Dettol as a hand sanitiser for novel coronavirus COVID-19

I was chatting to a friend and he mentioned his wife made him up some hand sanitiser. I'd previously noted people using disinfectants and thought I'd share what I knew, as he knew less.

With a few questions I determined his wife had made up his hand sanitiser using Dettol.

In terms of Dettol being effective against the novel coronavirus they makers can’t yet say because the strain of coronavirus virus is so new.

The Dettol site says it should be based on past experience with the group of viruses called coronavirus, but can’t yet say without testing for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

At this point in time I’d stick with the known recommendation of using an alcohol based sanitiser just to err on the side of caution.

https://www.dettol.co.uk/about-us/understanding-coronavirus/

The following article explains why the Dettol packaging can refer to coronavirus before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

https://www.aap.com.au/dettol-effective-against-known-strains-not-2019-novel-coronavirus/

The World Health Organisation has issued a publication for location production of "handrub", although the recipe is for large quantities.

https://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/Guide_to_Local_Production.pdf

There you go, now you know what I know. Hope it helps in some way.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Red light speed camera at St Kilda Road and Union Street. A Whirlpool user's question.

I read a person's question on Whirlpool where they went through a red light (where there's a red light camera) and was wondering if they would be getting booked.

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/3lyzj649

As I understand the person's situation is they were"

• Travelling southbound in the service road on St Kilda Road where it crosses Union Road.
• There's a speed camera for the service road and another for the main road.
• The person was travelling under the speed limit but sped up once they realised the light was changing to amber. By speeding up they increased their speed to around 55-57km/h so under the speed limit.
• The traffic light changed to amber when they were 5-10 metres from the stop line.
• They think the back half of their car was going through the intersection when it turned red.
• The person did a U-turn to the main road section of St Kilda Road, did a left turn from the main road crossing the service lane.

There's a couple of points of interest here.

First, if the person really was 5-10m from the stop line could they have been able to stop in time before entering the intersection. There's an additional 8m after the stop line before the intersection. At 5-10m if they were travelling say 50km/h their stopping distance would have been 15m and so they would have been over the stop line but it would have been quite close to decide.

If they continued at 50km/h they would have travelled 55 metres in four seconds, (the timing for the amber light), plus another 6.9 metres for the roughly half second allowed once the light changes to red. In other words there was plenty of time to continue at their current speed and not get booked.

If you can stop before the stop line you should. If you think you'll go over the stop line but not into the intersection (over the pedestrian crossing for example) and can stop you should. If you don't think your can fully enter the intersection with all of your car before the light turns red then you should stop or there's a high probability you'll get caught by the red light camera. Only keep going if it's not safe to stop, in which case there's sufficient time allowed in the amber and red light timing of the traffic signals.

Remember, with the sensors one is often after the stop line so to be clear of the sensor you need to have all of your car past the sensor before the light has turned red. Yes there is about half a second allowance in the red phase, but this is such a short amount of time. Think of this as being about the length of the car.

Keep mind if you're travelling slower due to turning or traffic, you cover less distance. Many people get booked because they're travelling slowly. When you're travelling slowly keep in mind it takes less time to stop.

People often slow down as they approach speed cameras through fear of getting booked. This actually can increase their chances of getting fined because at a slower speed, they can take longer to pass over the sensor.

Most of us can't estimate distance well. If we could life would be much easier. Without some aid on the road we're all likely to continue to misjudge the distance and time with the subsequent fine for misjudging things.

For example, this person thought they were 5-10 metres from the stop line. They also said the back of their car was probably still in the intersection when the light went red. From the stop line to the traffic lights on the other side of the intersection is approximately 25-28 metres.  If he was 10 metres before the stop line plus say 2 metres from the front of his car to where he's sitting, that's around 37-40 metres. The amber shows for 4 seconds and at 50km/h he would have travelled 55 metres. That is he would have been past the traffic lights and not been able to see them. That means he was probably further before the stop line than he thought and mostly likely had sufficient time to stop but decided to speed up instead.

Now as for the U-turn and turning left from the main road across the service lane, there's a no left turn sign at the intersection so that was breaking the law.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au

Coronavirus social distancing rules: Can I go and visit a family member? Directions - Stay At Home

I'm starting to get quite concerned by our state becoming a "police state". Yes we have to social distance, yes we have to stop the coronavirus from spreading, but I'm sure most of us have seen on the news people being booked for what none of us would think is fair. Those that don't get their story on the media end up paying. Those that get airtime have their fine withdrawn.

Learner drive taking a lesson

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-07/coronavirus-fines-spark-warning-to-police-from-lawyers/12123344

Mountain bike rider going out to exercise

https://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/article/2020/04/09/mountain-bikers-1600-fine-highlights-uncertainty-around-coronavirus-restrictions

Man washing his car at a car wash

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/no-fines-for-people-in-shops-as-car-wash-penalty-revoked-20200410-p54ix7.html

Our government needs to make sure they don't push too far or their hard work to date will start unravelling. People aren't stupid. If the government of Queensland can get the population of the state out to vote with no noticeable impact on the level of virus infections, people will start questioning the government if they become too heavy handed. As population we are all doing our best in difficult times.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_DcJvl566YOBOx-QOUJdTV-u_cSi6r9mf5wV3RRS3iQ

If by running the council elections in Queensland there was the actual real possibility of mass spreading of the virus this would have occurred within 14 days of the election. The table shows 12 days and there rate of infections has actually dropped. There isn't a noticeable change in infections resulting from millions of people going out to vote.

As to the question of, "Can I go and visit a family member?", this wasn't clear so I decided to see what I could find. The ABC's website provides the answer which hopefully gives people peace-of-mind. Then if the police pull you over you can provide the information provided by the Prime Minister and clarified by the ABC. Although who really knows what each state and individual police force, or even individual police officer decide on how to implement the law. If you get fined going to court is likely to be costly and cost result in even more expense and possibly jail time. That's not the type of threat we should be living our lives under.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-29/scott-morrison-coronavirus-covid19-two-person-rule-explained/12101212

In particular the statement in the section titled, "Can I go and visit a family member?"

A family split across two houses can meet, so you can go and visit your parents or a sibling — although common sense probably ought to be used, and the usual social-distancing protocols should also be employed.

Unfortunately the world is a little crazy at the moment. Hopefully things will calm down.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Update: 11/04/2020
After reading the news article on the man washing his car in a car wash at 1 am in the morning, I couldn't help feel that recording any interaction with the police at this time is a wise idea.

Update: 12/04/2020
In terms of "Can I go and visit a family member", the following is a link to the Victorian Government's stay at home direction. There's no mention of visiting parents or a sibling. This really does show how the Federal Government is saying one thing, the ABC is supposedly clarifying things for us, but in the end, we really have no clue. The police can have a field day fining people because the gotcha is "ignorance of the law is no excuse".
https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/direction-stay-home-no3-signed
What appears to be important here is Part 4, Section 11, Point 3. You must not let others into your home except for the reasons listed. Family and siblings is not listed. The answer then is no.

Update: 15/04/2020
The Directions - Stay At Home No 3 expired on the 13th of April. It took some time to locate the new directions which can be found on this page.
https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/state-emergency

The new Directions - Stay At Home No 4 now expire on the 11th of May.
https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/202004/b4%20-%20stay%20at%20home%20direction%20%28no%204%29%20%28signed%29.pdf

The BBC headline - Are coronavirus tests flawed?

I started to think with people being isolated (thousands in hotels), and some of those people being doctors and possibly other medical staff, why can't they test to see if these people are positive or not after perhaps 3-5 days. Then if people prove to be negative they can go on to assist others.

I can't be sure, but it probably all revolves around the word prove.

I've been trying to find articles that would let me know the minimum time it takes for a person with the coronavirus to test positive. I really haven't found anything that I'd call conclusive, if anything, I've found more articles indicating problems with tests or testing. The headline for the following article was Are coronavirus tests flawed?

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51491763

From reading the article I realised the following:

Coronavirus is a respiratory virus. That means our breathing system.

The tests currently performed using a swab is taken at the back of the throat and nasal passage. If it's too early in the person's infection the same may not be sufficient.

If the person isn't coughing this may reduce the amount of sample in the area being tested.

The person doing the testing may not be sampling sufficiently.

No test is 100% perfect

This following article and particularly at the end where they state the structure of testing is the tests are 95% specific and 95% sensitive helps us to understand that out of 100 people, 5 people may be positive for coronavirus even though they test negative. When we're talking about thousands,  tens of thousand of tests and possibly hundreds of thousands of test, that's potentially tens of thousand of tests not picking up a person is actually positive for coronavirus.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/03/26/negative-coronavirus-test-result-doesnt-always-mean-you-arent-infected/

As I read more I start to understand the science is not perfect and for this reason we need to be more cautious, to be isolated longer to be more confident, social distance further, to err on the side of caution for our own good.

Kelvin Eldridge

Australian coronavirus (COVID-19) current situation and case numbers.

Whilst the data I'm recording relating to coronavirus is for Victoria, sometimes it's good to be able to see the information for all of Australia. I decided to look for this information and found the following government site.

https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-current-situation-and-case-numbers

For me the main number I'm looking for is the locally acquired cases where there's been no direct link to someone coming into the country or a contact of a person coming into the country.

Currently for Australia that figure is around 9.3% of cases.

Had the government moved more quickly to close our borders and isolate those coming into Australia, the total number I suspect would be have been less. I tend to think in the scheme of things that's an easier task. Not easy, but easier. This has been done thank goodness. Before this too many people coming into the country infected their contacts and others. The contacts are easier to identify, but not the others. Others that they wouldn't know they connected with.

Ultimately had the government moved more quickly the local community infection should have been lower, or in an ideal world almost nonexistent, but it's impossible to lock down everything.

To me it's the locally acquired cases that are important. The government talks about flattening the curve but this is relatively easy once the borders are closed and those coming in are in mandatory isolated. The curve will flatten, however the figure to watch is the locally acquired cases.

If the locally acquired cases grow what we'll see is the curve will naturally start to flatten fairly quickly, but then the curve will start to increase again. That is what we really have to watch.

It's hard to imagine the internal lock down, social distancing and what some people would call "the police state" situation is necessary, but if those locally acquired cases increase, that's the probably the main option to slow the curve down.

What's missing for us who like to know more is to know who is included in the locally acquired cases where the contact is not identified. For example do doctors and nurses who are dealing with multiple cases fall into this category? It would be nice to have more information. The more information we have the better decisions we can make.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Disinfecting for the coronavirus

We have a commercial grade disinfectant product that can be used to disinfect benches, door handles, etc. I started to wonder whether or not this disinfectant product was really suitable for coronavirus. I have a science degree (haven't used it) so keep in mind I'm not an expert of any type.

When I went to the website for the product I was actually quite surprised. The product made no mention of being effective at disinfecting against viruses. Yes bacteria and pathogens, but no mention of any of the common virus (such as influenza) so effectively using the product I feel is a waste of time, at least for the coronavirus.

It's important that you just don't go out and purchase products thinking they're helping. Make sure the information on the packaging mentions viruses or you could just be wasting your money or worse, not protecting your family even though you're making the effort.

I found this page which I thought was useful. I'd be reluctant to use bleach (call me a chicken) but I did learn not to use bleach and other household products that are acidic. Phew. Didn't know that.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK214356/

Basically the page is telling us to use an alcohol based product.

I also found what the airlines were doing quite interesting. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-26/airlines-unleash-herpes-disinfectant-for-virus-tainted-planes

Certainly you can see they're making the extra effort to deep clean. Now I do understand the plane uses operating theatre grade filters to filter the air, but a plane isn't an operating theatre with a single patient. There's lots of moving people that are around you and going past you and they're breathing and they can get close. The main take from the article however is the type of products they're using.

All I did really was since I had some doubt about the product, was to  perform a search on the product, found the manufacturers website, read the information and there was no mention of the product being suitable for viruses. Keep in mind there may be restrictions on companies by the government in putting such claims on the products, such as extensive testing that isn't worth the time and resources for the company.

Kelvin Eldridge

www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

What proportion of people infected with the coronavirus do not show symptoms?

One of the main problems with the coronavirus is when people first get infected it takes a while before the symptoms show, but a bigger problem is those who are infected with the coronavirus but do not appear to show any symptoms, which is known as asymptomatic.

The following article shares quite a bit of information and through various articles we can estimate those infected but not showing symptoms could be from 17.9% up to 50%. That's one fifth to half of all infected people.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-04/covid-19-coronavirus-without-symptoms-still-contagious/12119942

That's why it's very important for people to self isolate for 14 days, although it does make you wonder how many of the people who self isolate really fully self isolate for the 14 days. In the first instance they had to get home somehow if they were travelling. Then if like the rest of us, you come home with nothing in the pantry or fridge, I'd suspect many picked up supplies. It's just the nature of people.

As an example the below article it states there around 100 Australian doctors and dentists on a cruise.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/17/coronavirus-covid-19-australian-doctors-dentists-stuck-cruise-ship-coast-chile

According to the following article there were a group of 120 medical professionals.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-28/coronavirus-covid-19-cruise-ship-doctors-angry-over-quarantine/12099604

Now this is where we should forget these are medical people and just say people. There were 77 people who were taken to a hotel for isolation. When police later returned 33 had left the hotel, or roughly 43%.

That's just what people do. Were they infected, we don't know. Was there a risk, probably.

This however does show us that if a third to a half of the people are asymptomatic it's important for them to full self isolate.

Although I do wonder why people in this situation can't be tested after a number of days and if they are not infected, continue on their way. Possibly because there's a shortage of test kits.

I thought the following was an interesting example of people lying about their symptoms so they could see their doctor face-to-face. However many people who say they don't have symptoms actually do! That would certainly affect the statistics if people are lying either intentionally, or simply because the ailments are minor. I know as I get older I have symptoms of things and I just put it down to age.

https://www.sunraysiadaily.com.au/news/1114540/people-lying-about-coronavirus-symptoms-says-local-doctor

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Update: 4/04/2020
A police check of 391 returned travellers resulted in 99 of them not being at home. That's a around 25% of people at the time of the check were breaching the self isolation. This would indicate a much higher percentage breach the self isolation. This probably one of the reasons the government now has people self isolate in hotels.
https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/coronavirus-cases-in-victoria-grow-as-dozens-of-people-are-caught-breaching-self-isolation-c-956272

With coronavirus is it safer to go to a holiday house or stay at home?

There's many people who are going to smaller towns thinking they're safer. What the country and smaller towns don't realise is they generally have infected people in their area. So really, is the holiday house any safer than being at home. The answer depends and in many cases, it might not be. Make sure you think things through.

I decided to get the coronavirus cases data for the 2nd of March for the Local Government Areas across Victoria. Yes there are less people in regional areas, but it's not really the number of cases that's important, it's the number of cases per head of population. Some regional areas will actually have more infections per head of population than some city areas.

For example, I live in Manningham. There's 17 cases of coronavirus for a population of 125,508 (2018 population statistics) meaning there's 13.5 cases per 100,000 people. Now if I had a holiday house in the Mornington Peninsula, would I consider it safer to go to the holiday house. Most people would think so. However if you look at the data there's been 29.5 cases per 1000. That's over double the number of cases and the way I look at that, twice the chance of coming into contact with someone who is infected.

In addition I have a lot of choices around me from milk bars, petrol stations, small grocery shops to the majors where I can buy goods and services. In the holiday regions everyone goes to the same place. There's really not that much choice. If something goes wrong the medical facilities are often quite limited.

The following is a link to the table I created which shows for each Local Government Area, the number of cases, the population and the number of cases per 100,000 people.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LwY67bDVwIp9e2Fq33IPF1BC2hgD0dE7wOuBI5dU5vY

So before you head off thinking you're improving your safety perhaps check the numbers. Do you really want to go to an area where the risk is greater? Knowing the numbers means you can make a better decision for you and your family.

Kelvin Eldridge

www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Half of people with coronavirus show no symptoms.

Research in Iceland shows that half of the people with coronavirus show no symptoms.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-symptoms-half-of-infected-people-show-no-signs-of-virus/news-story/8557a0b5e5142a3a6cb9b5f926ea6e91

I've read somewhere (I could be recalling incorrectly) that some people just get symptoms of an upset stomach. Perhaps it's worth keeping this in mind.

If half the people don't show symptoms this is another reason we should all start thinking about wearing masks whilst out in the public. It is a way for each of us to protect others should we be infected by don't know it.

The following article had the headline New Yorkers urged to wear masks in public.

https://7news.com.au/news/health/new-yorkers-urged-to-wear-masks-in-public-c-951097

Kelvin Eldridge

Coronavirus found in 17 nursing homes across Australia

It's concerning our elderly are exposed to the coronavirus and unfortunately there's often no way for them to protect themselves further.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-australia-live-updates/live-coverage/173cd94e356f69733cb159d02cbfdbfb

According to the following article there's 10 nursing homes the Health Department has not released details about.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-02/coronavirus-cases-which-nursing-homes-with-covid-19/12111294

Both the incidents in Victoria are included in the Coronavirus Victoria public exposure map I've created.

Kelvin Eldridge

News.com.au article on those who have died from coronavirus and where they were infected.

It saddens me to think of the people dying from the coronavirus. Nothing could be worse. I find writing this post difficult for that reason. My thoughts go out to the families.

Today I read that of those who have died three quarters can be traced back to three sources, cruise ships, aged care home and hospitals.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-australia-threequarters-of-deaths-linked-to-cruise-ships-aged-care-home-and-hospitals/news-story/9fce1be8d3cf7904ceaea35d932b80ba

For me this level of detailed reporting helps answer question and is appreciated. Sometimes if information is not made available to the general public it creates confusion and concern. With more information we're better placed to understand what is happening around us.

Kelvin Eldridge

Coronavirus, to wear a mask or not wear a mask. DIY option if masks are sold out.

I thought I'd share a couple of articles which influence me as to whether or not to wear a mask.

The first is a study which was about a person in China who was infected and went on what sounds like a bigger long distance bus. The article shows that other people on the bus got infected, but those wearing a mask did not get infected. If should be kept in mind this may just be luck. Not everyone not wearing a mask got infected either.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8094933/How-one-man-spread-coronavirus-NINE-people-bus.html

The one thing to keep in mind is the government has two roles. Two look after the people and to look after the economy. We however have one role and that is to look after ourselves and our families, whilst at the same time doing our best to look after others. Sometimes what the government does may conflict with what we should do.

For example if everyone were to wear a mask then there wouldn't be enough masks to go around and those that really need to wear masks, such as health workers who risk their lives to look after us, may not be able to access the masks they need. The government needs to look after health workers first and foremost. Without them and keeping them healthy means the rest of us are at greater risk. Therein lies and conflict. You need to make a decision for yourself.

More recently this article about the CDC (Center for Disease Control in America) has started to reconsider the advice given to the general public on the use of masks.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/health/cdc-masks-coronavirus.html

Finally, if you do wear a mask it is extremely important to educate yourself on the correct way of wearing and using a mask. If is possible that with incorrect usage you may in fact increase your risk of infection. For example letting the mask drop below you face once out of a crowded area to breath means your are keeping the surface of the mask near your face, and that isn't a good idea. Not correctly sanitising your hands when putting on or taking of your mask may increase your risk.

Another article I read was about making your own masks. What was good about the article was there was some scientific type research on the materials to use. So even if you can't buy a mask, you can always make it yourself, or have a friend with sewing skills make it for you.

https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/

Do keep in mind making your own mask should be a last resort. But if it helps to reduce the chances of infection by half, then that's still better than no protection. Interestingly it may be that a mask helps you stop touching your face more and that's also a good thing.

One thing that is apparent is if you are ill that it's a good idea to wear of mask for the benefit of others. If you are not showing signs of coronavirus (called asymptomatic) then you could be spreading the virus. Wearing a mask reduces the risk to others. If others wear a mask too that reduces the risk to you.

For me it makes sense to wear a mask in public. Remove the mask carefully and make sure I correctly sanitise my hands.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Update: 3/04/2020
It appears the tide is starting to turn with regards to people being advised to wear masks. Lots of information in this article.
https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/coronavirus-update-asia-may-have-been-right-all-along-about-coronavirus-and-face-masks-c-948214

Another article indicating the tide is changing we regards to the advice on wearing masks.
https://www.9news.com.au/world/coronavirus-spread-through-talking-even-breathing-experts-tell-white-house/014db7b0-af3d-4f34-b1f1-605540a19df5

CDC (in the USA) have updated their recommendation to now use cloth face covering.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover.html

Knowing the codes used to name face masks can be confusing. The following has a table which gives the different codes. In Australia P2 is the equivalent of the USA code N95.
https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1791500O/comparison-ffp2-kn95-n95-filtering-facepiece-respirator-classes-tb.pdf

Update: 24/04/2020
In the following study, if I read the discussion correctly, in the situation of an infected child with a virus in a household, if the others in the household adhere to wearing a mask whilst in the presence of the infected person, the can reduce the risk of being infected by 60-80%.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2662657/#R27

The following article relates to Health Care Workers wearing N95 masks with a 62% reduced risk of bacterial infection compared with wearing no mask.
http://www.isg.org.au/index.php/news-items/study-shows-superiority-of-n95-respirators-in-protecting-health-workers-against-bacterial-respiratory-infections./

Update: 28/05/2020

The following articles show how effective different masks are when tested. Even surgical masks which don't fit that well performed reasonably. In all cases the risk was at least halved and in some cases nearly 20 time less. That's a significant reduction.

https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/can-masks-capture-coronavirus/

Update: 24/08/2020

In the following article I found the information that wearing masks increases the percentage of people being asymptomatic both good and concerning. Good because people are getting less affect, but bad because having more people asymptomatic means more people may spread the virus because they don't think they're sick.

https://healthtimes.com.au/hub/diseases/24/news/ht1/cloth-masks-do-protect-the-wearer-breathing-in-less-coronavirus-means-you-get-less-sick/5248/

Story shared by Melbourne doctor shows how infectious coronavirus can be.

I thought I'd share this article. A doctor in Melbourne  was at a gathering with 12 friends. Later one of those friends tested positive for coronavirus. Since then all but one have tested positive for coronavirus including the doctor.

https://www.3aw.com.au/coronavirus-melbourne-doctors-warning-after-contracting-covid-19/

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Hands, washing hands by Neil Diamond. Sung to the tune of Sweet Caroline.

I thought I'd share the video from Neil Diamond, where he's adapted Sweet Caroline to be more relevant in the time of coronavirus.

https://youtu.be/sPLgsV_Ms3Q

I've always enjoyed Neil Diamond's songs and thank him for adding value to my life through his music.

My one regret. At uni I was passing a room where there was a singer with a guitar sitting on a chair in the middle of a very large room, with a large crowd of people around him. I think everyone was sitting on the floor so it didn't look particularly comfortable. It didn't seem that interesting. I recalled later that singer was most likely Neil Diamond. Perhaps someone was pulling my leg, but I really do regret I didn't stop and listen to a great entertainer.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirus/

Person wondering if there was any chance of getting out of a red light camera fine.

I found an interesting question on the Whirlpool forum today from a person wondering if there was any chance of getting out of a red light camera fine. The quick answer is generally no.

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/32krv6j9

However I found this intersection to be quite interesting. It took me a while to understand what had happened.

The person was travelling in Surrey Hills NSW, along Foveaux Street turning right into Crown Street. The right turn lane is a dedicated lane for right turning cars. The lights for going straight ahead were green, but there was a red right turn arrow.

If you look at the traffic lights you'll see a stack arrangement of four lights. I've not seen four vertical lights like this in Victoria. The top light it appears is the turn arrow light.

Secondly there's no oncoming traffic as this is a one-way street. In Victoria I've not seen a right turn arrow where there's no traffic coming towards you. Perhaps there is one, but I can't recall one.

The driver in this case noticed the pedestrian walk sign was green but there was no one on the pedestrian crossing. This would indicate the turn arrow may either be timed, or pedestrian activated.

In this case the driver didn't know the right turn arrow was red as their visor was down and this blocked their view of the top turn light.

The obvious lesson here is you need to make sure you can see all traffic lights and make sure your vision is not obscured by your visor. It's also a good reminder to Victorian drivers that some traffic lights in NSW are pedestrian activated.

One things this also shows is the limitation of the traffic light technology. If it is the case that a pedestrian pressed the button to activate the red right turn arrow, but decided to move on and not cross the road, then the pedestrian has impacted the flow of the traffic and a fine has been issued where there zero chance of a safety risk to anyone. In effect the driver has been fine in a situation where there was not safety risk. Ultimately however if a driver doesn't obey the traffic lights, no matter how absurd they've been designed, they are disobeying the law.

In this case a simple and costly mistake by the driver.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au

Stay at home directions by the CHO (Chief Health Officer) of Victoria

I'm the type of person who likes to learn the rules of what we are supposed to do or not do. That applies to most things in my life but particularly in times such as now with the coronavirus. In effect I like to be a good citizen.

Even then if I think things can be done better, without conflicting with the government's rules, then I'll take that action as well.

We often joke about one person's parenting style to their child. Their catch-phrase statement was "learn the rules, obey the rules". Perhaps now we have to all behave a little like children and learn the rules and obey the rules. This isn't just for our own benefit, but for the benefit of the community as a whole. If you disobey the rules then think about the thousands of others who are also disobeying the rules. That behaviour even though individually doesn't appear to make much difference, multiply it out by thousands and it can and will make a significant difference. Remember, we are all in this together.

So if you're interested in the rules, in effect the laws currently in place, the following is worth reading.

https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/202003/Stay%20at%20Home%20Directions%20.pdf

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Coronavirus - tips for handling delivered takeaway food at home

Today I read this article and I got one interesting point on handling takeaway food which I thought was worth sharing.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-how-to-handle-takeaway-containers-safely-during-covid19-outbreak/news-story/77a410b0e8be9ffb2e8a35044324954f

We supposedly know coronavirus can live for 24 hours on cardboard/paper, so the packaging on delivered takeaway food, which has been handled by other people's hands, may be a risk, albeit it is considered small.

The idea in the article was to have two sections of bench. One where food is initially put and then a second part of the bench where only sanitised food is placed.

For example you get a pizza in a box. The box represents a degree of risk. You don't want to open the box and then touch the food.

Place the box on the bench where unsanitised items are placed. Open the box. Wash your hands. Transfer the pizza to plates on the section of bench which is the sanitised section of bench. Don't touch the box again until after you finish your meal. If say you want to throw out the box first to keep things tidy, then you'll need to wash your hands again before eating your meal.

That's my take on what the article was suggesting and I think it is a good idea. A little extra time and caution in this age of the coronavirus is a good thing.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

News on coronavirus (COVID-19) in Victoria for the Mapz site.

A while ago I created a map of the coronavirus public exposure locations in Victoria based on information I find released by the government or media sites. This enabled me and people I know to get their head around what is happening in Victoria with regards to the coronavirus.

You can find the map at www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

I keep adding articles which I found useful to the page in case other people find the articles of interest. However, sometimes I'd like to share an article of interest but the web page isn't really the best place. For example people can't leave comments if they wanted to.

As from today I've now added a News link to the Mapz site for Coronavirus Victoria. The News link will point to this blog, but only show blog posts that have been labelled as relevant for the coronavirus.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Who doesn't love penguins! Melbourne Zoo is livestreaming the penguins.

Who doesn't love penguins!

Today I stumbled over a link to the live stream for the penguins at Melbourne Zoo. Perhaps I was lucky but I got to watch as they fed each penguin and the penguin was released. It was around 9:50am, so perhaps that's a good time to check the live feed, or should I say, live stream.

https://youtu.be/mSI7phzCec8

Now if penguins aren't your thing, really, there's other live streams from Melbourne zoos. You can find the live stream using the following link.

https://www.zoo.org.au/animal-house

Here's a tip.

I noticed the top video had a length of over two hours. If you see a video has a length this is not a live stream, but a recorded video.

For the live stream below the video is a red line. If you move the round dot back along the line you can see what happened earlier in the live stream. For example the live stream for the snow leopard cubs showed nothing in the nest box. However by using the slider to go back in time I was able to see the video of the cubs waking up.

If you tap on the left side or the right side of the screen on your mobile phone you can move around 10 seconds in time either earlier or later. For example when I check the live stream for the penguins now there's nothing there. Not particularly exciting. However if I moved back in time I can find some activity. Then tapping on the left or right of the screen I can move around in time around the activity.

With us now facing the prospect of extended self isolation, perhaps a visit to the zoo using live stream may be an activity worth doing.

Kelvin Eldridge

Update: 2/04/2020
Toronga Zoo in NSW also have a number of live streams available at https://taronga.org.au/taronga-tv

Articles of interest added to Mapz site for Victorian coronavirus public exposure locations.

As those reading this blog will know I recently added a map for Victorian coronavirus public exposure locations. You can find the map at www.Mapz.com.au.

Today I've added a number of articles I've found interesting that I've found have helped me gain a handle on coronavirus. You can find the articles on the Victorian coronavirus public exposure locations map at https://www.mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/.

If I read any articles on coronavirus which I feel may be of interest or use to others I'll continue to ad articles and links to the page.

Stay safe.

Kelvin Eldridge
https://www.mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/