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A #COVIDー19 thread. Once upon a time I was working on a TV programme called "Demolition Day) for @Channel4 as a producer/director (with @giagia presenting, as it happens). The programme was a factual entertainment show in which competitors had to construct large structures/1
such as a bridge that could carry a car, or a water tower. which would then be tested to destruction. The set was designated a construction site, and as such, normal construction site rules applied; no access without a hard-hat, hi-vis and steel toe-capped boots. One day /2
..for a shot, I had to go up on a cherrypicker (extendable hydraulic platform). This thing went up 30m in the air, and the set was in Norfolk. The flat plains went on as far as the eye could see. I was the highest thing around by at least 20m. But still, I was made to wear my /3
..hard hat. Not a crash helmet - it didn't even have a chin strap, It would have helped me not one bit if I had fallen 100ft. "But WHY?!" I intoned to the site supervisor (bemoaning the day we'd thought it was a good idea to be an official construction site). "1 word", he said /4
.".compliance". He said "you know it won't help you if you fall. the site workers know it too, but if you take it off whenever you feel like then all the lines get blurred". So if there's a rule, EVERYONE sticks to it, or people get hurt. So, what's this to do with #COVIDー19 ?/5
The catch it, bin it, wash your hands protocol really works in reducing transmission of viral particles. Being close, sharing bathrooms, close-space, sharing foods, coughing or sneezing and touching surfaces recently touched by other people spreads it really effectively. /6
If we think of preventing *between* household, transmission, (rather than *within*) social distancing is a really effective way of cutting down viral transmission, but if you go to the shop, open the milk fridge using the same handle as the person before, /7
or let kids clambour on playground equipment that another kid has just been climbing on, or if you meet your mates for a beer and one of them passes you a drink, or a sandwich, or you touch a door handle, all of that distancing can be instantly negated. So you just have to be /8
super strict about that stuff. Playgrounds are a no, but walking is fine (more than a cough distance apart of course), hiking is OK but picnics are not. (Don't trace your finger on the "where am I" map in the woods/park because guaranteed someone else very recently has 
). So /9
). So /9
Lock-down is a way to make us more compliant with social distancing. If we are compliant with the advice, we can save lives. Stick to your household/family groups for the timebeing. Wash hands a lot, don't touch your face or stuff others have touched without/10
washing your hands. We can make a difference and it doesn't have to be that hard. For now - what's done is done - we can expect cases/deaths to increase for the next 2-3 weeks no matter what we do now. But what happens beyond that is /11
..in our hands literally and metaphorically. We've got this, if we do our thing OK. So that wise site supervisor was from @ArupGroup and also, if you don't take my word for it, do follow @BillHanage who gives good advice and is an actual epidemiologist. This has been a Bottom PSA
I should add to this thread, that my PhD is in infectious diseases from @imperialcollege so although I dont work in lab research anymore I'm not wholly just an an internet rando spouting off 
