Before the end of this initial 3-week period, they are going to have to extend it. The growth in numbers leaves little choice.
But there are 3 important factors to remember.
Firstly, the people need to see an end in sight before too long. Or people will cease to follow the rules.
Secondly, this Government (and indeed the world) cannot (economically) afford for this to go on too long. By that, I mean the lockdown, not the virus itself.
Thirdly, it takes time to restart the economy. Infrastructures need time to scale up/restart.
I predict that there will be an additional 3-week period announced. But, before that is up, we will be given a definite date when various restrictions will be lifted.
Recovered coronavirus patients test positive again in blow to immunity hopes
South Korea reported on Friday that 91 recovered coronavirus patients have tested positive for the disease again, raising questions over health experts' understanding of the pandemic. The prospect of people being re-infected with the virus is of international concern, as many countries are hoping that infected populations will develop sufficient immunity to prevent a resurgence of the pandemic. The reports have also prompted fears the virus may remain active in patients for much longer than was previously thought.
UK will have to live with restrictions until coronavirus vaccine is available, say officials, as new survey reveals that nine out of 10 Britons are observing 'stay home' advice after 980 deaths in a day
Advice to work from home and stay in for seven days if you have symptoms will probably still be in place next year. Ministers want to lift the most restrictive parts of the lockdown, including school and shop closures, within weeks. But senior Government sources say the only true 'exit strategy' is a vaccine or a cure. Until then, the UK will have to adjust to a 'new normal' which includes shoppers forming long queues outside supermarkets to buy groceries (bottom left, in the North-East) and police taking 'heavy-handed' measures to enforce the Government's lockdown. Police have been spotted patrolling parks with megaphones (centre, in London's Hyde Park), and dispersing a group of youngsters riding bicycles in Swansea (top left). It comes as the UK recorded another 980 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday.
Cabinet Minister Robert Jenrick drives 150 MILES to his £1.1million second home to be with family during lockdown, just DAYS after ordering public not to travel unnecessarily (and he also visited his parents 40 miles away!)
Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick, pictured, has defended driving 150 miles last weekend to visit his parents in Shropshire despite the Covid-19 lockdown as he was delivering food and medication to his mother and father who are self isolating. Mr Jenrick is also accused of moving from his home in Westminster to his Grade I-listed mansion in Hertfordshire with his wife Michel, inset, and their children.
Mail again. Headline proclaims he drove 150 miles to "2nd home", whereas the main story says he was just delivering meds to his parents.
Of course he moved from Westminster. He was at Parliament, now it is in recess. Can't see the problem moving the once.
Fascinated that Shropshire is 40 miles from Wesminster, and Hertfordshire is 150 miles away. That must have been some earthquake.
And who cares if it is, or not, a "£1.1million second home" or a "Grade-1 listed mansion"
'Codswallop': Fury at 'lockdown busting' Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick grows as his neighbours dismiss claims his £1.1million Herefordshire mansion 150 miles from London is his main home Robert Jenrick claimed he had not flouted lockdown rules by travelling 150 miles to a mansion in Herefordshire because it was the family home The Mail has been told the Jenricks spend most of their time in London house Government source said that Mr Jenrick 'moved his family to his second home' It comes after intensive care nurse begged the public to stay home this weekend
Cabinet Minister Robert Jenrick drives 150 MILES to his £1.1million second home to be with family during lockdown, just DAYS after ordering public not to travel unnecessarily (and he also visited his parents 40 miles away!)
Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick, pictured, has defended driving 150 miles last weekend to visit his parents in Shropshire despite the Covid-19 lockdown as he was delivering food and medication to his mother and father who are self isolating. Mr Jenrick is also accused of moving from his home in Westminster to his Grade I-listed mansion in Hertfordshire with his wife Michel, inset, and their children.
Mail again. Headline proclaims he drove 150 miles to "2nd home", whereas the main story says he was just delivering meds to his parents.
Of course he moved from Westminster. He was at Parliament, now it is in recess. Can't see the problem moving the once.
Fascinated that Shropshire is 40 miles from Wesminster, and Hertfordshire is 150 miles away. That must have been some earthquake.
And who cares if it is, or not, a "£1.1million second home" or a "Grade-1 listed mansion"
This is an extract from his website.
Robert is married to Michal, and together they have three young daughters. They live in Southwell near Newark, and in London.
He is apparently in Herefordshire.
He has described his current location as his main residence.
If this is true, he has been misleading his constituents for a number of years, as his website implies that he lives close to his constituency, or in London when in Parliament.
Part of his explanation has to be untrue.
I am not that bothered, but it does seem hypocritical.
Methinks his ‘holiday home’ suddenly became his main residence.... the issue of him travelling 40 miles to take his parents supplies is anon issue..we would all do that
Hmmm.. I wonder where his children normally go to school? Herefordshire, Newark, London or no doubt some boarding school somewhere...that would clear up where his main residence is
If it’s found that his kids school in London or Newark, he should also be sacked Step down...
They have got their teeth into him now, and it may well end in tears. No wonder Boris likes him. Another compulsive liar.
But one of Mr Jenrick's close neighbours described claims this address was his primary home as 'codswallop'. The Daily Mail has been told the Jenricks spend most of their time at their £2.5million townhouse in London, where the children attend school.
The Newark MP also states on his website that he lives 'in Southwell near Newark, and London' – with no mention of Herefordshire. Neighbours at the £1.1million Herefordshire residence insisted they rarely saw him. One said: 'We might see him on the odd weekend but the family are not even here every weekend, let alone full time. 'Mr Jenrick has had builders working on the house for much of the last three years.'
Robert Jenrick (pictured) came under fire again last night after neighbours said the mansion where he is staying is just his occasional holiday home
Neighbours at the £1.1million Herefordshire (St Peter and St Paul's in Eye, Herefordshire) residence last night insisted they rarely saw him. One said: 'We might see him on the odd weekend but the family are not even here every weekend, let alone full time'
Another source close to the family in the capital said they lived at their Westminster address during the week. The distinction matters as the Government issued lockdown instructions on March 23 stating people should not visit second homes 'for isolation purposes or holidays'.
The Daily Mail has been told the Jenricks spend most of their time at their £2.5million townhouse in London (pictured), where the children go to school
Mr Jenrick is understood to have claimed his family moved to Herefordshire on March 20, before lockdown rules were announced. The 38-year-old faced controversy when he ran for his Newark seat in a 2014 by-election after declining to mention his and his City lawyer wife's £6million property portfolio, which includes a £2.3million flat in Marylebone, central London. He presented himself as a 'father, local man, son of a secretary and small businessman and state primary school-educated' candidate. His party CV omitted to say he went to a £13,000-a-year private secondary school. At the time, he promised to move his family to Newark, saying he was 'almost sure' he would sell the Herefordshire house.
Why I detest Priti Patel in 1 sentence. One of hers.
There have been difficulties in delivering PPE. Everyone knows that. People have been blaming the Government, perhaps a little unfairly. Getting 98% coverage, 99%, but probably never 100%.
Her sentence, when questioned on this today?
"I'm sorry if people feel there have been failings." What a vile cop-out.
Come the revolution...
On a lighter note, why do people keep talking about a "herculean" effort? Surely that should be in the Labour Ward?
The Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Telegraph offer readers an insight into Boris Johnson's time in hospital. The Mail says the prime minister came "close to death". Doctors at St Thomas' had been expecting him there three days before he was finally admitted. Having arrived through a "secret entrance", the paper says, Mr Johnson was put on oxygen through a tube within 10 minutes. The Telegraph says his admission to intensive care left several Downing Street staff in tears. It quotes one senior official as saying: "you can't get the fear out of your head that he could take a turn for the worst." The paper goes on to say that, as well as Sudoku puzzles and films, the prime minister's recovery has been aided by Tintin books sent to him by his family. "Failing the test", is the headline in the Sun on Sunday as it has an investigation into the speed at which drive-through sites are conducting Covid-19 examinations. The paper says that testing at sites including Boston and Wembley is being carried out at a "snail's pace". NHS staff and carers are being turned away because they do not have an appointment. One nurse has told the paper she expected the centre at Chessington, south-west London, to be working at "full tilt" - only to find that it was closing for lunch. The Nottingham site is the only one to buck the trend, with around 100 tests per hour being carried out. The Department for Health said some centres were still in the "pilot phase" and that 27,000 NHS staff and their families have been tested.
The Sunday Times says that a new mobile app is a "central plank" of the government's attempts to lift the lockdown. Senior sources have told the paper the NHS is working with Google and Apple at breakneck speed. The technology would let people know if they have come into contact with someone who has tested positive. Ministers are considering whether the app could allow for a return to a normal work and home life. Extended lie-ins The Sunday Times reports that with no alarm clocks on, no trains to catch and no school to attend, the crisis has improved the nation's sleep. A study by Kings College London has found two-thirds are now sleeping better - but a third are having restless nights caused by issues such as financial concerns. "To no-one's great surprise," the paper adds, teenagers appear to be enjoying extra time in bed - with one in three 11 to 16-year-olds enjoying extended lie-ins. "Call for schools to open in the summer after lockdown," is a headline in the Observer. The paper has an interview with the children's commissioner, Anne Longfield, who suggests that a change in the traditional calendar could be vital to help children "learn and catch up" once the restrictions after lifted. The proposal has been met with a lukewarm response from teachers, with the National Education Union saying it had "practical and contractual concerns". It adds that staff who have been left to supervise children of key workers may be left without a break. Assange's children "Mayday or we'll be at Whit's end" is the Sun on Sunday's headline about what it says is a row in cabinet over when to ease the lockdown. The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and Home Secretary Priti Patel reportedly think the action to halt the spread of coronavirus is worse than the disease. They are believed to want to see an easing of restrictions in early May. But Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove want the next re-assessment of the measures to come after the late Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May. The Sunday Express website believes it has found out when the coronavirus lockdown may be lifted. According to an unnamed source at the Ministry of Defence, senior civil servants have been told the measures will be in place until at least the 25th of May, after which they will be lifted "piecemeal". The report adds that easing of the restrictions will be based "largely on geographical location" and how badly infected they are.
Why I detest Priti Patel in 1 sentence. One of hers.
There have been difficulties in delivering PPE. Everyone knows that. People have been blaming the Government, perhaps a little unfairly. Getting 98% coverage, 99%, but probably never 100%.
Her sentence, when questioned on this today?
"I'm sorry if people feel there have been failings." What a vile cop-out.
Come the revolution...
On a lighter note, why do people keep talking about a "herculean" effort? Surely that should be in the Labour Ward?
She is a particularly detestable, peculiar shaped, woman.
If she was less arrogant, she might have tried to find a shorter husband, and Prime Minister to work for.
The stressing of the Herculean effort seems to be a Government instruction, when referring to their efforts in providing PPE. I used to be employed in the construction industry, and my job was to order materials, and programme deliveries to a number of sites. This was clearly a much smaller scale, but involved me, sitting in an office, on the phone persuading, and cajoling suppliers to meet the delivery schedules. There was no Herculean effort. The NHS will just have more people, in more offices, on more phones, doing exactly the same thing, and not even breaking into a sweat.
I have found some of the daily press conferences really disappointing.
The Government seem to be avoiding more questions than they are prepared to answer.
The same image of Boris Johnson delivering his Easter message after leaving hospital is on many front pages. The nurses named by the prime minister in his statement praising the care he received in hospital is the subject of much focus. "Bojo's Angels," is the headline in the Sun accompanying pictures of Jenny McGee and Luis Pitarma - who were initially referred to as "Jenny from New Zealand" and "Luis from Portugal". Both the Times and the Daily Telegraph highlight the prime minister's quote that "things could have gone either way". Writing in the Daily Express, Leo McKinistry says Mr Johnson's personal battle with coronavirus has become "an epic symbol of our national ordeal". PM's 'Messiah moment' Sarah Vine - in the Daily Mail - describes Mr Johnson as looking "as pale as a ghost". She suggests that not many people will begrudge him his "Messiah moment"- even if, under normal circumstances, a prime minister rising miraculously from his sickbed on Easter Sunday would be considered the work of an "over-imaginative spin doctor". The Daily Mirror reports that the cabinet is split over when to begin lifting the coronavirus lockdown restrictions. It says that there is a "chilling fear" about damaging the economy "beyond repair" and whether the NHS can cope if there is an easing of measures introduced last month. The decision may also be complicated by whether a recovering Boris Johnson wants to have any input. Sources with knowledge of No 10 are quoted in the Guardian as saying that any review of the lockdown was "very unlikely" without "at least some input from the prime minister".
The Financial Times has seen a chart which has been circulated to clinicians - which will ask them to "score" thousands of patients to decide who is suitable for intensive care treatment. The categories used to judge people are reportedly someone's age, frailty and if they have any underlying conditions. The paper says that although clinical discretion could come into play - any patient over the age of 70 will be considered "borderline" for treatment. "Spreading like wildfire" and the "hidden front line" are two stark assessments of the coronavirus pandemic's impact on care homes. The Sun reports that Covid-19 was so contagious at one home in Essex family members were not allowed to take jewellery from their dead relative and corpses are no longer being washed. The owner of 15 care homes has told the Times the sector is bracing itself for a "tsunami" of cases. The paper also says that there is a perception among care staff that they play "second fiddle" to the NHS.
"Unforgiveable" is the Daily Mirror's view of delays in getting personal protective equipment to doctors and nurses. The paper says government ministers reciting numbers of items is "meaningless" when health care workers in hospitals "know the terrible truth". The Sun is more sympathetic to the government's plight - saying that while it appreciates getting more PPE is "easier said than done" - ministers should "strain every sinew" to resolve the situation.
Moss a 'true sportsman'
Sir Stirling Moss was the first British driver to win a home grand prix Away from coverage of coronavirus, tributes are paid to the racing driver, Sir Stirling Moss, who has died at the age of 90. The Daily Telegraph's Oliver Brown considers whether Sir Stirling was the "perhaps the greatest racer of them all" - pointing out that he won 40% of the races he entered. Writing in the Guardian, former F1 World Champion Damon Hill describes Sir Stirling as a "true sportsman" and someone who was a throwback to an era that understood what it meant to be generous in defeat, chivalrous and a fair winner.
Comedian Tim Brooke-Taylor was best known as one third of the popular 1970s show The Goodies, and I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
"Covid kills a Goodie," is the Daily Star's headline as it pays tribute to Tim Brooke-Taylor, who died yesterday aged 79. In a similar play on words, the i describes him as "Always a Goodie".
Not another peak-just less of a reduction after the peak. Better a limited number get it in the Summer rather than a massive spike in December.
Things will get better-look at China. Or the entire history of the world.
Besides, there are limits as to how long the country can withstand lockdown, both mentally and financially.
Likeliest outcome:-worse in April, improvements in May OR June, reduction (not removal) of lockdown, minor spike in the Autumn, then world gradually returns to normal.
China coronavirus infections rise as some Spanish companies prepare to restart work
China has seen a rise in Covid-19 cases along its northern border with Russia, as some Spanish factories and construction sites are preparing to resume work amid other continuing restrictions. On Sunday China’s national health commission reported 108 new infections, the highest number in more than five weeks, surpassing Saturday’s 99, which was nearly double the 46 reported on Friday.
Coronavirus: UK 'cancels order for thousands of ventilators because hospitals need more advanced models'
The UK has cancelled an order for thousands of ventilators to treat coronavirus patients, it has been reported. The government has confirmed it no longer wants the units because the treatment of COVID-19 patients in hospitals is more complex than anticipated. It comes as half of A&E staff at one hospital have reportedly tested positive for the disease. The UK recorded 710 new coronavirus deaths on Sunday, taking the total number of people who have died in hospital with the virus past 10,000. Reuters reported that distribution of the ventilator model, known as BlueSky, has been scrapped because more advanced devices are required.
UK government 'giving incorrect information on self-isolation', say GPs
People across the UK are being given incorrect information from the government about whether or not to isolate, with some wrongly instructed to remain indoors for 12 weeks, GPs have warned. Doctors fear out-of-date information is being used as they are getting an increasing number of calls from people who do not understand why they have received a text or letter saying they are in the most at risk group. At the same time, some of those who are in priority groups are complaining they have been given no information, they said. The list of who to contact, which would normally take weeks to do, was compiled in 48 hours, and given the huge undertaking errors are likely to have crept in. Last month, the government announced it would contact 1.5 million people by 29 March to tell them that they should be “shielding”, which means they are most at risk to the virus and should stay indoors for 12 weeks.
Documents contradict UK government stance on Covid-19 'herd immunity'
The inclusion of “targeted herd immunity” as a possible UK government response to the Covid-19 pandemic – in a list of possible interventions considered for analysis by a contractor – appears to contradict strong denials by the health secretary 10 days earlier that it was any part of government policy. Matt Hancock gave that response on 14 March after two senior government officials had said publicly that achieving “herd immunity” was a key aim, prompting widespread alarm among medical experts that the British government was planning to allow the majority of the population to become infected. However, a proposed computer simulation of the impact of “targeted herd immunity” was contained in a planning document, used by NHSX and a technology contractor to map out the data response to the pandemic, around 23 March. While it does not appear the herd immunity simulation took place, its inclusion in a list of possible interventions raises questions about the government’s stance on the policy.
Dr William Hanage, a professor of the evolution and epidemiology of infectious disease at Harvard, wrote in the Guardian that such a policy would result in large numbers of people dying and the NHS being overwhelmed. He reflected the general bafflement among many experts, because “herd immunity” is typically achieved via widespread vaccination against a disease. There is no vaccine for Covid-19, and “herd immunity” without a vaccine assumes that the vast majority of people who recover from the coronavirus will then be immune, which has not yet been conclusively established.
On 13 March, the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, defended the existing approach and said that building up some form of herd immunity, by having potentially 60% of the population (40 million people) contract Covid-19, was one of the “key things we need to do”. Hancock made his public denials the following day. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) began to issue public guidance that said: “Herd immunity is not part of our action plan but is a natural by-product of an epidemic.” That, however, still suggests that, despite the lockdown measures introduced on 23 March, the government does envisage a large proportion of the population contracting Covid-19, then recovering and having immunity, and for that to prevent the further spread of the virus. Some medical experts maintain that, in the absence of widespread testing of people and tracing those they may have infected, this remains the government’s policy: to contemplate most of the population ultimately becoming infected, and eventually achieve herd immunity.
Coronavirus: UK could be worst-hit country in Europe, experts warn, as ‘sombre day’ sees death toll pass 10,000
The UK has endured a “sombre day” in its battle against coronavirus as the death toll soared beyond 10,000 amid warnings the UK could be the worst-hit country in Europe. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, confirmed that some 737 people had died in hospital from the virus, taking the tally of UK deaths from Covid-19 to 10,612 on Sunday. The news came as one of the government’s most senior scientific advisers warned that the UK was “likely to be one of the worst, if not the worst, affected countries in Europe” by the outbreak.
Where Germany had success in fighting coronavirus, Britain stumbled
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson exited the hospital Sunday nearly a week after entering intensive care for coronavirus-related complications. But that spot of good news was darkened by a new grim statistic: His country’s official count of hospital deaths related to the virus surpassed 10,000 over the weekend. Public health experts fear that Britain’s mortality rate may soon be or already is the highest in all of Europe, as pandemic-ravaged Italy and Spain slowly get to grips with the disease. Britain’s steady shift toward becoming the new European epicenter of the outbreak stands in stark contrast with nearby Germany, the only country on the continent with a bigger economy and whose government reported its first case around the same time as Johnson’s government.
In the second week of March, Johnson’s government justified its largely lax strategy — schools, restaurants and other major venues remained open, while only the elderly who were already infirm were advised to stay home — on the grounds that it was pursuing “herd immunity,” counting on Britain’s invulnerable groups to contract the disease and become immune. Just days later, the government backtracked, its supposed pragmatism crashing against new worrying projections of hundreds of thousands of deaths should it not impose lockdowns and strict measures of social distancing.
Meanwhile, on March 11, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that 60 to 70 percent of her country could contract the virus. But that wasn’t a statement of resignation — Merkel said the challenge now was all about winning time, and her country’s federal, state and local authorities had already set about attempting to achieve that. “Nearly three months since their first positive cases, Germany has conducted more than 1.3 million tests and contact tracing remains central to its strategy,” noted BuzzFeed in a piece that presented a thorough timeline comparing both countries’ handling of the crisis. “The UK has carried out fewer than 335,000 tests and all but dropped attempts to aggressively trace contacts. About 3,000 people have died so far in Germany. More than 10,000 have died in the UK.” Johnson’s proclivity for wartime bravura rings hollow in the midst of a public health emergency, especially when set against the more somber messaging of German politicians. “This pandemic is not a war,” German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in an Easter Sunday address that urged patience and solidarity with other countries. “It does not pit nations against nations, or soldiers against soldiers. Rather, it is a test of our humanity."
Emily Haber, the German ambassador to the United States, waved away any notion of German exceptionalism amid the pandemic. “We can’t state there is a specific German template,” she said during an online briefing call last week with reporters organized by the Meridian International Center in Washington. Haber pointed to a number of key factors that gave Germany an advantage in its preparations: the widespread mass testing program; a relatively young population that made up the initial bulk of covid-19 cases, and mostly survived; and the benefit of time to expand intensive care facilities and build up stockpiles of medical equipment. “We were able to prepare because we were not the first country in Europe affected, and we saw and could analyze developments elsewhere,” Haber said, adding that the “well-oiled machinery” of the country’s universal health-care system and effective coordination between the federal government and local and state agencies helped. Germany’s hospitals still have a surfeit of available beds for coronavirus-positive patients and may not face the same pressures that buckled health-care systems in other European countries.
Compared with Britain, Germany gave itself a real head start in testing. “The people [they were in contact with] were also traced and tested repeatedly and they were isolated as well,” Evangelos Kotsopoulos, spokesman for the German Association of Accredited Laboratories, told the BBC, adding that it helped “flatten the curve a bit and slowed down the rate of infection.” “Rather than following countries like South Korea in taking immediate draconian action to stop the disease — including the use of mass testing — Johnson’s team thought a more modulated approach would ultimately save more lives and cause less economic harm,” the Financial Times detailed in a piece on the government’s early missteps. Now, Britain finds itself playing catch-up while lacking key German advantages: a sophisticated and sizable biotech industry that helped fast-track widespread testing, and a decentralized political structure that — unlike, say, its equivalent in the United States — effectively enabled private laboratories and local and state-level agencies to take the lead on implementing testing. “While Germany broadened its testing strategy to cover all those with mild symptoms — the core of a strategy to test, trace and isolate people infected with the virus — by March, Britain was struggling to scale up,” the FT noted.
“We have the best scientific labs in the world but we did not have the scale,” British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC. “My German counterpart, for instance, could call upon 100 testing labs ready and waiting when the crisis struck, thanks in large part to Roche, one of the biggest diagnostic companies in the world.” As Johnson continues his recovery, he faces an altogether different national challenge in 2020 than the one he had set out to achieve: Brexit. “The pandemic may yet prove to be this calamity. Perhaps history or the electorate will judge him for not taking it seriously enough, for acting too slowly or too reluctantly,” the Atlantic’s Tom McTague wrote in an essay that touched on the “sense of destiny” that seemed to tail the prime minister’s political career. McTague added: Johnson’s “sudden deterioration came just as things in the country at large were getting worse. Johnson had not been laid low saving the day like Horatio Nelson, leading Britain through its modern-day Battle of Trafalgar. Instead, he appeared to be living the crisis itself.”
Comments
South Korea reported on Friday that 91 recovered coronavirus patients have tested positive for the disease again, raising questions over health experts' understanding of the pandemic.
The prospect of people being re-infected with the virus is of international concern, as many countries are hoping that infected populations will develop sufficient immunity to prevent a resurgence of the pandemic.
The reports have also prompted fears the virus may remain active in patients for much longer than was previously thought.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavirus/recovered-coronavirus-patients-test-positive-again-in-blow-to-immunity-hopes/ar-BB12rSb0?ocid=spartandhp
Advice to work from home and stay in for seven days if you have symptoms will probably still be in place next year. Ministers want to lift the most restrictive parts of the lockdown, including school and shop closures, within weeks. But senior Government sources say the only true 'exit strategy' is a vaccine or a cure. Until then, the UK will have to adjust to a 'new normal' which includes shoppers forming long queues outside supermarkets to buy groceries (bottom left, in the North-East) and police taking 'heavy-handed' measures to enforce the Government's lockdown. Police have been spotted patrolling parks with megaphones (centre, in London's Hyde Park), and dispersing a group of youngsters riding bicycles in Swansea (top left). It comes as the UK recorded another 980 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html
'Codswallop': Fury at 'lockdown busting' Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick grows as his neighbours dismiss claims his £1.1million Herefordshire mansion 150 miles from London is his main home
Robert Jenrick claimed he had not flouted lockdown rules by travelling 150 miles to a mansion in Herefordshire because it was the family home
The Mail has been told the Jenricks spend most of their time in London house
Government source said that Mr Jenrick 'moved his family to his second home'
It comes after intensive care nurse begged the public to stay home this weekend
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8209225/Robert-Jenrick-faces-fresh-claims-broke-lockdown-rules-Herefordshire-home-holiday-home.html
They have got their teeth into him now, and it may well end in tears.
No wonder Boris likes him.
Another compulsive liar.
But one of Mr Jenrick's close neighbours described claims this address was his primary home as 'codswallop'.
The Daily Mail has been told the Jenricks spend most of their time at their £2.5million townhouse in London, where the children attend school.
The Newark MP also states on his website that he lives 'in Southwell near Newark, and London' – with no mention of Herefordshire.
Neighbours at the £1.1million Herefordshire residence insisted they rarely saw him. One said: 'We might see him on the odd weekend but the family are not even here every weekend, let alone full time.
'Mr Jenrick has had builders working on the house for much of the last three years.'
Robert Jenrick (pictured) came under fire again last night after neighbours said the mansion where he is staying is just his occasional holiday home
Neighbours at the £1.1million Herefordshire (St Peter and St Paul's in Eye, Herefordshire) residence last night insisted they rarely saw him. One said: 'We might see him on the odd weekend but the family are not even here every weekend, let alone full time'
Another source close to the family in the capital said they lived at their Westminster address during the week. The distinction matters as the Government issued lockdown instructions on March 23 stating people should not visit second homes 'for isolation purposes or holidays'.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8209225/Robert-Jenrick-faces-fresh-claims-broke-lockdown-rules-Herefordshire-home-holiday-home.html
The Daily Mail has been told the Jenricks spend most of their time at their £2.5million townhouse in London (pictured), where the children go to school
Mr Jenrick is understood to have claimed his family moved to Herefordshire on March 20, before lockdown rules were announced.
The 38-year-old faced controversy when he ran for his Newark seat in a 2014 by-election after declining to mention his and his City lawyer wife's £6million property portfolio, which includes a £2.3million flat in Marylebone, central London.
He presented himself as a 'father, local man, son of a secretary and small businessman and state primary school-educated' candidate.
His party CV omitted to say he went to a £13,000-a-year private secondary school. At the time, he promised to move his family to Newark, saying he was 'almost sure' he would sell the Herefordshire house.
There have been difficulties in delivering PPE. Everyone knows that. People have been blaming the Government, perhaps a little unfairly. Getting 98% coverage, 99%, but probably never 100%.
Her sentence, when questioned on this today?
"I'm sorry if people feel there have been failings." What a vile cop-out.
Come the revolution...
On a lighter note, why do people keep talking about a "herculean" effort? Surely that should be in the Labour Ward?
The Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Telegraph offer readers an insight into Boris Johnson's time in hospital.
The Mail says the prime minister came "close to death". Doctors at St Thomas' had been expecting him there three days before he was finally admitted. Having arrived through a "secret entrance", the paper says, Mr Johnson was put on oxygen through a tube within 10 minutes.
The Telegraph says his admission to intensive care left several Downing Street staff in tears. It quotes one senior official as saying: "you can't get the fear out of your head that he could take a turn for the worst." The paper goes on to say that, as well as Sudoku puzzles and films, the prime minister's recovery has been aided by Tintin books sent to him by his family.
"Failing the test", is the headline in the Sun on Sunday as it has an investigation into the speed at which drive-through sites are conducting Covid-19 examinations. The paper says that testing at sites including Boston and Wembley is being carried out at a "snail's pace". NHS staff and carers are being turned away because they do not have an appointment.
One nurse has told the paper she expected the centre at Chessington, south-west London, to be working at "full tilt" - only to find that it was closing for lunch. The Nottingham site is the only one to buck the trend, with around 100 tests per hour being carried out. The Department for Health said some centres were still in the "pilot phase" and that 27,000 NHS staff and their families have been tested.
The Sunday Times says that a new mobile app is a "central plank" of the government's attempts to lift the lockdown. Senior sources have told the paper the NHS is working with Google and Apple at breakneck speed.
The technology would let people know if they have come into contact with someone who has tested positive. Ministers are considering whether the app could allow for a return to a normal work and home life.
Extended lie-ins
The Sunday Times reports that with no alarm clocks on, no trains to catch and no school to attend, the crisis has improved the nation's sleep.
A study by Kings College London has found two-thirds are now sleeping better - but a third are having restless nights caused by issues such as financial concerns. "To no-one's great surprise," the paper adds, teenagers appear to be enjoying extra time in bed - with one in three 11 to 16-year-olds enjoying extended lie-ins.
"Call for schools to open in the summer after lockdown," is a headline in the Observer. The paper has an interview with the children's commissioner, Anne Longfield, who suggests that a change in the traditional calendar could be vital to help children "learn and catch up" once the restrictions after lifted.
The proposal has been met with a lukewarm response from teachers, with the National Education Union saying it had "practical and contractual concerns". It adds that staff who have been left to supervise children of key workers may be left without a break.
Assange's children
"Mayday or we'll be at Whit's end" is the Sun on Sunday's headline about what it says is a row in cabinet over when to ease the lockdown.
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and Home Secretary Priti Patel reportedly think the action to halt the spread of coronavirus is worse than the disease.
They are believed to want to see an easing of restrictions in early May. But Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove want the next re-assessment of the measures to come after the late Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May.
The Sunday Express website believes it has found out when the coronavirus lockdown may be lifted.
According to an unnamed source at the Ministry of Defence, senior civil servants have been told the measures will be in place until at least the 25th of May, after which they will be lifted "piecemeal".
The report adds that easing of the restrictions will be based "largely on geographical location" and how badly infected they are.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-52258435
If she was less arrogant, she might have tried to find a shorter husband, and Prime Minister to work for.
The stressing of the Herculean effort seems to be a Government instruction, when referring to their efforts in providing PPE.
I used to be employed in the construction industry, and my job was to order materials, and programme deliveries to a number of sites.
This was clearly a much smaller scale, but involved me, sitting in an office, on the phone persuading, and cajoling suppliers to meet the delivery schedules.
There was no Herculean effort.
The NHS will just have more people, in more offices, on more phones, doing exactly the same thing, and not even breaking into a sweat.
I have found some of the daily press conferences really disappointing.
The Government seem to be avoiding more questions than they are prepared to answer.
The same image of Boris Johnson delivering his Easter message after leaving hospital is on many front pages.
The nurses named by the prime minister in his statement praising the care he received in hospital is the subject of much focus.
"Bojo's Angels," is the headline in the Sun accompanying pictures of Jenny McGee and Luis Pitarma - who were initially referred to as "Jenny from New Zealand" and "Luis from Portugal".
Both the Times and the Daily Telegraph highlight the prime minister's quote that "things could have gone either way".
Writing in the Daily Express, Leo McKinistry says Mr Johnson's personal battle with coronavirus has become "an epic symbol of our national ordeal".
PM's 'Messiah moment'
Sarah Vine - in the Daily Mail - describes Mr Johnson as looking "as pale as a ghost". She suggests that not many people will begrudge him his "Messiah moment"- even if, under normal circumstances, a prime minister rising miraculously from his sickbed on Easter Sunday would be considered the work of an "over-imaginative spin doctor".
The Daily Mirror reports that the cabinet is split over when to begin lifting the coronavirus lockdown restrictions. It says that there is a "chilling fear" about damaging the economy "beyond repair" and whether the NHS can cope if there is an easing of measures introduced last month.
The decision may also be complicated by whether a recovering Boris Johnson wants to have any input. Sources with knowledge of No 10 are quoted in the Guardian as saying that any review of the lockdown was "very unlikely" without "at least some input from the prime minister".
The Financial Times has seen a chart which has been circulated to clinicians - which will ask them to "score" thousands of patients to decide who is suitable for intensive care treatment. The categories used to judge people are reportedly someone's age, frailty and if they have any underlying conditions. The paper says that although clinical discretion could come into play - any patient over the age of 70 will be considered "borderline" for treatment.
"Spreading like wildfire" and the "hidden front line" are two stark assessments of the coronavirus pandemic's impact on care homes.
The Sun reports that Covid-19 was so contagious at one home in Essex family members were not allowed to take jewellery from their dead relative and corpses are no longer being washed.
The owner of 15 care homes has told the Times the sector is bracing itself for a "tsunami" of cases. The paper also says that there is a perception among care staff that they play "second fiddle" to the NHS.
"Unforgiveable" is the Daily Mirror's view of delays in getting personal protective equipment to doctors and nurses. The paper says government ministers reciting numbers of items is "meaningless" when health care workers in hospitals "know the terrible truth".
The Sun is more sympathetic to the government's plight - saying that while it appreciates getting more PPE is "easier said than done" - ministers should "strain every sinew" to resolve the situation.
Moss a 'true sportsman'
Sir Stirling Moss was the first British driver to win a home grand prix
Away from coverage of coronavirus, tributes are paid to the racing driver, Sir Stirling Moss, who has died at the age of 90.
The Daily Telegraph's Oliver Brown considers whether Sir Stirling was the "perhaps the greatest racer of them all" - pointing out that he won 40% of the races he entered.
Writing in the Guardian, former F1 World Champion Damon Hill describes Sir Stirling as a "true sportsman" and someone who was a throwback to an era that understood what it meant to be generous in defeat, chivalrous and a fair winner.
Comedian Tim Brooke-Taylor was best known as one third of the popular 1970s show The Goodies, and I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
"Covid kills a Goodie," is the Daily Star's headline as it pays tribute to Tim Brooke-Taylor, who died yesterday aged 79.
In a similar play on words, the i describes him as "Always a Goodie".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-52265663
China coronavirus infections rise as some Spanish companies prepare to restart work
China has seen a rise in Covid-19 cases along its northern border with Russia, as some Spanish factories and construction sites are preparing to resume work amid other continuing restrictions.
On Sunday China’s national health commission reported 108 new infections, the highest number in more than five weeks, surpassing Saturday’s 99, which was nearly double the 46 reported on Friday.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/13/china-infections-rise-as-some-spanish-companies-prepare-to-restart-work
China's new coronavirus cases rise to near six-week high
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavirus/chinas-new-coronavirus-cases-rise-to-near-six-week-high/ar-BB12wXrp?ocid=spartandhp
The UK has cancelled an order for thousands of ventilators to treat coronavirus patients, it has been reported.
The government has confirmed it no longer wants the units because the treatment of COVID-19 patients in hospitals is more complex than anticipated.
It comes as half of A&E staff at one hospital have reportedly tested positive for the disease. The UK recorded 710 new coronavirus deaths on Sunday, taking the total number of people who have died in hospital with the virus past 10,000.
Reuters reported that distribution of the ventilator model, known as BlueSky, has been scrapped because more advanced devices are required.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-uk-cancels-order-ventilators-hospitals-070655222.html
People across the UK are being given incorrect information from the government about whether or not to isolate, with some wrongly instructed to remain indoors for 12 weeks, GPs have warned.
Doctors fear out-of-date information is being used as they are getting an increasing number of calls from people who do not understand why they have received a text or letter saying they are in the most at risk group. At the same time, some of those who are in priority groups are complaining they have been given no information, they said.
The list of who to contact, which would normally take weeks to do, was compiled in 48 hours, and given the huge undertaking errors are likely to have crept in.
Last month, the government announced it would contact 1.5 million people by 29 March to tell them that they should be “shielding”, which means they are most at risk to the virus and should stay indoors for 12 weeks.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/uk-government-giving-incorrect-information-144200848.html
The inclusion of “targeted herd immunity” as a possible UK government response to the Covid-19 pandemic – in a list of possible interventions considered for analysis by a contractor – appears to contradict strong denials by the health secretary 10 days earlier that it was any part of government policy.
Matt Hancock gave that response on 14 March after two senior government officials had said publicly that achieving “herd immunity” was a key aim, prompting widespread alarm among medical experts that the British government was planning to allow the majority of the population to become infected.
However, a proposed computer simulation of the impact of “targeted herd immunity” was contained in a planning document, used by NHSX and a technology contractor to map out the data response to the pandemic, around 23 March. While it does not appear the herd immunity simulation took place, its inclusion in a list of possible interventions raises questions about the government’s stance on the policy.
Dr William Hanage, a professor of the evolution and epidemiology of infectious disease at Harvard, wrote in the Guardian that such a policy would result in large numbers of people dying and the NHS being overwhelmed. He reflected the general bafflement among many experts, because “herd immunity” is typically achieved via widespread vaccination against a disease.
There is no vaccine for Covid-19, and “herd immunity” without a vaccine assumes that the vast majority of people who recover from the coronavirus will then be immune, which has not yet been conclusively established.
On 13 March, the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, defended the existing approach and said that building up some form of herd immunity, by having potentially 60% of the population (40 million people) contract Covid-19, was one of the “key things we need to do”.
Hancock made his public denials the following day. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) began to issue public guidance that said: “Herd immunity is not part of our action plan but is a natural by-product of an epidemic.”
That, however, still suggests that, despite the lockdown measures introduced on 23 March, the government does envisage a large proportion of the population contracting Covid-19, then recovering and having immunity, and for that to prevent the further spread of the virus.
Some medical experts maintain that, in the absence of widespread testing of people and tracing those they may have infected, this remains the government’s policy: to contemplate most of the population ultimately becoming infected, and eventually achieve herd immunity.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavirus/documents-contradict-uk-government-stance-on-covid-19-herd-immunity/ar-BB12xNsG?ocid=spartandhp
The UK has endured a “sombre day” in its battle against coronavirus as the death toll soared beyond 10,000 amid warnings the UK could be the worst-hit country in Europe.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, confirmed that some 737 people had died in hospital from the virus, taking the tally of UK deaths from Covid-19 to 10,612 on Sunday.
The news came as one of the government’s most senior scientific advisers warned that the UK was “likely to be one of the worst, if not the worst, affected countries in Europe” by the outbreak.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavirus/coronavirus-uk-could-be-worst-hit-country-in-europe-experts-warn-as-sombre-day-sees-death-toll-pass-10000/ar-BB12wJ0i?ocid=spartandhp
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson exited the hospital Sunday nearly a week after entering intensive care for coronavirus-related complications. But that spot of good news was darkened by a new grim statistic: His country’s official count of hospital deaths related to the virus surpassed 10,000 over the weekend.
Public health experts fear that Britain’s mortality rate may soon be or already is the highest in all of Europe, as pandemic-ravaged Italy and Spain slowly get to grips with the disease. Britain’s steady shift toward becoming the new European epicenter of the outbreak stands in stark contrast with nearby Germany, the only country on the continent with a bigger economy and whose government reported its first case around the same time as Johnson’s government.
In the second week of March, Johnson’s government justified its largely lax strategy — schools, restaurants and other major venues remained open, while only the elderly who were already infirm were advised to stay home — on the grounds that it was pursuing “herd immunity,” counting on Britain’s invulnerable groups to contract the disease and become immune. Just days later, the government backtracked, its supposed pragmatism crashing against new worrying projections of hundreds of thousands of deaths should it not impose lockdowns and strict measures of social distancing.
Meanwhile, on March 11, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that 60 to 70 percent of her country could contract the virus. But that wasn’t a statement of resignation — Merkel said the challenge now was all about winning time, and her country’s federal, state and local authorities had already set about attempting to achieve that.
“Nearly three months since their first positive cases, Germany has conducted more than 1.3 million tests and contact tracing remains central to its strategy,” noted BuzzFeed in a piece that presented a thorough timeline comparing both countries’ handling of the crisis. “The UK has carried out fewer than 335,000 tests and all but dropped attempts to aggressively trace contacts. About 3,000 people have died so far in Germany. More than 10,000 have died in the UK.”
Johnson’s proclivity for wartime bravura rings hollow in the midst of a public health emergency, especially when set against the more somber messaging of German politicians. “This pandemic is not a war,” German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in an Easter Sunday address that urged patience and solidarity with other countries. “It does not pit nations against nations, or soldiers against soldiers. Rather, it is a test of our humanity."
Emily Haber, the German ambassador to the United States, waved away any notion of German exceptionalism amid the pandemic. “We can’t state there is a specific German template,” she said during an online briefing call last week with reporters organized by the Meridian International Center in Washington.
Haber pointed to a number of key factors that gave Germany an advantage in its preparations: the widespread mass testing program; a relatively young population that made up the initial bulk of covid-19 cases, and mostly survived; and the benefit of time to expand intensive care facilities and build up stockpiles of medical equipment.
“We were able to prepare because we were not the first country in Europe affected, and we saw and could analyze developments elsewhere,” Haber said, adding that the “well-oiled machinery” of the country’s universal health-care system and effective coordination between the federal government and local and state agencies helped. Germany’s hospitals still have a surfeit of available beds for coronavirus-positive patients and may not face the same pressures that buckled health-care systems in other European countries.
Compared with Britain, Germany gave itself a real head start in testing. “The people [they were in contact with] were also traced and tested repeatedly and they were isolated as well,” Evangelos Kotsopoulos, spokesman for the German Association of Accredited Laboratories, told the BBC, adding that it helped “flatten the curve a bit and slowed down the rate of infection.”
“Rather than following countries like South Korea in taking immediate draconian action to stop the disease — including the use of mass testing — Johnson’s team thought a more modulated approach would ultimately save more lives and cause less economic harm,” the Financial Times detailed in a piece on the government’s early missteps.
Now, Britain finds itself playing catch-up while lacking key German advantages: a sophisticated and sizable biotech industry that helped fast-track widespread testing, and a decentralized political structure that — unlike, say, its equivalent in the United States — effectively enabled private laboratories and local and state-level agencies to take the lead on implementing testing. “While Germany broadened its testing strategy to cover all those with mild symptoms — the core of a strategy to test, trace and isolate people infected with the virus — by March, Britain was struggling to scale up,” the FT noted.
“We have the best scientific labs in the world but we did not have the scale,” British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC. “My German counterpart, for instance, could call upon 100 testing labs ready and waiting when the crisis struck, thanks in large part to Roche, one of the biggest diagnostic companies in the world.”
As Johnson continues his recovery, he faces an altogether different national challenge in 2020 than the one he had set out to achieve: Brexit. “The pandemic may yet prove to be this calamity. Perhaps history or the electorate will judge him for not taking it seriously enough, for acting too slowly or too reluctantly,” the Atlantic’s Tom McTague wrote in an essay that touched on the “sense of destiny” that seemed to tail the prime minister’s political career.
McTague added: Johnson’s “sudden deterioration came just as things in the country at large were getting worse. Johnson had not been laid low saving the day like Horatio Nelson, leading Britain through its modern-day Battle of Trafalgar. Instead, he appeared to be living the crisis itself.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/indepth/where-germany-had-success-in-fighting-coronavirus-britain-stumbled/ar-BB12xll2?ocid=spartandhp
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8216893/Captain-Tom-Moore-raises-1-2million-NHS-amidst-coronavirus-pandemic.html
Just WOW !
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8220789/WWII-hero-Captain-Tom-Moore-99-breaks-5MILLION-mark.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8222009/Governor-Nairobi-sends-coronavirus-care-packages-filled-Hennessy-cognac-poor.html