A Risk Assessment

It's curious the little rituals we have embraced in this strange new life of solitude and social distancing. It started with hand-washing and then logic suggested that we ought to be wary too of other ways we could bring Covid 19 into the home. If people have to be quarantined when they come into contact with it, what about all those plastic, paper and cardboard surfaces that are brought into the house on a daily basis? Are they virus free when we are told this thing lives on some surfaces for up to 72 hours?

The speculation began and then, in my capacity as Parish Clerk, I received various protocols for handling and disinfecting goods to be passed to the elderly and vulnerable. Life was so much simpler when you knew  your daily risks were primarily crossing the road or negotiating a flight of stairs.

On the basis, of course, that you can rarely eliminate all dangers, the additional steps taken to protect ourselves involve little more than leaving deliveries outside in the sunshine and then either in our lobby or garage for a set period depending on the nature of the package and our general inclination on a scale from indolent to wary. We also leave letters in their envelopes on the floor for up to 24 hours before opening; this is not so much Poste Restante as post resting. It goes to demonstrate, however, that there are still plenty of other things taking place in our lives when we don't feel any need for a mad rush to the door the moment we hear the postman.

Speaking of post, it was only last week that surprisingly I received notification of my next outpatient's appointment at the local hospital. In the normal course of events, it would be due in May and I was amazed to actually receive confirmation of a consultation date, especially as I had understood that the department was closed. I confess to being a little dubious and hesitated as to whether or not to write it onto our forlorn looking wall calendar, albeit thinking that perhaps the local NHS Trust knew quite a bit more about the sequence of events than I do. It was no surprise, however, to open a letter today (delivered yesterday) verifying that the appointment is being postponed to an as yet unknown date and that yes, the left hand really doesn't know what the right hand is doing and has money to burn on unnecessary postage costs.

I also opened a second letter. This one was from Number 10 and purports to be signed by the big man himself. I believe every household has received one telling them of the need to stay at home. Having instigated a risk strategy for post, however, our assessment of the perils posed had never reached the point of considering the appropriate steps if we discovered that the deliverer, let alone sender, had actually been diagnosed with the virus. Obviously I washed my hands immediately but, in line with protocols for handling waste from a carrier do we now incinerate it or place it in a sealed bag in the bin for collection with the general waste? What have you done with yours?