The cumulative total of Covid cases in Orkney is now at 4,439.
The stats for Scotland published on 18th March 2022 are as follows:
- 18,124 new cases of COVID-19 reported*
- 23 new reported deaths of people who have tested positive
- 31 people were in intensive care yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19
- 2,050 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19
- 4,441,944** people have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccination, 4,173,678** have received their second dose, and 3,473,650** have received a third dose or booster
* Please note that figures reported today (18 March 2022) include more than a 24 hour period (from 2pm 16 March 2022 and 17 March 2022) due to the technical issues experienced earlier in the week.
How well are we doing ?
| Orkney new cases | Orkney cumulative total | Scotland cumulative total | |
| 18.03.2020 | – | – | 221 |
| 18.03.2021 | 0 | 70 | 211,854 |
| 18.03.2022 | 49 | 4,439 | 1,663,830 |
From 21 March:
- you must continue to wear a face covering (unless exempt) in most indoor public spaces and on public transport
- some legal COVID-19 requirements will be lifted, and replaced by advice to encourage everyone to stay vigilant
To help keep yourself and others safe:
- get the vaccine or the vaccine booster
- if you don’t have symptoms take lateral flow tests twice a week, and if visiting someone vulnerable or going to a crowded place
- if you have symptoms – self isolate and book a PCR test
- open windows when meeting indoors
- wash your hands regularly, and cover your nose and mouth if coughing or sneezing
- work from home as well as the office if you can – businesses and workplaces should follow the safer workplace guidance
- use the apps: COVID status (vaccine passport) and Protect Scotland
Categories: Uncategorized
Another email from the ‘thinking person’ I mentioned previously……
“I have thought for a long time that with the virus spreading so easily through the air that people have to take the greatest of care about indoor activity.
One danger with government guidelines is that some are given too specifically while others are too vague. For instance, there is the 2-metre social distance, but this only applies if we assume that the virus spreads through droplets, whereas it’s been clear for some time that it spreads as an aerosol and can thus travel as far as there is an air current. But the exact specification of a 2-metre distance focuses people’s minds on this so that they can think that if they meet this requirement then they are safe.
Further, the phrase “good ventilation” is mentioned but not quantified, and there should have been a requirement for all public venues to be assessed with carbon dioxide monitors. What matters is to look at the situation from the perspective of the virus and think ahead as to the routes that it can take. So ventilation is important, but if it’s an airstream that runs across a hall, then there is the possibility that it will carry the virus from an infected person to others. There are some classic examples of this that have been recorded, such as a restaurant where the pattern of infection could be followed along the line of an air flow that went across the room and bounced off an end wall into two streams. People have been speaking of “super-spreaders” rather than super-spreading situations. But it is the situation that should be studied.
There is an additional problem in Orkney, which is public venues were – quite rightly – built to keep out the cold wind, but that then means that it is difficult for them to have enough options for throwing open doors and windows to change the air regularly.
I have started to look at this fatalistically, with the thought that the rapid spread of the omicron variant will mean that the virus will quite soon reach most of the people who aren’t taking care, thereby giving them enough antibodies for resistance in the future. But there will have been a big price to pay for this, with the number of people who have difficulty in getting back to full strength again or who get long Covid.
I think that the whole cruise liner industry is a nurturing ground for infections, with the combination of the warm air circulating aboard, the physical condition of the people aboard, and the great range of places that they visit, and I do think that Orkney now needs to ask if it’s really worth it.”
Bernie, the issue of ventilation etc. has been discussed today at the indiesage meeting. Well worth catching up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cavT6sw5Ml8
And yes, we could do more and we could do it much better…