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I understand the principal, but they must offer some protection ie better than none, even if they just prevent people touching their faces, we could possibly have people walking around that are infected and are unaware or those that just don't care, but if a mask stops just a small % i is better than nothing, as usual we are back of the cart again, I think the main fear is shortage again, I don't hear Boris quoting give us the tools and we will finish the job, more like we have no tools (only in government) but we can "get it done" meanwhile across the water we have another tool blaming the media for the epidemic.

I've argued the same but in reality its 50/50, whilst it will help stop a droplet going straight down your airways, the problem is that the particle is then held directly in front of your airpath to be breathed in over a period of time as it dries up and gets smaller. If you change the mask regularly (and not be accused of wasting PPE) then that alters the odds in a positive direction but the change of mask would have to be very frequent which in itself poses an additional risk.

For an infected person wearing them there is a huge advantage to others, the particles will be slowed down and not spread as far.

Part of the impulse to believe in this is human psychology, we like to have a shield to hang on to. Its like hiding behind a car door or a sofa when someone is shooting at you with an Uzi, nearly everybody would do it even though the bullets go straight through - and the bullets being damaged are more likely to be fatal.

Notice when we are awake we generally breathe in faster than we breathe out, this works against us, try to breathe in slower when you are in potentially hazardous area, breathing out faster helps as well possibly even dislodging particles that have already entered your body. So basically breathe the opposite of how you normally breathe.

An additional gem .... for a mask to be effective it must be held away from the mouth while breathing in (but still sealed) - this is to reduce speed of air over any part of the filter, if you are drawing air in from a 16cm² section of filter through your nose, say 2cm², then the air will be travelling eight times slower through the filter which will have less propensity to draw particles through it - this is more about pressures than speed but they are related. Cheap masks that collapse as you breathe in are obviously more risky,

Hands across the sea

nice one casper

Good entertainment value , isn't he ? Whilst I actually agree with him on his assessment, as I believe they have given wrong info as a guide to follow, to actually halt funding is somewhat extreme . He seems to be the worlds 'Greatest Bully' what with funding cuts and sanctions, it could be considered that stamping his feet and spitting his dummy out is the way he's got to where he is in Trump Towers and started at a very young age.

US President Donald Trump has said he is going to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) because it has "failed in its basic duty" in its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

WHO has failed? Really? People who live in glass houses, Donald...

Aren’t Americans embarrassed? His whole demeanour is of a five year old spoiled brat.

And before anyone asks, yes I most certainly am!

Not very encouraging having a points system NHS : Over 60 yrs your chances of assistance are reduced depending on additional criteria. Points out of 10 but if you're over 75 yrs then automatically you will have 5 points. I have also heard that assistance is not given over the age of 60 yrs in our local hospital ! Anyone else heard that ?
Who would want to go to hospital ?

No wonder there are more deaths of older people !!

Flights from Romania arriving today with farm workers. British farmers say they can't get enough farm workers for the produce.

What a load of rubbish. A call went out ONLY a few days ago for Brits working on the farms, another sneaky way of framers paying less out on wages, but these people will be quarantined, tested and house for how ever many weeks at whose expense ?Not the farmers I'm sure .

8th APRIL :
http://www.fruitnet.com/fpj/article/181440/furloughed-staff-can-work-on-farms

Dominic Cummings government advisor Feb 2020 talking about herd immunity, "so what if a few pensioners die" that of course was vehemently denied, but then it would be wouldn't it.

Link to quote please, Casper.

This is the NHS criteria , not the Government, 60 yrs olds aren't pensioners any longer and hospitals seem to have a different path to follow, depending on the hospital.

Lockdown yet again highlights how incompetent & corrupt uk is..
Heathrow flights still come in daily...
Just before lockdown 1000s of spanish where wandering round the city.
Always caught with their pants down uk.
I like the fact weathers good , theres loads of space everywhere , no 4x4 idiots jamming up the roads , its peaceful , a& e isnt full of drunk angry idiots , shops are empty when u get in & theres not loads of chav kids collecting on the street etc etc.
Its prob ' nature re setting itself from parasite humans.
Or its a tory distraction from brexit / recession / kill off expensive old / make small & med got to state for loans to run / make us anti social / rob pensions more etc etc.
Mr ickes been removed by internet powers for just talkin ( not allowed )
We buy most things from china cause theyre cheap. And our society mirrors theirs at mo as we line up for food.
Reminds me exactly of 10 yr old film " contagion " .
Someone said its russian chemical warfare dropped in wuyhan games to mess things up & destroy....
Anything goes in this mad mad world !!

It was reported in the Sunday Times originally and followed up by the other papers, this was at the time when the government where dithering about herd immunity, but I bet all their aged relatives will be exempt. you say it is the NHS criteria, is this across the board or individual regions or health authorities? I find it very hard to believe that the NHS alone would implement such a policy without being told by the government.

Dominic Cummings. https://www.theguardian.com/politic...ic-cummings-argued-to-let-old-people-die

It was the BMA that issued the guidelines.

https://www.theguardian.com/society...rus-patients-for-healthier-ones-bma-says

EU offers grieving Italy 'heartfelt apology'



The president of the European Commission has offered a "heartfelt apology" for letting Italy down at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Yes it is true that no one was really ready for this," Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament on Thursday morning. "It is also true that too many were not there on time when Italy needed a helping hand at the very beginning. And yes for that, it is right that Europe as a whole offers a heartfelt apology."

More than 21,000 people with the virus have died in Italy, according to Johns Hopkins University - the highest death toll in Europe.

As Italy struggled to contain the outbreak in early March, both France and Germany placed restrictions on the export of face masks - despite warnings from the EU Commission that such actions could undermine the collective response to the virus.