We have a new bunker boy and this time he’s British. It’s our very own Mayor of London who has received an open letter from top chefs and restauranteurs asking him to ‘come out of his bunker’ and help the economy in the capital. The writers want him to welcome visitors back into the city by dropping the congestion charge and encouraging use of public transport. They said they would do their part by making the visitors as safe as possible but that something has to be done to bring back consumer confidence. Maybe I’ll do my bit and take a train ride to the city.
The coronavirus death toll has dropped today by over five thousand in England. One might think that the health ministers have suddenly acquired divine powers, but no, just a new way of counting. It seems that until now anyone who died having ever tested positive for the virus at any time was counted in the number of coronavirus deaths. Some of these might have died from other causes but due to the test result they were still included in the count. Scotland and Wales only counted those who had tested positive in the last 28 days prior to death and so England will now be following suit. Other health officials would like to see only those who had tested positive in the last 21 days being included so it could come down again..
This summer one of the attractions for locals and tourists has been the number of cruise ships anchored all along the Dorset coast. We have all wondered how many staff remain on board, are they allowed to disembark and how long will they stay and why? Well it seems that Southampton docks doesn’t have room for all the stray ships and as far as the shipping companies are concerned, it’s by far cheaper to just hang around off the coast. Now a local entrepreneur and small ferry owner has started to run sightseeing tours around the ships. He takes visitors on a two and half hour trip and at least one of the captains has started waving a six foot long wooden hand as he passes by. He said all of his passengers seem to be really happy with the mini, mini cruise.
In Russia the health authority is vaccinating people against bubonic plague. The area being targeted is Siberia which shares a border with Mongolia which has seen at least two recent cases of the disease. Apart from the vaccinations Russia is spraying large areas to kill fleas which are known to spread the disease. Meanwhile in New Mexico a man has died from septicemic plague which again is carried by fleas on rodents. In the same state but in Santa Fe County a man was diagnosed with bubonic plague. Might be a good idea not to visit at the moment.
Anyone who has bought a lotto ticket in Ayshire for the March 17th draw should check their ticket. There is an unclaimed prize of nearly sixty million pounds which must be collected by September 13. Might keep me awake. Good night. 😴😴😴