Friday, the 17th of April, 2020

Friday, the 17th of April, 2020

This evening's press briefing was run by the Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, Sir Patrick Valance, the UK Chief Scientific Advisor, and Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director of Public Health England.  The numbers for the UK today show that 438,991 people have been tested for Covid, with 21,328 being tested yesterday.  108,692 have now tested positive for the virus, and increase of 5,599 cases.  A total of 18,978 people have been hospitalized with the virus.  Of those 18+ thousand in hospital, 14,576 have died.  This is an increase of 847 people in the past 24 hours.  In Cheshire, there have been 72 Covid-related deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital (an increase of 5), and 238 deaths in Cheshire. The lockdown measures were reviewed, with the five criterion that need to be met before restrictions begin to be lifted.  The government has extended the UK worker furlough to the end of June (had been until the end of May).  This is the financial support package allowing companies to keep employees employed, and paying 80% of their salary, up to 2,500 pounds.  Also announced is a new vaccine task force that has been launched, combining research and work done in the government, academia, and industry to accelerate the development of a vaccine, including the testing and trials.  Another prong for treatment of the virus until we have an antibody test (to determine if you've HAD the virus), is treatment of the virus, until the vaccine is fully developed, called therapeutic treatment.  There is much talk that some anti-malarial medications could work in this function.  5,500 people are currently in clinical trials for various therapeutic treatments.  The government has also put money into ?SEPI?, which is an international organization also focused on developing a vaccine.  The race is on.

The goal of testing is to have 100,000 tests performed daily by the end of the month.  Yesterday, 21,328 people were tested.  The briefing panel reports that they have the capacity to test more.  It's unclear to me why more are not being tested then.  There currently are two "super labs" for developing/running the tests, with a third super lab to be online shortly.

The positive news for today is that in the community, the number of cases is decreasing; the r value is less than 1.  In hospitals, the number of cases seems to have plateaued, or even decreased.  Rate of infection in care homes needs a bit more attention.  This month (from the first of April through the 16th of April), 74 patients have been treated for the virus, recovered, and discharged in Chester.

There are also reports that people should not book their summer holidays just yet.  We've had our plane tickets to the US for this summer booked for awhile already, but we may not be going anywhere on an airplane this summer.  There are also some reports that some parts of the lockdown could last much longer-possibly until 2022.  It's not for certain, but speculation is for some people to continue to work from home, or restricting the numbers of people who travel during peak rush hours, and possibly the use of facemasks.

Captain Tom is still doing laps in his garden.  He has now raised more than 20 million pounds!!

I did our weekly grocery shop today.  An Aldi employee was at the door, as gatekeeper.  It seemed there were more people inside the store than there has been in recent weeks.  Perhaps they are trying to keep the queues down??  I queued for 15-20 minutes.  There were queues at the tills, which spilled into the aisles, where workers were trying to stock the shelves.  Because there were people standing in the aisles, queuing for the tills, they couldn't re-stock the shelves.  Could've used a bit less people in the store at a time.  The aisles were also "one-way", with arrows on the floor indicating the direction.  Vehicular traffic when I was traveling both to and from the grocery store was heavier than it has been in recent weeks.  

No other news to report for today.

~Stay home  ~Protect the NHS  ~Save Lives

Thursday, the 16th of April, 2020

Thursday, the 16th of April, 2020

One of the positive things that is going is the many challenges people have been doing, to raise money for various causes.  As I reported yesterday, Captain Tom is doing laps around his garden.  It's been said today that thus far, he's raised 12 million!!!!  How fabulous is that??  Capt Tom must just feel fantastic!!  What a true inspiration.  Also, The Duke of Westminster is donating 12.5 million to the NHS.  Yes, he has plenty of money, but he is sharing some.

Now for today's news.  The US reports that they are past the peak of new cases, and will begin to reopen the country.  More than 30,000 from the US have died-more than any other country.  There has been warnings from the WHO, not to reopen too soon, or the risk is there will be a second wave of the virus to move through.  There is also controversy, whether the President can reopen the country, or if individual states need to reopen  their states when they feel ready.  Trump says he has the authority to do so, the states say it is their initiative.  Trump never made a national lockdown, and let each state make their own decrees about how to handle the virus.  Some locked down very early (Ohio).  Some states it has hit very hard (New York).  It will be interesting to see how it plays out-will some states just manage not to be hit very hard, merely because they are populated so sparsely (Montana, the Dakotas), or are these states going to be hit just as hard, only later?  Will they be able to not get swamped with cases, and be "saved" by the vaccine (that's probably a year away yet)?  The pandemic is just affecting different countries so differently, based upon their geography, and how the population is spread, how the lockdowns were carried out, the amount and timing of testing performed, and other measures (use of phones to track where people have been, taking people's temperatures on entrance to buildings, etc).  Also, in Michigan, there was a group of protesters, wearing guns, who were disapproving the lockdown order.  They met on the stairs of the Michigan state capital, and stood close together in a group, with their guns, to show their anti-lockdown stance.

Tonight's press briefing was conducted by Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary, Sir Patrick Valance, UK Chief Scientific Advisor, and Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer.  The Dept of Health reports a further 861 people have passed, bringing the new death total for the UK to 13,729.  327,608 people have been tested, 103,093 have had a positive test result.  But......there are signs of a decrease in cases, there are less people being admitted to hospital with the Covid.  "What we're doing is working." The r value in the community is less than 1; however in other settings it is felt to be still greater than 1 (ie-the infection rate in hospitals and care homes/social care needs to be lower).  If restrictions were lifted now, it is feared that there would be a significant increase in the number of cases.  Therefore, in the UK, lockdown measures will be in effect for another 3 weeks, at least until the 7th of May.  Five measures need to be in place before the lockdown can begin to be lifted.  1)  the NHS needs to be able to cope with the volume of patients; needs to be enough ICU beds, 2)  a sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rate, 3)  reliable data to show the rate of infection was decreasing to a manageable level, 4) ensuring the supple of operational testing and PPE could meet future demand, and 5)  being confident any adjustments would not risk a second peak.  It is said that there needs to be a vaccine, or therapeutic program (medications to fight the virus) in place prior to lifting lockdown restrictions.  The government is confident they are making "the right decision, at the right time."

There is speculation that those with a BAME background (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) may be more susceptible to the virus.  This has not been proven.  Those that are known to be more affected by the virus are those with an advanced age, those with one or more co-morbidity, and males.

Tonight, I had a group Facetime call, with a group of school mums-Liz, Karole, Nikki, Fiona, Lisa, Linda, and Susan at 7pm.  It was good to "see" them, and do a brief catch up.  We all agreed that we should do it weekly.  Immediately after that, I went into a WhatsApp meeting with my Chester book club group, which had already been scheduled for 7pm (our usual 3rd Thursday of the month, at 7pm-just not at the pub!).  We had a WhatsApp meeting last month too.  We had to stop part-way through, for the 8pm "Clap for Carers".  Then we all came back indoors again, and resumed.  I had not read the book AT ALL, and am, in fact, still reading March's book.  (A little behind, yes?)  I think Ken (our leader) will try Zoom next month, as the hosting forum.  It was good to meet up with these people, as well.  I feel its nice to have some "normalcy", and regularly scheduled events continuing to go on.  Yes, it is nice to have a break from daily life, the rushing about, but it is also nice to have the structure, and things that are constant in life.

Tomorrow, is my day to grocery shop.  I may try a different Aldi.  Last week, they no longer had a bouncer at the front door, but just an employee monitoring and being gatekeeper at the entrance.  But the queue was lengthier- I stood in line for nearly an hour.  They say "my" Aldi always has a queue.  Therefore, I may try a different Aldi.

~Stay home  ~Protect the NHS  ~Save Lives~

Wednesday, the 15th of April, 2020

Wednesday, the 15th of April, 2020

As social distancing continues through much of the world, different world leaders make news for various reasons.  One of the latest leaders in the news is President Donald Trump.  He has decided to stop the US funding to the WHO (World Health Organization).  He says if WHO had acted better, faster, had a better overall response early on, when the virus was initially emerging in China, it would not have spread as severely, or world-wide.  This, despite Trump's initial praising of the WHO, for its response, and saying that the US would recover quickly.  The CDC reports that it will continue to work with the WHO to protect the American people.  In other news, the Tour de France is postponed until the 29th of August.  Some schools in Denmark reopened today, after closing on the 12th of March.  Italy is reporting its lowest number of new Covid cases since the 13th of March.  Turkey has the third highest new positive cases in the world, following the US and the UK within 24 hours.  (US increase of 5,445, UK increase of 4,603, and Turkey increase of 4,281.  Corona cases in the US are now greater than 615,000, with 31,204 deaths.  Global Covid cases have reached 2 million, with a third of all cases in the US.  Total global deaths are now greater than 128,000.

There is an incredible 99 year old war veteran from Bedfordshire, who has raised over 8 million pounds for the NHS.  Captain Tom Moore is walking 100 lengths of his garden.  He is on track to complete 100 of the 25 metre laps before he turns 100 on the 30th of April.  His goal was to raise 1,000 pounds for the NHS.  He recently had broken his hip, and was very appreciative of the care he received during this time.

In the UK, 398,916 tests on 313,769 people  have been completed.  Of those tests, 15,994 tests were done on 11,170 people and were completed yesterday.  A total of 98,476 tests have been positive, 4,605 testing positive yesterday.  Total number of deaths is 12,868, with 761 perishing in the last 24 hours.  In England, there has been a total of 11,656 deaths, with 113 in the last day.  1,488 people in Cheshire have tested positive for the virus, up from 1,406 yesterday, and increase of 82 cases.  In Cheshire West and Chester, there are 461 total cases.  The number of deaths in Cheshire hospitals from patients who tested positive for CV in now 197, which is an increase of 17 new deaths.  At Countess of Chester Hospital, a total of 64 have died from CV-5 in the last 24 hours. The Nightingale Hospital at the ExCel centre in the Docklands area  of London is up and running (for awhile now).  The Nightingale Hospital in Birmingham at the NEC will open tomorrow.  The Manchester Nightingale hospital has taken patients, even though it does not open until Friday, and the Nightingale hospital in Harrogate opens next week.  There are other Nightingale hospitals that will open in Bristol, Exeter, and Sunderland.  Closer to home, the Deeside Leisure Centre, in Queensferry is transforming into a temporary emergency hospital to treat CV patients, and is set to be ready by the 30 of April.  A skate park was demolished here to create 250 beds.  Some of these beds will also be in the sports hall.  There is room for more beds to be created, if needed, by using the ice rink.  Also, locally, the Duke of Westminster is donating 10 million pounds to the national Covid relief fund.

This evening's press conference was run by Matt Hancock, Health Secretary, Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer, and Professor Angela McClean, Deputy Chief Scientific Advisor.  The number of worldwide confirmed cases in now greater than 2 million.  Police have issued 3,203 fines for breaching lockdown laws between the 27th of March, and the 13th of April.  Matt Hancock announced that there will be increased testing of social care staff, and care homes.  They will test patients on discharge from the hospital, so they can be isolated, if need be, before returning to the care home.  They are trying to curb the spread of infection in care homes.  They will be testing symptomatic care homes, and increase the supply of PPE to social care settings.  They want to introduce a "brand" for all social care workers, a badge.  There will be a national recruitment for social care workers, and will pay for their induction training.  Also, they want to increase the support and dignity for those at end of life, and will implement new procedures so loved ones can say good bye to those they love.  Matt Hancock sited the case of a 13 year old boy, Ismael, who died alone, without his parents or other family members.  The funeral was held, and the casket was lowered into the ground, again, with no family present.  How awful, and how scary for that young boy.  The positive news from the press conference is that our r value is now between 0.5 and 1.0  (speaks to the rate/amplitude of transmission).  Meaning we are decreasing our numbers.  Our curve is flattened. 

 

There will be a COBR meeting tomorrow.  (COBR is Cabinet Office Briefing Room-meeting rooms in the cabinet office for dealing with national or regional crises, ie, a crisis management center.)  Something to report on tomorrow.  Stay tuned!

~Stay home     ~Protect the NHS     ~Save Lives~

Tuesday, the 14th of April, 2020

Tuesday, the 14th of April, 2020

Today's press conference was held by Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, along with Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for England in the NHS, and Professor Yvonne Doyle, medical director and director of health protection for public health England.  There is a lot of talk today on financial and economic sequelae of the Covid virus.  The OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) reports that the economy could contract by as much as 35% by June, before bouncing back.  The lockdown, followed by partial restrictions, would have an economic decline of roughly 35%.  Mr Sunak had three points to make.  1)  There will be serious implications on economy, and all will be affected.  2)  The government's planned economic response is to protect the people and businesses, and help them to recover, but also that they would not be able to save all businesses.  3)  The single most important thing we can do for the economy is to protect our healthy people, and to stay at home; continue to socially distance.  Some positive economic news is that some European shops and businesses will be re-opening, and Denmark will be re-opening schools shortly.

Another point that received a lot of attention today, was the number of outbreaks in care homes.  There are more than 2,000 care homes with outbreaks (the number of 92 I reported yesterday was actually the number of NEW care homes reporting an outbreak).  There is upset that deaths occurring in care home settings are not being reported, and the chief medical officer would like more testing to be done in care homes.  The ONS (Office of National Statistics) is saying 21% of deaths being registered mention Covid in the death certificate.  It is estimated that 10% of total deaths are happening outside of hospitals.  Therefore, the number of deaths being reported each day, is not an accurate one.  It only reflects the number of deaths as a result of Covid in the hospital.  The positive news is that the rate of hospital admissions is stabilizing.

In the UK, 382,650 tests for the coronavirus have been completed, with 14,982 performed yesterday.  302,599 people have been tested, with 98,873 testing positive, an increase of 5,252.  Hospital deaths from Covid in the UK are now at 12,107, an increase of 778 in the last 24 hours.  England and Wales are reporting a new weekly high of deaths since the start of April.  Total hospital deaths from Covid in England are now at 11,005, an increase of 744 in the last 24 hours.  The number of hospital deaths from Covid in Cheshire is now 180, an increase of 13.  59 of those deaths have occurred at the Countess of Chester Hospital, with 4 in the last 24 hours.

On a more personal level, we continue to socially distance, not going out, not meeting up with people.  Weston had a trumpet lesson per Zoom today, Nolan and Jaymeson continue to play games with friends.  I am trying to have Weston and Nolan revise for exams that will be coming after Easter break concludes, with mixed results.  It depends what day it is.  Nolan did an all-nighter last evening, and Weston would like to do one, as well.  I am just trying to have the kids do reading, some writing, and their music endeavors, as well as schoolwork.  Will continue to try tomorrow.

~Stay home    ~Protect the NHS    ~Save Lives~

Easter Monday, the 13th of April, 2020

Easter Monday, the 13th of April, 2020

The evening news update was run by Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary, deputizing as Prime Minister for Boris Johnson, Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Advisor, and Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer of England.  They reported that we are currently in the peak of the pandemic.  The numbers will begin to plateau and carry on, before a gradual decrease will take place.  Today begins the fourth week of lockdown.  It is reported that the social distancing measures in place will be reviewed later this week.  A total of 367,667 tests have been done, with 14,506 done yesterday.  A total of 88,621 have tested positive for the virus, and 11,329 have died in the hospital, making the UK the 5th country to pass the number of 10,000 deaths.  This is an increase of 717 deaths.  Russia saw a spike today of 2,250 new cases reported, while Spain and Italy are beginning to ease their lockdown policies.  In England, there were 667 new deaths reported, making the total number of English deaths in hospital from Covid 10,621.  In Cheshire, the number of deaths is 167 (up 15 from yesterday), with 48 of those deaths being reported at Chester's Countess of Chester Hospital, 3 being in the last 24 hours.

The Nightingale Hospital in Manchester has been completed, and is ready to take patients.

The CDC has recommended that US citizens wear face masks.  This was done last week, perhaps the week before.  President Trump says he will not wear a mask, that it is merely a recommendation, it is your choice if you wear a mask or not.  During tonight's press conference, it was noted that the efficacy of face mask usage is being tested, and the UK people will be advised accordingly to the results of the testing.  The UK has previously taken the stance that face masks are not very helpful, and so has not made it mandatory to wear face masks.

There were a number of questions posed to the specialists by the press.  One was why the death number is always calculated using the number of hospital deaths, and that surely the death toll is higher, if deaths in care homes and residences were included.  The response is that hospital deaths is the number that can be easily accessed, and is the measure that is widely used across most sectors (ie., other countries).  It is more difficult to get the numbers from all the different areas of death, which makes preparing a daily number of total number of deaths across all areas more difficult and time-consuming to determine.  Therefore, there are 2 measures of death-one that measures deaths in hospital from the covid-which are proven cases of covid from testing.  The second is the total number of deaths which lists all people who have the reason of death on their death certificate as covid-19.  There is a delay of days in this second number.

Another concern amongst the press was about the prevalence of the virus in care homes.  It was relayed that 13.5% of care homes are currently affected by covid.  They will begin to test care homes more widely for the covid virus in the future.

In other news, the Coronavirus has infected more than 1.7 million people worldwide, and greater than 100,000 deaths have been reported worldwide.  

Currently, only essential travel is permitted.  Non-essential travel is advised against, indefinitely.  I am curious if we will be able to go home for our annual summer trip to see our US family and friends.

Stay home--Protect the NHS--Save Lives

Easter Sunday, the 12th of April, 2020

Easter Sunday, the 12th of April, 2020

Today was Easter Sunday, and an Easter unlike any other I've other experienced, and likely unlike any I will ever experience again.  A very low-key day.  Church services were offered online, on YouTube.  We could've "attended" Mass virtually.  We should've "attended" Mass virtually.  Gregg and I made a "fancy" cake-meaning, a lot more labor intensive cake.  Sifted the flour twice for it, used quite a bit of vanilla paste and vanilla extract, 2 whole eggs, and 6 egg whites, etc.  And even more eggs and vanilla for the frosting, which involved warming the frosting to a certain temperature and then cooling it slightly and adding more ingredients.  The cake was very heavy.  I read the nutritional content of the cake while it was baking-1/16th of the cake was 400 calories-SANS FROSTING!!!  Yikes!!  But it was/is very good.  Heavy, and filling, but tasty.  The 5 of us went for a walk.  We also did a 5 way Zoom video call (similar to Skype) with Gregg's parents, his brother and partner, his sister, and his niece.  Gregg positioned our camera so that all 5 of us could be on camera simultaneously.  We chatted for about an hour and a half.  It was mentioned that we should go on another holiday together again. 

Now, for the Corona update.  First of all, Boris Johnson, our Prime Minister, has been released from the hospital, after spending 7 nights there, 3 of them in the ICU.  He was never intubated/on a ventilator, but he has said that he owes his life to the NHS staff, and that for 48 hours, things could've went either way for him.  He is at his Buckinghamshire country retreat, Chequers, recuperating, resting, and recovering.

Liverpool has plans for a 500 bed respite care centre to be used for both those recovering from the Covid, as well as non-Covid use.  This is being done to free up hospital beds for "sicker" patients.  I'm not sure if the facility will be used post-pandemic, or if its a short-term plan.

There is talk that the UK may one of the worst affected, if not THE worst affected European country.  Many attribute this to poor testing, as well as a delay in putting a lockdown in place  (it took a full 10 days before the lockdown was enacted).  Time, of course, will tell.  Matt Hancock today promised that testing for nursing homes and the care sector is coming......

In Cheshire, there has been 154 more cases of Covid-19 reported.  Yesterday's number of positive cases was 1,081, and today's number is 1,235.  Total number of deaths in the UK is now greater than 10,000.

There is a temporary Nightingale hospital in use in London, and there are 6 more being built across the country, including Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, and others.  There are a record number of former NHS staff returning to work-over 5,000 are back on the frontline, and another 36,000 have enlisted.  I have looked into working as a nurse, and overseas nurses need to register here in the UK, which is a 2 part process.  The first part is a computer-based exam, and the second part is a practical structured clinical exam.  You also need to pass an English language exam, if English is not your first language spoken.  Due to the situation at hand, the NHS is waiving some of the requirements for those returning to service, essentially for those who have left the field in the last 2-5 years.  I left the field 12 years ago......

No other news for today.  I am looking forward to the days when we do not have to be nervous about going out, or to meet people.

Wednesday, the 11th of March 2020

Wednesday, the 11th of March 2020

The Corona Virus is coming.  Talk of it is everywhere.  Almost 400 people in the UK have been diagnosed, and 6 have died thus far, as a result of the virus.  Greater than 25,000 tests have taken place, and the goal is that 10,000 tests will be done per day within weeks.  The NHS is developing new testing centres very rapidly, as currently only 2,000 tests a day can be performed.  Medical facilities are bracing for the onslaught, as the public is repeatedly told to wash their hands, for at least 20 seconds.  The talk is, "Will schools be called off?"  "When will schools be called off?"  "How long will schools be called off for?"  "What about exams?  GCSE's?  A-levels?"  "Will they learn remotely, or just not have any school"  "Will they make it up?"  "What are the contingency plans?"  Rumors and what if's are rife.  The situation continues to evolve, as hospitals, care homes, Intensive Care Units, hospices, ambulance services, testing facilities, labs, doctors' surgeries, etc, all await and fear the coming of the virus, and the destruction it may cause.

Meanwhile, in the US:
Wisconsin Department of Health confirms three more/new positive cases of coronavirus in Wisconsin, Wednesday afternoon. One of the cases was in Waukesha County, the two others in Fond du Lac County. This brings the total number of active cases in Wisconsin to 5.

A sixth patient, a woman in Dane County, has since recovered and tested negative for COVID-19.