Spikecollie

The French Culture Minister has now tested positive - we'll have no bloomin' government left here in another 10 days! All Italian ski stations have closed. 300 cases in Île-de-France which is the wider area around Paris - not additional to the daily total but noteworthy because of the level of commuting in and out of the metropolitain area.

Grim. I had news today that one of my clients who had gone into hospital two weeks ago has died. Not a family member or a relative or a close friend, but when you intimately care for someone for many weeks and try to support their loved one it is still a real hurt. I dropped in on his wife on my way home this evening and she is stoical and strong, as he would have wanted her to be. I cannot imagine how those incredibly brave and selfless healthcare workers must feel.

Sensible choice.

I'm beginning to think that I need to get my OH over here sooner rather than later. He's booked for April 2, the day before his birthday. LBA flights don't start until March 29 but I can pay a bloody fortune and get him over as early as this Sunday from MAN...

I'm sticking to my veggies - but I did add some lovely poulet roti which I made last night. Mylo was very pleased with the leftovers, minus the skin. I don't drink alcohol anymore. I used to and was quite partial to the odd "uisce beatha" but I never tried it with honey. Sounds nice. My comfort food is peanut butter on either oatcakes, crispbread or galletes de mais. It's hard to get here but my English client today said I could order fairly cheaply on Amazon so I will - I only eat the 100% peanut stuff, no palm oil or anything else and this is the ticket. Order going in tonight! Why have you cancelled your UK trip?

Holy poo...1412 cases here now and 25 deaths.

I'd be worried for the hospital worker, though. You're not setting a very good example as Forum staff by encouraging an egocentric response/approach to this communal problem.

As I said earlier, we all need to know our numbers! You can have a BP test at the pharmacy, anyone who doesn't avail and know what's happening in their body is...

Because dog kisses are special! My dog kisses on request but it's always just on the lips. This story has been around for a while and amounts to the dog having been contaminated externally with the owners virus shed. The dog does not systemically have the virus. I and many others do not want misinformation to start any sort of minor worry, let alone a panic amount dogs (or cats). Veterinary advice is that you cannot transmit the virus to your beloved companion or get it from them - the one exception being if someone who is infected touches your pet and you touch after them. Sensible precautions need to prevail for your pet's coat just like other surfaces. At the moment, in a very infected area, people should not let strangers stroke or touch their pets and if they have an infected person at home in self isolation the infected person should not touch the pet.

I am not a person of religious faith and I do not believe in anything supernatural to what we have here on our planet. I do believe, however, that when you surround yourself with negativity and inhumanity, just the psychology of it eventually comes back to bite you on the bum. Let's hope so.

Deputées (MPs) have now got five cases among them here in France. The St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin has been cancelled (forgive me if this has already been posted but it's hard to keep up when you get in from work!). They are requiring people here to sign in and out of care homes so that any contacts can be traced in the event of infection. Lots of events cancelled in the Limoges area including concerts, markets and exhibitions.

If you look after yourself and spot any symptoms early (listen to your body) you should know if you have any underlying conditions that could put you at risk. Regular basic medical checkups are also very valuable, everyone should be entitled to a yearly full blood work as well to find anything that is amiss early. Too many people (men - sorry guys - are worst) just don't follow through with basic preventative and screening oppotunities that are available to them. Too many people don't know "their numbers".

I know. I was just in my local Proxi shop and the cashier coughed into her hand with nervous laughs and smiles from those of us in the queue. She immediately used hand sanitiser, though.

Please try and quit smoking, Donegal. It's far more of a threat to your body than any virus ever will be but it'll make you more susceptible to the effects of any you get. Take up vaping - I did and it worked for me...

Me too on both counts I'm afraid.

Something, at least that. Meanwhile, nothing new on local news

I have to admit, even as an advocate of free movement within Europe at all times, that this is a little weird. I wonder how many people have landed in the UK or France by sea air or other means, from Italy with no intervention...

That damned religious festival seems to be responsible for so many cases. Did anything similar happen in Italy - maybe we'll never know? Didn't they ban 5000+ gatherings after the initial case clusters following the festival? Too late, but how were they to know? All of this entrains a catalogue of understandable reactivity and that's just what the virus needs to spread. How crap on a Sunday night - back to the dogs...

Yes, local paper reported Correze case yesterday. Nothing new tonight but they're pretty "sleepy" on Sundays!

I'm watching Crufts on playback - I need both a dog beside me and dogs around me as I can stand no more of this human insanity...

Other than the Correze case yesterday, there's no breakdown by area so I'll go to bed thinking that the bubble is intact!

What about attending a funeral or visiting an ill/dying relative? That's essential travel in my books. Many years ago when my parents were dying in Ireland I got "compassionate fares" capped at £99 to fly at short notice to Ireland from the UK with Aer Lingus - that's essential travel.

How's the bubble looking, Nick. I've seen no breakdown of the geography of cases today.

Exactly! Lock down where, precisely? Close the airports, ferries and tunnel? Why?

Apparantly the Restos du Coeur collection was badly affected at the weekend as people were buying up the very things they need like rice and pasta and even taking it from designated trollies. I wish the media would act more responsibly. The numbers are pretty horrible today...