Comments on: Pondering the swine flu

By: Silke

Silke — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:08:14 +0000

Simon – Hello Kitty are doing them in HK!

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:57:01 +0000

Business opportunity – designer facemasks©

By: Donnell

Donnell — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:26:04 +0000

On masks. People aren’t wearing them because they’re totally ineffective. They may block some of the airborne viruses from entering/exiting – but basically you’d need to tie a plastic bag tightly around your neck (covering your whole head) to get an effective barrier. There are some disadvantages to that…
I was also in Bangkok airport recently and noticed many people wearing masks, but removing them to talk, scratch, oh and here’s a good one….spit! Effective?…hmmm
I love the photo though!

By: Silke

Silke — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:42:05 +0000

I was in HK last week and I have to say I admire their absolute stringency around this latest flu outbreak. As you arrive you walk through a temperature screen test and everyone is required to fill out a form and talk to a health official. If you’re sick you have to wear a mask, public places were being constantly sterilised, cleaners were everywhere and all primary schools were shut for two weeks. It was interesting to see it all take place and since the bird flu, HK is a cleaner place than Auckland! Please feel free to debate this with me.

On masks: Why won’t westerner’s wear them? Looks like Heidi and Spencer are so let’s follow their lead. If I get sick, I’m going to wear one.

Another quick comment – does anyone else feel sorry for the airlines. No one is flying because of the recession and this is the double whammy they didn’t need.

By: Simon

Simon — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:54:21 +0000

I have some Tamiflu in storage from the last scare – must check the expiry date. I was under the impression that there was enough of it now for everyone should we need it.

While Melbourne has become the ‘hot spot’ for swine flu infected cases vs actual population still only equates to less 0.04 percent (yes I worked it out).