ABSTRACT
Beside receiving an overwhelming number of submissions from global scholars, we also incorporated several innovative features: a video of Jeremy Parrott's new Dickens museum in Hungary, Dickens & Co.;a video exhibition of 'Childhood in Dickensian London' from Senate Library, courtesy of librarians Tansy Barton and Leila Kassir, and a Q&A session with writer and director Armando Iannucci, interviewed by Dickens descendant and author Lucinda Hawksley about his recent adaptation of David Copperfield (2019). Addressing attendees from inside The Charles Dickens Museum itself, director Cindy Sughrue thanked #Dickens150 organisers and participants for contributing a total of £2800 through this virtual conference, which will help support staff and cover necessary expenses until the museum reopens. Throughout the day speakers emphasised Dickens's continuing relevance: in a 'Dickens and Contagion' roundtable with Pamela Gilbert (University of Florida), Sean Grass (Rochester Institute of Technology), Eric Lorentzen (University of Mary Washington), Natalie McKnight (Boston University), Lillian Nayder (Bates College) and Pete Orford (University of Buckingham), the speakers considered several passages from the novels, which depict scenes of social unrest, disease, contagion and troubled social interaction, parallelling the current COVID-19 quarantines and closures.
ABSTRACT
Many elements of life are postponed, held over, to be rescheduled;during this period there have been fewer book releases, fewer theatre productions, and greater difficulties for those conducting Dickens research around the world, from archive access to simply finding time while simultaneously facing issues such as childcare difficulties, job insecurity, and the sheer pressure of the interesting times through which we're all living. [...]2021 has felt like a more hopeful year in other ways, as we have become more innovative in adapting to the necessary shrinking of our worlds and networks;the use of video-calling software such as Zoom to overcome these limitations is one example. [...]it has been a creative year, too: the Dickens Fellowship's annual conference, reviewed in this issue, took place on Zoom, and in a particularly poignant talk, outgoing Editor Malcolm Andrews reflected on windows into Dickens's world in light of our own access to the world being increasingly mediated by phone and computer screens. [...]my heartfelt gratitude goes to Malcolm Andrews, who leaves a mighty reputation to live up to as the journal's longest-serving editor (a tribute to his work can be found in this issue), and also to the Fellowship and its members for the opportunity to be part of this journal's future.
ABSTRACT
Front-line staff routinely exposed to aerosol-generating procedures are at a particularly high risk of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. We aimed to assess the adequacy of respiratory protection provided by available N95/P2 masks to staff routinely exposed to aerosol-generating procedures. We performed a prospective audit of fit-testing results. A convenience sample of staff from the Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, who opted to undergo qualitative and/or quantitative fit-testing of N95/P2 masks was included. Fit-testing was performed following standard guidelines including a fit-check. We recorded the type and size of mask, pass or failure and duration of fit-testing. Staff completed a short questionnaire on previous N95/P2 mask training regarding confidence and knowledge gained through fit-testing. The first fit-pass rate using routinely available N95/P2 masks at this institution was only 47%. Fit-pass rates increased by testing different types and sizes of masks. Confidence 'that the available mask will provide adequate fit' was higher after fit-testing compared with before fit-testing; (median, interquartile range) five-point Likert-scale (4.0 (4.0-5.0) versus 3.0 (2.0-4.0); P<0.001). This audit highlights that without fit-testing over 50% of healthcare workers were using an N95/P2 mask that provided insufficient airborne protection. This high unnoticed prevalence of unfit masks among healthcare workers can create a potentially hazardous false sense of security. However, fit-testing of different masks not only improved airborne protection provided to healthcare workers but also increased their confidence around mask protection.