Today was Food Bin collection day. At 08.00 I Ieft the house and put the bin on the street.
After hearing the bin vehicle pass, I left the house and took the bin in.
Aaahhhhhh. I just didn’t think, and did what I usually do.
I’m only allowed out once per day, with another outing to buy food.
The police seem to have missed the mass lawlessness in the village this morning, probably because, while the sky was clear early, it had clouded over by the time the bins were emptied, preventing satelite photographs showing the second house excursion.
(I later legally walked a 6 km round trip to the minimarket for fresh food.)
The police use drones nowadays to keep an eye on serial lawbreakers like you 
Portsmouth sea front today and the police went along the parked cars telling them to move!
That’s appalling. But probably same all over Europe… people just don’t normally write bad things about their own country on an English language forum… The police recruit from a fairly narrow personality profile which doesn’t help. However, 5 mins on FB and you see the same crappy “what happened to the quarantine” comments posted about somebody who dared to drive from Brighton to Bournemouth to do a job.
Out of interest I thought I should read the legislation which is available on HM Gov of course and aslo look at the Governments recommendations. As far as I can see the key to excercising and going out is this;
“14. Can I drive to a national park or other green space to walk?We advise you to stay local and use open spaces near to your home where possible – do not travel unnecessarily.
You can still go to the park for outdoor exercise once a day but only by yourself or within your household, not in groups.
We ask you to keep 2 metres apart from others outside your household at all times when outdoors."
Which is clearly advice (and, within reason, good advice, that I dont dispute).
However, note there is nothing to say it is against the law to drive to an outside space, and I can find nothing in the legislation.
For those accustom to dealing with the law, I would find it impossible to come across a better example of a self imposed question, not answered!
Perhaps I am missing something, but in terms of an adult conversation, not tarnished by inference that you may wish to make people think the law requires them to do certain things, I see nothing in law that prevents people driving to a place to excercise and this would lead me to question the legality of some of the police actions that are being reported.
Avloclor – so the evidence is mounting. I wonder where all the stock is, and who is manufacturing?
“The Guardian has learned that the National Police Chiefs Council and College of Policing (NPCC) is rushing through guidance reminding officers that despite politicians’ warnings they cannot bar people from going for a run or a drive.
It will state that while certain actions such as driving to exercise may be unwise, they are not prohibited by the emergency powers, according to sources with knowledge of detailed discussions. It is also expected to conclude the law does not restrict people to leaving their home to exercise just once a day."
(The Guardian)
In what sense is that a lie? The common type of face masks do not filter viruses — that’s a fact which there is no point to debate.
Such masks do provide a measure of protection to others against droplets from an infected wearer as the mask stops the droplets. As far as I know, no one has denied that.
But it will not protect the wearer from viruses. So if you follow orders/recommendations (depending on your country) of not leaving your home if you have a cough, then there is no point in wearing masks.
I keep seeing this, excuse me, nonsense. First, Japan is a pretty clear illustration that it does work. Second, there is a huge difference between “protection” and “a measure of protection”. If you want to be 100% sure not to catch c-19 or anything else, get hold of a CBW outfit, breath only its own air under positive pressure. THAT is protection. But if you want to REDUCE your chances substantially, then anything which reduces the number of virus-filled droplets you inhale is good. Sure, SOME air will get round the cheap mask, but most will come through it.
MAYBE naked viruses are infectious – nobody seems to know. But there seems to be complete agreement that MOST infection is caused by droplets which are typically 5-10 microns in size, which are 100% blocked by any kind of mask.
If I was worried about catching c-19, I would wear a mask whenever otside the house (though not in the car – or private plane – like the woman I just saw today driving her Benz with a surgical mask on). Actually (a) I think I already had it and (b) I doubt that it is much worse than any other flu. So although I do all the distancing stuff etc just out of herd instinct, I haven’t ordered the CBW suit yet.
To my understanding, the point of wearing a mask is not to keep things out but to keep them in. That’s’certainly the thinking in Japan. Now, if everyone wears a mask, thus keeping the virus to himself, so-to-speak, it cannot transmit.
I don’t think it makes much sense to wear a mask on the street if you can practice social distancing, but it sure as hell makes sense in a supermarket or other place where people are around and cannot maintain an adequate distance from each other.
Cobalt wrote:
What is the price we are willing to pay to give those over 65 around one extra year of life on average? [just a guesstimate; no real calculation behind the one year, but 10% of 70-year old people dying with a life expectancy of 15 years would be 1.5 years lost on average, and the deaths will be concentrated in those with shorter life expectancy)
It’s not callous at all, it’s practical science.
In clinical research (the industry I work in) this happens constantly. In the ex-US environment where healthcare is generally a government provision, one must constantly assess where best to spend the money in order to achieve the maximum effect. At a more granular level it comes down to deciding whether to fund a particular intervention or not based on how much ‘extra life’ you get for your money. At some point it is too expensive for what it achieves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality-adjusted_life_year
EDIT: In the US you actually follow much the same process in demonstrating value, it’s just you’re trying to get insurance companies (rather than an arm of the state) to agree to fund something.
Airborne_Again wrote:
If you don’t have symptoms then you don’t cough. What, then, is the protection mechanism? If the air you exhale has virus, then the mask won’t help since it doesn’t filter virus.
It massively reduces the amount of droplets you can transmit onto others and onto things and reduces the distance in which they can fall.
Its not perfect. But it can help considerably. Why would millions of Japanese and Chinese be wrong?
The simple fact is: There is nowhere enough masks for even the health care workers who really need them, that is why our governments have tried to dissuade us from using them. They werer afraid of hamster buyers and they were even more afraid of civil unrest and people mugging others over masks if they said everyone has to have them. Yet, even a home made mask is better than nothing.
Austria have noticed and taken action. Their numbers still are much better than most. Japan is a league of its own, so are others.
The lesson for the future is to have a couple of boxes in your emergency supplies.
