It was relatively early
But my sleep patterns had gone curly
I needed to get more rest
Everyone said it’s for the best
And then a fire engine stopped
Just as I thought I’d dropped
to sleep but could not because they sat there for sometime in the road with that deep diesel engine running shaking the walls, filling my apartment rooms with fumes.
I’m afraid I really wept
When I should have slept
~
CLP 24/02/2021
The door clicks a jar
compresses the draught
to a whistle that wakes me
from your arms, her arms, my brother’s
hand I held through a summer
night in the respiratory ward
down the corridor from coronary care
where he would be the next summer
and no one could visit
while he dreamt of life and dying
surviving dreams of dreaming
and not divining what was remembered
or dreamt even when sent home
to live as best he might when so tired
of medication and interventions
when all he wanted was to live
and love and still be the man
she married.
~
CLP 20/01/2021
It didn’t take long for the snow to go. Just pockets of compacted ice in shaded corners and the decomposing remains of snowmen on the lawns of the parks. The low Sun was wonderful. I walked with my face covering in place for most of the time, so am dubious as to whether I topped up my vitamin D levels. Just being out in the bright light was invigorating enough.
I was out a little later than yesterday, but most people seemed in good humour today too. Was it because it was Sunday, the blue sky and brilliant light, more obvious signs of spring, or the relative warmth? Or is Norwich just inhabited by good-natured pedestrians? Any or all of that might be true or false. The sample size is too small to verify the posited theories. The evidence too subjective.
The Great Clown has enjoyed a reduced presence in the media these past couple of days, which may be another reason why the populace of this fine city are in gentle humour. Who knows? I hope that the hospital teams are able to share in the elevated mood of the weekend.
The last report from Twitter on Friday was that around 600 people are being treated for Covid-19 in the county’s hospitals. The number of infected per 100,000 was recorded in the local newspaper as 628.9 for the past week for the city; now the highest in Norfolk The coronavirus needs host bodies to live in and this is the vicinity where there are potential host bodies in the greatest numbers.
The question now is whether the third lockdown will be sustained until infection rates are minuscule, or until the proportion of those vaccinated is such that we can start a revised social existence.
I understand that the Chinese government is vaccinating everyone up to the age of 50 years first, as these are the most economically active. In the UK it is the most aged and vulnerable groups first, as well as where possible, medical staff. The UK decision is based on cost-effective use of vaccines considering life’s saved per vaccination.
But are all lives equal in the UK?
The life of an 80 year old saved by vaccination provides +1.26 years of saved life.
The life of a 40 year old saved by vaccination would save +41.26 years of saved life, which is 32.75 times more saved life years than saving one 80 year old.
This assumes every one lives to 81.26 years of age, (the average life expectancy in the UK as of 2018 – which is falling apparently as a result of the decade of Tory cuts).
Like you, I am a little unsettled by considering these calculations, but these are the kinds of calculations that are being made to decide how to distribute the government funded vaccine.
Or might the vaccinations be distributed by employment categories? Of these which group would you vaccinate first? All the (low-paid) customer-contacting key workers? Yes! I say.
Another alternative might be to let the richest buy what they can afford and let everyone else enjoy the leftovers, which is how the “free” market works. This pandemic exposes the flaws in that system, I suggest.
Incidentally, this is what the richest countries are doing, leaving the world’s more impoverished nations to get to the back of the queue for vaccines, unless they magic up some of their own, or break the code and infringe the patents, as India had to do previously with other medications.
~
CLP 17/01/2021
How many days would
you expect a friend to wait
before warning you?
~
n.b. Thanks, mate. Three days is a long stretch to have to wait before letting on you have symptoms of a notifiable disease to someone who you last saw four days ago. How dare you take decisions on my behalf about my health and the health of my friends and family! How do you know what the risk is; who I plan to meet; how effective physical distancing actually is if asymptomatic? I would have made different decisions had you been kind enough to let me know. I hope you get better soon. My asymptomatic test results are due tomorrow.
CLP 26/10/2020
A social sextet,
multiplied by two metres:
twelve square metres
~
n.b. I think that you’ll find pub tables ain’t quite that big…not that anyone is counting, so “one metre plus” is fine as well. I checked with the BBC.
The scientific evidence for physical distancing is published in the British Medical Journal, but it suggests we are not far enough apart. Which makes sense when you realise you can smell someone exhaling strawberry fumes from an electronic smoking device from a car park and a half distant. (What is it about those things? Why not just suck a lolly pop?).
~
CLP 21/10/2020
Without symptoms
Does not mean without virus
Don’t think otherwise
~
n.b. Familiarity breeds contempt – sometimes phrased as “loosening inhibitions.” Consent for any form of physical contact is not just a courtesy.
A show of affection may be the kiss of death. No excuses. There may not be a second chance.
~
CLP 18/10/2020
~
