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Sensible information and advice about Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Cid said:
I think once it's in your living environment, transmission is basically inevitable. There are just too many potential sources of contamination... Even if they self isolated in their room, presumably they'd still want to use the loo. Best to have a talk with your flatmate and make sure they're aware you might be vulnerable, and take care when out accordingly. I also wouldn't go out of your way to find someone to give it to, it's just another risk to both you and them.

WHO guidance on masks:

  • If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.
  • Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing.
  • Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
  • If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly.
Putting on a mask:

  • Before putting on a mask, clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
  • Cover mouth and nose with mask and make sure there are no gaps between your face and the mask.
  • Avoid touching the mask while using it; if you do, clean your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
  • Replace the mask with a new one as soon as it is damp and do not re-use single-use masks.
  • To remove the mask: remove it from behind (do not touch the front of mask); discard immediately in a closed bin; clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
The current consensus does seem to be that they have a place, but more in terms of stopping you spreading the disease than stopping you getting it. In addition to what they say above I do kind of feel that a lot of people giving advice on masks don't actually wear them. Or don't have beards, or irritable faces. They're not very comfortable things and there's a bit of an urge to fiddle, scratch etc. Have to be aware of that.

Personal opinion: I think they might become more common here if we have several epidemic stages. They make sense if you start allowing access to public transport again, especially if used widely enough that asymptomatic people are wearing them... I realise that contradicts the above advice a bit, hence personal opinion.
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Thanks for that Cid. I'm going to give it to my pharmacist. I originally bought two and gave the other one to his assistant the other day, so I know he would be keen to have this one. As for public transport, I'll carry on using my motorbike. It must be impossible to get infected while motorcycling in a full face helmet.
 
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You could tie yourself in knots gaming out the various scenarios that might pose a risk outdoors, but Marr recommends a simple technique. “When I go out now, I imagine that everyone is smoking, and I pick my path to get the least exposure to that smoke,” she told me. If that’s the case, I asked her, is it irrational to hold your breath when another person walks past you and you don’t have enough space to move away? “It’s not irrational; I do that myself,” she said. “I don’t know if it makes a difference, but in theory it could. It’s like when you walk through a cigarette plume.”
Click to expand...

www.theatlantic.com

Everyone Thinks They’re Right About Masks

How the coronavirus travels through the air has become one of the most divisive debates in this pandemic.
www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com

See also:

www.nature.com

Is the coronavirus airborne? Experts can’t agree

The World Health Organization says the evidence is not compelling, but scientists warn that gathering sufficient data could take years and cost lives.
www.nature.com www.nature.com
 
Some tips for travellers/boaties from good old FFT .

www.gypsy-traveller.org

COVID-19: Guidance for supporting people living on Traveller sites, unauthorised encampments and canal boats - Friends, Families and Travellers

Background This guidance will assist local authorities, Traveller site managers and organisations managing canals and waterways in addressing coronavirus (COVID-19) within home settings for people living on unauthorised encampments, people living on Traveller sites and people […]
www.gypsy-traveller.org www.gypsy-traveller.org

They are currently pressuring the bastard government for some kind of clarity also.

“COVID-19 – Gypsy, Traveller and Boater communities

Dear Secretaries of State,

We write to you to raise our concern about the lack of Government information, advice or action to support Gypsy, Traveller or Boater communities during the coronavirus pandemic.

Around 10,000 Gypsy and Traveller people are living roadside on unauthorised encampments at this time, around 70,000 people are living on Gypsy or Traveller sites and around 15,000 people are living on canals and waterwayshttps://www.gypsy-traveller.org/hea...support-gypsies-travellers-and-boaters/#_edn1[ii][iii].

Gypsy and Traveller communities are known to face some of the most severe health inequalities and poor life outcomes amongst the UK population, with higher rates of long‐term illness, health problems or disabilities, higher overall prevalence of reported chest pain and higher levels of respiratory problems[iv]. This means that within Gypsy and Traveller communities, there is a disproportionately high representation of people at increased risk of severe illness from coronavirus.

Despite this, the guidance released by Public Health England on self-isolation has no information on how to self-isolate on an unauthorised encampment, on a Traveller site or on a boat, nor advises if this is possible, given the confined living space which goes hand in hand with nomadic living. Whilst signatories of the letter have been working with PHE on developing such guidance, the process has been slow, so nothing has yet been published.

Further to this, in the absence of any clear guidance to local authorities, those who manage Traveller sites and those who manage canals and waterways, the majority of the 95,000 or more people living roadside, on sites and on boats may not have the support they require to follow Government guidance to ensure safety during the pandemic. For example,

  • Around 3000 families living roadside have limited or no access to water and sanitation;
  • A number of local authorities continue to evict Traveller families from pillar to post; and
  • Many Traveller site managers are unaware of the basic actions they need to undertake to enable site residents to self-isolate where needed.
Please note that to our knowledge, in the absence of advice from Government, members of Gypsy, Traveller and Boater communities are taking the threat of coronavirus seriously and individuals are doing all that they can to look after their own health and the health of others with the information and resources available to them.

Whilst we welcome the measures the Government has put in place to date by banning evictions and offering additional protection for renters, there is no clear information on if or how this applies to people living on an unauthorised encampment, on a Traveller site or on a boat.

In addition, whilst we welcome the measures the Government has put in place to date to support workers, it is clear that these have not gone far enough for people in self-employment who represent over a quarter of Gypsies and Travellers[v].

In April 2019, Women and Equalities Committee Chair Maria Miller said, “Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people have been comprehensively failed by policy makers and public services for far too long”[vi]. We are deeply concerned that this is evident in the Government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, and that this will have a devastating impact on Gypsy, Traveller and Boater members of our society. Therefore, we are asking for your Departments to urgently respond to the following requests:

  • Public Health England should issue clear guidance on self-isolation for people living on unauthorised encampments, on Traveller sites and on boats;
  • The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in partnership with Public Health England should issue clear guidance for local authorities, those who manage Traveller sites and those who manage canals and waterways on how they can and should support Gypsies, Travellers and Boaters at this time;
  • All evictions of unauthorised encampments should be stopped and a Negotiated Stopping approach to unauthorised encampments should be adopted across the UK;
  • The Government should work with local authorities to ensure everyone living on an unauthorised encampment has access to basic water and sanitation;
  • The Government should work to ensure protections being put in place for renters are extended to those living on Gypsy and Traveller sites and on canals and waterways;
  • The Government should put in place an adequate support package for people in self-employment.
Whilst we have outlined above our concerns about the specific issues faced by Gypsy, Traveller and Boater communities, we know that members of these communities share concerns collectively experienced by other protected characteristic groups or Inclusion Health groups. For example, we know that a number of businesses are now no longer accepting cash, which means that members of Gypsy and Traveller communities without bank accounts may struggle to purchase the basics they need to survive. We therefore request that:

  • The Government sets up a working group to identify and respond to issues faced by protected characteristic and vulnerable groups as and when they arise, with representation from all protected characteristic and vulnerable groups.
Now is a time to come together and work to tackle the issues we collectively face as a society. We are more than happy to offer our support in any way we can to Ministers and policy makers in putting in place the guidance, policy and legislation the Government will need to support Gypsy, Traveller and Boater communities at this time.

We hope that this letter reaches you in good health.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
Click to expand...


I hope they are going to stop evictions for us :thumbs:
 
Can I just point out though that the doctor in this video is using just the very top of his lung to demonstrate the "deep" breathing. He's not deep breathing, he's big breathing.

At 2'54" he admits to feeling dizzy after doing the breathing as he demonstrates it. Because he's not really taking sufficient air into the depths of his lungs.

Please, I urge and encourage everyone to try out some yoga breathing. Very easy to find plenty of videos on the internet. Search for beginners videos to avoid the more specialised stuff. Don't be daunted by the plethora of options, just choose a video that appeals to you and get started. If you don't like that one, try another.

Yoga is not so much about stretching as it is about the breathe. Yoga deepens the breathe, it uses the bottom of the lungs, the back of the lungs, which is what the doctor in the video is saying is needed if we get the virus. Yoga breathing helps us to use the diaphragm to draw breathe in.

Most of us tend to expand the lungs by opening up the ribs and the top of the chest. This only uses a small part of the lungs. Yoga breathing moves the diaphragm downward, so the air is drawn in like fluid into a syringe. Moving the diaphragm downwards pulls the lungs down, which creates negative pressure, which draws breathe in and down.

It's not "woo" it's physiology. A lot of us will find it tricky to learn how to do yoga breathing,m because we've spent most of our lives not using the diaphragm to breathe. Keep at it. There's a "click" moment when you're suddenly breathing differently and then it gets much easier. Don't worry if you find yourself feeling tearful or emotional in some other way. We often move around our emotions with the breathe, avoiding deep breathing because that's how we stop ourselves from crying /insert any other emotional expression, including laughing.
 
SheilaNaGig said:
Can I just point out though that the doctor in this video is using just the very top of his lung to demonstrate the "deep" breathing. He's not deep breathing, he's big breathing.

At 2'54" he admits to feeling dizzy after doing the breathing as he demonstrates it. Because he's not really taking sufficient air into the depths of his lungs.

Please, I urge and encourage everyone to try out some yoga breathing. Very easy to find plenty of videos on the internet. Search for beginners videos to avoid the more specialised stuff. Don't be daunted by the plethora of options, just choose a video that appeals to you and get started. If you don't like that one, try another.

Yoga is not so much about stretching as it is about the breathe. Yoga deepens the breathe, it uses the bottom of the lungs, the back of the lungs, which is what the doctor in the video is saying is needed if we get the virus. Yoga breathing helps us to use the diaphragm to draw breathe in.

Most of us tend to expand the lungs by opening up the ribs and the top of the chest. This only uses a small part of the lungs. Yoga breathing moves the diaphragm downward, so the air is drawn in like fluid into a syringe. Moving the diaphragm downwards pulls the lungs down, which creates negative pressure, which draws breathe in and down.

It's not "woo" it's physiology. A lot of us will find it tricky to learn how to do yoga breathing,m because we've spent most of our lives not using the diaphragm to breathe. Keep at it. There's a "click" moment when you're suddenly breathing differently and then it gets much easier. Don't worry if you find yourself feeling tearful or emotional in some other way. We often move around our emotions with the breathe, avoiding deep breathing because that's how we stop ourselves from crying /insert any other emotional expression, including laughing.
Click to expand...
I can't believe I actually agree with most of this. Me chakra's must be properly lined up with my third eye today 🙏
 
SheilaNaGig said:
Yoga is not so much about stretching as it is about the breathe. Yoga deepens the breathe, it uses the bottom of the lungs, the back of the lungs, which is what the doctor in the video is saying is needed if we get the virus. Yoga breathing helps us to use the diaphragm to draw breathe in.

Most of us tend to expand the lungs by opening up the ribs and the top of the chest. This only uses a small part of the lungs. Yoga breathing moves the diaphragm downward, so the air is drawn in like fluid into a syringe. Moving the diaphragm downwards pulls the lungs down, which creates negative pressure, which draws breathe in and down.

It's not "woo" it's physiology.
Click to expand...
i firmly believe this adaptable, sustained, controlled breathing is a huge part of what makes swimming and running and singing such beneficial things for my all-around health.

also finding a rhythm you can sustain. part of some of the argy-bargy about who slows down for who when you're exercising (and the immediate need for speed lanes on all formerly predominantly pedestrian thoroughfares :D) - getting into your own particular stride and a regular breath pattern is the thing that puts you in the zone, which is where a lot of the mental benefits kick in ime.
 
Still, no reply to FFTs info request from the government :snarl:

so to Europe :

Covid-19: FFT raise Government’s lack of support for Travellers with Council of Europe
April 8, 2020
Today, Friends Families and Travellers wrote to Dunja Mijatovic, Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe to voice concerns about the lack of UK Government support for Gypsies, Roma and Travellers during the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19).
The letter urges the Commissioner for Human Rights to put pressure on the UK Government. The content of the letter can be found below:
“Re: Lack of UK Government support for Gypsies, Roma and Travellers during Covid-19
Dear Commissioner
We write in response to your statement urging Governments to ensure equal protection and care for Roma and Travellers during the COVID-19 crisis, and to highlight the lack of Government information, advice or action to support Gypsy, Traveller or Boater communities during the coronavirus pandemic in the UK.
Guidance released by Public Health England on self-isolation has no information on how to selfisolate on an unauthorised encampment, on a Traveller site or on a boat, and whilst civil society organisations have been working with Public Health England on developing such guidance, the process has been slow, with nothing published yet.
Crucially, there has been no UK Government guidance to local authorities on the need to stop evictions from roadside camps and to provide camps with basic amenities such as water, sanitation and refuge collection, all of which are essential to follow the public health guidance on hygiene, social distancing and self-isolation. Numerous representations that have been made to the UK Government on this issue, none of which has received a response, these are attached and include;
We have been working with Officers at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on this matter but there has been no apparent progress on addressing the issues at ministerial level. We have seen positive action where there are devolved powers, with the Welsh Government and Scottish Government both taking action to address the situation for Gypsies and Travellers. However, there a lack of action from Westminster in protecting Gypsies and Travellers, who are amongst the most marginalised communities in the UK.
We urge you to write to the UK Government to press this issue.”
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been receiving regular food parcels, but hear you are meant to wash foodstuffs down, how on earth do you that? with some items they will go soggy, taste of soap.
 
treelover said:
been receiving regular food parcels, but hear you are meant to wash foodstuffs down, how on earth do you that? with some items they will go soggy, taste of soap.
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Wash fruit and veg as you would (should) normally do. Processed foodstuffs, if they (or packaging) are not effectively impervious to water, then set them to one side for three days.
 
treelover said:
been receiving regular food parcels, but hear you are meant to wash foodstuffs down, how on earth do you that? with some items they will go soggy, taste of soap.
Click to expand...


This is what I do:

Come indoors and set down my bags at the door, take off shoes and outdoor clobber and drop it at the door

Wash hands, get changed into indoor clobber

Put on a pair of rubber washing up gloves and carry shopping through to the kitchen, set the bag on the floor by the sink

Empty the bag onto the side by the sink

Anything where the outer wrapping can be just discarded, the wrapping goes straight into the bin/recycling. I do this without touching the inner wrapping. Set it down far away, out of the way.

Any fresh fruit or veg gets washed with a soapy sudsy sponge then rinsed well and set aside to drain and thn dry in a tea towel. Once dry, it gets put away.

Anything that can be stored unwrapped, gets unwrapped and the wrappings thrown out right away.

Anything in single layer plastic wrapper like cheese, the wrapped item gets washed with a sudsy sponge, rinsed and drain dried, then put away.

The side where it all was while I was cleaning it then gets washed with a soapy sponge. The cloth bag I used to carry it goes straight into the wash.

I was doing this pretty much from the start, and thought I was being absurdly OTT but then I saw that video (shard in here back along) and realised it’s common sense.




I can’t find and can’t afford sanitiser so I’m rationing what I have and using soap at home instead.


ETA

I wash eggs in soap too, but briefly cos they’re porous.

I don’t wash bread....
 
UK Research and Innovation website with explanations of the scientific evidence behind the pandemic:

UK Government Web Archive

This Page is [ARCHIVED CONTENT] and shows what the site page https://coronavirusexplained.ukri.org/en/ looked like on 30 Jun 2023 at 14:45:33
coronavirusexplained.ukri.org coronavirusexplained.ukri.org
 
I watch this guy's updates every day. He is clear, calm and evidence based - if he quotes a research paper he always provides links, he is a Nurse. ex A+E who went on to become a Trainer, he is called Dr because his PhD os on Teaching and Remote Training - ie Internet based Nurse Training. He has worked all over the world, he has an open mind, if new peer reviewed data appears which alters current thinking, he changes his advice to match and firmly believes in telling it straight, without sensationalist promotion of himself. He seems to be adding a thousand or so new subs a day when I first saw him start of March after seeing an interview he did on Aussie ABC news, he had 40k or so, now its over 640k. Many medics from around our battered globe send him info and on the ground reports. I find him a very useful, unbiased source of decent info.
 
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