Absolutely agree. Every expert under the sun from those countries heavily affected before us were saying the exact same thing. Lock down early and stop the spread early. We didn't lock down for weeks and even then, we tried a half-arsed version first. Arrogance, pride, stupidity, naivity, reputational fear - call it what you like, but our response has been reactionary and slow at almost every step rather than trying to get ahead of it. For some context. My parents recently flew back from abroad where they were visiting a family member. In the country they were staying, any incoming flights had the passengers met at the airpot, escorted to hotels and quaranteened for a week before they were allowed to leave and go on to their destination quickly. My parents on arrival back to the UK? Walked out of the plane, picked up their bags and hopped into a car waiting for them. This far along and we're still miles behind other countries in handling the spread. Anyone applauding the government on their amazing leadership and handling of this virus need their heads screwing back on.
Funny how BJ was so keen to emphasise the 'dither' and 'delay' over Brexit, yet that's exactly what the government ended up doing when something really mattered in a very direct way to people
Sorry you've been triggered by an off hand question I was posed. We wherent studying the numbers at the time. However im unsure how you can be so sure of your figures, why would we lose nearly all the care staff being as most catch the virus and survive without setting foot in a hospital. The comparison between this crisis and the world wars is getting very annoying. It's a proper little englander response, the blitz didn't stop the virus wont either. Its ridiculous.
Tim Brooke Taylor has died of Corona virus. R.I.P. Although most will remember him from the Goodies he had a much longer career on Radio and was a very witty guy.
1948 and the NHS is created. 400,000 beds to look after the population in their time of need. 2020.....the NHS has its lowest number of beds in its history....127,000. Shameful!
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...eventable-government-account?CMP=share_btn_tw Over the past few days I have received WhatsApp messages from NHS staff too afraid even to email them in case the paper trail leads to disciplinary action – detailing horrors of an NHS stretched thin, of ill-protected staff doing 36-hour shifts. They will be clapped every week, as the government claims to champion the NHS, yet gagged if they dare raise concerns.
It's an utter disgrace that NHS workers are afraid to speak the truth without fear of reprisals.....this country is ****ed.
R.I.P . very clever very funny man . anyone ember the 4 Yorkshire men python sketch ? he co wrote it and starred in the Original !
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...uk-pandemic-stockpile-fell-by-40-in-six-years 2016 pandemic drill highlighted a lack of PPE as a major flaw in the health service The Tories responded by further cutting £200m from the PPE stockpile
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/11/countries-preparedness-pandemics/ Not ignoring your points at all but a study into which countries were most prepared for a pandemic, carried out in 2019 put the US first and the UK second! If you look at the numbers from this current pandemic you wouldn’t think it was true! But it would suggest people weren’t quite aware how badly a pandemic could hit and how prepared we would need to be.
Was that factoring in Trump being at the helm because all current evidence suggests that the US are suffering the worst of all
That index seems to give far too much weight to a country's wealth, which is irrelevant if policiticans adopt a "do nothing" response like Trump and Johnson. The perfect example is Greece - European country with economy devastated by recent crisis so nowhere on the list, but immediately imposed sensible lockdown and is now one of the best countries in terms of actual response. Trump and Johnson delayed lockdown, against medical advice, until the population were practically begging for it. At that point the damage is done.
Michael Gove found abusing his position to get his daughter tested for coronavirus (negative result) None available for NHS staff though
Lockdown suggested as being lifted on 18 May, gradual lifting so maybe shops first, then cafes/pubs etc. The Cheese will be the last place allowed to open due to its clientele.
How are Belarus getting on ? I was following it for a bit but their figures (if we can trust any figures) were similar to ours despite doing very little I think ????
Cheers OR So they doing okay doing nothing - they were literally carrying on as normal Isn’t this odd ? Or does it mean they have t been exposed as long as the other European countries ???