What's in a name ? Schizophrenia.

Two and a half months into lockdown what are the words and the phrases that surround us on television, the radio, social media and a multiplicity of websites?  I first wrote about this in mid April 2020. So here is an update. Here is my selection :- Covid 19,  the novel coronavirus, is the evil heart of our troubles. As a result we have :- Shops, restaurants, bars and cinemas , all closed. Temporarily ? Sanitiser,  gel and  plain old soap as  the weapons against disease. The R number, the rate at which infection spreads. It has to be below one we are told. Cases  of coronavirus registered,  numbers hospitalised  , deaths recorded, facts ,  figures and statistics updated. The  daily government briefing. Analysis by scientists .nd questions. Questions from press and public. Slogans , sound bites  and catch phrases. Stay alert, protect the NHS , save lives. Shielding the vulnerable and those most at risk. Testing...

LANGUAGE OF A PANDEMIC ------------------------------------------------ Sign outside a school in Belfast Wuhan wet market, China, deadly source of a new  virus, unknown, misunderstood, a form of pneumonia. The Chinese deny it now. Don't believe their doublespeak. Lungs under attack, breathing struggles. The virus Spreads. It  floats and splatters in coughs and sneezes.  Germs germinate. You may  walk , run, ride or  fly , There's  no escape if it has you in its sights  Droplets and globules unceasingly  multiply. Test,  trial, temperature, fever, burning, take over.  Immune systems, body functions, slow down, shut down. Decline , descend , die. Or recover miraculously. The ones who fight it come to our rescue. Doctors, nurses, health care assistants. Paramedics, porters, ancillaries,  angels all. NHS, hospitals, old and new , build and adapt , wards. Ventilators vital for breathing , machines and medicine. O...

I had heard of the 1918 flu pandemic but knew very little about it. The main fact I knew to  be true was that it killed more people than the Great War as it was then known.  Now that we are living through a pandemic I thought I should check on the definition of this word. So a pandemic occurs when people are easily infected with a viral influenza. This virus must have the ability to spread in a sustained manner from person to person. In 1918 the number of infections of Spanish flu  followed an upwards  trajectory as it infected susceptible   people. Measures were then taken such as the closures of  childcare facilities and schools. This is exactly what we are seeing in 2020. The virus which caused the 1918 pandemic was H1N1 a virus of avian origin. It had a 20% mortality and particularly  infected under 5 's, 20-40 year olds and over 65's. Healthy individuals died as well as those with underlying health conditions. The mortality of Covid 19...