Day 30 in the corona house: Getting out of town.

.Today I can’t help but reflect on how quickly things change. How what was taken for granted and accepted as a norm years ago is now seen as increadible.

Whether it’s stock footage from the 70’s and 80’s with smoking thick enough to cut in pubs and restaurants or brick-like mobile phones change comes quickly.

A month ago, even three weeks ago, I wouldn’t have felt a need to justify travel, to prove its necessity. However, today, I am aware of the requirement to do so pressing on my social conscience. I merely note how quickly this has been true, I don’t seek to avoid it but my the times they are a changing.

Before I met my husband we each had our own house one in London and one is Wiltshire. For reasons of work and my having a border collie who doesn’t fit with living in London full time that’s an arrangement we’ve continued albeit we split time between the two. When we came back from Milan and self-isolated it was to London and partly due to building work there we have remained until today.

Over the past three weeks I’ve been aware that the lawn hadn’t been cut this year, the weather was getting warmer, the days brighter and that would undoubtedly lead to the grass getting longer.
Although it didn’t count as justification for a trip back to the Shire (it would be pushing it for the necessary management of a household I suspect even if only monthly) I was concerned that at some point I wouldn’t be able to find Taz if he crossed the lawn.

However, a more pressing need for me was the lack of medication easily to hand. My stocks were running low and because I had a plentiful supply in the Shire it was nearly impossible to get more and that assumes I could get the two trusts, my GP and an out of region pharmacist to collaberate. As a result, for the first time in 30 days, we left Gumnut by car and drove to the Shire so my medication could be collected.

While here I also managed to cut the lawns, share a very enjoyable evening with the virtual film club watching Company, replenish our food stocks at a supermarket (Vaughan went). He gave the whole setup at Tesco an Aussie seal of approval stating ‘They’ve got their shit together in the Shire.’ Tomorrow we have a local farm delivery of vegetables, and eggs – so rare in London many of the drug dealers now offer a side of 6 organic free range large ones – so I’m told. Then partly because the Shire is not habitable until the building concludes we’ll be back to continued isolation in Gumnut.

I had my confirmation from the NHS that I should be inside for 12 weeks so look forward to day 100 in the corona house in due course.

Our journey here was uneventful and necessary. You can manage so long on a bag meant for a holiday, but things needed for job applications, bill payments and just getting on with life were needed. We weren’t stopped, checked or questioned by anyone not that I would have any concerns had we been. The motorway was down in terms of traffic by about 90% and the Shire is quiet though the village is pretty much as it always is – we’re hardly the throbbing metropolis.

So tomorrow late afternoon we will return to Gumnut with food, medication, paperwork and fresh Shire air. I look forward to being able to return when the builders can get back on site but until then Taz has had a decent run for an hour or three and all is well with this little part of the world.

The title of today’s post comes from 42nd Street. For those interested in hearing the track, it can be heard using the link below.

Day 15 in the Corona house: Children will listen

Day 15 in the Corona house

Day fifteen in the Corona house sees a change of emphasis rather than a change of scenery. A number of people have asked for more information on the songs related to each entry in this series. The eagle eyed among you will notice that there is a track play control at the bottom of this post and in due course on the earlier items. That will allow you to hear the track in question and tell you where it’s from if you wish to investigate further.

As I start to compile my update news is starting to detail Boris Johnston’s speech to the nation tonight. This follows a COBRA meeting earlier today without the usual afternoon press conference. What that means is unclear to both Vaughan and I but it’s caused an axiety spike at Gumnut Towers.

We would like to be able to get back to the Acreage, however, it appears the screws may be tightening so that’s by no means certain. We have to be here until Friday so it’s Pexit-day (Peckham Exit) minus four. Perhaps by the time I finish this post, it will be a little more clear as to when or whether that can be possible.

Other than the open question as to whether/if we can get back to the Shire, today has been a day of re-evaluation both on a personal and wider level. My last day of work is this Thursday at which point my role becomes redundant and a twenty three year chapter comes to an end. Perhaps surprisingly, I’m not as downbeat about it as you might expect. I don’t recognise the workplace I joined and its values have changed. So, for those of you old enough to remember Rhoda, in the words of her mother, the wonderful Nancy Walker, it’s time to roll up your tent and move to another village.

I can’t have been too concerned about the state of affairs as I was able to notice the absence of a handful of friends from Facebook. Some tactful enquiries all came back with variations on the same theme. In simple terms, people were saying they were stepping back from the fever-pitch of lunacy, selfishness and doom goblins that social media was presenting to them at present.
I do hope I wasn’t one of the doom goblin in relation to Covid-19 (or as my new bff Randy Rainbow referred to it, causing me to spit tea over the floor, Covfefe 19. But more of that later).

Having taken a break from much of the social media world myself in recent weeks, I can entirely sympathise with their point of view. Spending time in self-isolation can, in the absence of routine, become a series of duvet days. While that sounds enchanting on day one, it really has a short shelf life. It’s very easy to spend excessive time listening to two entirely uninformed ‘experts’ slugging chunks of the bejeezus out of each other on Facebook, Twitter or similar. Whilst I’ve been as tempted as others to pull up a chair and see if Uber eats are doing popcorn, I’ve avoided the temptation. It’s really pretty unhelpful.

There isn’t enough news.

Similarly, the news channel has been relegated from our usual background chewing gum for the brain. Apart from the fact that the looping news is hardly filling us with confidence, it also steals the day. You start off with what looks like a normal day and bibbady bobbady boo before you know it the content is running through its ninth loop and it’s half eleven at night and I’ve still not finished my blog post.

One of the up-sides of the isolation is you get to find out surprising new bits of information about each other. Today I added to my list of OMG moment and in so doing identified another film to show Vaughan as part of his musical theatre education. I was discussing a particularly dim reporter at one of the morning news conferences who had a particularly squeaky and deeply irritating voice.

The wonderfully awful Lina Lamont.

Without thinking anything about it, I turned to Vaughan and said ‘The last time I heard a voice like that was on Lina Lamont … an’ I can’t stand it.’

Vaughan looked at me blankly, I returned it equally non-plussed but for different reasons. ‘Lena Lomont – you know singing in the rain?’ The look I was receiving didn’t change. At this point I found myself wondering if the Ventolin inhaler left at Gumnut by Vaughan’s mum last Christmas was easily to hand. I had a very sudden feeling I might be needing it.

There are certain things as a gay man that you take for granted. The standard things. Things such as being familiar with the singing greats, Lisa, Barbara, Madge etc. Others might include being able to zhuzh up anything from a present wrapping to a boring party and having a natural ability to accessorise. However, even these are based on some basics like having watched and being able to quote from the Wizard of Oz, Priscilla Queen of the dessert and Singing in the Rain.
“You have seen singing in the rain haven’t you?” I ask
“Nope” comes the answer ….
HOW CAN THIS BE??? I picked my jaw up off the floor, silently sang three verses of I will survive and added it to our viewing list. It’s at times of national crisis you find out the important things.

The last piece of re-evaluation may take me into the realms of the dictator in the eyes of some. However, is it just me who is getting increasingly appalled at the standards of journalism we’re being subjected to currently? As I’m stepping into commentry about the free press, I should clarify where I stand and position my complaint within the context of the accepted wisdom surrounding our press. Churchill set the bar pretty high with:

A free press is the unsleeping guardian of every other right tbat free men prize; it is the most dangerous foe of tyranny…The press will continue to be the vigilant guardian of the rights of the ordinary citizen. – Winston Churchill 1940

I’m fully in support of that position. Nor would I differ with no less a figure than Thomas Jefferson, I always get very wary when I hear people calling for controls on the press. That isn’t what I seek to do, but I am rapidly forming the view that current news reporting is broken and has developed into something I don’t class as responsible journalism.

Today, I heard reporters asking what are technically known as ‘bloody stupid questions’. One asked ‘Do you think the NHS is ready to cope with the coming crisis?’ Where had she been for the past three weeks. It would have been a naive question two weeks ago, but now it’s just bizarre.

I wouldn’t seek to control, limit or censor the free press. I may not like some of what they do either in terms of content or method, but I recognise the truth in Chuchill’s words. We would be far worse off without them. However, I think we deserve better and I wish they’d up their game.

Sometimes, more is most certainly less and there is just not enough news – at least not for 24 hour news. I suspect that we have 4-6 hours of new news on a typical day. However the rolling news cycle means we have to pad the rest with opinion, speculation and dare I say a sprinkling of sensationalism. I for one would be very happy to see the likes of BBC and Sky rolling news channels restructured to provide less but better national coverage and fill the time with important events from elsewhere, truly to educate. However, I suspect that genie is well and truly not being put back in its bottle.

This concludes today’s rant thought for today so I will close with the title that nearly was. Having seen a short clip that activated my chuckle muscles, we nearly paid homage to Dame Elaine who’s laugh is infectious – there’s something I hope you do catch.

In a story I thought was falcified, but does appear to be substantiated in a couple of interviews, it appears Madonna had infact misheard the lyric as ‘don’t cry for me I’m the cleaner’ until the point she had to learn the song for her role in Evita. I do hope it’s true as it’s so delicious I’ve already put on three pounds just by telling you.

It seems that during the time taken to write this piece, the PM has announced the next measures to be taken. Although things have been tightened up it does look as though we will be able to make a one off return journey to the Acreage in due course. So it will be an exit from Peckham (now known as Pexit) in 4 days and counting. Then isolation at the acreage.

As promised something to leave you with a smile, I hope. It seems we are not the only ones isolating.

The title of this post comes from Into the Woods and for those who have expressed an interest in hearing them can be played on the control below.

Children will Listen – Barbra Streisand (from Into the Woods)

Day 10 in the Corona house: Let’s do the time warp again.

In the last week, Vaughan and I have moved from being the only people our friends knew in self-isolation to just one of a growing number of people sharing the experience. Sue, Pete, Steph, Jules, Leon and the Phillips minors, James, Martin, Graham D. builder all have followed us into their individual quarantine.

Day 10 in the Corona house

You may notice a change of language. It’s a minor point, but ‘lockdown’ has become something of a personal irritant. I would suggest those entering their period of self-isolation do a quick mental shift to being in quarantine rather than subject to lockdown. Everything about the term lockdown is unhelpful. Firstly it’s an entirely unnecessary Americanisation. but that aside, it relates to the forced imprisonment and restrictions imposed on prisoners.
That’s hardly a helpful mindset to place yourself. So with that hint (please note BBC and other media outlets) know you can make a double-figure day count and remain relatively sane.

Taz is managing rather well deterring the local Peckerwell foxes and finding two tennis balls at Gumnut so far this week. That’s something of a surprise as neither Vaughan or I thought there were tennis balls at Gumnut. I’m half expecting to be chastised by one or more local dog owners as I’ve a strong suspicion Taz may have liberated them from some inattentive canine.

Peckham Road 9.40 am

For those following these updates as a series, you’ll note the further reduction of traffic in London village. This shot was taken while walking Taz this morning at just after half past nine. As you can imagine, Peckham road which is the main route between Camberwell and New Cross/Lewisham is usually packed with traffic. To see it this quiet, even quieter than yesterday is very strange.

Transport for London are reporting tube traffic is half its usual levels, mostly I suspect with people travelling in to see how quiet things are. Public transport in the form of buses are running though I’ve yet to see one with more than three or four people on board. I can’t believe it will be too long before these too are reduced, perhaps to Sunday services.

This tactic has been used elsewhere to reinforce mass isolation areas which seems to be a necessity if the virus is to be controlled, or slowed within the infected area. That aside, it can’t be economically or environmentally sending so many empty buses through increasingly empty streets.  Indeed, as I type I hear Vaughan telling me that the night tube has run for the last time for the forseeable future. Also, the Waterloo and City line has been suspended. This against the increasing rumours of severe restrictions likely to be imposed across London in the not too distant future.

Partly due to this we’re considering the best timing to return to the Shire once we are out of quarantine. It appears (fingers crossed) that we have both managed to travel through Paris and Milan without picking up Corvid. Given they are two of the focus points in Europe, we recognise how lucky that is, if indeed we’re correct in our assumption.

What I wasn’t aware of until two days ago was that Gumnut is located not only within the hotspot that is London, but also London’s hotspot that is Southwark. Third area in England based on cases per 100,000 of population and the highest number of confirmed cases at 78 at the time of this post being written. So while we appear to be asymptomatic we’re balancing the risk of returning to the Acreage (to the Shire) against the more suitable location to sit out the crisis.

Wiltshire is more suitable for a longer period of very limited movement. It’s better suited for Taz, has a garden which gives us some more space without endangering anyone else and it’s generally easier to avoid contact with people. The issue is it’s currently having the kitchen worked on so facilities are limited. So we find ourselves balancing staying in Peckerwell long enough to get basic facilities back at the acreage but not so long that we find ourselves ‘contained’ in the capitol.

Another reason for heading out of London is the increasing challenge in finding much at all on the shelves in the local supermarket. Although when comparing a Wiltshire town to inner London, you might think supermarket provision would be better in the latter. Surprisingly, it isn’t. The shire has with a simple count at least 14 sizeable supermarkets in the nearby town. Peckerwell has considerably fewer and you do tend to put all your eggs in one corporate basket. There are more options and surprisingly more resilience in semi-rural Wiltshire.

I’m certain delivery slots are hard to be had anywhere. We’re trying to be sensible with our food and household purchasing. We’d built up a small Brexit reserve cupboard just in case all the doom sayers were correct. Little did we know we would be repurposing it post Brexit for a different kind of crisis. So our orders have been pretty much the same as they would be in normal circumstances, with the extra can or packet of spaghetti, but nothing more than that.

Our last delivery was 16th (last Monday) and the next one available from anyone we could secure was 28th of the month – ten days from now. We’ll get there easily enough but there will have to be far more delivery (or enhanced click and collect) options if we are to undertake a large population based isolation phase.

Now dear reader (sorry, too much Jane Austen at O level) I let you into a secret. I am married to a back-seat blogger. Vaughan has just asked me pointedly – ‘so what’s that got to do with the timewarp thing?’ He’d wanted to go with ‘Look at all my trials and tribulations, floating in a gentle pool of wine cider’ but I digress.

To reassure Vaughan, all Millenials and indeed anyone born in the UK after 1990 I haven’t entirely lost my way, though I may have taken the scenic route to arrive at my destination. I am, how shall I put this, sufficiently seasoned, to recognise the England of the next six months. For those of a certain age, let me paint you a picture of the country and see if you recognise it.

Though cafe society has never really arrived in the UK in the same way as in France or Italy, those steps that have been made are likely to disappear at least in the short term. So think of a time with no Cote, no chrome bistros, no gastropubs or high end restaurants and very few pubs. Twenty four hour shopping is likely to be reduced considerably and Sunday shopping may well disappear pro tem to give supermarkets a full day to restock, clean and reduce pressure on supply chains.

Industry may either scale back to a shorter working week – say for argument sake three days or divert some of its efforts to producing what’s needed to get us through the Corona crisis. Either would impact on the type of consumer society we have grown used to over the past forty years. Choice may well be reduced, public services may be delivered differently and less frequently and unemployment certainly looks likely to spike significantly.

Sundays will seem very quiet with no/dramatically reduced shops open and leisure opportunities such as theatres, cinemas and leisure centers will be unavailable as most of them are likely to remain shut. No Championship, no Premier league, and no televised sport, however, there will be schools television during the daytime.

This sounds like a foreign country to many and I can sense Vaughan for one recoiling at something that sounds so alien. For me, and I suspect many others it’s more familiar. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to 1974.

Having lived through it once it’s not my preferred year to re-run, though I’d still fancy a go on a space hopper and whack my clackers about a bit again. But it was survivable and will be again if that’s what we have to do to keep the most vulnerable in society safe. What we could do with is less of the total eejuts – you know, the ones who buy fifteen hundred weight of Andrex and twelve vats of hand sanitiser just in case. I shall remain positive and for those of a certain age, just think how good the 80’s were once the 70’s had exited stage left.

Today, I do have a positive story with which to end. It also explains Vaughan’s preferred title about the gentle pool of cider. Over the past 48 hours we’ve had unexpected deliveries of what Vaughan calls ‘apple juice’. For cider aficionados, it’s really not apple juice. It turns out the Somerset cider producer club is fairly small. When news of our return from Milan and entry into isolation made it to their ears via a friend in Bristol, we’ve had some ‘keep your chin up’ packages.

I have to say, we now have enough cider, perry and scrumpy from across Somerset (and whisper it Herefordshire) to float a battleship.

In a call today the owner of the Bristol cider shop that arranged them chuckled I thought someone might send something looks like all of them had the same idea. I have thanked him kindly for such a kind thought, but we hope it will stop as we now have more stock than he does.

This isn’t so much a case of keeping our chin up as keeping our head above cider. I’ve shown the recent arrivals for the fans of the apple and pear among you. We haven’t tackled these (yet) and I don’t think we’ll need to buy any cider for …. ever.

Vaughan has been struggling a little working from home at short notice. Not having the usual large screen or access to a desk, he’s been a tad wound up, particularly because everyone else is trying to work from home at the same time and there’s only so much capacity. I’m tempted to lock up the Hecks (port wine of Glastonbury) and the Sheep Stagger in case he samples some of the apple juice out of frustration.

Four days to go for this round of isolation though I’ve been advised I should consider isolating further due to previous medical history presenting a potentially higher risk. I’m thinking about what that might mean and will certainly not be filling my social diary for the foreseeable until we know more about what we’re likely to be facing.

Finally, I was chastised for not updating the progress into Billy the bog roll. I haven’t taken a measure of the remaining tread via ruler on this occasion but I can estimate that around fifty percent of Billy remains in situ.

Day 9 in the Corona house: Empty chairs at empty tables.

A relatively short post from me today as like everyone else I find myself (even in quarantine) pulled in many directions at present which make demands both of time and available energy as well as time. I mentioned to Vaughan how it felt like sometime last month we were in Milan whereas, in reality, it was just over a week. Self-isolation probably does make time run more slowly, but the speed of change over the last week is probably also a contributing factor.

Add to that the exquisitely timed matter of being made redundant and today has been spent focused on finding alternative employment. Though I’m sure it’s never great timing, if you believe in Khama based on a couple of fronts, I can’t help but conclude that I must have been either Atilla the Hun or Ghengis Khan in a previous life. Still there it is – better get on with things.

Day nine and I’ve not really found the process too hard. My understanding is even in more extreme quarantine situations dog walking is still permitted and that has been a huge help. They are only short and people are avoided but they do provide a little exercise for both of us and a change of scenery from the four walls.

It may be a function of living in a more rural location, having a small circle of friends or the nature of my previous employment but I’ve not noticed a significant difference in terms of external interactions – which probably tells me more about me that the process of quarantine. Vaughan is finding it a bit tougher – early stages of cabin fever but for those about to start self-isolation, it is manageable and if you keep a form of routine and plan it’s not the twilight zone many fear.

An unusually quiet Carnaby Street

For those who follow the writer’s code of show don’t tell, I include a few pictures of London village today. These were snapped on my walk today and for anyone who knows London at rush hour this is just weird.

Although I’ve been keeping my exercise up through walking Taz, I should reassure you that I haven’t been dragging him into Carnaby Street. That picture was taken by one of Vaughan’s friends so I can’t take credit for it, but it gives you an idea of just how strange London feels at present.

Our chief scientific officer initially said we were a month behind Italy, although this has since been reduced to around 3 weeks, although looking at the data it looks more like 10 to 14 days. Having said that, both Vaughan and I commented that these pictures of London today had a very similar feel to that we experienced in Italy 9 days ago.

It does seem that many Londoners have decided to take matters into their own hands and make their own assessment of the risk being presented. Transport for London indicates there was a 20% reduction from the normal levels of traffic on Monday of this week. Today we saw a further 20% reduction on the tube and around 16% down on those using the buses.

I must thank fellow blogger Daniel Bowen for the second of the empty chairs at empty tables shots which comes from Melbourne, Australia.

The second is closer to home with what would normally be one of the livelier pubs in Camberwell which was deserted today. As I passed I heard a snippet of conversation between the owner and his barman “What I’ll be saying will apply to all bar and kitchen staff’ – I can imagine how that conversation may go.

Today, Chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak announced a first wave of support for business and particularly the leisure and entertainment sectors. For a first day set of measures, £330 billion with the promise of more as required isn’t a bad step, it’s certainly to be welcomed.

Interestingly, both President Macron and the Prime Minister referenced their response as being part of a war. Macron stated we are at war with the virus, Johnson compared the response today with that of any war cabinet. I don’t doubt the sincerity of either leader, this isn’t a time for the trivialities of party politics.

The help, however welcome hasn’t come quickly enough for some. This notice on the doors of the Camberwell arms is the first of its type that I’ve seen, although I doubt it will be the last.

I’ll try to be a little more upbeat tomorrow. Usually, I have a final paragraph that is a little of a lift, something humorous or uplifting. Having some difficulty in identifying one today, I have just asked Vaughan and he ‘can’t think of anything right now’

This concludes the shortened update from the Peckerwell two – now where was that cider from yesterday?

Day 8 in the corona house: Hey, hey I saved the world today.

It’s day eight in the Corona house and both Vaughan and I remain well, or at least asymptomatic. With the vast majority of the time being spent inside it’s odd where you find mental stimulation. I found some in the naming of these Corona updates and theming each update.

I have to give special mention in dispatches to Jules Phillips and Karen Young, regular readers of this series. They were the first to spot (or at least the first to comment on) the daily updates all being based around song titles. One person has called foul about the update called How do you solve the problem, ask Korea – all I’m going to say is think Sound of Music. In quarantine, you get your laughs where you can.

Had I been focused on books rather than music, today would have been brought to us by Dickens. I have in mind an opening paragraph that sums up the current state of affairs brilliantly, at least for me, even though the words were penned 162 years ago.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. ~ Charles Dickens A tale of two cities.

I remember reading that paragraph first over forty years ago in Park Library, Swindon. It was one of those life-changing moments. After reading it I knew two things that until that point had been facts of which I had been unaware. The first was I had found an author I liked and who has been a long-standing favourite of mine ever since. Second, I realised I responded to and felt the poetry within the words, I could feel the music in the sentence structures, the heartbeat of the book and a glimpse at the soul of the author. For those reasons, this paragraph has long been seared into my memory. Perhaps it’s no surprise it should jump to mind today.

What started the Dickensian train of thought was the sight that greeted me this morning. Those of you who know the location of Gumnut Towers will know it’s a busy little road in a moderately busy area of south east London.

This morning and throughout today, the road has been significantly quieter and there has been much reduced pedestrian and vehicular traffic. It’s not quite a ghost town, but it’s certainly Paris in August, at least in this corner of Peckerwell. With the move to shield the elderly and those with chronic long term conditions (of which I may be one) this could well be the norm moving through to the summer months. While I’m probably better placed to deal with this type of isolation than many or even most, this certainly counts as the worst of times or at least the worst I can remember.

It also brings me back to today’s song title referencing the outstanding Eurythmics. It seems to me that in relation to self-isolation, attendance at work sisters (and brothers) are doing it for themselves. In that sense, we’re exercising our own judgement regardless of the prevailing governmental guidance. That’s problematic if what we chose to do is unhelpful. However, until the government catches up with the public mood, it could just be we’ve helped save the world today – albeit just a bit of it.

My next comments are contentious. I recognise that, but they are not intended to be intentionally inflammatory. I need to declare an interest and clarify my intent. As most of you will know, I’m not a fan of the EU institutions and was one who after due consideration voted to leave and have not changed my position since that time. I don’t seek to single out the EU in the following comments. Until 4.15 pm today I would also have included the World Health organisation, that is until I heard the content of their press conference. I don’t seek to make a broad point about the benefits or otherwise of EU membership, but I do make a more general point about supranational bodies. I’ll also point out my error in judging them a little too quickly and hopefully encouraging others to consider whether they may be doing the same?

Ursula von de Leyen

In the ‘worst of times’ category, I would have to include the style of messaging coming out of the EU. It’s clear the EU has a legitimate and useful voice in tackling the epidemic in Europe. I have significant time for Ursula von de Leyen, President of the European Commission, less so for whoever is her communications officer. The steps the EU has taken to date have been clumsy and as they are not a State but dependant on its member States to act they are always going to be behind the curve and responding to events.

I have always supported a coordinated approach to global issues but do criticise the EU for trying in the wrong places. For once, it’s not the economy stupid. I would prefer to see the EU supporting its member states in their actions and having confidence enough in the European project to be unthreatened by the legitimate actions of member states by imposing the restrictions (including border or access controls) that are appropriate in the country concerned.

It is unfortunate that the voice and message have been focused on protecting the single market when in my view at this time the issue is not one of narrow protection of the greater project. The EU could provide a significant and valuable facilitation and coordination role and should do so. It need not try to stamp its authority on events where neither its competencies nor its organisational structures suit a timely and coherent message as an output.

Until this afternoon, I would also have put the World Health Organisation on the naughty step. I thought they had been a wonderful collector of statistics but had contributed nothing meaningful to the debate to this point. Their press conference changed my view on this matter. Not only did they publish some very useful guidance for those suffering from or caring for someone with Covid19, they also published a small library of strong research and guidance.

They have clearly been working non-stop over recent weeks. The potential failing for both the EU and WHO has been in the delivery of their messages and communication between times. It’s easy to assume silence equates to no action. I’m pleased to say I fell into that trap with the WHO and am prepared to cut the EU the benefit of the doubt. It may be worth us all considering this may be the case with HMG and other authorities who are clearly overwhelmed by the current situation. As always communication is vitally important but easily overlooked.

However, I am encouraged by the WHO conference and despite their finding that we should isolate for 14 days post recovery, they shifted from the worst of times to the best of times pile.

The last bit of bad news then the more encouraging side of the coin. The graph is blurry, but that doesn’t really matter. The thing to take from this diagram for me is the angle of the upper line. That represents the experience Italy is having at the moment. However bad it is here, they are at least one possibly two orders of magnitude worse.

I’m checking each day to see when the steep incline might flatten out. You might have expected to see this today given the strict measures imposed in Italy around a week ago. However, so far, all lines apart from South Korea follow a similar trend. This could mean all actions result in broadly the same outcome or the figures may be unhelpful given the differences in testing regime across the countries concerned. In any event, I won’t be the only one looking for the incline on the Italy line to plateau.

I have also been critical of the UK for its lack of testing and would still like to see more as would the WHO. However, before being too critical, it’s worth reflecting on the following – we (the UK) are in the top five countries carrying out testing. I was surprised to learn that was the case.

Hopefully, you’ll see that what for me started off as the worst of times may have fragments of the best of times hidden within them.

A little tincture.

One such example came today via courier landing with a fairly hefty thud on the doorstep.  I had spoken to friends who run a cider shop in Somerset. They had expressed sympathy for our trip being curtailed and wished us well in isolation and hoped we had avoided bringing anything back with us.

On opening the box it’s clearly from someone who knows us well. As I unwrap the first item from its bubblewrap, I hear Vaughan in a rapidly improving Somerset accent say

Oh, zyder, I likes zyder

I doubt their shop has much in the way of footfall, I’ve no reason to believe they are independently wealthy, but this particular example of the kindess of friends was both a surprise and a welcome morale boost.

I’m looking forward to establishing whether Vaughan prefers (say it quietly) Herefordshire or the real Somerset deal. We have medium. dry, sparkling, even cloudy scrumpy. Those will certainly count as the best of times.

Day 7 in the Coronavirus house: I am reviewing the situation.

Day seven in the Corona house

The seventh day, so just under one week in self-imposed isolation where isolation means social distancing. While you ponder on what that means (has he been out of the house or hasn’t he), I hope you will forgive a slightly less content-rich edition of the blog. It’s Sunday and I’m taking it as a bit of a rest day and playing a bit of catch-up.

What have we learned from the first seven days in Gumnut? I suppose what I learned fairly quickly was that strict quarantine was and isn’t possible without a huge amount of supporting infrastructure. Stand by for criticism abounding, but I’ve had to leave the house briefly a couple of times each day. – Taz is very good but I don’t think he can go without a walk and chance to carry out normal dogily functions for 14 days.

So how have I managed this? FIrsty a self-imposed rule or two, the first of which is how am I feeling and am I asymptomatic. So far yes and that’s allowed me to consider the next rule, timing. Although I’ve been out twice a day with Taz, I doubt more than a couple of peope (also ironically dog owners) would know even in central London. That’s because the route I’ve taken has been as quiet and people free as I can make it and at a time of the day (god awfully early and miserably late) to further reduce any likely interaction.  Other than Vaughan, I’ve been within six feet of roughly four people although a couple of those had a closed front door between them and me.

Some would say that’s an abject failure, others including me say it’s the best we could do taking a risk reduction approach and taking as many steps as we can do to reduce the number of contacts we have had with people over the last week. We have had food delivered and have plans for this week and next to do the same again. That was also the route for the emergency wine supplies that came to ease our troubled brows yesterday.

We haven’t otherwise left the house and we’ve actively avoided contact with anyone so although it may fall short of the NHS definition of self-isolation it has been all that has been possible and we’ve worked hard to mitigate and reduce risk of transmission or acquiring Covid19. I’ve outdone lady MacBeth in terms of hand washing and have taken the process seriously.

At the acreage things would have been slightly easier but in any city and certainly in London total self-isolation is going to be pretty much impossible to achieve on anything like a complete basis.

Speaking of shopping, this was the state of Sainsbury’s in Peckerwell where for the first time since the untimely demise of Dale Winton, people were genuinely going wild in the aisles. Perhaps you won’t be surprised to hear the first picture is of the pasta and rice section. The shelves in the second would normally be piled high with toilet rolls. It appears that despite the lack of government instructions to stay and home and avoid going out, people are making those decisions for themselves. We are living in interesting times indeed.

My thanks go to a friend of mine in Birmingham who commented on the current panic buying in the following way.

Tescos, good, occasionally busy later. Sainsburys, moderate to good, sale on Corn Flakes. Asda, slight to moderate, heavy crowds by evening. Marks and Spencers and Co-Op, fair. Waitrose fair to moderate, spillage in aisle 7. Lidl, rough at first, moderate later. – And that’s the end of the Shopping Forecast.

A last comment on the UK’s position, at least for this week. A couple of those following the blog have asked me to explain the UK government position as opposed to doing nothing. While I should really leave them to do that for themselves, in the spirit of give them what they ask for here is the best explanation I’ve found – told through the medium of buckets of water.

One last treat from the Gumnut maximum isolation ward. If you haven’t heard of him before may I introduce you to Randy Rainbow and his Coronavirus lament. Something is very difficult and often for many frightening times to activate the chuckle muscle in all of us (I hope).

See you for week two in the Corona house

Day 6 in the Corona House: How do you solve the problem, ask Korea.

Day six in the Corona house

Day six in the Corona house and with some time on my hand I’ve been brushing up my Excel charting and data analysis skills. It may not be exactly party animal territory but there’s plenty of time for that next week. In any event, tracking the declared cases in a few countries has shown most on the typical curve described by Italy’s example.

However, there is one country that is significantly bucking the trend. The graph below shows recent cases reported. (Starting from the top down, these are Light blue = Italy, Dark blue = South Korea, Light green = Spain, Yellow = France, Magenta = USA, Brown = UK)

While five of the six are on various sharply increasing inclines, South Korea started to flatten out around a week ago and has largely maintained that since then. The obvious question is how.

There are some clear answers but if comparing them to the UK or even just considering how we might feel if they were imposed here, you may be less than happy.

Armed forces check and test those arriving at Airports and transport hubs

Firstly, the country has taken a fundamentally different approach to that of the UK. South Korea has implemented both broad and targetted testing with spot cleaning.

Targetted testing has been focused on flights and trains arriving from hot-spots. Whereas I walked back through Heathrow unstopped having just flown in from Milan, in South Korea I would have been stopped, tested, assessed and been ‘required’ to self-isolate pending the results of my tests. You’ll note the use of the word required, penalties include seriously tough fines and in cases of symptomatic detection, detention as a last resort.
When you see that those undertaking the tests at airports and other centres are dressed in full haz-chem or NBC kit, you may get a sense of why spread to key health workers has also been significantly lower than anywhere else.

In addition to targetting entry routes into the country, general testing of the population has been the key. Anyone with flu-like symptoms or pneumonia has been tested for the condition and again isolated for a period of 14 days. To give you a sense of scale, the UK has undertaken 37,000 tests for Coronovirus over recent days although this has now been limited/focused to those tested in hospitals. By contrast over the same period, South Korea had undertaken in excess of 300,000 tests in hospitals and in the wider community isolating those who tested positive.

Contrast the countless number in the UK told they must wait for at least seven days before they can be tested at one of fifty drive through testing centres running across Korea. Their idea is focus on identification and testing – something which we have yet to do.

Deep cleaning team tackle a local hot-spot

When a hotspot within the country is identified, such as an office building, street or housing complex, it is cleaned. A cleaning team (as seen in the picture left) disinfects anything it encounters. These are repeated at least twice after the initial treatment. South Korea has had bans on mass meetings, group activities and sporting events for well over ten days now and there is little sign of that restriction being relaxed.

It may come as no surprise that in country that has made its recent name on technology, this also plays a part in maintaining the self isolation phase for it’s citizens. If you find yourself in lockdown in south Korea, your phone and credit/debit cards are recorded and scanned. Over the period of isolation, their use and movement is tracked. So if you breach isolation and pop out for a visit to the local shop or to see friends then this surveillance is very likely to spot it. Again, significant financial penalties and in extremis detention are available to ensure it is maintained.

Finally, where a cluster in identified (such as our clusters in Glasgow and Manchester) significant local funding and additional military medical resource has been poured into the location in an attempt to stamp out hot spots before they take hold. All in all a very different approach to that being taken in the UK.
Twenty four hours after the most recent government announcements, it seems the UK approach may well be ineffective. Several professors of epidemiology and virology have been critical of the actions (or lack thereof) taken by the UK to this point. In the last day, our reported cases have risen from 798 to 1,140 which just to confirm puts us about 2 weeks behind Italy rather than the month suggested by current government announcements. I do wonder why it’s me and not the NHS, Home or Foreign office asking what is South Korea doing that’s causing them to plateau and how can we replicate that success. Let’s hope someone else sees the outlier in the statistics.

In other news from the Corona house, I’m able to confirm we both remain well and I think/hope that we may have been fortunate in not picking up the virus, certainly it seems unlikely we did so in Paris given the timings. Day six would suggest if we don’t become symptomatic by Monday we’re unlikely to have picked it up in Milan either. Time will tell, but fingers remained firmly crossed.

I am also able to confirm in the Brent Alexander dunny-roll challenge that the initial legacy roll (half an inch of tread) has left the building to be replaced by Billy the bogroll. Further updates will follow but it does appear that Vaughan is at the ‘light user’ end of the Andrex scale.

An unexpected bonus as a result of the isolation is that we have more time to spend on things we never got around to doing before. Vaughan has been doing something new and exciting with a chicken for the last 24 hours.

I’m advised that the concoction marinating in the fridge is going to be the base of a Chicken cacciatori. I know others have struggled with two weeks in isolation, however, so far the food, activities and company have been excellent.

Six days down, eight to go.

Day 5 in the Corona House: A little bit of history repeating?

I’m reliably informed that travel broadens the mind. I’m happy to accept this as an axiom but see no reason why self-isolation shouldn’t attempt to do the same. So in that spirit, may I introduce you to George Santayana philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist.

George Santayana (1863-1952)

Born in the 1850s in Madrid you might be forgiven for being unfamiliar with his work, although I suspect you’ll know the translated version of one of his essays. He suggested that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. This is probably the root of the much-quoted variation ‘those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it‘.  His thinking gave me pause for thought when considering the Coronavirus outbreak. Are there any lessons to be learned from the 1918 pandemic and the way it was handled? How do we compare in this crisis?

Some suggest there are. John M. Barry of the Center for Bioenvironmental Research of Tulane and Xavier Universities, New Orleans and author of The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History is one. The ‘Spanish flu’ epidemic of 1918 began in January 1918 and ended in June 1920. It killed an estimated 35 million–100 million people worldwide, or 1.9–5.5% of the entire population.

The good news is current comparisons suggest the 2020 Coronavirus is neither as transmissible nor as fatal as the 1918 flu. However, it is far closer in both to the 1918 flu than to the normal seasonal influenza we have grown to anticipate each year. It’s also little too early to be making such definitive statements with any certainty. Time will be the final arbiter on that point.

Several scholars, including Barry, cite three significant factors that could be described as significant mistakes, things that allowed the virus to continue its spread or failed to slow the rate of transmission.

Fighting fit in the factory

The first of these was the small matter of the First World War. More specifically, the focus on the war above all else. Both Sparta and Rome had been known to suspend hostilities during plagues and similar health epidemics only to return where they left off after they were all nicely rested. While it’s hardly realistic to expect The Great War to pause on health grounds, prioritising it well above everything else has been seen as an error in prioritisation. Retained professions and those working in factories were urged to go into the workplace even if they were feeling unwell for the greater good of the war effort. In so doing, they merely spread the virus further and reduced the general workforce capacity to contribute to that effort.

I wonder how much of a stretch it is to compare the machinery of war with the wheels of capitalism? While it is true that the economy is important to us all, placing it above public health (by not imposing home working, moving meetings online and cancelling conferences) we may be repeating the same mistake. Moving a bunch of people to attend mainly optional gatherings isn’t doing anything to reduce the potential spread and provide time and space to handle those in most severe need.

Some of you may be aware that for some time I have been of the opinion that common sense most certainly is not common. We may have to nudge employers and governments to permit remote, agile and home working in the short to medium term. We also have to tackle those whose work ethic is stronger than their social awareness.

I recently did my own bit of social distancing – from Twitter – but Vaughan pointed out this tweet from a former follower on that platform.

I had two nearly simultaneous thoughts. Firstly who is stupid enough and frankly selfish enough in a pandemic to take their cough, sneeze and fever into the workplace. The second was, why didn’t someone with love and a smile tell him/her to bugger off home tout suite and stop spreading their snotty germs doing neither themselves or their colleagues any good.  So much for error number one, giving priority to other things, what of the other two?

The second item was first raised by a US military chef and beekeeper who observed.

We treated the honey like it was in the hive when it was really in the pot

What he was saying was our thinking was far too isolated, we lacked the holistic view. In the hive, honey is held within a small cell defined by the honeycomb and we can treat each cell in isolation. This is how the US military and later the US government treated the 1918 epidemic. The military response was defined and implemented by the War Office, the health response elsewhere, but none considered the impact of the other.

In the UK we have two governmental decisions taking different paths depending on whether you are in London or Edinburgh. In Scotland, this weekend’s old firm derby between Rangers and Celtic won’t be going ahead as the Scottish Parliament has banned gathering of more than 1000 in the open air.

In Twickenham (or Cardiff) this weekend it’s quite possible that 80,000 people could gather to watch a rugby match. The Westminster government doesn’t consider that sporting stadia (the cell of sport) present a significant risk. What I would suggest they haven’t thought about is the cell of transport. The stadium may not present a risk, however, the tube trains, coaches and trains bringing and returning the 80,000 are in my view quite a different matter.  We do seem to be taking a departmental rather than whole of government approach which is exactly what 1918 tells us not to do.

The third and most significant of the errors identified from the 1918 experience is communication. Greater weight was given to this issue as it was found to have gone straight to public trust which once lost is pretty hard if not impossible to recover. There were three strands which caused the problem. An initial wave of misinformation and poorly controlled messaging in the press meant people took actions which did nothing to improve their safety or reduce the overall risk.
Perhaps the nearest corollary to this today would be the misinformation and coronavirus clickbait on social media platforms. Only today on Twitter, people were being urged to snort vitamin C powder as a preventative measure against the virus. Plus ca change indeed.

The second strand focused on the deliberate downplaying of the seriousness and extent of the pandemic (at least in its early stages). Essentially, the response was ‘kicked down the road’ by a few weeks which we now know can make a huge difference to the effectiveness of that response. Yesterday and today (and whisper it) I heard myself saying a sentence I thought I would never utter.. Jeremy Hunt seems to get it, maybe he’s what the NHS needs. What brought on this unlikely position? Well both today and yesterday Mr Hunt has been expressing surprise that we haven’t done anything yet.

“I think it is surprising we are not doing anything at all when we have just four weeks to get to where Italy is. You would think everything we do between now and then should be aimed at reducing the spread and severity” – Jeremy Hunt MP

A measure used by the US military in WWI to determine if the message was getting out in a convincing way is quite helpful here. They measured how many decisions not made by the government were made in other places. It’s a tough concept in the abstract, but here are a couple of examples. The Westminster government says there is no need to stop sport in major stadia. Yesterday that a decision to the contrary was made in Edinburgh and today in England and Wales by the rugby league authorities, the London marathon and many other sporting bodies.
As a student of history, I would have to say I would give us no more than 3 or 4 out of ten in terms of having learned any lessons from 1918. Perhaps with a less deferential and hopefully better-informed populace, we may get better outcomes. Let’s hope so.

Finally, I’m working on the Barnum and Bailey theory of leave them wanting more and if you can’t do that leave them with a song they can sing. For those wondering how long you should wash your hands here’s a timely reminder from none other than Gloria Gayner whose chorus is helpfully 20 seconds. Well, it made me smile. Five days down, nine to go.

Day 4 in the Corona house: The Scientist

From the relative quiet of the lounge at Gumnut Towers, I can’t help but reflect on the different approaches being taken to the Coronavirus. In simple terms, hold back the tide or manage the flooding.  Today has been both enlightening and concerning as those two positions become more entrenched.

Day four in the Corona house

The first group of countries are essentially trying to prevent or control the spread of the virus among their population. China, at least Hubei province has tried this by putting its region into lockdown. Similar approaches were taken by Taiwan, Singapore and later by South Korea. However, those countries have more capability to enforce strict lockdowns which remain largely alien to the European mentality. It has to be said that where that approach has been taken hard and fast, the approach appears to be effective. China has plateaued in terms of reporting new cases in Hubei with similarly low growth in reporting and fatalities in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Perhaps the most obvious example of this approach being taken in Europe is Italy however, they imposed town. regional and more latterly national measures much later in the virus spread. The result of waiting longer caused emergency and intensive care facilities to be overwhelmed which in turn led to further tightening of restrictions and social distancing.

The suspension of flights into the United States for 30 days is another flavour of the same approach. However, the United Kingdom seems to be heading down a different track.

In his speech today, Boris Johnson stressed the move from contain to delay. By definition, this acknowledges that the idea of holding back the tide has already been conceded. Instead, we aim to flatten out the peak of viral infection to a level that our health system and specifically intensive care services could cope.

This is based on a number of assumptions, the two most important being that the peak of infections may not occur for three months. The second being that we have a month to react being that far behind Italy – we have some breathing space. The question today was, are those assumptions correct?

The worrying news is that is far from certain. The chart shows the rate of infection (as measured by new cases diagnosed) in Italy. This is shown by the grey dotted line. By comparing similar case figures for a variety of countries, including the UK it’s possible to see where they sit on the same curve. When you carry out that comparison the time difference slips from 4 weeks to under half that at just thirteen days.

Given the growing consensus that Italy left things too late then the UK has perhaps a week left to prevent us being in the same position as Italy, unless the government has already concluded that’s inevitable. Perhaps the most chilling comment in the Prime Ministers speech was at the very beginning where promising to level with the UK public he said

Many more British families are going to lose their loved ones before their time

I can’t recall the last time I heard such a bleak commentary from the heart of government.

The problem at least as seen from Gumnut is that the UK approach doesn’t seem to have any teeth. If the approach is to flatten the peak to a manageable level, you might expect some preventative measures. These might include permitting or indeed instructing that people should work from home.

Similarly, reducing large gatherings that provide the means of spreading the virus further would surely slow the rate of spread even if you concede it’s going to grow massively in due course. However, we have yet to do any of these other than in Scotland who have banned large gatherings either indoors or out.

In contrast, Ireland, France, Canada and many others have closed some premises and put measures in place to restrict spread. It may yet prove to be the biggest lab experiment of the last 100 years. In both approaches, the end result (at least to date) is pretty similar. The number infected doubles every four days. This means by Monday if the UK has topped 1.000 confirmed cases, then it may be time for those further restrictions to come into place – if indeed that ship hasn’t already sailed.

The great unknown at this point is just how long we have to faff around before limiting social contact. The last bastion of doing nothing appears to be timing. It’s argued by the Chief Medical Officer and others than imposing things too soon will result in safety fatigue and people relax just when the virus peaks. However, given we haven’t had a pandemic in an urban age for 100+ years, it’s unclear to me on what evidence this is based?

The inclines (right) are starting at the top and working down Italy, South Korea, France, USA and UK. These tend to support the idea that we are about 6 days behind France and maybe 12/13 behind Italy. The other important point will be the time when Italy’s curve starts to flatten out. Given that we all look pretty well aligned on the same trajectory it may give us an indication of how long this is likely to last.

One last thought if the peak infection phase is 3 months away as predicted and assuming a 6 week tailing off, this means we are unlikely to see the remaining games in the six nations played before the autumn. Surely Wimbledon, The Euros similar sporting events must be doubtful.

So, today was a tad depressing. I’m usually of the keep calm and carry on persuasion. Although that’s still my preferred option, I do think we’re a panicked population but not necessarily an aware population. Let’s hope I’m wrong.

There was, however, a lighter moment this morning when despite the apparent non-use of Barry the bog roll I found the lavatory was blocked. I hasten to add I have no part in this event, I merely offer reportage. However, I suspect there is more going on with the dunny roll than meets the eye.
Suspecting foul play I sought out Vaughan in the living room. “Good morning Mary Poppins” – Vaughan looks blank and slightly concerned. However, it was nothing as to the concern when I go all Dick van Dyke on him .. you may join in to the tune of Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious.

Have you done a megapoo the size of a small pony
Though you may deny it, I suspect the claim is phony
I think you did two in case the first one became lonely
Have you done a megapoo the size of a small pony

Um diddle iddle iddle
Um diddle eye
Um diddle iddle iddle
Um diddle eye
Um diddle iddle iddle
Um diddle eye
Um diddle iddle iddle
Um diddle eye

He travelled all around the world and everywhere he went
They said don’t let him in there or the plumming will be bent
Or let him use it carefully or it can change your life
If your fella’s not a plumber you’ll be bunged up all your life .. Oh (all together now)

Have you done a megapoo the size of a small pony
Though you may deny it, I suspect the claim is phony
I think you did two in case the first one became lonely

Have you done a megapoo the size of a small pony

I’ll just leave that with you.

Day 3: Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right ….

Day three in the Corona house has been strangely musical as events have reminded me of song titles and lyrics. The title of today’s update shows where I’ve landed today, but special thanks also go to Simon and Garfunkel, who as often provide a simple lyric that says so much. In this case…

Slow down you move too fast, got to make the morning last, just kicking down the cobblestones, looking for fun and feeling groovy.

What I took from this as the day developed was that sometimes taking your foot off the pedal and enjoying the view can give you the time and space to develop a different perspective. That’s certainly been the case today as I started to question just how seriously the current situation is being taken, by the public, the medical profession and our politicians. That isn’t to say I’ve turned into a doom goblin, but it does appear that we’re sending out some very mixed and often contradictory messages.

One of the problems with imposing isolation is that you rarely start with a clear diary. Most appointments can be rearranged, postponed or cancelled, indeed it gave our first day some tasks to do which meant it went pretty quickly. But not everything can be stopped easily and a case in point arose this morning.

Vaughan has been attending the local hospital for ongoing investigations (not serious but time dependant, miss a slot and you may need to go back three spaces and start again). Today, we needed to get a sample returned to the relevant hospital department around 3 miles away. Given that’s in central London that would equate to about 20 minutes on a bus if we were to get on one.
Given that pretty soon there could be many more people isolating who may require to receive medication, return lent equipment, provide samples or replenish home treatment devices surely we would be able to arrange something.

Following current advice, we rang 111 and found they were completely unprepared for anything that wasn’t catered for in their scripted call scripts. Given their scripts pre-date Coronavirus-19 that’s pretty much everything at least in our experience to date. The outcome was perhaps we might be better contacting the relevant hospital department ourselves.

Two emails and half a dozen calls later we were still no further forward. It was only when we engaged with the patient care team (complaints) that the consultant himself rang back. We’re both pretty well practiced at getting through a complaints system but not everybody is and neither should they be to get advice about ongoing medical treatment.

Far from helping, the advice received was mixed ranging from asking someone to bring it into the hospital or if we were asymptomatic bring it in or start things again when the isolation period is over. The interesting thing is that’s from a medical professional who presumably should be aware of the risk of walking into a hospital if we turn out to be carrying Coronavirus.

After 3-4 hours trying to resolve this, we did get the sample/items taken back to the hospital as agreed over the phone. Unfortunately, they were initially turned away by the department receptionist as it was hospital policy that nursing staff receive anything brought in and none was available.  Thankfully our delivery agent waited and delivery was made.  It’s disappointing that one arm of the NHS is telling us to self isolate while another is saying if you’re not symptomatic pop into the hospital – which is it and how can such inconsistent messaging be possible?

I’ve also had time to look at the statistics for a number of countries and the rate of increase over the last 24 hours. Though too small for these purposes, the angles in the chart show the rate of increase in confirmed cases. From top down, the first five being Italy, South Korea, France, USA and UK.  The most successful approach appears to have been taken by Singapore and China both of whom have imposed severe and some would say draconian restrictions early. This is the same approach the WHO has lately moved to suggest and bemoan the slow actions taken in parts of Europe and the Americas.

Borders to Italy have been heavily restricted by Austria, Slovenia and Switzerland. Many countries including France, Germany, Hungary and Canada have restricted gatherings of more than a thousand. Meanwhile, Australia goes ahead with the Grand Prix including the Ferrari team who recently flew out from the lock-down area. Similarly, the UK has gone ahead with Cheltenham races and plans to continue with tens of thousands meeting to watch some of the six nations Rugby matches.
Having seen what Milan looks like this does look like we’re yet to wake up to what’s coming – either that, or the government knows it’s too late to do much about things now – bread and circuses are the order of the day,

What may change things is the rise in the number of junior ministers and one as yet unnamed cabinet minister who find themselves infected by the virus.  Putting aside the question of how politicians manage to get tested while members of the general public can’t (the proposed subject for tomorrow) it may bring a focus to the heart of government that could be just what we need to fully consider what may be necessary to halt the speed at which the virus will spread.

Not wishing to end on a downbeat note, time for two updates from the Corona house. The first is the progress of Bog-roll Billy. I am able to confirm (if you’ll excuse the expression) no movement in the usage statistics other than 2 sheets to stem a nose bleed which resolved spontaneously.

Finally, I regret to say that all copies of Vaughan’s stockpiling for dummies have been withdrawn following a stewards inquiry (by me) and the uncovering of hitherto undeclared items held in reserve and not fully declared. The investigative journalist in me recorded the discovery. (Pulitzer prizes should be sent care of Gumnut Towers-leave outside and ring the bell until further notice.)