We discovered too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures

"We discovered too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures in the way they could have."

There has been a lot of comments about what Boris said about how COVID19 spread through care homes.  Later a No 10 spokesman insisted Johnson was not blaming care homes, saying they “have done a brilliant job under very difficult circumstances”. He added: “The PM was pointing out that nobody knew what the correct procedures were because the extent of asymptomatic transmission was not known at the time.”

People have commented about how the comments that Boris made were wrong and that he was wrong to blame care homes.  And the government have not apologised but have deflected the comments.

But Boris was right.

Care homes didn’t follow the procedures in the way that they could have.

And that was because of a lack of PPE.

Exercise Cygnus, in 2017 reported on the importance of PPE.

Despite this, the amount of PPE available when COVID19 spread across the UK was far short of what the nation needed. 

But do not take my word for this. A study at the UEA has shown this.

If care homes had enough PPE, an issue identified in 2017, procedures would have been followed.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Yesterday it was time to watch a film after working from home.  The downside of Wednesday is working from home.  The plus point of Wednesday, is working from home.  I do not work as well as I do when at the office, and also cycling there on a Wednesday burns off a lot of calories (another downside of working from home).  But it is nice to be around the family.

After work, I went for a haircut with my son, or rather I went and my son, brought by my wife later, went in afterwards.  It is strange to have less hair, but I knew lock-down was coming which is why I had my hair cut as close to it as I dared and when the barbers opened, I booked an appointment on line.  He was not too keen and acted surprised by this, despite having been told about this on many occasions.  But he liked his haircut as well.

And later in the day, we watched Guardians of the Galaxy.  My son did not want to join us for this, which is a shame, but it was great to watch it again.  My daughter is working her way through the Marvel films and while I would want to watch them in time order, my wife wanted just to watch this, so that is what it was.  And as before, I loved it.  Of all the new Marvel films, I think I like these the most.  My best one was Blade, but it has been a long time since I watched that and I am not sure if I would like it as much if I watched it again.  Guardians has great characters, classic lines and for me, the sci-fi nerd, it is also set in space.  I love this film!

Frozen 2

Just a quick post on this film.  Got back late so did not get to spend much time with my son before he went to bed, but I did watch some television with my daughter, this being Marvel Runaways, but we finished the series and I need to look into being able to watch it on demand as we missed the third series.

Frozen 2 is a sweet film, but I am very glad the children refused to watch it with me as it was not anywhere near as good as the first one.  Saying that, my daughter told me she did not like the first one that much!

Memories of that and how so many children loved it (and still do) bring a smile to my face.

Maleficent

First of all, I missed the #ClapForTheNHS, mainly because I was knackered.  A late few nights caught up with me and I had taken a nap, but slept through it!

As a family, we watched Maleficent which I think is a far better film compared to the sequel.  We had watched it many years ago but could not remember it all.  Of course we have a dark sense of humour which is prevalent in the film to a point, but notable by not being present as much in the sequel.  Ultimately, it is a fairy tale, but this interpretation is one I love as well as its sound track.

Anyway, good night all!

The pubs are open!

First of all, an update on the children. They are doing well though they are coming up to the end of term and it will be interesting to see how they have done.  My daughter is still working from home, while my son goes into school for most of the week.

My wife and I went to visit some friends now that we are able to.  It was nice to mix, though a bit nervy for me.  But I got to watch the Arsenal match and saw a rare away win.  Performances like this are going to be important if the team is to qualify to play in Europe next season.  We have no chance of playing in the European Cup (or as most call it, the Champions League) but, depending on other results, we may qualify to play in the Europa Cup.

It was nice to see our friends, and it was nice to see the players clap for the NHS before kickoff.  Driving into town tonight, many more may need it in four weeks time.  Loads were in Colchester and many were not social distancing.  While they are young and therefore at low risk even if they get infected, most will not be affected too badly.  But they will infect others, which means that we may see a jump in numbers in four weeks time.

Which means that those risking their lives to treat the ill be under increased risk again.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Today we finished watching Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.  We started to watch it yesterday but finished it tonight.  It was an enjoyable film, but not as good as what I remembered of Maleficent itself.  Saying that, it was a long time ago that we watched it, 2014 in fact and the memory of it may not actually match.  But we have decided to watch Maleficent later to see if it compares.

It is a nice film, but being a fairy tale for children you have to forget how enemies become friends very quickly.  Good in places, average in others, it is not a classic sequel, but it will do.  

Face masks, the truth.

During this time of COVID-19, face masks save lives.  But despite this, there are people who want to have an excuse not to wear them. I understand that people find covering their face to be inconvenient, and a tightly applied face mask can make some feel as if it is harder to breathe.  I wear a mask when seeing patients, my wife wears one which is even more claustrophobic when she is carrying out aerosol generating procedures.  And when we wear it, it is to reduce the risk of us catching COVID-19.

But when I wear a mask if I am cycling along a cycle path, or if I have gone into a shop, it is not to protect me, but more to protect others.  And that is the strength of masks.  Nations where wearing masks are commonplace have lower rates of COVID transmission and those who are against masks forget this fact.

Masks are not perfect.  They are no substitute for good hand hygiene (don’t wear gloves just clean your hands often) and keeping your distance from others.  Outdoors, if a cloud of COVID has been generated the wind will disperse it.  Indoors, this is not as likely, especially in shops.  A face mask offers some protection from COVID, but more importantly, if you have COVID and are unaware, it greatly reduces the chance of you spreading it.

It does not have to be a surgical face mask.  It can be a scarf, it can be a snood, it can even be a KKK hood.  But it needs to filter what you breathe out.  So no holes cut out in the middle, and no string/net masks.

There are dangers to wearing one, the danger being that if offers a false sense of security for those who forget that it is worn more to protect others rather than protecting yourself, meaning that people may forget to social distance.  And the other danger is that it can increase the chance that you touch your face, a big no no when it comes to COVID.

For some, wearing a mask can cause psychological stress due to the feeling of it restricting your breathing.  And for those, I understand that it is hard, and on occasion impossible to wear one.  But I have cycled up steep hills wearing a mask.  When I do so, it causes me some mild issues, but I can still do it.  And I am no fitness freak (I am lucky if I can cycle eight miles in one stretch).

If you literally do not care if others die of this disease, then fine, do not wear a mask,  but if you do, wear one.