Coronavirus (Covid19) Corner

[plaques]

If the object is to keep businesses going by keeping them open then the only way of limiting a surge in covid numbers is to give the local councils the means and money to do the job. Pendle is now at the top of the league table for infection numbers but as we know Pendle is 11 miles long but only 100 yards wide, I exaggerate on the last number, but why close schools in Barlick when the problem is 8 miles away? Of course every child should be in a safe environment but only local knowledge can determine the safe action within schools and where extra money is to be spent efficiently. The problem seems to be that local knowledge is out of the loop and there's no extra money. To cloud the issue the government is relying on a world school study to give guidance on what to do next. Sounds reasonable, BUT, this approach is a whole world away from local knowledge and ignores the fact that the UK has the worst record in Europe and probably is near the top for advanced countries. In effect by including the world results we are diluting our bad results with those of better positioned countries and blindly accepting the end product as norm. Possibly the government is thinking that this wheeze works quite well with wages where a relatively small number of billionaires can offset a very large number of poor incomes making the average look reasonable. Smoke and mirrors again?

[Tizer]

So what is this study studying? The key phrase seems to be ...one of the largest studies on the coronavirus in schools in the WORLD", The question then arises are we comparing like with like and are the worlds schools like our schools?

It's PHE's `sKIDs' study which is being conducted on schools in England. It was proposed to cover 100 schools but the newspaper reports seem to imply more than that (140 according to the Standard link.)

[Marilyn]

There is some suggestion that the family in New Zealand who have contracted Coronavirus with no known cause, may have been infected from handling bags of frozen imported seafood, at the place where they work. If this is proved true, it means the virus can live for extended periods in a frozen environment.
That is worrying.

[Stanley]

MD on Covid in this week's PE. This is the first paragraph.

[Marilyn]

More news here this evening about the handling of frozen foods and Covid. I know I don’t get much response from anyone on this topic,
( and some other topics) but maybe it will help someone who Needs to know it.

[Marilyn]

I should add that the food is not contaminated, but it seems the outside packaging may be with multiple handling...despite being frozen products...

[Marilyn]

As usual, GREAT to hear from you!
I see no point posting on this topic any more. You lot live in a bubble. You refused to listen to the world when this thing began, and I find you have not changed, despite a multitude of regrettable deaths. I understand that sounds harsh, but all I see you arguing about is politics, and I wonder WHY you cannot see the woods for the trees.
Especially when it may come down to opening a packet and shaking something on an oven tray for dinner.

[Tripps]

I know I don’t get much response from anyone on this topic,
( and some other topics) but maybe it will help someone who Needs to know it.

I'll respond. I sometimes share your irritation that your posts don't get the attention they deserve. I don't often respond directly, but I read every word.

I ventured the opinion last weekend, at a small socially distanced gathering next door, that the main transmission route was via droplets and aerosol in the air in confined environments, and that in the open air at two metres we were at little risk. Otherwise I would not have been there.

I was immediately given 'evidence' that this wasn't so. A lady said her whole family of relatives in Brazil had become infected by contact with the surface of a communal water cooler. Just an anecdote but I'll add it to my knowledge bank and take it into account in future.

The problem with 'helping someone who needs to know it' is that it can lead to the spreading of fake news' if the information is not actually true. I recall someone once on here 'helpfully' telling us to put our wallet in the fridge overnight to remove the virus from our money. Written in totally good faith, but nonsense.

[Cathy]

Could still be a little early in the day for some replies, let’s see.
Oh, there’s one, same time as I was posting.

[Marilyn]

Aye...I will live up to the putting the wallet in the fridge remark...BUT isn’t it a leap now that you could put that wallet in the freezer and it still won’t help?
I really want to interact with people. I couldn’t give a hoot about politics, but I would like to get to the nitty gritty of what is important.
( I have sewn 80 + masks now. Plus some for Christmas, cos Christmas will be a misery this year ( the masks are Red and White and say “Bah Humbug”)

[Tripps]

I just checked the time in Australia looking for the 'perils of late night posting' factor which occasionally gets to me. Well it's only 7.45 pm local so can't be that.

[Marilyn]

I assure you, I am bright eyed and bushy tailed, Tripps. ( but if the time of night is such a consensus, I shall give up posting after dawn!)
PS...I am always in bed by 8.30 pm....so no “perils of late night posting” here!

[Marilyn]

In fact, I get quite offended now that I go back and read your post Tripps. I assure you I do not make late night posts, after being “on the sauce”!

[Big Kev]

20200813_094834.jpg

[Tizer]

There is some suggestion that the family in New Zealand who have contracted Coronavirus with no known cause, may have been infected from handling bags of frozen imported seafood, at the place where they work. If this is proved true, it means the virus can live for extended periods in a frozen environment.
That is worrying.

Maz, give us a break. I've only just seen the above post. We're in the middle of a heat wave and a week of predicted thunderstorms and not getting much sleep.
At the beginning of the outbreak I raised questions about whether the virus could be getting here from China in imported goods and foodstuffs, and even in the mail. The usual response was No, it doesn't survive long enough outside the body to still be present when such things are received in the destination country. However, viruses can survive a long time at freezer temperature so I guess covid-19 would be the same. They've been isolated from archaeological samples hundreds of years old when those samples were from permanently frozen regions.

[Stanley]

Maz, I try to respond to everyone's posts but some don't need a response. Nobody has commented on the first para of MD's piece in this week's PE but that doesn't bother me, At least some will have read it and nodded.
The trouble with posts like infection on frozen foods is that there is no response. Of course it's possible for infective agents to survive, I was reading only yesterday about Anthrax spores found in an archaeological dig. What are the chances of that being a problem. Sometimes we just have to trust to luck and wash our hands.

[plaques]

Good news. By altering the way we count covid-19 deaths we have successfully reduced the count by 5,000, instead of using a 60 day period we now use 28 days. Quote, Under the 28 day definition England has 5377 fewer deaths than previously reported (36 695 v 42 072), while the UK figure (as of 12 August) is 41 329. Unfortunately the 5,000 people who died are still dead. Lies, damned lies, and covid-stats.

[Marilyn]

I sometimes think that you are the only one who talks sense on here, Plaques.

[PanBiker]

Thanks for that Maz.

[Tizer]

Good news. By altering the way we count covid-19 deaths we have successfully reduced the count by 5,000, instead of using a 60 day period we now use 28 days. Quote, Under the 28 day definition England has 5377 fewer deaths than previously reported (36 695 v 42 072), while the UK figure (as of 12 August) is 41 329. Unfortunately the 5,000 people who died are still dead. Lies, damned lies, and covid-stats.

I hope you're all keeping up with the latest episodes of `More or Less' on Radio 4? A new series of episodes started this week. They've been giving the real story on the data and revealing all the misinformation etc. LINK

[Marilyn]

Well..you do too Panbiker...but it time for me to go to bed, before I get into trouble again.
Both you, and Sally are heroes in my book.

[PanBiker]

Awww

[Marilyn]

I had to go and have my photo taken for renewal of drivers, last Wednesday. The lady first took 12 shots, then admitted her eyesight was failing, then asked a younger guy to do it...he took 4 shots. By this time I was feeling like the Elephant Woman...am I so ugly that not one shot was pleasant enough? They said what they got was good enough, so long as I wasn’t wanting to update my passport in the next 6 months. Hey! I may never update my passport again! Where can I go? The whole world is infected!

[PanBiker]

Thought you were going to bed Maz. Anyway re the photo's you are supposed to look like a criminal or at least nothing like yourself on official documents. If you crack a smile they reject your application. I worked a flanker on my bus pass, It has a 15 years ago photo of me on, couldn't find my recent corpse passport photo's, they never look at it anyway, you just wave it past the scanner as you get on the bus.

[plaques]

Both you, and Sally are heroes in my book. Don't fancy being an hero. Cowards seem to have a much longer life expectancy. He who turns and runs away lives..... i'm pretty good at fading into the background or woodwork whichever is the handiest. But I always accept hugs metaphorically speaking. Thank you Maz.