While we are all hoping to avoid a local lockdown, self-isolation or quarantine, in true British fashion we seem to be making the best of things. We are already getting used to life with coronavirus and of course most of the current restrictions are nothing new<\/p>\n
Ancient civilizations relied on isolating the sick, well before the actual microbial causes of disease were known. In times when treatments for illnesses were rare and public health measures few, physicians and lay leaders, beginning as early as the ancient Greeks, turned to quarantine to contain a scourge. The practice is even recorded in the Old Testament where several verses mention isolation for those with leprosy. Closer to home the Quarantine Act was passed in England in 1710, which stipulated a sentence of death for persons not respecting the compulsory 40-day quarantine for humans and goods arriving here suspected or known to have been in contact with the plague.<\/p>\n Perhaps the best known individual example of quarantine, pitting an individual’s civil liberties against public protection, is the story of Mary Mallon, aka “Typhoid Mary”. An asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever in the early 20th century, she never felt sick but nevertheless spread the disease to families for whom she worked as a cook. Officials quarantined Mary on North Brother Island in New York City. Released after three years, she promised never to cook for anyone again. Breaking her promise and continuing to spread the disease, she was returned to North Brother Island, where she remained for the remainder of her life in isolation.<\/p>\n So, beyond the usual online fitness sessions, reading those books we have never got around to, or holding a Zoom quiz, what can do to keep ourselves entertained if we suddenly have to self-isolate? While staying indoors, we can at least turn to the internet.<\/p>\n How about a virtual tour of bucket-list attractions like Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal? You could take a virtual field trip of the Kennedy Space Centre or maybe follow a livestream of an Australian koala. If music is your thing how about tuning in to the live concerts performed at the Royal Albert Hall, which as a planned programme online. If you prefer rock, Metallica have a similar programme and if you are feeling a little more laid back try Neil Young or Nora Jones. You can keep up to date with what\u2019s happening via websites like billboard.com.<\/p>\n You could even join in the latest way to socialise with friends over video chat, by holding your own Quarantini Happy Hour. <\/strong>Simply stated, a quarantini is a cocktail (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) made from whatever ingredients you have on hand at home. The easiest way is to make variants of classic cocktails based on one-ingredient substitutions. One expert cited a Negroni, with equal proportions of gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. When gin was swapped out for whiskey, the Boulevardier was invented. Jane Danger, the national mixologist for Pernod Ricard suggests starting by selecting your spirit of choice and base your \u201csweet\u201d and \u201csour\u201d upon it. “Ransack your cupboard. Dried herbs and spices make great salts and sugars which you can grind together and use to rim the glass.” So with lots of suggestions online, why not have a go?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE While we are all hoping to avoid a local lockdown, self-isolation or quarantine, in true British fashion we seem to be making the best of things. We are already getting used to life with coronavirus and of course most of the current restrictions are nothing new Although in the past it may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[359,334,128],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6cWjO-8322","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5193,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5193","url_meta":{"origin":8322,"position":0},"title":"December Planning updates.","author":"Alan Williams","date":"22nd December 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Planning updates. The following applications have been approved \u2022 The Bothy, Port Road, Wenvoe. Remove existing porch and replace with single storey extension to the rear of the house to create a new garden room. Materials to match that of the existing house. 1, Burdonshill Cottage, Burdonshill Lane, Rear dormer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Planning Updates"","block_context":{"text":"Planning Updates","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10775,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10775","url_meta":{"origin":8322,"position":1},"title":"Cancer Strollers Cosmeston","author":"Alan Williams","date":"13th December 2021","format":false,"excerpt":". CANCER STROLLERS Amazingly blue, cloudless skies welcomed the living with cancer strollers to Cosmeston. A new walker joined the group and was quickly catching up with a staff member from Gwenfo School who knew her children...from a long time ago!! \u2018J\u2019 joined us again and is part way through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Living With Cancer Strollers"","block_context":{"text":"Living With Cancer Strollers","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=307"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Picture19w.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14559,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14559","url_meta":{"origin":8322,"position":2},"title":"A Bright, Breezy Day","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd August 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"LIVING WITH CANCER STROLLERS A Bright, Breezy Day \u00a0 \u00a0 A bright, breezy day for the Living with cancer strollers as they enjoyed the beautiful wild flowers on view at cosmeston, including orchids galore \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Living With Cancer Strollers"","block_context":{"text":"Living With Cancer Strollers","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=307"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Picture3-1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14728,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14728","url_meta":{"origin":8322,"position":3},"title":"Bright Blue Skies And Brilliant Sunshine","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd October 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Bright Blue Skies And Brilliant Sunshine \u00a0 \u00a0 Bright blue skies and brilliant sunshine for the Carers stroll this morning at Barry Island. Kath was missing today as she was celebrating her 80th birthday... a good excuse!! Squalls of rain and swirling winds did not put the strollers off on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carers Walk"","block_context":{"text":"Carers Walk","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=362"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Picture6.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14419,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14419","url_meta":{"origin":8322,"position":4},"title":"Bright, Breezy, but Beautiful","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th July 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"CARERS WALK Bright, Breezy, but Beautiful \u00a0 Winter rain, autumn winds, spring showers and summer sun on our walk at Barry Island this morning. Thanks to Betty for bringing chocolates for everyone as she was celebrating her 84th birthday ..forever young.","rel":"","context":"In "Carers Walk"","block_context":{"text":"Carers Walk","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=362"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Picture4.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11418,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11418","url_meta":{"origin":8322,"position":5},"title":"Bargoed","author":"Alan Williams","date":"16th April 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Bargoed This walk took us to Bargoed Woodland Park, which was created on land formerly occupied by Bargoed, Britannia and Gilfach collieries. The country park has been created from barren waste ground left after the closure of the last mine in 1985. 90,000 new trees, 6500 bulbs and 8000 wildflowers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Picture8.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8322"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8322"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8338,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8322\/revisions\/8338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Picture11.jpg?resize=500%2C336\")
Although in the past it may have been a self-imposed or voluntary separation from society, in more recent times quarantine has come to represent a compulsory action enforced by health authorities. The Welsh Government of course is not the first to wrestle with this problem. During the 14th century, in an effort to protect coastal cities from plague epidemics, ships arriving in Venice from infected ports were required to sit at anchor for 40 days before landing. This practice, called quarantine, was derived from the Italian words quaranta giorni <\/em>which mean 40 days.<\/p>\n
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