Thursday, March 12, 2020

Corona virus is a Pandemic, 460 cases in the UK, we know about, Italy is in lockdown, in Scotland the number of positive tests spikes to 60, large Scottish gatherings over 500 to be banned, and actor Tom Hanks and his wife have been infected in Australia, is the information we are being told enough to really educate ourselves to how much danger we are in?
















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:

  1. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 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

    ReplyDelete
  3. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 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?

    ReplyDelete