A lost property counter in Maidstone stayed open half an hour late on Tuesday. Staff had fourteen forms to fill in. One of the forms was new.
Scientists have worked out why the Kent meningitis outbreak was so severe. The bacteria picked up some new genetic material. Genetic material is the set of instructions a living thing uses to make copies of itself. This is the real finding, and it took a long time.
Kent County Council read the words "picked up" and applied the rule that covers umbrellas. Anything picked up in the county is held for 28 days. Then it goes to charity or to auction. The council says the rule has no exception for microbes, and nobody wanted to write one on a Tuesday.
"We had a control group. That is the shelf with the ordinary umbrellas. Nothing on that shelf has caused an outbreak. The p-value is very small. A p-value is how sure we are that this did not happen by chance. We are quite sure."
