Jejima

I still play squash to a reasonably high standard.

Ever since I broke my left elbow about a decade ago, I have been unable to do pull-ups (or chin-ups) or anything that requires strength from both elbows - not even a push-up. I can't fully extend my left arm. So, a no (due to injury, not weight/unfitness) from me.

1. Abi2. Aoyiama

Bump!

How about when they pay you? Do you accept contactless payment?

Updated table.... (See earlier post for further explanation.) Confirmed cases for Covid-19 Date Hillsborough, FL Staffordshire, Eng 23rd March - England starts lockdown March 25 75 76 1st April - Florida starts lockdown April 18 924 1,102 April 22 979 1,287 May 15 1,512 ????? (can anyone find this for me?) 19th May - Florida reopens June 4 2,285 2,265 June 14 3,295 2,326 June 28 9,130 2,392 July 2 11,465 2,415 4th July - England reopens.... Hillsborough Florida has added a further 2,335 cases in the past four days - which is almost the total number cases for the whole of Staffordshire England since the start of the pandemic. Hillsborough has just enacted a policy for face masks to be worn (with few exceptions) in all places of business.

Distance from Tampa (population 400,000 - 2019 est) to Clearwater (117,000) = 23 miles (half of which is a bridge crossing Tampa Bay) Tampa to St Petersburg (population 265,000) = 24 miles (a third of which is a bridge crossing water - i.e. no people) Distance from Stafford (where I live, population 56,000) to Birmingham (1,142,000 - it is the second biggest city in the UK, and its 'urban area', is actually pretty much 3,000,000) = 28 miles (and no water!) Stafford to Wolverhampton (population 264,000) = 17 miles Stafford to Telford (155,00) = 21 miles The four county area that Hillsborough is included in may have a total population of 3.1 million (I will take your word on this.) The neighbouring two county area of Staffordshire and West Midlands has a total population of over 4 million. So even if you extend the area to include nearby big places, I would still argue that where I live in Staffordshire is more 'urban' than where my friend lives. People who come to the UK (especially the north, which used to be the heart of the Industrial Revolution, where the workers were packed into small housing) are often surprised by how population dense it is. The Tampa Bay area might be population dense for Florida, but would be fairly standard for northern England. England *now* has testing and tracing in place for free under the National Health Service. As I said before, even people who don't have symptoms (such as my father) are also being tested as part of a random trial, to investigate the spread of Covid across the country. The UK is taking testing seriously - and cannot said to be shirking any longer. Florida is currently under control of a Republican governor. From June 4th to June 28th, the number of official cases in Staffordshire went from 2,265 to 2,392, at an increase of 6%. From June 4th to June 28th, the number of official cases in Hillsborough went from 2,285 to 9130, at an increase of 300%. 300% is a lot bigger than 6% - can this all be attributed 'illegitimate numbers' (put out by a Republican state, which would probably want the number to be as small as possible?). This is a quote from my friend's email of yesterday. (Not that it should matter, but my friend is in his 50s, has parents in their 80s living nearby, and my friend has been a lifelong Republican. Back in the day, he was supporting Trump, when the Republican party still had 17 candidates to choose from before the 2016 election.) It is an incredible increase, and the governor is blaming on a "testing dump". Some of this, I'm sure, is due to increased testing, but certainly not all. Hillsborough County is now at approximately 1.5 million residents (a lot of housing construction in the last 10 years), making the infection rate .06 percent. However, I will acknowledge that the actual number of infections is higher, maybe substantially so. My parents canceled [my teenage son's] weekly visit due to the high numbers.This also throws into doubt the start of the school year. I wouldn't be surprised if they institute online learning only through at least December. Having seen how the people of Staffordshire are reacting to a partial relaxing of the lockdown rules already in place (very laxly), I have a feeling that my county will also see a major rise in Covid-19 cases following a similar curve to Hillsborough over July and the start of August, after the country opens up more fully in a week's time. So, I predict (unless the lockdown is reinstated, or more strict rules are brought in) that Staffordshire will have at least 8,000 cases by mid-August, and probably 9,000. If I remember, I will report back the actual figures then (even if I am way off with my predictions - because that is how science works.)

Look for Staffordshire in the official list from the UK government. I can't seem to get the link to only show for Staffordshire, so you'll need to scroll down to 'S'. Edit: The number for cases for Staffordshire is now showing 2,403 - so up by 11 from when I wrote earlier today. Looks like this website is being updated regularly.

Hillsborough, Florida Population of Tampa = 393,000, (so, about a third of the total population for the county) Next biggest city is Plant City, with a population of 35,000 Total = 420,000 ish Staffordshire, England Population of Stoke-on-Trent = 241,000 Tamworth = 76,000 Newcastle-under-Lyme (which is basically an extension of Stoke-on-Trent) = 74,000 Burton-on-Trent = 64,000 Stafford (where I live) = 56,000 Total = 510,000 I would argue that Staffordshire is more urban than Hillsborough. Having been to Tampa a couple of times, I also know that Tampa is fairly spread out. Stoke-on-Trent (for example) has plenty of terrace houses, and is quite compact from the days when it was part of the industrial revolution. The statistics that I am giving for Hillsborough are the same as reported everywhere. (If you can find some different numbers, please show.) Here is the County's official website reporting those numbers.

I think that the implication here might be that Staffordshire, England is not testing as many people as Florida. From anecdotal evidence, I would suggest otherwise. There is a parking spot close to where I live which has been used for drive in testing for over a month. There are other places like it in my county. My father (who lives in the same street as myself) was recently included in a random testing trial. Anyone who needs a test seems to be able to get one *now* (this was not always the case), on the National Health Service. This again is based on anecdotal evidence, having heard the experience of a friend of mine from a few weeks back. If I understand what is happening in Florida correctly, the Covid-19 numbers might actually be under-reported.

My good friend Jim (we used to live on the same little island in Japan, in neighbouring villages) lives in Hillsborough County in Florida. We are fairly regularly in touch. By chance, in one of our email exchanges back at the end of March, Jim mentioned that there were 75 confirmed cases in his county of Hillsborough. I found online that my county of Staffordshire in England had 76 confirmed cases on that same day. So, I checked to see the size and population of the two counties, and I have been keeping a periodic eye on them ever since. The population of Hillsborough County, Florida is 1.2 million. Its land area is 1,020 square miles. The population of Staffordshire, England is 1.1 million. Its land area is 1,047 square miles. So the two counties are very similar in size and population. At the end of March (when both places were at the start of their respective lockdowns), they had almost the same number of Covid-19 cases. Below is the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases on the days that I looked them up for the two counties. Confirmed cases for Covid-19 Date Hillsborough, FL Staffordshire, Eng 23rd March - England starts lockdown March 25 75 76 1st April - Florida starts lockdown April 18 924 1,102 April 22 979 1,287 May 15 1,512 ????? (can anyone find this for me?) 19th May - Florida reopens June 4 2,285 2,265 June 14 3,295 2,326 June 28 9,130 2,392 4th July - England reopens....

One of the residents in the dementia care home where my wife worked briefly. She gave him his last breakfast before he died. In the place that she worked there were 40 residents when she did her induction. A week later - when my family went into quarantine after the death of that gentleman, four residents (10% of the total) in total had died of the virus. No family visitors were allowed. So the virus was being brought in by the people working there. My wife was asked several times on her first shift NOT to wear a mask, because it made the residents feel uneasy. She was the only member of staff who wore a mask at all times. Four people died. They were not my parents, but they were the same age as my parents. The members of staff should have been following PPE protocol better. But think of all the people that they come into contact with outside of the care home, from whom they might have caught the virus from. Additionally, the brother of my wife's driving teacher is also dead from the virus. One of my sister's best friend's father is also no longer with us.

I believe that you are both correct. Wearing a mask does not stop me from getting the virus if I come in close contact with somebody that has it (although it might help a bit - it certainly won't harm) - but it is greatly reduces the likelihood that I will pass it on to others, should I have it. Countries where there is a lot of mask wearing means that people who have it, are NOT passing it on nearly as much as for countries where mask-wearing is not common practice. Let's compare to passive smoking.... As a non-smoker, I avoid going close to 'smoking corners'. My chances of avoiding cancer are therefore improved. There are many countries where smoking is banned in restaurants, transport, shops etc, and it is culturally rude if you smoke in someone else's place if they are a non-smoker (I am thinking of modern day UK). This is the equivalent of countries where people wear masks as a rule. I can live my life happily in the UK avoiding second-hand smoke at all times, and know that if I do get cancer, it was probably not from second-hand smoke. There are some countries (I am thinking of the Philippines, where my wife is from, and where we often visit), where smoking is the norm amongst the men. If a man goes round to somebody's home, he will probably light up (the ladies rarely smoke). The man may check to see if it is okay to smoke out of politeness, but it would be strange for the homeowner to stop him from smoking. That is the equivalent of countries where not wearing a mask is the norm. Out of the two types of countries, I am more likely to get cancer from secondhand smoke in the Philippines than in the UK. Covid is more likely to be spread in countries where mask-wearing is not normal. It needs a paradigm shift for mask-wearing to be considered normal in the UK. I hope it does happen, in the same way that within the past twenty years, the attitudes to smoking has changed. My parents are going stir-crazy after so many weeks of lockdown, and are venturing out more. They do wear masks - but as has been implied, this may actually give them a false illusion of safety, if the people that they are interacting with are not wearing masks. So, I urge everyone to seriously consider wearing masks when out in public - not for one's own benefit, but for the benefit of others. It will not be forever - just until a vaccine / cure has been found / herd immunity has taken root / the virus disappears on its own.

Very belated hipple bopple!

The main reason to wear a mask is not to protect oneself (although it does give some protection) but to protect others. I don't like wearing a mask either, but I have two vulnerable parents who I love dearly. There is a real risk that if either of my parents catch the virus, they would die. However, if everybody in the UK wore masks in public, the chances of my parents catching the virus would be greatly reduced. I therefore wear a mask when I go out in public, not really for my benefit, but because I hope that it will be become the norm. When I was growing up in Grimsby, smoking was allowed on buses, in the cinema etc. I remember people visiting my (non-smoker) parents and lighting up in the living room, without even checking to see if it was okay or not. When smoking was banned in various places, people thought it was infringing on their civil rights etc, rather than realising that it was keeping those around them safe from breathing in second-hand smoke. A few decades later, people can still smoke in Grimsby (and the rest of the UK), but they are much more mindful about where they do it. Despite being an ex-smoker myself, I get annoyed when anybody consciously smokes too close to my two young children (aged 3 and 4), as I feel that they are being put in needless danger - however small. In the same way, I currently feel annoyed when I see anyone walking too close to my parents without wearing a mask. I suppose having lived in Hong Kong for nearly 2 decades is part of the reason I feel that way. In Hong Kong people have always worn face masks at the slightest sniff. When I was first in Hong Kong, I found this annoying, but over a year or so, I adjusted to that way of life.