Sunday 1 March 2020
No chance of finding anything antiviral
There is no chance of avoiding public panic, as the news and press are filled with articles and interviews about Covid-19. Interviewers and newsreaders are striking just the right tone to incite maximum neurosis in their listeners. Even I am terrified, and I am meant to be able to handle these things.
Danial Kheirikhah demonstrates how to wash hands
The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has been on the television to say that the best thing we can all do is wash our hands whenever we can and to spend as long washing as it takes to sing the first verse of the National Anthem. That was soon changed to two repetitions of “Happy Birthday to You.” I imagine someone realised that to use the National Anthem was politically incorrect. Being a true Brit, I will stick to God Save the Queen. For the undecided, the choice of song available when washing hands is enlarging by the moment. There are videos, too, that are encouraging us to wash correctly. It is not a matter of running the cold tap and having a splash. There is a method to handwashing, however experienced you may regard yourself to be. My favourite? Danial Kheirikah, an Iranian actor. He shows it all.
I had breakfast in an Austrian restaurant this morning and was expecting it to be empty. Not a hope. The place was as popular as ever and the head waiter told us they had welcomed 500 diners yesterday. We briefly joked that it would be difficult to eat their fine food while wearing a mask. On a table nearby, a guest arrived with a pug. It is one of those places that welcomes animals, as long as they do not wreck the place. I declared that scientists in Hong Kong had managed to isolate a weak growth of Covid-19 in a dog. Irrespective of that, the animal was adorable, and I spent most of breakfast staring at it, while the animal stared back. I understand that there is presently no evidence that dogs can spread Covid-19.
Iraj Harirchi, Iran’s deputy health minister, sweating during a news conference. He later tested positive for Covid-19 (courtesy BBC News)
China is boasting that it now has a declining problem, South Korea is in trouble and the virus has now reached many, many countries. The Pope has fallen ill, after he was said to have been blessing some Covid-19 victims, and it appears that at least four senior Iranian ministers have acquired the disease and one has died. Their deputy health minister was seen in public a little while ago, sweating profusely. He subsequently tested positive for Covid-19.
The world is waking up to this disease, although China is way ahead at the moment. I have had a lecture trip to Singapore now postponed and another to northern Italy next week has been delayed by at least four months. A friend has been in touch to ask if she should go to Sicily. I have said the decision is hers but, if it was me, I would choose either UK or Sicily, and stay put for the next three months. There is talk of some very large meetings being cancelled in the near future.
A common factor when I talk with friends and acquaintances, is that no one believes what they are being told. I met one fellow who has business in Shanghai, and he has assured me that the figures we are being given are way short of reality.
I walked the length of London’s Oxford Street today, hunting for hand gel. I went into six different pharmacies and not one had a single container of the stuff. Any shelf that held anything remotely related to ‘flu, was empty. There were many shoppers looking panic-stricken as they searched for non-existent hand gel and the store staff declared that hand gel was the commonest item being sought. Paracetamol and similar medications were also disappearing fast and I saw plenty of shoppers looking for thermometers.
Panic buying is clearly happening. The streets of London were looking sparser than is normal for a Sunday and the news is telling us that the Japanese are stockpiling toilet paper. I have no idea why. Panic is contagious. Back in my apartment, I attempted an online shop on the basis that I would have to wait 48 hours at most for the delivery. That is what would normally happen. No chance now. There is an at least ten-day wait for a delivery and some once common items are becoming a rarity. I am working out how I might best handle any future lockdown, if that is what might be expected of me. Fourteen days stuck indoors will not be simple. I think the best will be to rely on food deliveries and have the delivery man leave it on the top doorstep.
I have a cleaning lady for my flat, although she only comes in for three hours each week. She is brilliant at what she does but may be a weak link as she cleans dozens of other places, too. If there is a disease in one, she can bring it to me, so if it comes to a lockdown, I may have to let her go. Fingers crossed it does not come to that. She is going on an extended holiday shortly anyway, which is good, as I suspect that will be the time when Covid-19 starts to take a real hold in the UK.
Having spent a good hour online sorting out a delivery of food, I took advantage of the final hour of daylight to go for a walk. There is some good walking to be had near where I live, and I really enjoy going through Hyde Park. Being outdoors also makes me feel safer. London may have polluted air but is better than many other cities. I am fairly sure the air in Hyde Park does not carry too much virus.
