hey - they would have gone soon anyway! >:(
As for Tigger Hancock's promise of a Blue Peter badge for all NHS frontline workers - words fail me!!
I haven't been fooled into standing outside my front door and clapping every Thursday either. Talking of conspiracies, this is a smoke screen concocted by the government to conceal the fact that they couldn't give NHS staff the right protective equipment from the off.
Before someone accuses me of not caring - of course, I care, but I won't be manipulated into a mindless exercise that is just designed to keep us all from realising what is really going on.
I also have a near neighbour who insists on letting off fireworks on a Thursday evening at 8pm and frightening the life out of my cat. If I knew who it was, I'd gladly defy social distancing and stick his (for it will be a man) fireworks where the sun don't shine.
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"Radio 4 is on most of the time I'm staying home."
This has always been the case in my house, as I like to be informed on all sorts of subjects while doing mindless tasks, but not now. I am really fed up with almost every programme being about aspects of the virus and its effects. That way lies depression and madness!
"I haven't been fooled into standing outside my front door and clapping every Thursday either."
I am with you on this, but will not say any more on the subject.
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I've lost track of these statistics they keep serving up to us every day.
I naively thought they were figures for all deaths attributed to the virus for that 24 hours. Now, we're told that they're only hospital deaths and don't include deaths in Care Homes or in family homes. So what on earth is the point in comparing these figures to those from other countries?
The point is many other countries use the same figures when recording pandemic deaths, though not all do.
There is also another reason and that is the way death is recorded in England and Wales, there is no requirement to register a death immediately there is a period of up to five days in which to register a death which means an accurate daily figure cannot be given
Are we to understand from this that elderly people's deaths don't matter because - hey - they would have gone soon anyway! >:(
No, but some try to score political points that way. The problem is Care Homes and individuals use a paper based system to record a death and it may take two days for an appointment at the register office.
As for Tigger Hancock's promise of a Blue Peter badge for all NHS frontline workers - words fail me!!
The badges are more to make it easier for NHS & Care Workers to access supermarkets easily instead of being challenged, but I do agree it is rather lame.
I haven't been fooled into standing outside my front door and clapping every Thursday either. Talking of conspiracies, this is a smoke screen concocted by the government to conceal the fact that they couldn't give NHS staff the right protective equipment from the off.
You obviously have not been in the transport industry, it is not uncommon for transport companies to have to collect delivered parcels as the wrong item has been dispatched from the suppliers. It is very common for transport companies who deliver to Council run warehouses to get complaints that goods have not been delivered only to produce proof of delivery document proving the items have been delivered. When there is time for a proper investigation I would not be surprised to learn the many of the missing items are lying in Council waiting forward delivery.
That is one of the reasons the army is delivering from the bilk warehouse to the hospitals direct.
In a similar way many Care Homes were responsible for ordering their own supplies from private suppliers, this vast “customer base” has now been added to the NHS supply chain.
PPE requirements are very different depending on the needs of each individual location it is not a one size fits all arrangement that many seem to think it is, some care homes do not even have enough room to accept 2 weeks supply if it was delivered.
Cheers
Guy
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A simple question for Jillruss but why blame the Government for shortage of protective equipment in the NHS? Surely they have their own well paid management structure and procurement staff and sourcing and resourcing is their responsibility, not the Government's. I do believe that we need to take a long hard look at the performance of the NHS when normality returns to see what lessons can be learned.
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A simple question for Jillruss but why blame the Government for shortage of protective equipment in the NHS? Surely they have their own well paid management structure and procurement staff and sourcing and resourcing is their responsibility, not the Government's. I do believe that we need to take a long hard look at the performance of the NHS when normality returns to see what lessons can be learned.
I couldn't agree more - but what's the betting it won't happen?
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I've lost track of these statistics they keep serving up to us every day.
I naively thought they were figures for all deaths attributed to the virus for that 24 hours. Now, we're told that they're only hospital deaths and don't include deaths in Care Homes or in family homes. So what on earth is the point in comparing these figures to those from other countries?
The point is many other countries use the same figures when recording pandemic deaths, though not all do.
So, again, what is to be gained from comparing them?
There is also another reason and that is the way death is recorded in England and Wales, there is no requirement to register a death immediately there is a period of up to five days in which to register a death which means an accurate daily figure cannot be given
I get all that, Guy, but my understanding is that they don't include care home figures at any time, whether its a few days later or not.
Are we to understand from this that elderly people's deaths don't matter because - hey - they would have gone soon anyway! >:(
No, but some try to score political points that way. Its not a political point: its a humanitarian one.The problem is Care Homes and individuals use a paper based system to record a death and it may take two days for an appointment at the register office.
As for Tigger Hancock's promise of a Blue Peter badge for all NHS frontline workers - words fail me!!
The badges are more to make it easier for NHS & Care Workers to access supermarkets easily instead of being challenged, but I do agree it is rather lame.
I haven't been fooled into standing outside my front door and clapping every Thursday either. Talking of conspiracies, this is a smoke screen concocted by the government to conceal the fact that they couldn't give NHS staff the right protective equipment from the off.
You obviously have not been in the transport industry, it is not uncommon for transport companies to have to collect delivered parcels as the wrong item has been dispatched from the suppliers. It is very common for transport companies who deliver to Council run warehouses to get complaints that goods have not been delivered only to produce proof of delivery document proving the items have been delivered. When there is time for a proper investigation I would not be surprised to learn the many of the missing items are lying in Council waiting forward delivery.
That is one of the reasons the army is delivering from the bilk warehouse to the hospitals direct.
No idea if that's right but it seems to me that they should have been using the army as soon as all this started.
In a similar way many Care Homes were responsible for ordering their own supplies from private suppliers, this vast “customer base” has now been added to the NHS supply chain.
PPE requirements are very different depending on the needs of each individual location it is not a one size fits all arrangement that many seem to think it is, some care homes do not even have enough room to accept 2 weeks supply if it was delivered. Which is another way of saying - carehomes shouldn't be run for profit and should be part of the NHS. (and, yes, that WAS a political point!
Cheers
Guy
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On the subject of the statistics on April 10th there was a spike in new infections with the days total being over 8000 Turns out that testing results not previously included were all added in on one day! These testing results are now included in each day's figures, meaning that current figures are not directly comparable with those of a week or more ago. As regards care home deaths earlier this week the BBC were reporting that a quarter of the deaths in Scottish figures were in care homes so it does seem that there may be a lack of consistency within the UK in how the statistics are compiled; I do not place too much faith in the UK's statistics.
A further interesting statistic quoted in today's press is that spare capacity in the NHS is now at a record level with thousands of beds free. Is that good news or bad news? The bad news answer is that this suggests that many people who would have been in hospital for non Covid reasons are not there and so not getting the care and treatment they require. On the other hand the rationale of the lockdown was to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed so we seem to have avoided that danger; logically we should now be seeing the lockdown starting to unwind but the rumours are that our Government, despite meeting their objective, will continue with the lockdown.
I know it is an old joke but don't forget that a man with one foot in a freezer and the other foot in an oven is statistically quite comfortable.!
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So, again, what is to be gained from comparing them?
By comparing we can get some idea how the virus is advancing or diminishing in the various countries, it is a broad view not an accurate comparison
I get all that, Guy, but my understanding is that they don't include care home figures at any time, whether its a few days later or not.
Not so the GRO publish the overall figure but that is at least a week later and not daily
No idea if that's right but it seems to me that they should have been using the army as soon as all this started.[/color]
Hindsight is often more accurate than foresight but we are where we are. What I question is why people in care homes are not transferred to hospital immediately they show symptoms.
Which is another way of saying - carehomes shouldn't be run for profit and should be part of the NHS. (and, yes, that WAS a political point!
Perhaps so there is much to be said for both points of view, I could make many observations about the council run care homes just as there is much to say about the private hospitals we have in this country, there is good and bad in both but now is not the time.
I also think that it is long past time for the NHS to be taken out of politics completely, why can't those in government come together in an all party groups and devise long term strategy by agreement. The private partnerships agreed by the Tony Blair Labour party has cause financial problems to many Hospital Authorities up and down the country
Cheers
Guy
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As for Tigger Hancock's promise of a Blue Peter badge for all NHS frontline workers - words fail me!!
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is Matt Hancock.
The badge is not for NHS staff, it is for carers outside the NHS.
The proposal for a Care badge was not initiated by Matt Hancock or anyone in Government but by representatives of the care sector. Matt Hancock's press briefing yesterday was followed on "PM" by an interview with one such representative. She said that Care England launched the carer's badge a year ago and she was pleased that the government is formally recognising it, and thereby acknowledging the huge contribution of carers. The Social Care part of the secretary of state's title is often overlooked, especially in the present situation.
Information about the CARE badge:
www.thecarebadge.org
This explains that the idea dates from March 2019. ("The story behind the Care badge" further down page.)
www.careengland.org.uk/news/care-badge
The launch of the CARE badge by Care England, June 2019.
www.careengland.org.uk/care-badge
"Care England are proud to support the CARE badge and proud to support those who care."
" the CARE badge is a unifying symbol of pride in our social care champions ... It is a long overdue recognition for the 2 million people employed in care outside the NHS ..."
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Well, just to add to the mayhem,news this lunchtime,Italy thinks the rest of Europe did not act swiftly enough to help Italy!
Now ,,the world ,including Italy of course , could blame a country which has been mentioned quite often as the source of Covid 19,
but many of those who did were rather shot down!
If that is indeed the case what have we all the right to expect from the aforesaid country ?
My hope is that we once again produce much more in our own country.
Are more reliant on home industries so employment reaches a good level and we are not such a benefit oriented culture as people are employed in good jobs.
It seems now we are bringing in foreign workers to pick crops that otherwise would rot in the fields .
I don’t understand that —-
What an upheaval , and what does the future hold for the little children playing in their gardens in the sunshine all round me.
My second son is 61 today , working at his home , so short phone call but will speak again this evening.
Well my tulips are almost open, Allium big and strong , everlasting sweet pea up and strong,the Peony I thought had succumbed is looking healthy ,so are many more plants in my front and rear gardens.
Sikkensed the bench and table,then did my neighbour’s gate which needed doing she mentioned , just in passing ,not a request but it took all of ten minutes !
Off to get the Sikkens from my hands,arms and feet! ::
It would serve Italy right if we never ate spaghetti again!
And the other place ,well, what can I say ——-
I will leave it to others .
Viktoria.
Please don’t be Cross with me, remember I had a baby today!
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Some profound thoughts Viktoria along with some positive ones as usual.
I read the post earlier about a number of things, one of them the clapping for the NHS being seen as a smokescreen created by the government. That rather upset me, I'd like to strongly point out that I'm clapping so that the NHS workers can see how much they are appreciated by us, the people of Britain, not for any other reason. I'm sure this applies to the vast majority. I didn't even know that the government had originated this and I don't really care.
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I haven't been fooled into standing outside my front door and clapping every Thursday either. Talking of conspiracies, this is a smoke screen concocted by the government to conceal the fact that they couldn't give NHS staff the right protective equipment from the off
It isn’t a government concocted smokescreen.
https://www.creativereview.co.uk/clap-for-our-carers/
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I haven't been fooled into standing outside my front door and clapping every Thursday either. Talking of conspiracies, this is a smoke screen concocted by the government to conceal the fact that they couldn't give NHS staff the right protective equipment from the off
It isn’t a government concocted smokescreen.
https://www.creativereview.co.uk/clap-for-our-carers/
Blooming immigrants, coming over here and clapping for our carers.
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I wonder how long it will be before someone is manufacturing CARE badges and selling them on Ebay?
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Big delivery today from Rosario: 2 dozen oranges, 1 large babaco, 4 maracuyá, 5 grenadillas, 4 naranjillas, 6 apples, 6 tangerines, a bunch of bananas, 4 beets, 1 lb of chochos, a small bag of fava beans, 4 choclos, 1 large yuca, a cheese, a dozen eggs, 8 liters of milk, half a liter of sunflower oil and a pound of pork. $29.50.
Ah, it feels good to be stocked up.
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Well, just to add to the mayhem,news this lunchtime,Italy thinks the rest of Europe did not act swiftly enough to help Italy!
Now ,,the world ,including Italy of course , could blame a country which has been mentioned quite often as the source of Covid 19,
but many of those who did were rather shot down!
If that is indeed the case what have we all the right to expect from the aforesaid country ?
My hope is that we once again produce much more in our own country.
Are more reliant on home industries so employment reaches a good level and we are not such a benefit oriented culture as people are employed in good jobs.
It seems now we are bringing in foreign workers to pick crops that otherwise would rot in the fields
I don’t understand that —-
What an upheaval , and what does the future hold for the little children playing in their gardens in the sunshine all round me.
My second son is 61 today , working at his home , so short phone call but will speak again this evening.
Well my tulips are almost open, Allium big and strong , everlasting sweet pea up and strong,the Peony I thought had succumbed is looking healthy ,so are many more plants in my front and rear gardens.
Sikkensed the bench and table,then did my neighbour’s gate which needed doing she mentioned , just in passing ,not a request but it took all of ten minutes !
Off to get the Sikkens from my hands,arms and feet! ::
It would serve Italy right if we never ate spaghetti again!
And the other place ,well, what can I say ——-
I will leave it to others .
Viktoria.
Please don’t be Cross with me, remember I had a baby today!
The answer to that might be because when a family member made enquiries they were told that if they took new employment they would lose their entitlement to furlough money, they deemed it more cost effective to stay at home!
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Yes but on a TV programme quite some time ago, Polish workers were up at the crack of dawn, knocking the ice off vegetables.
Nothing to do with Corona Virus,before that .
Some English youngsters were whining that foreigners took their jobs.
Bussed out to the fields of Lincolnshire on a dark Winter morning they lasted until the morning break, then walked off site and did not go back!
Viktoria.
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Big delivery today from Rosario: 2 dozen oranges, 1 large babaco, 4 maracuyá, 5 grenadillas, 4 naranjillas, 6 apples, 6 tangerines, a bunch of bananas, 4 beets, 1 lb of chochos, a small bag of fava beans, 4 choclos, 1 large yuca, a cheese, a dozen eggs, 8 liters of milk, half a liter of sunflower oil and a pound of pork. $29.50.
Ah, it feels good to be stocked up.
I do enjoy these glimpses into Ecuadorian lockdown.
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Yes but on a TV programme quite some time ago, Polish workers were up at the crack of dawn, knocking the ice off vegetables.
Nothing to do with Corona Virus,before that .
Some English youngsters were whining that foreigners took their jobs.
Bussed out to the fields of Lincolnshire on a dark Winter morning they lasted until the morning break, then walked off site and did not go back!
Viktoria.
We’ve made it too easy for the lazy b****rs, why get out of bed for minimum wages when you can sit at home, smoke and drink and play on the PlayStation, believe me when I say I know more than one of these 😡
We are all partly to blame. We want cheap food and we’ve got used to it, supermarkets don’t help, they pay as little as they can get away with, you only have to look at milk prices.
We have a cousin who cleans the cabins that are provided for the workers on a fruit farm. She tells me that they work like demons, have low living costs while they are here, work for the season and take the money back to their families. They can live well for the rest of the year on what they make and return again the following year. Would our lazy so and so’s do that...not a chance.
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"I do enjoy these glimpses into Ecuadorian lockdown."
So far, my food supply system is holding up well. Rodolfo swung by later on his bike to complete the delivery with a gigantic cabbage - $1.50. It was the dogs' lucky day - one of the eggs was broken; they'll get that with their supper.
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Conspiracies and smokescreens?. Eat yer heart out Machiavelli!.
:)
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We have a cousin who cleans the cabins that are provided for the workers on a fruit farm. She tells me that they work like demons, have low living costs while they are here, work for the season and take the money back to their families. They can live well for the rest of the year on what they make and return again the following year. Would our lazy so and so’s do that...not a chance.
Would you?
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Just to add some perspective from this side of the pond...
My son in law is a bus driver for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) - he has been driving for more than 10 years. He had to ask for a Doctor to sign him off a couple of weeks ago because the stuff they were using to disinfect the buses was triggering his asthma (he apparently is not the only driver experiencing this). Last week, he started experience a low grade fever (38c) so to be cautious he has been tested and is awaiting the results. My daughter is sleeping on the couch. The two kids (age 7) are understandably worried.
Last night he texted to ask if I had some disinfectant spray, which I did - about 1/2 a can - I waited until I knew the kids would be in bed and dropped it into their mailbox (it's about a 20 minute drive).
Today some bus drivers briefly walked off the job because they don't feel adequately protected. A perspex shield and boarding passengers from the rear doors is pretty much all that's been done. Today the Mayor of Toronto said "if they had wanted masks, they only had to ask" (and he was roundly criticized for that 'let them eat cake' attitude)!
I hope my son in law's test comes back negative - he seems to have only mild symptoms if it is indeed C-19.
Stay Home. Stay Safe.
Ms_C
Edit: April 17 - his test was negative. Fever persisted so he went to the hospital. Doctors discovered what the problem was and a simple procedure was required. He is now safely back home with a very happy family!
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Blooming immigrants, coming over here and clapping for our carers.
Not to mention them working as carers and for the NHS. :)
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We have a cousin who cleans the cabins that are provided for the workers on a fruit farm. She tells me that they work like demons, have low living costs while they are here, work for the season and take the money back to their families. They can live well for the rest of the year on what they make and return again the following year. Would our lazy so and so’s do that...not a chance.
Would you?
You know what Mike, we older folk have a different view on work ethics and a sense of doing what’s right. My husband is 70 he said yesterday he’d be happy to help if it saved food from rotting on the field. Thankfully we won’t have to put that to the test as all farms here are arable, beef or dairy!
I was also trying to make the point that because we all want and expect cheap food wages are low and not worth getting out of bed for. I applaud anyone who is willing to come here, work like they do in order for their families at home to have a better life.
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You know what Mike, we older folk have a different view on work ethics and a sense of doing what’s right. My husband is 70 he said yesterday he’d be happy to help if it saved food from rotting on the field. Thankfully we won’t have to put that to the test as all farms here are arable, beef or dairy!
I was also trying to make the point that because we all want and expect cheap food wages are low and not worth getting out of bed for. I applaud anyone who is willing to come here, work like they do in order for their families at home to have a better life.
I think I certainly come into the "older folk" category!
Unlike a lot of people who slate youngsters off as lazy, I have worked on farms and in forestry, doing long hours of hard physical graft. I'm not work shy, but I can tell you, I wouldn't want to do that work on minimum wage or, worse still, zero hours contracts.
I couldn't agree more though that the problem is that we all expect food to be cheap. That shouldn't come at the cost of exploiting workers, whether UK born or immigrants.
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Whilst I have met many lazy people over the years I don't buy into the idea that young people today don't have a work ethic. I don't think there any more lazy or overly entitled people in that generation than there are in any other generation.
I have read reports of locals applying for fruit and veg picking roles and have either received no reply or being rejected right away. There is the other issue for many, they have been in a job for years and have been furloughed, their contract demands that they do not take on any other paid work while furloughed. It's a bit of a risk to get sacked from a long term job for the sake of a few weeks minimum waged work. Many of those who are furloughed are not however sitting around doing nothing I know many of them are doing voluntary work to help with the current situation. For example, delivering food packages to those who are isolated, collecting prescriptions for the elderly. I also know many young people home from uni who are looking after younger siblings so that their keyworker parents can continue to go to work despite childcare being greatly reduced by the pandemic. So they are needed at home. My 2 aren't working, legally they are too young under current labour laws but the older one in particular is continuing to train for her athletics using adapted workouts that she can do in the garden and is doing all of her school work with extended study on top. She is also helping her younger sister with her school work when I am busy with house work.
Then there are my colleagues. Many of them are in their 20s. Today, newly graduated doctors (some as young as 22.5) will hit the wards. They've had their courses cut short missing their preparation for practice modules which helps with their confidence, they've graduated 3 months early and are hitting the wards 4 months early they will be working long days literally facing death. Student paramedics have volunteered for the Nightingale hospitals, student nurses have opted in to go out on the wards and work extra to help. Yes nursing attracts a higher proportion of mature students in comparison to many other courses but some of these students are still in their teens. They will be working the same long hours as the permanent staff
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I'm just wondering what conditions of work, together with wages, the people who come to the U.K. to work have in their home countries. I understand that here, compared to their own country, they are well paid and that is the reason they come and they are able to support themselves/their families.
I could hardly contain my excitement when I found out that live on-line streaming of darts matches will take place tonight, with the participants playing in their own houses. In fact I was that excited I almost did some painting so I could watch it drying. ::)
Today, Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Wales, announced that, if necessary, Wales would go it alone in pusuing an exit strategy from the mess we are in. Now then, I'm not quite sure how this would work; if England, which is not a million miles away from where I live, eases restrictions but the Welsh government doesn't, just what is there to stop me travelling the few miles to reach the border and escape into England?.
Of course the opposite could also occur by Wales relaxing restrictions before England. So do we end up with guards on both sides of the Welsh/English border to prevent incursions?.
The U.K. must not divide itself like this. We must act as one, you know it makes sense but I think Drakeford is just trying to appear tough. I just wish he wouldn't.
:)
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I'm just wondering what conditions of work, together with wages, the people who come to the U.K. to work have in their home countries. I understand that here, compared to their own country, they are well paid and that is the reason they come and they are able to support themselves/their families.
I could hardly contain my excitement when I found out that live on-line streaming of darts matches will take place tonight, with the participants playing in their own houses. In fact I was that excited I almost did some painting so I could watch it drying. ::)
Today, Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Wales, announced that, if necessary, Wales would go it alone in pusuing an exit strategy from the mess we are in. Now then, I'm not quite sure how this would work; if England, which is not a million miles away from where I live, eases restrictions but the Welsh government doesn't, just what is there to stop me travelling the few miles to reach the border and escape into England?.
Of course the opposite could also occur by Wales relaxing restrictions before England. So do we end up with guards on both sides of the Welsh/English border to prevent incursions?.
The U.K. must not divide itself like this. We must act as one, you know it makes sense but I think Drakeford is just trying to appear tough. I just wish he wouldn't.
:)
Scotland has said the same.
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They need their heads banging together, too much posturing and points scoring going on. Doesn't "We're all in this together" have any meaning for them?
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I am worried that if the U.S. eases restrictions we will be pressured into re-opening the border. Where I live we are between two of the hardest hit states, New York and Michigan. This possibility scares me.
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In post #144 on Stay Home Stay Safe (Part9) I complained about the selfishness of joggers not respecting the two metre rule as they pass.
Well, today's episode has not only reinforced the belief that joggers are selfish but now I believe them to be half-wits with nothing between their ears. Let me tell you what happened today.
My wife and I were walking two abreast, as we do, on the footpath. We saw another person walking towards us so we fell into single file and, at a reasonable distance from the oncoming person, moved into the road. The other person tucked into a gateway. Now then, as we reached the other person and drew more or less level, a jogger came from behind us, running on the footpath in the same direction as my wife and I were walking, and, no more ado, ran between us and the other person. She seemed totally oblivious to the fact that we and the other person were "socially distancing" and carried on as though we had parted just to oblige her. Unbelievable, what a half-wit; although I'm sure she didn't care as long as her run was uninterrupted. >:( >:( >:( She totally ignored the advice which was shouted at her as she carried on in her blissfully ignorant way.
Tomorrow we should have been going to Liverpool Philharmonic to see The Hollies, along with dinner out and a B and B overnight stay. However, it has been re-arranged but on a date inconvenient for us, so we ain't going. I think we should spend tomorrow night with a glass or two of wine listening to Alexa playing a selection of Hollies records; #Gigs @ Home to make up for it. Sounds good to me.
:)
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Lwyd, I'll sing Hollies' songs along with you. I would have attended a Hollies tribute concert earlier this year but I was avoiding gatherings in case I caught something.
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In post #144 on Stay Home Stay Safe (Part9) I complained about the selfishness of joggers not respecting the two metre rule as they pass.
Well, today's episode has not only reinforced the belief that joggers are selfish but now I believe them to be half-wits with nothing between their ears. Let me tell you what happened today.
My wife and I were walking two abreast, as we do, on the footpath. We saw another person walking towards us so we fell into single file and, at a reasonable distance from the oncoming person, moved into the road. The other person tucked into a gateway. Now then, as we reached the other person and drew more or less level, a jogger came from behind us, running on the footpath in the same direction as my wife and I were walking, and, no more ado, ran between us and the other person. She seemed totally oblivious to the fact that we and the other person were "socially distancing" and carried on as though we had parted just to oblige her. Unbelievable, what a half-wit; although I'm sure she didn't care as long as her run was uninterrupted. >:( >:( >:( She totally ignored the advice which was shouted at her as she carried on in her blissfully ignorant way.
Unsure about the accuracy or otherwise of this:
https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/how-runners-can-infect-you-from-2m-away/3992918/
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With all the cars parked on the pavement now it's difficult to keep distance when joggers come upon you. We can't walk far anyway and I've been using a walking aid with four wheels and a seat "just in case" usually I just have a walking-stick. The other day it was virtually impossible as it was bin day and people hadn't bothered to get bins back in so there was no room in between them and the cars!! I would have had to go in the road if I had a mobility scooter.
rayard.
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My neighbour had her Grandson who is a Dad visit her yesterday with Little one.Today he is back and has two friends with him ( all about 25 )
Is this allowed
?
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Short answer to this is a definite NO WAY.
They should at least be Social Distancing i.e. No close contact with anyone who does not live in the same house as them. This applies to anyone irrespective of age etc. Your neighbour's grandson could have visited but kept the recommended 2 metres distance from his grandmother.
Very stupid to say the least.
Dorrie
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The reason I asked,me and OH have been arguing.
Our daughter does our shopping etc and phone when she is on the drive.We Face time :) at back door.
We take dog out at 6am ,nice and quiet,dont have to dodge.
omega
We have 4 Greatgrandchildren we miss terribly,but we have to be careful
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My neighbour had her Grandson who is a Dad visit her yesterday with Little one.Today he is back and has two friends with him ( all about 25 )
Is this allowed
?
Too many people watching their neighbours. It's really not your business what they do.
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It is if they spread the infection to your area.
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19 April 1775, the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
Sam Adams: "What a glorious morning for America." Our town motto.
Sadly, 245 years later, it's not so glorious. They should be running the Boston marathon, but not this year.
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reply #59 - It is not being a nosy neighbour Mike . Depending on how your house is situated you can often see visitors coming and going to neighbouring properties without twitching your lace curtains. :)
By not following the government guidelines irresponsible people are not only endangering their own and family members lives but also those of our frontline workers who would have to care from them if they contracted the virus.
Dorrie
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Next door to me have had a B. B. Q all afternoon with very loud music and shouting. There is another car outside so they obviously have visitors. How is that fair when they are clearly flouting the law.
Meanwhile my son is in his flat waiting for his ward allocation to come online for him to know exactly where he'll be required to nurse tomorrow in a 'red zone'.
I am angry beyond belief when morons like these don't get the message........ Don't get me started on PPE.
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Bearnan your son is one of our hero's and we should all be doing our bit to keep him and his colleagues as safe as possible.
You must be so proud of him and worried at the same time.
Stay safe.
Dorrie
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Dorrie, thank you and I am very proud of him.
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You are welcome. My niece is a Community Nurse and although not on the frontline we still worry about her. She has a young family too.
Dorrie
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Dorrie, I hope your niece stays safe too for her little ones.
Be safe everyone
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reply #59 - It is not being a nosy neighbour Mike . Depending on how your house is situated you can often see visitors coming and going to neighbouring properties without twitching your lace curtains. :)
By not following the government guidelines irresponsible people are not only endangering their own and family members lives but also those of our frontline workers who would have to care from them if they contracted the virus.
Dorrie
It's up to all of us to follow the rules and keep transmission to a minimum. It's not up to us to police what other people do.
We've had one incident of misguided "lockdown shaming" in our village already. The curtain-twitcher with a camera didn't know why the neighbour across the road was getting a visitor, but decided to take photos anyway. It all got quite ugly.
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The original poster merely asked whether the situation was allowed, they did not indicate in any way that they intended to report their neighbour. It must be very difficult to watch that sort of thing going on when you're doing your best to stay safe.
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Let’s try and keep a sense of proportion, there are still many, many, people living a normal life five days a week, they go to work, bake bread, make cakes, maintain our power stations, water and sewage works, drive buses, trains, deliver post, deliver trivial non essential things you’ve bought on amazon, etc etc etc,
Many jobs cannot be done whilst strictly observing social distancing, having mingled all week it must be hard to be told that on your well earned day off there is a privileged group of non workers that must be protected at all costs.
Let’s not divide the nation, do what we think is right and be tolerant of others.
Mike
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Mike I wonder if you could clarify something for me and I quote from your post " there is a privileged group of non workers that must be protected at all costs". Who do you refer to? I cannot think of anyone who falls into this category.
I apologise in advance if I have interpreted this wrongly.
Dorrie
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Mike I wonder if you could clarify something for me and I quote from your post " there is a privileged group of non workers that must be protected at all costs". Who do you refer to? I cannot think of anyone who falls into this category.
I apologise in advance if I have interpreted this wrongly.
Dorrie
I was not suggesting that I thought there was a privileged group, but that it might seem that way to others who were doing a days work where social distancing was not always possible.
Mike
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Thanks for that Mike and again my apologies for having misread your post.
Take care and stay safe.
Dorrie
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Let’s not divide the nation, do what we think is right and be tolerant of others.
Mike
That would be a good starting point.
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Good Morning Mike
In my defence , I was not Curtain Twitching, i was out working in my garden both times andcould see & hear them.
I am up early to get Dog out for his walk
Take care
omega
PS I worry about all The Care Workers & our Granddaughter who is one.Bless them all
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Good Morning Mike
In my defence , I was not Curtain Twitching, i was out working in my garden both times andcould see & hear them.
I am up early to get Dog out for his walk
Take care
omega
PS I worry about all The Care Workers & our Granddaughter who is one.Bless them all
Omega1 you don't need to defend yourself at all. Your post was perfectly reasonable. I would have wondered the same.
Pat
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Thank you Pat
omega
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Post #52 - Sunday night we listened to the Hollies, via Alexa, for about an hour which was preferable to the BBC on-line concert which was on offer. As far as I was concerned only the Stones were worth seeing.
However, there was no wine to be had whilst listening, mainly because we had drunk the bottle at lunchtime with a very nice roast beef meal.
Are we all stargazing tonight?. The Lyrid meteor shower is supposedly at its best tonight so, before we go off to bed, I'll be out there looking. If I remember correctly, the last time it was due to be seen I spent ages outside and saw next to nothing. All being well tonight there will be hundreds of 'em.
I must say our neighbour, apparently laid off from work, is doing things which are possibly illegal under the new regulations but, unless it starts to impinge on our safety, she can get on with it. It's between her and her conscience, if she has one. Make no mistake, however, I will report her if necessary; tolerance can go only so far.
Anyway, I'm now off to watch Mary Beard on BBC4.
:)
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Some bad news for me here in Quito: my supply line is breaking down. The authorities have closed the San Roque Market, the wholesale market where Rosario and Rodolfo do their shopping. They could go to the Mercado Mayorista, the main wholesale market, but it's farther away and will be even more of an uncontrolled madhouse now that San Roque is down. Marco at the minimart says he's having a hard time getting supplies, too. Fortunately, though, I have an under-55-year-old friend who has offered to make purchases for me when she does her own shopping and shops for her parents. I haven't called on her yet but I might have to in the future.
Meanwhile I did some 'panic' buying today at the minimart and from Rosario.
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I know everyone is saying be reasonable don't curtain twitch and don't report people but I have just told my mum to call the police if a certain incident happens again.
My mum is 83, I haven't seen her for weeks as I feel I am too much of a risk to her in case I am a carrier. I have though encouraged her to go into her garden to get fresh air and some vitmin D, so I guess it is perhaps guilt that is making me so upset atm and it is me who should be reprimanded. The issue is my mum has a shared path with her neighbour and her garden is on opposite side of the path from her door and the neighbour's property is sort of to the back. The house is at a funny angle which is hard to describe here. Anyway her neighbour has regular visitors, a lot of visitors and they congregate in groups blocking my Mum's door. Today they arrived after my mum had gone into her garden, she wanted to go back in and shouted over to ask if they could move away to let her get into her door while maintaining social distance but they refused. As a result my mu ended up stuck down the bottom of the garden for over an hour because she was too scared to squeeze through a group of several people, especially those who have not at any point been obeying social distancing. I have told her if she gets stuck in her garden again and they do not respond to her polite request to be allowed into her own door to call the police.
I know I'll probably be flamed so I just want to make it clear that reason I didn't go and rescue her was that she didn't tell me until 3 hours after the event. I also want to make it clear I have not suggested she call the police every time she hears/sees them having another gathering. I have suggested it only if they are stopping her getting into her own house. I recognise that a lot of my feelings are probably guilt at failing at keeping her safe as if I hadn't suggested using her garden for fresh air this wouldn't happened.
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Some bad news for me here in Quito: my supply line is breaking down. The authorities have closed the San Roque Market, the wholesale market where Rosario and Rodolfo do their shopping. They could go to the Mercado Mayorista, the main wholesale market, but it's farther away and will be even more of an uncontrolled madhouse now that San Roque is down. Marco at the minimart says he's having a hard time getting supplies, too. Fortunately, though, I have an under-55-year-old friend who has offered to make purchases for me when she does her own shopping and shops for her parents. I haven't called on her yet but I might have to in the future.
Meanwhile I did some 'panic' buying today at the minimart and from Rosario.
Yes, get your friend to help, she'll probably be glad to. In our little hamlet, we're all helping each other. The most vulnerable never need to go shopping, but even the rest of us shop for each other to minimise the number of times we have to go out. We tend to slip little extras in to each other's shopping from time to time, like a couple of beers or some chocolates, just to make life a bit more fun.
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I'm pretty well stocked up now with what I had previously bought. In fact, the freezer is at the breaking point. I laid in: 10 lbs of potatoes, 10 lbs of rice, 2 lbs of onions, a large bunch of green onions, 1 bunch of parsley, 8 choclos, 2 cucumbers, 2 zucchinis, 2 bunches of bananas, 6 guavas, a dozen lemons, 1 lb of pinto beans, 3 heads of garlic, 2 lbs of coffee, 2 lbs of pork, 1 whole chicken, 1 cheese, 3 liter boxes of fruit juice, 3 cans of tuna, 1 can of sardines, 2 little packs of sliced ham, a package of crackers, and [to be eaten when times get sad] 2 ice cream bars and a small bag of potato chips.
Except for the potatoes [which keep longer if they're covered with dirt] and the ice cream bars, I got it all washed with soap and water, right down to the potato chips.
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I know everyone is saying be reasonable don't curtain twitch and don't report people but I have just told my mum to call the police if a certain incident happens again.
My mum is 83, I haven't seen her for weeks as I feel I am too much of a risk to her in case I am a carrier. I have though encouraged her to go into her garden to get fresh air and some vitmin D, so I guess it is perhaps guilt that is making me so upset atm and it is me who should be reprimanded. The issue is my mum has a shared path with her neighbour and her garden is on opposite side of the path from her door and the neighbour's property is sort of to the back. The house is at a funny angle which is hard to describe here. Anyway her neighbour has regular visitors, a lot of visitors and they congregate in groups blocking my Mum's door. Today they arrived after my mum had gone into her garden, she wanted to go back in and shouted over to ask if they could move away to let her get into her door while maintaining social distance but they refused. As a result my mu ended up stuck down the bottom of the garden for over an hour because she was too scared to squeeze through a group of several people, especially those who have not at any point been obeying social distancing. I have told her if she gets stuck in her garden again and they do not respond to her polite request to be allowed into her own door to call the police.
I know I'll probably be flamed so I just want to make it clear that reason I didn't go and rescue her was that she didn't tell me until 3 hours after the event. I also want to make it clear I have not suggested she call the police every time she hears/sees them having another gathering. I have suggested it only if they are stopping her getting into her own house. I recognise that a lot of my feelings are probably guilt at failing at keeping her safe as if I hadn't suggested using her garden for fresh air this wouldn't happened.
You obviously did keep her safe by explaining that social distancing was the most important thing to observe, it is disgusting that those people would not move to allow her in her door.
If she lives in rented property I would consider reporting what happened to the landlord or even the police who could have words with her neighbour to stop it happening again.
Cheers
Guy
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PharmaT, it must be so frustrating for you as well as worrying. Why on earth wouldn't they move away from the door / path? It wasn't as if she was asking them to go home, even if she wished they would. They could have moved back after your mum had passed by. I really worry about some people's common sense. However one man on the news from the USA on one of the protest places said yesterday that he thought the scientists didn't know what they were talking about and this was simply a bad flu.............
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PharmaT, it must be so frustrating for you as well as worrying. Why on earth wouldn't they move away from the door / path? It wasn't as if she was asking them to go home, even if she wished they would. They could have moved back after your mum had passed by. I really worry about some people's common sense. However one man on the news from the USA on one of the protest places said yesterday that he thought the scientists didn't know what they were talking about and this was simply a bad flu.............
Exactly she didn't demand they go home, I think it was to prove a point that they think that social distancing and lockdown are stupid. Many people are very determined that this stupid, I've even had a man tell me that advice on hand washing and covering your mouth when coughing was too controlling and he wasn't having any of that rubbish. Given he was gasping for breath and on high flow oxygen at the time that was shocking. Especially as I've practiced both since I was old enough to understand.
I also don't understand the "just a bad 'flu' " line. Why would anyone want to risk having a bad case of 'flu'. I know covid isn't 'flu' by the way, i just don't understand why people don't view 'bad 'flu' as bad.
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pharmaT - I'm shocked at the way your mother was treated, and it's certainly not your fault.
...he thought the scientists didn't know what they were talking about and this was simply a bad flu.............
I also don't understand the "just a bad 'flu' " line. Why would anyone want to risk having a bad case of 'flu'. I know covid isn't 'flu' by the way, i just don't understand why people don't view 'bad 'flu' as bad.
Maybe this is one of those people who every time they get a cold claims to have flu. If they'd ever really had flu I don't think they'd play it down, especially if they'd had a bad dose of it.
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I had 'flu once. I never ever want to have it again. I've never felt worse.
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Post #78 - no flippin' Lyrid meteors last night and it was a tad on the cool side so I managed about 15mins only. Should I try tonight I ask myself?. Probably, possibly, not sure, I don't think so.
Our daughter texted earlier today. She has fallen at home, she's too young to "have had a fall", and has an impacted fracture of the left wrist. She is currently in her nearest main hospital awaiting manipulation of the wrist and then a plaster. Being a single parent, it is fortunate she has good neighbours to look after our granddaughter because they live too far away for us to travel there.
They don't get any better the older they get, do they?.
:)
Wrist manipulated, plaster fitted and daughter now waiting for lift home and withdrawing from a hefty dose of Entinox - 2030hrs.
:)
Forgot to mention that I was tele watching earlier today (Channel 81 Freeview), the "Talking Pictures Channel" which specialises in old films etc. Anyway, to cut a long story short, there was a warning before this screening. It described the programme as being rated PG (Parental Guidance) because it contained scenes which may frighten younger viewers. The name of this worryingly frightening film - The Tufty Club. Yes, that's right, Tufty. ::)
As a child I'm sure I never found Tufty to be even remotely frightening. Are we of a certain age made of sturdier stuff?.
My excuse for watching the tele - none whatsoever!!. But, in fairness, I have been out walking and working in the garden today.
;)
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pharmaT - I'm shocked at the way your mother was treated, and it's certainly not your fault.
...he thought the scientists didn't know what they were talking about and this was simply a bad flu.............
I also don't understand the "just a bad 'flu' " line. Why would anyone want to risk having a bad case of 'flu'. I know covid isn't 'flu' by the way, i just don't understand why people don't view 'bad 'flu' as bad.
Maybe this is one of those people who every time they get a cold claims to have flu. If they'd ever really had flu I don't think they'd play it down, especially if they'd had a bad dose of it.
You're probably right. I have had people telling me recently that they get the 'flu' several time a year every year. If it is the flu they have major health problems.
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As I said, PharmaT, had it once, will never forget it, hope I never have it again!!
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As I said, PharmaT, had it once, will never forget it, hope I never have it again!!
Me, too, only ever had flu once (1942 to present) - wrong time as well - having a Christmas break in a chateau in France, and I couldn't face the wonderful menus, or even leave my bed. :'( :'(
Plus, I haven't had a cold since 2013 - so keeping fingers VERY FIRMLY crossed. :)
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I've had it twice. Once in the 1950s and again in 1968, a couple of months after we were married. I was so ill. I can't remember much about it apart from the fact that I was delirious at one stage.
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My daughter now works at Nightingale Bristol.
Tonight she posted:
Thank you Food 4 Heroes for yet another delicious meal! After a very long shift at North Bristol NHS Trust it’s such a relief knowing I don’t have to worry about cooking when I get home! Thank you!
Beef chilli with a jacket spud with a chocolate muffin for afters
Small things really do make a difference ;D
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Good evening,
Just a little reminder.
John915
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My daughter now works at Nightingale Bristol.
Tonight she posted:
Thank you Food 4 Heroes for yet another delicious meal! After a very long shift at North Bristol NHS Trust it’s such a relief knowing I don’t have to worry about cooking when I get home! Thank you!
Beef chilli with a jacket spud with a chocolate muffin for afters
Small things really do make a difference ;D
Aw.....that must have felt like a warm, comforting hug 🤗 After a long and tiring shift!
Carol
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Scientists are monitoring sewage for traces of Covid-19 to help health experts identify outbreak hotspots, the Press Association reports. While the virus does not readily spread through waste water systems, non-infectious genetic residues can be detected. Scientists from Newcastle University are collaborating with Spanish academics in Santiago de Compostela to monitor sewage in their local networks in both countries, supported by Northumbrian Water and Labaqua in Spain. Using this analysis, they will be able to estimate the prevalence of Covid-19 in north-east England and across Spain.
The work will not identify if specific people are infected, but will allow researchers to estimate local concentrations of the virus by testing sewage from different locations, PA reports.
So that's why we had an extra bill from them this week!
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I've had it twice. Once in the 1950s and again in 1968, a couple of months after we were married. I was so ill. I can't remember much about it apart from the fact that I was delirious at one stage.
I had it in 1989, I 'lost' 4 days as in I remember it being one day and then being told it was 4 days later and nothing of the intervening days. My memories of the next few days was literally crawling to the bathroom followed by a few days of managing to crawl between bed and the sofa. The several weeks of being better but not 100%
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Scientists are monitoring sewage for traces of Covid-19 to help health experts identify outbreak hotspots, the Press Association reports. While the virus does not readily spread through waste water systems, non-infectious genetic residues can be detected. Scientists from Newcastle University are collaborating with Spanish academics in Santiago de Compostela to monitor sewage in their local networks in both countries, supported by Northumbrian Water and Labaqua in Spain. Using this analysis, they will be able to estimate the prevalence of Covid-19 in north-east England and across Spain.
The work will not identify if specific people are infected, but will allow researchers to estimate local concentrations of the virus by testing sewage from different locations, PA reports.
So that's why we had an extra bill from them this week!
Interesting !
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Scientists are monitoring sewage for traces of Covid-19 to help health experts identify outbreak hotspots, the Press Association reports. While the virus does not readily spread through waste water systems, non-infectious genetic residues can be detected. Scientists from Newcastle University are collaborating with Spanish academics in Santiago de Compostela to monitor sewage in their local networks in both countries, supported by Northumbrian Water and Labaqua in Spain. Using this analysis, they will be able to estimate the prevalence of Covid-19 in north-east England and across Spain.
The work will not identify if specific people are infected, but will allow researchers to estimate local concentrations of the virus by testing sewage from different locations, PA reports.
So that's why we had an extra bill from them this week!
That's fascinating. It must be the latest application of the new "environmental DNA" techniques whereby researchers can identify which organisms have been present in an environment by testing for traces of DNA water samples. It is already revolutionising surveys for different fish, amphibian and mammal species in water courses.
I hadn't even thought of it in the context of looking for virus samples in sewage. COVID19 is an RNA virus, not DNA but I guess the technique is similar.
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Mr G informed me when I found this that Thames Water had reported the level of cocaine had dropped in their area :-\
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PharmaT, that sounds almost exactly how I felt when I had 'Flu.
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Scientists are monitoring sewage for traces of Covid-19 to help health experts identify outbreak hotspots, the Press Association reports. While the virus does not readily spread through waste water systems, non-infectious genetic residues can be detected. Scientists from Newcastle University are collaborating with Spanish academics in Santiago de Compostela to monitor sewage in their local networks in both countries, supported by Northumbrian Water and Labaqua in Spain. Using this analysis, they will be able to estimate the prevalence of Covid-19 in north-east England and across Spain.
The work will not identify if specific people are infected, but will allow researchers to estimate local concentrations of the virus by testing sewage from different locations, PA reports.
So that's why we had an extra bill from them this week!
That's fascinating. It must be the latest application of the new "environmental DNA" techniques whereby researchers can identify which organisms have been present in an environment by testing for traces of DNA water samples. It is already revolutionising surveys for different fish, amphibian and mammal species in water courses.
I hadn't even thought of it in the context of looking for virus samples in sewage. COVID19 is an RNA virus, not DNA but I guess the technique is similar.
The technique is similar, analysers for virology testing use PCR just like they use in DNA analysis
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I was wondering if anyone saw the programme on the Hubble telescope on BBC2 last Friday?. An excellent programme involving astronauts who had been up there to mend it etc. and spectacular photographs of the Heavens, including one taken actually on Friday.
It's been up there thirty years, long may it continue.
By the way, have you considered the chaos seen in supermarkets when the lockdown was announced will be as nothing when twenty six million women try to get a hairdressing appointment when lockdown is relaxed?.
:)
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And just as many hairy men ;) ;D
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And just as many hairy men ;) ;D
I hear the "dragged-through-a-hedge-backwards" look for men is the next big thing in hair. I certainly hope so, because I'm over half-way there.
:)
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My hair dresser's appointment was due the week after lockdown, so hopefully I will be one of the first few to be contacted when the restrictions are lifted, I'm struggling to tame my natural waves. OH has grown a beard ;D
Carol
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My hair dresser's appointment was due the week after lockdown, so hopefully I will be one of the first few to be contacted when the restrictions are lifted, I'm struggling to tame my natural waves. OH has grown a beard ;D
Carol
Mine was due the day before lockdown here in NZ, hairdresser rebooked me for tomorrow, (29th) that won't be happening, we are being rebooked until it is all clear, but I can imagine the ones that weren't booked will have the phone ringing off it's hook. Mr KHP did offer to give me a bowl haircut ;D
Cheers
KHP
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My appointment was for 31st March but it did not happen. I will just have to wait a bit longer and so will my hair.
On a brighter note our mobile dog groomer has started up again with strict controls in place. The dog will get his "short back and sides" on Wednesday. Lucky him ;D ;D
Dorrie
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You could always get down on fours and wear a dog collar Dorrie ;D
Carol
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On TV tonight, a Syrian immigrant is making,free of charge,masks etc to help.
As he said-“I came to this country and I was helped so now it is my turn to do something in return”.
I think that is wonderful.It ought not to have surprised me and I am very ashamed that for a nano second it did!
It is not the only such action either.
Viktoria.
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Ohhh... for the re-opening of Chiropodists
While for many it is their "hair" for me it is my "feet" :(
Kim
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My husband got a podiatrist’s appointment soon after lockdown commenced. He explained the problem over the phone and got the ok as it qualified for an appointment. I suppose it wasn’t just cosmetic but was causing difficulty in walking.
The podiatrist was only accepting one patient per hour so there was no chance of meeting any other person.
My husband didn’t need to touch any door handles or anything. She was waiting and opened the door for him. Everything was wiped down after each treatment, gloves, mask etc were worn by the podiatrist and he felt very safe.
We have walked daily since then with no problems :)
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“Good” feet are a blessing.
I now am grateful my mother made us wear sensible shoes,nothing pretty for us( my older sister and I) Despite that my sister
has had many foot operations ,inheriting the family bunions!
She also got the good looks and I missed out on both , looks and bad feet.!
Got bread rising ,only flour for one more loaf and perhaps some rolls.
Then back to soda bread or Milk Fadge.
I do have some bread in the freezer a small white and a small whole meal.
Dull day today and much cooler,no sunshine as yet .
Ah well I will get some inside work done ,can’t stay in when it is sunny!
Cheerio. Viktoria.
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I go to Podiatry once per year for a diabetic check.
Before lockdown, and for last few years, there has been a problem recruiting podiatrists, so the "annual" checks have been getting later and later.
I just wait for the appointment to come through :D
I managed to get a hair cut, the week before lockdown. No urgency (yet) for a trim ;D
The only problem for me was an operation cancelled. Being kept informed by hospitals in Manchester and IoM, and telephone consultations.
It's not urgent, but I have a number to call if things escalate.
Minor problem with all borders closed, but I'm sure they have a work-around?!
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Discussion on today's "World at One", BBC Radio 4 about lockdown & over 70's. Comments by members of the public + David Blunkett (age 72).
Warnings about indiscriminate use of cleaning products from the State of Georgia Poison Center. Home isn't always a safe place.
"... majority of poisonings ... home-stuck Georgians who try to furiously scrub surfaces with disinfectant products that they mixed together and then fall ill after inhaling the fumes"
Also cases of children accidently ingesting chemicals.
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I forgot to mention that during our state approved hour's exercise on Sunday we saw a couple of swallows, the first we have seen this year . I reckon they have hitched a lift on a passing ship.
After ordering it on line only yesterday my new hedge cutter arrived today. For health reasons we have paid for the hedge to be cut since 2018 but because our hedge cutting people are "locked down" I have to do it myself, but I should not have a problem. I used my old hedge cutter a while back to cut a large fuchsia bush but it sort of packed up on me because the safety mechanism is very worn and it won't un-engage so it won't run.
Guess what, it has rained all day so I haven't done any cutting today and the hedge is growing very, very quickly (like my hair) and it looks like it will be Saturday before I am able to cut it (the hedge not the hair).
:)
Addendum - whilst out for our walk today 11am arrived so we paused for a minute. However, it was spoilt somewhat by a couple of nearby tree surgeons lopping and shredding branches from a tree in someone's back garden. ???
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We decided to self isolate the weekend before the official advice for over 70s because we heard of the first case in our local hospital. About 4 weeks ago my husband decided to chainsaw some logs & that evening was complaining of some dust in his eye. Over the weeks I've looked & found nothing, eye baths no good, until after a sleepless night because of his painful eye he rang our excellent GP surgery. The doctor said a visit to the hospital was needed, hubby flatly refused but I used 'gentle persuasion' ahem ;D . Our GP made the appointment for us with the on call ophthalmologist the same day - apparently pain in the eye is must-go situation. He did ask if we had any virus symptoms.
So on our first outing in the car for 5 weeks we ventured out to a half-deserted hospital car park, it felt very weird. No parking charges. I stayed in the car, hubby went to the eye clinic & was back in 25 minutes very relieved to have had a large speck taken out of his eye. Face masks were being handed out at the entrance & strict precautions taken.
After a few days of drops the eye is fine thank goodness. Hubby ordered a new pair of safety goggles that day!
As I waited in the car a woman came walking out of the hospital carrying a Costa coffee :o I was sorely tempted..... ;D
Moral of the story - stay safe if doing jobs round the home & garden, but as we've been told, the NHS is still doing sterling work for other issues too.
Stay safe
Pat
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Discussion on today's "World at One", BBC Radio 4 about lockdown & over 70's. Comments by members of the public + David Blunkett (age 72).
Warnings about indiscriminate use of cleaning products from the State of Georgia Poison Center. Home isn't always a safe place.
"... majority of poisonings ... home-stuck Georgians who try to furiously scrub surfaces with disinfectant products that they mixed together and then fall ill after inhaling the fumes"
Also cases of children accidently ingesting chemicals.
Never ever mix bleach and ammonia,the fumes are lethal.
At one school our regular caretaker was off sick,a very concientious person.
A relief caretaker did the bare minimum so things were getting really bad.
Not least the boy’s toilets.
Someone put bleach on the dirty floor- well, the fumes were choking.
Very dangerous.
Viktoria.
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Pat I am so pleased that your husband attended the hospital and had the speck taken out of his eye. It could have done some serious damage if left in. Thank you for reminding us that the NHS is still open for other ailments too.
Way back at the beginning of lockdown my husband had an eye infection. Got a call back from our GP Surgery and was prescribed antibiotic eye drops which were delivered to us by our local Pharmacy. Cleared up nicely.
Viktoria thank you for your reminder not to mix cleaning agents as it can be lethal.
Take care,
Dorrie
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Well Boris and his girlfriend have a baby boy.
Just announced.
What a worrying time to have a new baby ,and I thought Carrie had Corona Virus
But there are many more not so privileged, and all good wishes and hopes for their safety .
I feel blessed that my three were born at times of relative safety.
You don’t know how fortunate you are often, until years later.
Hope everyone is well, Viktoria.
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I just saw the news too Viktoria. All good wishes to the parents and the baby boy.
It is a very worrying time to bring a baby into this world. Still as they say life must go on. I wonder what the world will be like for the new arrivals in the future?
Dorrie
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Last year when one of my Granddaughters was 13 years old, she became interested in the story of Anne Frank who wrote her diary when she was 13 years, I bought her the updated version of her book and she really was fascinated by it, and the fact that her story had been turned into a book for others to learn about her experiences.
When the pandemic started, we had a conversation about the 1918/19 flu pandemic and it's impact on the world, she told me that she couldn't believe that she would be living through what would become a huge historical event.
I advised her to write about her experiences during lock-down and how it affected her schooling, social activities etc. as she would then be able to tell her children what life was like during the 2020 Corona Virus pandemic.
Carol
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It is so good to get the facts as they were experienced by different social classes,different age groups etc and even different sexes.
It is history, The People’s History.
Not politicians and statesmen’s versions.
Just think only 80 years ago when women were queuing for everything ( men hardly shopped in those days) how different their days were compared with men working long hard shifts on munitions etc.
Both with problems ,hardships and both with life changing adjustments .They
had a rotten tough time ,and children,were torn from their homes and sent to live with strangers, or suffered the bombing and yet even at that young age we had a sense of how lucky we were not to be in Europe.
What a treasure that will be in years to come, when all this is over,get it bound if you can and treasure it, believe me it will convey so much that news film footage etc cannot hope to reproduce.
An individual account from a young person ,like Anne Frank.
But with a much happier outcome we all hope and pray.
Thanks for sharing that, it is really special.
Viktoria,oops, I can hardly see as I am really touched by your post, the realisation — .
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And so ends, I hope, the worst week of lock-down for me. A week ago, my much abused keyboard gave up the ghost in spectacular form - it had finally reached its limit of crumbs and splashed coffee, I guess. It was the space bar that gave out first and I admit that I struck it vigorously. The result was unexpected - the screen suddenly flipped upside down and backwards, with the start button in the upper right-hand corner and the mouse was working backwards so that to reach the start button I had to move the mouse down to the left. Then I discovered that most of the keys were dead, too.
I began searching for a way to replace the thing from my 100% locked down house arrest. Meanwhile, I found that I could at least read the news and other web sites by turning the screen upside down and navigating normally with the mouse. I copied and pasted a news article to a notes document which gave me access to the alphabet, punctuation and the all-important space, enabling me to cut and paste individual letters and form the words necessary for Google searches. With great relief I was able to get back to Rachel Maddow and Ari Melber. It was like cutting letters out of the newspaper to write a ransom note.
Today my new keyboard was finally delivered and the world is a much brighter place. I promise I will treat it with greater respect than its predecessor.
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I finally took the plunge today and cut my own hair! I could almost make a pony tail, and it wasn't in the least attractive on a woman of my age... :P
I do have hair dressing scissors, and have actually not done too bad of a job, if I do say so myself. I feel so much better now, and going out for groceries tomorrow will be that much more enjoyable (even if I have to get up at 6 a.m.).
Next week I may take a chance and get out the lawnmower ---- and shave my legs! ;D
Cheers all...
Ms_C
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Erato, so glad to see you back, it had only yesterday occurred to me that you hadn’t been on here for a while.
I am very impressed by the lateral thinking for the google search.
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I finally took the plunge today and cut my own hair! I could almost make a pony tail, and it wasn't in the least attractive on a woman of my age... :P
I do have hair dressing scissors, and have actually not done too bad of a job, if I do say so myself. I feel so much better now, and going out for groceries tomorrow will be that much more enjoyable (even if I have to get up at 6 a.m.).
Next week I may take a chance and get out the lawnmower ---- and shave my legs! ;D
Cheers all...
Ms_C
That's the best laugh that I have had since watching the last episode of Fred, Gino and Gordon's Road Trip!
;D ;D
Carol
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We've just had their Morocco Christmas episode screen here this week, Carol.
A pamper for me with my mop today, shampoo, condition and air dry the long locks :)
Erato, so glad to see you back, it had only yesterday occurred to me that you hadn’t been on here for a while.
I am very impressed by the lateral thinking for the google search.
Extremely resourceful !!
Very pleased for you that you have the world at your fingertips again from your restrictive lock-down conditions.
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I finally took the plunge today and cut my own hair! I could almost make a pony tail, and it wasn't in the least attractive on a woman of my age... :P
Next week I may take a chance and get out the lawnmower ---- and shave my legs! ;D
There's a "Most in need of a haircut" competition run by a U.S. newspaper. Prize - hedge trimmer. ;D
(Heard on "The News Quiz" tonight.)
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Quote
" I finally took the plunge today and cut my own hair! I could almost make a pony tail, and it wasn't in the least attractive on a woman of my age... :P
Next week I may take a chance and get out the lawnmower ---- and shave my legs!
Adds a new slant to "Stay Home Stay Safe" ;D
Kim
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I finally took the plunge today and cut my own hair! I could almost make a pony tail, and it wasn't in the least attractive on a woman of my age... :P
Next week I may take a chance and get out the lawnmower ---- and shave my legs! ;D
There's a "Most in need of a haircut" competition run by a U.S. newspaper. Prize - hedge trimmer. ;D
(Heard on "The News Quiz" tonight.)
Correction. Listening to "The News Quiz" repeat - the competition prize isn't a hedge trimmer, it's a chainsaw. Don't anybody get ideas.
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There's a "Most in need of a haircut" competition run by a U.S. newspaper. Prize - hedge trimmer. ;D
(Heard on "The News Quiz" tonight.)
Correction. Listening to "The News Quiz" repeat - the competition prize isn't a hedge trimmer, it's a chainsaw. Don't anybody get ideas.
[/quote]
Hmmm. Hedge trimmer not so bad, but I think I'll pass on the chainsaw LOL!
Staying safe (and hairy)...
Ms_C
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I think I'll swerve both options! :o
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If robots are the coming thing, how about someone invents a robotic hairdresser? - Very quickly, please!
TY
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If robots are the coming thing, how about someone invents a robotic hairdresser? - Very quickly, please!
TY
But they would have to be up to date with the gossip ;D
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Ah yes.... and the screams that would be heard when it asked if we were going anywhere nice for our holidays....
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All ready for Christmas? Going out tonight? Anywhere nice? ;D
My hairdresser is a friend of mine, she works from home, I sometimes tease her with that stuff.
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Now the weather has improved again I have had the chance to use my new hedge trimmer, previously mentioned on this thread. No, not to trim my or my wife's hair, but to trim the actual hedge. It's day two today because I take it in stages, so that's about half of it, both the inside and outside. I'll finish it by Tuesday.
I thought I'd had enough of experts in the current situation we find ourselves in. Professor A says it's black, Professor B says it's white, Professor C says it's grey, Professor D says it's none of those, it's something else. Then a nonentity, with an opinion, pops up and talks absolute spherical objects!.
Then I had a shock. It turns out I'm an expert, not only that, I'm an eagle - eyed expert.
Let me explain.
When Colonel Tom, as he is now, first appeared on tele I saw the medals he was wearing but spotted he was not wearing the defence medal. However, he has now been awarded that medal. In a newspaper I read, it mentioned that "eagle - eyed experts" spotted he was not wearing the medal and ensured it was presented to him.
Therefore, by association, I claim to be an "eagle - eyed expert" ;)
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Well done LLwyd, your prize is a day out cutting hedges. ;D
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Well done LLwyd, your prize is a day out cutting hedges. ;D
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? :-X
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Apropos of not much at all, some of you may remember that I said some time back, that if some poor dog dragged itself round the corner,blind three legged and half dead I would of course take it in and care for it.
Weeeell- this aft, an acquaintance from dog walking days cane up the road with four dogs ,a Chinese crested hairless( Nono no ,I draw the line at that.)
A Chihuahua ,no not that, a Yorkie, no not that ,and. a Griffon Bruxelles .
It is a poor specimen of the breed but as the breed has almost no nose and so breathing problems it is a bonus the little dog does have a nose.
Only one eye though, some problem so it had to be removed.
Seemingly she is a quiet ,not very bright little cuddler.
Not happy with the other yappers, needs to come into her own as only dog in a quiet house .
She does not scrap with the others ,not over food or toys .
Going to be spayed when it is possible .
Not talked terms or anything like that , one snag ,she is needing more training re her occasional “ accidents” in the house.
She is not quite two.
A dear little thing but not G B colours so that tells me she is not pure bred which again is a bonus.
They are funny little dogs, full of self importance and need keeping on top of.
We will see.
Her name is Suzy .
I will visit her in her own home when that is possible, to see how she is,it is near enough for me to visit ,just ten minutes walk away if that.
Just thought I would let you know, so many RootsChatters have wished me luck in getting another dog and now my GGrandson ( he of the “ it’s doing my head in “)has moved down South I can as he won’t be here every weekend as before.
He starts school in September all being well.
They will think he has been here before!
Goodnight , take care everyone , Viktoria.
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All ready for Christmas? Going out tonight? Anywhere nice? ;D
The opposite to ... When Harry Met Sally :D :D
No;
No and
No (unless you call a weekly essential food shop 'nice') ;D ;D
Mark
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Oh Viktoria that little dog sounds ideal for you and I know how dearly you have wished for the right companion to come into your life.
I am quite sure that you will be able to give her the extra training no problem.
Bet you can't wait until this lockdown eases and you can visit her to make the arrangements to give her a happy loving home.
I am so thrilled for you and please let us know how things progress.
Dorrie
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Talking of dogs, two friends, who puppy - walk assistance dogs, have just had their new puppies delivered. They are around three months old now so they are somewhat bigger than when they normally go out to their walkers at seven/eight weeks old.
We board their puppies as and when required. Can't wait to meet them but goodness knows when that'll be. :(
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Have now seen photos - they're flippin' gorgeous bundles of golden fluff.
:)
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Scientists are monitoring sewage for traces of Covid-19 to help health experts identify outbreak hotspots, the Press Association reports. While the virus does not readily spread through waste water systems, non-infectious genetic residues can be detected. Scientists from Newcastle University are collaborating with Spanish academics in Santiago de Compostela to monitor sewage in their local networks in both countries, supported by Northumbrian Water and Labaqua in Spain. Using this analysis, they will be able to estimate the prevalence of Covid-19 in north-east England and across Spain.
The work will not identify if specific people are infected, but will allow researchers to estimate local concentrations of the virus by testing sewage from different locations, PA reports.
This has been in the news again and on the BBC yesterday.
2nd July 2020
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-53257101
"A sewage-based coronavirus test could be an "easy win" that would pick up infection spikes up to 10 days earlier than with existing medical-based tests.
Scientists led by UK's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology are working on a standardised test ... "
https://www.ceh.ac.uk/press/work-begins-uk-system-estimating-covid-19-cases-wastewater
19th June 2020
Coronavirus was already in Italy by December, waste water study finds
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53106444
Mark
Link connected with earlier post
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/latest/2020/04/covid19sewage/
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Good news from Isle of Man!
Isle of Man to move from Phase 5 to phase 4 of lockdown, from 20th July.
This will allow Manx Residents to travel off-island, but they have to self-isolate for 14 days on return.
Phase 5 (the current phase) only allows essential travel.
50 days, with no positive test results!
In addition, we now have an air-bridge with Guernsey - residents of both islands can travel to the other island.
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Have now seen photos - they're flippin' gorgeous bundles of golden fluff.
:)
And last week we had a visit from one of them. He was taken for a walk and stayed with us for around five hours. Great fun.
:)
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I have bought a plastic face-shield, does it count as a "face covering" on public transport? I'm having problems with various fabric ones.
rayard.
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Must wear face-coverings in shops from today in Scotland.
We now have an acronym to remind us of how we should be behaving. I'm useless with acronyms. Even if I remember the letters in the correct order, I can't remember what they represent.
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FACTS
Face coverings in enclosed spaces
Avoid crowded places
Clean your hands and surfaces regularly
Two-metre social distancing
Self-isolate and book a test if you develop coronavirus symptoms
https://news.stv.tv/politics/sturgeon-launches-new-facts-covid-19-awareness-campaign?top
I must say, it's not the best :-X
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I have bought a plastic face-shield, does it count as a "face covering" on public transport? I'm having problems with various fabric ones.
rayard.
This is from Phase 3 (began today, 10th July) of Scottish Government website.
"What is a face covering?
A face covering can be any covering of the mouth and nose that is made of cloth or other textiles and through which you can breathe. .........
You may also use, if you prefer, a face visor but it must cover your nose and mouth completely."
https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-phase-3-staying-safe-and-protecting-others/pages/face-coverings
The changes in Phase 3 are being introduced in stages.
Gadget, thanks for FACTS. I found it on www.gov.scot in the page headed Retail. I saw a notice in a newspaper - should have cut it out. The only thing which is new is "Face coverings in enclosed spaces". I'll continue to ACT as I've been doing for the past 4 months.
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Thank you for your help.
rayard,
-
There's a new thread about face masks.
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The good burghers of Ceredigion council have decided, in their infinite wisdom, to pedestrianise several of their towns/villages supposedly for safety reasons now that Wales is slowly reopening its tourist industry. It will give pedestrians more room to keep away from each other!.
Quite frankly, this is not the best idea. These places have parking, generally within the town, and depend a great deal on tourist footfall. Despite objections from local traders the road closures are to go ahead from 11am to 6pm and parking may/will be available somewhere outside the towns, i.e. visitors will be asked to park away from town centres for free (wow), but they don't say how far.
You could almost think they don't want visitors.
It just so happens we will soon be on holiday in the area and I'm starting to feel unwelcome already.
:)
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My favourite quote.. one of them anyway.. is one which has been proved time and again this past few months. Einstein said that as far as he knew, two things were infinite...one was the universe and the other was human stupidity.And he wasn’t sure about the universe! :(
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Abraham Lincoln ,” You can fool all of the people half of the time, and half of the people all of the time ,but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time”.
However ,given the confusing new “ guidelines “I think Abe would have to eat his words if he ever met me ,at present I am confused all of the time !!
So I am staying in .
Going nowhere, no visitors , microwaving the post,also the dishcloth( only do this with a very wet dishcloth ,or you might get a visit from some hunky firemen—- now there is an idea!)
Seriously ,what mixed messages.
And another peak with 120,000 expected deaths in the Winter,
It might be more since we have told China where to go with that “ thingy “in accordance with probably instructions from the US.
But it will be 2027 before it has all gone!
An old chap ,well my age ::)has been convinced all along this is germ warfare!!!
As they would say hereabouts” ‘appen ‘e knaws a thing or tew “.
By the way I have always microwaved my dishcloths , it sterilises them but they must be very very wet and only one minute in a 1000, mine is 800 so about 90 seconds and don,’t go away,stay to watch.
Unless you are very bored and would enjoy a chat with some firemen.
On that salutary note I will leave you ,
Viktoria.
P.S.
A cleaner, not realising its importance ,has cleaned away Banksie’s art work of rats holding hands ( paws) it sort of promoted the use of hand sanitisers and
hand washing generally.
Don’t know whether to laugh or cry!
Viktoria. :'( ;D :'( ;D
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I've just found 2019 calendar "Scenic Britain". I might hang it up again and pretend. It's the nearest I'll get to travelling to any scenic views this year. July is White Cliffs of Dover. I've visited in real life Anglesey (February), Northumberland (April), Pembrokeshire (June), Swaledale (Sept.), Derwentwater (Oct.).
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My post #155 - just returned from a lovely week in Ceredigion. I put my hands up and admit that there appeared to be no problems with the scheme of the council to limit traffic. There may have been some problems for locals/shopkeepers etc. but we found the two places we visited which had the restrictions in place to be fine.
As for eating outside, we found that to be OK; even if we had to be moved in one place because we were in the windiest place in the eating area.
One of the best was our favourite Italian restaurant at which we pre-ordered the food and wine. We were shown to our table, after sanitising our hands, and then everything arrived as though we had ordered face to face. Staff were all wearing face coverings - mask or visor. Wonderful.
Beaches, although busy(ish), were generally well self-policed and most people kept a respectable distance.
The "digs" were, as ever, first class.
All in all a good experience.
:)
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On holiday but I couldn't stay away. We've been telling people we would be having a holiday in Loch Doon, but we've just discovered it's a real place.
Zaph
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On holiday but I couldn't stay away. We've been telling people we would be having a holiday in Loch Doon, but we've just discovered it's a real place.
Zaph
Yes and it's infamous for it's midges.
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On holiday but I couldn't stay away. We've been telling people we would be having a holiday in Loch Doon, but we've just discovered it's a real place.
Zaph
While at Loch Doon you could visit Patna and Moscow without needing a passport or quarantine.
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https://www.gov.uk/government/news/covid-19-confirmed-in-pet-cat-in-the-uk
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I believe the poor cat was infected by his "human".
Hope the cat recovers.
Dorrie
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Apparently both cat and its humans are recovered.
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That is a piece of good news.
Dorrie
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Where I live most people are just carrying on as normal, apart from the fact that now we have to wear masks in shops. People are out and about, shopping, walking, riding bikes etc. Yesterday we went to one of our grandson's houses as it was his daughter's 2nd birthday. We met his mum and stepdad, her parents, our grandson's partner's parents, and grandmother, a few children etc. everyone just sat around as we would have done before lockdown. No masks, no worries. Just ask yourselves, before lockdown, unless you were a commuter, how close would you normally be to someone you didn't know intimately? On Sunday my daughter and granddaughter came over and they were quite happy to hug us. A son and his wife and 3 children have visited as have 2 other (adult) grandsons. Everyone is still well. We don't know anyone who has had the virus, although my cleaner (yes she's back even though her son has cystic fibrosis) said she knew one person who had had a test because he was going somewhere and was astounded to get a positive result as he'd had absolutely no symptoms whatsoever. My grandson yesterday said one of his mates had also tested positive with absolutely no symptoms. I think more people have actually had the virus than we know and the majority of people haven't even been ill.
We have a new neighbour and she is having her garden completely re-vamped. She's been out talking to me and looking at my garden and introducing herself to our other neighbours when they've been in their gardens. The landscapers have been talking to us - and let us put lots of garden waste in their skips. The landscapers were wearing masks but only because everything is so dusty and they were wearing builders' masks with the air vent in the front.
PS. The grandmother of my grandson's partner who is in her 80s (well I'm nearly there) has fibrosis of the lung (sometimes needing oxygen) and had stayed at home for a few weeks, but she is now out and about again and mixed freely with us yesterday.
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[quote author=LizzieW link=topic=828985.msg7002296#msg7002296 date=159610424
Just ask yourselves, before lockdown, unless you were a commuter, how close would you normally be to someone you didn't know intimately? On Sunday my daughter and granddaughter came over and they were quite happy to hug us. A son and his wife and 3 children have visited as have 2 other (adult) grandsons. Everyone is still well. We don't know anyone who has had the virus, although my cleaner (yes she's back even though her son has cystic fibrosis) said she knew one person who had had a test because he was going somewhere and was astounded to get a positive result as he'd had absolutely no symptoms whatsoever. My grandson yesterday said one of his mates had also tested positive with absolutely no symptoms. I think more people have actually had the virus than we know and the majority of people haven't even been ill.
[/quote]
So you think that those people you know intimately couldn't possibly have the virus? What about if they're one of those who are asymptomatic? It doesn't mean that they couldn't pass it on to the octogenarian you refer to or to anyone else for that matter. Just because you don't know anyone who has had the virus doesn't mean it's not around.
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Looks like we are doomed, killed off by our own stupidity.
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Whilst people who know you and care about you are more likely to to avoid being close to you if feeling unwell that doesn't account for people who are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic. I am still going to work out of necessity but I am still only shopping if I absolutely have to and staying at home most of the time. Not had any visitors either. I have seen too many housebound people fall ill with it, have seen too many tested because they're due to have some unrelated procedure test positive to risk it, especially when there are still significant numbers of cases around the country. I realise there are fewer now than a few weeks ago but still in too high numbers, creating a significant reservoir of infection for my liking. Especially when you do go out you see so many taking no precautions whatsoever.
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Leicester, Blackburn, Oldham.
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I don't think we can live our lives being scared to death by the media. Oldham and the other towns are nothing like where I live. I live in open countryside by the sea. People do not live in large groups and when we meet up we are still socially distanced. I'm sorry but I prefer to live as normal a life as possible.
It has been stated today that many more people have died of illnesses such as cancer than have died of Covid because their treatment has either been stopped or not even started. Everything about Covid has been blown out of all proportion, but if you're happy to stay in all of the time getting more and more worried and depressed, then so be it.
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I realise there are fewer now than a few weeks ago but still in too high numbers, creating a significant reservoir of infection for my liking. Especially when you do go out you see so many taking no precautions whatsoever.
On 8th July the 7-day moving average of no of daily cases was 545, yesterday it was 725. So there are more cases than 3 weeks ago.
These are from PHE no of people with a positive test under Pillar 1 and Pillar 2. I don't think there has been any change in eligibility for testing in the last 3 weeks, so I think we can make a direct comparison.
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Reply # 170.
Like pharmaT we live in Scotland and have been strictly following the guidelines as requested by the Scottish Government. This is how our life has been over the last 4 months. -
We have a very small circle of friends and have not met up with them at all since lockdown. Kept in touch via phone calls.
We attend a Church whose premises are not very large and the latest email from our Minister says they will probably not again this year. Too risky.
We have met up with our son and his partner outdoors only.
We have only met up with our daughter, son in law and older grandson outdoors until last week. Went up to their house for the first time in over 4 months to meet up indoors as the weather was very wet. Followed all the Social Distancing Rules as well as hand sanitizing etc. It was weird but enjoyable to sit in comfort and have a good blether. Younger grandson who will be 15 soon came out of his self imposed isolation to join in. He has practically lived in his bedroom since Lockdown began. Let me add here without going into details that he has mental health issues and does not process information the same as us. You would not realise this if you met him as he appears to be an ordinary moody hormonal teenager. My how tall he has grown since we last saw him. Anyway he invited me to have a look at the changes he has made in his bedroom. Daughter said to go ahead. His room is very futuristic with lots of technical gadgets. We had a brilliant chat and when I stood up to leave he asked if he could have a wee cuddle as he desperately needed one from his granny. I said this was really not allowed at the moment and to my surprise he burst into tears so for the first time I broke the rules and we had a quick cuddle. Oh boy did I feel guilty.
Life has changed beyond recognition for us but we will continue to abide by the guidelines with the occasional blip not for our sake but for the wellbeing of those we love.
Look after yourselves,
Dorrie
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Hello everybody, been busy and not on
my iPad much except to contest a statement which ,had it been put civilly would not have riled me!!!
It looked as if I was shooting the messenger who is invariably polite ,but it was another poster .
Anyway.Flash Harry bulletin.
He told his Nanny - my daughter- that one of the lads had kicked a ball and it had gone onto her car.
Nanny said that in that case they would not be getting any nice biscuits for a long time ,and people who told fibs did not get biscuits for a very very very
longtime.
Pause.
“ Well it might have been me”.
Don’t know where the fibbing is coming from, he is not punished really for being truthful as you don’t want to push children into lying as the only way out.
Neighbour says her daughter is doing similar things, similar age.
I don’t remember with my own children but all three had vivid imaginations and where that ends and lying begins is a moot point!
Like being kidnapped by the elephant giving rides at Chester Zoo, or having a full sized Chevrolet Impala under their bed, having a pony in their bedroom, etcetc.
Well shopping coming today via number one son and then Tesco on Sunday.
A sunny day today so washing out and some dead heading done ,feeding the apple tree in a big tub, only nine or ten apples now,the wind played havoc earlier in the year.
I feel sorry for people now facing quarantine after returning from holiday,but personally I would not have gone anyway.
OK ,money is lost and who doesn’t need a holiday, but it seems whatever measures are taken there are objections.
Oldham has high numbers but not so long ago there was a party ,gig, gathering of 8,000 people in a Park,!
Honestly!
Hope everyone is alright and have all they need, look after yourselves.
Off to wipe down the shopping and enjoy the sunshine.
Cheerio.Viktoria.
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In many points I agree with PharmaT, about people and precautions, driving through shopping area today I saw loads of people "wearing" their masks - under the chin, on the top of the head, on the forehead, below the nose, round their wrist.... Anything but correctly.
I hate the damn things, I loathe and detest them.... but, I've spent quite some time finding ones that fit reasonably well, and seem to do the job, and I WILL wear them out and about - for my own sake, my OH's sake, and everyone else.
I'm not arrogant enough to assume I'm always right, ( good track record so far with this pandemic, though, because I'm a pessimist) but if it helps keep us all safer, I'll try it. Like PharmaT I'm going out as little as possible, drive to supermarket once a week, some other shops, and as little contact with other people as possible.. Thank goodness for "Amazon" and similar.
No holidays or flights or even overnights away until life looks safer. A huge bore, but, if that's what it takes....
I want it all over. As safely and swiftly as possible. For all of us.
But I've no faith in our "leaders" and experts to get much right, so I'm not holding my breath, nor am I holding out a great deal of hope. Just - "Holding on".
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Don't think this chap in London really understands about masks?! ;D ;D
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/naked-man-oxford-street-face-mask-genitals-a4508041.html?fbclid=IwAR1DXO_vA7zCXHK2RLb-oOFe54bI8AiMXAAC60ZKvz9RwhAkup4leVaWpTE
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I'm not sure how widespread this is :-\
I had to visit our local ASDA yesterday, to collect a prescription. As everyone is now supposed to be wearing masks, they have done away with the one way in, one way out routine, plus they have done away with the sanitisers and removed the arrows and one-way system. The only part they appear to have retained is the distancing when going to the check-outs. :o :o
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.... And I'm not enamoured of Sainsbury's idea of a virtual queue via smartphone, either! We go at a very quiet time, careful planning, and I walk straight in, no problems. As I prefer not to use a smartphone, how would that help me??
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I don't think we can live our lives being scared to death by the media. Oldham and the other towns are nothing like where I live. I live in open countryside by the sea. People do not live in large groups and when we meet up we are still socially distanced. I'm sorry but I prefer to live as normal a life as possible.
It has been stated today that many more people have died of illnesses such as cancer than have died of Covid because their treatment has either been stopped or not even started. Everything about Covid has been blown out of all proportion, but if you're happy to stay in all of the time getting more and more worried and depressed, then so be it.
I'm not scared to death by the media, I'm scared by Covid19. You say that when you meet up you are socially distanced but in your post number 167 you said that everyone sat around in a large group as you would have done before lockdown. I doubt that you'd think it's been blown out of proportion if you or any loved ones caught it.
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I'm not scared by the media either. I'm scared by what I have seen, people dying that wouldn't have done otherwise, the people who suffered and still are suffering
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Well there is a difference between being scared to death of and having a healthy respect for something.
Evidence tells us we need a very healthy respect for Covid 19, and as it is
as yet still an unknown quantity we must err on the side of extreme caution.
Anyone who has a cavalier attitude to this is no friend to themselves,but it does not and will not stop there so they will endanger others.
No one has the right to do that knowingly .
If only they were likely to be involved and affected ,well let them go ahead if they are that way inclined BUT, they must not expect help from others who have been obeying the rules as we know them.
“ I am going to a big party against general advice , so if I become ill
I don’t expect others to endanger their ‘s and their family’s lives to help me.“
Signed —
People can’t have it both ways.
Viktoria.
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The use of masks and distancing is primarily to stop people, YOU, from spreading the virus. The protection to you is a secondary one, but; What go'es around, comes around.
Those that do not comply are not only foolish of their own safety but also dangerous to other's safety.
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I, for one, do not so much as walk the 30 yards from my front gate to the trash dumpster without a mask and rubber gloves. I don't touch the dumpster but when I get back, I wash the gloves, then I remove the mask, then I wash my hands with soap and give them a finishing touch with sanitizer and alcohol. I hate doing it but I do. No one wants to live this way but if we're to put an end to this disease, we all have to do our part.
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Reply # 170.
We had a brilliant chat and when I stood up to leave he asked if he could have a wee cuddle as he desperately needed one from his granny. I said this was really not allowed at the moment and to my surprise he burst into tears so for the first time I broke the rules and we had a quick cuddle. Oh boy did I feel guilty.
Life has changed beyond recognition for us but we will continue to abide by the guidelines with the occasional blip not for our sake but for the wellbeing of those we love.
Look after yourselves,
Dorrie
Well done dowdstree by the sound of it that quick cuddle was really needed.
cheers
Guy
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I have not actually touched anyone or been touched by anyone since lockdown.
We were a very tactile family with the exception of one son who has mild Asperger’s syndrome.He did not and does not like cuddles etc.
My little grandson was,as I have said, a knee strangler, would hold you so tight! I saw him every weekend, stayed here with his Daddy.
It is a real deprivation to not be held and hugged, and often mentioned by people , especially the elderly who have lost their life partner.
The person you kissed “goodnight”,even if you had different rooms because one coughed most of the night and the other got no sleep.
The one you hugged when passing through the house ,when you got back from shopping and they took your bags from you.
Think of those in homes with no one, only the wonderful staff who do hug
residents in normal times.
Life has changed so much and if we are ever to get back to anything resembling “ normal” the rules must be obeyed.
It is no time to be selfish, it is unimaginable that anything like the peak of this could be coped with again.
OK ,messages are seemingly mixed and confusing ,but I am sure the powers that be are doing their best , we owe it to ourselves and others to be sensible, unselfish and realistic.
I will just have to hug myself!
Viktoria.
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My family have been very strict about keeping their distance to protect us, so most of our meetings have been outdoors except in really bad weather when we are lucky enough to have enough indoor space to keep our distance. When we've needed to use their toilet we use our own bleach spray to clean it all first, then clean again after our use + handwashing, sanitiser etc. We are still sanitising/quarantining shopping & going out very little.
However last week I had a phone call from one daughter who was 'in a state' - she is going through a divorce, lives alone & it was her wedding anniversary. I'm afraid I drove to her house & shared her double bed for the night (+ cats!). I did all my sanitising precautions as usual, slept facing away from her, we didn't have any physical contact - but the company & comfort did the trick. I felt I had to take the risk for the sake of her mental health but kept my fingers crossed. Luckily here we are nearly 2 weeks later & all seems to be well.
I was stopped by the police on my midnight drive to her house - they said they'd only stopped me because 'we haven't seen anyone else out tonight & wondered where you were going' ;D I didn't mind & they were very sympathetic when I explained - & it actually gave my daughter something to smile about ;D
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Well, sometimes you have to work out what is the greater good .
You took more precautions than many who have not had a difficult situation to assess , so don’t feel guilty.
Hope it all goes well.
My daughter had it to cope with on her own,I had just had a heart attack,
her Dad one a few years before, much worse than mine .
She could not let us know the extent of the cruelty she was subjected to and
it was so fortunate she had a truly good friend.
Hope it gets sorted quickly and with the minimum of hurt .
Then a clean start of the rest of her life which will I hope be happy .
Cheerio, and give your daughter my best wishes.
Viktoria.
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Perhaps we came out of lockdown too soon - latest news
Local lockdowns announced
“Govt announces people from different households will not be allowed to meet each other indoors from midnight tonight in
Greater Manchester
Blackburn with Darwen
Burnley
Hyngburn
Pendle
Rossendale
Bradford
Calderdale
Kirklees
The same restrictions will apply to the city of Leicester“
So no more bubbles.
Seems silly if people can still go to pubs. Maybe the warning is because it is Eid tomorrow.
Perhaps more information on the news.
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Well, sometimes you have to work out what is the greater good .
You took more precautions than many who have not had a difficult situation to assess , so don’t feel guilty.
Hope it all goes well.
My daughter had it to cope with on her own,I had just had a heart attack,
her Dad one a few years before, much worse than mine .
She could not let us know the extent of the cruelty she was subjected to and
it was so fortunate she had a truly good friend.
Hope it gets sorted quickly and with the minimum of hurt .
Then a clean start of the rest of her life which will I hope be happy .
Cheerio, and give your daughter my best wishes.
Viktoria.
Thank you for such kind words, Viktoria, I know there are a lot of people who can't be with with loved ones so I was lucky to be able to do so without any ill effect. I'm so sorry your daughter had a lot to endure but as you say she had a good friend to support her, thank goodness.
I enjoy reading your posts, they always contain insightful comments.
We WILL all get through this awful time and won't those hugs feel wonderful when they come!
Take care
Pat
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Yes, she came through stronger and some years later married a man who is the absolute opposite of her first husband, not least because he quickly won
the respect of my grandchildren,who are better treated by him than their blood father.
She was a good Mum anyway but her children have so much respect and admiration for her and so do I, my husband never knew ,he could not have coped with being helpless in the situation.
She is very happy now, her horse ,who was her rock shall we say ,means so much to her,he was the only thing that helped her through beside her friend.
She could not afford him really but could not afford ,emotionally to let him go.
Why do the guilty parties always turn the knife in the wound?
Why not quietly admit their transgressions and save time, money and heartache ,but no, they have to inflict as much hurt and humiliation as possible,which drags things out so much.
Cheerio, I hope all is finished as quickly as possible .
Viktoria.
I too think we came out of lockdown too soon , alright people were fed up but
had it been explained it might have been accepted reasonably well.
If only people would be sensible in public places especially.
There was a gathering of some sort ,very loud and noisy this afternoon in a nearby garden, many voices. Mostly young men’s.
My son brought a bit of shopping and did not come in, I have a big order
coming Sunday afternoon.
Forget foreign holidays, I just want a walk round Bury market, a visit to Shropshire, see my other son and my daughter and family ,especially
Flash Harry, he who is economical with the truth, or comical with the truth!
I could do with strangled knees just now!
Viktoria.
because he
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I find it amazing that people are mixing with so many other households inside....
We've seen our daughter and family once, they live about 2 hr drive from us. They came for the day when the weather was good, we were outside in the garden all the time distanced of course.
The only other people we've seen are our three neighbours in the garden and like us they've not seen others apart from odd family outside...
If the wearing of face coverings gives all of us some sort of protection then let's wear them....
I read today to test if they're affective or not light a candle, put your face covering on and try to blow it out... if it flickers or goes out then your covering isn't suitable. It's too thin and you need a thicker one to help protect you and others better..
Having made over 400 face coverings for all sorts of local organisations from homeless charities, hospital departments, local air ambulance etc people certainly want them!
We need to keep safe and it would now appear that some people think we can just go back to life as it was...
They are delusional!
Caroline
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I hate to say it but I have grave doubts that we will ever go back
to “ normal”.
This Virus will mutate and like flu will need a new vaccine every year,or more often!It might be mutating now.
Things were not the same after the last war as they were before,some were better some worse.
This is like nothing we have ever seen before, we have no real control over it
as yet.We might never have .
It really behoves everyone to obey rules, but how do people see the advice ?as rules,or do they think they have a choice?
There is so much selfishness about , but to be fair much selflessness also , I
know.
Many of my friends,similar ages, have said,we never dreamed for one moment our lives would be changed so much in our last few years.
How hard it must be for young people.This could be how it will always be for them.
On that miserable note I will say Goodnight.
No I won’t ,
A new day tomorrow and some better weather promised.
Goodnight.Viktoria.
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You say that when you meet up you are socially distanced but in your post number 167 you said that everyone sat around in a large group as you would have done before lockdown. I doubt that you'd think it's been blown out of proportion if you or any loved ones caught it.
I didn't say everyone sat around in a LARGE GROUP. Exactly what I mean about the media (or in this case Rootschatters) twisting things. There were about 10 of us, and 4 small children. We sat around outside in the garden in the sunshine, socially distanced about 2 metres apart, about the spacing we would have done before Covid. Everyone enjoyed themselves, chatting to each other and watching the children play.
I see the world wide panic and yet some basic stats keep popping up: 600,000 have died worldwide so far but 6 million died in 1968 of so called Hong Kong flu and the equivalent of more than 90,000 in the UK. Much more recently 42000 died in the winter 5 years ago and 48,000 20 years ago. In these latter two cases the epidemics were barely even reported in the news.
It is frightening the impact media propaganda has on people. The media run a new scare story virtually every hour, the majority of the British people get frightened because the numbers are never explained, and then the Government makes up various rules. The media can then make a scare story out of the rules and the circle starts again. People remain scared and the Government continue making new rules, depressing.
Over 70,000 people in the UK die of cigarette related illnesses every year, yet the government hasn't banned cigarettes.
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I wasn't twisting things Lizzie W, my comment was based on what you had said earlier that most people are carrying on as normal and that in your gathering everyone sat around as they would have done before lockdown. I think it's unlikely that before lockdown you all sat two metres apart.
I don't read the media scare stories, I used to read the Daily Mail app every day as they were usually first with any news, including that of my local area, but I uninstalled it at the start of the lockdown due to their scaremongering. I read the BBC app once a day to see what the latest news is then I ignore it all. I don't participate in social media.
As for the flu, there is a vaccine that we can choose whether to have, whereas there is currently nothing we can do to prevent Covid19 other than to eat healthily and exercise and follow the social distancing rules.
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2 metres apart isn't actually that much, especially if you are sitting on garden chairs etc. Of course, in other countries the distance is only 1 metre, but our government decided we wouldn't know what a metre was, so chose 2 metres so they could say it was the height of an average man!! Perhaps they should have said 1 yard or 2 yards, as we don't use metric for measuring. We still travel in miles and if you buy wood it'll be 6 x 6(ft) or whatever.
Yes, there is a flu vaccine now but, to my knowledge, in 1968 there wasn't a vaccine. I think as a country generally, (taking our lead from USA), we have become much more aware (frightened) of everything nowadays. There is another thread on Roots called "Fence of the countryside" about a family whose daughter fell into a waterfall and was swept to the bottom - fortunately she wasn't injured - saying it should have been fenced off etc. No mention by them of the fact they were trespassing. Anyway, lots of Rootschatters commenting that when they were young they went to school by themselves at 5, played out all day etc. etc. and now children aren't allowed to do that.
The other thing, which is at last in the media, is that even people who actually died of other causes are being put down as Covid deaths. They may have died with Covid, but not from it. Also Public Health England have been scouring the deaths and even if a person tested positive months ago, if they subsequently die of anything else it is being recorded as from Covid. The statistics are being completely manipulated. I have no idea why. I don't know why the government or their advisers want to ruin the country - as other countries are being ruined too. As far as I can see one of the countries doing well out of all this is China. They are producing the majority of disposable masks that people are wearing, gloves, aprons etc.
Oh well, hopefully, this time next year it will all be a distant memory.
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So no more bubbles.
Seems silly if people can still go to pubs. Maybe the warning is because it is Eid tomorrow.
Yes there are still social support bubbles allowed during this local lockdown.
The reason that meet ups are allowed in pub gardens is in the hope that social distancing is more regulated inside/outside these premises than ever would be in your own house/garden.
Pheno
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Thanks Pheno.
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It obviously depends where you live on your attitude towards this virus. As I mentioned, I live in a safe part of the country, no commuters bringing viruses from cities, near to the sea and countryside, and despite there being over 35 (not a typing error) residential/nursing homes/homes for mentally retarded people (sorry if that's not the correct terminology) within a mile of my house, there have only been 6 deaths in total since before lockdown and I'm sure those 6 would probably have died anyway. I belong to a local group called Garden Buddies. We usually just meet up and visit gardens etc. and have a coffee and a cake. Of course, because of the virus we stopped doing it but, this afternoon, I had a 'phone call from one of the committee members (a small committee, I think there are about 3 of them), they had decided that we would have small meetings of no more than 6 people, by invitation, to other members' gardens. So I, and 4 others will be going round to her garden on Saturday 8 August. We're taking our own mugs for coffee and we will be having biscuits from a packet opened in front of us rather than cake.
Tomorrow, in a road just round the corner from me, three adjacent houses are having a sale of plants, crafts etc. in their front gardens. They've asked that people wear masks and gloves and keep a safe distance. I'll be going. Locally, other people have had sales of plants in their gardens.
I'm sorry for those of you who live in or near cities, especially in the midlands and north of England where you are back in lockdown, but I don't think the rest of us should be expected to put ourselves in lockdown when we are in such a low risk area.
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Hi Lizzie
I was delighted to read your birthday account. We did the same for my grand-daughter's fourth birthday earlier this month and it was one of the most enjoyable child's parties I have been to, probably because of this year's circumstances.
Living in inner city London, I have no problem with people making the most of, and finding enjoyment in these times. Right now, one of our Somali neighbour families are celebrating Eid on the back grass to our flats (an aunty and uncle with their children have joined them, so two bubbles have come together.) They are singing joyful songs, dancing, and everyone is obeying the social distancing guidelines, just as we did.
Kind regards and sending good vibes to all, regardless of your circumstances today.
Gaie x
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Thank you Gaie. Mum was heavily pregnant 40 weeks + 5 days and had wanted the baby to arrive before her daughter's birthday, or afterwards. He arrived 11.25pm in the evening of her daughter's birthday. She went into labour about 7.30pm after the party! So now she's got 2 children, 2 years apart sharing the same birthday.
I forgot to mention that my husband plays bowls and the council allowed the outdoor bowls club to open up again a few weeks ago. They were playing in pairs on alternate greens but from last week they were allowed to use all the greens. As I said, things are very safe where I live.
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I am not even going to consider when we will be getting back to normal if we ever do, it is out of our hands, EXCEPT, we all ought to consider others and be sensible, to be honest I am finding with subject very depressing
Louisa Maud
A friend of mine who is 82 and his grandson of 21 not living together have both been chosen to see if they have had the virus or are carriers, has anyone been asked to do the test through the post and a courier will collect it?
Louisa maud
Hi Louisa and All
Try not to get down.
Regarding authorised Testers, I can only find makers under consideration.
The 4 commercial tests considered were manufactured by Abbott, DiaSorin, Roche and Siemens. 8th July 2020.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-head-to-head-laboratory-evaluation-of-4-commercial-serological-assays
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After all the scams, I'd research them (if interested), to try and make my own judgement, regarding anything arriving in the post.
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Regarding the "seesaw" effect, there is no rule book. Most of the time it is try small and gradual lockdown releases and see what happens, if cases increase too quick or climb - then go backward one or two spaces.
I think anyone running the country would face ... the same realism that in the past it has taken years, to eradicate infectious diseases, especially one countrywide.
All the best, Mark
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Well I have heard it all, Antiques Road Show, a lacquered box, Chinese style but actually Korean.
The valuer said the bat was a Chinese good luck symbol,the bringer of good fortune !!!!!
Oh yeah?
Try telling that to those who have had Covid 19,seeing how the Pandemic can be traced back to meat somehow infected by bats.
Well a good day today ,Tesco delivery all OK except the pack of masks was
open and one missing .
Phoned and prompt refund and apology but keep the masks anyway.
Was going to have lemon pepper chicken for tea but somehow I had not put some ham in the fridge , busy wiping things down ,it was out about an hour so decided I ought to eat it .
It was an offer of two packs so explained to a neighbour and asked would she use the second pack, so they had ham for tea too.
She always asks do I need anything,she was a pupil at a school I worked at
and I remember her very well, and she me.
She is now a teacher,and is just or was ,in the process of starting a Forest School .
Everything cut out and tacked for covering a square lidded padded stool, cushion covers etc ready for when the machine is repaired or when I get a new machine or when my son can come in and carry the very old heavy Singer,converted from a hand machine with a little motor and foot control,but HEAVY!
It is in the bedroom ,on the floor and I can’t move it, I have nothing to stand it on upstairs either.
My dear old neighbour was not up and about this morning by eleven, I phinrd but no answer, so phoned her daughter who came , neighbour was not feeling well so was still in bed , went round with some cakes ,not knowing she was still in bed, daughter answered the door and said she was staying overnight
at least.
Hope she is OK but at over 90 it is worrying.
So sorry to read of others’ troubles, and the added worry of rising figures.
At such a difficult time is there no simple kindness ?
It takes a really nasty person to be like Roobarb’s neighbour , and the other
unpleasant ones too , what do they get from it?
Well we oldies have to stay in again, I was going to anyway, I have all I need,materially, can occupy myself.
Just wish I could see my family ,especially Flash Harry.
Keep your chins up everyone ,didn’t let the buzzards get you down!
Or words to that effect!
Let’s all think of one another tonight, positive thoughts and hopes, I do sometimes think it helps ,there have been odd moments in my life when someone was looking out for me ,tonight let’s do it for out RootsChat friends and any anyone else .
Sleep well, if you can , if sleep eludes you ,write that book - mentally- you have always meant to do.
Cheerio and kindest thoughts to you all .
Viktoria.
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Viktoria - I had a Singer, but mine was converted from a treadle, with motor and foot pedal, like yours. And yes, it was heavy. I used to be able to lift it alright, but a year or two ago I gave it to a local charity which sends such things to Africa.
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I bought mine from an English girl in Belgium ,it was a real bargain.
It was super for heavy materials like curtains ,the foot went down with a very satisfactory CLUNK.
My granddaughter says she might like it .
Don’t know how old it is, must look in the little book that came with it.
Just looked it up,they are sold now for up to Ł395.
The number is 15K80,google it .
My mother’s old Singer was terrific, in a cabinet it rose up when you pressed a button.My Dad bought it for her .In 1920’s .
It got a lot of money for charity.A collector bought it ,theCharity put it in the window and a visitor to our town, by the privately owned steam trainEast Lancs Railway,came for a day visit and bought a vintage sewing machine!
If only I could use this one.
It really is heavy.
I forgot to look up the date!
Will do.
Viktoria.