COVID19 and the myth of asymptomatic transmission

Spoiler, there is no myth.  However, it is more accurate to say that most of those with COVID who have no symptoms are in fact pre-symptomatic as they will go onto develop symptoms later.  It is hard to state this as a fact as this requires extensive research to say so, but working in the NHS, in May last year, I took part in a study looking at this in the NHS.  While none where I work were sent home as a result, some others in local GP surgeries were.  Also before Christmas, in a GP surgery locally, one person who had no symptoms at the time infected those they made cups of tea for, and we know this as they developed symptoms after the tea round and those who had the tea got COVID after!

In September 2020, Donald Trump proved that in what many term the Rose Garden Super Spreader event.  It was held so that President Donald Trump could officially nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the vacant Supreme Court seat before he was voted out of office.  It was outside and this was felt to be safer than holding it indoors.

It was known that his rallies were linked to the spread of COVID, so while many thought that an outdoor event would be safer, the danger of this event was known.

I do not like having to wear a mask, but I know that by wearing one, I reduce the chance of catching this disease, but more importantly, if I have it, by wearing a mask, I am much less likely to spread it.

If those who attended the Rose Garden event had worn masks, less would have been infected.

Last of all, COVID19 is real. People down our road died of it, I have treated those with it, and the nursing home I help in has yet to return to full capacity after COVID killed so many in it. Our local hospital is back to operating on patients as it did last year.  Earlier in the year when it was full of COVID patients, it had to restrict operations, initially to emergencies only, and then later to life and death operations only.  

We can see what is happening in India where government incompetence has shown what happens when a decisions are made to ignore the need to flatten the curve.  Just like what happened in Brazil.  I just pray that others learn from this.

PMQ's and how the Prime Minister is interested in saving lives. A shame about the 127,256 bodies which have piled high

People in our country are not interested in allegations that the Prime Minister has taken what many consider an illegal donation to furnish his Downing Street flat so he does not have to live in a skip. According to many, the population are interested in how vaccination has been a success for the nation.

 

Fortunately, despite Keir Starmer missing it, the Prime Minister, when asked in parliament who initially paid for the refurbishment, stated that he had already answered the question and that it was him.  (Check the link at one minute.)  Instead of people being focused on yet another allegation of Conservative sleaze, they are interested in how Boris has saved lives, and of course, they are not interested in the allegations that he had said that he would be happy for bodies to be piled high.  

Many do not mind that we live in a nation where the rich appear to be able to buy access to the Prime Minister.  I do.  It is hard to tackle issues of corruption in nations abroad when we have a government that ignores the law, allows bullying to take place and appears to give lucrative contacts for PPE (which does not always work) to friends. 

I am sure that we can trust the Prime Minister.  It is not as if he has any dodgy contacts or has repeatedly lied to about his fidelity!

Stowaway

I liked this film.  I saw that it had Toni Collette, Anna Kendrick and Daniel Dae Kim in it and had to watch it.  That and it is a science fiction film.  

When it comes to films, it has to be compared to Gravity, but while that has action and drama, this is much more slow moving and leaves the viewer to ponder on ethical questions.

One test with films is if I would have paid to watch it.  The answer for this film is possibly no, but it is worth watching despite that cut off, and if I had paid to watch it in the cinema, I would not have been disappointed. 

Jennifer's Body

I have watched this film before many years ago.  My wife did watch it, or the beginning of it before, but decided not to continue.  My daughter and I finished watching this yesterday.  It was weird watching bits of it with her, but overall, I think that this has stood the test of time.

To be fair, I do not watch as many horror films as I would like, and this is not really one, but is an enjoyable mix of gore, horror, comedy and the supernatural.

Anyway, we watched it after my son, wife and I had got back from Freeport.  We took Leia with us but it was crowded and she cannot be trusted in crowds so I took her on circuits around the periphery of the shopping centre.  She found a field which she loved to explore which gave me more much needed exercise.  We had intended to arrive earlier but having to bathe Leia meant that we were much later than we had intended, hence it being so crowded.  Maybe next time... 

And last of all, Line of Duty.  The cliff-hanger is now in the open, but we have left not knowing who H is and we are all assuming that the Spanish connection has been shut down after the discovery of the lap top used to send messages, we presume from H.  But, if the messages were sent from Spain, that does not explain how definitely was spelt as definately. While I thought that this is could be a Northern Irish thing, it is something across the internet.  Jed Mercurio is a git, a genius, but a git as we do not even know if there is to be another series!  

Leia goes swimming

Am knackered.

The woof alert gave me a lie in, well a relative one, waking us up after 0700.  I got up and brushed my teeth, but by the time I got down, my daughter was with he.

After a bit of time of us playing with her, my daughter negotiated the appropriate bribe for me to come with me and Leia, this turned out to be a sausage roll and orange juice from Greggs. I, being fussy about sausage rolls, had a vegan one, which was not too bad.

Our walk took us to the boating lake in Castle Park.  And it was there that Leia, when chasing a duck, went for her first swim.  My daughter has told me not to say who was responsible for this, or holding her lead at the time, but I think it is fair to mention that I have taken her to the pond without incident before.

The photo was taken once she had some time to dry off.

Once we got home we had to bathe her.  Needless to say she needed it.  The amount of dirt that she soaked up in that pool was unbelievable.  

Grooming her after she was dried was a family affair.  I just hope I do not have to bathe her again today. 

American Assassin

An enjoyable film. There was a glaring continuity error with the beach scene with the same man waking past in the same manner in different shots (I missed the others as I got into the film).  I had tried to watch it before, but my daughter got annoyed as she wanted to watch it.  Sadly my son did not join the rest of us.  Even Leia watched it, though that was the scene with the dogs to be fair.

It is not deep, it is not thought provoking, but it is a good action film, one I consider to be more enjoyable than the Mission Impossible sequels.

Anyway, it took me away from the disappointment of Arsenal losing.  I watched the highlights before I went to bed.  While some would say we should do better, we did almost win a penalty before a bizarre offside decision.  I doubt we are going to qualify for Europe next season and our perception of being a big six club is going to be in jeopardy.

PMQ's and the Tories defending toxic masculinity

I did not get to listen to PMQ's properly as I was working at the vaccination hub yesterday and had a Teams meeting during it.  So I listened to it afterwards.

The main issue with it is Tory Sleaze.  James Dyson had asked about tax exemptions when it came to providing ventilators for the UK last year.  The Conservatives moved quickly to ensure that this took place and considering the danger that the UK was facing, ensuring that we had the ventilators that we thought might be needed was the right thing to do.  The issue with this was the way the communications took place without a record being made and how it only came to light when the text messages where 'found' by the BBC.  For the record, due to the pandemic, I have no issues with the tax exemptions being provided to a millionaire who is a Tory party donor.  I just feel that the communication should have been documented in a clear manner.

The issue of preferential access in a manner not subject to scrutiny has been present with David Cameron asking for favours, and of course

There was the issues as well with contracts for PPE being handed out.  The government were right to act quickly to obtain PPE for the nation, but they were wrong to give the contracts just to friends and donors.  Especially when the PPE obtained was substandard and how the lack of decent PPE cost lives.

There is an issue about how Matt Hancock has shares in a company that tenders services to the NHS, but working in the NHS, I am aware that a blind process to evaluate bids is often used, and if this process was followed, I have no issues with Matt Hancock owning these shares.  So long as the correct processes were followed.

Boris has stated in his response to the questions by Keir Starmer that the Conservatives get on with making the tough decisions to save our nation.  While they have obtained the vaccines our nation needs, they have also allowed many to die of COVID and the mistakes that they made with PPE, which have benefitted donors and friends has already been mentioned.

Boris talks about tougher sentences for rapists and violent criminals, avoiding how the Conservative voted against a register for stalkers and domestic abusers.

He also mentions action taken on the European Super League, forgetting that Labour called for action first.

A shame that Boris Johnson is not held to account though on the claims he has made by the media though.  But that is not surprising.

Line Of Duty and the Mexican Standoff

 

Oh my god, what an ending to the episode.  I love shows by Jed Mercurio and this is one of many that I am a fan of.  I say I, this is something my wife and I love and are hooked on.  We are being left guessing as to the identity of H and like the rest of the Line Of Duty watching population, we have no idea who is going to be alive next week...

And we meet again

We have met up with people!  Yesterday we had Isobel and Tony round for a meet up.  It was great for my wife to see people face to face.  Do not get me wrong, it was great to see the two for me, but I have the advantage at work of being able to chat with people I like.  My wife has more issues with those at her work and also is more of a social animal than me who is more introverted.  Lockdown and social isolation have not been good for her as she does thrive meeting people.  

I had spend yesterday in the day mowing the lawn.  I was to try to take down the playhouse my children have had for years, but I did not get the time to do so.  I guess if I had pushed myself harder, I could have done it, but I was tired from a hard week at work (not as hard as my first week back though).  I have been racking up the miles walking Leia, who Isobel and Tony loved, but have not been on my bike as much as I would like.

The kids are doing well, my daughter is preparing for her Religious Education GCSE and my son is back to working and doing well in his assessments as well as meeting up with friends on a face to face basis.  

Anyway, I need to get to doing some paperwork so I will sign off for today.

RIP Phil The Greek

I am sure that there will be some who are offended by the title of this post.

But, despite his racist comments (which I suspect were not meant to cause as much offence as they did), I do think that it is important to remember what this man, an immigrant to our nation, did for it.

He was a war hero serving, like many (Ralph Miliband included) during World War Two.  In wartime, promoting an officer beyond their ability means death, and this was the case during the Second World War.

He created the Duke of Edinburgh awards and I know people who are grateful for the opportunities this offered to those who would not have had them.  

He was not perfect, but he reflects the multicultural heritage of our nation.  His son, the man who is most likely to be the next Monarch is the son of an immigrant, an issue that The Far Right cannot be seen to be against, despite the hostility seen towards those from Eastern Europe.

Left Behind

Do not watch this film.  It is awful.  It has to be compared to This Is The End which is a much better film.

It has terrible effects, matched only by the way this film is put together. This Is The End has much more humour, and horror, as well as decent acting.

The premise of both is the end of the world, and the higher power lifting up the souls of those worthy.  While This Is The End focuses on good deeds, this focuses on belief in Jesus being our saviour.  From a philosophical standpoint, it seems to indicate that all Christians go to heaven, be they Catholic, Mormon etc, which leads to the question of does it matter which branch of Christianity a person belongs to?  In the film, it does not matter if a heathen is a good person or not as they will not ascend to heaven, as seen with a Muslim man on the plane.  One woman, who unknowingly is having an affair with a married man, saves others.  True it is part of her job, but would that not deserve recognition by a higher power? Or those working in a hospital where one scene of the film is set (or even those working in the police or ambulance services).  

There is only one target audience for this film, that being Christians, and I am sure many would not like this film anyway.

Do COVID vaccines work?

The answer to this question is yes and no.

Tucker Carlson, the man who has spread racist conspiracy theories, has questioned why, if the vaccines work, we have to use face masks.  

He has raised concerns about vaccines, but has stated an opinion that will sway people towards not getting vaccinated.

First of all, he is right in that there may be more blood clots than science is aware of associated with vaccination of COVID.  Governments taking action to look at this in more detail is not hiding an issue (which he has claimed), but rather is taking appropriate action.

He also has asked why people have to wear masks even if they have been vaccinated suggesting that the vaccines may not work.  A man of his supposed intelligence either knows the answer, or he is just not that smart.  No vaccine is 100% effective, and this is the case with COVID vaccinations, being both after one or two doses.  Also when it comes to variants, we know that the current vaccinations are not as effective against them as we would like.  We do not know how long immunity from vaccination will last as well.

So does being vaccinated against any illness offer a 100% success that the recipient is immune?  No.  And this is also the case with vaccines targeting COVID.

Does vaccination against COVID work to save lives?  Yes.

Thanks to Tucker Carlson, there will be more people not being vaccinated.  Some of them will catch COVID and die and some will catch COVID and spread it to others who will die.  

Trump and double standards.

Really, the title should read, Trump, and double standards, yet again.

Georgia has ‘improved’ the system of voting in the USA with changes designed to reduce voter fraud, such as stopping people waiting to vote from being offered refreshments.  Many do not think that this is fair, and some corporations have decided to act.  And this has created problems amongst the right.  They are happy for corporations to be involved in politics in the form of funding political candidates, but they are against corporations taking business away from states where allegations of voter suppression occur.  Remember, states such as Georgia, have introduced changes in the past to reduce voter fraud, but still lost the state to Biden in 2020.

Trump called for a boycott of Coca Cola, among other companies, but has been found to be drinking a beverage made by a company he has called to boycott.  Not just any beverage, but one of the most famous ones.  I guess Pepsi failed The Pepsi Challenge.

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Poverty in times of COVID and why this needs to be tackled

First of all, the reason that poverty needs to be tackled is that it is wrong for a G7 nation to have so much poverty, this being an issue before COVID.

Despite much government hype, people are suffering despite having universal credit over this time.

The system is designed to encourage people to find jobs, but we are living in times when there are less jobs to find.

One of the factors linked to not adhering to the need for testing and isolation is financial hardship.

If we are to tackle this, we need to ensure that those in most need are offered help when it comes to isolating so that they do not suffer.  The government have the harsh view that giving money to people who are hard up will make them less likely to work, but this does not apply when it comes to tax for the wealthy.    

The idea of keeping the current system that is failing so many is wrong.  In a time when there are jobs, it could be argued that more money going into it would help people.  I would say that in a time when there are less jobs available, that it is time to consider a basic income.  Also called a citizens income, it has been tried in the past abroad before COVID, and can be argued, that Trump used it in the form of stimulus checks during COVID.  

Basically, the options are to do nothing, or to do something when it comes to poverty in the UK. As someone who knows what a childhood on benefits was when I was growing up, I am of the view that we should do something to help those in most need.

Something Borrowed

First of all, the family.  They are well, though due to the hours I worked yesterday, I only got to see my wife as the kids were still asleep when I left and were back to bed when I got back home.  Today, they have been lovely, though I did not get to do much with them having worked in the vaccination hub in the morning and was knackered afterwards.  

Saying that, I had asked my son if he wanted to go with me to walk Leia in the afternoon, but he declined.  I took her to Spring Lane Park.  She had been taken here by my wife and daughter in the past, and she loved the return here.  Saying that, she would love going to any outdoor park really.  Gave me some much needed exercise though.

He had surprised my daughter today.  It was dark, she was going down the stairs.  He waited in the dark and when she got to the bottom said hello.  Not boo, just hello.  She did not appreciate it.  Made me smile when I heard about it though (if I laughed, she might have thumped me).

Our film today was Something Borrowed.  I would have been annoyed if I had paid to watch this film.  My son gave up on the film first, followed by my wife.  My daughter and I had to watch it just to see how it ended.  To be fair to the film, it was not so bad that I did not care about the end, but overall, this is a film I would not go out of my way to watch.  The plot was sweet enough, but the character Dex, played by Colin Egglesfield, was more wet and pathetic than Rachel, played by Ginnifer Goodwin.  I tend not to like the characters played by her in films, and this almost made me like her character.  Rachel in this film had a spine at least which is more than can be said for Dex.  Overall, like with many RomCom's the plot was predictable, but the journey from the beginning to the end was mostly boring, the excitement being when there was a big plot hole, this being because my daughter and I would complain about how the characters would have really reacted.  

Apparently a sequel had been planned.  Thankfully, it has not been produced. 

Anyway, I have done this before I go to bed.  I will take Leia out for a quick garden wee before so, but as you can see from the picture, I will have to wake her up first.  

27 Dresses

We watched this yesterday thanks to my son.  We had discussed what film to watch and he had suggested a RomCom.  This genre of film is not my favourite and I had watched this before, many years ago.

But I had forgotten how much I loved it.  While not as amazing as classics like Pretty Woman, it was a really good film.  I understand that others have not liked it and I can understand why.  This is not a film that stretches your brain or makes you think about issues, but that is why I tend not to like this genre of film.  I consider most RomCom's to be more akin to fairy tales, but as one, this was a story well told.  

I may be biased as this was one of the few films that we have watched as a family.  Even Leia watched most of it (she did decide to sleep on the floor around the corner towards the end).  Watching it with the love of my life always helps though.

As for the rest of the day, I had been to work earlier in the day, this being after a walk with Leia though the snow that had been expected.  But after I got back, we did some work in the garden and the weather turned, the day being full of glorious sunshine.  The climbing frame from before is almost completely dismantled and we just have to get rid of a few things.  I also am going to have to mow the lawn soon.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

My daughter started to watch it, and as she said that it was an inappropriate film, I decided to watch it with my wife.  Sadly, I did not get to watch it with her last night but the two kids and I started watching it together.  My son went to bed early with a stomach upset which we are going to have to speak to our doctor about this week as it has continued on for so long, but he appeared to enjoy it until then.

As a film, it is good mindless fun.  There were scenes that my daughter did not want to watch with me and while the bare bones of the plot can be predicted, the core of the film is hilarious.  I might get my wife to watch it, but I suspect it will not be her favoured form of comedy.

I am glad I watched it.

13 Reasons Why; Tape 6, Side A

I watched this episode with my son in the morning after my walk with Leia.  I came back to find my son downstairs.  In our discussion of the episode, we discussed previous ones, and the fact that I missed the death of one of the characters who looked out for Clay.  That was embarrassing.

My son however has not felt well and retired to bed after spending the first part of the day on the Switch playing MineCraft.

As for my wife and I, we worked to put together some items for the garden.  Being a lovely and sunny day it was hard to believe that earlier in the month, snow was forecast for tomorrow!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Most of us realised that we never watched this before.  My daughter had, having watched it when she binged on Marvel superhero films over the summer holidays. This is much better than the first Captain America film, though to be fair, it was the end that ruined that film.

Watching this after watching the other films means that the plot does not have the surprises that are present, but despite that, it has enough twists and turns to make it enjoyable.  Like other Marvel films (Blade 2&3 excluded) this is a good film and well worth watching. What makes it more interesting is watching it after ‘patriots’ including service men and women invaded the US capitol in an attempt to overthrow democracy and impose what they felt was a just leader instead.

Today, we did some work in the garden and visited a garden centre.  Not too busy a day, a relaxing part of the Easter Weekend which is much needed before I return to work on Monday.

Made In Italy

My wife and I watched this today. Or rather finished watching it as we had started to watch it last night.  It was lovely to see Italy again, not just because we have not seen it for years, but may not return for years.  As a film, it was one with a mostly predictable plot, and my wife felt over acted in places.  But it was sweet and also refreshing to watch.  

My daughter spent the day revising and my son enjoyed the first day of the long weekend by continuing to relax.  Over this time, I took Leia to a part of Highwoods Country Park that she had not been to.  And I found a section of the park that gives her the Zoomies that Cockapoo’s are famous for.

Now, we are watching The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.  Marvel have done it again.  An engaging series, though much darker than Wandavision.  It is going to be interesting who ends up being on the good side of grey and those who are on the evil side.  I am missing bit of the plot hough as I need to watch he films with Captain America again.

13 Reasons Why; Tape 5, Side B

Another episode watched with my son.  This was watched after a few hours walking Leia in Highwoods Country Park. She loved the walk but at the end was all too wiling to get into the car.  With the sun out it was great for both of us. As before she loved to meet with other dogs.  I met with the mother of one of my son’s old school friends and her new partner, her dog trying to hump Leia.  He had been neutered and was trying to dominate her, she did not mind, but we quickly stopped it.

Getting back, my son and I watched 13 Reasons Why.  The episode again did not live up to the book when it came to Hannah Baker herself, but looking at those around her this portrayed how the survivors of suicide have to live on with grief.  He liked it and I am looking forwards to watching more episodes with him later this month.