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  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,143
    ydoethur said:

    Getting the media interested in Switzerland is a Constance problem.

    Ah, my alpine jacket,..
    More Koblenz from you I see.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,346



    As to your league table, I suspect the names will ascend and descend as the weeks progress. Raab, Jenrick and Sharma are only having poor campaigns because due to BoJo's succumbing to the virus, they are taking Boris' spanking for him.

    Johnson's power and authority over the cabinet must be ebbing away as he remains locked in that cupboard trying to find fappage on his iPad without paying for RedTube Premium.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,199
    ydoethur said:

    And if the likes of India, South Africa or Venezuela get severely infected, with their inept governments, weak social control, poor housing and limited health service...it will get very very nasty very very fast.
    This seems inevitable. This is going to be a massive killer in the third world until we get a vaccine (and even then). Even the hope that their younger populations would be less vulnerable has taken several dunts in recent days.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924
    IanB2 said:

    For sure - despite all the complaining about the media, you can bet that as a result of the coverage there are urgent meetings of politicians and civil servants today with testing and PPE at the top of the agenda.
    BigG?

    Surely you see that?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580
    edited April 2020
    IanB2 said:

    More Koblenz from you I see.
    Doesn’t really work. I would have stuck to ‘cobblers’ and made the pun on ‘See.’

    This way all that happened was that you got Berned.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,567
    edited April 2020
    Sandpit said:

    They need to get rid of all the armchair idiots from the Lobby, and replace them with medical and science journalists who can hold a sensible conversation with those on the front line.
    Flatten the Curve of Armchair Epidemiology

    Unfortunately, all of the above are signs of DKE-19, a highly contagious illness threatening the response against COVID-19. We must act today to flatten the curve of armchair epidemiology, or we will all be in peril.

    Things you can do to flatten the curve
    Wash your phone for at least 20 seconds fully immersed in soapy water
    6 ft of social media distancing
    If take appears hot/feverish, seek expert help
    Check the qualifications of authors BEFORE sharing
    Listen to people who know what they are talking about
    Push for better social media infrastructure that can slow the spread of DKE-19 and future strains

    https://medium.com/@noahhaber/flatten-the-curve-of-armchair-epidemiology-9aa8cf92d652

  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022

    No idea but that is why I switched to Firefox for pb.
    It's something to do with "Third-Party Cookies", which means it doesn't like you logging into one site (Vanillacommunity.com) from the page of another site (Politicalbetting.com).

    The way around it, is to log in first from the Vanilla site http://politicalbetting.vanillacommunity.com/ then refresh the page to check the login worked, then go to the main site once logged in.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,422

    PHE are and have always been poor.

    They should be gone once this is finished
    https://twitter.com/AlbertoNardelli/status/1245616659055833089?s=20
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,180

    Does anyone know why I can't log in on Chrome on my laptop (Windows 10)? I log in but it just doesn't seem to save it. I can do it on Edge or my Android mobile on Chrome.

    There may well be a chromovirus :smiley:

    To be serious - there are occasional problems logging on depending on phone or laptop as well as with different browsers not to mention problems with the vanilla version of the site or the PB one. Best to find the one which works best and stick to it.
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,180

    Peston is not covering himself in glory here:

    https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1245469969284050945?cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjc18y&refsrc=email

    He doesn't seem to grasp the lag caused by the incubation and infection periods.

    If it is:
    - An average of 5-7 days between infection and showing symptoms (if you are going to show symptoms)
    - An average of 16-20 days between showing symptoms and death (if you are going to die) (of course, some will be far quicker and some far slower)

    ... then those poor souls dying on Tuesday (and recorded yesterday) were mostly infected between 6th March and 9th March.

    So how in the world could a lockdown established on the 23rd of March have affected the death rate?

    Peston has an agenda - it goes back a long way.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580
    Sandpit said:

    It's something to do with "Third-Party Cookies", which means it doesn't like you logging into one site (Vanillacommunity.com) from the page of another site (Politicalbetting.com).

    The way around it, is to log in first from the Vanilla site http://politicalbetting.vanillacommunity.com/ then refresh the page to check the login worked, then go to the main site once logged in.
    Doesn’t even work then on mine. Not that it matters, as except when reading thread headers I post through Vanilla anyway.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,619
    IanB2 said:

    For sure - despite all the complaining about the media, you can bet that as a result of the coverage there are urgent meetings of politicians and civil servants today with testing and PPE at the top of the agenda.
    So you think without the coverage, there would be a sub-committee tasked with delivering a report sometime in the next 3 months? Sheesh.....
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,567
    Better get cracking...

    The UK is aiming to carry out 100,000 tests for coronavirus a day in "a small number of weeks," according to Prof Paul Cosford, emeritus medical director of Public Health England.

    Prof Cosford told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Everybody involved is frustrated that we haven’t yet got to the position that we need to get to (on testing)."

    Asked why other testing facilities in the country were not being used, Prof Cosford said Public Health England was looking at how it could use all the country's laboratories "to boost up at least 100,000 tests a day, hopefully more”.

    He added that he would expect this work to be in place “over the coming days and a small number of weeks”.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,623
    ydoethur said:
    A BA plus time. All Cantab and Oxon BAs are automatically made up to MA after a few years
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 5,568
    ydoethur said:

    Doesn’t really work. I would have stuck to ‘cobblers’ and made the pun on ‘See.’

    This way all that happened was that you got Berned.
    I read somewhere that sneezing is a more common symptom in Switzerland. Ticino. But I canton verify that.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,619
    felix said:

    Peston has an agenda - it goes back a long way.
    Does it ever get off Any Other Business?
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,180
    kle4 said:

    I'm continually astounded when people think a measured argument police should know the law is awful, or take gripes against against aspects of the police service as piling on the entire profession. Its reactions like that which lead to being unable to tackle problems in institutions, as any critique is unfair or mean.

    Its perfectly possible to think the majority do a great job but there are some major problems that dont need to be ignored even now. We wouldnt ignore government lying just because we are in a crisis, nor incompetence, and we shouldnt ignore police missteps relating to exceeding authority in a crisis. Slack is cut to everyone right now, but not for everything.
    Reading through the thread on here last night clearly proved a different experience for the two of us. I will leave it at that.
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,180
    IanB2 said:

    More Koblenz from you I see.
    Genevan know what you're chattin about m8!
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 62,492
    Mr. Above, I think you might be overestimating Peston.
  • paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,507
    ydoethur said:

    ‘Bodhi’ is the technical term for enlightenment. This was achieved by the Buddha (which means ‘the Enlightened One’) after he had starved himself for many days.

    I wasn’t actually trying to make a pun, but it does work as one.
    ah thank you. i am now enlightened (bodhied?)

    you must pun sub-conciously.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556

    Does it ever get off Any Other Business?
    He has a special talent for making minutes feel like hours...
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 62,492
    Mr. Urquhart, best of luck.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,865

    Not that anybody will necessarily care, but I have been approached about assisting with the response to this crisis, so I may be gone some time.

    I'll miss your posts.
    All the best.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    edited April 2020

    Not that anybody will necessarily care, but I have been approached about assisting with the response to this crisis, so I may be gone some time.

    The nation's gain will be PB's (hopefully temporary!) loss.
  • He probably understands it reasonably well, but essentially gets higher status and pay the more dramatically he can (misre)present it.
    He is missing the point that to get a lower peak, you need a later peak.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,170

    That's a fair point. Equally, there comes a point of a fast-growing contagion where the comparison can be made (and note, these are only the presently-confirmed cases, which are almost certainly greatly understated). If there were an extra zero on the Covid-19 daily number, few would quibble. Looking at that trajectory, we may be at that point soon enough.
    March 15th was the first day with global deaths greater than 500. It's possible that global deaths will be greater than 5,000 today, though it might be tomorrow. So that's 18 or 19 days.

    There are hints that the global rate of growth of deaths is moderating, as the lockdowns take effect in Italy and Spain, but we're yet to see whether growth in the US/elsewhere will see a further acceleration.

    Pessimistic extrapolation: 50,000 deaths on April 20th.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,422

    A BA plus time. All Cantab and Oxon BAs are automatically made up to MA after a few years
    Not quite "all". Unclassified degrees aren't and Oxford Chemists have/had to complete a fourth year "Part II" research project before they could get an MA.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924
    felix said:

    Peston has an agenda - it goes back a long way.
    Everyone has an Agenda. Mine is staying alive.

    Peston is a plonker but at least he has played a part in raising THE most important issue up the Governments to do list.

    Other peoples Agenda on here is to save Gove rather than lives or to call those raising valid criticisms names.

    Everyone has an Agenda
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,768

    Flatten the Curve of Armchair Epidemiology

    Unfortunately, all of the above are signs of DKE-19, a highly contagious illness threatening the response against COVID-19. We must act today to flatten the curve of armchair epidemiology, or we will all be in peril.

    Things you can do to flatten the curve
    Wash your phone for at least 20 seconds fully immersed in soapy water
    6 ft of social media distancing
    If take appears hot/feverish, seek expert help
    Check the qualifications of authors BEFORE sharing
    Listen to people who know what they are talking about
    Push for better social media infrastructure that can slow the spread of DKE-19 and future strains

    https://medium.com/@noahhaber/flatten-the-curve-of-armchair-epidemiology-9aa8cf92d652

    "Signs of DKE-19 generally appear 3–5 days after learning that the word “epidemiology” is not the study of skin diseases."

    LOL
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,567

    The nation's gain will be PB's (hopefully temporary!) loss.
    I wouldn't go that far, will only be a very very very minor part of a much bigger machine and not exactly like Dr Foxy putting my life in danger, but way described will be all hands to the pump stuff for the foreseeable future.
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 5,568
    edited April 2020

    Better get cracking...

    The UK is aiming to carry out 100,000 tests for coronavirus a day in "a small number of weeks," according to Prof Paul Cosford, emeritus medical director of Public Health England.

    Prof Cosford told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Everybody involved is frustrated that we haven’t yet got to the position that we need to get to (on testing)."

    Asked why other testing facilities in the country were not being used, Prof Cosford said Public Health England was looking at how it could use all the country's laboratories "to boost up at least 100,000 tests a day, hopefully more”.

    He added that he would expect this work to be in place “over the coming days and a small number of weeks”.

    Big openness is required, what exactly the limitations are, what exactly we are doing about each. This is war production with the key difference that the enemy is not spying on us (although our rival nations may be), so some openness is possible.

    Good luck in your role Mr Urquhart.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    By product of the shutdown

    The calls and inquiries to the victim care service of #Gender Violence 016 have increased during the confinement of the #Covid19 crisis.
    ☎️ Calls 016: They have increased by 19 %
    📧 Online inquiries 016: increased by 286,3 %.
    📲 There is a new psychological care service via whatsapp to 016.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924

    Not that anybody will necessarily care, but I have been approached about assisting with the response to this crisis, so I may be gone some time.

    Good stuff stay safe get some f***ing tests.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,567
    Incredible stat I learned yesterday...97% of all antibiotics consumed in the US now produced in China. I presume it is the same everywhere else.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,170

    A BA plus time. All Cantab and Oxon BAs are automatically made up to MA after a few years
    Is it automatic? I thought you had to go to the dinner.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580

    Good stuff stay safe get some f***ing tests.
    Surely it’s CV19 tests he needs? His ability to fuck or not isn’t critical at this point.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,869
    edited April 2020
    Yes it does seem that the journalists are getting themselves into a bit of a lather doesn't it?

    I think with Boris, Whitty, Hancock and Cummings all (largely) off the scene through catching COVID-19 themselves the governments messaging and policy management has fallen apart. Journalists are probably doing what they always do which is filling in the vacuum with panic and hysteria.

    Just saw a clip of Peston being taken apart by the deputy chief medical office on Twitter a few moments ago... Preston clearly has absolutely no idea what he is talking about and if he's reflective of our political lobby journalists who are driving this panic it's hard to know whether the panic and criticism of the government is justified or not.

    Would it be better to replace political/lobby journalists with science/medical journalists at the governments daily press briefings I wonder?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580

    March 15th was the first KNOWN day with global deaths greater than 500.
    Important correction there.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580
    edited April 2020
    GIN1138 said:

    Yes it does seem that the journalists are getting themselves into a bit of a lather doesn't it?

    In the absence of hand sanitiser, getting into a lather is the next best way of keeping clean.
  • hamiltonacehamiltonace Posts: 686

    Yes but stock rotation probably happens anyway and if not then they can ask Sainsbury's, Tesco's or even the hospital pharmacists how they manage.
    Unlike testing the UK Government has not done as badly on PPE. The whole world has been shocked by the extreme rise in demand in a very short period of time. As with many other areas the UK has relied on a trading ability to find what it needs globally rather than maintain its own capability. This strategy however falls over when trading links are cut as in a pandemic.

    The NHS will need to start looking out of the box at alternatives. One of my customers is setting up to produce face masks within 2 weeks. We will need to resterilise respirators like the USA as no way we can buy enough.


  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,170
    IanB2 said:

    Per Capita deaths in Switz aren't much lower than in Belgium
    No, but the trajectory is lower. I'm hoping this is the right chart that Andy created.

    https://us.v-cdn.net/5020679/uploads/editor/5g/0cyv22hls0t6.png
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556

    Is it automatic? I thought you had to go to the dinner.
    Just a £40 fee, last I checked. The cool kids wait till they're 90 to come back and enjoy the upgrade ceremony.
  • paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,507
    felix said:

    Genevan know what you're chattin about m8!
    I don't see that anything's Zermatt-er with what he said.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924

    I wouldn't go that far, will only be a very very very minor part of a much bigger machine and not exactly like Dr Foxy putting my life in danger, but way described will be all hands to the pump stuff for the foreseeable future.
    We only have one pump!!!

    FFS GET MORE PUMPS!!
  • BigG?

    Surely you see that?
    I have no problem with constructive criticism and on testing the communication has been very poor, does anyone know the real reason for the scarcity
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,865
    .
    rcs1000 said:

    I would be staggered if R0 was anywhere near as high as 0.6 in a lockdown situation. I mean, it might be for the first week or two as you infected your housemates. But after that, who are you going to infect?
    That's assuming everyone is locked down - which clearly isn't the case, since at the very least 'essential workers' are still going out, as are food shoppers, etc.
    Even a drift from 0.6 to 0.8 would make a large difference in the effectiveness of the lockdown.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    Nigelb said:

    .

    That's assuming everyone is locked down - which clearly isn't the case, since at the very least 'essential workers' are still going out, as are food shoppers, etc.
    Even a drift from 0.6 to 0.8 would make a large difference in the effectiveness of the lockdown.
    That's a key point, and needs to be better communicated. Too many people assume that a lockdown is a lockdown is a lockdown, whereas there can be a large and significant variation in effectiveness.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,346
    GIN1138 said:



    Would it be better to replace political/lobby journalists with science/medical journalists at the governments daily press briefings I wonder?

    Johnson's dishonest bungling has added a political crisis to a public health one so, no.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,170
    ydoethur said:

    Important correction there.
    Yes, when we get the final numbers, including those who didn't die in hospital, the totals will be larger, but it's not unreasonable to use the numbers we have, though of course in comparing them to TB we're not comparing like with like, because for TB it is the total figure.
  • paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,507

    Unlike testing the UK Government has not done as badly on PPE. The whole world has been shocked by the extreme rise in demand in a very short period of time. As with many other areas the UK has relied on a trading ability to find what it needs globally rather than maintain its own capability. This strategy however falls over when trading links are cut as in a pandemic.

    The NHS will need to start looking out of the box at alternatives. One of my customers is setting up to produce face masks within 2 weeks. We will need to resterilise respirators like the USA as no way we can buy enough.


    what exactly do you mean by a respirator? is that the bit that goes from the ventilator to the patient?
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,768

    Incredible stat I learned yesterday...97% of all antibiotics consumed in the US now produced in China. I presume it is the same everywhere else.

    good luck with your activities. Be sensible!
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924
    Lockdown until a vaccination is available for me and Mrs BJ even if that's 2021.

    Unfortunately with Carers in day and night even that may not get us through.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,422
    Dura_Ace said:

    Johnson's dishonest bungling has added a political crisis to a public health one so, no.
    Do you think he made the numbers up, or was repeating what he was told?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580
    edited April 2020

    Do you think he made the numbers up, or was repeating what he was told?
    He’s quite capable of muddling up what he’s been told and talking utter nonsense as a result. Remember his comments about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,155
    edited April 2020
    We are now 10 years into a Tory government, only 3 governments since WW2 have lasted 10 years and only 1 government, the Tories in 1992, won a general election after more than 10 years in power.

    So the Government should have expected things to get much tougher even without Covid 19 and a likely new and more centrist and media savvy Labour leader
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,865

    You say supply issues; others say procurement issues, which mean government ineptitude at least. On testing, the United States, despite President Trump's initial fumbling, now boasts it has carried out more tests than South Korea.

    Boris should employ a procurement czar, as Churchill did when he made Beaverbrook Minister of Production. It is surprising he has not already done so given Cummings's low opinion of government procurement and Boris's own biography of Churchill, which is no doubt compulsory reading for @ydoethur's history students.
    The plain fact is that, despite and excellent science capability, we do not have the manufacturing base for medical laboratory equipment that exists in Germany or the US.
    Procurement czars would do nothing to change that any time soon.

  • I wonder if they (a) don't see the utility of testing for the general population at this stage of the epidemic and think that sampling, coupled with testing those hospitalised, will give them a good enough handle on the growth rate and (b) think it is inaccurate anyway, so prefer just to tell hospital staff to self-isolate. However this goes against WHO advice so they would rather fudge and take the flak, than come out and say it.

    Yes, that seems pretty likely. I would guess that they are using number of hospitalizations and ICU admissions as their main way of tracking, then comparing with sentinel testing to extrapolate to number of infections. I wish they would publish these numbers routinely, in the spirit of transparency.

    (FWIW I think the WHO has done rather poorly in this crisis. I no longer set much store by their recommendations.)

    --AS
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580
    edited April 2020
    HYUFD said:

    We are now 10 years into a Tory government, only 3 governments since WW2 have lasted more than 10 years and only 1 government, the Tories in 1992, won a general election after more than 10 years in power.

    So the Government should have expected things to get much tougher even without Covid 19 and a likely new and more centrist and media savvy Labour leader

    At risk of being pedantic, only two governments have lasted more than ten years since World War Two. A government in our system is identified by who leads it, not which party forms it.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,353

    That's a fair point. Equally, there comes a point of a fast-growing contagion where the comparison can be made (and note, these are only the presently-confirmed cases, which are almost certainly greatly understated). If there were an extra zero on the Covid-19 daily number, few would quibble. Looking at that trajectory, we may be at that point soon enough.
    Well he should compare the record day of each disease really shouldn’t he?

    Just played the part of Winston Smith doing my workout with Joe Wicks... good, unsettling idea

    Now the best episode of Frasier is on Ch4
  • isamisam Posts: 41,353
    ydoethur said:
    Why can’t non working class people have ideas about what is best for the working class?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,155

    Not that anybody will necessarily care, but I have been approached about assisting with the response to this crisis, so I may be gone some time.

    Well done, my sister is also helping with admin at the Excel centre
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580

    Boris should employ a procurement czar, as Churchill did when he made Beaverbrook Minister of Production. It is surprising he has not already done so given Cummings's low opinion of government procurement and Boris's own biography of Churchill, which is no doubt compulsory reading for @ydoethur's history students.

    That would be rather pointless since the only British history we study at A-level is the Wars of the Roses.
  • glwglw Posts: 10,375
    From the BBC this morning.

    China has approved the use of bear bile to treat critically ill coronavirus patients.

    The National Health Commission has recommended the use of Tan Re Qing - an injection that contains bear bile, goat horn and herbs - to treat patients with Covid-19.

    But there is no evidence the mixture has any medicinal value.

    Bear bile, which is produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for hundreds of years and fetches a high price in the illegal international market.

    The move to approve its use has angered animal rights activists and comes just weeks after the country banned the sale of wild animals for food.
  • I wouldn't go that far, will only be a very very very minor part of a much bigger machine and not exactly like Dr Foxy putting my life in danger, but way described will be all hands to the pump stuff for the foreseeable future.
    Good luck, your success is our success.

    Tell them that covid-19 is spread through the eating of pineapples on pizzas.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580
    isam said:

    Why can’t non working class people have ideas about what is best for the working class?
    We also serf who only stand and wait until we can buy degrees?

    (TSE is going to go mental at me!)
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 5,568
    Nigelb said:

    The plain fact is that, despite and excellent science capability, we do not have the manufacturing base for medical laboratory equipment that exists in Germany or the US.
    Procurement czars would do nothing to change that any time soon.
    However valid or not the point, it does feel like we missed a chance to tap into that German production capacity by deciding not to join the EU equipment pool.
  • glw said:

    From the BBC this morning.

    Give me strength
  • paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,507

    Yes, that seems pretty likely. I would guess that they are using number of hospitalizations and ICU admissions as their main way of tracking, then comparing with sentinel testing to extrapolate to number of infections. I wish they would publish these numbers routinely, in the spirit of transparency.

    (FWIW I think the WHO has done rather poorly in this crisis. I no longer set much store by their recommendations.)

    --AS
    I have read that Sheffield has had more testing done than most other areas. I havent seen it said that that is because it is being used as a sampling area though. to quote:

    Greg Fell, director of public health in Sheffield, said: "I understand that people may find the reported number of cases in Sheffield worrying, but the data is simply a reflection that there is more testing happening here currently than in some other areas and so by default we know about more positive cases."

    from BBC 2 days ago but I have seen other reports saying similar things.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580

    Give me strength
    Does it do that as well?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,587
    The lockdown is going to have to become tougher by looks of it.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580
    I have never been able to understand why taxis are exempt. How can you ‘social distance’ in a taxi?
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,199
    ydoethur said:

    At risk of being pedantic, only two governments have lasted more than ten years since World War Two. A government in our system is identified by who leads it, not which party forms it.
    Its not just a pedantic point either. The Boris administration has very little in common with the May administration. To a material extent Boris ran against the policies of May and Hammond and his government has been in power for barely a year and effectively 4 months.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,367

    The lockdown is going to have to become tougher by looks of it.

    Good morning. Why do you say so?
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,623
    isam said:

    Why can’t non working class people have ideas about what is best for the working class?
    Like Jeremy Corbyn...
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,587
    ydoethur said:

    We also serf who only stand and wait until we can buy degrees?

    (TSE is going to go mental at me!)
    "Why can’t non working class people have ideas about what is best for the working class?"

    No problem from me. What pisses me off is Cambridge types having a go at other Cambridge types and their privileged education.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580
    edited April 2020
    DavidL said:

    Its not just a pedantic point either. The Boris administration has very little in common with the May administration. To a material extent Boris ran against the policies of May and Hammond and his government has been in power for barely a year and effectively 4 months.
    You could make a stronger case for continuity from Campbell-Bannerman to Asquith, Baldwin to Chamberlain, Churchill to Eden or even Salisbury to Balfour. But it’s not a cast iron one, and in law, they were different governments.
  • ydoethur said:

    Does it do that as well?
    I very much doubt it but you are on the ball this morning
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,865

    I suspect in these dark times even the HSE would concede, The Health and Safety etc. at Work Act 1974 trumps the PPE Regulations 2002 and an out of date visor is better than no visor.
    It would be, if time expired equipment didn't get destroyed.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 62,492
    Mr. Borough, is that London-specific? Obviously the Met's in London, but I'm wondering if it's London only, a general picture, or a city/rural divide.

    Ultimately, the lockdown requires the consent and obedience of the public. If they flout it, the situation will only get worse, and there's not much any government that isn't a dictatorship can do about that.

    It's been barely a week.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580

    I very much doubt it but you are on the ball this morning
    It’s holiday time. I don’t have to set work and I’m demob happy.

    I’m also wearier than a dog with no legs that’s just climbed Beinn Neibhis.
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 7,013

    I very much doubt it but you are on the ball this morning
    I think we need the bare facts .
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,570
    I volunteered as an NHS responder and was instructed to download the app a few days ago. The app (which they are going to amend) is an existing one for medics responding to cardiac arrests (we are not expected to do that!). It is both very impressive and very alarming.

    There is a simulation you can test. It does warn you before you do it, but I had a go. Next thing I know I am being scraped off the ceiling. Never knew my phone could go that loud. What a siren! And it can be set to override silent mode which would go down well in a cinema or theatre.

    In very very bright red it shows me on a map where I am and where the person is having the cardiac arrest (mine was 66 metres away) and how to get there. I accept the call or reject etc, etc.

    I was very impressed, but also hope the mods change the dramatic nature when it is a case of me delivering something a lot less urgent.
  • johnoundlejohnoundle Posts: 120

    They obviously stockpiled the wrong stuff. Why, we will have to find out in due course, although the obvious suggestion would be price. Coupled with failure of the supply chain, which is still affecting the food supply as well so not just a Government problem. Just-in-time just isn't working.

    My wife's niece is on the front line inToulon & they have had shortages of respirators & regular masks for the last three weeks,her husband asked if we could get any here for her! So bad now that they are trying to sterilize used ones.

    Friends in Greece told us that some hospitals in Athens have no masks, gloves or disinfectant.

  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580

    I think we need the bare facts .
    We’re all getting browned off.
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,180

    Not that anybody will necessarily care, but I have been approached about assisting with the response to this crisis, so I may be gone some time.

    Take great care of yourself.
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 7,013
    ydoethur said:

    We’re all getting browned off.
    ydoethur said:

    We’re all getting browned off.
    Trouble is ..... Some of the opinions are polar opposites.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580
    Disappointing to find that somebody has no sense of humour (or an incredibly fat finger while trying to ‘like’ posts).
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,580

    Trouble is ..... Some of the opinions are polar opposites.
    Are you trying to seal the deal?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,155

    Mr. Borough, is that London-specific? Obviously the Met's in London, but I'm wondering if it's London only, a general picture, or a city/rural divide.

    Ultimately, the lockdown requires the consent and obedience of the public. If they flout it, the situation will only get worse, and there's not much any government that isn't a dictatorship can do about that.

    It's been barely a week.

    A Deltapoll last week had most voters backing jail for breaking movement restrictions, the army on the streets to support the police and a 9pm curfew. If tougher measures are needed there is support from the public for them
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 34,603

    Does it ever get off Any Other Business?
    His dad was a bright chap. Very pleasant with it, as well.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    edited April 2020
    Some interesting excerpts from a Reuters story today. Generally I find them well sourced and without a political bias.

    TL;DR: all European governments got it wrong. My assessment is that they must have been working on bad data - either that or there is a systematic failure in the way that separate governments assessed the problem and I think that is unlikely.

    BRUSSELS, April 1 (Reuters) - Barely a month before Europe embarked on a scramble for masks, ventilators and testing kits to fight coronavirus, governments told Brussels their healthcare systems were ready and there was no need to order more stocks, EU documents show. This rosy assessment is in stark contrast to the shortages of masks and medical equipment just a few weeks later, when the European Commission estimated needs across EU states to be 10 times higher than would usually be available.

    [snip]

    "Things under control," a European Commission official said at a closed-door meeting with diplomats from member states on Feb. 5, two weeks after China locked down nearly 60 million people in Hubei ... "There is strong level of preparedness in member states, most have measures in place" to detect and treat COVID-19, the official said, relaying comments from national envoys, according to minutes of the meeting seen by Reuters.

    [snip]

    EU governments began to realise the gravity of the situation in March but rather than focusing on joint action many resorted to protectionist measures, raising trade barriers to hinder the
    export of medical equipment to their neighbours.


    [snip]

    The optimistic analysis presented by the European Commission official on Feb. 5 stemmed from a series of meetings with health experts from EU member states. At a meeting on Jan. 31, delegates from national health ministries told the Commission they did not need help acquiring
    medical equipment, according to the minutes. ... with only four states warning they might need protective equipment if the situation worsened in Europe. On Feb. 28 ... the European Commission launched a joint procurement programme for face masks and other protective gear. The tender ... initially received no offers, an internal document seen by Reuters showed. EU member states are now assessing bids made under a second tender but no contracts have yet been signed and deliveries are still weeks away, according to Commission estimates.


    [snip]

    Now, EU states are facing a massive shortage of testing kits and launched a joint procurement scheme on March 18. The need to jointly acquire ventilators ... only arose for the first time at a meeting of EU health experts on March 13, according to minutes of the meeting.

    [snip]

    Risks that healthcare systems might exceed their capacity were considered "low to moderate" in mid-February by the EU agency for disease control, which relies on assessments by
    individual member states. A month later, it updated its assessment to say no countries
    would have enough intensive care beds by mid-April.

  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207
    Nigelb said:

    It would be, if time expired equipment didn't get destroyed.
    It hasn't been in all cases according to reports
  • FensterFenster Posts: 2,115
    glw said:

    He's right the CSA and CMO made it quite clear that timing was critical as you might only get one go at it.
    I saw a big group of young twenty-something boys on the benches round the back of a (closed) pub yesterday. All on furlough getting paid handsomely to do nothing all day. They are nice, fit young boys, whose heads are collectuvely going. They were saying they can't stay home with Mam and Dad anymore so had arranged a big piss up.

    I didn't join them. I came home and got pissed.
This discussion has been closed.