France is now in lockdown

¹ Dead in a Chequers’ ditch!

Didn’t the Scottish Health Advisor have to resign for visiting her second home?

Double-chequers!

Cheque-mate?

even BloJo

Now that’s really kicking […]

I used to call him BloJo until mom told me off for being childish and purile.
Still, it’s a lot more polite than the words I used to refer to Theresa May, which are quite unsuitable for repeating.

well it’s today.

Sure?

I remember last week the red tops were crowing about how the death toll had dropped and how things were getting better.
That was followed by a day that give the biggest single day figure, and the day after was even more.

Is this the real peak or just a lull because the government is doing something dumb like not counting non-hospital deaths?

since we don’t have a vaccine for the other coronavirus strains (that’s the common cold folks)

I don’t believe there is no vaccine for the cold because it’s not possible to make one.

I believe there is no vaccine for the cold because the medical industry makes a hell of a lot more money every year selling solutions, preparations, and pills aimed at easing the symptoms.

but don’t rely on the UK government to do that.

They still seem to be obsessed with Brexit FFS.

Hasn’t America’s recent behaviour indicated exactly how valuable a “partner” they will be?

[it seems a lot of the rest of the world has taken the attitude of more or less ignoring them; after all, Trump’s response to the worst medical emergency in living memory is… to slam the door in the face of the World Health Organisation… WTF?]

Hancock, for one, is too busy dissing the experts

Well, didn’t Boris select his cabinet based upon how big a dick the person was, rather than any notion of actual competence?

Didn’t the Scottish Health Advisor have to resign for visiting her second home?

Chief Medical Officer? Yes… yes, she did. Unfortunate, given that she was the face of the “don’t go to your second home” TV ads north of the border…

Is this the real peak or just a lull because the government is doing something dumb like not counting non-hospital deaths?

There seems to be a feeling amongst a number of people watching the numbers that it could be.

Don’t confuse “peak” with “we’ve made it”, though: there will be a few weeks to get down the other side before it’s safe to start letting people mix with each other again, which seems to be reflected in the UK announcement today.

Meanwhile, the experts say we need to avoid going back to “normal” anytime before a vaccine appears, which isn’t expected anytime this year

There’s “normal” and “normal”, though. Some bits of life will re-start, but the risky-and-non-essential stuff such as gathering in confined spaces to watch plays and films is unlikely to get going again for a while. One wonders if pushing the 25th Wakefield out to 2021 was far enough… :-)

Sure?

Yup, back then (last month even) the prediction was for peak activity in the hospital (in terms of new admissions) this week.
This weeks stuff seems lower than the last wave.

The SARS-CoV-2 genome…

https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/data/view/MT344963&display=text

If I do any changes to my game, I probably ought to try to find a way to work that into it somehow… ;-)

Xkcd cartoon

Explanation for the not so bright.

The Mayor sent out a little info sheet with some guidance for how to handle the easing of restrictions. No, one cannot pack up their family and head to the beach with the entire rest of the town.

On the back were some jokes to fill the page. Two that made me laugh:

• When the French call for everybody to take to the streets, as they often do, few people turn up. Now that nobody can take to the streets, everybody wants to.

• Diary entry 27th August 2087. Finally used the last roll of toilet paper that my grandparents bought back in 2020.

Hmm… Makes me wonder exactly what I had in mid December? Probably not COVID, but…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/04/french-hospital-discovers-covid-19-case-december-retested

Seem to remember that there was some strange pneumonia death’s in USA last Aug 2019 – it was blamed on smoking sticks plus underlying Heath conditions.

Brilliant! Irrefutable proof that COVID was made in an American lab… :-p

Lookup Fort Derrick usa- scroll down the bottom – a old British Fort??

Pity we aren’t able to celebrate VE day. I think the lockdown in Germany has been lifted a bit,so they’ll be able to celebrate the end of Naziism or perhaps the beginning of their economic recovery.

Looks like we may have to postpone celebrations until a suitable date – VJ Day will probably still have lockdown restrictions so perhaps 16 October 2021 will be far enough ahead? Perhaps that could be called VN Day.

No doubt we will all get the virus sooner or later, and when I’ve ticked that box, if I’m still here I may well take up the offer.

Hmm, I’ve been away a little while (Apr 27 – July 13)
The explanation involves three things:

1. A pre-existing cataract in my right eye being joined by a rapid development in my left.
2. Covid-19
3. Epididymo-orchitis

Sequence:
Covid – 2 days of fever and delirium like a flu bout

Recovering from Covid, note distinct eyesight issue and an increasing level of discomfort in the gentlemens department after 2 days this is at visit A&E level (return after much blood extraction x-rays etc with a14 day course of antibiotics and pain-killers.

Finish antibiotics and book into an emergency eye-test at the opticians. Guide-wife needed to deliver me to the door for supervision inside. Status: Sight impairment at a level some describe as “blind”
Referral to hospital for cataract check and treatment.

This is the bit where various people I’ve done work for in the previous 6 months (and many years) get to meet me and do something for me…

July 7th – lens replacement in right eye. Taking it easy I’ve left computer use out until now.

So, Covid-19 is a typical bully – might knock you down but it’s the nasty little sods that are co-travellers that you have to watch out for. Note the rapid cataract development in the left eye could have been the effects of Covid or the infection “downstairs”, Chris has a friend who had similar sight problems kicked off by Covid.

BTW. The nasal & throat swab test is horrible (unless you really want your sinuses manually unblocked) and despite my needle phobia I find the blood sample anti-body test preferable.

I would say “I hope you’re feeling better” but it sounds like it might take some time. The virus didn’t get you, that’s the main thing. Just take it easy, turn the screen off, and don’t exert yourself. You know the drill… ;-)

I’ll skip the orchids, except to say that probably like most X-Y chromosome carriers here, I followed the link and winced.

problems kicked off by Covid

Yeah, the more I hear about its side effects, the more I understand that it’s a really nasty bugger. I very much don’t fancy catching it, but one of France’s current hotspots is just up the road in Laval (it’s where mom and I used to go to KFC, so that’s “too damn close”).

Just take it easy, turn the screen off, and don’t exert yourself. You know the drill… ;-)

The phone call to the doctor this morning was for an extension to the sick note taking me beyond the end of my post-op medication. I’m going to use that time to rebuild the strength I lost with 2 months of minimal activity.
Next stage is a post-op exam and referral for treatment on the left eye.

Hi Steve,

Good to hear you are on the mend as we in MUG were a little concerned we had not heard off you for a while.

I can also confirm that the Covid test is not pleasant as I was invited to a trial by Imperial College London to see if I had it and what the prevalence was in the community.

I would have been concerned if I had as I am shielding but hey stats are there to massage , I mean do robust checking on…

As Rick says take care of yourself as many have said this little blighter has a nasty habit of lingering on.

Welcome back Steve. Glad to hear that you are on the mend. I been wondering why we hadn’t heard from you since April, especially with you working at a hospital.

Good to hear you are on the mend as we in MUG were a little concerned we had not heard off you for a while.

As one of Doug’s fellow MUGs, I’d like to express my own relief that you are back.

That might sound a little exessive, considering that we’ve never met, but true nevertheless. You’re the second RISC OS stalwart who’s made a welcome comeback. A prolific Welsh contributor to the Living with Technology mailing list has recently ‘returned to the fold’ though his absence wasn’t health-related.

I’m sure I speak for all when I wish you a speedy and successful recovery.

As Rick says take care of yourself as many have said this little blighter has a nasty habit of lingering on.

After 40+ years of working life with an average sickness of less than 1 day per year¹ I’ve now done the sick note thing for a few months.
Being an information junkie I can’t sit idle for long (the sightless state nearly broke me) so when I’m fit I shall be working again.

I’ve had so many wishes of good health that now I’m almost right again I’m feeling embarrassed. The “healthcare” package from my work colleagues came as a direct delivery from a local brewery :)
As I said at the time “heading or blind² drunk, got the first bit sorted and here’s the second”

¹ Probably less than 0.1 if its just working days

All the various good wishes seconded. And don’t be embarrassed Mr. Pampling. Just know that you’re a valued fellow human bean.

Thank you one and all.

I fully intend to make use of my experience to feedback to the rather nice people who have been treating me to help them help others. It will be nice to actually see them and put faces to voices.

I’m building a multi-part to-do list for work and home.
Just waiting for the side issues of the knee injury¹ flare up and then I can start the light garden tasks (with sunglasses on as the world seems awfully bright since my eye op)

¹ Silly scuffle with a friend at University in 1977 dislocated the patella and left a weak knee.

Necroing this topic because Pres. Macron will be making one of his big televised announcements in a little over an hour to hand down orders ¹ as to what happens next.

There are a lot of people who seem to think that a second, four week, lockdown is what will be announced, and apparently this is “on the table” now.

I hope not, for three reasons.

Firstly, a personal one – somebody is supposed to be coming to pick up my car tomorrow evening, give it a major service on Friday, and bring it back after. I don’t really want that to be screwed up as it needs an oil change every 5000km and a major service every 10,000. Four weeks, plus an extra two, say, to get a new booking, will be perhaps an additional 700-800km. That’s quite a lot, considering.

Secondly, an obvious one – the economy suffered in the first lockdown, and things are still precarious for a lot of people. Where I am, for instance, is currently on a curfew. Nobody is to be out between 9pm and 6am. There are restrictions on groups. So that’s the nightclub scene pretty much dead then. Cinemas too. Bars, restaurants, and so on are facing much stricter restrictions than before, having not really gotten over the first lockdown. If it is a full lockdown like last time, all “non-essential businesses” will likely be expected to close. Twice in a year? I wonder how many would open again afterwards.

And thirdly – what’s the evidence that lockdowns actually work? France had one of the world’s harshest lockdowns in the Spring, and now it is in the top five worst countries by daily infections.
Oh, certainly, France could eradicate coronavirus if it tells everybody to stay home for a month (literally only cops, army, fireman, and ambulances able to move), and then close all of the airports and border crossings and don’t allow anybody in or out until the virus has been contained in the rest of the world. Do that, and they’ll get rid of the virus. Do that, and they’ll bankrupt the country.

Perhaps, before inflicting yet another lockdown or additional restrictions, perhaps the question that needs to be asked is why. Not why lockdown, that’s obvious. But why is the virus out of control in France? There are regional restrictions of various different types (depending upon severity). Masks are obligatory pretty much everywhere. So why have things gone so wrong? Should schools have stayed closed? Should they put in place, and enforce, bans on groups of more than six or any people who aren’t related? Should workplaces where employees don’t have to be physically present be required to keep them home? ²

I really hope Macron has some answers for the why because if not, there’s a risk that whatever additional measures are to be announced, if even a second lockdown, that in six months from now we’ll just be back where we are now.

¹ That’s something the French have against him. They don’t perceive that he talks to the French people, or guides them. They think that he hands down orders like the royalty that they were only too glad to see the back of.

² Kinda feel the need to point out that during the first lockdown, the company I work for had the bean counters working from home……for half the day. The other half of the day they were in the office doing office stuff. Way to miss the f***ing point, guys!

But why is the virus out of control in France?

My guess is that it’s for the same reason as everywhere: there are very many people who are too selfish and/or stupid to obey the simple rules.

The virus doesn’t spread.  People spread the virus.

Waiting for the broadcast…

Weather right now.
11 tomorrow morning, 18 in the afternoon. Gret and miserable.
Oh, and a horrid Sunday. It’s 1st November. Everybody at the graveyards.