General Chat

I have a small unopened bottle of hand sanitizer that was left here by the community nurse the last time she visited me after I had the last mastectomy ............

that was in early October 2011 :-0

I'm not sure that it will still be effective!!!

The opened bottle that she also left is still somewhere in the "guest" bathroom .......... I think that said "use within 3 days after opening" :-D


Mind you, I don't believe that hand sanitizers are effective any way, especially as most people do not use them correctly.

My SIL "found" some sanitiser she had bought ages ago,it has "made in China" on it :-D

Since November I've had 3 different 'bugs'. First had a fever, wiped out for a couple of days and then a cough which persisted for ages. Second a fluey, achey thing, no appetite and feeling rough for a few days. Just now seeing the last of a 'common' cold - lots of nose blowing but feeling not too bad! Glad I stocked up on tissues!

Just been to supermarket, been away for a few days so needed some essentials. Pasta isles depleted, as was a lot of frozen food and cereals, plenty of fresh stuff though.

Sylvia, I hope you didn't think I was suggesting you were one of the "shrug shoulders" type, not my thoughts that anyone here is ( most here are of a certain age and have sense! ).

Speaking to a family member last night who is more in the 'at risk group', being sensible seems to be how most are treating it. ie no shortages in shops there, aside from hand sanitiser. We have enough food etc in for a couple of weeks which is as normal, I always buy toilet rolls in big packs anyway, much cheaper.

I don't think Trump's incoherent ramblings are helpful that's for sure! heard him again this morning, and I'm afraid my thought was less than charitable.

Rose ................

I'm not ignoring it, nor am I failing to take precautions.

Both OH and myself are in the most dangerous age range, and I have high blood pressure. So we would both be extremely stupid if we shrugged our shoulders and said "it won't happen to us".

As it happens, I don't ride transit and don't go to crowded places, and I've talked about the reasons elsewhere. OH does all the shopping, goes to the local pub, is at a big fund-raising dinner dance this evening, and occasionally rides transit ..... so he is out and about, could potentially pick up the virus somewhere and pass it on to me.

So we know what to do if we think we might be infected. We have enough food in the house to feed ourselves for at least 3 weeks (possibly a month) apart from fresh bread, milk or dairy-free substitute, and fresh fruit and veggies. That's without touching the canned food. We even have enough toilet paper for about the same length of time ...............

........... but that's only our normal way of life. We always have a good store of staples, and food (mainly home-made) in the freezer.

I can also remember how to make do, as OH also does, because we both lived through the war and the rationing period afterwards, and can remember what our parents did.

I just think that some of the stories in the media and being passed around on social media are way beyond sensible precautions and preparations, and are very close to fear mongering.

In that respect Rambling it's like the Flu or any stomach bug that hits hard, just because you might shrug it off easily doesn't mean someone in a nursing home will. Protect yourself to protect others.

Only shortage at the Co op today is lemons.

This was quite interesting on Ch 4 news earlier. https://www.channel4.com/news/this-is-the-most-frightening-disease-ive-ever-encountered-virus-expert-dr-richard-hatchett

It's not good, but if it makes people stop and think I don't think that's a bad thing. People ( some people) are very good at shrugging and saying 'won't happen to me' that's maybe a double edged sword, but I do think you have to think about others at this time, not just yourself if you do happen to be fit and at low risk.

People are people the world over .............

one person sees another buying 5 packs of toilet paper and thinks "He must know something I don't know", so she buys 10 packs .......... and so on and so on.

That empties the supermarket shelves ..... until the next delivery from the warehouse arrives. Hopefully that is sooner rather than later, as there are normal delivery timetables from warehouse to store.

Many stores here operate on a day by day delivery ............ goods arrive overnight and the shelves are re-stocked.

I don't know about the UK, but deliveries from manufacturers to warehouses to stores have been and are being impacted here by ............

winter storms,

government-mandated slower speeds on the railroads AND protests that have closed much rail traffic across Canada and within provinces for the last 2+ weeks,

slow down at the ports caused by goods not arriving so they can't unload the ships that are delivering goods from overseas,

and now the closing of factories overseas.

As a result shelves in supermarkets and other stores may well not be replenished as fast as people would like, or maybe stores will not get their full order from the warehouse.

I know you have had major flooding in some areas, but the question is "does the flooding in Yorkshire or Somerset or parts of Wales affect the whole delivery system of the United Kingdom?"

We also most definitely do not want fear mongering along the lines of Rollo's posts on here.

We need to take care of ourselves and our loved ones, pay attention to details, make sure we frequently wash our hands thoroughly and do not touch our faces ............... that may even mean do not wear contact lenses!!!!!! Then self-isolate if you feel sick until you can get a diagnosis.

That controls community infection, and thus prevent high numbers of infections.



I note that it is also Friday, and Rollo often posts a provocative message and then disappears for the weekend. ;-)

If people just did their routine shop there would be no empty shelves in the supermarkets. It's people buying "ten times" what they need that's causing the shortages/empty shelves.

Probably not.

It is now being reported that two baggage handlers have tested positive. I wonder if their occupation is just a coincidence.

Further to my earlier post, and Roll's follow up on how to make a tiny url, below is a direct link to the course I mentioned

https://tinyurl.com/tmbygql

My thanks again, Rollo.

Thanks, Rollo. I have seen tiny URLs mentioned but was totally unaware of the significance.

For anyone interested Future Learn is offering a course on Covid19. The course, which is open to anyone, is free and is being run by the London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine

Here is a link to future learns website.

https://www.futurelearn.com/

I did try to post a link directly to the course but it caused the page to dramatically widen.

I've done several courses now with Future Learn and they have all been very interesting and instructive.

Michael Jackson face masks are regaining popularity. ;-)

Sue strange that the memories of food rationing never really leave you. Like you I could probably feed us and a couple of neighbours for a few weeks with all the stuff in the food cupboard and freezer.

We are not going to town as much as usual mainly because we always go by bus, then lunch out. I have a chiropodist appointment next Thursday in town, wondering whether to go or cancel. (following a nurse appointment locally at the doctors on Wednesday to remove stitches). Some things have to be done but retail therapy doesn't.

I was very annoyed to hear that the Cheltenham Festival (horse racing), will still go ahead bringing people from all over the world and all over Uk to Cheltenham where they are not confined to the race course because they make 3 or 4 days of it so are in town.

My son is flying from Guatemala to Cuba via Mexico City in the next couple of days.

His partner asked if she should buy face masks?

His reply was "don't bother because if you think I'm shaving off my full beard in order to gain minimal benefit from a mask you can think again" :-D

It hadn't crossed my mind that if you have any reasonable amount of facial hair face masks are absolutely useless.

I do use hand sanitizer, twice on Tuesday, once when I exited the GP surgery and then when I left the hospital.

Can't exactly wash hands in either of those situations. We had some issued by the hospital a while ago and I ordered two more which arrived on Monday. Both makes have 80% alcohol content.

We had our usual shopping delivery this week and the driver said that people were going nuts clearing shelves of what they considered essentials.

Due to my ingrained habit of always having 3 months worth of food in the freezer and in my cupboards I only really have to buy fresh fruit, veg and dairy each week. That from living with my sister who always remembered rationing with hatred...lol

There still doesn't appear to be any guidelines nationally which seems to negate any local precautions taken.

People having to self isolate and suffering financially is concerning as is the proclaimed intentions of some employees, who will be on full pay, taking advantage and staying home.

The drastic measures taken in Italy will, I guess, provide much needed data regarding the benefits of countrywide closures of places of education and banning mass gatherings.

I hope the powers that be get solutions in place that will be effective.

Sue

Sylvia, "Didn't you have the H1N1 epidemic in 2009/2010?" Yes I did personally,

Someone shared an FB post saying it is "a numbers game", well yes of course if we are all statistics it is, 81% of those who get it get it mildly, another percentage have it badly, somewhere between 1% and 3.9% ( figures have varied) die... a numbers game which is irrelevant if you or yours are unlucky enough to be in that 1%, and for those who have, or have relatives with, pre existing lung,heart conditions or diabetes etc...not so cheering!

I stopped watching a documentary a couple of weeks ago, about the 1918 flu epidemic, just after the point where it said the original burst of the epidemic had died down, and there were fewer cases, only to mutate and return with worse effects. Also cheering!

What is obvious is that the NHS have not been coping with the numbers of 'ordinary' patients for years, nor with the normal winter flu patients, so I am dubious that as understaffed as they are they will be able to cope with an epidemic, if there is one.

I am not scaremongering or unduly anxious for myself ( relatives are a different matter) but being sensible is imperative. I have a cough and sore throat at the moment, it is just that, but I am keeping away from everyone as much as possible because speading this cough could weaken someone's immune system and put them more at risk.

I saw online earlier today that the Chinese have identified TWO forms of the virus as a result of a mutation.

The first one appears to have caused a much milder sickness than the second mutated form, which is much more aggressive and spreads faster.

They're now finding that the first milder form is becoming more common in China.

Now how do you fight a virus that mutates so fast??

The other point about the gloves there are different grade of gloves you'd be surprised how easily most will rip and gloves or no gloves it doesn't go in through the skin you have to touch your face...which you can absent-mindedly do with or without gloves on.