Geneva, Wednesday 29 April 2020

People are still clapping enthusiastically at 21.00 every evening here in Geneva. Whilst this remains a show of thanks to those who have continued working throughout the lockdown, there is now definitely a different tone. We have whistling and singing; it’s more celebratory. The end of lockdown is in sight even though we are now well aware that addressing this pandemic involves a long haul. In Europe at least, this sentiment permeates; it’s government driven. Maybe we should spare more than a thought for the developing world. People in poorer countries, having to travel and unable to distance themselves from others even where they live, are facing a COVID-19 catastrophe; as a result, they are most likely to be the source of a resurgence of the disease elsewhere. For example, both India and Egypt are still seeing a steady increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 per day; they have yet to reach the peak. It is quite possible we will never know the full extent of the impact in countries with little capacity for testing and data gathering as a result of poor public health infrastructure. It is precisely in these countries, as recently reported in the Economist, that the mortality from COVID-19 is likely to be massively underestimated. It is sadly no surprise that this virus’s capacity includes showing us just how easily the world divides into the haves and the have-nots.

I am reminded of a trip I made to Egypt in early 2012 just after the 2011 “Arab spring” uprising. My objective was to tap into the extraordinary experience of the Doctors of Tahrir Square; an intrepid band of medics who had provided impartial first aid throughout the political crisis. It was truly admirable what they had achieved. They became a symbol of a fairer Egypt of the future. I met some of them one evening in a small cafe down a darkened Cairo backstreet. I asked them to give me their three top tips for other health-care workers caught up in such events. First, they said, you have to be visible; second, everyone must know that you are impartial (make contact with local radio stations;) third, always set up a first aid post with a wall behind you. I hope my brave Cairo colleagues are coping with the COVID-19 emergency. It’ll be a tough one for them. On my way out of Cairo, I spotted this sculpture by Smaban Abbas at the airport; it totally summed up my experience there.

Three nights ago, I opened our blog to start writing this Diary. We’d been hacked! The titles of a number of articles appeared in Russian letters. The hack was dealt with quickly and the site seems not to have suffered as a result. My friends in IT tell me that hackers the world over are taking advantage of the disruption to systems caused by people changing their work place from office to home. We can add hacking to the crimes that have flourished as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I took this photo last year on a road that crosses the fens in Eastern England, near King’s Lynn. It was about 7.30 in the morning. It’ll be a long time before we see the skies full of jet streams like this. Imagine all that fuel not being burnt these days. 

This got me thinking. What are the links between the lockdown, less fuel use, less air pollution, carbon dioxide levels and global warming? I had a bit of a look around on-line. There are, as you can imagine, many expert opinions. Here’s a non-expert summary. Because of the lockdown, air travel is down by about 75% and coal burning is down 20%. However, even if this were to remain the case until the end of the year, the total carbon dioxide emissions for 2020 would drop by only 5%. This will make virtually no difference to the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and certainly won’t change our course towards a warmer planet. Then there are numerous reports of the lockdown leading to much reduced air pollution in many cities and over whole industrialised areas. There are two sides to this. Carbon dioxide is obviously one of the many atmospheric pollutants that accompanies the burning of fossil fuels; however, particulate air pollution (smoke) can, apparently, block the sun’s rays from reaching the surface of the planet. The cleaner the air, the more directly the earth’s surface is heated by sun. This leads to greater evaporation from oceans and so greater precipitation. Seems we can’t win. I also read that 2020 is already lining up to be the hottest year ever. Surely… no… this can’t be due to a virus, can it?

I see that Rory McIlroy, the current world number one golfer has offered to sell a signed pair of his new Nike shoes. I wonder how much they’ll go for. I was working in Thailand some years ago and needed some golf shoes. I went into a shop that sold convincing fake Rolex watches for $10 and Nike trainers for $5. By chance they had a pair of “Adidas” golf shoes for $4 that had been signed with a big flourish of a signature beginning with an “S.” Sam Snead? Seve Ballesteros? Sergio Garcia? I looked closely…. “Saint Andrew”!!!

Geneva, Tuesday 28 April 2020

On Day 11 of The Lockdown Diary, I went off on a rant about the wave of false coronavirus images that was washing over us. It continues. These fakeries are created by graphic artists for illustrating news articles or even to front up professional societies. This bothers me. Editors, scientists and health professionals should know better. It would be like using an actor rather than a real expert to deliver expert opinion on the news; the correct words may be beautifully delivered but, ultimately, authenticity and authority would be traded for gloss and emotional impact. Use of these fake images is right up there next to fake news. Whilst the good ol’ BBC – with a regiment of genuine experts on hand – has stopped using false coronavirus images on its TV news, they are still rampant, incredibly, in the health section. Come on, guys… Get a grip!

The Royal College of Pathologists retains multiple such images on their home page. The American Society for Microbiology has a real corker. I haven’t seen this coral-hued beauty before.

Unfortunately, the work experience lad’s page layout makes it look like the Society might be offering career advice to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. I mean… Does this little tinker really needs tips on how to get ahead? 

Given all that, fantabulistic coronavirus image of the month has to go to the Reuters photographer who snapped this Indian tuk-tuk. Maybe the driver is someone from the local Society for Microbiology?

France’s Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe, says the country’s lockdown measures have saved 62,000 lives over the space of a month. Great soundbite. I’d love to know how he arrived at this figure. If this is true, the argument that this pandemic is just like seasonal flu will no longer hold water.

Just to emphasise that we have to accept that the impact of this pandemic will be felt for months, if not years, there is already talk of cancelling the re-scheduled 2021 Olympic Games.

No balcony putting competition today. It’s raining hard. To calm my ever-fraying lockdown nerves, I painted a picture of some fruit on a plate. I thought I might call it “Some Fruit on a Plate.” My wife says it’s insipid.

Geneva, Monday 27 April 2020

This morning’s trip to the supermarket was wonderfully uneventful. For the first time since lockdown began, there were fresh flowers for sale. This made me inexplicably happy. 

Staying in my joy bubble, I was able to tame Donald-the-sourdough-starter to the extent that I goaded him into a delicious bleach-free loaf. Here it is bathing in that ultravioletful balcony sunlight waiting to be eaten with my disinfectant-less mulligatawny soup made from the vestiges of last night’s chicken curry.

All this positivity has got me thinking about the possible benefits of our lockdown. My wife has discovered that she loves working from home. Yay! We’ll see where this goes. The apartment has had the deep clean; every cupboard has been sorted and rid of its no-longer wanted bits ‘n’ bobs. We’ve experimented with different bread-making techniques: always fun! I have, through this diary, found myself putting stuff into writing that I thought I would never write about. This has proved quite fulfilling and has allowed me to connect and reconnect with many wonderful people. Let’s call my latest painting adventure work in progress; but I have found a style and materials that do not require a studio; (lack of which was the main reason for not painting over the last ten years.) I have read a ton of books. My putting has improved. 

My wife and I recognise that, to present, we have got off lightly. The time of COVID-19 lockdown cannot have been anything but dreadful for many people. Apart from world-wide job losses and business closures, murder rates have spiked in some countries along with increased reporting of domestic violence. Most bizarre is that calls to the UK’s helpline for “intimate image abuse” (a.k.a. revenge porn) has doubled. I can only imagine that this is because some people are spending that much longer engaged in and being driven by the less savoury applications of social media.

As to the origin of this virus, the more sensible voices out there seem to be be coalescing around the started-in-bats theory. It must be quite some mean little bit of single strand RNA because not only are humans infected but also, apparently, cats and mink. Jumping to multiple species, becoming highly contagious within the new species and then, well… going viral, would certainly win gold in the microbial olympics. This one has stamina.

I am fascinated by the COVID-19  statistics from different countries and the comparison thereof. (Bravo, Johns Hopkins!) There are a number of reasons for the differences. These include: when the pandemic hit the country; different reporting criteria (for example, defining what “a COVID-19 “case” is or how a death might be attributed to COVID-19;) the different counter-measures adopted; the population and the population density; public health infrastructure; and, quite simply, whether the virus affects people in different countries in different ways. Probably all come into play and will be the subject of PhD’s for years to come. Inevitably there are political implications. Sweden’s relaxed approach to social distancing seems to be causing quite the sensation; however, the Johns Hopkins stats show that the country has yet to reach its peak of daily cases. Keep your eye on this one.

New Zealand has today reported zero cases; this is likely due to savvy political decisions, a country with a refined public health infrastructure and the zero possibility of infected migrant workers slipping over the border and into crowded dormitories during the night. This last seems to be the current and major problem in Singapore. All governments are desperate to restart stalled economies and they are scrambling to find the statistics that justify it. The unlockdown is beginning and we should all be watching with bated breath. The elephant in the briefing room is the resumption of international flights.

This virus has put us in our place. At such a time one cannot help but reflect on one’s own existence in relation to humanity, other animals, all other life forms and our planet (and why stop there?) Given that I have time to read these days. I tackled “You are More than You Realise: The case for secular spirituality, interconnectedness, and the power of the mind” by Louise Doswald-Beck, a friend and former colleague. This highly qualified publicist has tackled an enormous subject. Firm in the belief of a non-religious and science-based spirituality, she has set out to bring hard evidence to its existence and argues that our lives and our planet would be better if we recognised it. Her material has been painstakingly accrued, referenced and presented as if she were defending her thesis in a legal forum. To this forum she brings evidence pertaining to, among other subjects, consciousness after death, re-incarnation, mediums, psychic phenomena, the placebo effect, a universal bioenergy, ghosts and apparitions, alternative medicine, evolution, relativity, quantum theory, cosmology and the raison d’être of international law. Whether the foundation of your beliefs is science, a god, both or something else, Louise gives those foundations a shake. Whether she ultimately succeeds in making her case, only the reader can judge. I was fascinated by her book but, because of my maybe-all-too-rigid scientific background, I could not readily agree with many of her conclusions. I am happy to admit, though, that I aim to be more open to the interconnectedness of such matters in the future. Given that, I am sure that there is one thing that Lousie and I would agree upon: if she, a priest and I were to discuss the material of her book, the arguments would make just a few ripples on the vast lake of all the unknown and unknowable stuff out there.