Tag Archives: coronavirus

Did you see Dr Who on your flight?

Posted on May 5, 2020 | 2 comments

Are you a Dr Who fan? The eccentric doctor (who has changed from old to young, male to female over the years) travels through time in his trusty time machine, the Tardis. It actually looks like a telephone booth from the outside.

But when you open the door a whole new world awaits inside – it is a massive space ship style feel that can transport you to anywhere and any time.

So what has that to do with travel you might ask. Well airports are getting creative with how to clean us dirty humans up before we get on a flight and one idea is the sanitizing booth. Step into this beauty and when you come out you will be clean as a whistle and ready to board your flight – maybe not to another time but certainly to somewhere else than here – which is a novelty in itself at the moment. This is being tested at Hong Kong airport and while this is a good idea I must say it doesn’t have the charm of Dr Who’s Tardis.

But hey, if it does the job then it’s good with me. Similar ideas are being used in other spots around the world – maybe not as sophisticated as this but generally with the idea of stepping through a portal that will disinfect the person passing through.

And scientists, like Dr Who (well he is really a scientist surely) are working hard on other ways of keeping us safe and germ free when we fly. The use of UV light has been said to kill off such viruses so you may find these on your next flight.

But even though it is Ultra Violet light it won’t quite have the same effect as those old Disco lights. C’mon admit it. I know there are those of you out there who used to dress all in white just to stand out at the disco. Nothing to be ashamed about – we all did it.


Now if someone could come out with a team of Daleks who could roam around airports and shopping malls just killing the corona virus cells that would be brilliant. Can you imagine how excited (or terrified) the kids would be. Well Sandford Police in the UK thought this would be a great way to remind people about social distancing. Because we are ALL terrified of the Daleks – aren’t we?

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What’s in a name?

Posted on March 2, 2020 | Leave a comment

Shakespeare said it best in Romeo and Juliet – “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet“

Even though Romeo was a Montague that didn’t make him a bad person – right? Well what about Corona – I mean the beer! Never did anything wrong. Its image with a juicy lime crammed in the neck just speaks of Mexican vacations, sandy beaches and “no I am not checking my office emails “.

Now it has unwittingly been dragged into this whole nasty virus thingy because of its name – and because it took the experts so long to come up with a proper name for the virus – now known as CoVid-19. That actually sounds a bit better for the virus. Gives it a sort of dark, under-cover feel.

Don’t shake his hand!!!!

Well can you believe that because the beer Corona has the same name as the coronavirus people thought they would get sick if they drank the beer. Well in fact that IS true – if you drink a LOT of Corona it can easily make you sick

Esquire reported –

“We also found found a CNN report on a survey conducted by 5W Public Relations that found that 38 percent of Americans would not order a Corona beer “under any circumstances” because of the coronavirus outbreak. ” C’mon – you gotta be kidding me.

Yes – someone is kidding me because subsequent reports have indicated that’s just Fake News!

Seems like Fake News spreads even faster than Corona – sorry CoVid-19. Just pass me a Corona while I do a spell check here.

Amazing how quickly rumours fly around the world – The Atlantic raced to Corona’s defence –

“Have you heard that 38 percent of Americans won’t drink Corona beer, because they are afraid of contracting the coronavirus?

For the past hours, this finding has spread across the internet like wildfire (or, more apt, a dangerous disease). CNN, the New York Post, and Vice all wrote up the poll.

On Twitter, where “38% of Americans” was the top national trend for parts of the day, many writers with large followings used it as an occasion to condemn their fellow citizens as idiots. “38% of Americans shouldn’t be allowed to roam free,” Benjamin Dreyer, an author, wrote.”

So who’s to believe here?

If you have questions about the virus – just follow these instructions. Get yourself an ice cold Corona out of the fridge, crack it open, slice a thin wedge of lime and pop it down the neck of the beer, fill up a plate of nachos with guacamole on the side and read the reports on the Government of Canada travel website and the World Health Organisation. The real news!

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Pass the hand sanitizer!

Posted on January 28, 2020 | 4 comments

It’s that time of year – flu season. Lots of people out there sniffing, coughing and chugging down Buckleys (it really does taste horrible – but it works!) We are told that keeping clean hands is the first rule so let’s keep passing around the hand sanitizer.

And now coronavirus has been added to the mix and causing havoc in China. Lunar New Year means lots of travel and naturally this makes things more difficult for the Chinese authorities but it is good to see that there is a great deal of international co-operation and transparency from the Chinese officials so hopefully we will be able to get this virus contained.

Thinking about the flu season – and the coronavirus – made me realise what a good idea it is to wipe down your tray table and safety belt. I never do this and I think I should start. I am sure with the quick turnarounds at airports the planes don’t really get a thorough clean. That’s why newer planes are doing away with those disgusting seat pockets. Yuck – have you ever looked inside one of those on an old plane. No? Then don’t!

In comparison when you travel on the highspeed trains in Japan everything is so clean. At the end of the line they have a special cleaning crew that come onto the train with disposable gloves and face masks and they wipe down everywhere! Why can’t we do that with the planes?

I used to be the sort of person who sat on a plane waiting while the plane loaded up and if I noticed someone taking out the antispectic wipes I would be like “omg – really?”. Well turns out that person was smarter than me. Meredith Lapore reported on December 2019

“In addition to the armrest and seatback pocket, you should also worry about the headrest.  Microbiologist Jason Tetro, author of The Germ Files, told Well & Good, “Airplanes have their own microbiome and the most common types are those from human skin, which isn’t surprising considering we’re all constantly shedding bacteria. As for the germiest place? It’s the headrest, where you’ll not only find bacteria, but also yeasts and molds.” He continued, “If it’s a short-haul, you may not have to worry about it, as you’ll have the same exposure as you might in an office building. But as the flights get longer, the microbes on your skin can grow and that can get a bit smelly,” says Tetro. “If you do happen to pick up bacteria or fungi that’s not your own, this may lead to itchiness and bumps on the skin and scalp. ”

OK – so how do we deal with this headrest thing? Seems that it is not just the seat pocket we need to worry about. Not to worry – good old Amazon has us covered –

So you take your own seat cover and it has a tray table kit. Wow! Only 3 left in stock. I must confess I have never seen this but why not? The head rest is the place to be careful of and that makes sense. Maybe I am just going to start wearing a toque on my flights. Might be a bit weird if I was going somewhere really tropical. But those head rests …. mmmmm

So now that I have thoroughly frightened you all into moving into a bubble – where’s your next trip?

C’mon – don’t be a scaredy cat – there’s a big world out there to discover. Just don’t forget the hand sanitizer 🙂

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