More encouraging news for Sunday 5th of April - open for other cheering items

[PMRpro]

While we have decided to try phasing out the daily Covid chat themed thread I shall still post items I come across that will help us get through our currently rather limited lifestyles.

Today - evidence that social distancing works. Every day we possess our souls in patience is saving lives - both of the people who might have caught Covid 19 and of the healthcare staff who lay their lives on the line to care for them. It is quite a thought that just staying at home and twiddling our thumbs is that powerful!

And a bit about the potential developments in treating the illness.

medicalnewstoday.com/articl...

And if you do have any questions - you may ask them here too.

[GOOD_GRIEF]

Sorry, nothing good or positive to report from New York or the rest of the US.

POTUS is at this moment as I write talking about opening churches for Easter again.

[alvertta in reply to GOOD_GRIEF]

Grrrrr

[Raven1955 in reply to GOOD_GRIEF]

He suggested that some churches might open for Easter "with great separation outside".

[Constance13 in reply to Raven1955]

"outside"??? What a plonker!

[Hidden in reply to Raven1955]

OMG!

[scats in reply to GOOD_GRIEF]

I listen to the news from the US in disbelief. My thoughts are with you.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to GOOD_GRIEF]

I was reading an article yesterday about the rightwing preachers telling congregations it is all a hoax - examples given were Florida.

[SheffieldJane]

This for everybody> google.co.uk/search?q=somew...

[Marijo1951]

I apologise if somebody else has already posted a video of this young Turkish pianist and his cats but, if not, I'm finding him both inspiring and soothing at present and I think others might feel the same. He has lots of other videos on YouTube and Instagram.

youtube.com/watch?v=YgARHrw...(Not working as expected?)

[maria40 in reply to Marijo1951]

That's really lovely. Thank you.

[prunus in reply to Marijo1951]

Never seen anything like it. Great.

[Oumaof2 in reply to Marijo1951]

Beautiful Marijo... That cat has a musical soul...

[cataline in reply to Marijo1951]

Truly beautiful, both his dedication to the cats, and their adoration of both the pianist and his music.

[Marijo1951]

This is an in-depth article 'How to model a pandemic' written by Christian Yates who is a Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Biology at the University of Bath. It's about the role of mathematical epidemiology in the fight against the pandemic. There is a link inside the article to an audio version.

theconversation.com/how-to-...

[scats in reply to Marijo1951]

Facinating, thanks

[Lukster]

Interesting that so much attention to hand washing and cleaning surfaces when it seems to be transmitted person to person contact through droplets exhaled either cough sneeze talking or simply breathing. Rate of transmission seems to suggest we breath it in rather than make a mistake touching our face, maybe even 80/20 thru the air. Hand to face wouldn’t explain the rapid rate of infection. Just an opinion. Also our concern of being on prednisone maybe one positive is it slows our immune response which seems to cause trouble in covid 19 infection.

[Theziggy in reply to Lukster]

Apparently touching our eyes or nose with our hands (which we all do) can introduce the virus inside us!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Theziggy]

If they are not clean - why 20+sec hand washing when you come indoors before touching anything and cleaning as much as possible while outdoors is needed.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Lukster]

A nurse friend yesterday was looking for the risks of being enveloped in a cloud of second hand cigarette smoke or vape vapour. We struggled to find anything - everything that comes up is about smoking/vaping being a risk factor for more serious illness. Not sure the article she found was based on solid evidence for that in particular (it was based on the study published last week about surfaces) but it pointed out that the cloud they breathed out is visible - so that makes it a good analogy and if you can see the cloud there could well be virus in it too.

It also mentioned that they are thinking that virus is being passed on even when people don't have symptoms - which I have said all along. So waiting to isolate or test until someone has symptoms is encouraging the spread of the virus. You have to assume that EVERYBODY has it and keep away. No iffs or buts ...

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Dreadful stuff! One of the downsides of the smoking restrictions is that they all sit outside at our cafes and restaurants and make life unpleasant for the rest of us! And to be honest, I'd rather have a smoker at the next table than a vaper ...

[Hidden]

It really depends on the tobacco quality. The ones my neighbours smoke are "cheap" brand and stink. Give me a whiff of good quality .....though as an ex smoker maybe the yukky stuff is better for me to smell!!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

And now for something completely different:

Thought you might like this this week. To set the scene:

innsbruck.info/en/customs-a...

Here in our region they aren't out as early as Epiphany but they do appear about now to banish winter. Yesterday at 6pm people went out all over South Tirol to crack their whips against Covid 19.

stol.it/artikel/panorama/pa...

One even from his roof!! I assume that it is skill rather than physical effort since even small children are seen doing it.