Self Isolation Day 9
March 11th 2020
I feel like I am beginning to crack up. I am not going to make it to 14 days, I have already arranged a walk in the country on Friday with my friend. My hubby had swine flu very bad and that has coloured his outlook of the picture. I feel like a period of being indoors has made me more risk tolerant to outdoors. To look after my mental health better today I have opened the window while I write this, and then I plan to take a break half way through and put some uplifting music on and get out of my chair!
I think one factor that made me anxious about this novel virus was all the unknowns. I still don't think we know conclusively what the R0 is, the impact of different strains, and the presence of super spreaders. I was concerned that the Coronavirus was being spread asymptomatically. One widely quoted source was an article about a German woman in the New England Medical Journal, however officials at the Robert Koch Institute have requested a correction. On interview the women in question believes she may have been slightly unwell. Is it possible people are not asymptomatic just not even aware they are ill? Reportedly, doctors in China are convinced there has been asymptomatic transmission , although as yet we do not know how common or rare this is.
As a non-expert it is bewildering when even experts can't agree. The stories of when this Coronavirus was even discovered doesn't add up, lending suspicion that the Chinese figures are unreliable and any conclusions drawn from them are too. Even the widely cited 14 day quarantine period is not set in stone. Australian scientists have found 6 day to be an average, reports from China have indicated 27 days for others.
Yesterday, according to an article in The Telegraph a paper has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine looking at the initial cases in Wuhan. They revealed that those with diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, COPD, cancer and renal disease fared worse. This does tally with the experience in the UK. Giving some substance to the amorphous term "underlying health condition"
On other health related news whilst countries competitively work for a vaccine. The British Medical Journal has released a study into the efficacy of Vitamin D supplements to help with acute respiratory infections. Meanwhile in Shanghai clinical trials are underway into the efficacy of Vitamin C.
In UK news following a decade of austerity there was absolutely no surprise that they turned on the spending spigots today in the new government's first budget. Prior to this, and well ahead of their scheduled meeting, the Bank of England slashed interest rates by 500 basis points to 0.25%, the lowest on record. Described by some newspapers as a "shock". And these are professional journalists. I told my mortgage adviser back in July the BoE was going to lower interest rates. How sweet are those words - I told you so.
This wasn't really a case of helicopter money though but targeted tax relief and support for welfare provisions. Mainly the abolition of business rates for retailers for the year. (A temporary reduction for small businesses following 2008 is still ongoing). Still, it got a big cheer in Parliament. Plus extra Coronavirus funds to the NHS. A total package of £30billion.
The UK is also to get 4G (yes most of us don't even have 4 yet!) and £2.5 bn to fix the 50 million potholes in the country. That's nearly one pothole for every person. Numerous other fiscal stimulus packages announced. Plus a promise to provide 80% government backed loans for banks lending to UK businesses. The idea being of course, that all this extra spending will be paid in future years by increased growth. This was supported by a whole load of hopium induced figures.
Despite the back slapping budget the FTSE 100 has closed down 1.6% on the day. Meanwhile the WHO has finally called this a pandemic.
UK cases rise to 456, 6 deaths (still yesterday's delayed figures). One case includes MP Nadine Dorries, Under Secretary for Health. In her role she had recent meetings with BoJo. We can but hope.