With the spread of Coronavirus, some people are cancelling journeys and others are looking for ways to pass on their best wishes to friends, relatives and work colleagues to say look after yourself, stay healthy and safe, and keep the dream alive
As a good luck gift shop, we have decided to highlight some of the gifts that we have in our online shop to support this idea. We are aware that this could be labelled as jumping on the bandwagon, but the reality is that we already have a lot of saddened and downhearted customers – those who had planned and prepared, for example, to walk Spain’s famous Camino de Santiago, and who are now confined at home instead. A simple little gift to people like this who are suffering disappointment cannot be a bad thing – and in fact, we would encourage it as a means of offering support . . which is, after all, what the Indalo Camino Good Luck Gift shop is all about.
Stay healthy wishes
“Stay healthy and safe” seems to be the massage of the moment with Coronavirus spreading worldwide, and people are understandably concerned about the welfare of their friends and loved-ones.
However, the approach of how to deal with this virus varies around the globe. Spain, for example has adopted the “Italian” approach – lock everyone up until it has “gone away”. In the USA, there is a rapidly developing situation: At the current time, the policy seems to be one of “checks and balances”.
But in the United Kingdom, things are, at the moment, a bit different: The UK wants the population to acquire “herd immunity”. Robert Peston, working for ITV writes: Herd immunity is what happens to a group of people or animals when they develop sufficient antibodies to be resistant to a disease. The strategy of the British government is to allow the virus to pass through the entire population so that we acquire this herd immunity, but at a much delayed speed so that those who suffer the most acute symptoms are able to receive the medical support they need. In this way, the health service is not overwhelmed by the number of cases it has to treat at any one time.
This seems like sound advice (based on scientific principles). As the World Health Organisation has conceded, there is no way now of preventing the virus sweeping across the globe. Mr Peston says that the kind of coercive measures employed by China in Wuhan and Hubei have simply locked the virus behind closed doors. As soon as the constraints on freedom of movement, etc, are lifted, the virus will return again.
School closures? Take care
School closures and the banning of mass events like football matches are not particularly recommended. It is argued that children themselves are the least at risk from the virus and, by closing schools they may become a channel of infection to older carers such as Grandparents. The UK government adds that this policy would massively deplete the manpower of hospitals and care homes, because vast numbers of medical staff would be forced to stay at home to look after their children.
Although the policy of keeping schools open has been labelled as “risky” by some experts, Professor Ian Donald, University of Liverpool, says UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan for the outbreak is based on the idea that low-risk people are actually meant to catch the virus. When enough people have this immunity it eventually limits the spread of the virus as it has fewer places to go. The population overall is then safe because it has an inherent immunity to it. He is quoted as saying: “The UK starting assumption is that a high number of the population will inevitably get infected whatever is done – up to 80%. As you can’t stop it, it is best to manage it.” Writing in the Daily Record, Tim McNulty reports that the aim of the UK is to have as many lower risk people infected as possible. Immune people cannot infect others; the more there are, then the lower the risk of infection. That’s herd immunity.
The Italian strategy is to stop as much infection as possible – or all infection. This is appealing, but then what? The restrictions are not sustainable. So they will need to be relaxed at some time. But that will lead to re-emergence of infections and climbing rates again. This is not a sustainable model and takes much longer to achieve an immune population.
Take care of yourself
At present, National Health Service England simply advises people to stay at home for seven days if they have Coronavirus symptoms such as a high temperature and/or a new, continuous cough. They also say: Do not go to a GP (Doctors’) surgery, pharmacy or hospital. (You do not need to contact the health advice line 111 to tell them you’re staying at home). They say, testing for coronavirus is not needed if you’re staying at home.
The NHS also advises:
– Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
– Always wash your hands when you get home or into work
– Use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
– Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
– Put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards
– Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell
– Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean
Wishing you well
So, if you feel inclined to send a little gift of condolences or well wishing, and to say keep safe, stay healthy – and keep the dream alive , please take a look at our Store .
Happy wishes – keeping the dream alive
In particular, we have Christian gifts of faith – many based on the Way of St James / Camino de Santiago to help Keep the Dream Alive .
We are shipping solely from the UK now and all Royal Mail services are functioning normally. You can see more information about our Store’s Shipping Polices here. Thanks for your support in these difficult times.
You must be logged in to post a comment.