You know you are getting old,
when you can no longer catch a bale of hay. On Friday, our feed supplier brought
some hay and straw, pygmy goat food and mixed corn for the hens. He was the
personification of ‘physical distancing’ and for me and our goats, he was a
hero. The van pulled onto the drive, and the driver climbed into the back and
said he would throw them at me. Back in the day (when I was in my 20s), I could
throw hay bales all day long. On Friday, I realised I was no longer 20! Those
bales certainly felt heavy as I caught and stacked them.
However, it was a welcome distraction
as we got to the end of the second week of the lockdown. As always there was a
lot to learn. For example, I learnt that Rory Southworth climbed Mount Everest
in his own home – read the story here just to look at the pictures of his long
suffering partner’s face. Also, I learnt that Germany is fortunate to have
Roche. The company is the second largest pharmaceutical company in the world
(Pfizer is No. 1), but actually it’s a Swiss multinational company. And boy, do they make a lot of money! Most of it is from selling life-changing drugs to
folk across the world – but they also have a fabulous diagnostic arm to their
work; which I guess gave Germany an advantage in testing their population in a
way that the UK simply couldn’t.
On Thursday, we learnt that the
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whilst being sadly concerned
about the numbers of doctors who had died in their work to help others, didn’t
seem to know that the number of nurses who had also died were not counted,
apparently. Ruth May, England’s Chief Nurse attempted to redress this on the
Friday update. In a slightly emotionally-charged address, she acknowledged the sad
death of two nurses, Areema Nasreen and Aimee O’Rourke to Covid19. They, like
all the health care professionals who have lost their lives caring for others, were
real heroes too, and my thoughts and prayers go out to their families and
friends.
I don’t know who in PR/Communications
thought it was a good thing for the Chief Nurse to be televised wearing what
looked like scrubs, but for someone who does such a lot positive things for the
nursing profession, this was disappointing. I’ve yet to see one of the scientists
turn up to the briefing in a white lab coat, or the Chief Medical Officer turn
up wearing a stethoscope around his neck, or am I just being stereotypical and sensitive?
I had to pick up my repeat
prescription and I wondered how the chemist would manage this. I needn’t have
worried. They were all suited up, masked and wearing gloves. We, the customers,
had to stand in one of six boxes marked out on the floor in bright yellow hazard
warning tape. The staff came to us and dealt with us at a distance. My prescription
hadn’t been filed correctly and I had to stand there in this box for what seemed
like ages. It reminded me of attending one of the ghastly organisational development
events at the University, where some over eager 20-somethings would enthusiastically
ask us to step in and out of similar box taped to the floor in an attempt to
stimulate new thinking. I’m glad to be retired and get to find other ways to
stimulate my thinking.
For example, I have been intrigued
by the use of the term modelling, in the daily Covid19 briefings. When I was a child,
I used to build Airfix models of racing cars, aeroplanes and so on, but that
was a long time ago, and a very different type of model. What gets used in the briefings
is epidemic curve modelling. I think it’s based on the research by Lekone and Finkenstadt (2006) looking at the Ebola virus. Their approach takes into
account that the infection rate over a given period of time will inevitably
vary from person to person and country to country, and that different countries
will increasingly take restrictive measures as the number of cases rise. Which makes
it a highly useful planning tool. Of course, statistical inference can only
take us so far in providing the absolute definitive answer to when the peak
might come for the UK or the lockdown should end.
However, what it has allowed the NHS
to do, is calculate the number of probable critical care beds, staff and
equipment that might be needed when it does come. Hence, the new Nightingale
Hospitals being built across the UK. I have been fascinated by the process and the
sheer logistics behind trying to get the first ready in just 10 days. The person
who led the project is Colonel Ashleigh Boreham. He was almost at the end of
his military career, with just a few weeks to work before he left the army,
when he was asked to take on this role. And being a real life hero (he served in
both Iraq and Afghanistan), he said yes and has done a fantastic job. There was
a core team of about 65 army personnel working on the project, but often as many
as 200. I’m hoping that someone has being keeping a visual record of the
project, as I’m sure it would make compelling viewing. Of course, it’s awful
that it is needed, but wonderful that we have a military with the necessary logistical,
engineering and planning skills to deliver projects such as this when the
country needs them.
Finally, although I have loved my
career pathway, I did once think about joining the army, although it was the Israeli
army. I was just 12 years old, and it was the Six-Day War. Understandably, my
parents said no. It was a good call, as I think I am too much of a free bird and no hero, to
have appreciated the benefits that being in the army might have given me. And for
some reason, known only to the dark recesses of my mind, thinking about the
army, made me think about the wonderful Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’. This
brilliant musical monologue was first produced in 1969, and you can watch the film
on Netflix. However, here is a link to a version Arlo recorded back in 2005. I
find it amazing that 40 years on, he could still play the song’s memorable riff
for 16 minutes and remember the words so well.
Stay at Home, Protect the NHS,
and Save Lives - you are all heroes.
*Apologies to David Bowie
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