On these days in 2020...14th and 15th November

SATURDAY 14TH NOVEMBER 2020

Facts and figures.

24,962 new cases.

168 deaths.

There are a high level of cases but lower death rates today.

Splurge.

It may be that the death rate splurges in the next few days. According to Professor Susan Michie, the upcoming two weeks will be ‘absolutely crucial.’ The vaccine news will make no difference to the current wave of coronavirus, and people must remain vigilant.

For comparison of the number of cases, the USA reported 194,610 new daily cases and 1,147 deaths. Yes, the population is five times that of the UK, so maybe they are not as extreme as they first appear.

Austria have gone into a lockdown scenario despite already having a night curfew in place.

Poland has surging cases and has reached an all-time high with 10,000 new cases.

Portugal has expanded its overnight curfew bringing in three quarters of the country. Germany recorded a record 23,542 new daily cases.

Brave doctor.

A tragedy has occurred in Romania with 7 people dying after a fire broke out in an intensive care ward treating coronavirus cases. Another 7 were critically injured in the fire at Piatra Neamt hospital today. It managed to burn through two rooms housing 16 intensive care patients before being put out. A brave doctor on duty (unnamed) tried to save patients and is in a critical condition with first and second-degree burns covering 80% of his body.

Author’s retrospective note. The Doctor was called Dr Catalin Denciu and was taken to Belgium for treatment to his burns.

I am pleased to say he survived and was named Belgium hero of the year.

While researching the story retrospectively I was shocked to see that actually 15 patients subsequently died in the fire with and ‘other tens’ were seriously injured.

Dr Denciu certainly gets my vote.

?Daily news.

Cain and able.

Today’s news is dominated in the UK by the leaving of two senior advisers to the Prime Minister: Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain. Both are tough guys and have been instrumental in key decisions on Brexit and the coronavirus approach much to the disdain of some elected government ministers who have not been.

The Prime Minister’s fiancée Carrie Symonds has allegedly been objecting to Dominic Cummings behaviour. You may recall (who could forget), that Dominic Cummings, featured in a huge, perhaps conflated scandal about travelling north with his family when he had coronavirus, culminating in him holding his own press conference.

Lost keys.

The Prime Minister has a big week ahead of him with the loss of two key aides and an apparent reset of his government approach. The coronavirus lockdown and the shift to organising a mass testing and vaccination project in the many millions are imminent.

The absolute final negotiations with the EU top negotiators will end in the next seven days or so with a deal or no deal. The ‘resignations’ of these two advisors is a curious and unexpected turn of events.

Twilight years.

A pilot scheme in Hampshire, Devon and Cornwall will start on Monday. Family and friends of people in 20 care homes will get regular testing to enable them to visit their loved ones. The scheme will be rolled out to other regions before Christmas. This would be terrific for families and indeed their elderly relatives if it allows visits to take place with those in their twilight years.

Quest to altar decision.

Religious leaders have challenged the UK government’s decision to close churches. More than 100 church leaders are seeking a judicial review banning people from worshipping together in England and Wales. The review will decide whether the government can make such a decision, not whether the decision was right. The church will claim autonomy from the state but of course they still must adhere to laws.

Greggs have announced they are to cut more than 800 jobs because of the impact of the pandemic.

Quote of the day.

‘A church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.’

?

SUNDAY 15TH NOVEMBER 2020

Facts and figures.

21,363 new cases.

213 deaths.

?Daily news.

Sunday newspaper headlines:

Princess Nut Nuts – cruel nickname for Carrie that led to downfall of Cummings.

?– Sunday Mirror.

Climate chief warns PM to act now on crisis.

?– The Independent.

Downing St slams ‘vicious and cowardly’ attacks on Symonds.

?– The Sunday Telegraph.

Hold your nerve Boris – Brexiteers back PM after Cummings. exit.’

?– Sunday Express.

Attacks by PM’s ousted aide left new press chief in tears.

?– The Observer.

?

Crocodile tiers.

With the intention to return to the Tier system on 2nd December when the national lockdown ends, one government scientist has voiced something that I think many agree with. Professor John Edmunds, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine; a member of SAGE, says that a return to the existing tier system would be ‘very unwise’ and that it ‘was not very well thought out.’

The effectiveness of the lower tiers are in question;

?‘The problem with the tier system is Tier 1 doesn’t do much at all, Tier 2 probably has some effect, but not a great deal, and Tier 3 seems to be able to hold the epidemic.’

Underlining the concerns, he added,

?‘Tier 1 and Tier 2 just eventually drift up into Tier 3 with a high incidence, and then Tier 3 holds it there.’

Real and present danger.

As we approach the stage of vaccines becoming available, Labour has said that anti-vaccination content on social media should be ‘stamped out.’ They want legislation to include financial and criminal penalties for those social media companies who fail to act. Labour claims that there is a co-ordinated effort by anti-vaccination groups ‘churning out disinformation’ and ‘presents a real and present danger’ to mass vaccination efforts.

BBC’s Flora Carmichael examined some of the current vaccine rumours circulating, which I paraphrase here.

·??????Billionaire founder of Microsoft Bill Gates has been involved in huge immunisation projects as part of his philanthropic work. One conspiracy theory is that the coronavirus pandemic is a cover for a plan to implant tiny trackable microchips in the world’s population with Bill Gates behind it all. There is no tangible evidence to support these claims. In a YouGov Poll in May, 28% of Americans believed it, with the figure rising to 44% among Republicans.

?·??????Another rumour relates to the vaccine tampering with your DNA. Scientists debunk this theory, and it shows that people spreading the rumours have no understanding of genetics. ‘Injecting RNA into a person doesn’t do anything to the DNA of a human cell,’ Professor Jeffrey Almond of Oxford University explained.

?·??????Another fear-inducing claim is that 75% of vaccine trial volunteers (Pfizer/ BioNTech) suffered side effects. Pfizer and BioNTech have reported no serious safety concerns at all in their trial. Many vaccines have side effects, of course, but these are short-lived and include pain at the injection site, fever, muscle aches and pains, headache, and fatigue. These are similar to side effects felt by the annual flu jab, they are usually mild and wear off after a couple of days at most.

The reported side effects so far, are a mild to moderate pain in the injection site for a few days, and some participants had a mild to moderate fever over a similar period.

Author’s note. To be totally honest there will be a little trepidation when it comes to me having the vaccine. These are not so much fuelled by these conspiracy theories than the fact that it is a brand-new virus, the first time an mRNA vaccine has been used and the amount of time post-trial before public circulation is tiny compared to others that take years.

But what is the alternative? The risk of a horrific deadly virus. These are the choices in life, and we hand ourselves over to medical professionals many times in our lives and trust them to do the right thing. This is another one of those occasions, I guess.

?Family life.

Bizarrely there is a trend of people putting up their Christmas decorations early during lockdown to give a cheery atmosphere in this strange year.

Dear reader I succumbed to the requests from my partner and daughter and have joined these lunatics. It must be a lockdown thing. Christmas has arrived early in the Wright household. I must confess it feels super cosy.

Quote of the day.

‘All humans make mistakes. But there is no room or allowance in the fevered world of conspiracy theorists for mistakes, human errors, anomalies, or plain incompetence, though the latter, from the highest levels on down, is endemic to our society.’ – Vincent Bugliosi.

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