Good morning! A bit of good news today, as both the US and UK seem to be ramping up domestic production of their own protective gear, coronavirus testing kits, and ventilators.
A much better idea than waiting for a supply to arrive from abroad, particularly since many Chinese-provided items have proven to be defective.
The Netherlands recalled hundreds of thousands of masks purchased from China, while the Czech Republic said up to 80% of the testing kits it had received from China were faulty.
In an in-depth article yesterday, the New York Times reported:
A much better idea than waiting for a supply to arrive from abroad, particularly since many Chinese-provided items have proven to be defective.
The Netherlands recalled hundreds of thousands of masks purchased from China, while the Czech Republic said up to 80% of the testing kits it had received from China were faulty.
In an in-depth article yesterday, the New York Times reported:
HONG KONG — One man made fake Honeywell N95 respirators at a makeshift factory on a farm. Pharmacies sold ineffective knockoffs of a Chinese version of Clorox. In one Chinese province, authorities seized more than seven million masks that were substandard, mislabeled or counterfeited.
China’s vast manufacturing machine has moved into overdrive to supply the country and the world with masks, testing kits, respirators and other gear to fight the global coronavirus pandemic. Companies big and small that once manufactured other items are now in the business of making anti-coronavirus gear — and regulators in China are struggling to enforce standards while encouraging the flow.
Those tensions blew into the open internationally this week. Officials in Spain said testing kits it bought from a Chinese company had only a 30 percent accuracy rate, rather than the 80 percent rate they had expected.
Hopefully, manufacturing facilities in other countries can be quickly be retooled to provide what local people need.
In the UK, for example, it was announced that the Royal Mint would be producing up to 4000 medical visors per day.
And in the US, a GM car plant in Indiana has is being converted to produce ventilators.
In the UK, for example, it was announced that the Royal Mint would be producing up to 4000 medical visors per day.
And in the US, a GM car plant in Indiana has is being converted to produce ventilators.
Let's continue the conversation.
Comments
The annoying thing is that I'm fit enough, I reckon, to hold my own in a supermarket scrum but I'm being a good girl and staying away.
I wonder if Tesco have removed their unwrapped, serve-yourself, baked goods, such a Danish pastries, off the nose-level shelf they've occupied for so long? Why didn't Environmental Health slap their wrists years ago?
I'm repeating something I posted on Nutty's other blog, as someone mentioned `bitter greens' but it perhaps goes better here:
"`Bitter greens' - are these a particular plant or a generic term?
`I grow chicory & endive, initially because I like endive frisee, but later for their inulin content. Also the damn' slugs & snails don't attack them as they do lettuce.
`Checking on their beneficial properties, I was impressed by what they are credited with. Apparently, our penchant for ever-sweeter vegetables may be doing us no good. Bitter compounds are believed to stimulate the immune system - it's part of the plant's own defence system we've latched onto.
`As James Wong, our celebrity ethnobotanist said on the radio about 10 days ago, `Broccoli is trying to kill you'- a neat example of `what doesn't kill you makes you stronger'!
`Yet when I googled `bitter greens' the photos didn't look much like a chicory."
Can anyone enlighten me about `Bitter Greens', please?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_density#Main_table
China has only 153 people per square km
UK as a whole 281
England alone 430
Netherlands 422
Italy 200
USA 34
Canada 4
Iceland 3.31
Australia 3
Obviously, the larger countries have vast tracts of uninhabited land, as well as the densely-packed conurbations
City states and most small islands (Iceland is an exception) have much higher densities, more comparable with individual cities in larger countries.
Comparing England with the Netherlands might be instructive; other comparisons less so. Then there are the different criteria for recording `Cause of Death'. So often , it's like comparing apples and pears.
Latest 3,980 cases.
16 Deaths.
242 Recoveries.
Of the 3,980 cases, 1,791 are here in New South Wales.
My last visit to the shops Thursday, no TP, pasta, rice, bleach etc.
Fruit & veg inflated prices, could be due to fires/floods?
Extra rationing on milk, bread etc starting.
We also had a problem with Cruise ships, passengers being allowed
to disembark without quarantine.
We are now quarantining all passengers entering the country
on international flights, they are complaining!!
https://www.aveggieventure.com/2012/01/what-are-bitter-greens.html
Good morning btw.
If so, please let me know.
According to studies so far, masks seem to keep the virus from spreading.
I suspect most of us will be wearing them for the foreseeable future.
Winter greens: Parsley, Winter Cress & Rapunzel,
according to Kate Forsyth & her book which Ava C
& myself were referring to.
/On my way to the grocery store (grin) because I'm in the magical under 65 range! Woohoo!
//I'll be in a mask.
The COVID-18 has not been as deadly, So Far. I think what is scary is that it is new and we fear the unknown. Also healthy individuals can die from it.
Even in Italy or China, there aren't 80,000 dead by COVID-19. So maybe we have hope.
>>>Does anyone know where we can even access masks now? If so, please let me know.<<
There are a number of easy ways to make a homemade mask using paper towels and elastic, or using fabric with hot gluing or hand sewing and a video I just watched cutting up a fabric bag. Then there is the bandana idea (which I like because it can be washed and reused.
Just google how to make a mask and you will see a plethora of ideas and instructions. All very simple.
I didn't know that rapunzel was the name of a plant but I can see it now: `Rapa' as in scientific name for turnip and `-zel' as in `wurzel'.
It's what's called Round Headed Rampion in English - that's my `new bit of learning for today', though I've been wrestling with the Tesco-order site, a v steep learning curve.
All I have to do now is keep my eyes glued on the site for when new delivery slots are released (for 3 weeks' time...)
I also appreciate the human capacity for humour at all times so wanted to share this:
https://twitter.com/Cartoon4sale/status/1243617122535735305
Thanks @CatEyes for the perspective and info on how to make masks. I love how I saw somewhere that they are saying wearing a mask is more preventative than washing your hands 10 times a day.
There are the simple pleated surgical masks, Joann's Fabrics has a video online of how to make those. If you can't sew well (raising hand), use fusible web and iron it together. For those of us that are social distancing, it may be enough. The medical people get HUGE viral loads. I think at least a double layer of tightly woven fabric and, if you have access to any, a good Pellon interfacing that is spun, not woven. I posted a mask devised by a doc from University of Florida Health that *may* be superior to the normal N95 mask made from material that is normally discarded: https://ufhealth.org/news/2020/uf-health-anesthesiology-team-devises-respirator-mask-made-existing-hospital-materials
There are more complicated masks from the sewing machines of people that are determined to keep the healthcare providers and first responders as safe as possible. I've contacted daughter about whether she has access to any 2-ply spun polypropylene fabric because her sewing machine is stored *here* and she lives two counties away. If she has any access to the fabric, she could start making some for the fire and police department as well as her department.
Here's the pattern from Joann's Fabrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgHrnS6n4iA
Here's a pattern from SuperStitch for fast and disposable but I *think* the fabric is no longer available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpqOqiCOcwY
FabricPatch.net video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnSL3J7J0_E
Even a bandana in a cowboy scarf or bank robber fold will protect you from some of the viral load.
Working in the Fashion District, all I would hear was how tailors/seamstresses were worth more than their weight in gold. How true it is. They are a gift for humanity right about now.
I’m in the borough of Queens, NY and the people I know are not leaving like those in Manhattan and Brooklyn. We’re here to stay. It’s getting rough. The streets are a ghost town in my borough. We have a huge Asian population in our borough. Everyone is so scared and the thing is because many of our restaurants and ethnic grocery stores are Asian (Chinese, Indian, etc...) they are considering shutting down. Nobody wants to leave their homes and come to work. It doesn’t help that a lot of the Asian community is plaqued with Diabetes and High Blood Pressure.
I saw something about how double thick tea towel did well for filtering out over single for filters.
Not sure where but will mention it (cannot look now)
Four in 10 people worldwide confined in some form
More than 3.38 billion people worldwide have been asked or ordered to follow confinement measures in the fight against Covid-19, according to an AFP database on Sunday.
That represents around 43% of the total world population, which is 7.79 billion people according to a United Nations count in 2020.
The Chinese province Hubei and its capital city Wuhan, the first epicentre of the novel coronavirus, were the first to introduce confinement measures at the end of January. As Hubei province starts opening up again after its months-long isolation, confinement measures have multiplied worldwide in recent weeks.
By March 18 these measures affected more than 500 million people. This increased to more than a billion people by March 23, and more than two billion just a day later.
On March 25 more than three billion people were affected by confinement measures in some form.
Worldwide impact
On Sunday at least 3.381 billion people in at least 78 countries and territories have been called on to stay at home.
Most of those - at least 2.45 billion people in 42 countries and territories - are under obligatory confinement.
No region in the world is excluded.
I assume that things are continuing as normal in the Antarctica? It's the place to be! ...
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/destinations/only-one-place-that-remains-immune-to-covid-19/as74847312.cms
https://abcnews.go.com/International/life-antarctica-continent-case-coronavirus/story?id=69716325
I believe most of us can hand sew many of these masks. Don't be discouraged! If you can thread a needle you can hand sew.
I know when I was little I hand sewed simple things for dolls (in fact it was my physician Dad who thought me how to thread a needle and sew). Miss my Dad now especially in these times. :(
What was interesting was that in the entire store, filled with people who would normally be sitting in church, only myself and one other gentleman were wearing a mask. We nodded at each other in a brotherhood of the masks manner, a secret recognition code of sorts. He said to me "I believe we are the only two people in here that are even aware of what's going on!" "Looks like!" I agreed.
There are taped X's all over the store to let us know the safe distance to stay away from other shoppers wherever people might congregate such as at the register, the deli, and the meat counter. You would think that people would be able to figure out the distance on their own, but you would think wrong.
I would have gotten another bottle of wine for cooking and medicinal purposes but noooooo. It's Sunday, and no alcohol sales before 2 p.m. AAAAAAARGH! I wasted one of my masks for ground beef, wasn't able to get any, and didn't even get any internal sanitizer!
I assume that what you call ground beef is what we call mince meat. It is the type of product that is sold everywhere, and in the cheaper retail outlets, in bulk. When I can shop, it is my go-to ingredient to keep in the freezer. A world where there is no mince meat for sale is a world that has crossed over into the apocalypse.
My government has banned all sale of alcohol for the shutdown and all consumption of alcohol in public (lots of photos in the media of police/army confiscating alcohol and pouring it onto the ground). Our Minister of Police is gloating in smug delight and sure that it will help reduce crime. Is he kidding? While people in the UK and elsewhere were stockpiling toilet paper, we were stockpiling booze in a frenzy in those few days before lockdown. People are going to go through their stockpiles in double time (i.e. drink far more than normal) and there is going to be more crime and innovative ways to circumvent the law as they try to cope with isolation without alcohol. Think of prohibition in the USA and then transport humans to the 21st century ...
ADVICE NEEDED: There is no reason for me to go out, lockdown or not, but if something should change and I have to venture into town (enough petrol to get to town but, without money, not enough to get back), I have a plan. I have no face masks or sanitiser (my sister does not count safety as a priority). I do have lots and lots of scarves and quite a few matching gloves (fashion co-ordination sorted). If I put a scarf over my nose and mouth and gloves on my hands and then put those items in the washing machine as soon as I get back, do you think that would be adequate? Having a workable plan somehow comforts me (no medical facilities in this area other than the government clinic which is busy so long waiting times and a potential hotbed for the virus, but I have found a doctor in town who says he is available 24/7).
@Anon-Unknown My experience shopping is that people are being very good with their social-distancing. Stores are stocked well but cleaning supplies are difficult to come by but not entirely impossible to get. My nearby Target limits buying 4 cleaning items (soap, hand sanitizer, etc...) at a time. Clorox wipes and Lysol spray are impossible to get.
If you go early morning, you can get your groceries. By mid-afternoon, stores are bare. People are wearing masks and gloves, keeping 6ft apart, only 10 people at a time in stores, and the streets are empty. The lines are very long so trips to the store can take hours and you may not get what you need. One big problem is stores run out so early in the day, most people have to make frequent trips to get what they need. Otherwise, people are following through on social-distancing and good hygiene practices.
this is quite helpful for what fabric to use to make the masks
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/
Elle,
You have the best advice! Thanks! Also, the wine runs are risky but at this point I might have dts if I missed a day. Haha.
Guess what? While SO was out kayaking, I did spring cleaning and found 4 unopened masks and an unopened box of alcohol wipes😁🙌
Who knew we would all be so excited over these items?
Hardware stores, paint stores, auto parts stores, any store that supplied industrial workers had masks and respirators in quantity because these are things that workers have to wear daily on the job. Shortly after Wuhan was shut down, lots of people of Chinese ancestry started stripping the shelves bare, maybe to send to China, maybe to sell on Ebay, maybe for their own use because they knew it was bad news. Any remaining in the pipeline have been sent to first responders, etc.; only recently have industrial N95 and above masks been approved for medical use.
There was a paper written on the efficacy of cloth versus disposable masks in Viet Nam. Their conclusion was that the disposable masks were better; people actually got more ill from wearing the cloth masks than wearing no masks (which is probably the study that the government looked at).
I believe hospital nurses were given five cloth masks to wear throughout the day, then were instructed to take them home and wash in soap and water. The questions that I had that were not addressed were: Were these hand washed or machine washed? How did they dry them? Were they air dried inside overnight? Did they use a dryer? Did they iron them before use? Did they use a disinfectant in the water, such as bleach or other disinfectant rated for viruses and bacteria? How many hand sanitizing stations were there throughout the hospital and did they use them regularly? Were the masks ill-fitting and did the ladies have to constantly fiddle with them to keep them in place?
As with everything, it is ALL about the viral load. If you don't reliably kill the virus between wearing, they will continue to build.
I put on the mask and/or gloves (if I think I need them) before going inside. When I get back to the truck and load, say, 500 lbs. of feed in the back of the truck, I hand sanitize (or glove sanitize), use alcohol wipes on the glasses or goggles or both, use (homemade) alcohol or bleach wipes on any surface I may have touched, get in the truck, and off to the next errand. I do not brush my hair because I don't want to stir up any virus. Maybe my next errand is to go to the grocery store and pick up a gallon of milk and some cream for my coffee. Again, hand sanitize before going in, hand sanitize upon coming out, place the grocery items in the truck inside bags, take off the mask outside the truck while bending over to try to avoid face contamination, place the mask in the paper bag (along with gloves if I wore any), hand sanitize again, clean glasses with alcohol wipe again, decontaminate truck again, drive home.
Upon arrival, place groceries in the refrigerator on the porch. Place masks inside paper bags onto shelves on porch to wait for 30 days before reuse. Wipe down truck interior again where I touched. Decontaminate house door knob that I touched. Take wallet and phone out of purse, wipe down with alcohol wipe, wipe down credit or debit card with alcohol wipe, leave on table on the porch. Take off clothes and shoes, throw clothes, shoes, and purse in the washer in the garage. Go straight to shower. Dry off, put towel and washcloth in garbage bag, put on clean clothes, spray all surfaces that I may have touched such as doorknobs and water faucets with Lysol or an alcohol wipe, wipe down exterior of washer and dryer, put clothes in a hot dryer, empty towel and washcloth into the washer from the garbage bag, start washer. Wash truck exterior. Bring groceries into the house refrigerator if needed.
(Actually, I just got out of the shower and have to go out and do the truck wash shortly. I was putting it off because it was 97F outside. If it is hot enough to burn my hand, it should be hot enough to kill virus and maybe I can skip it, right? RIGHT? *sigh* FINE, I'll do it.)
As you can see, I have to REALLY want to go to town to punish myself like that. And it may all be for naught for I kept the grandkids at my house for a week before all those people tested positive in their county.
When I think of an example to not emulate, it would be MM. Touch hair, twiddle hair, touch face, grab Harry's hand, touch Harry's back, adjust hair....every one of those actions could transfer virus. I don't think it would matter what sort of protection she wears; she is going to contaminate herself and everybody around her.
I think I'm getting PTSD. I dreamed of Mom and Grandma a few nights ago. Grandma was driving a golf cart; Mom was sitting in the back (Mom loved to golf until stepdad got too ill). They were yelling at me "Hurry UP and get in! We've been waiting on you!" while I was yelling back "But I'm not ready to go yet!"
I'm really not ready to go. Mom and Grandma better not try and yank me through to the other side. And all St. Peter could spare was a golf cart? What about one of my late dearly beloved horses? (Although they may not have made it to through the pearly gates, they were a bit temperamental.)
For people coming into Florida from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Louisiana: Florida is closed. There are no rentals. Restaurants are closed. Beaches are closed. Campgrounds are closed. People are very angry about the conduct of some New Yorkers. ANOTHER man flew into the Jacksonville airport a couple days ago from New York with a positive COVID 19 test. He was symptomatic at the airport. When asked why he traveled, he said he thought he was better and became symptomatic on the plane. He's in the hospital, the entire plane has been exposed, the TSA people have been exposed, the people in the airport exposed...that was the last straw, I believe.
Now the Florida Highway Patrol and the Department of Transportation have checkpoints set up along the freeways specifically to warn the people from the states above that they are required to be in a two-week quarantine, people will be checking to make sure that they are in quarantine, and taking their information and address to which they are going. Do not think that you are going to bypass the freeway checkpoints and be free to wander about; all law enforcement will be looking for you. They're all pissed. Nothing is open.
Some of the counties in Georgia are also stopping people from NYC.
The man laughed and said they are required to quarantine for 2 weeks. As they were unloading all the stuff they just bought at Costco.
This happened last week.
& was fined $1000.
He was caught again & was placed in a special isolation compound.
He was caught yet again, trying to leave.
He’s now in jail awaiting magistrates court. Unbelievable!!
Telling them in no uncertain terms that being `at home' doesn't mean touring around with a second home on wheels. They describe the regulations as `rules' but in effect, it's law now.
Easter will be the real challenge - that's when the main grockle migration starts. (In Cornwall they're called `emmets' ie ants, although that's now used of any incomer who settles now. I'm very glad we moved to Devon, not Cornwall).
We've always been dubious about the fragility of the food-supply system, but saw it in terms of major computer failure, rather than this kind of emergency. Anyway we've always kept a good lot of stores in - so much so that when my `declutterer' saw my kitchen cupboard she jokingly asked if I was expecting a siege.
Little did we know.
Still no hope of submitting a Tesco order (for almost 4 weeks time) - perhaps I'll have to keep watch on the screen overnight, for the moment the timetable moves on. Me and a million others.
I don't want to have to ask a neighbour to shop for me if I can help it - they have enough to think about. I can at least give them surplus garden produce. Right now the rhubarb season has started - I usually sell the extra at our local Country Market (formerly WI).
Last week, I bought vegetable seedlings while we were still allowed out. I'll give me results earlier than if I'd sown them.
Here's a first - a Guardian piece that isn't grinding a political axe -
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/pandemic-exposed-myth-nuclear-family-160000283.html
Another tit-bit from Blighty:
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-government-cracks-down-fake-advice-social-media-070900959.html
Useful guidance.
Take those disposable masks outside and force garden hose water through them to wash away bad stuff. Let them dry outside in the sun for a day or two. Sunlight will kill all the baddies. Clorox can be also used on them. But I have not tested this as far as Clorox bleach making the mask material deteriorate.
I have been looking for bleach but it is sold out. Must swing by Home Despot and see if they have any. My local has a huge bleach aisle with all kinds and brands of bleach...in normal times.
I would love a big stick of rhubarb straight from the plant, dipped in sugar, heaven!!
I’m sure your neighbours wouldn’t mind getting you some essentials, go on, ask em.
Here in Sydney they are starting to deliver “essentials” boxes to those in need.
Also some people are “adopting” hospital workers, giving them accomodation close to hospitals
so they don’t have to travel so far for work, & to not be going home to their families & possibly infecting them.
They are giving for free empty flats & Granny flats. My faith in humanity is restored.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/exercise-cygnus-uncovered-pandemic-warnings-190258702.html
That was in 2016 - the prospect was too much for them to face up to.
I recall, from years ago, a minister talking about how his job involved `thinking the unthinkable' - what to do in event of nuclear attack. I recall reading that County Schools' Meals chiefs were to have places in `the bunker', to control food supplies after the Bomb dropped. (Our County SMs chief was such a difficult person, I think I'd have taken my chance on the surface!).
The Government in 2016 must have been a particularly lily-livered lot to keep it from us.
Sigh...Swampman has a follow up with his primary care physician today and I KNOW he's going to sneak in a fast food drive through and a stop at Aldi's for more pork schnitzel.
A former friend (whom I dropped because of what I now see as her narcissism) knew Jo Moore, she who uttered the remark, very well.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/oct/09/uk.past
Bury bad news in crisis, memo urged
Email sent just after attacks on US
Keith Harper
Tue 9 Oct 2001 00.27 BST
First published on Tue 9 Oct 2001 00.27 BST
" A leaked memo from a political adviser to Stephen Byers, the transport secretary, suggests that the government should take advantage of the world crisis to bury any controversial decisions.
The memo from Jo Moore, who was also Mr Byers' adviser at the Department of Industry, was sent as email within half an hour of the second plane hitting the twin towers in New York on September 11.
Dated 14.56pm, the memo, revealed last night, says: "It's now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury." It was sent to Alun Evans, the department's head of information, and to Robin Mortimer, a private secretary in the department. Mr Evans was serving out his notice, having been sacked by Mr Byers, and has since left.
A spokesman said last night: "This has not been drawn to our attention officially but we are aware of it and are looking into it." Ms Moore said: "It does not mean anything to me. I'll have a look at it."
Senior colleagues in the information department are amazed that she seized the opportunity to use the incident to the government's advantage. One said: "Our attitude has been that there is little point in making government announcements unless they are absolutely necessary because they will never get any coverage."
Blame was laid squarely at the feet of Jo Moore. Almost everyone was appalled by this attitude - apart from my former friend who couldn't see she done anything reprehensible,. Part of her defence of the woman was that she was `an excellent mother'.
(Jo Moore was one of the `special advisers' `co-opted' into the Civil Service by the then government. Alastair Campbell was another. The practice had many critics as it was felt these unelected individuals had way too much power.)
Words failed me at the time when my `friend' made her comment but it told me a great deal about her.