Really depends what in the wipes.  Alcohol definitely works. takes 30 seconds to kill in  concentrations  between 95% and 78%

Ethanol	95%	SARS-CoV	Isolate FFM-1	30 s	≥ 5.5	[29]
	85%	SARS-CoV	Isolate FFM-1	30 s	≥ 5.5	[29]
	80%	SARS-CoV	Isolate FFM-1	30 s	≥ 4.3	[29]
	80%	MERS-CoV	Strain EMC	30 s	> 4.0	[14]
	78%	SARS-CoV	Isolate FFM-1	30 s	≥ 5.0	[28]
	70%	MHV	Strains MHV-2 and MHV-N	10 min	> 3.9	[30]

 

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I'm afraid this Government has always been good at talking the talk but ...........

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Similar around here although I haven’t ventured to Royston since Friday.

I was thinking that this is analogue and not binary, ie it’s not necessary that everyone complies, just sufficient to drive down the transmission rate.

Given the incubation period of up to ten days it is likely to be another week before we see the effects of the tighter restrictions. 

Someone made the point that when restrictions start to be eased they will be by degrees with at least a couple of weeks to assess the impact. It is likely to be a very long road back to normality with some potholes along the way.

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A bit more on the dodgy test kits that Spain purchased from a company in China

https://www.politico.eu/article/spanish-government-under-fire-after-defective-testing-kits-fiasco/

They actually bought them from a Spanish company, which was sourcing them from a company in China. They had the CE mark, but the Chinese govt said that the company is not licensed for medical products.

I think this highlights the potential problems with many products marked CE on Amazon and ebay.

 

 

Quite !

If it's not being picked up on surfaces, I really can't see how it could have spread   so far and fast.  

There must be vectors other than being directly coughed at.

 

 

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The only way to deal with a pandemic is to close borders.

If that were not the case, why would those countries which have got on top of the first round of contagion, like South Korea, now be locking down their borders as they are?

 

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The UK is still only testing 7-8000 people a day for #Coronavirus.
Germany is testing 80,000 a day & has far lower death rate.
Our failure to test fast enough is scandalous & will cost lives.
Sort it out @BorisJohnson @MattHancock - as quickly as you sorted your own tests.

— *****Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 29, 2020

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Perhaps we'll bump into each other in M&S one day?

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😁 Well, there's alot of that about 😉

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Depressing but entirely predictable side effects - effectively cancer surgery is now being triaged:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/cancer-covid19-1.5512599

 

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Hard cheeses can be eaten long after the use by date - at worst, just cut any mould off.   

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There are 2 possible answers to this:

A) Lorries of tests are moving around the country as we speak

B) The Germans are lying too.

Policy. But they should have started testing NHS staff much sooner.

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Yes - I was mulling this over as well. Thinking of our change in habits over the last couple of weeks, we have probably gone from hundreds of possible transmission points per week to only a handful. School, work, shopping and the kids' activities were by far the biggest risk areas. Even with partial compliance, shutting these must be the best initial measure in terms of slowing the spread.

What I don't know is how much more marginal gain you get with an even tighter lock down - if it's small this might explain why the govt. is reluctant to bring it in.

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The exact origins of Spanish flu are not known for certain though it is now believed to have originated in north China and was brought to Europe with labourers.

Asia flu originate back in China in 1956 before spreading out.

Hong Kong still full of Chinese with traditional cultures and behaviours.

Several reasons are cited. It seems the most likely one is a lack of labs able to process tests. I believe in the UK there are about 12 and they are all owned by the NHS / government. In contrast the German healthcare system apparently is able to call on the services of a large number of private labs and consequently has FAR more capacity. 

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Cheese is pretty safe - I never look at the sell by dates, just off cut the unappetising mouldy bits and the bits that have  gone hard.  It's fine inside still.

Likewise, I found a Mellon at the bottom of my storage cupboard yesterday.  One part had gone  black and mushy.  I just cut that bit out and diced the rest up beautifully ripe  and  sweet.  One of the best melons I've tasted or years !  I'm seriously considering letting them all go like that before digging in.

 

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I wish someone would have recorded every time a member of the government had said we are close to 10k tests.

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One good thing to come out of this is to remind everybody how brilliant the BBC are in a time of crisis and how much we need a public broadcasting service. They have been pure class throughout this and I am sure it will shift the Government's view on them. Many parts of the world are also dependent on their broadcasts.

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The question about lockdown which is being studiously avoided is what is it expected to achieve.

If it were near total you could stop transmission and after several weeks those infected would be clear and it might largely 'go away'.
But it will still be widespread in other parts of the world so all but impossible to stop it flaring up again.
We are still in the position where 60-80% need to have it and become immune, delaying that by a few weeks doesn't seem to help a great deal even if it's possible.
Meanwhile the ever extending shutdown of most economic activity will cause many problems down the line with vital spare parts becoming unavailable for example. Things will simply breakdown totally if we're not careful.
The next big worry is how long the banks can survive with a basket case economy.
If all the helpful online payments and such suddenly stop working the results don't bear thinking about.

IMO we must start to relax restrictions after a month at most - hopefully this will be helped by widely available antibody tests but like a lot more things that doesn't quite seem to be happening as planned.
We will all be used to distancing rules and that can carry on without total shutdown

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France have reported 2,599 new cases and 292 new deaths

New cases have fallen by 2,012 with 27 less new deaths

I have just spoken to a friend in France. From tomorrow they will be reporting deaths in care homes and he has said the numbers will not be good

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Not lack of test kits then? Labs can be requisitioned but manufacturing can't if it doesn't exist.

Same goes for ventilators.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52083998

 

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We must continue with lockdown for another 6 weeks. I would go further to suggest we need a further intensification for at least the next three weeks from Monday. 

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How much of our economy has really shut down though? Many people (could even be half of workers) are working from home, most of construction continues, food retailers are obviously booming, even many estate agents still seem to be open (with closed doors).

The travel and hospitality sectors are obviously being decimated, but it must be a complex picture overall. Arguably countries that rely more on tourism will suffer more.