MEDICAL MATTERS

[Stanley]

I couldn't agree more Sue. I reckon I am in better nick and better nourished than many younger people. I also believe that keeping positive and busy is important. Plenty of studies support that view. As far as I am concerned, normal is good!

[Mags]

I went out at 9.20am to do my normal weeks shop this morning........there are currently 5 adults in the house. It took me 2 bloody hours........I have never seen so many idiots in my life. My shopping consists of meat, fruit, veg, bread, dairy products and odds and ends.

People were buying tins and tins of food, I wanted 2 x tins of tomatoes and 3 cans of Baked Beans, it must have taken me 5 mins to get down the isle and there was a woman grabbing at least 12 x 3 packs of beans and nearly bit my head off when I took 1 x 3 pack off the self. In the end I thought stuff this so I bought double the meat I was going to buy, double the eggs etc and came home.

Yes it makes me look as bad as the rest of the population but at least I know I won’t have to face the same next week, I don’t have the time to depend so long shopping.

Katie still hasn’t got the results of her tests yet but I think she just has a cold, I suppose the doctors were just being cautious because of her having a heart condition.

[Stanley]

Morning Margaret. I'm just going to do a bit of veggie shopping and don't expect to see the problems you have had. You're right, some people behave very badly. I have heard of it happening here but thank god not seen it.
As you know, I have always kept good stocks of long lasting food in the house, my mother taught me well. The thing I think might be changing attitudes is the number of people who rely on Just Eat etc and take-aways and have no food in the house normally. They are the ones most likely to panic.
Hope you are right about Katie..... At the moment I reckon that the first family member to be positive will be Susan's Mick, he must be exposed all the time he is working and he can't keep a distance from his charges if he has to restrain them. We shall see.....

[Cathy]

I’ve had a couple of strange things happen the last 2 times I’ve been grocery shopping. Luckily I don’t shop during peak times.
I keep thinking about how it must have been in Russia and those countries when things were bad.

Be careful in Barlick, you are ‘off the beaten track’, and might be the last stop on the delivery runs. Just saying.

[Big Kev]

There was a distinct lack of toilet rolls in Barnoldswick Aldi yesterday, there are currently daily deliveries so perhaps I was there just after the 'rush'.

[Marilyn]

...but where would the kids Mick looks after get the virus? Are they a particularly sociable lot of children? Do they have lots of visitors? Do they travel a lot? Or attend large gatherings?
I don’t understand increased vulnerability...
Chances are they will get it from staff, not staff get it from them. Staff would have many more opportunities to pick it up in their outside lives.

[PanBiker]

There was a distinct lack of toilet rolls in Barnoldswick Aldi yesterday, there are currently daily deliveries so perhaps I was there just after the 'rush'.

I noticed no tissues and very little kitchen roll, of course no hand soap gels or sanitisers. Word in FB land says that the Spar opposite has stock.

Saw a good meme on FB, picture of the Sun newspaper masthead and the caption: Use us for wiping your a...., we are all ready full of s....!

[Stanley]

No Maz, they are the kinds of children (Some of them 18) you would not want to be within a mile of and in effect the care home is detention. If one of them gets it from a visitor it will be the same situation as we are seeing in Prisons.
Close contact during restraint can be a daily occurrence. Believe me, Mick is vulnerable!

[Cathy]

China and Pluggy are both very quiet

[Wendyf]

China and Pluggy are both very quiet

Both of them have been on the site today Cathy.

[plaques]

Text from Richmond Hill Health Centre, Colne. Telephone only for a doctors appointment. These will be assessed on a triage basis. Do not just turn up. Repeat prescriptions by e-mail (or Patient access) . Doctors appointment by Patient access has been removed from the site.

Obviously to reduce the amount of people traffic to the Health centre. Seems reasonable to me.

[Tizer]

I notice more news reporters mentioning herd immunity. They'd better be careful what they say about it because the anti-vax crowd use that argument as a reason for not giving their children the MMR jab.

[PanBiker]

Don't you need about 80% infection and recovery to reach herd immunity status Tiz? We might get there by this time next year. I would expect when they do have a workable vaccine that after initial rollout to the medics it will probably become a component of the flu jab or maybe given separately like the pneumonia jab.

[Tripps]

I find this in the news. . . . Actually I've been doing it since Thursday, having worked out what was going on. My mind was concentrated when they told me the frail would not be allowed to go into hospital. Looks to me they are going for 'herd immunity' allowing those who will survive it to do so, without killing a lot of older folk.

It won't be an easy experience. . . .(I'm out of smilies at the moment)


People in Britain aged over 70 will be instructed soon by the government to stay in strict isolation for four months as part of a planned response to coronavirus, broadcaster ITV's political editor said.
Robert Peston said the government was likely to enforce a "wartime-style" mobilisation effort in the next five to 20 days. Other measures being planned include hotels and other building being used as temporary hospitals, privately-run hospitals being converted into emergency medical care centres and commissioning several companies to make respirators that can keep acutely ill victims alive.
New rules would see pubs, bars and restaurants shut their doors temporarily and schools would close for a few weeks but children of key workers will be allowed to continue attending as skeleton staff will be providing childcare. A senior government source told ITV News, the belief that the government are reluctant to make difficult and costly decisions to battle the virus is untrue.
The source said chief medical officer Chris Whitty and the chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance are waiting for the best time to roll out measures that will be obstruct people's lives.

[Marilyn]

That is tough. Stanley will have a melt down over this...

We will be ok here. My hubby will be confined but I will still be free to do the running about ( being 10 years younger than His Lordship). He works from home too, so our lives won’t suffer much. We do live in a population that is largely retired folk, so there won’t be anyone about on the streets! ( I may have to run about for 2 neighbours too, who are both over the age of 70).
Must make myself a Wonder Woman outfit... I may have to seal hubby off upstairs while I remain downstairs, and leave his meals on a tray at the top of the stairs. I will keep him well supplied with loo paper. He can leave his wallet downstairs, so I can raid it...

Japan is going to have to consider cancelling the Games. I know they have refused thus far, but they simply must.

[Cathy]

Well you can’t say that governments worldwide aren’t doing anything about this particular problem, a lot are trying to be (hopefully) one step ahead of the virus.
You have to be grateful for that. It could save your life.

[Marilyn]

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes actually Tripps. I know it will be a huge undertaking, but I really do see the sense of it. ( so I am on the “YES” side.)

[Mags]

Ohhhhhhh bugger, I would love to be a fly on the wall when dad reads this..........

Dad, think of your blood pressure..........

[Marilyn]

Eeeee....he was the first person I thought of Mags...

[Marilyn]

He will need an entire pot of Coffee and a chest full of pipe smoke to mull it over

[Cathy]

Well I haven’t panicked because Stanley’s always telling us ‘Don’t Panic’. Haha.
For the more elderly ones amongst us , you have survived worse in your lives , and know how to follow instructions/orders and draw on your life experience.
Hunker down and wait for this difficult situation to end. Dodge the bullet.
A lot of you have been thru worse.
You might not see as many people, face to face, for a while but these days we have sms, the internet and Skype to stay connected.

We can all do this - Don’t Panic.

[Stanley]

My blood pressure is fine Margaret. I shall just carry on doing the same as I am now. Keeping unsocial hours, avoiding contact with people and looking after myself and Jack. What exactly can they do with me? Weld my doors up?
Cathy is right, I have survived so many things in my life, I shall survive this. Count me in the 80% that could get the infection and survive.....
What strikes me is how politicians are buzzing about like flies in a bottle trying to convince us they are in control when it is obvious they aren't. They are looking at the next election and their comfortable jobs.
Keep warm, well fed, bowels open, back warm and feet dry. That's all anyone can do.
(If politicians want to be positive, give some time to Brexit and the condition of the poor.)

[chinatyke]

China and Pluggy are both very quiet

I'm here!
I've noticed Pluggy is quiet also. Hope he is OK.

[Cathy]

China, are you still living in isolation. How are people coping?

How is the mood, are your neighbours still singing in the afternoons?

[Marilyn]

And how would your community cope with the Stanley’s of this world, China?