Over the last few days of rainy weather there has usually come a point when it all brightens up sufficiently for us to go for a brisk walk round the village, getting at least a little fresh air and stretching our legs. At the end of the afternoon yesterday, somewhere around 5.30 or 6.00, the sky cleared and we considered going out. Then we decided to have an early tea and go for a stroll later. Mistake! By the time we had eaten, the rain had set in again and it was there for most of the evening.
Today, by way of a contrast, dawned bright and clear. It was still a little chilly but perfectly acceptable for a cycle ride to Uppermill market. As ever, my Fitbit does not think I have exercised much - a cycle ride to Uppermill and back only registers about 1,500 steps!
Thinking about fresh air, there is this. I went on a little about various types of inequality yesterday. Here’s another example. According to this article, research has been going on into the effects of air pollution on older men’s brains. There is no doubt that this is valuable research. We are all more aware than ever in the past that air pollution is a major problem. But what I want to know is why there was no mention of women! We also breathe. And have brains.
We are still getting very mixed messages about “opening up”, “relaxing restrictions” and so on. India probably needs to go into full lockdown as they battle with the worst conditions imaginable. We in the UK are seeing numbers of cases falling - mostly - there are odd pockets of increase still going on here and there - and vaccination is still going on apace. The government is optimistic but experts are urging continued caution.
Here’s something from Michael Rosen - who else?
“Just think - they're talking of a 3rd jab and yet there were high-ups who thought we'd all get to be immune (bar about 200,000 dead) if we just did nothing.”
I feel especially sorry for those in care homes or with relatives in care homes. As the rest of us gradually creep out of our Covid shells into something approaching normality, some care home residents are still not having visitors or trips out, often because the care home people are terrified of the insurance question. Will they be covered of there is a sudden surge? Will they survive such an occurrence? Better stay indoors!
Meanwhile Cuba is making its own vaccine:
“Hit by the double whammy of US sanctions and a pandemic, Cuba is going through its gravest economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Pharmacy shelves are barren. People queue for hours to buy chicken. It’s hard to find bread.
And yet this island under siege could become the smallest country in the world to develop its own coronavirus vaccines. Of the 27 coronavirus vaccines in final stage testing around the world, two are Cuban.
“To have our sovereignty we need our own vaccines,” said Dr Vicente Vérez, director of the Finlay Institute, which has developed Sovereign 2, the most advanced of the country’s five vaccine candidates. “In nine months we have gone from an idea to a vaccine in phase three clinical trials.”
About 44,000 volunteers in Havana are currently participating in phase three trials for Sovereign 2. A similar number in the eastern city of Santiago are volunteering for phase three for Abdala, a vaccine named after a poem by José Martí, the island’s official “national hero”.”
Apparently they had something of a surge after Christmas. With relaxation of travel restrictions over the festive season it seems rather a lot of former Cubans, now Florida residents, flew over to visit, and to hug, Cuban relatives, bringing a special present with them!
Whatever your opinion of the Cuban regime, you have to admire their spirit. And in the midst of all this, they have been able to send doctors to help our in other parts of the world.
Amongst all the depressingly serious news there are also some odd and amusing and interesting tales. There’s the Belgian farmer who got annoyed with a border marker that got in the way of his tractor. So he moved it, allowing his tractor to continue and inadvertently pinching a bit of France for Belgium.
You couldn’t make it up!
And then I found this story about a young woman who gave birth to nonuplets!
‘A woman in Mali has given birth to nine babies – two more than doctors had detected inside her womb – according to the country’s health ministry, joining a small pantheon of mothers of nonuplets.
Halima Cisse, 25, had been expected to give birth to seven babies, according to ultrasounds conducted in Morocco and Mali that missed two of the siblings. All were delivered by caesarean section.
The pregnancy of Cisse has fascinated the west African nation and attracted the attention of its leaders. When doctors in March said Cisse needed specialist care, the country’s transitional leader, Bah Ndaw, ordered that she be sent to Morocco, where she gave birth to five girls and four boys, according to Mali’s health ministry.
“The mother and babies are doing well so far,” Mali’s health minister, Fanta Siby, told Agence France-Presse, adding that she had been kept informed by the Malian doctor who accompanied Cisse to Morocco.
They are due to return home in several weeks’ time, she added.”
And to think I know people terrified at the prospect of twins! Nine is surely rather excessive. How do nine babies fit in one womb? It’s hard to imagine such a pregnancy and it’s hardly surprising the scans miscounted the babies. More seriously, it is to be hoped that the tiny siblings survive and thrive!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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