Coronavirus .....
Here's an Observation.
According to the World Health Organisation and our NHS the current Strain of Coronavirus that is causing all the Problems originates in Civix Cats and Dromedaries. Thus, Countries where Camels are as common a form of Transport as the Bicycle ought to be dropping like Flies. The thing is they aren't.
While European and North American Countries where you won't find Camels tied up outside a Bazar have reported Cases running into the 1000's and Deaths in the 100's Countries where you will don't.
Turkey, 670 Cases, 9 Deaths, Saudi Arabia, 344 Cases, 0 Deaths, Kuwait, 159 Cases, 0 Deaths, Jordan, 85 Cases, 0 Deaths, even Countries with severely crowded Cities like Pakistan, 519 Cases, only 4 Deaths, while War ravaged Iraq has only 208 Cases and 17 Fatalities.
Either People are missing something and maybe People from these Countries have an Immunity developed over Centuries of Contact with Camels or it didn't come from them at all.
If it's the former has anyone thought that they might be able to provide a Vaccine that spreads that Immunity?
Just a Thought!
And these aren't one offs either.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same across all of North Africa, Arabia and Asia, despite Wars and poor Sanitation.
I've just googled "Britain on lockdown" and got Reams of national and regional Media Websites with the latest, but not one www.gov Site with any definitive Statement.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping that both Prime Minister Johnson and Health Minister Hancock make a prompt Recovery and continue running the Country and Health Service during this most horrible of Crises!
ReplyDeleteIt shows just what we are dealing with.
Someone was launching Fireworks last Night. Good for them, heck, anything that might be a bit of Fun is worth doing.
Covid19 Clickbait
ReplyDeleteOur Media have stooped to an all time low.
The Question everyone wants answered is how long will all this go on for before they can see Friends and loved ones, return to Work, earn a Living, study, just do Stuff, and the Zillion other things the Lockdown has suspended? Many News Media Sites have their Google Listing as "When will things be back to normal or when will it end?" How many click on it to see, expecting a Statement from an Epidemiologist or World Health Organization? When they do there's no mention of it anywhere, while what is worse is how what is mentioned is laced with the usual Nameocracy Bullshit they stoop to in that elusive Normality.
Wonder if Chaucer, or the likes of, did same during the Plague, or Press like Randolf Herst did it during the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1919.
"Blowing in the Wind"
ReplyDeleteThere was a peculiar Pre-amble to all of this, certainly in Britain. We were continually battered by Storms for Weeks before. Nearly 2 Months of Rain, Hail the size of Marbles and Gail force Winds ravaged the Country. Wales has suffered severe Flooding in many Villages and Towns. Days when every conceivable form of Weather would happen in 12 Hours, from warm Sunshine to Sleet, even Snow.
If Europe suffers from Pollution blown across the Atlantic from America and America has same from Asia and the Pacific, is it possible that Covid19 could be doing something similar across the North Sea and English Channel? It's less than 25 Miles from Dover to Calais and with Winds of up to 80 MPH the Virus could carry in far less time than the estimated 12 Hours it survives on non organic Surfaces.
If this is true then what would help might be a few Days of still Weather so what Virus is on any Surfaces merely dies off. According to other Sources it thrives in Cold Weather so hopefully as things warm up in the Spring would it slow it down?
Also, it's typical that we have Weeks of awful Weather and we can go out, socialize, work, play, shop etc as much as we like - as soon as it improves we are put on Lockdown!
Here's something I think is astonishing.
ReplyDeleteI have googled "Covid19 UK latest" several times in recent days and the first Item on Page 1 isn't the NHS or the World Health Organisation. It's the Guardian who have taken to running Clickbait Headlines with no relevant Story, the second is the Telegraph doing similar.
Why haven't the People running the Search Engines and those running the Internet met with Health Ministers or the UN to put together a co-ordinated Information Strategy that isn't subjectified by Media Companies? Thanks to Video Conferencing and Skype you don't have to commute to London, New York or Geneva. Bill Gates could do it from his Front Room in Seattle.
The first Items on any Coronavirus Web search should be either the World Health Organisation or your Countries Health Service, not Media Companies getting you to click on their Website!
I'm not a Doctor, Nurse, Clinician or Pharmacologist but there's a horrible Irony with all this ....
ReplyDeleteA few years ago Work was done on a Vaccine for SARS and what was SARS-CoV, except as the Threat receded so did the Work and it was shelved. If it wasn't there might be an industry produced Vaccine for these stockpiled or even administered.
The current SARS-CoV2 or COVID19 is 86% similar.
Although this suggests that it is different, it's still only 14% different. If a Vaccine existed that dealt with the 86% similarity wouldn't that cripple the Virus or at least reduce it?
A Ferrari without any Fuel is an ineffectual pile of Junk!!!! A Ferrari without Fuel, Wheels, Seats, Engine, Lights, Windows or Doors isn't even salvageable!!!!
If they had continued Work on that Vaccine they'd probably be manufacturing and stock piling something that could stand up to an 86% chance of combatting Covid19.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, a Virus has DNA like any other Organism. If you are given something that prevents anything up to 86% of it haven't you neutralised it?
How erratic does your Computer become if only a few Dll Files are missing or broken? A Computer Virus is still a Program like any other, except it's an unfriendly one that either kills your OS or does other things like hack into Data. So what if you destroyed some of its Programming? It ceases to work just like any Program in your Computer. You then run Crap Cleaner to sweep up the Detrious on your Disc Drive.
I'm not sure how much actual Science went into "Jurassic Park" but when Richard Attenborough tells them how he cloned those Dinosaurs he made up for the missing Components with Frog DNA. Thus, if he hadn't he might have Dinosaur DNA but no Dinosaurs. If a Vaccine targeted similar Elements of one Virus to another you don't have a Virus.
You might have a 20ft Chain, until you break any one of the Links, then it's no longer a 20ft Chain.
They ought to have completed Work on the SARS-Covid Vaccine, then there might be something that stands up to an 86% Chance of preventing what we have now rather than no Chance at all! They might have eradicated some Illnesses like Smallpox in some developed Countries but they still make the Vaccines for them.
While there might once have been a different Ethos to developing and producing Vaccines which are still available even though the Diseases they are meant to combat have gone in most Countries, it seems Corporatism has corrupted Lily the Pink these days!
ReplyDeleteWonder if Mr Smiley has any Comments about any of this ......
ReplyDeleteRecommended Viewing .....
ReplyDelete"The constant Gardener" written by John Le Carre - based on his Research into the Activities of "Lily the Pink" isn't that right Mr McGear!
Had a few things to say about what went wrong in the 1990's too if I'm not mistaken!
Not particularly reassured by the Statement today from the Health Secretary.
ReplyDeleteInstead of glibly worded Govtspeak maybe he'd like to tell us why an Island with the world's most thorough Health Service, the 4th wealthiest in the World and with 1/20th of the Population has 2000 more dead People because of Corona Virus than the Chinese.
Countries you would associate with Poverty and Famine like Ethiopia and Bangladesh have lower Rates. Ditto for those with War (Iraq, Syria etc), and crowded places like Hong Kong and Mexico City are the same!
I'm still aghast at how some are reporting this thing .....
ReplyDeleteThey write as if they were Alien Scientists on the Planet Zog, that it somehow doesn't effect them. Like they can somehow kick the proverbial Ladder away from the rest of us. Ignoring how every Country on Earth is affected.
The BBC were very aware that the Blitz could affect them, so they built a Bunker under Broadcasting House and put Slabs of Concrete on the Building to reinforce it against Bombs. Correspondents covering the Cold War had Colleagues and Contacts at the receiving end of the Regimes Harshness. Some had to continually deal with Party Bosses running the Media, so it affected them as much as those they reported about. Some were beaten up, and it was the same for those covering Apartheid.
There are very many who fell in the Line of Duty, some who suffered as much as the People. Dith Prahn the Kampochean Journalist made famous by "The Killing Fields" is one of them.
But, it seemed as these Stories faded so did the Standard of Journalism needed to cover them. I probably caught the tail end of this in those very early post Cold War - post Apartheid Years. That those doing it now seem to think they are somehow denatured and removed from what is happening. Maybe they think they have Angels fly out of their Arse or something.
Whether it was John Astor going down with the Titanic, or Boris Johnson contracting the Illness - Life shows you there is no Certificate of Exemption.
And something they don't mention in any coverage about how long this might go on for is the Increase in Fatalities since the Lockdown was introduced.
ReplyDeleteWhen it was the Figure would increase by Increments if about 200 a day. Now it's closer to 1000, so faced with that it's very unlikely the Lockdown will be rolled back soon. In that Period what sort of Society will develop because of it?
I'll admit that other Countries might have less reliable Data Collation, either through lack of Resources or Political or Propoganda Motives. But there are other Sources that can verify or dispell whatever Figures they give us, while not every one of those Countries with fewer Fatalities will distort them for Propaganda purposes!
What I don't understand is why this wasn't dealt with by the international Community as long ago as January 30th. It was declared a "Public Health Emergency of international concern" by the World Health Organisation at that time but not a Pandemic until March 11th. The ambiguity of the former proved fatal when it's Parameters say "potential" rather than "actual".
ReplyDeleteHad it been "actual" the WHO ought to have instructed Governments everywhere to test anyone coming coming in via Airports, Seaports and Border Crossings from China and quarantining anyone found positive. China might be the most populated Country in the World but it would still have been quite practical to have done so.
Then, when the Chinese had implemented their Lockdown and closure of Transport Systems the Disease might have been halted without quite as much disruption to the rest of the World.
Instead there were another 2 Months of Movement with People travelling and the Disease becoming a Pandemic.
Many are calling for China to pay Billions in Compensation to other Countries affected but Beijing isn't responsible for World Health Organisation Policy or those of other Governments.
What should come from all this is a far more co-ordinated Response involving those Governments and the WHO to thwart future Pandemics before they start.
I've just seen some Reports about how China and the World Health Organisation are to blame exclusively for the Pandemic. Not sure that's completely accurate. Governments worldwide either chose to ignore what the Organisation said about the Virus on January 30th or they don't monitor them. Health Ministers like Matt Hancock should have a direct line to the WHO by default. If he, and other Health Ministers worldwide didn't why bother having a World Health Organisation at all?
ReplyDeleteHad they acted more proactively after it was announced - testing People arriving from stricken China, and Huwei Province particularly, they wouldn't have needed as many Kits. It's the same with the PPE Sets Health Workers use. There are shortages of both now, which wouldn't have been had they acted at the end of January.
The chronic inertia in the Response by all Governments is criminally negligent. To hear MI5/6 go on about investigating our relationship with China is an attempt to deny any Responsibility.
It's also insulting to the many brave Health Workers everywhere struggling to fight this Disease. They aren't looking for Scapegoats or a Blame Culture, they're just trying to save Lives at severe risk to their own.
ReplyDeleteTheir Bosses might not be quite as heroic as they look for others to blame for their Mistakes and Inertia! The World Health Organisation can only advise, they can't administer or enforce. That is the Job of each Countries Health Ministry.
They made their Announcement nearly 3 Months ago, and as some Counties mortality rate has doubled in just a Week that is a long time in the process of a Pandemic!
China couldn't have closed every Exit Point in the Country after January 30th. The Diplomatic Furore could have sparked a War as every Ambassador in Beijing and Consul elsewhere sought an Audience with the Government to ask why their Citizens are being kept in China and can't go home. The Ramifications on the global Economy would have been catastrophic as many western Countries have manufacturing bases there while Finance would have suffered with Banks like HSBC.
ReplyDeleteTesting everyone leaving the Country would have involved testing half the People in every Airport, Harbour, Train and Bus Station and Border Crossing. It would have been a logistical nightmare. Imagine everyone leaving Heathrow's Terminal 4 being funneled into temporary Clinics and you aren't even close. They wouldn't have had enough Kits anyway to continue it for long enough.
If Governments everywhere had done this instead they only deal with those coming to their Country, be they their own Nationals coming home, Travellers through China and Chinese. Thus the Onus and the Burden has been shared in a genuinely global Cooperation.
China isn't a Shengen Country so everyone coming from there would have to go through Passport and Immigration. Unless they were Stowaways it would have been difficult for them to avoid this. Almost every Airport and Seaport has huge Hotel Complexes and Naval Bases adjacent - so it would be easy to quarantine People if tested positive.
There was a Month and a half from the WHO announcement to many of the Lockdowns so how many 'Carriers' must have flown, sailed, drove and walked from China in that time?
Even if China has had a Cover-up, why would the World Health Organisation be somehow complicit when the UNHRC also monitors the Regime? The Government in Beijing might have obscured the real Figures from them but here is the Definition of a "Public Health Emergency of international concern"
ReplyDeletehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Health_Emergency_of_International_Concern
Thus, Beijing might be what it is but to blame them is to deny your own Responsibility. When the WHO makes this sort of Announcement it must be taken with the utmost Gravitas. It wasn't!
Why is almost everything on YouTube of any substance about this is Australian? Haven't the BBC made any Documentaries about it?
ReplyDeleteI notice some Media are speculating about when the Lockdowns will be ended because the Infection Rate has "flattened", while some Countries are relaxing some of theirs.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Doctor, Epidemiologist, Clinician, Nurse or Pharmacologist but I know that that Rate has done so because of those Measures. The Virus hasn't somehow started to die off or fizzle out, while Patients who have come through it did so without any sort of curative Treatment. They were just made as comfortable as possible or put on Life Support while their own Systems fought it off.
It would be tragic to them and a cruel Irony to those who treated them if the Lockdown was lifted too soon and the Virus had a Resurgence. The only real end to it will be a Treatment that pro-actively confronts the Virus like you would use Anti-biotics and a Vaccine that prevents it.
How much of the Speculation is coming from Media Companies whose Owners are looking at their financial Portfolios and Governments trying to maintain Popularity?
For all his Gaffes on some of this President Trump said how it would be very wrong to announce a premature Victory in the Battle against it!
Health workers everywhere, from the most senior Consultant to the Hospital Porter - public and private - current and retired should have a "No, not yet" Campaign where they lobby Ministers and Leaders not to slacken before we are ready. We are still nowhere near a Cure or Vaccine.
ReplyDeleteAll it would take is one Country of 10-15 Million to recommence like there was nothing wrong. That Country then becomes a Test Tube, an Incubator cultivating and spreading the Virus to be inflicted on the rest of the World.
To announce a continuation of the current Measures isn't popular, but neither was Rationing during WW2, but it had to be done. People might have cussed Churchill when he announced it, but it worked in the long term.
People should be skeptical when their Prime Minister or President hints at rolling back the Restrictions so they appear popular. So what if they tell you you can go back to the Pub or Restaurant - that Pint or Meal might kill you.
When I say Health Workers I don't mean Health Ministers for that very reason. A Health Minister is a Politician when Push comes to Shove, and might be tempted to play that Game.
It's the difference between being told what you want to hear, and what you need to hear.
The Media might also be tempted for financial Motives. Imagine the Upturn in the Markets if the World announced it was Business as usual!
It's encouraging to see that Governments have resisted the Temptation to slack off.
ReplyDeleteI think People are still in denial to themselves as much as anyone else. The economic Ramifications are terrible as the Recession feeds itself. No-one is making Money, thus not spending or paying into the IRS, hence less Money around, thus no-one is making any! Shops limit the amount of People on the Premises so aren't taking as much, who aren't spending as much or going as often. Lockdowns can't continue indefinitely while I hope People will use common sense before they might decide to do anything else. It's one thing to die fighting, another to just be a Punchbag to the Invisible Man.
ReplyDeleteThe Rules about State Pensions apply to anything else involving public Money.
The Arguement is, the Population is getting older, while more will be of pensionable age in 2029-30 than any other time. Fewer People are paying into a System that was calibrated for the late 1940's and 1950's when there was full Employment.
Thus, if you are a public sector Worker on furlow - paid a Retainer - how long can they do that before the Money runs out?
Private Sectors are all interconnected.
Private Pensions make their Money in the same Markets AIG did before they very nearly died during the Crunch of 2008. A shoddy Mortgage Company goes under and Insurance Companies follow.
To get an Idea of what it might be like draw a Line from Shropshire to Aberystwyth in Wales, UK and ask many Communities south of it what Life has been like since their main Employers - Coal and Steel were closed. Jones the Coal has closed, thus no-one is spending in Dai the Hair, Thomas the Cafe or Evans the Shop. That Employment was never replaced thus none of the others re-opened for the last 35 years.
Maybe the very Welsh named Bob Dylan summed it up in "Like a Rolling Stone" and what got those People through it all was a tremendous community Spirit.
Hopefully, that might prevail now!
While everything is connected, particularly Money, the economic Effects of all this are only now being realised.
ReplyDeleteBritain and America saw the biggest rate of Unemployment Benefit Claims in the History of the Welfare State in just 2 Weeks. These People will probably remain unemployed during the Crisis and more will be added.
During this the Health Service will require more Funding as it struggles to contain the Virus. It should also be remembered that day to day Work by Hospitals hasn't stopped because of it. From Maternity to broken Limbs, the Stuff they deal with continues.
Then there's the Vaccine. How are they going to organise it's application if or when it becomes available? Just administering the annual Flu Vaccine which not everyone has involves using additional Premises like Church and Village Halls. We will have 60Million in Britain lining up for their Covid19 Vaccine.
Then, when this is done we get the all-clear. People can recommence their Routines, except can they? We are being told that things won't be the same after this, but that might not be through choice. Business's might try to re-open, at least any that might be left, except they'll be selling to a Population with huge Unemployment. There will be Euphoria, like the VE day Celebrations, and heck, I'm gonna Rock and Roll like never before when that happens, but rather like the end of WW2 there will be a lot of 'Marshall Aid' needed to help repair the Damage. Jobs will have to be created, public Works to catch up on what couldn't be done during the Crisis, Education, maybe even some social rehabilitation. A complete restructuring of Health Spending as it has proved invaluable.
The Recovery will be all encompassing and will take quite a long time. It affected even more things than a total War that still meant you could work, rest and play, while economic Crises were similar. This closed Workplaces, Education, and social Places and Nightlife.
The Stats .....
ReplyDeleteI notice that China's mortality Rate is going up again, after not doing so for about a Fortnight. Those whose Job was to report the Figures had either been fired or told not to for that time for Propaganda reasons, while the recent ease on their Lockdown might have caused a Resurgence. There were Alt-Media Reports of Crematoria disposing of what could have been an estimated 40000 Corpses. Not sure how much of that is true, but if a Billionaire and eminent Doctors who spoke out against the Government's Handling of the Crisis can disappear so could 40000 People.
America is rapidly heading towards the same Rate as those who died in Vietnam from 1965-75. The thing is - that is in just over a Month in Peacetime, not 10 years of War. Donald Trump seems to have handed Responsibility to the State Governors probably to stave off any future Blame, while his recent Press Conference seemed bereft of the robust Statement about not declaring Victory prematurely!
Is 'The Donald' succumbing to Popularism and the Machinations of Business? People wanting him to announce an end to the Crisis so their Portfolios can recover, not because it is an end to the Crisis? And why is America suffering so badly being the wealthiest Country in the World?
While Italy is at more than 23600, Spain at 21000, France having 19600 and us at 16600 how has Germany got off so comparatively lightly with 4400? How have they done that in a Country with Borders everywhere, Rivers flowing from several Countries, a Population 20Million more than those others, mega-Cities like Berlin and Enclaves not that different to the old DDR?
How is Russia still at less than 400????
When or if the Vaccine becomes available it is going to be the biggest Program of its kind in Britain. Vaccinations are usually given as and when People are born or to individuals should they need one. This is going to be to everyone which creates huge Problems with Production and Distribution ...... before it is even administered. Expect to see Lines of People at temporary Clinics everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThis is where the Public should ask what they can do for that Process as much as what it might do for them. Volunteers everywhere ought to offer their Services to ensure it is done as quickly and easily as possible!
Meanwhile, the Government are a bit tetchy about People saying they were slow to respond to the Crisis. It would be unfair to say it was just them, and maybe more accurate to say that many Governments might have dealt with it better.
ReplyDeleteWhen the WHO announced it on January 30th EVERY Government ought to have made Broadcasts, Print Media Announcements, Posters and any other promotional Media asking People if they, or any of their Family had been to China in the last 3 Months. This might apply to anyone staying in their Country. Covid19 is thought to have arrived here via British Nationals coming from other infected Countries.
If the Answer is "yes" then they should phone a Number, visit a Website or report to the nearest Clinic for a Test. The Brits who brought it here did so completely oblivious to any of it until they had spread it in Britain. At least with this they might have known.
Anyone they had contact with could tell them about it.
I'm not sure the Awareness Campaign was particularly omnipresent either. We had another 2 Months before the Lockdown during which I don't think anyone took it seriously. President Trump's Gaffe about it being clear in a Fortnight didn't help, and contrasted with Pictures from Seoul of Quatermass People dousing the Streets with Disinfectant.
Also, has anyone had the Letter we were supposed to get 2 Weeks ago reiterating the Government Website, with Instructions, Guidelines and Contact Numbers?
I haven't!
Although the Figure might be rather more after 36 Hours the Mortality Rate for Britain, last updated at 5pm on the 24th of April currently stands at 20,319. I'm sure everyone extends their Condolences to the Families and Friends of each of them!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, after yet more Australian Stuff on YouTube about all this, posted by the Network that makes it, why hasn't the BBC done this?
I just saw a Documentary about what was happening in New York. Did anyone else spot the Irony of the Police Officer loading Boxes of Surgical Masks while not wearing his? The Woman doing the Program was, along with just about everyone else in it.
Here's another Irony .......
ReplyDeleteAs the Lockdown has reduced the amount of Vehicles probably by about 75% why was the Air Quality so bad last night?
Here's a thing.
ReplyDeleteYou haven't been able to even see a GP in the last 6 Weeks. You can't see a Dentist, or an Optician, People have had life restoring Operations cancelled until further notice, you can't send your Kids to School and local Government Expenditure has been cut back, then redirected to provide Covid19 Services.
But, heck, the Avon and Somerset Police can find the Fuel, Money and Time to fly it's Helicopter somewhere for ..... erm ....... what exactly?
It has to cover North Somerset, most of Bristol, Avonmouth, Shirehampton, Sea Mills, the M5 from the Severn Bridge to Weston Super Mare, and the latter.
So what is soooo important about Roath Road?
Meanwhile, at a time when the whole World battles the 21st Century equivalent of the Flu Pandemic 100 years ago why is there so much Antagonism against China? There should be a thorough Enquiry into the Virus and how it was dealt with by everyone, but not while People everywhere are struggling to find effective Treatment. If things deteriorate with Beijing too much won't that compromise their sharing research results? That their Government might become reluctant to allow their Scientists to divulge their Findings for political and Propaganda reasons.
ReplyDeleteThe big accusation against them is how they covered up the extent of the Virus for similar propaganda purposes. If they were so coy about all that they might be similarly secretive about their research against the Coronavirus.
The thing is, they aren't, and are just as eager as anyone else to resolve it. It seems a bit inappropriate for Politicians to use the Crisis as an anti-China propaganda War when Chinese Attempts to end it are being made available to the World.
100000 Tests a Day?
ReplyDeleteAs the Covid19 Stats and Figures become sublime to the point of Meaningless has anyone considered what that Government Target implies?
Even if they did reach that elusive 100000 Tests a Day that's a Million every 10 days. That means it would take 61 X 10 days = 610 Days to test everyone in Britain!
If they, and every other Countries Governments, had been quicker off the Mark with testing People coming from China and Contact tracking others on and after January 30th they probably wouldn't need that many.
The 100000 Tests a Day Target is one of the 5 Criteria for lifting the Lockdown which implies we are still a very long way from when that happens!
The brutal Arithmetic of this is how - even if they started testing 100000 People a day in Britain today - they would still be doing it up until the last Week of January 2022. At the moment they are only doing about 20000!
ReplyDeleteThe World Health Organisation works through the United Nations. What I don't understand is why the UN didn't convene an emergency Meeting of all Countries UN Ambassadors, addressed by a Spokesperson from the WHO.
They then instruct their Governments to initiate Testing of anyone arriving at Airports, Harbours and Borders from China and doing Contact tracking of these while asking anyone else who had been to China since November last year to come forward.
This would have been considerably less than 100000 in Britain and less than that elsewhere!
Rather like I could ask if we are making Peace or selling Beatles Albums ...... George?
ReplyDeleteThe Failure by the UN to initiate a global Strategy to combat the Virus as long ago as January 23rd when Wuhan and other Chinese Cities went into Lockdown looks very odd. After all, Cities aren't effectively curfewed for no Reason.
A few days ago we overtook Spain, now we're just 1200 behind Italy.
ReplyDeleteProportionally we are worse off than America.
With slightly more than a 1/6th of the Population we have very nearly half of their Mortality rate.
America, in its turn now has a Rate 12000 more than that of the Vietnam War.
Meanwhile, as Politicians strive to curry Favour with the Electorate and maybe even Lobbyists it seems they aren't necessarily singing from the same Sheet as People working in relevant Jobs ........
ReplyDeleteGrant Shapp - Transport Secretary - might seem prematurely optimistic but John Holland Kaye - Director of Heathrow Airport - was skeptical.....
"Social distancing does not work in any form of public transport, let alone aviation.
The constraint is not about how many people you can fit on a plane, it will be how many people you can get through an airport safely.
If you’ve ever been on holiday from Gatwick, you cannot imagine going through there and socially distancing in the summer.
It’s just physically impossible to socially distance with any volume of passengers in an airport. The same applies with trains and Tube stations.
So we need a better solution, which means that in a few months’ time, when the disease is under control and with a low risk of infection, we can make it as low risk as possible for people to fly."
Not sure why the Bloke who runs Heathrow is commenting on Gatwick!
As Government tried force feeding us with Kool Aid - Boris Johnson seems to have found another 80,000 Testing Kits in just a few days. Wow huh!!!!
Elsewhere, Donald Trump has seen Evidence that Covid19 was developed in a Chinese Laboratory, or at least so he tells us. It was Australian PM Scott Morrison who called for an Inquiry into how it came from China - but he says he hasn't.
I disagree with Cambridge Statistician David Spiegelhalter. warning against a Eurovision approach to comparative Stats on the Virus.
ReplyDeleteOther Countries might, or might not, gather and collate Figures the same as we do but to compare each is useful to see if we, or they, can learn from each other. How did Germany keep theirs at about a quarter of other European Countries for example? That that has been compromised by an easing of their Lockdown is crucial Information to the rest of us as our Government decides what it might do.
Drawing Comparisons with America is also important. At the current proportional Rate we would have suffered 160,000 Fatalities if we had the same Population. An Island Nation with no Borders should find it easier to stave off the Virus than one that isn't. We are now coping with it thanks to our brave Health Workers, but that Figure should also ease Fears in the US and maybe they might still be better off than us. Their Morale in some Cities is at rock bottom so it could do with a Boost.
Every Government should examine each others Stats which might prompt them to do better if it looks like it could improve things.
The German Example shouldn't just be seen in a European Context anyway.
ReplyDeleteTo see the most successful - and populated - Country on the Continent (80Million) with vast Conurbations and 9 national Borders - lose some of that advantage once they eased some of their Measures to deal with it is a necessary and very sobering Fact against Complacency and false Sense of Security where ever you are in the World. The moral of that Story is not to fall for the Kool Aid Hype and become blasé about it
Feed the World .....
ReplyDeleteI've just read something about the imminent Hunger Pandemic, caused by the effects of the Virus .....
People are either too ill to produce or harvest it, or are cautious about social distancing if they did work.
Countries have restricted exports of Produce to others dependent on Imports.
Transport has been affected, and in some cases stopped completely.
Secondary Items like Pesticides have become scarce so can't be used to protect Crops.
Panic buying by some left Shelves empty for others.
People and Countries can't afford Food as Economies contract.
I did a few days Work for a huge American Food Wholesale Company a while ago, and the other day I saw their Fleet of Trucks and Vans lined up and not being used. How many others are like that at the moment?
If one of the main Problems was distribution couldn't Governments offer the Companies a Covid19 'War Bond' to collect and distribute Food that is either thrown away or disposed of by People who have no Market to sell to? That they could assist Food Banks to get it to those who need it. Instead of valuable Transport and skilled distribution logistics Workers being idle at a time like this they could help quite considerably during the Crisis.
Once it has finished, rather like the War Bonds System during WW1 and 2 they could then be paid for this Work.
At the moment it is left to sparsely run local Volunteers whose Work is tremendous, but could do with support from something rather more substantial.
You'd have thought that after 10s of 1000s of years we would have developed an Immune System that works like a Reset Button. Something that knows how our Health should be and restores it if any sort of Bacteria or Virus attacks it.
ReplyDeleteWould it be possible to create something that does that? A sort of 'catch all' Vaccine that might be given like some others as we grow up?
At the moment Vaccines are developed as and when we are aware of, or afflicted by, individual Maladies. This is why Covid19 got through the protective Shield of Inoculations we have developed over many years, or Immunities that have grown in many Centuries. It hadn't been factored in to any Treatments.
ReplyDeleteIf someone somewhere created a Vaccine that somehow acts as a Template for good Health by default even Covid19 would be protected against because it isn't.
I would like to reiterate what Dr Patrick Soon Shiong said about why Xenophobia is counter productive. In how anti-chinese Sentiment is damaging in the global battle against the Covid19 Virus. The Work of Chinese Researchers and Health Workers shouldn't be lumped in with any Issues People might have with the Regime.
ReplyDeleteIt should be remembered that Doctors who had worked on Corona Viruses had been gagged by Beijing in December 2019-January 2020. That their Bravery in continuing to speak on it despite this is as brave as those fighting it in Clinics and Hospitals everywhere.
Also, any supposed Intel gleaned should there be any Subterfuge on the part of the Beijing Government - if it existed - is extremely lapse. If things were amiss in Wuhan long before all this started what exactly was the Intel Community doing?
ReplyDeleteI'm currently watching a Documentary about the potential for all this, but how can an investigative Journalist discover in only a few Weeks what everyone from the CIA, MI6 or any of the others seemed oblivious to?
Why are those interviewed saying it to the Camera but not to that Community?
ReplyDeleteThe Arguement against Claims that anyone might deliberately cultivate and spread a deadly Virus globally is; why would they eradicate the Market/People they want to dominate? If Covid19 killed everyone except Chinese who would they rule or sell to?
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Matt Hancock caused a Furore about Covid19 Tests recently. As they seem to have conjured up another 80000 a day in just a few days, People have claimed that some of these are Home testing Kits. If the Health Secretary has done that it ought to made clear that there is a huge difference between Tests done, and recorded, at a Hospital or Clinic and those done at Home.
ReplyDeleteIt's one thing to have a firmly established Test done by Healthcare Workers and another to have a Kit at home which you might or might not use. If you do, how do you report the Results?
What's in a Name?
ReplyDeleteWhile Conspiracy Theories fly thick and fast about the Origin if the Corona Virus how about it's Designation - or should that be De Sign Ation?
Co Vid 19!!!!!
We are now worse off than Italy with 29427 putting us at over a 100 more than them.
ReplyDeleteNow it seems they are going to cure Covid19 with Cyber Doublespeak Bulshit, that might even be on a Skateboard in New York wearing a Cowboy Hat and Boots!
ReplyDeleteAnyone else use Avast anti-virus? If you do has that Pop-up appeared yet? The one that tells you that they are "taking the Fight against Corona Virus to another Level and they can't do it without you".
Further investigation reveals a Software called "Folding at Home" which you download and install, then every time you go online your Computer links up with all the other Subscribers to form a Supercomputer that can then do vast Calculus into the Virus.
Sounds like a lot of Shit created by People hiding behind Trees in local Shopping Precincts.
Jeez, it's enough to make you weep!
No War!!!!!
Meanwhile, it looks like the pro-War Lobby are at it again ....
ReplyDeleteThis time we are supposed to be outraged at how the Chinese Health Ministry held "secret Meetings" as long ago as January 14th 2020 to discuss an unusual Pneumonic Illness caused by a Corona Virus. That a Memo saying this was issued to City and Province Municipalities within 24 Hours, that another was instructing them to begin a Lockdown.
Through it all we are supposed to believe it was a Cover-up meant to hide the Existence of Covid19.
But weren't our Lockdowns implemented in a 48 Hour Sequence? A gradual Process that went from Wednesday to Friday of that Week in March? That the Saturday before saw the biggest Crowds in years, from Snowdonia to Beach Resorts everywhere? That while we did this our Government also had private Meetings to discuss Strategy?
No Government is suddenly going to get on Street Tannoy Systems announcing something like this without first developing a Strategy. What would happen if Boris got on the Microphone and suddenly blurted .....
"Don't want to worry you all but a lethal Disease has arrived in Britain that we have no Treatment for and it could kill Millions!"
So what do the Producers of "China in Focus" suggest?
We put Webcams in Downing Street, the Health Ministry and all those SAGE Meetings so they are all public? That they do same in America and elsewhere?
They don't and most certainly won't.
As I've said before, they knew about the Virus on January 30th after the World Health Organisation made its Announcement and waited another 7 Weeks before bringing in the current Emergency Measures. They need to look at their own Inertia before accusing others of theirs!
While "China in focus" are critical of Beijing, who they say knew about the Virus before telling the rest of the World, Wuhan was put on Lockdown on the 23rd of January. A Week before the WHO made the announcement, so not only were they quite prompt at acting against the Virus what exactly was the rest of the World doing when a mega-City of 11 Million People and a Province the size of Italy was effectively curfewed?
ReplyDeleteWhat would you ask if the same thing was done in the City and State of New York? Or London and the rest of England against the rest of Britain?
Wuhan is the Travel Hub of China, not the Cold War closed City of Gorky and a statewide Lockdown in the most populated Country in the World isn't something you see every day.
As much Culpability rests with World Leaders and Media whose Inertia failed to impress on their People just how serious this is as might a Chinese Government who they feel acted in Secrecy. Hubei is on Lockdown for nearly 2 Months - but no one seemed to notice.
There are those determined to turn Covid19 into a sort of biological Pearl Harbour, and have been spoiling for a Fight with China for years, except it's an American-Japanese Fleet off the Coast of China, not a Chinese Fleet approaching Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteI'm certain People in Manchuria can appreciate the Irony!
Should we be worried about this?
ReplyDeleteNot at all, unless we remember that this was preceded by an American Destroyer being turned from the Chinese Coast 5 days ago. Reminiscent of what happened in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1965. The USS Maddox was within a few Miles of the north Vietnamese Coast before being engaged by NVA Boats. No Damage was inflicted on the Ship except a single Bullet Hole - but this was the precursor to the Vietnam War.
So while Hubei and Wuhan started resembling something from Quatermass as long ago as January 23rd what exactly were our Media reporting or writing about? There's always the continuing Soap Opera called "Posh n Beck's" I suppose, the "Kylie n Jason" of the 90's-2000's, and heck, perish the thought that the Kardashians might be deprived of their Column Inches!
ReplyDeleteI don't know about you but if I had just tried to go to or from Scotland or Wales and was greeted by Troops and armed Guards in Gas Masks on Hadrian's Wall or Offa's Dyke I'd be a bit worried!
It's the same now, as Vietnam 2 seems to be played out in the China Sea. Maybe the trite shite of All3Media is more important, although Martine's "EastEnders" stopped filming more than a Month ago. It's good to see that our Media are telling us about the potential War with China so we might be able to lobby our MPs and protest to Grosvenor Square long enough in advance to prevent it huh!
But heck, maybe the Iraq War Flak Jacket in the Closet is getting a bit Moth eaten and they're looking for the next War to be embedded into!
Now watch those Google Stats shoot up as I click "Publish"!
To be able to sell those Masks that don't work, Sanitizer which wasn't much more than a bit of Detergent, and other Covid19 Merchandise you must have had 1000's of Clicks on your Website. Otherwise how did it become a Story?
ReplyDeleteWrite about this and ........ nothing!
China huh! Weren't we all here before Mr Simpson. "Splendid Interview" in a Bristol Bookshop apparently, but did you back it up with anything?
I emailed Bob Geldof about the impending Hunger Pandemic as Food Production is compromised, Distribution reduced, some Countries stopping exports of Produce the Food Lines in American Cities, but nothing again.
When do we have the War on Weapons of Mass Apathy?
It's like being patronised to death outside Waitrose all over again!
So why dontcha ask the Miss "Yeah" on the Bus that time what she thinks? I'm sure her Millenial Brain has been taught the finer Points of Anglo-Chinese Relations at 'gurt Weston Tech roit!'
ReplyDeleteWhile you do that I'll reinvent myself into a Coke snorting, Pill popping 90's Doushbag instead!
Then I can sit there on the Bus with Miss "Yeah" and know nothing about anything too!
ReplyDeleteAnd then I can fill my Head with Air and get an Invite to the Yip Yop Dinner Party and eat my Dinner off a Glass Table with a Razor Blade!
ReplyDeleteBut it's only the Chinese who cover things up and don't report them huh!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, as the American-Japan Fleet is scaring the Crap out of everyone by flexing off the Chinese Coast, closer to home People like Richard Branson are clamouring for a Bailout.
ReplyDeleteInstead of the War mongering going on in the South China Sea how about a Peace Corp Effort? If, during WW1 and 2 Ships were requisitioned to use for Troops and Hospitals - including the SS Canberra during the Falklands War of 1982 - People like Branson should be asked if they would donate their Infrastructure Resources to the anti-Covid19 Effort. Transport is essential and Flight has replaced Ships as the main form of international Travel.
Companies like Brakes have their Vehicle Fleets lying idle at Depots while Food Producers destroy Produce. Couldn't they, and their skilled Workers be used to collect and distribute that Produce instead? I've mentioned the War Bond System during the War, and how you bought them and were repaid once the Conflict was finished, so couldn't something similar be done with all that? That their Services might be requisitioned during the Crisis and paid for after it?
What is astonishing is how the perceived Complacency People saw in the Politicians is concurrent with an Attitude that makes some People think they have the Luxury of being as selfish or acquisitive as ever, even during this.
And how about that Complacency?
Politicians weren't exactly pressured in those 2 crucial Months from the Wuhan Lockdown to ours. The Media didn't exactly fall over themselves to show us what was happening in China, and during its busiest time, the Chinese New Year.
The Response could be one of either....
Be like President Hoover after 1929 burying your Head in the Sand and pretending there's nothing wrong, or that the same Mistakes made before the Crash will somehow save the Country.
Or like President Roosevelt - and be very proactive and innovative - with new Solutions and Ideas!
One thing is certain, no-one should be like they were in 2018 once this has ended.
As for the Euro-American Fleet (apparently not just Japan), People should say to Trump "Those 76000 People died in America Mr President, not somewhere off the Philippines!" How much does all that cost and presumably every Sailor, Marine and Aviator have tested negative!
ReplyDeleteWhile People see that how must they feel if they had to cancel a Holiday or an important Business Meeting?
If most things sent from China to Britain take at least a Week, and many of them up to 4 Weeks, you stand a bigger Chance of catching Covid19 from a Letter sent first class at about 4pm which arrives at 9am the next day within Britain than anything from China. If the Virus can live on Paper for 24 Hours.
ReplyDeleteIf the Government even thought it was transmissible via Post and Freight Services they'd have suspended all of it. Unless you had Bats fly out of your Parcel the chances of being killed by Post are very minimal!
Also, if Rumour Mongers do decide to spread 'Theories' that the Virus arrived here via Parcels - who stands to benefit? It wouldn't be the Chinese who would lose vast amounts of a very lucrative Business, so why would they somehow deliberately inflict it via this, or any other Means? Economic Prosperity is at the very Crux of the Jinping Government, whose People put up with the Authoritarianism so this can happen. If it became apparent that it won't that Government won't last very long.
ReplyDeleteIn the growing Whodunnit Tit for Tat of Blame any Accusations made towards Beijing could back fire to the other Antagonist! Also, if there was any Truth to it People in Britain would have suffered as early as the first Week of January as all that Christmas Mail came from our former Colony Hong Kong the previous December.
Having mentioned that, it's a bitter Irony that no Military Treaty was brokered by Chris Patten in his last Week's as final Governor of Hong Kong before it was handed back to what used to be called Peking.
Xi Jinping owes his very powerful Position to the recent years of economic Growth enjoyed by China due to Reforms brought in by Deng Xiaoping many years ago. He inherited those from Le Peng and continued them quite successfully.
ReplyDeleteBut in doing so he has to balance that with hard-line Maoist Communists who would like to say "hate to say we told you so" to the Millions not yet brought up by that Prosperity. Maoists who would like to see a Return to the collectivised Great Leaps Forward and Cultural Revolutions that typified the 1950's and 60's. And the Oligarch Economy that has to take second place to the Party. Money does not call the Shots in Beijing against the Regime, and there are some who feel stymied by that.
The Threat posed by either is fraught, while if the Maoists prevailed in a Coup it changes Beijing's Position with North Korea. The Alignment during the Korean War would be re-established, unlike the Situation now where China has been at the very most neutral towards Pyong Yang. North Korea's Ambitions have remained contained due to its Isolation. What would happen if that no longer applied?
What the World needs more than anything is someone to negotiate with the Chinese. The thing is, who?
ReplyDeleteWho might have enough Gravitas to have sway with Beijing? America at the moment doesn't seem capable of producing anyone who might as they are all falling over each other to see who can accuse China of any and every Malfeasance. The UN are limited in their Scope because no Military Treaty with China means China are in no Violations that could prompt Resolutions. Britain gave away her main Caveat with Hong Kong and the EU aren't exactly showing Unity at the moment.
Russia's Vladimir Putin could be the only Leader who has sufficient Leverage but Taiwan might object due to a Centuries long Dispute over Territory in Outer Manchuria (Now Russian, Taipei still claim the Area as Chinese).
Moscow have their Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship 2001, which further integrated the two Countries in mutual Co-operation and settled finally any Border Disputes. The thing is, in putting Putin in such a Position of Influence many Countries might baulk at feeling compromised with the Russians.
While all this goes on the World is stymied in creating a global Strategy in dealing with the Corona Virus. How can it if some persist in a culture of Recriminations? The Virus can not be negotiated with, whereas China can.
At the moment we are all looking down both Barrels of a Shotgun. One called Death by Disease, the other Death by Nuclear War.
I don't think Covid19 was created in any Laboratory. I think it was a natural Disease that the World was not ready for. Much has been made of things like the lack of PPE for Health Workers and that of any Treatment or Vaccine. How much less would continually updated PPE and Research into Treatment and Prevention have cost against the Military spending of recent years?
John Knott's Navy Cuts ......
ReplyDeleteYou'd think, as the World heads for a War and is dying of a horrible Disease, Millenial Meyja types might have more important things to report than the sort of upper middle Class Feminism that has hijacked the Social Consciousness. I refer to the desperately reaching Commentary made by some at President Trump's storming off from a Press Conference. Apparently they emphasize he did so after being questioned by - gasp - female Journalists.
If they had studied the Lore of their Trade they would know about the rather flabbergasted storming off of Defence Minister - Sir John Knott - in 1982 after the very Male Robin Day called him "a here today, gone tomorrow Politician" when he was going to scrap huge parts of our Navy and Air force.
There are many others .........
Cash for Questions MP Niel Hamilton threw the Phone down on John Nicholson (another Bloke), while Micheal Heseltine walked off of the Set of Channel 4.
It isn't just the Men either.
Clare Short refused to talk about the London Underground Strike, removing her Lapel Mic in a fit of Pique.
And Grace Jones rather ungraciously slapped genial Russel Harty around when he tried interviewing her, while Camile Paglia took exception to being called an anti-feminist Feminist by Jonathan Dimbleby. She grabbed her Shoulder Bag and stormed off!
In Radioland things weren't any better.
Peter Mandelson got shirty with Radio 4's Martha Kearney, while Niel Kinnock retorted to World at Ones James Naughtie he wasn't "bloody kebabbed".
As this shows, it's nothing to do with male - female frission and not just restricted to contraversial US Presidents.
Meanwhile, as the Conspiracy Theories and Accusations fly thick and fast about the Origins if the Virus, and how it was allowed to get established, I could have a few Theories if my own based on what has happened since a certain Hostage Project 30 years ago.
ReplyDeleteLike what looks like a D Notice seems to have been imposed. That those rather stuffy Establishment Types have a Problem with Street People doing Stuff like that. How did we get the 'Coincidenxe' of 9/11, and why, even after you draw them Diagrams, certain People insist on various Myths about Islam and Extremists? That that Establishment has turned a blind Eye to other Malfescants at the Expense of some of those Street People.
That anyone I was 'allowed' to meet and associate with in more recent years had one thing in common ..... the Pharmaceutical Industry.
How when watching Covid19 related Programs there almost seems to be a pre-written Script full of perjorative Subtext that is odious in the Extreme!
Britain is fracturing due to Government Policy on Restrictions ......
ReplyDeleteManchester's Mayor Andy Burnham has expressed concerns that the Government's Approach is South East Centric, meaning that they assume the Region is typical of the rest of Britain. Devolved Governments in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff have similar concerns, while local Governments have said they will support Teachers Unions who feel reopening Schools is premature. You can't blame them, putting their Lives at risk in high density Classrooms, and the risk posed to Students.
Germany has seen their Infection Rate rise after they lifted some of their Restrictions, while Angela Merkel is going to continue with that. This could happen everywhere if they do the same. Wuhan has had a second Wave after they lifted theirs so some Areas of the City were closed again.
The Government are obviously concerned about Britain being closed for so long a time, which is understandable, but their Londoncentricism is similar to their Approach to Jobs. Not all Jobs can be done while observing Social Isolation. With some it's completely impossible.
There are those that are conducive.
Transport and Logistics for example.
Drivers can work from a Vehicle, while those in the Depots can prepare Orders in isolation. It also means People who are in Isolation can have some Contact with the rest of the World, crucial to maintain Morale in these difficult times.
Admittedly this isn't a 100% return to Work, but it's better than nothing, while there are those who are worried that complete recommmencement might be too soon.
Meanwhile........
ReplyDeleteThis is brilliant News .......
https://www.google.com/amp/s/inews.co.uk/news/half-uk-population-vaccinated-against-coronavirus-september-2856108%3famp
If this does happen wouldn't it be better if the Government maintained their current Measures until then? People have expressed Fears that relaxing them now might be too soon, and I agree with them. Look what happened elsewhere when they did. Germany, who until a couple of Weeks ago were the most successful in Europe at containing the Infection and Fatality Rate lost that advantage when they started sending People back to Schools and Colleges.
Micheal Gove insists that it is safe to, while Scientists are not so certain. I tend to side with the Boffins here, who aren't politically motivated. How much of what the Government says is about them and not the Country?
Also, if Schools are to begin reopening in June this is going to be a gradual Process. But no sooner will some reopen they close again for the August Holiday, which is 6 Weeks. Is there any Point, or indeed, Benefit - balanced with the Risk? Teachers and Students risking Lives for a Fortnight to a Months Studying seems reckless.
If the August Holiday ends when this Vaccine might become available would it not be better to wait until the start of the next academic Year?
There is understandable Concern about People missing Exams and Study Hours, but the Pandemic is everywhere and has affected every Countries Education. Thus, whatever detriment suffered here is felt everywhere, and is also only temporary. This means that Students might have missed Exams and Study here, but they have everywhere else, so no-one is at a disadvantage. Because of it all postponing everything for a year globally will be seen as normal due to the circumstances.
Thus, Earth's Class of 2020 became that of 2021!
What would be scurrilous is if a Government tries jumping the Gun to acquire an advantage and screw the Danger!
While it is brilliant that half the Population could receive Vaccinations in September let's hope that the Government doesn't insist everyone goes back to Work or College until the other half have.
Otherwise they might start to look like Bruce Ismay and Caledon Hockley in a James Cameron Film.
Rose: "Half these People are going to die!"
Hockley: "Not the better half!"
History could repeat itself as Thomas Yorkes Oxford could echo Thomas Andrews - who ended up only putting enough Lifeboats on the Titanic for half those on it.
Hear hear ..... by the way.
ReplyDeleteTo the Australian TV Show calling for an INDEPENDENT Inquiry into the Pandemic, that shouldn't be chaired by the World Health Organisation. No'one should glean any Political Capital from this, while it should not be at all rigged in anyone's Favour.
In 1912 1500 People perished on the World's most prestigious Ship, from the very wealthiest to the lowest paid Trimmers and impoverished Steerage. Thus, all Political Creeds were represented by that 1500, so not one of them can claim the moral high ground in any of that.
I've mentioned the anomaly that existed as long ago as when Covid19 first became apparent. How it seems odd in an Era of Skype and other Video Conferencing Tools the W.H.O didn't seem to have a direct Line with every Countries Health Ministry, or if they did, they didn't use it. And how something like this is exactly when that ought to happen.
The chronic Inertia elsewhere, which ought to have been jolted by Observation. After all, how could the supposed all-seeing '5 Is' miss a Lockdown in China's main Commuter and Travel Hub?
Also, while People didn't seem to notice that Wuhan was on Lockdown, Hubai was quarantined and all Movement in China was severely restricted as long ago as January, what was the rest of the World waiting for before their Response ........ Permission from China, the World Health Organisation?
Beijing doesn't decide what happens at Heathrow and Gatwick, JFK and La Guardia. They don't decide to temporarily close Bars and Cafes in London or Washington.
The Failure to impress on the World the gravitas of the Situation by every form of Information and Administration.
That a Culture of Blame has developed that will obscure any real objective Work to determine the Viruses Origin, or a systematic Analysis of how it was dealt with. Failure here will ensure it will happen again.
Anything that either confirms or scotches once and for all Claims that it was developed in a Chinese Laboratory. A thorough Inquiry into the Backgrounds of those responsible. They might work in Chinese Labs but we're they also working for someone else?
There are so many Questions about this that need answering.
But, while Australia is taking something of a Mauling in a growing Trade War with China for its wanting an Inquiry I'm not sure Aussie MP George Christiansen is in much of a position to do it. In the 10 years since becoming one he doesn't seem to have much of a History opposing the systematic sell-offs of Australian Land, Mineral Resources, Solar Power and Agriculture to the Chinese. Or that of the Seaport of Darwin, and the effective appropriation of large amounts of Tasmanian Produce. None of this could have evaded the Members of Australia's Legislature, and it seems no-one spoke out against Chinese Asset stripping of the Country.
ReplyDeleteWhy, for example, isn't this coming from Senators Barnaby Joyce, Scott Ludlam and Nicholas Xenaphon who draughted a thorough "Dissenting Report"? (unfortunately undated so it can't be placed in any historical context against the current Backdrop)
In it they cite the growing Chinese Appropriations and how the economic Balance is shifting away from the UK and US as Trading Partners. Concerns about too much State owned involvement and wanting a Commitment to Human Rights!
Why isn't George Christiansen mentioning this or calls to nationalise Port Darwin to extricate it from a 99 year Lease to Chinese Company Landbridge in his current Stance on the Debacle?
I am astonished that Port Darwin's Lease was sold to anyone. It took a War, a Coup, clandestine Paramilitarism and a Referendum for Russia to acquire Sevastopol from the Ukraine in 2014.
Imagine the Furore if Southampton was leased to Germany or France for a Century!!!!! Royal Portbury to the Japanese!
Maybe the Aussies should swallow their Pride and rediscover the Commonwealth. This is showing them, and New Zealand that they are powerless against the Chinese as individual Nations, and the Commonwealth, which isn't just wealthy developed Europe, might be something that might stand a better Chance.
Closer to home there were Scuffles in London a couple of Days ago by People protesting about the Lockdown. I notice how, in the very close Proximity of Police-Public Interaction you have at these things, rather less than 2 Meters, none of the Police Officers are wearing Masks.
Not a very clear Signal to send to the Public, particularly those who might be sceptical that the Virus even exists! Particularly by the Metropolitan Police - on the Frontline of COBRA!
While Politicians won't even shake Hands many of those Police aren't wearing Gloves and no-one seems to be sanitising either. Presumably they all will be filling their Contact Tracing Forms or Apps when it's all finished!
ReplyDeleteAccording to someone the Clip with the Fella being arrested was from Social Media a couple of Weeks ago. That deep into the Lockdown the Police ought to have looked like RoboCop. They wear more PPE doing Riots and Industrial Disputes than a Protest about a lethal Virus and the Government Response.
While some American City's have decided not to reopen Schools until the next Academic Year (September), a Country (Britain) with a Covid19 Death Rate about a 3rd of America - despite having about a 6th of the Population - are considering opening theirs in June.
ReplyDeletePut it this way, if we had America's Population of 328,000,000 our Fatalities would now be 5.4 times what they are! Thus, 190,840!
What happened in Australia couldn't have happened without a Culture of Greed and Corruption at the highest Level of Australian Politics. After all, the Ukraine - where Graft was a way of Life - endured a War, a Coup and a 'Referendum' before giving Sevastopol to Russia. China just walked in to Australia and bought the Lease to Port Darwin, among the many other things they have bought in recent years!
ReplyDeleteSomeone should look through the Australian equivalent of Hansard to see if George Christiansen ever made any Speeches or asked questions in Parliament about the huge Chinese appropriations. Whether he chaired, or was part of, any parliamentary Committees investigating or monitoring any of it.
ReplyDeleteIn 2004 Ukrainian Elections installing Viktor Yakanovych were declared void and the Result went in favour of his Opponent - Viktor Yuschenko. The former was supported by Moscow. In 2010 Yakanovych was voted in in Elections that were considered fair but there were huge Street Clashes in Kiev which ousted him.
This is what began the War with Russia as the Ukrainians resisted Russian intervention in the East. Yuschenko was the pro-Kiev Leader and Russia decided to bring the Crimea into the Federation, depriving the Ukraine of the strategically important Seaport of Sevastopol. Russia initiated anti-Ukrainian Subterfuge in the Crimea, from masked Troops neutralising Ukrainian Law and Military in the Region, to pro-Russian Protests and a Referendum.
Even when Yakanovych was in charge, and for Decades earlier, during the Soviet era, Crimea and Sevastopol were regarded as Ukrainian. The Ukrainian People put up quite a Fight before giving them to Russia. I'm not citing them as an Example here, rather I'm contrasting the Appropriations of strategically important Seaports in Ukraine/Russia to one of Australia.
Also, unlike some of the developing Countries China has been involved with in their Belt and Roads Program, Australia is a developed, modern and wealthy Economy, so didn't have an Excuse. This was no Sri Lanka having to give China a Harbour as 'Goods to the Value' in payment of a Debt.
Port Darwin, strategically important?
ReplyDeleteIt was bombed by the Japanese in World War 2 because it could be used as a Harbour to launch an Allied Assault on occupied Singapore and prevent Japanese Invasions of Timor and Java.
If there has been an Agenda in Beijing to spread Chinese domination in the Region Port Darwin would have been no less important to any potential ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand, United States) measures to counter it.
Now, apparently, you can't shout at Australians and make them obey. No you didn't. You just shove rather a lot of Money at them it seems.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Beijing will rename Port Darwin Guantanamo (in Chinese).
What if I want to be part of that Economy. Get a sharp Suit, smart Shoes, get coifered and broker a Deal selling Royal Portbury Dock to the Japanese. Then I could have a plush Condominium on the Marina, a Yacht, be part of the neo-liberal Elite, throw Dinner Parties, hire Portishead to play the Music ........ have Holidays in Australia!
Buy an Island in Scotland, write a Song about it and be at #1 for Weeks ....
Then I can pump Steroids, afford that expensive Body Art, buy my Glampersbury Ticket........ VIP of course!
Buy Nose Powder from Frank Lucas, have an Ermine Hat and front Row Tickets at the Garden.
Change my Name to Oliver Garch.
Find myself a little Thuggess in a Print Blouse. Pretend to be Hippies, go and see "The Silmarillion" at the Cinema if Peter Jackson ever made it!
Could start sponsoring a Coffee Table Magazine that Penny Walsh writes for......
Pay someone to clean the House or do the Garden.
Could pay local Nastys to assault People on Benches ....... and on it goes!
All that, or continue being "brilliant" and patronised outside posh Supermarkets, insulted on Buses, and kept out of everything
Yeah, Tiannenmen Square was terrible Mr Simpson!
Then we had the get fat'n rich 90's-2000s all needs catered!
ReplyDeleteSniff!!!!!!
Imagine all the Record Bosses I could play Golf with!
ReplyDeleteUse the same Restaurants as People like Rebekah Brooks.
ReplyDeleteOh, and it was - erm - "good News" about John McCarthy by the way!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, according to Sky News "the UK is finally waking up to how China can't be trusted".
ReplyDeleteLittle less patronising if you don't mind. That ought to be rephrased. "The World is finally waking up to how China can't be trusted because this bloody terrifying Virus has forced the Media to fess up and explain to everyone the intricacies of Sino-World Relations, that they might even be part of"
After all, how many Chinese Entertainment Systems, Phones, Tablets and iPads have Media Presets in their Programing - all for a huge negotiated License Fee?
So, I'll become part of that Economy and be a slimy, exploitative, odious Thug too!
ReplyDeleteAnd here's a horrible parallel .....
ReplyDeleteMany of the Reforms the Protestors in 1989 Beijing asked for happened in China.
A lot of what we worked for seems to have been appropriated and assimilated (exploited) here.
Those Chinese Protestors never benefitted from any of it either!
And if this wasn't so wrong it'd be surreal. People have obviously watched Documentaries about the Tiannenmen Square Protests and re'enact them. These are the same People who HAVE benefitted from everything since that pivotal time at end of the 80's.
ReplyDeleteAnd while we discover what China has been up to in Australia what has Australia been up to here?
ReplyDeleteWho'd be a Concert Promoter now?
ReplyDeleteAs every Gig and Festival was cancelled this Spring and Summer who is going to be the first to do one if or when this Virus ends?
The Expenditure can be enormous. Site Security, Latrines, Health and Welfare, Stages, PA, Lights, Crew, Stewards, Programs, Merchandise, Catering for Crowd and Crew - then paying the Artistes.
In 2007 the Bristol Community Festival had hired only some of this, while a lot of it was made up of Volunteers. They set it all up, then it rained, terribly, and People didn't turn up. They made their Money from Program Sales, a Donation as you went in, and People going around collecting. This fell very short of the Expenditure and BCF went bust.
This was just because of some Rain, but as "Woodstock" showed, and every Glasto since 1997 endured, People do brave the Weather.
But what if your Audience was afraid to come for being infected? The Risk posed could be too much and People stay away. The Promoter is in the same Position as the BCF were in 2007.
How about the Promoters themselves?
Which one would want to be responsible for staging the Event that became Ground Zero for a Covid19 Cluster? Whether they feel any Guilt is a question for any Conscience they might have, but imagine the Compensation and Insurance Claims against them if Contact Tracing proved the Disease was caught at their Concert!
It'll be a very long time and some watertight Assurances before any of them recommence doing Gigs and Festivals again.
And against that Backdrop it won't be because they have announced the lowest infection and fatality rate so far.
ReplyDeleteThat isn't because the Virus is somehow dying or Doctors have found a Cure.
It's because the Measures of the last 2 Months are working. They have slowed the Spread of the Virus significantly enough to have reduced these, but Prevention and Cure are yet to be discovered.
It's like a Ship that has been ruptured. The Ships Carpenter has Sounded it with temporary Repairs, and it has been sailed to calmer Seas. Water is still coming in but not as fast. It won't be ready to continue as before until it has been properly repaired. If the Captain tried sailing through a Storm it will sink.
Meanwhile, Questions still remain ....
ReplyDeleteHere's a Quote from Opendemocracy that reiterates what I've asked .....
"We must hope that it will be possible to limit the loss of life and suffering that lies ahead in the coming months, not just in the UK but right across the world. For the UK, however, there will then be many awkward questions to be asked.
One should be addressed to the security services, especially MI6 and GCHQ. Early in January, when the crisis in China was clear, was MI6 monitoring it, not least through its assets in China, and was GCHQ collecting data from its own signals intelligence? Were MI6 and GCHQ reporting to the government that Taiwan was already testing people from Wuhan back in December? If not, why not, given the importance of this kind of risk as noted in the Biological Security Strategy? If so, was it passed on to appropriate ministries and why did they not act? Perhaps most important, when was such information passed on to the Joint Intelligence Staff in the Cabinet Office?
Beyond these, how can one explain the laid-back style of government in those early days that has proved to be so devastating? Was it partly the self-congratulatory mood in government with its recent election victory? Was it Johnson’s character as leader or was it the dangerous preoccupation with Brexit?"
They then go on to explain how Bio Warfare is becoming a huge Threat in recent years, which was even acknowledged in TV Shows like "The West Wing" where they say how it isn't the Nuclear Bomb anymore. It's the Bloke with a Test Tube full of Anthrax in NYC. Staggering that a Screenplay Writer can bring everyone's attention to something that the Intel Communities couldn't.
That there should have been a Set Piece Strategy in Place to be applied that was developed years ago might have been a good Idea given the acknowledged potential for these things.
Brexit should never have been a Distraction.
After all, Covid19 affects everyone - pro or anti Europe, including the Prime Minister and some of his Cabinet. Had the Virus not been checked there might not have been anyone in or out of Europe.
What were the Intel Communities doing in December 2019 - January 2020? Did they impress on the Government their Findings if there even were any?
Clap for Carers .......
ReplyDeleteAlthough I sympathise with the Woman from Hull who has complained about the Noise during the weekly Clap for Carers it should be balanced with how, for some People, that Minute or so, once a Week is all they have left. You can't meet Friends at the Moment, travel to see Families, go on Holiday - even for just a day or two, while many might have missed that Interaction with Work Colleagues.
We have Royal Portbury Dock near us and the Ships join in with their Horns which is tremendous and shows how global it is. Some might launch a few Fireworks, which must be a Treat for Families whose Youngsters can't even go and see their Friends. It won't go on forever and although she says it is disruptive to her Daughter's for many others it has become the new Routine.
What does she think it'll be like if or when the Government says the Pandemic has ended and Restrictions lifted?
I reckon it'll probably be like the Celebrations on the Armistice and VE and VJ days!
I acknowledge how some NHS Workers are critical of People who have done the weekly Clap, but then break the Lockdown Rules. I took to the allowable Cycling when they were introduced, which keeps myself to myself - observes the 2 Meter Rule and does not involve any mingling at all. I also used it to do shopping twice a Week.
Meanwhile, everyone is going on about the Track and Trace App that is due to be launched.
ReplyDeleteI hope most sincerely that it's Progress is being monitored by Human Rights and Civil Liberties Groups. It might be used to determine who might, and who might not, be carrying the Virus, and who they have had contact with at the moment but there are other, less scrupulous, uses it could have after the Pandemic has ended.
It could continually gather Data on everyone you have met in however long the Information is stored. Who else has access to that? As someone who found himself denied Access to other People for years (and would someone like to tell me how Human Rights Projects and Creative Economics Job Creation are wrong), I am concerned that it might become a Tool to arbitrarily inflict similar on People once it's use during the current Crisis finishes.
Robert Oppenheimer created a Bomb that many argue ended the War and saved 100s of 1000s of Allied and Japanese Lives. What he saw happening with it afterwards made him oppose the Hydrogen Bomb and call for the Limitation of all Nuclear Weapons. Many probably thought that there would be a huge demilitarisation after 1945, from demobbing Millions of Men to disposing of Arms - including the Bomb - but the Cold War prompted even more Weapons development and production.
Including aiming Missiles at the former Ally, the Soviet Union, vis a vis them doing same with us.
This App might be used to end Covid19 but what other uses might it have?
And while Big Brother might start watching you, you were too busy watching Dominic Cummings to notice the afforementioned Chinese Invasion of India. At least the Erroneous Zone of 9/11 and the complete Obliviousness to Covid19 was 18 years. That of the Virus in December 2019 China and this Invasion and Occupation of the Ladaq Province was only a few Months.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the current Military stand-off between America and China and how this has happened right in the Indo-Chinese Border would the Bartlett Situation Room of "the West Wing" stood a better chance of noticing it BEFORE Concrete Buildings started going up than the Trump Administration?
The thing is, is there a Lord John Marbury in the Court of St James's in the Johnson Government of Britain?
Any of them might find some Media Coverage either saturated in Subtext and/or confusing. India Today has a Screen where there is far too much going on.
ReplyDeleteFirstly we see Correspondents Faces appear in different places. Sometimes in lines of 3, other times on top of each other. The same in-situ Clip is shown intermittently, set on a Loop. Commercial Banners appear all the time. Am I watching a Report about the Skirmishes in Ladakh or being sold Amstrad Computers? Air Fare Tickets? How about that Banner showing "Covid19" at the side? The hyped up presentation like they're all on Dexydrin.
I search YouTube for some Archive of John Pilgers Reports from Vietnam, John Simpson in Beirut, Newsnight on the Falklands .......
Ahhh, that's much better!!!!!
Hardly surprising the Story gets drowned in all of that.
ReplyDeleteBut I definitely think Questions should be asked of that App.
Similar Questions People in eastern Europe could have asked Stalin as the Nazis were driven back into Germany.
"When you finally defeat them will you then withdraw back to the Soviet Union?"
If or when Covid19 has been routed will the App be switched off?
Opendemocracy have a Petition you can send to Matt Hancock wanting Guarantees that Data derived won't then be sold on to private Sector Internet Companies. We have seen several Instances where Mark Zuckerberg had to appear before Congress answering Questions about Data harvesting and third Party Companies collating it all.
Just seen yet another YouTube where someone is banging on about Chinese 'Secrecy' in December last year. You know, the usual Drivel about how they tried covering it all up when it was obvious something was wrong. It's rather like when Chamberlain's Government tried pretending the Winter Snowfalls of 1940 weren't that bad, except the Public DID notice!
ReplyDeleteEveryone is doing it .....
Trump passed the Buck to the State Governors. Johnson and Hancock to the Individual, the rest of the World to the Chinese like it needed permission from them.
How Beijing could get sued by those Countries for Trillions of Dollars, but while the Government's of them might be guilty of gross Negligence they might be sued by Millions of those lndividuals.
Did Churchill ask permission from Goering to sound off the Sirens, prepare the Ack Ack and scramble the RAF?
Almost as many Britons have died according to official Figures now as did during the Blitz. Although estimates put it at 25000 more!
ReplyDeleteThe biggest Injustice of all could be how those Governments do successfully sue the Chinese, but none of that Money finds its way to the Victims of the Virus, the Families of those killed or permanently damaged by it.
Today hoping the Government heeds the Advice of their own Scientists who say lifting the current Lockdown is "too risky"!
ReplyDelete"Mother should I trust the Government?"
ReplyDeleteFormer Prime Minister Theresa May has weighed in against PMs Aide Dominic Cummings for his Breach of the Lockdown, now dubbed "Dominicgate"! He did leave himself open to Accusations of being the "Don't do as we do, do as we say Government", while everyone else is observing the Regulations. Something made even more acute with the latest Advice to them.
Seems he wasn't the only one either.
MP for Darlington - Peter Gibson - also breached the Guidelines by travelling home from London. He said that he was staying in a spare Room of a Parliamentary Colleague which was unsuitable for their safety and how he only had a few Clothes. When 1000's of Health Workers are being billeted in Hotels and B&Bs during the Crisis, kept from their Homes for the Duration, maybe the honourable Gentleman should have lead by example and done the same.
A Bloke, named after a Guitar, MP for a Constituency with the same Name as that of Brit Floyd Frontman, Damien Darlington, going on about Clothes ...?
The thing is, Damien plays a Strat, as does David Gilmour!
The Debate continues as People decide if the Lockdown is being lifted too soon.
ReplyDeleteThe Royal College of Nursing has expressed concern that their Efforts could all unravel as the Virus has a Resurgence after the so called 'Happy Monday' changes to the Restrictions are applied.
I tend to agree .....
I can't see how a 5 year old Infants Pupil is going to even know what 2 Meters is, let alone keep that distance from others.
And why Primary when Secondary Students might understand the Guidelines better?
As there might be a desire to return to some sort of Normality would it not be better to start with them because of that, but do it on a gradual Basis?
Start with the Children of Key Workers in the Fight against the Virus!
Then put together a Schedule where half the Students attend Monday to Wednesday Lunchtime, the other Wednesday Afternoon to Friday.
A Group of 6 might meet in a private Garden but who's to say every one of them is clear? And given the amount of People yearning to socialize there are going to be a lot of Garden Parties in the nice Weather.
There is understandable Caution as the Months progress, and many might be like those Allied Soldiers in April 1945 who don't want to get killed just as it looks like the War could end.
As I mentioned before, maybe there should be a global Moratorium on Education until the new Academic year anyway. Where no-one returns to School or College until September. The Covid19 situation is different in each Region of each Country and some might want to reopen Education before others, while in some Countries the Decision is a Political one based on Propaganda and Prestige. The most scurrilous thing a Government can do is jump the Gun in an attempt to obtain an Advantage.
ReplyDeleteWould it not be simpler, and fairer to wait until September before any Education, Primary, Secondary, Further and Higher continued anywhere?
(Groan) The Wordocracy is at it again as the Dinner Party Cabal of everyone - from a GP who is volunteering for a Vaccine Test to the unconvincing Kier Starmer - hijacks the Story about a Disease that affects EVERYONE. You'll note how I didn't say "all" here.
ReplyDeleteStop monitoring them for a moment and they're at it. Next thing you know they'll pull those Steel Shutters across the Passageway!
ReplyDeleteStart pointing Guns at us - like they did in 1912/1997!
ReplyDeleteThere was a Subtext in that Article about the GP who had volunteered for a Vaccine Test that had its own Precedent.
ReplyDeleteA GP who presumably works for the NHS should have a Code that says Healthcare for everyone, whatever your fiscal or social Circumstances. But temper that with how we were told a Vaccine could be available for half the Population by September and we are back in 1912 and a Film from 1997.
Rose: "Mother don't you realise half these People are going to die!"
Hockley: "Not the better half!"
This was because there were only enough Lifeboats on Titanic for half of those on board. It seems we had gone from Thomas Andrews, Designer of the stricken Ship to Thomas Yorke's Oxford where the Vaccine is being developed.
Aneurin Bevan would have turned in his Grave at such Injustice, while it revealed what has happened in the last 26 Years or so and how Cultural Influences threaten to corrupt everything he stood for. Those in Hockleys supposed "better half" might sound like they support the NHS, use it as a Political Points Scorer, but while they dine in First Class the Health Service was just one part of the Beverage Report. The rest of it dealt with Poverty, the need for a guaranteed Income and the lack of the most essential of things People living in post War Slum Britain endured.
The Health Service isn't just for People with Copies of "Pablo Honey", "The Bends", or "OK Computer" on the Stereo at a Dinner Party!
Maritime Law now says you have to provide enough Lifeboats for everyone on the Ship, whereas it didn't in 1912. If it had there would have been provision for the very wealthiest - John Jack Astor - to the very poorest, the real life Jack Dawson, a Trimmer on the lowest Wage of all.
ReplyDeleteIt was like that GP worked for a pre-1912 Health Service!
Meanwhile, how about if, or when, the Vaccine becomes available?
ReplyDeleteBeing a Realist I know that it would be very difficult to produce enough for 60,000,000 at once, and that it will have to be done in stages. Heck, even those Women and Children would have to queue up on the Boatdeck before abandoning Ship, even with 100% Provision.
Why don't they start with the People who are on the Covid19 Frontline? Anyone who has spent the Virus Era treating or helping People in some way?
Then running it like they did the Draught during WW2. Everyone was subjected to a Lottery to decide the latest Batch of Recruits into the Forces. They felt it avoided Problems of Background, Race, societal Position, Region, and whatever Letter your Name started with in some vast Index. Thus you could be chosen at random and it was deemed the fairest Method.
What they could do is enter every one of our National Insurance Numbers into a powerful Computer and according to however many Vaccines are available at a given time it chooses that amount at random. Then everyone has an equal chance of being vaccinated.
Clap for Carers didn't happen last night and the roaring Silence was as deafening as the annual Armistice Minutes Silence at 11am on the 11th of the 11th Month.
ReplyDeleteAnd probably more poignant to commemorate the Dead who are not here to be politicised.
Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said of how some had seized on the Weekly Clap-in and manipulated it to their own ends.
How a GP has been used by the Media to further an Agenda that started in 90's would have invoked very justifiable Criticism from the Man who established the Health Service in 1948. What would Aneurin Bevan have made of Dinner Party Healthcare?
Had the Clap-in happened I had the Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Land of my Father's) cued up to play at 8pm to commemorate the Health Services Founder but as the Hour arrived, and nothing happened, it wasn't played.
I preferred that in the end.
Even the Word "Well" as in healthy has become a sick Joke in the Town to be played with by the Semi detached Suburban Mr and Mrs James, Thug Yippie Dinner Party Club.
The Fact that the last 10 Weeks had been particularly noisy - Fireworks, Airhorns, Ships Horns, Utensils ..... and anything else that contributed to the Clatter - to have that sudden Silence on the 11th Week made it all the more powerful.
ReplyDeleteNow, maybe, as the Health Service has not only shown that it is worth every £ spent on it, and the Crisis revealed how much Damage had been done to it by Labour as well as Tory Governments - People should read the Beverage Report and why it was created. Not just that, but also the Background to it and how it was important to resolve all other Areas of Impoverishment in post-War Britain. After all, why bother treating anyone if you're sending them back to a Slum that might not even have a Bathroom? Or to a Life of Unemployment and bad Diet?
While the Armistice is on the 11th Hour of the 11th day of the 11th Month, the Silence at the end of the weekly Clap-in was on the 11th Week!
ReplyDeleteAnd not only was it made more powerful it also reclaimed some Legitimacy as some of that was being compromised by privately owned Social Media Companies as - erm 'well' as certain GPs who must have been working for a different Health Service!
ReplyDeleteOh, and you'll note how I said Impoverished instead of Po Vert Y!
The Stats are important, otherwise why collate and publish them?
ReplyDeleteAt the current rate our Island Nation that you have to fly or sail to, show a Passport and/or Visa, with a Health Service that everyone else copied to a greater or lesser extent, and our 5th wealthiest Economy, is now worse off than Italy, Spain, France and Germany. Because of Shengen you could walk from Western Portugal to North eastern Estonia, South East Hungary and the southern tip of Italy without having to fly, sail or produce any Documents at all. So why are we worse off than somewhere like Germany with 80 Million People and borders with France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland?
Why do we now have 6.5 thousand more dead People than a Shengen Country like Italy, with 4 national Borders and a second world Economy south of Naples? That your Chances are now better in Palermo than they might be in some British Cities? Italy, once plagued with, and being the epitome of Corruption, that couldn't keep a Government for more than a couple of Months and saw former Prime Ministers gaoled has begun to be more successful at fighting the Virus than we are! It once looked like they could drown in it. Respect to Italian Health Workers for doing so.
The American Figures might seem grimly reassuring. Heck, at least we aren't doing as badly as them huh? Hmmm, except we aren't. We're doing worse, 1.7 times worse!!!!
Their Rate is 333 for every Million People - ours is 588!
Meanwhile, as Tommy got impaled on his own Spiked wrought Iron Fence at Abbey Road "Yesterday", I must be currently reading about 2 very different America's .....
ReplyDeleteThere's the one where Restaurants are only allowed 50 People at a time and whose Tables must be at least 6 ft apart. Where many of the previous Lockdown Regs are still in place in Washington with Social distancing and the like .....
Then there's the other where huge Protests have gathered against the Murder of George Floyd. Cities that now have to be put on Curfew! Like, that hadn't happened until a couple of days ago.
I am totally for People protesting against a racist Murder, and one Commentator compared Afro-American Horsemen to the Riders of Rohan in "Lord of the Rings" ...... at least, if there were any Afro-Anyones in "LOTR" (quite), but this is all starting to look very surreal.
I hope that we don't suddenly see a huge Spike in Covid19 Cases once the Incubation rate has elapsed after these large Crowds vented their collective Spleen.
While there seem to be 2 America's there must be 2 New Line Cinemas .....
ReplyDeleteThere was the one that made the Film about Bobby Kennedy, who enforced Civil Rights in George Wallace's Alabama and attended Martin Luther King's Funeral. Then there was the other that had Brad Dourif who played Klansman Deputy Clinton Pell in "Mississippi Burning" being traitorous Rohirrim Grima in "Lord of the Rings". Except Peter Jackson's Films were completely bereft of any Afro-Carribeans/Americans while any minority Ethnics were shown as Antagonists like the Haradrim. Hitler would have loved the northern Europeanism of a Story - showing Anglo-Scandinavian-Celts as Hero's and non-Europeans as Villains like they came from the South (Harad), or the East (Slavs).
Maybe some of this answers the previous Question ......
ReplyDeleteThat Countries like Italy and Spain don't have Dinner Party Healthcare, or an Agenda corrupted by cultural Influences that might not have been out of place at a Dinner in Wannsee.
Thomas Yorke is from Oxford, Tolkien was synonymous with it.
And while we have those Inconsistencies, we are also being told that wearing Face Masks might become compulsory ......
ReplyDeleteExcept, while one Mask is telling us that, the other tells us they don't work, and only have a sort of Placebo effect. Some even say that they could make things worse by bringing the Virus into the Home (I have heard this). It's starting to look like the 2 Masks of Sock and Buskin, ancient Greek Theater Masks representing Comedy and Tragedy, except even Sophocles might have been hard pressed to have written something so devastating.
Meanwhile, half of Britain is threatening to boycott Chinese Goods, except there's a Reason why so many things are made in China, the main one being Supply and Demand. The West wanted cheap Goods, the Chinese supplied it, or Western Countries set up Factories there because Labour was cheap.
ReplyDeleteHow many things are made in China that are completely unavailable from anywhere else? Either that or they are much better at manipulating the Internet so only their Products appear on it.
The George Floyd Protests in America continue ........
ReplyDeleteA Conspiracy Theorist might suggest that all of this was a deliberate Ploy to provoke Protests in the sort of People who might at a Racist Murder at a time when a global Health Emergency is happening, and while George Floyd was tested positive for SARsCovid2 in April how many of the Protestors might be?
The worrying thing is, what might start happening in a couple of Weeks?
After all, it wouldn't be difficult to pass a forged $Bill to someone who then spends it elsewhere. How many of us have given Shop Assistants Money that was very similar to our own Currency quite innocently? Irish 10ps and Channel Island Coins were very similar.
ReplyDeleteIs there a positive to the Covid19 Crisis?
ReplyDeleteThere are several ......
The Eco Lobby have noticed a huge Drop in Carbon Emissions and Greenhouse Gasses during the global Lockdowns. Huge Reductions in Vehicles, Offices and Factories not having to power up for the working Day, or even 24/7 if they operated Shift work. Consumption of natural Resources has reduced as production was suspended. People in India could see the Himalayas for the first time in Decades.
While many good things have also been suspended, and unfortunately some will fall by the wayside, so have, and will, a lot of bad Stuff. Even some of the exploitative Stuff I've mentioned here has had to stop during the Crisis. The Yippie Economy wasn't immune. If there's any justice it won't be able to recommence in what former President Obama called "the new Normal".
WW2 was terrible, and wreaked Death, Havoc and Destruction everywhere, except even that had its positives.
Women were regarded as a serious Industrial and Agricultural Force as they replaced Men in Factories and Farms, the sense of Community was reinforced in what one Writer said produced the very best in People.
The Welfare State and NHS were byproducts of it.
The State Pension was partially created because elderly Relatives of the main Income Earner lost that Support when the latter went to War. It was the same with Mother's and Children, while post-War mass Unemployment prompted the need for an Unemployment Benefit Scheme.
The War revealed the iniquities of a 2 Tier Healthcare System, where the Wealthy could buy the best and the rest relied on what little public provision there was and Charity.
So, hopefully, something that really does affect ALL and not the 'all' Viggo Mortensen went on about in "Lord of the Rings" will prompt the end of such Shenanigans.
Who's running our Health Service these days ....... the Health Minister or Henry Ford?
ReplyDeleteIt seems the Virus might have another Symptom ....... Confusion.
ReplyDeleteBecause People have been on Furlough for so long they have lost track of when they aren't - and when they are - back at Work. When asked if they were a few days ago someone said they weren't. When the Subject was mentioned more recently they said they were!
Seeing how this Website has worked showed me what has gone wrong with the Information Process, and thus, why People remained oblivious to Covid19.
ReplyDeleteThe Finger of Blame has been pointed at the World Health Organisation for being inert in their Response to the Crisis. But how, when they held a Press Conference to announce a "Public Health Emergency of international Concern" on January 30th this year? What exactly were those Media People thinking sat there with their Notebooks, Cameras and Audio Recorders? Why is the WHO having a Press Conference at all if it isn't to let that Public know about the Crisis? So why were so many People oblivious for much of February and early March? How did that Information Process fail to communicate what Tedros Adhanom had just told them?
People used to talk vaguely about some Disease in China, if they mentioned it at all.
On this Website you will read about all sorts of Stuff ...... Pirates of the Caribbean and the historical Connection with that and Black Sails, Titanic - one of the most successful Films ever, Slavery and the Battle to end it, the Iraq War, the Aftermath - and on it goes.
So where are all the Stats for Jamaica, the Bahamas, or anywhere, or anyone, else relevant to any of this? I also remember how People blocked up the Information 30 years ago, not just in Media generally, but even the Building where some of us worked!
If this can happen within a niche Demographic or a few Creatives in Bristol even with the Zeitgeist of the Era is anyone surprised Mr Adhanoms Message never got through?
He's trying to tell the World about a Disease that could kill all of us, and no-one was under any Pressure to do anything about it, certainly not the Politicians! Scammers never seem to have that Problem as their Internet Scams become as viral as the Disease, including People selling fake Covid19 Products like Masks that don't work and bogus Sanitizer.
So what do People who blame the World Health Organisation expect Mr Adanhom to do? Go and meet everyone on the Planet - 6 Billion of them - and tell them about Covid19?
He did his Job, did they do theirs?
Tedros Adanhom might see the Paradox as an Eritrean Ethiopian.
ReplyDeleteAs a Student in Eritrea during the Famine of the early 1980's he would have been aware of the World's Media covering the Story, and of the huge global Response to it, prompting the biggest televisual Concert of all time, many concurrent Concerts - even in the Soviet Union - and People organising their own in the Months after.
While Band and Live Aid epitomised an Era, where Punks like Bob Geldof and Adam Ant played the same Stages as Elton John and Eddie Kendricks, Metal Behomoths like Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and Status Quo with Mods like the Who and Paul Weller, Mr Adanhoms Press Conference was like a side show that might or might not be seen, depending on what you were doing and thinking at the time.
The Government's Everythingisfinenow Cool Aid is rapidly running out of Fizz as Leicester had to go on lockdown again, but this is just a very small dip in a plunging Abyss that threatens us all, not just with a potential Covid19 #2 but also with another, yet unknown Pneumonia Virus that is ravaging parts of Asia ......
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/news/world/1307599/china-disease-news-coronavirus-death-cases-latest-Kazakhstan/amp
Apparently, this is even worse than Covid19 and Chinese Officials are being told to take the same Precautions with this as they did the Pandemic that started last year!
And now, it seems, the Masks of Sock and Buskin, Comedy and Tragedy, are at work again ......
ReplyDeleteA few Weeks ago we were being told that relaxing Restrictions will cause a second Wave of Virus Cases. Now we're being told it could be eliminated completely. New Zealand announced it had eliminated the Virus, then a Couple of Visitors from abroad went there - and it was happening again, the Visitors were from Britain. Australia is having a Resurgence - and both of these are Island Nations like ours.
We are also being told that there has been no increase in Cases since the easing of the Lockdown. But the Incubation Period is longer than than that of the new Measures, so how can those Figures be accurate? America has announced the biggest increase yet with more than 45,000 Cases in the last 36 Hours.
All this conflicting Advice and Information made ironic by stricter Face Mask Rules being announced by Boris Johnson. Maybe People should draw a Smile on one and a Frown on the other .
And to make everything look like a tragicomic Play not even Sophocles's could have written China is trying to warn us about an increase in Covid19 and a new Virus, more deadly, that is ravaging Asia. Y'know, the same China accused of covering up the original Virus at the end of last year, and beginning of this!
For all we know in this Miasma of counter-Information, the World Health Organisation might have announced it very recently.
Maybe Tedros Adhanom got lost in the Flurry as BoJo told People they could go to the Pub again!
Isn't the current Policy about wearing Masks at the Shops a bit odd?
ReplyDeleteThat they told us it will be compulsory on, and after, July 24th.
So what was different about the 23rd, 22nd, 21st, 20th ........ however far back? Did they have some sort of Deal with the Virus that meant it wouldn't spread or infect anyone in that time, or until the 24th? That after that, the Amnesty expires and it continues its deadly Work?
And on the Subject of Masks, not sure if John Lydon is promoting the public use of them or Steelers Wheel Records!
ReplyDeleteMaybe he's making a Comment about that "Eternal Bulshit" Louise!
Which probably includes any Peroxide Addicted Coal Washers.
ReplyDeleteThere are several Videos in YouTube about all of this .....
The problem is, they seem to either reinforce the Culture of Blame (again) or are inconsistent, or since proved wrong.
The Science behind Covid19 is one.
At one Stage we are told that the Virus is here to stay, and that we will be able to control it like the Flu, then he tells us that we have the ability to render it extinct. It can't be both!
Also, the use of anti-Malarial Drugs has since been proved not to work.
Then there's another ....
The Virus is described as a "Wolf in Sheep's Clothes", or how it works like a Pirate Crew, those Spikes acting like Grappling Hooks on Receptors.
As long ago as 1995 I bought a Jacket in a Charity Shop that had a Patch on it saying "Wolves among Sheep". Hmmm, so presumably this is connected with the Sheepway, and maybe De Niros "Shepherd". It might be worth contacting the Video Maker to ask if there's anything else we need to know.
The biggest Accusation is how the Chinese developed the Virus as part of a Biochemical Weapons Program. The thing is, many of the Chinese Virologists who might have been involved were trained in America.
Is this Osama Bin Laden in continuum, where the CIA cultivated him, then he allegedly did what he did in 2001, then they start finding People to dump the Blame on?
That these Scientists were like Sleeper Cells - waiting to be activated. Then you get the Culture of Blame in an Attempt to discredit the Chinese in a clumsy Gambit to garner global Support, rather like the spurious "Coalition of the Willing" in 2003.
The odious, and disgusting thing about all that Al Qaida Nonsense was how the Pentagon had very real Links with them since the 1980's, while the People they tried scapegoating certainly didn't.
But while People say China failed to tell the World about Covid19, which might or might not be true, here's every Android Phone Google Page One Search Result to "China warns of new Virus" ....
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/06/29/coronavirus-live-updates.html
https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN2410BU
https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.economictimes.com/news/international/world-news/chinese-researchers-warn-of-new-virus-in-pigs-with-human-pandemic-risk/amp_articleshow/76703263.cms
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2020/07/10/worse-than-covid-19-china-and-kazakhstan-disagree-over-new-virus/amp/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/amp/news/industry/china-study-warns-of-possible-new-pandemic-virus-from-pigs/76721325
https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.economictimes.com/news/international/world-news/chinese-researchers-warn-of-new-virus-in-pigs-with-human-pandemic-risk/amp_articleshow/76703263.cms
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.dw.com/en/chinese-study-warns-new-swine-flu-virus-has-pandemic-potential/a-53997157
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/health-53218704
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/world/asia/h1n1-swine-flu-virus-china-pig.amp.html
Here's an Observation .....
ReplyDeleteWhile Metropolitain Police weren't wearing Masks at the apparent Anti-Lockdown Demo in London a couple of Months ago, and some weren't even wearing Gloves or social distancing, there's a Congressional Hearing from about the same time called "Dr Rick Bright testifies at House Corona virus Response Hearing" where they are all speaking into a Microphone but none of them are wearing them either. They might have them, worn under the Chin, but not covering the Mouth.
Writing as someone who used to record People speaking into a Microphone it could get quite damp with Droplets after just a few Minutes.
And now the very Man has appeared, except Dr Bright isn't wearing one at all!
ReplyDeleteBut it isn't just things like this....
ReplyDeleteHow many times have we seen Boris Johnson, who allegedly had the Virus, speak into a Microphone at those Briefings, followed by Spokespeople from SAGE, Dominic Cumming and Going (everywhere) Matthew Hancock etc? Does anyone change the Foam Baffle or clean the Microphone with Sanitiser before each? Nope, and neither did they in America after President Trump or any of his Team.
Even interviewing People in the Street means a Microphone gets covered in those Droplets they keep telling us about, so that Mic, which can be just a few Inches from someones Mouth, Nose and Eyes, can be a veritable Petri Dish of Disease!
Also, much as I respect Dr Patrick Soon Shiong for his obviously vast Knowledge of Biology and Health I am somewhat intrigued about how that qualifies him to be the Executive Chairman of a Newspaper. Don't you have to be an Editor or something? How he got to be doing that when this Virus happened seems rather a Coincidence!
Meanwhile, it seems were back to Martine's "Rules". This time about staying at Home during the Lockdown. Except there were some things you could still do. Walk the Dog, Walk, Jog or Cycle. I don't have a Dog, while Hiking is usually better with other People. I don't jog particularly, but Cycling was what I went for. I would do about 50kms a Day, while it seemed everyone else had discovered it, from the Family on all their different Bikes, to the Bloke who dusted off the Bike in the Shed after 20 years.
ReplyDeleteI made sure I was 2 Meters away from everyone else and neither visited anyone or grouped up in large Gatherings. Cycling can be a very isolated past time, while simultaneously enjoying the Scenery and keeping fit!
Keeping within the Rules here methinks!
Meanwhile, expect to see Boris with Hair dyed Brown, looking conciderably younger and sat in a Wheelchair sounding decidedly ethereal. He's turned into Brandon Stark/the 3 Eyed Raven apparently in the continuing "Game of Viruses" Wonder who is going to be Little finger in this?
ReplyDeleteAre we being lulled into a false sense of Security ......?
ReplyDeleteErm, has anyone noticed that the daily reported Cases only a couple of days ago (September 30th) was higher than it was in the darkest Depths of the Lockdown? That it was 7108 while that of May 1st was 6201?
And this isn't a sudden Spike either, caused by discovering an anomalous Area previously unrecorded. It's a gradual Increase that started at the end of August.
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued to read an Article based on an Interview with David Nabarro, WHO 'special' Envoy on Covid19, who told the Commons select Committee on the Virus that it was "out of control" and "worse than a Science Fiction Film". How there was a Subtext that seemed to have as much to do with the Shenanigans that has gone on here in recent years as it might any Pandemic Diseases.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how much of that is attributable to him and how much it to the Independent Newspaper Journalist who wrote it!
And then the figure shot right up to 22900 on October 4th, while in recent Days it has fluctuated from 14000 to 17000!
ReplyDeleteA big Up to everyone having a Firework Show today. Anything to alleviate the Lockdown Gloom!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, it seems Lockdowns do work.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the figures for after November 5th there has been a noticeable drop in Cases after the 21st. This was after a Trend that saw them gradually go up before then. Experts say the Incubation Period is from a Week to a Fortnight - which would be about right for the beginning of the current Lockdown to the Spike about a Week ago. Thus, those People probably contracted the Illness just before and when the Lockdown was implemented. Then, as the Effect of the Measures were felt that Spike started to diminish.
This was after the Months that saw the concurrence of the Easing of the previous Lockdown and the increase in reported Cases.
Thus, maybe they do work.
I want to reiterate here that the Lockdowns do work .......
ReplyDeleteI'll agree they're an inconvenience - but then so was Rationing and the closing of Britain's Seaside Resorts during WW2. They're an unfortunate necessity.
After the first Lockdown was eased we saw a gradual Increase in People affected. Germany eased theirs too soon and their Success in containing the Contagion was diminished.
Here, the Virus continued to spread after the second Lockdown started on November 5th, then spiked on the 12th to over 33000. These were People who had contracted the Illness then showed Symptoms after the 7 day Incubation Period (5+7=12). It then started to drop.
What is happening now as it rises again to about 21000 is the same as what happened after WW1 and the 1918 Flu Epidemic. Students have been traveling home for the Christmas Holiday from 3rd-9th December and caused another Spike. What made the Flu Epidemic so prolific in 1918 was the huge demobilisation of Millions of Soldiers and the Flux of Refugees. Troops returning to their respective Countries and Refugees to Flanders, France, Galicia and Prussia took the Virus with them.
Obviously the effects now won't be anything like as catastrophic because of Lifestyle and living Standards but how it spreads is very similar.
Meanwhile, anyone remember this ....?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2020/07/10/worse-than-covid-19-china-and-kazakhstan-disagree-over-new-virus/amp/
This was in July when Chinese Embassy Workers in Kazakhstan warned against a new Strand of Virus that was similar to Pneumonia that seemed to afflict People in the former Soviet Republic. It wasn't certain if it was a different Virus to Covid19 or a mutation of it, at least not then. It has now become clear that the latter has happened and is happening in Britain. Apparently what makes it worse than the previous one is how it is more easily transmitted.
And 11 Months after the beginning of this the same thing is happening.
ReplyDeleteIn February/March you had to glean any updated Info on the Virus from the many News Sites on Google - published by private Media. There never seemed to be anything on a .Gov Website at all. I used to think saying the CIA or American Government got their Intel from CNN was a Joke. It seems that that is neither restricted to America, the CIA or CNN.
Trying to discover what will happen during Christmas, particularly because of the new Virus, the same thing happens. Page after Page of Google Results listing private Media Stories on the Subject, some quite speculative, but no definitive .Gov Statement via their Web Service.
And while America has hijacked World Democracy with its Barnham and Bailey Bulcrap - how about the World of Pugilism? I refer of course to that of Boxing, and while we are in Lockdown, with some Areas designated Tier 4 - why have I just read about a Boxing Match in Dubai between Belfast's Steven Ward and the Mountain from "Game of Thrones"? The Crowd doesn't seem to be the slightest bit Socially distanced while isn't Boxing a contact Sport? They tell us it was kept under Wraps until it happened on Saturday Night, but none of it suggests a sporting Event held during the Virus Crisis at all.
ReplyDeleteWith any Sports Event being at a premium at the Moment, and Bookmakers desperate for Stuff to put a Wager on why was it kept under Wraps at all? Are they sure this happened on Saturday, and it wasn't something that happened a while ago?
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, elsewhere in Barnham and Bailey Bulcrap land I've also read about a Venue in London called The Fiddler's Elbow. Apparently they are struggling because of Covid19 - and face closure. A spokesperson for the Venue commenting on it becoming a Block of Flats said how "it's sad but true"!
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean the Virus has mutated and become the Martine Virus?
I still don't understand how an Island Nation like ours can be one of the worst affected rather than one of the safest.
ReplyDeleteA Country only accessible by Ship or Plane, that isn't a Conduit to anywhere else and with the World's most comprehensive Healthcare Service should not be in the Morass it is now.
Some European Countries with multiple Schengen Borders (no Passport or Visa Checks), travelled through - East to West, North to South, with high density Population Areas and with Insurance based Healthcare have kept their Covid19 Crisis in better shape than ours. We overtook Spain, once Europe's worst, Months ago.
Everything that is happening internally - from economic to health - is because of the Failure to reduce the Influx of the Disease a year ago. The Failure at Air and Seaports to contain the Virus when it should have been far easier than patrolling Borders on Continents like Europe, Asia, Indochina and America.
Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Iceland, the Philipenes, and other Island Nations should be the safest in the World.
Not so OK Computer ......
ReplyDeleteThe Covid19 Vaccine is the biggest Initiative the NHS has done since its inception in the 1940's. It's also the biggest Program Health Services everywhere have done.
When I had my Jab (the next one will be 12 Weeks after) I was told by Letter to book the Appointment via the Patient Access Website. I dutifully went to it, created an Account and expected to see a Widget on the Home Page facilitating this. There wasn't, and when visiting the Vaccination Page there was every conceivable Vaccine - from Flu to Cholera and those you have when you go abroad, but nothing at all about Covid19. In the end I gave up with the Site completely and booked the Appointment using the tried and tested Telephone Number I use whenever calling the Health Center.
The thing is I can use the Internet, and have done for 18 years, and even I couldn't do it. What if someone doesn't, or doesn't have access to the Web because the Libraries and Internet Cafes are closed (because of Covid19)? They'd have struggled more than I did and probably totally given up on the Vaccine.
I think Mr Hancock should visit his own Website and see just how inadequate it is to the Task.
Also, as Patients are now having to have online Consultations - sending Photos if any visible Symptoms to their GP - why have both Gmail and MSN Hotmail seen fit to compress any attached Images to Email? This doesn't happen every time, but what if it does during one of these Consultations? The GP has to make a Diagnosis from a tiny Thumbnail size Picture.
Shouldn't the People running the Internet ensure their Systems work to their ultimate during the Pandemic?
So, Matt Hancock resigned as Health Secretary.
ReplyDeleteI know this was a while ago now but it still merits a Comment.
Mr Hancock should have resigned as soon as our Covid19 Mortality Rate caught up with Italy and Spain. In the early Months of the Crisis both Countries were regarded as the worst afflicted in Europe, with the former's Healthcare Systems threatened with being overwhelmed and the latter seen as proportionally the worst. Ironic as they are Peninsular Countries with very few Borders.
Ours should have been even less, being an Island Nation and not like Germany, a Conduit between Scandinavia and the Baltic to the Balkans, and east and west Europe, with 9 Schengen Agreement Borders. There was no Excuse for what happened here, which proportionally is worse than the USA.
Patient Access, the Website meant to connect the Public with the Health Service is a Joke.
The Vaccination Program - the biggest Initiative the NHS has ever done since it's Inception - is at the Mercy of that Website. The thing is, when you get the Letter telling you to book your Appointment where exactly was the Covid19 Vaccination Booking Form? A drop down List of everything else might be there but no Covid19. The Vaccination should appear on the Landing Page but doesn't. Proof if any that Mr Hancock probably doesn't use the NHS because he'd have seen all this. People who did book their appointment via it got sent as far away as 12-17 Miles rather than the local Clinic which causes logistical Problems with time off Work or dealing with side Effects. Both easier to deal with if the Session is a few minutes from Work or Home.
Mr Hancock resigned because of a few Hugs and Kisses - and his failure to set an Example, but as someone who recorded Audio for a living I'd say none of them were, even without Cumminsgate. Every Press Conference saw them speaking into Microphones that were getting covered in those Droplets - but did anyone sanitise it after they'd finished and before the next Speaker? Did anyone change the Baffle? No, so those Mics were a veritable Petri-Dish of Viruses while they talked about the Crisis.
This Crisis will prompt many Questions, one of which will be why he didn't resign long before he finally did.
Do they know it's Summer?????
ReplyDeleteToday is probably the first day since March last year when People feel vaguely holidayish. After a year and a half of Lockdowns, Viruses and a semi-police State People set off for the Holiday they should have had last year.
While cycling I saw tailback Traffic southbound on the M5, obviously People going to Devon and Cornwall - and everything was either stopped completely or moving very slowly. Stood on the Footbridge seeing all this, and pausing to relieve the sore Back and Shoulders, I noticed someone wave so I waved back, others waved, I reciprocate, we exchange Thumbs up and I'd get the occasional Beep, or that deep Trombone Sound Trucks make, it was brilliant.
I started feeling a bit like Leonardo DeCaprio or Danny Nucci in the Film, waving at the People on the Quay in Southampton, Sometimes People in all Lanes would do it, others from as far back as 100 yards, finally People are having fun. After all, they haven't holidayed for 18 Months, but are stuck in Traffic in what can be sweltering Heat, it gave everyone some relief.
Then old misery Guts struck.
Some old Woman whose House was converted to a Dwelling long after the Motorway was there anyway came out to complain. To hear her it was like we were in some huge gridlocked City, Drivers constantly on their Horns - People cursing each other. They weren't, and although some used theirs as they went past it was all in good humour and not as loud as the Motorway itself.
I ought to have retorted that this is first time People have been able to do this in ages, how the Uncertainty still sits in the backs of many People's Minds, how they are going to Places whose Shops might be as sparse as those they came from, and new variant Covid threatens to undo Progress they'd made, but why bother? She just wants to inflict the Delta Blues anyway!
Meanwhile, as the Shops are emptying of Stock because of a shortage of Truck Drivers maybe Bob Geldof and Midge Ure should organise Truck Aid!
And how about this piece of miserabalist, oppressive Journalism with its 'Thugs with Press Cards' Subtext?
ReplyDelete"Exact TIME HeatWAVE in Scotland is about to end - and when the next one is due to HIT!
I've capitalised the relevant bits in this HEADline from the Scottish Daily Record.
Y'know - I sometimes wonder if that old Woman's Attitude is similar to that of 30 years ago. Maybe she was like that then too, and so were others here!
ReplyDeleteMaybe some younger People have that Attitude more recently.
ReplyDeleteEven if the current Respite is temporary why shouldn't we at least enjoy it while it lasts? We might be on lockdown again by October/November. For all anyone knows this might be it for several years, but why the hell should we walk on Eggshells for anyone?
Also, I'm on a Footbridge, they were in Vehicles, just how much Social Isolation do you need?
I've had it up to here with this local Regime. Stuffed Shirts and Po Faces and whether it's someone trying to obstruct Cycle Routes or that horrible old Woman (and maybe some not so old) you just wanna do it to spite them.
Apparently, the Booster Jab against the Omicron Strain of Covid19 is proving effective.
ReplyDeleteHaving had mine I would relay here what I tell anyone scheduling an appointment to have theirs.
The Day after can be terrible. Like the worst Flu you even had. Muscles and Limbs ache like hell, Headache, Shivers, difficulty in getting warm and chronic dizziness. All you can do is stumble to the Kitchen for a gulp of Water or use the Bathroom. The next is much the same until about Lunchtime when it starts becoming easier to do things, but I spent that Afternoon and Evening in a Blanket - sipping hot Tea, watching DVDs, dosing up with Paracetamol. The Day after that felt like a gradual recovery, except you still feel like you've had the Wind knocked out of you. I had Pneumonia as a Kid but never felt as lousy as I did the day after the Jab.
I tell People to clear anything they might have planned for a couple of days after, while it's not a bad Idea to stagger appointments amongst any Family and Households. If you all have it at once you will all spend the next couple of days like this, no-one able to do anything - not even prepare a Meal.
It might be effective but there are side effects!
Meanwhile, as the Uncertainty grows about responses to the Virus during Christmas - and further measures by Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland, when you Google "Covid Announcement today" at 21,00 Hours GMT all that appears are Articles saying Boris Johnson is to make an Announcement at 5pm. This means 4 hours after it no-one has posted what that Announcement was.
ReplyDeleteHere's extending our Thoughts and Hopes to the 26Million People currently on Lockdown in Shanghai after the worst Batch of Covid19 Cases since the Pandemic began in 2020!
ReplyDelete