Dear All
Coronavirus is a rather nasty bug which is
going to kill a lot of people, at present; you get the impression that some
parts of the world are taking the threat more seriously than others. Italy is
on lockdown, borders are being closed; entire cities are staying indoors. Large
gatherings are banned but one place stands out as taking the threat more
seriously, that is Russia. Russia closed their borders really quickly and has
had few cases despite being one of the biggest countries in the world. In the
West, the thinking of business as usual has prevailed which in retrospect
shouldn’t have happened because some feared the ‘hit’ to the financial markets.
Coronavirus is grim and the chance to isolate
it has gone, we have a pandemic, no one is safe, no matter how much soap or
toilet roll they buy. You get a sense that the virus is being downplayed in
certain countries. People getting off planes from Italy just breeze back into
the UK, no health checks which is contrary to information like this news report
put out.
So, a question is why?
In the UK, we are expecting things to get
worse, we are seeing businesses suffer, but isn’t a short term hit better than
a long term tragic human outcome? Already the airlines are seeing a huge drop
in business. And this will have a ripple effect in business and in people
having to cancel holidays to places like Italy.
The symptoms of coronavirus are:
a cough
a high temperature
shortness of breath
But these symptoms do not necessarily mean
you have the illness.
The symptoms are similar to other illnesses
that are much more common, such as cold and flu. What we don’t could fill a
library such as how the virus is transmitted. Is it by contact or is it
airborne? If it is airborne, this is a real problem, it means it will spread
faster. We are told that doing certain things will limit our chances of
catching it such as;
wash your hands with soap and water often –
do this for at least 20 seconds
always wash your hands when you get home or
into work
use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water
are not available
cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or
your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze put used tissues in the
bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards
try to avoid close contact with people who
are unwell
And we are told; don’t touch your face,
mouth or eyes if your hands are dirty because this allows a fast route into the
body. It doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor because we all have an
equal chance of being infected. One person who is infected is award winning
actor Tom Hanks, he and his wife have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The
Oscar-winning actor, 63, has been in Australia filming an upcoming Elvis
Presley biopic and said he started experiencing symptoms of the virus. After
tests, he and his wife got the bad news, in a statement, he said:
"Well, now. What to do next? The
Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks' will be
tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety
requires. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no? We'll keep
the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves!"
US President Donald Trump addressed the US
and announced a host of new measures, notably suspending all travel from
Europe, excluding the UK, for 30 days starting from Friday. In Scotland, we are told the number of known
cases has topped 60. The true number will be higher because there will be
people infected just moving around the population just thinking they are okay
or have a mild cold. Gatherings of over 500 are now banned in Scotland from
next Monday, but will that measure be enough and also who came up with that
number and is there any science behind it?
What needs to happened is the public being
told more information in order to keep them save, so far, we have been told
about crowds and hand washing, but you get a sense of phased denial is coming
to an end. We are told that governments are working to find a cure but how did
this virus suddenly get so widespread? The obvious answer is airplanes, in a
global world, the spread of virus and disease is so fast, especially with open
borders. As of Wednesday, there were 460 confirmed cases in the UK and eight
people had died after contracting the disease. We haven’t turned a corner with
the virus so that it has run its course, and we don’t know if the authorities
get it wrong it could spring up again and mutate to another strain.
So far, we have been told there are two
strains.
I don’t think people should feel safe at
present, economies can be rebuilt, but this virus kills, I think we need to
know and be told more. Tom Hanks and wife hopefully will make a full recovery.
If someone like Tom Hanks who lives a comfortable life can be infected, then
what hope is there for the rest of us?
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
4 comments:
Our first responsibility is to ourselves and loved ones. It's crucial we do that.
When outside your own property assume everything and everyone is contaminated and don't forget the money on your person. Please don't leave loose change anywhere others can touch. Keep all that stuff in a wallet and keys in your jacket or purse.
The worst for carrying the virus are ATM keyboards, ditto any keyboards, like Visa. All money, all bannister's, door handles, elevator buttons, handrails on buses, trains even touch screens.
Gloves give a false sense of protection; they can carry the virus just the same as your hands and the medical ones don't like washing. So if you don't have any cuts in your hands, don't waste money, just wash your hands with soap and water.
Hand sanitizers are sod all use if done as instructed on the container. You absolutely must thoroughly wet your hands, so about 4 squirts minimum. Alcohol based ones dry your hand and cause stiffness. Soap based ones are less expensive and don't cause dryness. Avoid any that have some sort scent included; you do not need another chemical, so avoid them if possible.
Where people gather is not a good place to be. Stand at least 2 metres apart with strangers. Unfortunately that is still not possible at supermarket checkouts. Use a trolley to put distance while you wait for the person in front, then unload it from the front to keep distance from the person behind you.
If you must greet someone, then the elbow bump, or blow a kiss. If they don't get the message then make light of it because it'll be many months before this thing is done. We must help bring on the new normal.
Live Leak has a stack of videos showing people use their spit to contaminate hand rails and elevator buttons. There's one tonight of a woman liking paper cups they put cookies into. They're not fake, we do have very evil people out there and the virus does give them a sense of empowerment.
Apologies for the lengthy post George but this one just pissed me off.
https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=9pedy_1583926522
And don't forget old people, yours or neighbours. They're too trusting for their own good, so lend a hand for shopping, though make sure it's on your terms: don't become their servant.
What is worrying is panic buying. Some people are bloody idiots, but a lack of leadership from politicians does not help. You're quite right about denial from the governments. Most people will respect the truth, but the fact is that politicians always look at short term effects on the economy. My view is that they do not have the infrastructure to cope, and we may have a hard lesson to learn. There is one positive - the independence march at arbroath has been cancelled. Last thing we need are thousands of people from all over Scotland massed together then spreading the virus
I've read the virus has mutated into two strains. One S: Wuham strain, the other L: a mutated clone. The L strain not as lethal but infects more people.
Now we know that Boris appears to be fucking up the response to corona virus (although I can say for certainty that all civil service and ngo's are on immediate standby to operate under emergency continuity plans). However, go and read some of the shit on the Wings site. Some are publicly stating they hope lots of English people die, or the old No voters join them. Some are even calling for the SNP to use this pandemic as an advert for independence. Ffs do they take their ideas from the 1930s?
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