Thanks for the sarcasm @WillDB. The South Koreans wear masks normally nothing to do with the pandemic, so they are just continuing what is normal. Most scientists here would say that the reasons that have done so well are: fantastic contact tracing, a population that obeys rules, they were not fined, but arrested for breaking social distancing.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
@floralies I am so glad you posted, I have been thinking about you and your son. It must be very difficult, but I'm glad to hear he's stable now. Take care.
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
Hmmm this South Korean expert seems to think that wearing masks is a good idea. But what do the South Koreans know about dealing with viral epidemics? We are much more advanced in this country, clearly.
Reading between the lines, they don't want the public to compete with NHS for PPE.
Though it might be instinct to misuse a mask, such as remove it often, touch it often, take greater risks because of the perceived extra protection... ....well there you go, I just listed the downsides and anyone who can read could now make effective use of a mask, simply by being informed how to use one effectively.
It's not really true to say that South Koreans normally wear masks. On my visits there I've seen very few people in masks. They usually only wear them if they are not well and are trying to protect other people. Now, of course, everything is different. My son, who lives there was very dismissive of the effectiveness of masks to start with but has revised his opinion somewhat. He does wear a mask whenever he is out though as he says you would currently be completely ostracized if you didn't.
Having said that, I agree with @punkdoc that the main reason for their success has been testing and contact tracing. They had their first day with no locally transmitted cases yesterday!
And just a little story to make you smile. When my wife had a tracheostomy quite recently so too did the lady in the adjacent room. When her husband visited, of necessity she had to communicate with him by notes. He then started to write a note to her. “I’M NOT BLOODY DEAF” she wrote back.
Thank you, Lizzie, yes all is fine. The procedure left her with limited movement in her arm and I still get plenty of tongue pie despite a third of it being taken away. Partial glossectomies are not nice.
There are lots of concerns, quite rightly, about mental health both in the population and large and with the staff in hospitals who undergo a huge amount of mental stress with this virus.
I also worry about the waste in the NHS - not the frontline staff, but the layers (and layers) of management, who appear to know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Total cost concept? But a dream that seems to be unknown among the regular bean counters.
But here's the thing - how much waste continues in a hidden way? I received two text messages, telling me that I was very vulnerable, and should isolate until the end of June, and sign up to government food boxes etc.
Normally quite rational, I was in a real mental dither. But came to the conclusion that it was yet another spam thing, and reported the texts to Google.
Then I had an NHS letter, also telling me I was very vulnerable etc etc. I felt as if I had been dealt a very low blow. I couldn't for the life of me see the rationale, being (just) 70 with no compromising health issues. I was, frankly, in meltdown - what if???
I couldn't/wouldn't talk to anyone about it. I was, in truth, totally unable to cope. (My husband was worried I might be suicidal - it affected me that much. For the record, I wasn't).
The next day I spoke to my GP. It would appear that lots of these texts and letters have been sent. The trigger point appears to be anyone who was ever compromised with suppressed immunity from, for example, chemotherapy. Mine was 17 years ago!
So how many unnecessary letters have been sent? At what cost? How many worried people have taken up GPs' time? How many unnecessary food boxes have been ordered?
The frontline staff are doing a wonderful job. We've been out to join in the clap this evening, and the noise resonates more each week. But who is counting the wastefulness? I wonder .
If even just one or two people are helped for the price of x number of stamps,it's worth it. There's no way these communications can be targeted with 100% accuracy. Flu jabs are given to people who might never have got the flu. Same with MMR vaccine. That doesn't mean that money has been wasted.
Posts
The South Koreans wear masks normally nothing to do with the pandemic, so they are just continuing what is normal.
Most scientists here would say that the reasons that have done so well are: fantastic contact tracing, a population that obeys rules, they were not fined, but arrested for breaking social distancing.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Though it might be instinct to misuse a mask, such as remove it often, touch it often, take greater risks because of the perceived extra protection... ....well there you go, I just listed the downsides and anyone who can read could now make effective use of a mask, simply by being informed how to use one effectively.
Having said that, I agree with @punkdoc that the main reason for their success has been testing and contact tracing. They had their first day with no locally transmitted cases yesterday!
And just a little story to make you smile. When my wife had a tracheostomy quite recently so too did the lady in the adjacent room. When her husband visited, of necessity she had to communicate with him by notes. He then started to write a note to her. “I’M NOT BLOODY DEAF” she wrote back.
I also worry about the waste in the NHS - not the frontline staff, but the layers (and layers) of management, who appear to know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Total cost concept? But a dream that seems to be unknown among the regular bean counters.
But here's the thing - how much waste continues in a hidden way? I received two text messages, telling me that I was very vulnerable, and should isolate until the end of June, and sign up to government food boxes etc.
Normally quite rational, I was in a real mental dither. But came to the conclusion that it was yet another spam thing, and reported the texts to Google.
Then I had an NHS letter, also telling me I was very vulnerable etc etc. I felt as if I had been dealt a very low blow. I couldn't for the life of me see the rationale, being (just) 70 with no compromising health issues. I was, frankly, in meltdown - what if???
I couldn't/wouldn't talk to anyone about it. I was, in truth, totally unable to cope. (My husband was worried I might be suicidal - it affected me that much. For the record, I wasn't).
The next day I spoke to my GP. It would appear that lots of these texts and letters have been sent. The trigger point appears to be anyone who was ever compromised with suppressed immunity from, for example, chemotherapy. Mine was 17 years ago!
So how many unnecessary letters have been sent? At what cost? How many worried people have taken up GPs' time? How many unnecessary food boxes have been ordered?
The frontline staff are doing a wonderful job. We've been out to join in the clap this evening, and the noise resonates more each week. But who is counting the wastefulness? I wonder .