Another cold and wet day, my socks are wet from walking up and down to go to the toilet!
I must admit these last two days have been the most depressing since I started boat life – cold wet rain and sleet ALL day!
Most of the day was spent on the boat, then a walk through Bruntsfield and The Meadows to collect some dog biscuits I had got delivered to Graeme’s Computer shop.
This evening more work!
Lockdown Restrictions Corner
On Day 310, I wrote about Westminster government announcing that people arriving into the UK from countries on the ‘red list’ Covid hotspots’ will have to quarantine in government provided hotels.
Today I read that the Scottish Government on Monday (Day 315) announced they are making this stricter, with anyone arriving into Scotland.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-55907162
Nicola said that the ‘red list’ plan by Westminster did not go far enough. So for anyone who comes into Scotland, regardless of which country they come from will have to go into government provided hotels to quarantine. She said, often it’s not until a new variant has been identified in the community that you know it’s there. She is also urging the UK government to follow.
She said that Covid was virtually eliminated from Scotland in Summer 2020, but it returned from overseas travellers.
Pat will be happy to read this, you may remember in Readers Corner on Day 310, Pat was saying about inward travel to the UK that “It’s bloody joke…something needs to be done…it’s no good people doing what we are told, yet the virus could be brought in”.
It could be also be added to the growing evidence that Nicola and Boris are reading my blog – or perhaps my blog is one step ahead of the UK Governments 😉
Things We No Longer Use
So far we have looked at – Kilts (Day 300), Irons (Day 301), Suit and Tie (Day 302), Passports (Day 303), Massive Travel Delays (Day 304), Clothes (Day 305) High Heels (Day 311), Taxis (Day 312), A Random Snog in a Nightclub (Day 313), Karaoke Clubs (Day 314), Cash (Day 315) and Handshake (Day 316).
Today’s suggestion has been made by Helen. She writes:
“Here’s something we haven’t used since the start of the pandemic …. the nit comb and medicated shampoo. Head lice is hopefully a thing of the past 
“.
So today I am looking at Nit Comb, Medicated Shampoo and Head Lice.
When exploring with Helen why she thought that would be, she said because of social distancing, children aren’t close enough for head lice to spread. Makes sense!
When I was at school I always got given the shampoo for head lice – it wasn’t a pleasant smell !
Doing some internet research, I found this article published February 2021 (so right up to date) – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33409635
It says head lice’s primary transmission is through direct head-to-head contact. The study found that due to lockdown (in Buenos Aires) there was a reduction of 25.7% of head lice, with control most effective in a household with only 2 children.
I also found this article, that says there is some evidence that the head lice drug Ivermectin can be a cure for Covid-19 – https://theconversation.com/ivermectin-is-still-not-a-miracle-cure-for-covid-19-despite-what-you-may-have-read-144569
Although, the evidence is sketchy!
Today Helen messaged me with an update, saying:
“I asked a journalist friend about the headlice thing. He contacted one of the biggest manufacturers of the treatment/lotion stuff you buy to get rid of headlice. Apparently they’ve seen a 15-20% reduction in sales, but it’s not a big enough variation for them to draw any conclusions about there being a link to the pandemic.”.
It leaves me to question – has head lice been killed off by Covid?
What have you noticed you no longer need since lockdown / Covid began? Let me know and it can be included in this section tomorrow!
As I come to the end of this blog, I am feeling more tired that normal.
I was up 45 minutes earlier that usual, to put in an application for an Edinburgh Council Grant for small businesses / sole traders affected by lockdown. The application is limited to 1500 people on a first come first served basis, so I didn’t want to miss the application. The application opened at 8am this morning and with Qi Gong Session at 9.10am, I decided to try and get it submitted before Qi Gong, as it may have been full by 10am. Despite the website crashing loads of times and having to start again, I got an email to say it was successfully submitted at 9.06am, just in time for Qi Gong – Phew!
The weather has been wet and windy all day. Rain, Rain and Rain – cold rain and some sleet and snow too. The rest of the week has a similar forecast 🙁
Hope you’ve been having a good week.
Stay Safe!
Jim x
Leave a Reply