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~