It seems I’ve just had a call to arms.  The company I work for has taken on a contract to assemble visors for the NHS.  They phoned to say I am no longer furloughed as I’m needed to work, starting tomorrow.  Had it been to do anything else, I’d refuse, but as it’s providing the much needed PPE for the NHS, I’d be really pleased to do this.  

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It seems I’ve just had a call to arms.  The company I work for has taken on a contract to assemble visors for the NHS.  They phoned to say I am no longer furloughed as I’m needed to work, starting tomorrow.  Had it been to do anything else, I’d refuse, but as it’s providing the much needed PPE for the NHS, I’d be really pleased to do this.  

Essential work.

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An important point made here which the UK should consider when the future of the NHS comes up for discussion. In bold:

Certain medical factors support this argument. High testing rates do not just help authorities monitor coronavirus’s spread but also help them fight its lethality: by quarantining people who have or may have the virus, by shielding the most vulnerable and by getting medical attention to people early to increase their chances of survival. Thanks partly to [Germany's] its decentralised health system (where providers can get on with things on their own initiative)

Germany was able to introduce testing and contact-tracing in early February and ramp up the measures quickly. “Germany recognised its own outbreak very early on,” Christian Drosten, a top virologist, tells Die Zeit newspaper: “We’re two or three weeks ahead of some of our neighbours.” And Berlin wants to continue expanding testing. A leaked confidential paper from the federal interior ministry, which has apparently been presented to Spahn and Angela Merkel, proposes adopting the South Korean model of mass testing and increasing the rate to 200,000 a day by the end of April.

https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2020/03/why-are-germany-and-austria-s-coronavirus-death-rates-so-low

 

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No. It was cancelled two days beforehand. Suspect that I will be waiting for at least 12 months now - can't even go private because private hospitals have been nationalised effectively. Hope your hubby is bearing up.

 Sorry to hear that. 

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Essential work.

At first I thought it strange that a printing company would be doing something like this.  But thinking about it, we have guillotines and die cutting machines, so it does make sense.  I don’t have all the details yet, but I’ve put it to the directors, that this can possibly be done at home.  It seems there are hundreds of thousands to be made. 

It goes to show that we do have the means to produce many things we’d usually import.  Companies can diversify with a little imagination.  This could be a lesson in how to think outside the box!   

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 This was from the BBC earlier:

Spain has reported 812 new deaths related to coronavirus since Sunday.

Authorities said nearly 6,400 more people have also been infected.

 

Spain report data every 12 hours. 

It seems I’ve just had a call to arms.  The company I work for has taken on a contract to assemble visors for the NHS.  They phoned to say I am no longer furloughed as I’m needed to work, starting tomorrow.  Had it been to do anything else, I’d refuse, but as it’s providing the much needed PPE for the NHS, I’d be really pleased to do this.  

I have just raised my cup of coffee to you, Caz. I salute you.

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An important point made here which the UK should consider when the future of the NHS comes up for discussion. In bold:

Certain medical factors support this argument. High testing rates do not just help authorities monitor coronavirus’s spread but also help them fight its lethality: by quarantining people who have or may have the virus, by shielding the most vulnerable and by getting medical attention to people early to increase their chances of survival. Thanks partly to [Germany's] its decentralised health system (where providers can get on with things on their own initiative)

Germany was able to introduce testing and contact-tracing in early February and ramp up the measures quickly. “Germany recognised its own outbreak very early on,” Christian Drosten, a top virologist, tells Die Zeit newspaper: “We’re two or three weeks ahead of some of our neighbours.” And Berlin wants to continue expanding testing. A leaked confidential paper from the federal interior ministry, which has apparently been presented to Spahn and Angela Merkel, proposes adopting the South Korean model of mass testing and increasing the rate to 200,000 a day by the end of April.

https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2020/03/why-are-germany-and-austria-s-coronavirus-death-rates-so-low

 

Not having an NHS could be an advantage - Germany uses the social insurance model.

But if Germany decides to go down the South Korean route of containment and contact tracing, it means they will have to adopt South Korean levels of border control, which goes against the grain for Merkel and her government. You cannot both contain the virus and have open borders with freedom of movement - it really is either/or.

 

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Well if you are fit and healthy I would urge people to login to blood.co.uk and book an appointment to give blood. Stocks are being depleted quickly and with people isolating stocks are very low. This is classed as essential travel.

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Prince Charles is out of self-isolation after seven days having recovered from Coronavirus.

Scotland have announced 6 new deaths taking the total to 47

Well if you are fit and healthy I would urge people to login to blood.co.uk and book an appointment to give blood. Stocks are being depleted quickly and with people isolating stocks are very low. This is classed as essential travel.

Yes!  Always book an appointment! 

We went to blood donors last Tuesday. Hubby got the last available appointment online and sadly, I missed out but I went along with him as usual, hoping I might get a cancellation with people self isolating.  They couldn’t fit me in though, as they’d only got seven staff on duty due to some self isolating and they’d already cancelled some appointments.  

I sat outside in the sunshine, on a grassy bank and waited for hubby to do something amazing!  

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It seems I’ve just had a call to arms.  The company I work for has taken on a contract to assemble visors for the NHS.  They phoned to say I am no longer furloughed as I’m needed to work, starting tomorrow.  Had it been to do anything else, I’d refuse, but as it’s providing the much needed PPE for the NHS, I’d be really pleased to do this.  

Good stuff Caz, just be extra careful and stay safe.

There is actually a surprisingly good stock of blood in Scotland currently, enough for 11 days in my blood group (with the target to keep levels having a 6 day supply). I am going to hold off until the supplies become more depleted so I can maximise the benefit of my donation.

Good stuff re. your work Caz and thanks.

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I have just raised my cup of coffee to you, Caz. I salute you.

Thanks!  But I’m sure you’d all do the same, given the opportunity.  I just feel honoured to do it and I think I’ll be working in far better conditions than the women who worked in munitions factories!  

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It seems I’ve just had a call to arms.  The company I work for has taken on a contract to assemble visors for the NHS.  They phoned to say I am no longer furloughed as I’m needed to work, starting tomorrow.  Had it been to do anything else, I’d refuse, but as it’s providing the much needed PPE for the NHS, I’d be really pleased to do this.  

 Great stuff. Hope you'll be able to wfh.

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https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/modes-of-transmission-of-virus-causing-covid-19-implications-for-ipc-precaution-recommendations

Interesting reading (and related to a conversation held earlier in the thread). 

The scientific consensus so far is that isn’t necessarily correct to describe the virus as “airborne”.

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It seems I’ve just had a call to arms.  The company I work for has taken on a contract to assemble visors for the NHS.  They phoned to say I am no longer furloughed as I’m needed to work, starting tomorrow.  Had it been to do anything else, I’d refuse, but as it’s providing the much needed PPE for the NHS, I’d be really pleased to do this.  

Good on you. Make sure you stay stafe.

x

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I am not sure how widespread testing would be of any benefit at this stage, especially with everyone locked down. You test every suspect case when you are trying to contain the epidemic, as South Korea did - when you have mass community spread because you failed to control your borders in the first place, what is the benefit of mass testing? In that case, testing should be concentrated on those hospitalised and essential workers - the real scandal in the UK has been the slow start to routine testing of NHS staff.

The test which needs to be conducted on a mass scale, is the antibody test to see who has had the virus.

Just talking to my Danish colleagues this morning - the Danish Government is going for containment and keeping borders closed - if you don't go for herd immunity, the only other solution is to track, contain, quarantine and closed borders to keep it out. Every country which has successfully contained the virus, is going for border lockdown. Just why our authorities cannot see the logic of that, I don't know.

Could you explain why border lock down will make any difference now?

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Explains why the French numbers are so low 

But as someone who wants the lockdown to end ASAP, I don't mind if HMG is doing its best to suppress 

 

None of the stats from anywhere are accurate and certainly can't be compared side by side. They are about as useful as a ten day GFS chart for snow!

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