Covid 19 and working locks.

[RichLech]

Just wondering how people protect themselves against the (albeit unlikely) risk of picking something up off a lock gate or mechanism. Gloves are an obvious start but what about leaning on a lock gate when opening or closing? What do people to to mitigate this risk? 

[Rob-M]

Good hand hygiene.

[matty40s]

Sanitise your arse after every flight.

Edited June 24, 2020 by matty40s

[magpie patrick]

Gloves are not that helpful - you can't catch COVID 19 via the skin on your fingers. Hand hygiene matters because of our near automatic tendency to touch our face. You could walk through leaves covered in COVID 19 and it isn't the shoes that save you it's the fact your big toe never comes anywhere near your mouth or nose. Gloves only work if changed repeatedly. 

[GUMPY]

3 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

Gloves are not that helpful - you can't catch COVID 19 via the skin on your fingers

Can it be caught via cuts and skin damage?

[magpie patrick]

6 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Can it be caught via cuts and skin damage?

No, although it's difficult to prove a negative - gloves are used in patient care because the gloves are replaced between patients, wearing the same pair of gloves all day won't help, in fact it might make it worse if you don't wash the gloves at regular intervals 

[GUMPY]

3 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

No, although it's difficult to prove a negative - gloves are used in patient care because the gloves are replaced between patients, wearing the same pair of gloves all day won't help, in fact it might make it worse if you don't wash the gloves at regular intervals 

Surprises me I would have thought open wounds were a direct way in. I guess it needs airways to enter although it can get in via eyes I believe.

If wearing gloves they would be binned after every lock.

Edited June 24, 2020 by Loddon

[pearley]

From our experience over the past 2 weeks, it's the sightseers with nothing to do that you need to be concerned about.

[ditchcrawler]

6 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Surprises me I would have thought open wounds were a direct way in. I guess it needs airways to enter although it can get in via eyes I believe.

If wearing gloves they would be binned after every lock.

Provided you dont touch the boat as it goes through the lock and then you could MAYBE transfer it to the boat and PERHAPS pick it up later. Do they really know how its transmitted or are they just comparing it with flu

[Mike Tee]

Small spray bottle containing IPA - spray hands before and after working lock (and during, if you feel the need).

Both spray bottles and IPA readily available on internet. (Best to get the 99.9% type).

 

Warning - if you are smoking, move away from other people before using spray - you will go up like a Roman Candle!!

[ditchcrawler]

3 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

Small spray bottle containing IPA - spray hands before and after working lock (and during, if you feel the need).

Both spray bottles and IPA readily available on internet. (Best to get the 99.9% type).

 

Warning - if you are smoking, move away from other people before using spray - you will go up like a Roman Candle!!

I did a quick Google and came up with this https://www.beerwulf.com/en-gb/c/ipa?segment=Beers&style=IPA&catalogCode=Beer_1

[GUMPY]

IsoPropyl Alcohol

[Mike Tee]

How did I guess I should have been more specific !!

 

IPA commonly refers to: India pale ale, a style of beer; International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation; Isopropyl alcohol, rubbing alcohol.

 

But I'm also guessing you were being norty!!

Edited June 24, 2020 by Mike Tee

[Athy]

Thanks for the explanation - I was wondering what good rubbing beer on your hands would do.

I now realise that I have two kinds of IPA in the house.

[cheshire~rose]

Small travel size hand sanitiser in an easily accessible pocket with a back up bottle on the boat slide if you can't remember which pocket you put it in and don't want to rummage around with potentially "dirty" hands. Wearing gloves will not stop you from getting infected but to start with I worse them as a reminder not to touch my face. 

 

We have a larger bottle of sanitiser we use to decant into smaller ones to keep the cost down. We have masks to hand to put on if we feel it might be necessary and have worn them when sharing a wide lock with another boat (as it happened it was only half the size of our boat so the two steerers could stay well distant in the lock anyway 

 

Once through a lock sanitise your hands and the handle of the windlass as you return to the boat along with anything on the boat you might have touched as you got back on. 

 

Make sure long hair is tied back or kept under a cap so it can't blow in your eyes or mouth and don't be afraid to politely but firmly ask people to give you space. 

 

 

[magpie patrick]

30 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Surprises me I would have thought open wounds were a direct way in. I guess it needs airways to enter although it can get in via eyes I believe.

If wearing gloves they would be binned after every lock.

I'm guessing that direct entry into the bloodstream is ineffective 

 

The eyes have tear ducts that lead to the back of the nose - presumably the virus can survive that journey as it seams to cuase trouble when it reaches the respiratory tract. 

 

BTW I'm applying logic here, backed up with some research, not medical knowledge. I've found sources that say it can be transmitted via the eyes but not via an open wound, but I haven't found any saying why!

[Mike55]

19 minutes ago, cheshire~rose said:

We have masks to hand to put on if we feel it might be necessary and have worn them when sharing a wide lock with another boat (as it happened it was only half the size of our boat so the two steerers could stay well distant in the lock anyway 

 

 

 Given that narrow boats are nominally 7ft wide (i.e. >2m) provided the steerers are sensible about where they stand, wearing a mask in that situation is probably an unnecessary precaution. Apart from anything a mask mostly protects other people from you, so they're only really effective if everyone nearby is wearing them.  A far greater risk is gongoozlers standing on the lock side above the steerer and chatting at them.

[cheshire~rose]

3 minutes ago, Mike55 said:

 Given that narrow boats are nominally 7ft wide (i.e. >2m) provided the steerers are sensible about where they stand, wearing a mask in that situation is probably an unnecessary precaution. Apart from anything a mask mostly protects other people from you, so they're only really effective if everyone nearby is wearing them.  A far greater risk is gongoozlers standing on the lock side above the steerer and chatting at them.

I did say "If we feel it may be necessary" 

 

My take on this is that it is up to each of us to decide what level of exposure we feel comfortable with. Suggesting something may be unnecessary when someone else finds a particular precautionary measure makes them feel a little more confident to continue with getting back to living their life is not really for other people to judge. I think it is important to remember that not all those people moving boats are as able to fight off a covid-19 infection as you may be. A lot of people who live aboard are also vulnerable and may need to shield.

 

It is impossible to know whether the person on the boat you meet at that lock is the type who wants to be equally responsible as you are for ensuring the virus is not spread or not.  Just have a small stash of PPE easily to hand in case 

[Mike55]

5 minutes ago, cheshire~rose said:

I did say "If we feel it may be necessary" 

 

My take on this is that it is up to each of us to decide what level of exposure we feel comfortable with. Suggesting something may be unnecessary when someone else finds a particular precautionary measure makes them feel a little more confident to continue with getting back to living their life is not really for other people to judge. I think it is important to remember that not all those people moving boats are as able to fight off a covid-19 infection as you may be. A lot of people who live aboard are also vulnerable and may need to shield.

 

It is impossible to know whether the person on the boat you meet at that lock is the type who wants to be equally responsible as you are for ensuring the virus is not spread or not.  Just have a small stash of PPE easily to hand in case 

I certainly was not attempting to judge, just expressing my opinion that it's probably an unnecessary precaution. Your signature line is relevant here: "If my opinion was correct, true and valid. We would all share the same opinion. Then it wouldn't be an opinion."

[GUMPY]

44 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

BTW I'm applying logic here, backed up with some research, not medical knowledge. I've found sources that say it can be transmitted via the eyes but not via an open wound, but I haven't found any saying why!

Good thoughts

As I always have cuts and scratches on my hands that was my reason for thinking about gloves, I can worry less now.

[cheshire~rose]

2 minutes ago, Mike55 said:

I certainly was not attempting to judge, just expressing my opinion that it's probably an unnecessary precaution. Your signature line is relevant here: "If my opinion was correct, true and valid. We would all share the same opinion. Then it wouldn't be an opinion."

Yes and you are entitled to your opinion as much as anyone else.

 

The entire country is full of people trying to come to terms with getting back to life in the "new normal" and it can be a major cause for anxiety. Our bar tenders will need to be experts at crowd control as well as data protection and I think it is important that people read good research material on what we all need to do to keep ourselves and others in our communities safe. We can make suggestions as to what we as individuals have found useful but opinions, unless from those with some background in virology, may not be that helpful at this time and can sometimes cloud judgment 

2 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Good thoughts

As I always have cuts and scratches on my hands that was my reason for thinking about gloves, I can worry less now.

Of course there is still Leptospirosis that is transmitted through open skin wounds to think about - and some of the symptoms of that are flu like and your lines are quite likely to be a source of transmission so good hand hygiene should always be a top priority for boaters 

[Mike Todd]

1 hour ago, RichLech said:

Just wondering how people protect themselves against the (albeit unlikely) risk of picking something up off a lock gate or mechanism. Gloves are an obvious start but what about leaning on a lock gate when opening or closing? What do people to to mitigate this risk? 

Why do you think gloves might help?

 

The transmission route is touching an infected surface (with or without gloves) and then touching your face with that hand. Gloves only help if you are sufficiently disciplined not to touch your mouth or face with the glove before removing it soon after doing the lock and also if you use a new disposable set for each lock. 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

I’ve been travelling with a bucket of water and a bar of soap. 
Washing my hands after locks. 
 

The big habit to drop is touching my face. 
Picking my nose and poking my eyes. 

Scratching my ears. 
 

Can’t see a good reason for me wearing gloves. Just another throw away item to clog up the planet. Easier to wash hands. 
 

And I’ve begun to see the new normal in litter on the towpath;

face masks

gloves

sanitiser bottles

 

 

 

 

[robtheplod]

after a few weeks most people will probably forget about the risks.....

[Jerra]

1 hour ago, magpie patrick said:

BTW I'm applying logic here, backed up with some research, not medical knowledge. I've found sources that say it can be transmitted via the eyes but not via an open wound, but I haven't found any saying why!

Possibly because they will come into almost immediate contact with leucocytes which would "knock them on the head" before they got established and multiplied.