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Covid 19 UK.
There is another thread covering the pandemic.
This thread is now full of posts regarding how the virus is progressing throughout the world.
I for one, am more concerned about UK developments, than opinions in Belarus, how many protective masks the French intend to purchase from the Chinese, and posts discussing window cleaning timetables.
I am certain that many people will share my view.
There is plenty to debate about how our Government is handling the pandemic in the UK.
Some of the obvious questions that have come to light recently are as follows,
After two doctors have sadly died over the weekend. Are the heroic NHS front line staff committing suicide by reporting for work, when adequate protection is still unavailable?
How can we rely on the advice of those employed to keep us safe, when Boris, The Health Secretary, and chief medical officer, cant keep themselves safe?
What was Boris expecting to happen at the end of the 3 week lockdown, that he announced a week ago?
What is likely to happen after the lockdown has been extended to six months?
They had now admitted that it will take a further 3 weeks to achieve their target of 25,000 tests per day.
A very evasive Michael Gove appeared and Marr, and Sophie Ridge yesterday, if he was supposed to answer questions and reassure the public, he needn't have bothered.
Tony Blair appeared to be much more open, honest, and knowledgeable.
The Government have admitted that the acquisition of additional ventilators is vital. Although their actions fail to display any urgency whatsoever. They lost the email inviting them to join the EU scheme, and ignored the press conference announcing this policy. One reputable UK company offered our Government 25,000 ventilators, but sold them after not receiving a reply (and still haven't) to their offer, another company offered 500, but only received a reply after they were sold elsewhere. You may think that they would treat these offers with some urgency, as there is a worldwide shortage.
Matt Hancock has felt it necessary to lie to the public regarding the number of ventilators that are available, in order to reassure the public.
Yet their actions fail to display any urgency whatsoever.
I have a friend whose wife works in a care home. She has been instructed not to call an ambulance in the case of any resident over 90 showing symptons of the virus, as an ambulance will not turn up for anyone that old.
Is this common knowledge?
Does the same rule apply to all 80,000 care homes?
Why did Rishi Sunak leave the self employed hanging for a further 8 days after announcing the paye financial package, despite the fact they were virtually the same?
Other people will have their own questions, and opinions.
That is enough from me.
Please stick to UK developments.
This thread is now full of posts regarding how the virus is progressing throughout the world.
I for one, am more concerned about UK developments, than opinions in Belarus, how many protective masks the French intend to purchase from the Chinese, and posts discussing window cleaning timetables.
I am certain that many people will share my view.
There is plenty to debate about how our Government is handling the pandemic in the UK.
Some of the obvious questions that have come to light recently are as follows,
After two doctors have sadly died over the weekend. Are the heroic NHS front line staff committing suicide by reporting for work, when adequate protection is still unavailable?
How can we rely on the advice of those employed to keep us safe, when Boris, The Health Secretary, and chief medical officer, cant keep themselves safe?
What was Boris expecting to happen at the end of the 3 week lockdown, that he announced a week ago?
What is likely to happen after the lockdown has been extended to six months?
They had now admitted that it will take a further 3 weeks to achieve their target of 25,000 tests per day.
A very evasive Michael Gove appeared and Marr, and Sophie Ridge yesterday, if he was supposed to answer questions and reassure the public, he needn't have bothered.
Tony Blair appeared to be much more open, honest, and knowledgeable.
The Government have admitted that the acquisition of additional ventilators is vital. Although their actions fail to display any urgency whatsoever. They lost the email inviting them to join the EU scheme, and ignored the press conference announcing this policy. One reputable UK company offered our Government 25,000 ventilators, but sold them after not receiving a reply (and still haven't) to their offer, another company offered 500, but only received a reply after they were sold elsewhere. You may think that they would treat these offers with some urgency, as there is a worldwide shortage.
Matt Hancock has felt it necessary to lie to the public regarding the number of ventilators that are available, in order to reassure the public.
Yet their actions fail to display any urgency whatsoever.
I have a friend whose wife works in a care home. She has been instructed not to call an ambulance in the case of any resident over 90 showing symptons of the virus, as an ambulance will not turn up for anyone that old.
Is this common knowledge?
Does the same rule apply to all 80,000 care homes?
Why did Rishi Sunak leave the self employed hanging for a further 8 days after announcing the paye financial package, despite the fact they were virtually the same?
Other people will have their own questions, and opinions.
That is enough from me.
Please stick to UK developments.
Comments
PM's top aide remains in contact with Downing Street
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dominic-cummings-coronavirus-test-symptoms-positive-latest-a9433331.html
‘I say ‘how are you feeling’ and the first thing Boris said to me is ‘we need ventilators’.....’
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-coronavirus-trump-ventilators-uk-us-latest-a9431371.html
Labour says 2017 decision – made when Jeremy Hunt was health secretary – leaves ‘serious questions’ for ministers to answer
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-nhs-protective-equipment-jeremy-hunt-eye-protection-a9431311.html
BRILLIANT.
Surprise, surprise: Boris Johnson has the coronavirus – that's what happens when you ignore your own advice
It is suddenly obvious that the last two weeks have been a meticulously scripted warning of what happens if you ignore all of the government’s advice, precisely as the government has done
The standard format for public information films is to show in horrific detail what happens if you don’t do the right thing. Don’t check for motorcyclists when pulling out at a busy junction, and wallop! There’s one gone smack bang over your bonnet. Don’t stop smoking and suddenly you’re breathing through a hole in your neck.
And now that the prime minister, health secretary, chief medical officer, Dilyn the rescue dog and – according to Whitehall insiders – both of Chris Grayling’s brain cells are suspected or confirmed to have the coronavirus, it is suddenly obvious that the past two weeks have been a meticulously scripted warning of what happens if you ignore all of the government’s advice, precisely as the government has done.
Don’t stay at home; just carry on as normal, swanking about Westminster because, you know, as long as the little people stop spreading the virus, surely you can do what you like, including going on television and bragging about going to a hospital and shaking coronavirus patients by the hand.
Don’t “protect the NHS”, but spend a decade stripping it bare.
And save lives if you like, but whatever you do, definitely don’t give even a nanoscopic toss about anyone’s but your own. Where does it end? Well, it ends with you testing positive for the coronavirus, I’m afraid.
The dirty truth about washing your hands
Woah woah woah woah, you might say – you’re not actually laughing at Boris Johnson getting the coronavirus, are you? Yes, I’m afraid to report, we are.
One of humanity’s more curious traits in recent years is that the faster it approaches its entirely self-inflicted extinction, the more time it has to turn all jokes into morality-based quadratic equations. But the right and wrongs notwithstanding: is it okay to laugh at the guy who came up with the phrase “Operation Last Gasp” as a way to inject much-needed levity into the somewhat leaden reality that the UK has the worst prepared health service in the entire western hemisphere, now finding himself with a very mild case of the Covid-19s? Well, it’s Key Stage 3, at best.
It’s not a conclusion I’ve come to independently, either. As it happens, I used to live with four NHS doctors, and I’ve another in my close family. At the time of writing, 40 per cent of them are at home with suspected coronavirus symptoms (obviously none of them has been tested), and if they have discovered that the only psychological coping strategy is relentless self-mockery, somehow it wouldn’t seem right not to extend that privilege to the guy who, at least until this morning,<<b class="Bold">b class="Bold"> likes to stand behind a lectern that says, “Protect the NHS”, but hasn’t yet managed to give the NHS anything to protect itself with.
Whoever could have seen any of this coming, say, 16 days ago, when the health minister Nadine Dorries tested positive for the coronavirus and, within hours, 600 MPs crushed into the hot, sweaty, rodent-infested House of Commons to listen to a Budget that was rendered irrelevant about two hours later?
Who could have known things would end badly when Dr Neil Ferguson – the author of the report that convinced the government that the “herd immunity” strategy was nuts, and who got the coronavirus himself – said “there is a lot of Covid-19 in Westminster”, and then Westminster started telling the rest of the country that it could only come to work if that work was “essential.”
Meanwhile, it spent almost two full weeks holding debates on such matters as cavity wall insulation, the future of farming in Somerset, and rush-hour traffic congestion on Rawreth Lane owing to overrunning roadworks in the Rayleigh constituency of one Rt Hon Mark Francois MP.
By the time the 5pm Downing Street press conference came around, no one would have been surprised to see Congolese IT technician and BBC News Channel breakout star Guy Goma sweeping up to the lectern to read out the latest death toll.
In the end, it fell to Michael Gove to answer questions about why everybody in the government has come down with the disease they have shut down the country to try to contain. Mr Gove managed some vague flannel about how Covid-19 ”does not discriminate”. Except, it very obviously does. It very much discriminates against those who actually take the government’s advice and stay at home. It doesn’t go anywhere near them. The people it doesn’t discriminate against are the people who ignore the government advice, which is to say – the government.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/coronavirus-boris-johnson-matt-hancock-positive-test-a9430931.html
Derbyshire Police dumped the dye in the water at Harpur Hill in Buxton to deter visitors from taking selfies
The blue lagoon is a popular location and draws in hundreds of thousands of tourists every years
Dyeing lagoon might in fact backfire and make it more popular for Instagrammers looking for unusual snaps
Officers received reports of large numbers of people ignoring the government coronavirus lockdown
People have been urged to remain at home after the Covid-19 death toll in Britain today went past 1,000
Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8163209/Police-dump-black-dye-blue-lagoon-discourage-Instagram-selfies.html
but no, the so called great n the good and the rich n famous have access to a test, which is not freely available if we get ‘mild’ symptoms
The only reason we are not showing a more accurate picture numerically compared to other countries is our lack of testing
What was the govt actually doing in the 14 days we watched the Italy crisis unfold?...
Testing them before health workers? No.
Unless you trust any politician rather than a health worker in relation to disease.
Charles/Boris only have mild symptoms.
Every single day more people are dying than listed in the previous day's "serious" numbers. Which either means our hospitals don't understand "serious" (unlikely) or people are being left to die untested so that politicians can have peace of mind about their mild symptoms.
It's the National Health Service. People need to be tested primarily on their illness, not how important they are.
Bit worrying when it's the Chief Medical Officer...
They say a crisis brings out the best and worst in people, and never has that been pertinent than during this coronavirus pandemic. I've been so moved by the wonderfully selfless work being done by so many to help others get through this unprecedented situation - especially the world's health workers risking their own lives to save ours. And it's been great to see people in other industries like entertainment being creative and thoughtful in trying to rally people's spirits as millions of people sit at home worrying. But sadly, I've also been repulsed by some of the outrageous, offensive and occasionally downright obscene conduct of a minority of people who have tried to exploit the crisis for personal gain, arrogantly ignored warnings to save lives, or brought a whole new meaning to tone-deafness. Here are my 20 villains - so far!- of the coronavirus crisis who all need to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask themselves why they did what they did.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html
More Stupid Lies.
UK discussed joint EU plan to buy Covid-19 medical supplies, say officials
British officials took part in four meetings where EU projects to bulk-buy medical kit were discussed – the earliest in January, according to official minutes that heap doubt on government claims of missing an email.
Last week Downing Street claimed that it failed to take part in an EU scheme to source life-saving ventilators and other kit to treat coronavirus because it accidentally missed the deadline.
No 10 initially said it did not take part because the UK was no longer a member of the EU and was “making our own efforts”. After critics accused Boris Johnson of putting “Brexit over breathing”, Downing Street clarified that missing out was an error and it would consider participating in future. It is understood the UK claimed not to have received an email from the EU asking it to participate.
EU minutes seen by the Guardian show that a British official joined eight out of 12 EU health security committee meetings dedicated to the Covid-19 outbreak since the group was set up earlier this year, shortly before China’s Hubei province was put into lockdown.
At least four of those meetings discussed EU procurement schemes on: 31 January, 4 February, 2 March and 13 March.
While the government marked Brexit day on 31 January, a British representative joined EU member states and commission officials to discuss what was then called “the cluster of pneumonia cases associated with novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China”.
At this meeting, four EU member states said the virus could require increased stocks in Europe of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, masks and goggles, and the commission said it was ready to help if asked.
The EU executive stated it was ready to help countries bulk-buy medical equipment on 4 February. By 2 March, officials at the commission’s health department reported that 20 EU countries wanted to join a procurement scheme for personal protective equipment, such as overalls, gloves and face-shields. Later that month, on 13 March, EU officials discussed the combined purchase of ventilators.
Peter Liese, a German MEP and medical doctor who sits on the European parliament’s public health committee, said there had also been telephone calls between British and EU officials about the EU procurement scheme. “I know that they [British officials] were at a working level interested in joint procurement,” he told the Guardian.
The veteran German MEP dismissed UK government claims they missed an email. “It was not that they were not aware, but it was a decision not to participate,” he said. “If you are interested you don’t wait for an email.”
The UK was also able to sign up for EU procurement schemes via the EU’s “Early Warning and Response System”, an intranet site where European countries exchange information about communicable diseases.
The UK health department and the cabinet office have been contacted for comment.
The government claimed last week that the UK “did not receive an invitation in time to join in four joint procurements in response to the coronavirus pandemic”. Cabinet office minister Michael Gove repeated this account on Sunday, when he said there had been “communication confusion”, although added he was unaware of the details.
The Department of Health initially declined to comment when the Guardian reported last week that the UK had decided not to participate in any of four EU procurement schemes to buy medical equipment in response to the coronavirus crisis.
Nearly all EU countries, 25 out of 27, are taking part in the project for shared purchase of ventilators, while the same number are joining forces to buy protective kit for medical staff, such as masks and overalls. Separately, 19 are teaming up to buy laboratory equipment needed for tests.
Under then prime minister David Cameron, the government signed the EU’s joint procurement agreement in 2014, which was drawn up after some member states experienced shortages of medical kit during the H1N1 pandemic. The terms of the Brexit transition deal means the government has the right to take part in EU joint procurement until 31 December 2020.
The logic behind joint procurement is to reduce red tape, get better prices through wholesale purchase and take advantage of medical purchasing skills that may be weaker in some countries, especially smaller ones.
Liese urged the UK government to continue working with the rest of Europe on the search for better treatments and a vaccine against Covid-19. “When the scientists from Berlin, Rome, Paris, Oxford and Cambridge work together [on treatments] we are faster and better than if we would work separately. The same applies to vaccines. European cooperation is crucial.”
The European commission said on Friday the UK “is most welcome to join any future procurement launch”.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavirus/uk-discussed-joint-eu-plan-to-buy-covid-19-medical-supplies-say-officials/ar-BB11VthS?ocid=spartandhp
We can only manage about 6,000 per day.