IN THE NEWS TODAY 26 MARCH

Rubbish weather day wet and windy and chilly.

The Ever Given remains wedged in the Suez Canal blocking it totally and preventing the carriage of £6.6 billion of trade per day, (12% of world trade – 50 ships per day). The 200000 tonne 400m long vessel went aground on Tuesday and may take days to clear. Ships are now embarking on the journey around the Cape of Good Hope which adds a week on the journey. High winds of 30mph and a dust storm were given as a cause of the incident.

IN THE NEWS TODAY

Paraquat still being manufactured in the UK (Huddersfield) for export 14 years after it was banned here. Thousands of mainly poor farmers have died. Lets talk capitalism and greed Mr. Johnson!

Super large containership goes aground in the Suez Canal and blocks it. It may have an impact on petrol prices and other products if not shifted soon.

Covid ‘passports’ likely to be necessary in many pubs and restaurants. I have not put all the statistics into perspective yet. North Somerset has lower levels of infection than in September. The oldest half of the population has been vaccinated and school children tested. I suppose we do not know the long term effectiveness of the vaccines yet. Being old and vaccinated I would want everyone possible vaccinated, but does it really matter if 30 year olds are not? If the vaccine protects successfully against infection what is to be lost? It would seem sensible for mask wearing in winter everywhere inside to protect against flu? Personally I would not go to a football ground now, or a concert, and will continue to plan my shopping trips to quiet times.

COVID

Talking with my learned friend Andy he suggested that the infection rate was no longer relevant as hospital cases and deaths had fallen dramatically. So I need to think a minute!

COVID STATISTICS

Stats for the week to the 8th March are on next page. If this was a board game it would be fantastic! Unfortunately peopler still dying so that would be a bit sick.


27.095.1119.115.122.17.121.1284.215.222.214.3
N.Som311773041422563723682391731388139
Cornw20479025173324258176157814212
Bristol4635048016821740843430625817612350
Chelms419115010987810585733282471417535
Exeter28312816810214722624412661377322
Braintr425810910491011605524063031548147
Ply3015022563219221327208118634932
IoW104178292539166473822261225014
Liverp5163302769724261180951634826217052
Manch
46637217520835144332929722518784
Sunderl27430941216126751442632632727018673
Newca44528444915614723528422617413211471
Swans
39723136840043120211487676131
Cardiff
3011562474604702821681229310438
Glasgo
286275147194318325258207158130115
Aberde
41586117127923614880503036
Belfast
31721310922550428422917514311582
Newry
1991181132567564473062101458046
Sandf



20132018922624871590
W.Bod



62287437387337262137100
Lostwit



19030838134941763810

Some observations. Firstly West Bodmin is 8 cases, so not as bad as it looks. Also looking at the government map of small areas, only 5 places in Cornwall are shown on the map (less than 3 cases) BUT the total number is 68 cases in last week. The inference here is that the virus lurks in almost all places. To some extent this correlates with what seems to be a levelling off in the fall of positive tests. Whilst from a much smaller base the r number seems to be around about the 1 mark. How can this be interpreted? The stats are before the schools fully reopened (that will be interesting and hopefully positive). People with the virus must be passing it on, hopefully they are asymptomatic and not just evil. Now is surely the time for test and trace to start working properly. For instance if there are 8 people who have tested positive in Congresbury and Kewstoke, that is just 8 people to ensure contact is made immediately and all contacts of these people also contacted.

In the south-west I would say we are in a position to virtually eradicate Covid, but then we have tourism which is essential to the economy. Some difficult personal liberty issues need to be made, and fast. Should vac passports be mandatory, could under-30 camp sites be established?

There is light at the end of this shitty year, but a way to go yet. Has Johnson the balls to see it through?

COALMINES

Should be a thing of the past, certainly in this country. Do we need the coal for steelworks to build wind farms? I do not know the answer. But the Government is also spending millions on new Trident Missiles and reportedly increasing the defence budget by £80 billion. Can we have a drugs raid on Westminster and Downing Street please?

CREATIVITY

I have never thought myself creative, I am sure I am not in an artistic way. I have zero skills. However creative thoughts count, I think?

Take my main interests.

Geography is everywhere is a trite comment but sums up the subject. It includes just about every other discipline.

Gardening copes with the weather, the soil, insects, etc. And the end result is in the eye of the observer. Japanese garden to wild meadow/

Cooking is similar. The set recipes are good, but tweaking the various constituents can lead to something nice or horrible!