I was reading the other day, that just 12 days after Ned Kelly's execution in 1880, his hanging judge Sir Redmond Barry died from what the doctors described as 'congestion of the lungs and a carbuncle in the neck'. After initially considering the irony of the timing and then thinking it was an odd way to go, my third reaction was I just hoped carbuncles, whatever they are, were not hereditary.
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Luckily for me Sir Redmond was from a wealthy Irish Barry family and my forebears were working class so I doubt if their paths, let alone their bloodlines every crossed.
But perhaps my morbid thinking was not helped by watching War of the Worlds on SBS.
Despite being an apocalyptic television series I enjoyed it, though I kept comparing its fictional squeaky alien robot dogs to the real enemy among us.
The number of worldwide deaths from COVID-19 recently clocked over the 800,000 mark.
Here in Australia we've had 500 deaths which is a tragedy for 500 families, but relatively speaking, we've got off lightly so far, and Queensland particularly so.
But every report of every new outbreak such as the ones in Logan and then Wacol put people on edge.
I'll be travelling down to Brisbane next week and will definitely be wearing a mask, both on the flights and when out and about in the state capital. Not to mention practising social distancing and good hygiene.
I will also make sure I am tested for COVID-19 as soon as I get back. There is no excuse not to get tested, the NWHHS has made the process easy in Mount Isa and in the smaller centres.
I congratulate the health service on their proactive work on keeping our region safe.
I may even ask them what carbuncles are!
Derek Barry
Editor