On this day in 2020...3rd and 4th March

TUESDAY 3RD MARCH 2020.

There is a televised press briefing by The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, flanked by the Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Sir Patrick Valance and Professor Chris Whitty, The Chief Medical Officer for England. They seem to be playing the virus down a bit, as far as I can see. The P.M. said,

?'We have a 'fantastic NHS, fantastic testing systems and fantastic surveillance of the spread of the disease.'

The advice that was given to citizens by these academic giants? Sing 'Happy Birthday.' Not quite, but this was the Prime Minister's guidance to the nation:

?'We can all fight the disease by washing our hands with soap and water for the length of time it takes to sing happy birthday twice.'

Incredible, isn't it? He rounded off by telling us.

?'For the vast majority of the people of this country, we should be going about our business as usual.'

Author’s note. Presumably whilst singing a cheery tune, like ‘Happy Birthday.’

A journalist asked whether we should all continue to shake hands. The Prime Minister said:

'I’m shaking hands continually. I was at a hospital the other night, where there were actually a few coronavirus patients, and I shook hands with everybody.’

He then suggested we wash our hands before we shake hands. It is beyond bizarre, and I’m sure doesn’t fill anyone with any great confidence.

What we could not know at this point was that the scientific advice to the government was that it would be best to allow herd immunity to grow in the population; in other words, let as many people catch it as possible so that the virus burns itself out. This was a miscalculation that was to cost many people’s lives and delay a more robust approach in my view.

Author’s note. If you have the chance to view this press conference knowing what we know now, observe Professor Sir Patrick Valance. He has the look of someone who is trying to placate us. To play it down in an ‘it’s fine, honestly. It’s all exaggerated. Nothing to see here,’ type of way. Watch it and tell me I’m wrong.

Author’s retrospective note. This video conference is hard to find on the internet now. There is one marked 3rd March, but it relates to a few days later on 9th March 2020. It seems to have disappeared, which is the beauty of recording things at the time, I suppose. If you dig deep enough you may find the real version.

?WEDNESDAY 4TH MARCH 2020 – Live entries in diary commenced.

That I have started a diary demonstrates where I think this coronavirus is going, despite the government’s conciliatory tone yesterday. I'm not buying it. It seems to be spreading to other countries around the world, even in Europe, where the highest confirmed cases today now include our near neighbours:

China 80,537, South Korea 6,088, Italy 3,857, Iran 3,512, Diamond Princess 706, Germany 482, Japan 360, France 285, Spain 259. The USA cases are moving slower at 217, with only a rise of 200 infections in the last month.

International borders are open, and while ever they are, this is likely to spread and get out of control.

?Family life.

I went onto the Wright family ‘What’s App’ group today; this new coronavirus seems to be looming on the horizon. This was the message:

‘Hi all,

Hope you’ve got enough grub in. Just in case you need to self-isolate with coronavirus. I think it’s highly likely to be an epidemic, so things could happen quickly in the next week or two. If you’re still working with the public, keep using the hand sanitiser regularly. Boots have them on sale at 9 am each morning at the moment, as they sell out in three minutes. Limited to 2 per person. You guys are young and healthy, so you would be fine, although unpleasant. So long as your immune system didn’t overreact. I’m sure you’re on it but just checking.’

Author’s note. Although it perhaps reads to the contrary, I wasn’t suggesting my children were unpleasant!

It is important to not over-buy from shops, just enough to cover self-isolation for two weeks, if required. The weird thing is the inexplicable propensity for people to buy huge amounts of toilet rolls. They are running out fast, and this is likely to be an early theme. Nobody quite knows why this is happening; it is like a mild hysteria; it is a herd mentality all right, it is a stampede…for bog roll!

Are we prepared?

Quote of the day:

‘Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.’ - Abraham Lincoln.