There's a village of 2,666 people where the average age is 70. They are all continuously exposed to Covid in a highly social environment. The virus leaves 12 dead. Five were terminally ill, and the others all had health issues. 23% had minor symptoms and 75% were asymptomatic. The one thousand odd crew who's average age was 36 were largely unaffected, with 147 having only mild symptoms. The village was The Diamond Princess, and because of it's isolation and 100% exposure, it should be the go to for all facts and data. Summery: If you're under 65 and not obese, I can't see the point of not living your normal life.
Well done to the local councils and individual restaurants who have committed to providing free meals for the poorest children outside term time this winter. Marcus Rashford, I have never had as much respect for a Premier League footballer as I have for you. If the Government isn't interested in kids with empty stomachs, it could at least concentrate on plugging the gaps that hundreds of thousands of people are falling through (and have been since the beginning of the pandemic). People who have not received one penny in support as their businesses have gone to the wall. People advised to sign up for Universal Credit. One formerly self-employed woman said she was trying to sell her house because she has literally no money left. The Universal credit she qualifies for is £54 per month. It cannot be beyond the wit of experts to modify the support schemes to help people like her. Yet nothing is being done. Either support struggling people properly, or lift all commercial restrictions and allow businesses to operate again.
There are plenty of people like myself who are actually better off now. Who have stopped going out and spending money, but still have the same income, so why not even the pain out a bit by taking a bit more in tax? It will have to come eventually. The idea should not be politically toxic.
Yes, it is just plain stupid. Allowing a few hundred fans into an enclosed room to watch football on screens, but with the football itself hidden behind curtains. So illogical, it has be be a wind-up.
Viceroy of Wales Mark Drakeford is enjoying putting down the peasants. 60,000 of his serfs sign a petition saying they'd still like to be able to buy children's clothes or kettles if they really need them (the highest ever number of signatures on a petition to his noble court), but the answer is still No. Common folk can no longer browse for such decadent luxuries. They must go in, pick up their bread and milk, and go home again as quickly as possible. I assume buying online is still allowed, for those who know how to do that.
I committed my first criminal offence yesterday...I bought a tube of glue in Wales. It's like living in a world where death has just been invented.
Lucky you didn't need any tampons in Tesco - you'd have been out of luck. Honestly, some supermarket managers haven't got the sense they were born with.
This is what we've come to. A radio broadcaster having to apologise for saying she will celebrate Christmas with six relatives. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54685296 Having to recant something that millions of people are feeling. Saying she is wrong to put one day of traditional happiness with her family ahead of an arbitrary rule probably devised by Dominic Cummings. Why bother with Christmas at all? If you can't celebrate it without breaking the rules, just give it a miss.
Bad news keeps coming. Now it appears that immunity only lasts for a few months if you've had the virus. The most reliable report is from MD in Private Eye, who correctly forecast that non-compliance would undermine any recovery. Only a third of Britons take their pills correctly, we just don't trust experts any more (except maybe when the boiler breaks down). We are also the unhealthiest country in Europe, Sweden is probably the healthiest hence they've got away with policies which would have wiped us out. He doesn't believe government policies will work, neither would Labour's, since it's too late for a lockdown.
Compliance was easier when the rules were clear and so was the motivation. In March we were all in it together, and the two clear objectives were to save lives and protect the NHS. (even if by protecting the NHS, or leaders were also protecting their authority). Now we are told we cannot destroy the economy. We can't afford to be compassionate or safe anymore. The economy now matters as much - or even more - than saving lives. Well f**k the economy. To millions of the poor and unemployed, 'the economy' just means keeping the wealthy, fat cats and the privileged in power. The politicians and advisors who are above the rules and the law. I'm f**ked if I'm going to jump through hoops for that cause.
One man has fallen out with his Mum over it. He found out she had 40,000 followers on you-tube and was spreading misinformation about catching the virus from 5G masts etc, the usual rubbish. She is so far down the rabbit hole that she answers talk of conspiracy theories by saying that "a conspiracy theorist is someone who doesn't believe what their controllers want them to believe". They've got an answer to everything. If you say what about the BBC and other news channels, they reply that they are all in on it. TRump won't deny that he's fighting an international *****phile network with tunnels full of trafficked children under London, he just says "I don't know". Social media appears to have sent a lot of people over the edge.
We have to learn to live with it. Other cultures live with famine and drought year after year. We are not special, we are just gobby animals who think we have some divine right to screw up the planet by way of greed and get away with it.
If you read about the Peru Covid disaster, you'll throw away your mask. Toughest lockdown worldwide. Borders closed, curfews in hours of darkness, essential shops only open for a couple of hours a day, military on every street, the whole economy closed down. Then we have Sweden that never locked down at two deaths a day, and normal life. Of course you'll get some expert saying you can't compare countries.
I disagree with bits of this. Sweden had one of the highest death rates in Europe when you factor in their smaller population. They were definately the worst in Scandinavia, and the last I heard they were (finally) considering lock down. There are clearly other factors at work here. Spain and the UK are currently sharing horrendous spikes in infection, but Spain took a much tougher line when lockdown ended (masks to be worn everywhere outside your dwelling). The one thing they seemed to share was a disastrous inability to track and trace. Boris announced a world beating track and trace months back, and the cost seems to be the only area where its beating the world. Spain still doesn't seem to have an app at all (I tried to find one and all that was on offer were sites that explained the symptoms) but relied on a series of 'tracers' - people who advised anyone who had been in contact with those diagnosed positive with telephone calls, which is a brutally slow way to do it. So the WHO advise that chasing down people in contact with infected cases to self isolate may have been the best way forward - South Korea was one of several countries who seemed to do this very well. China also ground Covid down to almost zero - they announced 'a' case this week and immediately locked down the area where it occured. In Spain we are getting locked up again now - big restrictions come into place tomorrow. It seems fair enough, the hospitals are getting saturated again, serious operations are being postponed as the ICU's fill up again, andwe can't have that. But someone needs to take a hard look at the countries that coped well with this, rather than the 'make it up as we go along' approach that is the hallmark of the Europe response.
Sweden hasn't had a second wave, and unlike the rest of Europe on plus 200% they are minus 16%. In addition 85% of the population live on just 2% of the land, their cities being three times as populated as ours. There initial high numbers were because of near zero protection of care homes. If European countries keep going at 200 plus deaths a day, by this time next year their total figures will look miniscule. We already have 32,000 additional deaths (9 students committed suicide this week) At this rate we will have a quarter of a million excess deaths by this time next year with a broken economy. Spain and Peru hardest lockdowns, and what a state they are in. No lockdown has worked. Would you personally like a second lockdown? ps. Why would Sweden lock down at only 2 deaths a day? pps: Japan didn't lockdown or track and trace. 128 million / 1,200 deaths.
Average lifespan of people in care homes is 2 years. 9 students dead = 740 life years. 9 care home residents dead = 18 life years. When you consider that the vast majority of the 24,000 care home deaths had demetia, then we can also consider quality of life. Students do not have to be fed or have nappy changes multiple times a day, plus they don't live in fear from being unable to communicate or comprehend the scary world they live in. Lockdown = A broken economy, an underfunded NHS, large scale domestic violence, suicides are already 400% up, 4 million unemployed already projected, mental illness, no contact with family, friends or community. I'm old, and I don't know one elderly person that want's protection...we want to live!
I don't want to have a pop at doctors of all people. But something isn't ringing true. A doctor was just on the BBC breakfast news, saying again that the NHS is open for all patients, not just Coronavirus victims. We hear this a lot. But it is not the experience of many people. Seconds later, the doctor also said don't go to A&E. His very words were "A&E is for life-threatening emergencies". Hang on a minute - since when? A few years back I spent 12 hours in A&E with a relative who had dislocated a shoulder. They were in absolute agony, crying with the pain. Is that doctor suggesting that if I dislocate my shoulder or break a bone (etc.) that I should just ring 111 and not go to Accident & Emergency? There is a truth here that is not being said. The NHS is NOT capable of looking after all the people who need it. We know for a fact that heart disease and cancer are huge ticking time-bombs that will explode over the next year or two. It is pot luck whether you'll get treatment even for life-threatening conditions at the moment, if you don't have COVID19. Please medics - stop saying that the NHS is still open to everyone, as though nothing is really wrong.
