Coronavirus

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

I don't have a problem with people living on narrow boats, even going to get their waste tanks pumped out, but the boats I have seen were heading away from any food shops or other facilities. Martin's link is to the Canal and River Trust, as far as I can see they have closed their waterways to boats moving around. The Bridgewater is not governed by the Canal and River Trust, and the guidance the Bridgewater has sent out specifically says that the canal is still open, with no limitations.

Edited By duncan webster on 03/04/2020 17:19:30

Edited By duncan webster on 03/04/2020 17:19:46

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Just came through on my alerts from Canal and River Trust

Original message:

Please be advised Audlem Customer Service Facilities on the Shropshire Union Canal are out of use due to third party blocked drains.

Your nearest services are Nantwich Services.

An update will be provided Tuesday, 7 April.

Remember, as part of efforts to tackle the Coronavirus crisis, we are asking all boaters to stop non-essential travel, so please limit movements to access vital facilities – you can see more at **LINK**

You can view this notice and its map online here:
**LINK**

You can find all notices at the url below:
**LINK**

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Do you not go home when you have been to the shops Duncan? Boats may well be returning to their moorings. Otherwise all the boats end up crowded in the town.

Were do you live? I will have a look at my maps and tell you where the water points are and other facilities.

The rest of the network is not closed. ~But movement is requested to be restricted to essentials, just as they have not closed the road network.

regards Martin

Edited By Martin Kyte on 03/04/2020 19:15:27

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

And the latest update is here.

Boaters update 3/4/2020

Most of the focus is distancing on the towpath.

regards Martin

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Martin's link is again from Canal and River Trust

This is from Bridgewater. **LINK**

It states clearly that the canal remains open, no mention of essential short distance or any such. The last boat I saw was 200m from and heading away from the service point, and there are no moorings between there and the next service point. I know because in happier times I've walked it dozens of times. There is plenty of space to tie up adjacent to the service point, which is also close to shops, no excuse for travelling.

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Duncan

Thank you for your link to the Bridgewater Trust. I have to say the advice could be a little more 'in depth' but I would expect all boaters to be aware of the advice on the main network and indeed to use the Canal and River Trust as their main source of information. There cannot be many boats that do not have a full license from the Trust.

As far as mooring is concerned, if I was a live aboard in that area, I would be insensed at the selfishness of any boater who did not move away from the service area to make space for the next people who need to use it. In normal times mooring on water points or on lock moorings is an absolute "crime" in terms of boater ettiquette and extremely selfish.

Mooring is available anywhere along the towpath particularly on the Bridgewater, it being such a deep canal. You are not required to moor at designated moorings and live aboards will certainly have a range of mooring spikes and piling clips to do just that.

The Canal and River Trust advise mooring a good distance away from the next boat so I would expect to see boats strung out 50 or something yards apart along the towpath.

I wish I was on the canal, I would find it an ideal way of isolating myself, you would find yourself much further away from anyone else than living in a town.

All that said Duncan, I do agree with you that boaters should be following the same guidance as everyone else but `I'm not convinced that they are not. And I would say again that mooring near to the service point is the same as camping in the supermarket car park.

best wishes Martin

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Latest from the Shropshire Union.

Meaning that if you are Just South of Audlem you now have to go as far as Nantwich to empty your toilet canisters etc.

It's not as simple as living in a house.

Original message:

Please be advised Audlem Customer Service Facilities on the Shropshire Union Canal are out of use due to third party blocked drains.

Your nearest services are Nantwich Services.

An update will be provided Tuesday, 7 April.

Remember, as part of efforts to tackle the Coronavirus crisis, we are asking all boaters to stop non-essential travel, so please limit movements to access vital facilities – you can see more at **LINK**

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Hi All

This beggars belief!

A woman walked into our small village post office/shop yesterday; (2 at a time only), wandered about and got her shopping and then told the lovely lady who runs it with her 3 staff that she has "popped out" as her partner is showing bad symptoms of having the virus! Bad cough and raised temperature.

She had no gloves or mask on.

You cannot believe the drama that this idiocy has cause in our little community.

As of late today the shop is not allowing customers inside at all and will take shopping lists to be picked by the staff and collected from a side entrance latter on.

The Broadmayne FaceBook page is inundated with comments and everyone is REALLY worried now.

Cheers and stay safe!

Martin

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

BBC article today that Tigers in the Bronx zoo have tested positive to Flu Manchu after exhibiting coughing – other big cats so far OK.

I knew from reading that ferrets are susceptible and used for research. It turns out that cats are too. Something I'd hope doesn't get too far into social media or a lot of innocent animals are going to get dumped.

It may actually be a paradoxically useful thing. Vaccine (virus) technology has traditionally depended on finding a similar virus that is relatively harmless but to which the human body mounts a response that works against the serious variant as in Cowpox-smallpox. In dogs we can use human measles virus to stimulate a response against distemper but oddly that doesn't work the other way around. The other traditonal method was to passage the pathogenic virus into other species so it adapted to them and lost it's 'human vigour'. More modern vaccine tech works either by removing part of the pathogenic virus – either the shell or internals so its incomplete and mount a response to a safe part. Sometimes that has been done by splicing a part into a difefrent non-pathogenic strain – or even creating a bacteria with spliced genetic material so it grows a protein we can mount a safe response to. For the sake of completeness there is a dodgy older method of using virulent disease in conjunction with passive antibodies. So-called serum-simultaneous innoculation but the pitfalls are obvious.

What is interesting re the tigers is that there are established tissue culture cell lines from snow-leopard kidney cells used in the manufacture of cat vaccine such that if a modified COVID-19 can be found then mass production would be one stage closer.

pgk

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Can we be careful about language. I know some things are intended as light hearted, but a certain world leader's use of 'China virus' has not helped with an increasing problem of racist abuse of people of asian origin in the USA.

Neil

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

slapped wrist accepted with contrition and apologies.

pgk

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

No problem, I know it was meant in jest.

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

PGK, as you are no doubt aware cats have been victims of “corona virus”,not the Covid 19 variety, for many years, Feline infectious peritonitis to name but one, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that tigers in New York Zoo have contracted covid 19, it came from animals to humans so not surprising that it has transmitted to another animal species. It is all getting very scary and now just seen on Sky news that Boris is now in Intensive Care, hope things go ok for him. Wife and I have been isolated now for more than 3 weeks, the longer this goes on the more reluctant I will be to venture back into civilisation.
Dave W

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

I was just doing the washing up at about 8pm and noticed a pretty pink vapour trail (con trail) going east towards Heathrow, probably. They would have landed about 8.20. Then I came to my senses and realised what a rare sight I had seen. When I lived in Godalming, Surrey, I could take the dog for a walk and see the lights of up to ten aircraft within my field of view simultaneously from the fields 1/4 mile from the house.

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Posted by Samsaranda on 06/04/2020 20:42:01:

PGK, as you are no doubt aware cats have been victims of “corona virus”,not the Covid 19 variety, for many years, Feline infectious peritonitis to name but one, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that tigers in New York Zoo have contracted covid 19, it came from animals to humans so not surprising that it has transmitted to another animal species. It is all getting very scary and now just seen on Sky news that Boris is now in Intensive Care, hope things go ok for him. Wife and I have been isolated now for more than 3 weeks, the longer this goes on the more reluctant I will be to venture back into civilisation.
Dave W

And humans have been victims of a coronavirus caused common cold for a long time. That there are species specific coronaviruses doesn't automatically indicate a species jump of a specific type to another. In an earlier example I mentioned using measles virus to protect dogs from distemper but despite using that for many years no dogs developed measles. On the other hand there was a conspiracy theory re the development of parvovirus in dogs suggesting escape from a lab creating vaccines for cats. FIP was a sad issue in my practicing days.. essentially those that got signs were toast. However there is solid evidence of 2 successful drugs – unlicensed and being used from the black market with a remarkable success rate – that will doubtless become licensed and mainstream if their success continues.

pgk

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

Just had an email from a local supplier of canvas good and services and they can supply have masks just thought someone may find it useful. I have just ordered some for a residential home where mothering law is as they are struggling to get supplies.

https://www.flexippe.com/product/flexippe-face-shield-visor/

David

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

The benfits of face masks for all:

Link

pgk

[Kiwi BlokeParticipant @kiwibloke62605]

So, if domestic (and feral) cats can be infected, as big cats seem to be, what then? Millions of moggies acting as a resevoir of infection isn't a nice prospect – until everyone is immunised.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by Kiwi Bloke on 07/04/2020 11:28:00:

So, if domestic (and feral) cats can be infected, as big cats seem to be, what then? Millions of moggies acting as a resevoir of infection isn't a nice prospect – until everyone is immunised.

There are no recorded incidents of feline to human transmission. Don't panic.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by pgk pgk on 07/04/2020 10:35:48:

The benfits of face masks for all:

Link

pgk

Isn't the current problem that if everyone wears a facemask, there will not be enough for medical staff to wear, who need it much more than the rest of us?

[Kiwi BlokeParticipant @kiwibloke62605]

Posted by Hopper on 07/04/2020 12:00:50:

Posted by Kiwi Bloke on 07/04/2020 11:28:00:

So, if domestic (and feral) cats can be infected, as big cats seem to be, what then? Millions of moggies acting as a resevoir of infection isn't a nice prospect – until everyone is immunised.

There are no recorded incidents of feline to human transmission. Don't panic.

Well, not yet perhaps. If it's the same virus in humans and cats, transmission will occur. Why should species-jumps be one-way? I don't panic easily, just trying to think ahead.

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Posted by Hopper on 07/04/2020 12:03:35:

Posted by pgk pgk on 07/04/2020 10:35:48:

The benfits of face masks for all:

Link

pgk

Isn't the current problem that if everyone wears a facemask, there will not be enough for medical staff to wear, who need it much more than the rest of us?

2 points .. one that even more incentive to get cracking making them and secondly even poor home made masks will help.. they may not protect the wearer but they will help to protect others around if the wearer is asymptomatic but shedding. We know that this virus can be spread before clincial signs of cough and also that folk will keep going out even with mild symptoms. Sometimes pure necessity with lack of home deliveries/friends and sometimes stupidity and stubbornness. If everyone should wear a mask outdoors then it'd shame/identify the cheats.
We talk of 2m separation but a sneeze can carry 6m

pgk

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Posted by Kiwi Bloke on 07/04/2020 11:28:00:

So, if domestic (and feral) cats can be infected, as big cats seem to be, what then? Millions of moggies acting as a resevoir of infection isn't a nice prospect – until everyone is immunised.

The likelihood of a vaccine is a way off. So far government plans are based on lowering it down so hospitals can keep up but inevitably wthout some wonder cure they are going to have to move to allowing everyone to catch it at a rate hospitals can cope with. There is concern about immunity waning over time and a second wave.
Now I avoided talking about domestic moggies 'cos hysteria could lead to vast numbers being killed without real proof of their role. it is still in some doubt – other big cats in the bronx zoo stayed well. But there is a potential paradox here..if cats can carry it then once the population has had the virus then cats might act as a way of keeping that immunity active as well as acting as another test subject (as well as ferrets).

pgk

pgk

[John HardingParticipant @johnharding75458]

Re Masks, no need to buy them, make them. The purpose of wearing a mask is trap and hold the wearers exhalations. a mask with an outlet would defeat that objective.

i don't know how to make the link but og to guardian.co.uk and search, masks 4all last paragraph describes the success in the Czech Republic.

jh

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

… and still people don't learn1 The benefits of the internet are undoubtedly ease and speed of communication. Unfortunately, it also allows the unthinking and uninformed to repeat rumours, unfounded statements and unsubstantiated rubbish. If you have and can personally prove some information which will be of immediate and universal benefit pass it to the authorities concerned. If those conditions don't apply, …. shut up and leave the keyboard alone!!!

The damage done by 'passing on' 'useful information' is immense and totally unhelpful

irritated beyond belief

Bill

[Author]

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