There is light and hope in 2020- finally

[Helen427]

Today there has been the announcement from a number of Pharmaceutical companies working together for a vaccine and specific blood tests for Covid19.

We wish them well.

Today in America Trump announced people are allowed to Return to Work if they wish to.

Let's all hope this is the start of things returning to normal as we will know it in 2020.

We all must be mindful of the fact we have basic laws to carry on with our lives factoring into account all aspects of our lives, which includes Health and economic well being.

Let's hope common sense prevails, each one of us abides with the law, borders are open again - with those  at the border clamping down on those in contravention of the law - and we regain World Peace.

See you soon 😊 hopefully here in New Zealand.

[Helen3]

I do hope for the sake of all Americans, that their president has not acted too hastily. @Helen427 

With the highest rate of the virus in the world and tragically nearly 3000 people dying in a just one day yesterday because of the virus, it does seem rather precipitous to say the least. 

In any case his guidelines undermine the planning of his own administration and  many states who had already agreed any approach and who are working together in various geographies  to agree how and when they will come out of lock down.

Pharma companies have been working together to try and find a vaccine since the beginning of the outbreak Even if those developing a vaccine think they have found a solution it will be a long time between the vaccine being developed and it going through the testing process before it can be released globally. And as always only those with money or those who live in countries with a free health service or where charities help provide vaccines, who will be able to access an inoculation.

[Helen427]

@Helen3 

 Whether we like or dislike him I would hope Trump has given guidelines to heads of states how to address the elephant in the room and those States do something about it for the betterment of all

I understand that in USA all states are governed individually.

Some have wisely in place regulations relating to where the cause of this deadly virus / infection has arisen with there Tobacco Laws as they go hand in hand.

Those who don't, may I suggest you look to Singapore Tobacco Regulations and do something about it as it's your lawful Duty of Care to do so.

 I'm sure those in states where such regulations are in place FBI enforcement authorities will come down hard on the offenders as the Health Authorities have for to long had to pick up pieces.

Many hosts here in CC, as you may have read,  have had to deal with the "consequences" of those who have flouted laws relating to the manufacturing, sale  and use of so called smoking cessation devices which are full of flavours & were marketed in such a manner to teenagers and trendy to all, "imitation tobacco" and it's variations.

There was a lack of accountability and failure  of many countries leaders and by World Health Organisation in addressing this nightmare problem when Smoke free programmes were put in place and not followed up on.

We  have all been left to confront this in a very unusual way.

 I'm sure Boris Johnson  and your politicians @Helen3 will ensure you to are legally protected in legislation as sadly it's a "consequence " of those before him, including Public Health Advisors failing in Duty of Care to follow up on if the products available which are in use in the UK and other places that claim to be "Health" products are indeed safe, indeed many are deadly as has been shown with the world wide situation we have found ourselves  in.

As  I've previously mentioned look up and read why JUUL was recalled in USA as sadly it and other similar products have been available & in use "worldwide" including the UK and where deaths have occurred.

There's  very common sense reasons why we are told to keep our distance from others, despite the fact it's usually common sense and courtesy when one has a virus or is in front of non smokers

Incidentally NZ Parliament was in the midst of passing legislation to permit the use of such "health" products when alarm bells rang and had to do something about it. It's currently on hold and I'm sure will be raised in media at some stage...

Keep safe 

[Michelle53]

"Today in America Trump announced people are allowed to Return to Work if they wish to".

This is a vastly oversimplified, and largely inaccurate, representation of what was actually said, if one listens to the actual medical experts, and not the national cheerleader-in-chief. 

I'm not going to post the entire 18-page "guidelines" document here.  But the idea that somehow everything is going to magically return to "normal" this side of 2021 is overly optimistic at best. 

Also, it's not up to Trump to say if and when things will open, or not. It's up to state governors. What we know for sure is that he will claim credit for anything that goes well, and lay blame on state governors for anything that goes badly. 

In the absence of the massive amount of testing required to make any large-scale return to work feasible, there are likely to be spikes in cases and deaths, requiring backtracking and closures again. 

If hope is to be found anywhere, in 2020, it might be in the anti-viral drug Remdesivir, which is starting to show some very early positive results in hospitals, although no properly-controlled clinical studies have been done to establish this with any certainty.    The only way there will be any return to something of a "normal" life will be after a vaccine is developed. 

[Helen427]

Thanks for sharing this @Michelle53 .

 It's also been reported overnight that the Head of ALTRIA,  who was overseeing  JUUL , vaping/ e-cigarette empire that Philip Morris pulled out of agreement to, has Corona virus/ Covid19 and that the situation has been badly handled.

The last part of my sentence is  in my opinion the understatement of extent of harm to public health.

No amount of testing is going to stop the spread of the disease/ virus.

Bloomberg media have a very good outline in there reports where the money chain is across the world, including in Universities....who have ALL contributed to this abhorrent situation.

Most sadly, this "virus"  which was preventable  won't be "cured" as it's going to be carried through generations.

Philip Morris have had to front up and have been paying towards the impacts of this across the world as naturally it's there reputation that has been tarnished with "contaminated" ingredients/ products.

Don't be alarmed if this issue is ongoing in Courts of Laws across the globe in years to come.

We must all ask, why are people who were innocently going about their lives ever be subjected to any of this in the first place?

It goes back to international Smoke Free Regulations and those who flout laws for their own financial gains with no regard to the welfare of others.

Calling addictive products that are designed to attract & addict people as "Smokeless" without proper Food Drug regulation testing and adherence to laws is unacceptable.

@Michelle53 under the World Health Organisation, which USA has pulled out of, they must include all aspects of the economy and the whole person's health & well being, hence people have the right to Return to Work.

Sorry I don't have the exact words that are used however it's tucked away in historical documents / news articles in our National library of NZ , Papers Past section where the history of WHO and it's purpose and spirit & intent is in.

There's many components to what's happened / happening and of course  cross overs of Laws, including cross border laws via the internet.

Addiction services meanwhile have been run off there  feet.

Keep safe and be mindful of who is in your surroundings where smokeless vapours and toxins are.

[Sarah977]

@Helen427  For Pete's sake, people are not dying of coronavirus because of vaping, something it sounds like you actually know very little about. I know lots of people who vape and none of them vape some weird toxic chemical concoctions- they vape pure marijuana. 

The US states which have not put in isolation policies are the places where the disease is now spiking hugely. The places where people are following stay at home directives are seeing a lowering of new cases. 

[Helen427]

@Sarah977Nip your swipes at me in the bud.

You appear not to be versant and are out of your depth about what the chain of events are that have lead to and are the cause of coronavirus.

Go read Philip Morris / Altria website and news.

Btw, did I mention anything to do with vaping pure marijuana?

 Didn't think so.

Meanwhile some of us are only to aware of the harm contaminated products that were distributed world wide and have seen health impacts first hand in our own communities.

The mathematic model used to report the statistics is currently under question.

 Are you aware that Professor Neil Ferguson in the UK who advised Boris Johnson UK PM has coronavirus?

He works in the Imperial College of Infectious diseases.

 Very tragic.

[Anonymous]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7118593/