The true consequences of this pandemic have not even begun to bite yet. In the UK we are playing with definitions of who gets counted and who doesn't. Result? 6,000 off the death list and daily death rates down from 60 to a handful in the blink of an eye. Nobody gives a **** about infection rates now, because it's just young people and they get nothing more than a bad cold. When people see figures of 1,200 confirmed infections each day but only 6 deaths, and only 100 people on ventilators in the whole country, they are going to shrug and say "well it's no worse than flu now. In fact, flu kills many more people". So folks are fed up with social distancing, they just want to fly off on holiday. But we're all just fiddling while Rome begins to burn. The Chancellor says there won't be austerity again. Who the f**k does he think he is kidding? The economic impact of the lockdown makes the 2008 Credit Crunch look like a snowball fight compared to an avalanche. Furlough and a ban on evictions is hiding the truth from people. Added to our capacity not to think about things we don't want to face. The entire country - and the whole of Europe probably - is in the biggest case of collective denial in history. The next few years is going to see a depression the scale of which has never been seen before. And everything that goes with it - crime rates soaring, riots, despair and anger everywhere. The NHS is already broken. Just try using it. Despite the bullshit they tell you on TV, unless you've just had a heart attack you'll get NOTHING. More than HALF of our nurses say they are thinking about quitting. The Government FAILED to protect it. Unemployment will rise past 1 in 10 and it will keep rising. Already we have 1,000+ people applying for a single job stacking shelves. Drop-outs, squatters, gypsies and people forced to live like rats in urban sewer estates will outnumber folks who still have good jobs and nice homes to lose. There is no way the debt we are in can ever be repaid. I will be surprised if law and order can even be maintained.
23rd August update; 7 more days of infection & fatality data added. France and Spain are now deeply into second waves. Because the infections seem to be mostly of healthy young people who are disregarding the social distancing rules, the number of serious hospital cases and deaths is not really rising again yet. However it is just beginning to creep up a tiny bit. The real worry is when October / November comes. This may lead to a rise of Coronavirus infections among the elderly and vulnerable - as it does with Flu every year. But without a vaccine (as we will have for this years strain of Flu) our hospitals may begin to fill up again with very sick, weak patients. This is why we cannot afford to have many younger people just ignoring the rules. Their selfishness will cost thousands more lives.
Why do we quarantine people coming from an 0.9 country, when I can go to Blackburn 1.1 and not have to quarantine when I return south?
My neighbour is a nurse, says they haven't had an admission for covid for over three weeks, though the number of people contracting it in our area has gone up.
I've lost count of the number of Government U-turns now. And the number done in favour of policies enacted in Scotland. Nicola Sturgeon now runs the UK Coronavirus response. The Westminster Government is paralysed and discredited. Time and again they swear they will stand steadfast on this policy or that - then back down within 24 hours. Schools, businesses, people - nobody can plan ahead because the goalposts keep being moved at a moments notice. Never mind getting all het up about the Proms Boris - Get a grip man.
The average age of people that have died is 82. Only 1,200 apparently healthy people have died. The three main groups are the elderly in poor health, those with dementia and obese males. The one thing these three groups have in common is low or zero sex drive. Maybe mother nature is an economist as well as an evolutionary equaliser, as the cost of keeping these three groups alive is astronomical, obesity alone coming in at £1 million per hour. Maybe viruses play by the rules because we don't. I think the virus is slowing down because it has run out of victims. Just my thoughts.
Certainly isn't slowing down here in Spain - we're almost back to March numbers. However the death rate isn't accelerating the way it did last time. I've heard various theories about this. The biggest culprits for not doing the basics to avoid infection are the young, who don't die in such numbers. I also saw a doctor on CNN who said they are better at dealing with severe cases than they were at the outset, when the situation was both new and dire. He also postulated that the virus may have weakened. However, it would be inadvisable to imagine covid-19 has lost it's ability to kill.
So the lives of elderly people in poor health, people with dementia and obese males are worth less than other people's lives?
I'm not presuming the intent of what Sandman has posted. But I do want us all to be clear about it. His post reads to me as if he is saying the lives of elderly, vulnerable and obese people are worth less than the lives of young, healthy people. But I might have misunderstood. That's why I thought I would ask the question straight out. Not as an accusation, but simply a question. If Sandman says no, he isn't saying any person's life is worth more or less than anybody elses, I will accept that answer. But I will then ask for clarification on the point he was trying to make.
We’re back to the saying “ all lives matter “ being an ex- firefighter this is what we were taught and something that I believe in wholeheartedly
**** me, do you always look for the worst in people. I state facts given to me by a medical person and suddenly I want old people to die. Do you come out with nasty **** like this in the real world. can't have a decent discussion nowadays for evil minded people like yourself inventing an agenda. I'm 78, most of my friends are old. Do you think I want them all to die FFS! "I'll ask him for clarification" Who the f**k do you think you are?
I'll take that as a 'no' then. If that is not what you were saying however, I cannot see the point you were trying to make. But since my first question was answered only with abuse, I don't suppose you'd care to explain the point you were trying to make.
31st August update: Infection rates in Spain for the whole of August have been revised upwards. Spain and France are now the worst affected countries in Europe. The fatality rate is rising too in Spain, from single figures to low double figures. Infection rates are also rising markedly in Italy, though from a low base. Infection rates are more or less steady in the UK. For the first time in months, for a couple of days recently the infection rate in the UK was outside the worst four rates in Europe.
If you do not treat Lardi with the respect he clearly deserves then I will arrange for you to be removed from this Forum .... this is not ITTV where you can insult other posters for months without ramifications... respect other peoples views or Foxtrot Oscar
6th September update; France and Spain are suffering full second waves now, though Spain seems to be getting infection rates gradually under control. Fatality rates in France rising gradually, and faster in Spain. In the UK our fatality rates are very low and stable. But infection rates are climbing - from a low of about 1,000 per day a few weeks ago, towards almost 2,000 per day now.
The only people here in Spain who really think the virus is under control is the Spanish government. The death toll is way off the previous peak which maybe down to a larger proportion of younger people being infected (this maybe down to returning to work and such, but is very definable also because there is a percentage of morons amongst the 20-35 age bracket who want to get out and mingle and to hell with the consequences. I can sympathise to an extent - we all wanted to go out with our mates, have a booze up, and maybe pull someone at that age. But I read today the health workers are very worried about another big wave which will send some of them to their graves. And all because some youngsters think it'll never happen to them
My comment about Spain getting the infection rates under control was based only on the infection numbers, which seem to have fallen from a peak of nearly 8,000 per day a short while ago, to less than half of that now. I'm aware that figure may not be wholly reliable. It's all relative of course. I hear in the UK our daily infection rate is now pushing 3,000 per day. That's about six times what it was five or six weeks ago.
I believe Spain went way lower than that, down to about 20 or 30 per day - it really looked good. So the current rate of 3-4000 per day is awfull. I combined before about BoJo putting Spain on a list of countries requiring visitors to self quarantine. Now it would be a fairly appropriate response, although the UK infection rates are similar.
The first National "Second Lockdown" measure as far as I'm aware. Social gatherings do not include having to use public transport to get to work. Note as well: This ban does NOT yet affect schemes to allow fans to return to football matches.
