Today there are reports from seaside towns of people flocking to the beaches, and photographs to prove it. Here you can walk on a beach, but not stop. In Spain even venturing on to one makes you face a €600 fine. Of course with the good weather and the travel restrictions lifted in England there is nothing to stop people going . The government has relied upon people using their common sense, but this will prove to be terrible advice if there is a second wave, putting all the pressure back on the NHS. please log in to view this image Southend today 20th May 2020
It surely is - I'm wondering if I missed an announcement from BoJo or Trump - one that said seawater will kill the virus. Or maybe Noel Coward was right about mad dogs and Englishmen...
If anyone is expecting this crisis to be over in the next few months, I think that the email sent out to civil servants who are working from home, telling them that they should prepare to still be there for the next six to twelve months says there is no quick fix. If that applies to government employees, why are teachers being told they should get to work in two weeks?
So the government has done a U turn on charging people who are from abroad to use the NHS. A major back down after Starmer raised it at PMQ's and found that there was a lot of support from across the whole political spectrum. A YouGov poll found that two thirds of the population agreed with Starmer, the only group that didn't were Brexit supporting Tories, and even that was by a narrow margin. So we will wait to see if those who have already paid will get their money back.
On my way back home yesterday I drove through a village with most houses flying a white flag. I wondered if it had something to do with the virus, but didn't know. I looked it up on the internet this evening and found this. please log in to view this image INFOS CORONAVIRUS : BÉLÂBRE HISSE LE DRAPEAU BLANC POUR SOUTENIR LES SOIGNANTS 23 MARS 2020 À 07H26 PAR BASTIEN BOUGEARD please log in to view this image Le drapeau blanc est traditionnellement un symbole de paix. Il est aujourd'hui un signe de soutien dans la lutte contre le coronavirus. Crédit photo : Ishai Parasol - FlickR Dans l’Indre, la commune de Bélâbre a vu apparaître des drapeaux blancs devant de nombreuses maisons. C’est une initiative du maire pour soutenir les soignants qui luttent contre la propagation du coronavirus. Traditionnellement, le drapeau blanc est un symbole de paix.Il est aujourd’hui un signe de soutien aux soignants qui se démènent pour sauver des vies menacées par le coronavirus.Dans l’Indre, la commune deBélâbrea décidé d'orner ses bâtiments d'un drapeau blanc pour marquer son soutien. « Symbole de la pureté contre le coronavirus » L’appel a été lancé le vendredi 20 mars par le maire de la commune sur la page Facebook de la ville. Laurent Laroche enjoint à ses administrés de hisser le pavillon blanc pour : « montrer tout notre soutien et notre encouragement aux personnels de santé, des infirmières aux infirmiers, des médecins au professeurs, aux spécialistes, aux équipes des urgences, aux équipes des Ephad, aux aides ménagères, aux professions du médico-social, aux chercheurs, aux ambulanciers, aux pompiers, aux forces de l'ordre, aux commerçants et aux caissières, aux chauffeurs routiers, enfin à toutes celles et ceux qui aujourd'hui font vivre la Nation ». Le blanc a été choisi en référence à la couleur des blouses des soignants et comme une couleur : « Symbole de la pureté contre le coronavirus ».
What is it with the Tories and numbers? After patting themselves on the back over the number of tests being carried out, the truth emerges - they've been double counting. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-...onavirus-tests-have-double-counted-officials/
Today the leading lights from SAGE came before a Commons committee and really let the cat out of the bag. The science was not followed at the beginning of this crisis because the government had not taken note of what was happening elsewhere in the world and didn't have the resources to deal with it. In order to cover themselves they stated that what happened in the early days was not based on proper advice, but were political decisions. Other countries did not have all the necessary resources either, but chose to go for an early lockdown to suppress the virus. The dither in Westminster resulted in changes of policy throughout March, yet the government claimed that it was still following advice. One member of SAGE has come out today and said that if the lockdown in the UK had come a week earlier, then it was quite possible that 10,000 lives could have been saved. If that is true then what a damming comment on this group of politicians.
Speaking of which... I'm not sure this would take off in the UK though - isn't the white flag also a symbol of surrender? I don't know what colour uniform healthcare workers in the rest of the UK wear, but in Scotland they wear blue - I can just imagine the reaction from the English press if every home in Scotland was encouraged to fly a blue flag...
Fancy that! I have just been asked by YouGov to take part in a poll on Cummings. Only two questions. 1. Did I think he had broken the lockdown rules? 2. Did I think he should resign? Having made my mark I discovered that 70% said yes to question 1 and 60% said yes to question 2 with 30% not sure. Quite how or why I received the questions I don't know as I have never signed up to anything with them. I looked closely at the wording of the questions and didn't really feel that it was loaded in one direction or the other. I find it all quite amusing after my wondering just where they get people from to take part. Although I would have been totally surprised to see anything different to those results, I will still continue to treat all poll results with a degree of scepticism.
Oh what a tangled web he weaved when Cummings practised to deceive ... https://www.theguardian.com/politic...st-doubt-on-dominic-cummingss-lockdown-claims
.... I wonder who paid for that particular poll... or who commissioned it?.......................................... No attempt at 'debate'. I see... Just more veiled wind ups...
