Winner of dickhead question of the day...Peston hands down...can we send CV patients home that won't make it, so they can die with their loved ones.
Yes. Utterly bizarre question.
To put it in context we weren’t allowed to visit my Dad in his final 10 days. Mum was allowed 20 minutes, in full PPE, at the end - at the cost of 14 days in quarantine
Sweden is right. Boris was right, but the assumptions were chosen to be scary, and to fit the famous curve just under the famous line. Trump may well be right - though whether the European model applies to America is hard to say. Meanwhile, Italy has no end game except subsidy and massive foreign debt relief.
I rather agree. I have thought about this quite a lot, and it wasn't immediately obv to me what the right answer is (other than, as Foxy points out, the unsayable "we're gonna triage Granny so she never gets in in the first place.")
Married for 50 years to soulmate. She's dying of covid. He wants to hold her hand as she leaves this life and leaves him, he wants to whisper something.
But here come The Authorities -
"Truly truly sorry but that will not be possible. The virus."
I get it. Of course I do. But does he? And should he?
It is not (to me) a question with an incredibly obvious answer.
Believe it or not, people under 25 can read bar charts and see where data has been manipulated to present a false picture. And what that reads to me is that if you're under 25, or under 35 and otherwise healthy you'd have to be 1 in 1000 shot to be hospitalised, 1 in 10,000+ shot to die. I'll take those odds.
Uh, what chart are you looking at? The one I can see doesn't have an under 25 bucket, or an under 35 bucket. And it doesn't distinguish between otherwise healthy and not.
Also the axes aren't properly labelled, but don't appear to be showing anything you could convert into percentage chances. Also they don't seem to have normalised the size of the bands to account for different population sizes. It's actually a really crap chart, just not for the reasons you give.
Lord Sumption asked the question. Those with all the data and the knowledge in this area reluctantly decided that yes it was the right thing to do. Indeed they got to that point after first trying a more light-touch approach. The public agree with the new strategy. What's the problem?
Oh yes. Peter Hitchens, the man that thinks cannabis causes people to become terrorists, thinks its a bad idea. Lol.
Hitchens makes a fantastic point about the link between ‘terrorists’ and cannabis actually.
If you grant that both heavy drug users and terrorists tend to emerge from the pool of social misfits then it ceases to be a particularly remarkable link.
I rather agree. I have thought about this quite a lot, and it wasn't immediately obv to me what the right answer is (other than, as Foxy points out, the unsayable "we're gonna triage Granny so she never gets in in the first place.")
Married for 50 years to soulmate. She's dying of covid. He wants to hold her hand as she leaves this life and leaves him, he wants to whisper something.
But here come The Authorities -
"Truly truly sorry but that will not be possible. The virus."
I get it. Of course I do. But does he? And should he?
It is not (to me) a question with an incredibly obvious answer.
If you are in your 70s+, it should be based on your own risk tolerance because you will be bearing most of the cost of catching the virus, unlike most people in their 60s and below
Lord Sumption asked the question. Those with all the data and the knowledge in this area reluctantly decided that yes it was the right thing to do. Indeed they got to that point after first trying a more light-touch approach. The public agree with the new strategy. What's the problem?
Oh yes. Peter Hitchens, the man that thinks cannabis causes people to become terrorists, thinks its a bad idea. Lol.
Hitchens makes a fantastic point about the link between ‘terrorists’ and cannabis actually.
If you grant that both heavy drug users and terrorists tend to emerge from the pool of social misfits then it ceases to be a particularly remarkable link.
If by winter flowering, you are prepared to slip into the first couple of weeks of spring, try Erica arborea - the tree heather. The flowers are profuse, heather flowers, over the whole plant and they come out in March for me in south Devon. A stunning thing for early butterflies and bees to feed on. You can prune them severely, but if you want to fill a decent gap, mine grows up to about eight feet and very bushy.
Lord Sumption asked the question. Those with all the data and the knowledge in this area reluctantly decided that yes it was the right thing to do. Indeed they got to that point after first trying a more light-touch approach. The public agree with the new strategy. What's the problem?
Oh yes. Peter Hitchens, the man that thinks cannabis causes people to become terrorists, thinks its a bad idea. Lol.
Hitchens makes a fantastic point about the link between ‘terrorists’ and cannabis actually.
If you grant that both heavy drug users and terrorists tend to emerge from the pool of social misfits then it ceases to be a particularly remarkable link.
Well no one in authority seems to act on the link, remarkable or not. In fact people want to legalise the drug
My favourite winter-flowering shrubs, which are also scented - and the scent is usually very powerful are:-
1. Daphnes - these come from Nepal, don’t mind the cold and have wonderful scent and blossom in winter and spring. Choose where you plant them carefully as they don’t like being moved. Slow-growing but absolutely wonderful.
The tallest is Daphne bholua Jacqueline Postill. A gem. Other daphnes to consider are daphne oDora Aureomarginata - which is evergreen and scented and equally gorgeous.
2. Viburnum - eg bodnantense Dawn. In winter comes to its own it’s lovely white pink scented flowers. Nothing to write home about the rest of the year but you will have lots else to look at instead.
3. Mahonia - dark, evergreen, with shiny sharp leaves but with beautiful yellow flowers - scented. The soft yellow against the green is lovely at a time when there is not much else to look at. If you planted several of these against the wall you’d have a lovely green tableau for that wall and it would discourage burglars.
4. Cotoneasters are also good for this. Not scented though. As is coronilla Valentina glauca - evergreen with lovely yellow flowers in spring.
5. Hollies - especially if you get standard hollies and space along the wall. The ones I have in my garden are ilex “Silver van Tol” which are female, self-fertile and have lovely variegated leaves and bright red berries. Ilex Golden King is also good.
6. There are quite a few winter-flowering clematis around - clematis Armandii (flowers in early spring) is good. Taylor’s clematis is a really good nursery for them with loads of advice and you can put in exactly what you want - north facing, winter flowering and/or scented and then pick what you want. They deliver.
7. Finally, don’t forget sarcococca confusa - Christmas box. It is a small evergreen - so for the front of the bed or near doorways - but it has the most incredibly strong vanilla-like scent in winter from tiny white flowers. I have it in my front garden and it can be smelt from across the street. It is so cheering on a cold winter’s day.
You can also have a Camelli x vernalis “Yuletide” which has red flowers from November onwards. I have had it in flower at Xmas. Not tall and needs to be in a pot as it will need ericaceous soil (assume your garden is clay) but it can be nice to out a pot in the garden with a beautiful plant in it. If you have a lovely tall pot that as well as the plant can be a feature to draw the eye in winter.
I must say I am enjoying these garden exchanges. A light in the dark. Keep it up you two!
The problem at the moment is finding anywhere to acquire the plants!
If by winter flowering, you are prepared to slip into the first couple of weeks of spring, try Erica arborea - the tree heather. The flowers are profuse, heather flowers, over the whole plant and they come out in March for me in south Devon. A stunning thing for early butterflies and bees to feed on. You can prune them severely, but if you want to fill a decent gap, mine grows up to about eight feet and very bushy.
My favourite winter-flowering shrubs, which are also scented - and the scent is usually very powerful are:-
1. Daphnes - these come from Nepal, don’t mind the cold and have wonderful scent and blossom in winter and spring. Choose where you plant them carefully as they don’t like being moved. Slow-growing but absolutely wonderful.
The tallest is Daphne bholua Jacqueline Postill. A gem. Other daphnes to consider are daphne oDora Aureomarginata - which is evergreen and scented and equally gorgeous.
2. Viburnum - eg bodnantense Dawn. In winter comes to its own it’s lovely white pink scented flowers. Nothing to write home about the rest of the year but you will have lots else to look at instead.
3. Mahonia - dark, evergreen, with shiny sharp leaves but with beautiful yellow flowers - scented. The soft yellow against the green is lovely at a time when there is not much else to look at. If you planted several of these against the wall you’d have a lovely green tableau for that wall and it would discourage burglars.
4. Cotoneasters are also good for this. Not scented though. As is coronilla Valentina glauca - evergreen with lovely yellow flowers in spring.
5. Hollies - especially if you get standard hollies and space along the wall. The ones I have in my garden are ilex “Silver van Tol” which are female, self-fertile and have lovely variegated leaves and bright red berries. Ilex Golden King is also good.
6. There are quite a few winter-flowering clematis around - clematis Armandii (flowers in early spring) is good. Taylor’s clematis is a really good nursery for them with loads of advice and you can put in exactly what you want - north facing, winter flowering and/or scented and then pick what you want. They deliver.
7. Finally, don’t forget sarcococca confusa - Christmas box. It is a small evergreen - so for the front of the bed or near doorways - but it has the most incredibly strong vanilla-like scent in winter from tiny white flowers. I have it in my front garden and it can be smelt from across the street. It is so cheering on a cold winter’s day.
You can also have a Camelli x vernalis “Yuletide” which has red flowers from November onwards. I have had it in flower at Xmas. Not tall and needs to be in a pot as it will need ericaceous soil (assume your garden is clay) but it can be nice to out a pot in the garden with a beautiful plant in it. If you have a lovely tall pot that as well as the plant can be a feature to draw the eye in winter.
I must say I am enjoying these garden exchanges. A light in the dark. Keep it up you two!
Lord Sumption asked the question. Those with all the data and the knowledge in this area reluctantly decided that yes it was the right thing to do. Indeed they got to that point after first trying a more light-touch approach. The public agree with the new strategy. What's the problem?
Oh yes. Peter Hitchens, the man that thinks cannabis causes people to become terrorists, thinks its a bad idea. Lol.
Indeed, the risk was 500 000 deaths from coronavirus in the UK on the worst estimates without lockdown
In the end it was a question only the elected politicians could decide. Is it worth trashing the economy and curtailing civil liberty on a massive scale to save 1000s of lives?
That call has been made.
But it is essential in a democracy that the alternative view be heard.
Presenting it numerically as "to save 1000s of lives" is simplistic. I approve of what we are doing as the best way to mitigate the nightmare medico-societal meltdown which Italy is seeing as a result of overload on the hospital system which any civilised society would seek to do at any cost. I would not *automatically* think the same if the same number of deaths from covid 19 were happening but in an orderly, managed fashion where people spend 48 hours in a high fever and die in a heavily medicated sleep, and without medical personnel dying of inadequate PPE. All deaths are not equal.
It is bad but the trend could be worse. I feel quite optimistic today. I definitely sense that social distancing has taken root. Just got back a few minutes ago from my Boris Break and people are staying well away from each other. I'm sure it's the same everywhere. The virus will not be spreading so easily now. It will be hacked off and on the retreat. That will take some time to work through into the numbers but I think that one month from now we in the UK will be breathing a little easier.
That will be because the ventilator has arrived....
Very good news given there are only 25 000 coronavirus cases so far in the whole UK
I think everyone can agree if we spend some hundreds of millions of pounds creating a stockpile of ventilators we never use, it was at least an interesting method of keeping people in paid employment.
We could always send/sell them to other countries....
Indeed, at the moment the focus must be ventilator production, once the peak passes and lockdown ends then the focus must be mass testing
I am not sure I follow the logic of your time line.
You need ventilators as you approach the peak as so many get it you need to reduce the death rate, once the number of cases recedes as the lockdown takes effect you need mass testing to reduce the number of cases and contagion in the future
I follow that logic. The bit that I don't understand is why there has not been more ongoing testing to date, particularly for medical staff.
This is not a criticism of the great man and his government, it is surprising to me that the boffins advising government are comfortable with current levels of testing across the board.
From what was said today at the briefing, they are having problems sourcing reagents, Which might suggest they’re imported ?
I don’t think they’re comfortable at all; just unable to make things happen faster.
A doubt has now been introduced on that score by Peston - good journalism. Now the Government needs to explain what is going on.
The conspiracy theorist in me thinks some wonk might be delaying it because they don't want people to know it's everywhere and most will never have symptoms.
I rather agree. I have thought about this quite a lot, and it wasn't immediately obv to me what the right answer is (other than, as Foxy points out, the unsayable "we're gonna triage Granny so she never gets in in the first place.")
Married for 50 years to soulmate. She's dying of covid. He wants to hold her hand as she leaves this life and leaves him, he wants to whisper something.
But here come The Authorities -
"Truly truly sorry but that will not be possible. The virus."
I get it. Of course I do. But does he? And should he?
It is not (to me) a question with an incredibly obvious answer.
Obvious answer - if he gets it, this puts further load on the medical system. It's not just his decision. Classic libertarian point - your absolute freedom to act ends where it begins to impact other people.
Winner of dickhead question of the day...Peston hands down...can we send CV patients home that won't make it, so they can die with their loved ones.
Yes. Utterly bizarre question.
To put it in context we weren’t allowed to visit my Dad in his final 10 days. Mum was allowed 20 minutes, in full PPE, at the end - at the cost of 14 days in quarantine
Lord Sumption asked the question. Those with all the data and the knowledge in this area reluctantly decided that yes it was the right thing to do. Indeed they got to that point after first trying a more light-touch approach. The public agree with the new strategy. What's the problem?
Oh yes. Peter Hitchens, the man that thinks cannabis causes people to become terrorists, thinks its a bad idea. Lol.
Hitchens makes a fantastic point about the link between ‘terrorists’ and cannabis actually.
If you grant that both heavy drug users and terrorists tend to emerge from the pool of social misfits then it ceases to be a particularly remarkable link.
Well no one in authority seems to act on the link, remarkable or not. In fact people want to legalise the drug
Maybe if they decriminalise it, then the link will magically disappear?
OK, that sounded bad. Let's try again:
Maybe if they decriminalise it, then the future terrorists won't have to talk to drug dealers at all and won't get set off on a path of crime that ultimately winds up in them becoming terrorists?
Y'know, maybe. Maybe not. But it doesn't seem like an obviously stupid thing to try.
My favourite winter-flowering shrubs, which are also scented - and the scent is usually very powerful are:-
1. Daphnes - these come from Nepal, don’t mind the cold and have wonderful scent and blossom in winter and spring. Choose where you plant them carefully as they don’t like being moved. Slow-growing but absolutely wonderful.
The tallest is Daphne bholua Jacqueline Postill. A gem. Other daphnes to consider are daphne oDora Aureomarginata - which is evergreen and scented and equally gorgeous.
2. Viburnum - eg bodnantense Dawn. In winter comes to its own it’s lovely white pink scented flowers. Nothing to write home about the rest of the year but you will have lots else to look at instead.
3. Mahonia - dark, evergreen, with shiny sharp leaves but with beautiful yellow flowers - scented. The soft yellow against the green is lovely at a time when there is not much else to look at. If you planted several of these against the wall you’d have a lovely green tableau for that wall and it would discourage burglars.
4. Cotoneasters are also good for this. Not scented though. As is coronilla Valentina glauca - evergreen with lovely yellow flowers in spring.
5. Hollies - especially if you get standard hollies and space along the wall. The ones I have in my garden are ilex “Silver van Tol” which are female, self-fertile and have lovely variegated leaves and bright red berries. Ilex Golden King is also good.
6. There are quite a few winter-flowering clematis around - clematis Armandii (flowers in early spring) is good. Taylor’s clematis is a really good nursery for them with loads of advice and you can put in exactly what you want - north facing, winter flowering and/or scented and then pick what you want. They deliver.
7. Finally, don’t forget sarcococca confusa - Christmas box. It is a small evergreen - so for the front of the bed or near doorways - but it has the most incredibly strong vanilla-like scent in winter from tiny white flowers. I have it in my front garden and it can be smelt from across the street. It is so cheering on a cold winter’s day.
You can also have a Camelli x vernalis “Yuletide” which has red flowers from November onwards. I have had it in flower at Xmas. Not tall and needs to be in a pot as it will need ericaceous soil (assume your garden is clay) but it can be nice to out a pot in the garden with a beautiful plant in it. If you have a lovely tall pot that as well as the plant can be a feature to draw the eye in winter.
I have a holly just around the corner, which I suspect is a Golden King or a Van Tol, and was put in back in 2013 - a future Q is about creating more room for it. You can just see it in a previous photo from last week, and I nicked as much as I dared for the Forsythia arrangement as the only really deep green foliage available at present.
It has berries now.
Mum had a Golden King she planted at the former house in the late 1970s that had reached nearly 20 ft. That was a Derbyshire Hall which has Victorian Planted hollies up to 30ft high, including as large sections of hedge.
We're exactly like the US; if we were able to acquire what we wanted on the open market then we wouldn't be trying crash build ventilators ourselves.
Did you listen to the clip? Not only are states bidding against one another, the federal government is also involved in bidding for stuff through the same process....
Just what are they playing at. You either do it centrally or you do it on a state level.
My favourite winter-flowering shrubs, which are also scented - and the scent is usually very powerful are:-
1. Daphnes - these come from Nepal, don’t mind the cold and have wonderful scent and blossom in winter and spring. Choose where you plant them carefully as they don’t like being moved. Slow-growing but absolutely wonderful.
The tallest is Daphne bholua Jacqueline Postill. A gem. Other daphnes to consider are daphne oDora Aureomarginata - which is evergreen and scented and equally gorgeous.
2. Viburnum - eg bodnantense Dawn. In winter comes to its own it’s lovely white pink scented flowers. Nothing to write home about the rest of the year but you will have lots else to look at instead.
3. Mahonia - dark, evergreen, with shiny sharp leaves but with beautiful yellow flowers - scented. The soft yellow against the green is lovely at a time when there is not much else to look at. If you planted several of these against the wall you’d have a lovely green tableau for that wall and it would discourage burglars.
4. Cotoneasters are also good for this. Not scented though. As is coronilla Valentina glauca - evergreen with lovely yellow flowers in spring.
5. Hollies - especially if you get standard hollies and space along the wall. The ones I have in my garden are ilex “Silver van Tol” which are female, self-fertile and have lovely variegated leaves and bright red berries. Ilex Golden King is also good.
6. There are quite a few winter-flowering clematis around - clematis Armandii (flowers in early spring) is good. Taylor’s clematis is a really good nursery for them with loads of advice and you can put in exactly what you want - north facing, winter flowering and/or scented and then pick what you want. They deliver.
7. Finally, don’t forget sarcococca confusa - Christmas box. It is a small evergreen - so for the front of the bed or near doorways - but it has the most incredibly strong vanilla-like scent in winter from tiny white flowers. I have it in my front garden and it can be smelt from across the street. It is so cheering on a cold winter’s day.
You can also have a Camelli x vernalis “Yuletide” which has red flowers from November onwards. I have had it in flower at Xmas. Not tall and needs to be in a pot as it will need ericaceous soil (assume your garden is clay) but it can be nice to out a pot in the garden with a beautiful plant in it. If you have a lovely tall pot that as well as the plant can be a feature to draw the eye in winter.
I must say I am enjoying these garden exchanges. A light in the dark. Keep it up you two!
And yet I hear people in the Morden / Cheam area are carrying on as normal - absolute madness
As I posted earlier, 13 year olds do, unfortunately, occasionally die, regardless of whether there's a pandemic on or not. The best information I've seen so far indicates that the pandemic kills people who have it at roughly twice the rate they would've died at in normal times. This seems to be a pretty reasonable approximation across most ages, although admittedly there's a whole lot less data to go on for under 18s. Twice a very small number is still, usually, a very small number.
We're exactly like the US; if we were able to acquire what we wanted on the open market then we wouldn't be trying crash build ventilators ourselves.
Did you listen to the clip? Not only are states bidding against one another, the federal government is also involved in bidding for stuff through the same process....
Just what are they playing at. You either do it centrally or you do it on a state level.
IIRC its specifically illegal for the federal government to bulk buy medicine in the US - not sure if that covers medical appliances.
We're exactly like the US; if we were able to acquire what we wanted on the open market then we wouldn't be trying crash build ventilators ourselves.
Did you listen to the clip? Not only are states bidding against one another, the federal government is also involved in bidding for stuff through the same process....
Just what are they playing at. You either do it centrally or you do it on a state level.
I'm just back from my risk-assessed constitutional, which involved delivering a body-thermometer to a house-arrested tenant (more house-arrested in than I am), and a check on a mum's-estate-owned property (grandma's old shop in the family for 150 years) I had to pull from auction because mum died first and we are now stuck with empty until probate and post-virus so we can sell it.
The thermometer from China ordered around March 20th is fun - the triple site thermometer (rectally-orally-armpitally) turned out to be 3 identical ones that now need very careful labelling - but it means I had a spare to give away.
Watching what people have in their gardens here doing well with flowers there are Forsythias (have one in the back), flowering currants, magnolias (which will take decades to flower), something with dark red leaves, and something with really bright red flower-like things that may actually be leaves or bracts - will go back with an iPad later this week. And also something with germoline pink flowers.
I will be putting some snowdrops in, as I miss those.
Magnolias flower even when quite small. In the right spot they will grow like stink.
It is bad but the trend could be worse. I feel quite optimistic today. I definitely sense that social distancing has taken root. Just got back a few minutes ago from my Boris Break and people are staying well away from each other. I'm sure it's the same everywhere. The virus will not be spreading so easily now. It will be hacked off and on the retreat. That will take some time to work through into the numbers but I think that one month from now we in the UK will be breathing a little easier.
That will be because the ventilator has arrived....
Very good news given there are only 25 000 coronavirus cases so far in the whole UK
I think everyone can agree if we spend some hundreds of millions of pounds creating a stockpile of ventilators we never use, it was at least an interesting method of keeping people in paid employment.
We could always send/sell them to other countries....
Indeed, at the moment the focus must be ventilator production, once the peak passes and lockdown ends then the focus must be mass testing
I am not sure I follow the logic of your time line.
You need ventilators as you approach the peak as so many get it you need to reduce the death rate, once the number of cases recedes as the lockdown takes effect you need mass testing to reduce the number of cases and contagion in the future
I follow that logic. The bit that I don't understand is why there has not been more ongoing testing to date, particularly for medical staff.
This is not a criticism of the great man and his government, it is surprising to me that the boffins advising government are comfortable with current levels of testing across the board.
From what was said today at the briefing, they are having problems sourcing reagents, Which might suggest they’re imported ?
I don’t think they’re comfortable at all; just unable to make things happen faster.
A doubt has now been introduced on that score by Peston - good journalism. Now the Government needs to explain what is going on...
I just saw that. I didn’t think a senior minister would make stuff up like that. I have been try8ng to give the government the benefit of the doubt, but if Peston’s story is correct, then that is immensely stupid. And needs explaining.
Judging by the comments from Garden Centres today about the 12 week lockdown coming just at the start of their 12 week peak period, if you can get them delivered there may be the chance of a cost-effective garden overhaul.
One chap was saying that he was now stuck with 1/3 of his annual turnover in stock he could not sell.
My favourite winter-flowering shrubs, which are also scented - and the scent is usually very powerful are:-
1. Daphnes - these come from Nepal, don’t mind the cold and have wonderful scent and blossom in winter and spring. Choose where you plant them carefully as they don’t like being moved. Slow-growing but absolutely wonderful.
The tallest is Daphne bholua Jacqueline Postill. A gem. Other daphnes to consider are daphne oDora Aureomarginata - which is evergreen and scented and equally gorgeous.
2. Viburnum - eg bodnantense Dawn. In winter comes to its own it’s lovely white pink scented flowers. Nothing to write home about the rest of the year but you will have lots else to look at instead.
3. Mahonia - dark, evergreen, with shiny sharp leaves but with beautiful yellow flowers - scented. The soft yellow against the green is lovely at a time when there is not much else to look at. If you planted several of these against the wall you’d have a lovely green tableau for that wall and it would discourage burglars.
4. Cotoneasters are also good for this. Not scented though. As is coronilla Valentina glauca - evergreen with lovely yellow flowers in spring.
5. Hollies - especially if you get standard hollies and space along the wall. The ones I have in my garden are ilex “Silver van Tol” which are female, self-fertile and have lovely variegated leaves and bright red berries. Ilex Golden King is also good.
6. There are quite a few winter-flowering clematis around - clematis Armandii (flowers in early spring) is good. Taylor’s clematis is a really good nursery for them with loads of advice and you can put in exactly what you want - north facing, winter flowering and/or scented and then pick what you want. They deliver.
7. Finally, don’t forget sarcococca confusa - Christmas box. It is a small evergreen - so for the front of the bed or near doorways - but it has the most incredibly strong vanilla-like scent in winter from tiny white flowers. I have it in my front garden and it can be smelt from across the street. It is so cheering on a cold winter’s day.
You can also have a Camelli x vernalis “Yuletide” which has red flowers from November onwards. I have had it in flower at Xmas. Not tall and needs to be in a pot as it will need ericaceous soil (assume your garden is clay) but it can be nice to out a pot in the garden with a beautiful plant in it. If you have a lovely tall pot that as well as the plant can be a feature to draw the eye in winter.
I must say I am enjoying these garden exchanges. A light in the dark. Keep it up you two!
Wot no winter jasmine?
For winter colour Hammamelis is great, but I don't think it likes walls.
Preparations are under way to convert an ice rink in Milton Keynes into an emergency mortuary "in a matter of days".
To cope with a rise in deaths due to coronavirus, the Planet Ice venue in South Row will act as a temporary mortuary in the event local funeral directors are unable to hold bodies.
In a statement released on Tuesday, a Milton Keynes Council spokesman said:
"As part of sensible planning we are considering what additional temporary mortuary facilities may be needed in Milton Keynes if funeral directors are unable to cope with a rise in deaths from Covid-19.
"We're working with the owners of Planet Ice to ready the rink as a precaution should it be needed to support local operations...
"Ice rinks elsewhere in the UK have previously been used as temporary mortuary facilities, as their existing infrastructure can typically be adapted faster and more effectively than other buildings."
Milton Keynes Council leader Peter Marland said the local authority is keeping the 2,800 capacity ice rink open to ensure the venue remains at the temperature needed for the temporary morgue.
He said work to convert the rink would take "a matter of days" and predicts the venue could hold bodies "in the hundreds".
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
Lord Hague also expressed some disquiet. Especially consequences for business after end of April
So we come back to the fundamental questions about the value of individual life or lives set against the economic health of the economy and the various health problems further dislocation and disruption will cause to individuals and their families.
The NHS is the clincher. It could never have coped with no lockdown. The deaths would have run into the many thousands.
Soon, it will be able to cope. Then economic considerations much take centre stage and quickly
Judging by the comments from Garden Centres today about the 12 week lockdown coming just at the start of their 12 week peak period, if you can get them delivered there may be the chance of a cost-effective garden overhaul.
One chap was saying that he was now stuck with 1/3 of his annual turnover in stock he could not sell.
I have an order in with a well known garden supplier. They seem to be drowning in orders.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
I'm just back from my risk-assessed constitutional, which involved delivering a body-thermometer to a house-arrested tenant (more house-arrested in than I am), and a check on a mum's-estate-owned property (grandma's old shop in the family for 150 years) I had to pull from auction because mum died first and we are now stuck with empty until probate and post-virus so we can sell it.
The thermometer from China ordered around March 20th is fun - the triple site thermometer (rectally-orally-armpitally) turned out to be 3 identical ones that now need very careful labelling - but it means I had a spare to give away.
Watching what people have in their gardens here doing well with flowers there are Forsythias (have one in the back), flowering currants, magnolias (which will take decades to flower), something with dark red leaves, and something with really bright red flower-like things that may actually be leaves or bracts - will go back with an iPad later this week. And also something with germoline pink flowers.
I will be putting some snowdrops in, as I miss those.
Magnolias flower even when quite small. In the right spot they will grow like stink.
The smaller ones do, don't go sticking a Campbellii in and hoping for instant results.
But, agreed, they are so beautiful that they should be planted wherever they will grow.
And yet I hear people in the Morden / Cheam area are carrying on as normal - absolute madness
If this is a 1 in 10,000 chance if you're under 20 and we have 25,000 cases now we'd sadly expect 2 tragic deaths accordingly.
If 80% of the whole UK population were infected (absolute worst case - uncontained and "let rip") then we'd expect 300-500 such deaths.
These re in their 30s 40s and 50s ................ plus they may pass on to old or vulnerable people - plus they might end up in hospital beds and cause more deaths because of overstretch
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
How do we get our hair cut,???
I have mine cut once a year or so, and got it done a month back.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
And yet I hear people in the Morden / Cheam area are carrying on as normal - absolute madness
If this is a 1 in 10,000 chance if you're under 20 and we have 25,000 cases now we'd sadly expect 2 tragic deaths accordingly.
If 80% of the whole UK population were infected (absolute worst case - uncontained and "let rip") then we'd expect 300-500 such deaths.
These re in their 30s 40s and 50s ................ plus they may pass on to old or vulnerable people - plus they might end up in hospital beds and cause more deaths because of overstretch
Its just selfish
Every death is a tragedy and people are far too emotional about this.
Risk needs to be priced in. Staying in lockdown as we are will also damage and destroy lives for decades to come.
The best thing to do (as the Government is doing) is increase the NHS peak capacity ability to give it more wiggle room to partially loosen in late April/early May. Immunity testing is the other side of that equation too.
Despite the fact I'm mightily pissed off I think they are broadly following the right strategy. It does suggest a vaccine is an aspiration rather than a definitive part of the plan though.
Winner of dickhead question of the day...Peston hands down...can we send CV patients home that won't make it, so they can die with their loved ones.
Yes. Utterly bizarre question.
To put it in context we weren’t allowed to visit my Dad in his final 10 days. Mum was allowed 20 minutes, in full PPE, at the end - at the cost of 14 days in quarantine
It is an awfully sad way to go.
It sounds like this poor lad had no family with him at all
"Ismail was only 13 years old without any pre-existing health conditions and sadly he died without any family members close by due to the highly infectious nature of COVID-19."
I'm just back from my risk-assessed constitutional, which involved delivering a body-thermometer to a house-arrested tenant (more house-arrested in than I am), and a check on a mum's-estate-owned property (grandma's old shop in the family for 150 years) I had to pull from auction because mum died first and we are now stuck with empty until probate and post-virus so we can sell it.
The thermometer from China ordered around March 20th is fun - the triple site thermometer (rectally-orally-armpitally) turned out to be 3 identical ones that now need very careful labelling - but it means I had a spare to give away.
Watching what people have in their gardens here doing well with flowers there are Forsythias (have one in the back), flowering currants, magnolias (which will take decades to flower), something with dark red leaves, and something with really bright red flower-like things that may actually be leaves or bracts - will go back with an iPad later this week. And also something with germoline pink flowers.
I will be putting some snowdrops in, as I miss those.
Magnolias flower even when quite small. In the right spot they will grow like stink.
The smaller ones do, don't go sticking a Campbellii in and hoping for instant results.
But, agreed, they are so beautiful that they should be planted wherever they will grow.
I have a large Yellow Bird, which was a magnificient specimen, about twenty years old, but unfortunately a 75 mph+ wind ravaged it - and a good third of it split off.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
Plenty in Asda if you can get there.
Waitrose now has tons of toilet paper, and eggs, but has run out of washing up liquid
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
How do we get our hair cut,???
I’ve moved to home-shaving. Number zero.
No doubt thsts ok for you but for someone in his 60s with a decent head of hair.. i want it cut ...not decimated....
My favourite winter-flowering shrubs, which are also scented - and the scent is usually very powerful are:-
1. Daphnes - these come from Nepal, don’t mind the cold and have wonderful scent and blossom in winter and spring. Choose where you plant them carefully as they don’t like being moved. Slow-growing but absolutely wonderful.
The tallest is Daphne bholua Jacqueline Postill. A gem. Other daphnes to consider are daphne oDora Aureomarginata - which is evergreen and scented and equally gorgeous.
2. Viburnum - eg bodnantense Dawn. In winter comes to its own it’s lovely white pink scented flowers. Nothing to write home about the rest of the year but you will have lots else to look at instead.
3. Mahonia - dark, evergreen, with shiny sharp leaves but with beautiful yellow flowers - scented. The soft yellow against the green is lovely at a time when there is not much else to look at. If you planted several of these against the wall you’d have a lovely green tableau for that wall and it would discourage burglars.
4. Cotoneasters are also good for this. Not scented though. As is coronilla Valentina glauca - evergreen with lovely yellow flowers in spring.
5. Hollies - especially if you get standard hollies and space along the wall. The ones I have in my garden are ilex “Silver van Tol” which are female, self-fertile and have lovely variegated leaves and bright red berries. Ilex Golden King is also good.
6. There are quite a few winter-flowering clematis around - clematis Armandii (flowers in early spring) is good. Taylor’s clematis is a really good nursery for them with loads of advice and you can put in exactly what you want - north facing, winter flowering and/or scented and then pick what you want. They deliver.
7. Finally, don’t forget sarcococca confusa - Christmas box. It is a small evergreen - so for the front of the bed or near doorways - but it has the most incredibly strong vanilla-like scent in winter from tiny white flowers. I have it in my front garden and it can be smelt from across the street. It is so cheering on a cold winter’s day.
You can also have a Camelli x vernalis “Yuletide” which has red flowers from November onwards. I have had it in flower at Xmas. Not tall and needs to be in a pot as it will need ericaceous soil (assume your garden is clay) but it can be nice to out a pot in the garden with a beautiful plant in it. If you have a lovely tall pot that as well as the plant can be a feature to draw the eye in winter.
I must say I am enjoying these garden exchanges. A light in the dark. Keep it up you two!
Wot no winter jasmine?
I have a jasmine out the back on an arch, which I think is a winter jasmine.
There is a question on the schedule about that as well, but I think the clematis and wisteria need dealing with first; I never manage to prune those properly, even under instruction from mum reading 4 different books.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
How do we get our hair cut,???
I’ve moved to home-shaving. Number zero.
No doubt thsts ok for you but for someone in his 60s with a decent head of hair.. i want it cut ...not decimated....
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
My favourite winter-flowering shrubs, which are also scented - and the scent is usually very powerful are:-
1. Daphnes - these come from Nepal, don’t mind the cold and have wonderful scent and blossom in winter and spring. Choose where you plant them carefully as they don’t like being moved. Slow-growing but absolutely wonderful.
The tallest is Daphne bholua Jacqueline Postill. A gem. Other daphnes to consider are daphne oDora Aureomarginata - which is evergreen and scented and equally gorgeous.
2. Viburnum - eg bodnantense Dawn. In winter comes to its own it’s lovely white pink scented flowers. Nothing to write home about the rest of the year but you will have lots else to look at instead.
3. Mahonia - dark, evergreen, with shiny sharp leaves but with beautiful yellow flowers - scented. The soft yellow against the green is lovely at a time when there is not much else to look at. If you planted several of these against the wall you’d have a lovely green tableau for that wall and it would discourage burglars.
4. Cotoneasters are also good for this. Not scented though. As is coronilla Valentina glauca - evergreen with lovely yellow flowers in spring.
5. Hollies - especially if you get standard hollies and space along the wall. The ones I have in my garden are ilex “Silver van Tol” which are female, self-fertile and have lovely variegated leaves and bright red berries. Ilex Golden King is also good.
6. There are quite a few winter-flowering clematis around - clematis Armandii (flowers in early spring) is good. Taylor’s clematis is a really good nursery for them with loads of advice and you can put in exactly what you want - north facing, winter flowering and/or scented and then pick what you want. They deliver.
7. Finally, don’t forget sarcococca confusa - Christmas box. It is a small evergreen - so for the front of the bed or near doorways - but it has the most incredibly strong vanilla-like scent in winter from tiny white flowers. I have it in my front garden and it can be smelt from across the street. It is so cheering on a cold winter’s day.
You can also have a Camelli x vernalis “Yuletide” which has red flowers from November onwards. I have had it in flower at Xmas. Not tall and needs to be in a pot as it will need ericaceous soil (assume your garden is clay) but it can be nice to out a pot in the garden with a beautiful plant in it. If you have a lovely tall pot that as well as the plant can be a feature to draw the eye in winter.
I must say I am enjoying these garden exchanges. A light in the dark. Keep it up you two!
Wot no winter jasmine?
I have a jasmine out the back on an arch, which I think is a winter jasmine.
There is a question on the schedule about that as well, but I think the clematis and wisteria need dealing with first; I never manage to prune those properly, even under instruction from mum reading 4 different books.
Wisteria is easy. In July or August, prune all shoots back to five buds, except for any you want to train as new branches. Remove any shoots growing in awkward places (from the base, etc). In January, prune the same shoots back to three buds. Otherwise leave well alone.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
Plenty in Asda if you can get there.
I'm not going to the supermarkets at all, other half's job that - am doing the horses on the days she does the market dash. My job is Amazon order, delivery reception and doing the horses on the days wor lass goes for the grocery dash.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
How do we get our hair cut,???
I have a neighbour with some secateurs...
Slightly worn used on her bush
There was a garden center just outside Bournemouth airport that had a sign ‘trim your bush with a beaver’
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
One thing I think needs eliminating, the button on the pedestrian crossings. Should be a motion sensor or some such. Looked at that every run out as a massive touch vector. Also gloves back for fuel pumps.
One thing I think needs eliminating, the button on the pedestrian crossings. Should be a motion sensor or some such. Looked at that every run out as a massive touch vector. Also gloves back for fuel pumps.
Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg have paid generous tribute to the Labour leader and, since Covid-19 has suspended politics-as-usual, there’s an argument that Corbyn’s critics should keep a gracious silence in his final days in office. No one likes to kick a man when he’s down.
Well, I do. When it’s this man, I do. When it’s this poisonous cynic who has done so much to antagonise British Jews, this banal egotist who has set back centre-left politics in this country for a generation, then I’m more than happy to strap on my steel toe caps and put the boot in.
Britain’s care homes are in danger of being overwhelmed by the coronavirus, with staff warning they are at “breaking point” and the country’s biggest charitable provider revealing confirmed or suspected cases in more than half of its facilities. Care workers and homes report insufficient PPE and lack of clear government guidance
And yet I hear people in the Morden / Cheam area are carrying on as normal - absolute madness
As I posted earlier, 13 year olds do, unfortunately, occasionally die, regardless of whether there's a pandemic on or not. The best information I've seen so far indicates that the pandemic kills people who have it at roughly twice the rate they would've died at in normal times. This seems to be a pretty reasonable approximation across most ages, although admittedly there's a whole lot less data to go on for under 18s. Twice a very small number is still, usually, a very small number.
David Spiegelhalter said it was one year's risk over two weeks, so 25 times the normal risk of dying not double. And this extra risk is more or less constant accross all ages.
- Build NHS capacity - Lockdown vulnerable groups - Loosen rules for fit, healthy under 50s in May
Nothing else makes much sense as you can’t keep the economy on hold forever, the damage will be too great. And, as a liberal libertarian, it’s not the role of the state except in acute crisis.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
Health Minister Salvador Illa has reported that in Spain a daily average of between 15,000 and 20,000 diagnostic tests for coronavirus is being carried out on citizens, known as PCR. In addition, he pointed out that in an international ranking, Spain is the second country that performs the most tests on a daily basis, even above South Korea.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
How do we get our hair cut,???
I’ve moved to home-shaving. Number zero.
Too much information.
Lucky Mrs Meeks
If you want too much information, yesterday’s major political discovery was that Andrew Cuomo has pierced nipples.
The humble soap bar is a month wait on Amazon now. The misses will kill me if I go into too much of "her" stock, so I've got 8 bars on order. Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
The Italian improvement continues. It's a bit slower than we'd all like, but it's clearly happening.
Three things worth noting:
1. New infections in Lomardy fell again, and are now 68% below peak. Where Lombardy leads, the rest of Italy follows.
2. While there were 4,053 positive test results yesterday, this was just 14% of those tested. Two weeks ago, more than a third of people were testing positive. This is a really clear indication that the incidence of CV-19 is now heading downwards.
3. The number of active cases is slowing dramatically. Last week, it was increasing at c. 4,000 per day. Yesterday and today, it's been about 2,000. By early next week, the number of active cases should peak and begin to decline.
- Build NHS capacity - Lockdown vulnerable groups - Loosen rules for fit, healthy under 50s in May
Nothing else makes much sense as you can’t keep the economy on hold forever, the damage will be too great. And, as a liberal libertarian, it’s not the role of the state except in acute crisis.
One thing I think needs eliminating, the button on the pedestrian crossings. Should be a motion sensor or some such. Looked at that every run out as a massive touch vector. Also gloves back for fuel pumps.
Elbow works.
It does, but I'm not talking about myself here. There'll be people using them and spreading the virus generally, the whole not touching your face thing whilst you're out is tricky even though I've managed it not everyone will.
I find the inability of the authorities to ramp up test numbers a little odd.
...
So what's going on?
The only thing I can think is that they thought they would have these millions of anti-body test by now and that they could use those to quickly go through the likes of the NHS staff to find the plague survivors, rather than constantly testing and retesting all those with flu like symptoms.
Incompetence is normally a safe assumption but, as you say, the government have demonstrated a reasonable degree of competence in the rest of their response (though as an aside I think the communication has been surprisingly crap).
My best guess at this moment is that it's because the test is not really that good, and false negatives could give a bunch of people false reassurance - and crucially make them think they are safe to go out and spread the virus around.
So, why doesn't the government say they don't want to use the test because it's not good enough, instead of saying they are about to ramp up testing and then not doing so?
It could be the crap communication again, or it could be that they're right and it's too complicated an argument to use.
That test is currently being trialled on 200 employees at my local hospital in Hillerød - not sure why it’s in use in Denmark but this must be part of the final step before releasing it? Denmark has followed the UK approach on testing not the German one and we REALLY need this anti-body test now.
Oh come on. Nobody who is watching that press conference is so dense not to know by now this is a highly infectious disease and you can't go anywhere near anybody who has. The news have reported this time and time again, and have reported about how in Italy and Spain people are dying alone because of this.
It was a dumb ass question and there is nothing more to it.
A better question would have been what steps are you taking for families of those that you know aren't going to make to make contact with a loved one before they die. That is a very reasonable question.
It is nothing like as clear as that to many people. You WOULD free up a bed and you WOULD allow a more compassionate life end for the person and their loved ones - perhaps just a loved ONE. Perhaps an immune loved one.
These are positives - and big ones - that can quite validly be stacked up against the massive negative of risk of further infection. It's a valid debate to have. It's a valid question. There is nothing "dumb ass" about asking it.
You (and one or two others) are displaying unpleasant and almost fascistic tendencies with this constant scolding of the media. For the right reasons, I know, you're immersed in it, very concerned, frustrated by those less so, but still.
By the time people are at this point they are sedated and mechanically ventilated. They aren’t going anywhere
One thing I think needs eliminating, the button on the pedestrian crossings. Should be a motion sensor or some such. Looked at that every run out as a massive touch vector. Also gloves back for fuel pumps.
Elbow works.
It does, but I'm not talking about myself here. There'll be people using them and spreading the virus generally, the whole not touching your face thing whilst you're out is tricky even though I've managed it not everyone will.
Surely most of those buttons have no effect anyway?
Comments
We have paid for 2 of these bins while one of our neighbours (the one seen trimming her bush this morning) has 4.
Tomorrow I shall have the pleasure of going to collect the empty bins. And then in the evening take out the recycling bin for Thursday's collection.
Now I know it would be possible to combine these two tasks into a single trip to the gate, but where's the fun in that?
But here come The Authorities -
"Truly truly sorry but that will not be possible. The virus."
I get it. Of course I do. But does he? And should he?
It is not (to me) a question with an incredibly obvious answer.
Also the axes aren't properly labelled, but don't appear to be showing anything you could convert into percentage chances. Also they don't seem to have normalised the size of the bands to account for different population sizes. It's actually a really crap chart, just not for the reasons you give.
'It's like being on eBay': US states competing to buy ventilators, says Cuomo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5NOGAxLBfo
I guess it was the right time to do some pruning, with tomorrow being garden waste collection day.
https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/1245067253109985280
The conspiracy theorist in me thinks some wonk might be delaying it because they don't want people to know it's everywhere and most will never have symptoms. A real trowel by fire.
OK, that sounded bad. Let's try again:
Maybe if they decriminalise it, then the future terrorists won't have to talk to drug dealers at all and won't get set off on a path of crime that ultimately winds up in them becoming terrorists?
Y'know, maybe. Maybe not. But it doesn't seem like an obviously stupid thing to try.
It has berries now.
Mum had a Golden King she planted at the former house in the late 1970s that had reached nearly 20 ft. That was a Derbyshire Hall which has Victorian Planted hollies up to 30ft high, including as large sections of hedge.
https://twitter.com/mattwardman/status/1243609512428306435
https://twitter.com/mattwardman/status/1241747280266498051
Just what are they playing at. You either do it centrally or you do it on a state level.
Perhaps tommorow Sandy can look forward to a good forking.
I didn’t think a senior minister would make stuff up like that. I have been try8ng to give the government the benefit of the doubt, but if Peston’s story is correct, then that is immensely stupid.
And needs explaining.
One chap was saying that he was now stuck with 1/3 of his annual turnover in stock he could not sell.
If 80% of the whole UK population were infected (absolute worst case - uncontained and "let rip") then we'd expect 300-500 such deaths.
Preparations are under way to convert an ice rink in Milton Keynes into an emergency mortuary "in a matter of days".
To cope with a rise in deaths due to coronavirus, the Planet Ice venue in South Row will act as a temporary mortuary in the event local funeral directors are unable to hold bodies.
In a statement released on Tuesday, a Milton Keynes Council spokesman said:
"As part of sensible planning we are considering what additional temporary mortuary facilities may be needed in Milton Keynes if funeral directors are unable to cope with a rise in deaths from Covid-19.
"We're working with the owners of Planet Ice to ready the rink as a precaution should it be needed to support local operations...
"Ice rinks elsewhere in the UK have previously been used as temporary mortuary facilities, as their existing infrastructure can typically be adapted faster and more effectively than other buildings."
Milton Keynes Council leader Peter Marland said the local authority is keeping the 2,800 capacity ice rink open to ensure the venue remains at the temperature needed for the temporary morgue.
He said work to convert the rink would take "a matter of days" and predicts the venue could hold bodies "in the hundreds".
Also ordered some moisturiser, never thought I'd need that.
Soon, it will be able to cope. Then economic considerations much take centre stage and quickly
But, agreed, they are so beautiful that they should be planted wherever they will grow.
Its just selfish
Risk needs to be priced in. Staying in lockdown as we are will also damage and destroy lives for decades to come.
The best thing to do (as the Government is doing) is increase the NHS peak capacity ability to give it more wiggle room to partially loosen in late April/early May. Immunity testing is the other side of that equation too.
Despite the fact I'm mightily pissed off I think they are broadly following the right strategy. It does suggest a vaccine is an aspiration rather than a definitive part of the plan though.
"Ismail was only 13 years old without any pre-existing health conditions and sadly he died without any family members close by due to the highly infectious nature of COVID-19."
There is a question on the schedule about that as well, but I think the clematis and wisteria need dealing with first; I never manage to prune those properly, even under instruction from mum reading 4 different books.
My job is Amazon order, delivery reception and doing the horses on the days wor lass goes for the grocery dash.
Lucky Mrs Meeks
Can't be much worse than my DIY fringe trim.
Also gloves back for fuel pumps.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/31/uk-care-home-staff-at-breaking-point-as-coronavirus-cases-rise
And to think all government supporters do on PB is crow and goad with their rally round flag polling surge, and petty political sneering. Disgusting.
The strategy has to be:
- Build NHS capacity
- Lockdown vulnerable groups
- Loosen rules for fit, healthy under 50s in May
Nothing else makes much sense as you can’t keep the economy on hold forever, the damage will be too great. And, as a liberal libertarian, it’s not the role of the state except in acute crisis.
The Italian improvement continues. It's a bit slower than we'd all like, but it's clearly happening.
Three things worth noting:
1. New infections in Lomardy fell again, and are now 68% below peak. Where Lombardy leads, the rest of Italy follows.
2. While there were 4,053 positive test results yesterday, this was just 14% of those tested. Two weeks ago, more than a third of people were testing positive. This is a really clear indication that the incidence of CV-19 is now heading downwards.
3. The number of active cases is slowing dramatically. Last week, it was increasing at c. 4,000 per day. Yesterday and today, it's been about 2,000. By early next week, the number of active cases should peak and begin to decline.
https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1245003262379593728?s=20
https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1244932243514101761?s=20