Raging at Boris Johnson's irresponsible response to Covid 19

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BJ said I must level with you, I must level with the British public: many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time

How fucking dare he. This kind of phrase belongs in a rousing speech where the public are asked to come together to do what we can to help prevent those deaths. e.g. not going to large events, doing social distancing.

Not one which says "business as usual".

There was a government adviser on the radio saying they've not banned sporting events because they're in the open and in sunlight.

What about those events undercover? Or after dark? If that's the case why aren't they banned?

They're saying they're acting on scientific advice, but they're adding a layer of interpretation which is about what they think is possible.

They lack faith in their ability to communicate what needs to be done to the population and they think we're all idiots who won't do it, basically. So they've taken the decision that they can't help people dying.

I don't know on what basis BJ and his government is making decisions, but it's not with our best interests at heart.

It's a "don't panic"'message from a government scared and disrespectful of the population, not leadership in a time of crisis.

Fucking raging.

I agree. I thought it was totally irresponsible.

This, as well, is desperately irresponsible.

He says it is not possible to stop everyone getting it. And it is not desirable either, he says. He says you want people to pick up immunity.

The message from everywhere else is to try to stop this illness.

But he's basically saying, actually if you get it, don't worry, it's not a bad thing.

We absolutely don't want lots of people to get it now, it'll make the NHS fall over and the bottom line is, more people will die.

JFC what do they teach these over privileged idiots at Eton. How to treat the general population like cattle, perchance?

Think how we feel in Scotland. He more or less said Scotland emerging services are worse than the rest of the UK. That's a lie. And most of us didn't vote for him either.

Emergency, sorry typo

I agree.

'They're saying they're acting on scientific advice, but they're adding a layer of interpretation which is about what they think is possible.'

Oh, well put, op.
I keep hearing that social distancing measures are impossible, but they seem to work elsewhere.

My friend's school in Washington State is closed to everybody except the children of healthcare workers, to give one example of something that is supposedly impossible. Japan (where my brother is) has been doing a great job of flattening the curve while keeping the economy going by encouraging working at home without mandating it.

He made suggestion that we should try and stop lots of people dying. I understand these calculations need to be made but surely we should care people will die and try and prevent it.

And why oh why! Isn’t anyone talking about blitz spirit. We kept the lights off for months, sent our kids away, rationed food and took turns at jobs. Isn’t this perfect Tory rhetoric.

I don't understand how we can have a Prime Minister who can stand in front of us and basically say lots of people you love are going to die, but I'm not going to do anything about it because I think you're all too stupid to do what's required so we won't bother without people rioting in the streets.

He's literally playing God with our lives, and has decided we're expendable. Bet he's loving the power he has. I mean, sorry, I expect it was a difficult decision for him, poor dear.

Regardless of what steps are taken people are going to die, people will go out, kids will mix, people will have to go to work. People are going to die folks, no use pretending that they aren't or getting your knickers in a knot when someone is frank and honest with you. It is already here, in communities being passed round by people who have no idea that they have it.

And why oh why! Isn’t anyone talking about blitz spirit.

Yes, this.

Instead we have *Keep Calm and Carry On" which we know is terrible advice for a pandemic.

According to Dr Mark Honigsbaum, medical historian and author of The Pandemic Century, the language of 'carry on' originates not from World War Two but World War One. It is traced back to comments made in 1918 by Sir Arthur Newsholme, Britain’s then senior medical officer, in response to the outbreak of Spanish flu, a deadly strain of the H1N1 virus first spotted in late 1917.

By late 1918, ministers were aware of the horrific potential impact of the virus, which was known to turn its victims’ bodies blue and black before death, and so drafted a memorandum which advised Britons to isolate themselves at home if they were sick, and avoid any public gatherings.

But the nation was also facing its final stretch of the First World War, which had already claimed hundreds of thousands of British lives, and Sir Arthur worried that telling workers to stay at home could hinder Britain's war effort. Men and women needed to return to the factories day after day if Germany was to be defeated, officials believed, and so the memorandum was buried. Instead, Sir Arthur told the Royal Society of Medicine that Britain’s “major duty” was to “carry on” largely as normal, “even when risk to health and life is involved”.

In startlingly honest language, Sir Arthur told the conference: “The relentless needs of warfare justify the risks of spreading infection and the associated creation of a more virulent type of disease.”

[Image: Women sort blackcurrants at a factory in York in 1920. Such close working conditions would have been a breeding ground for the spread of germs]

According to Dr Honigsbaum, the “carry on” advice may well have been responsible for thousands of the 250,000 Britons who ultimately died in the Spanish flu pandemic. Worldwide, between 50 million and 100 million died – more than the number killed by the bombs and bullets of the First World War.

“It was the closing months of the war, a lot of people were dying, [so the government thought that] a few flu deaths here and there didn’t make much difference,” says Dr Honigsbaum.

Link for article quoted here:

Coronavirus, Spanish flu, and the dark history of 'Keep Calm and Carry On'

Spanish flu infected over a quarter of the population of the world and killed over 50 million people - 228,000 in the UK alone.

Some of them died because the UK government decided they were expendable.

The same seems to be happening now. Either that or they're just totally incompetent. I can't tell.

They are absolutely trying to manage the rate at which people catch it

we could socially isolate everyone for 2 years whilst a vaccine is developed. Which makes food delivery and cancer treatment stalled for 2 years .. not viable

Shutting everything ( including hospitals ) totally for 4 weeks and then banning anyone coming into the uk for 2 years would also work,, but that means no good imported from the rest of the world for 2 years , oops food shortages, and for the 4week shut down it's a bugger for people in hospital, or running the power plants , fire fighters etc and open day for criminals who would therefore keep it circulating so also not viable

Or manage the rate of transmission so that we can treat anyone who needs it

Once lots of strong people are infected and then recovered the virus runs out of steam , hopefully before the vulnerable are exposed ....because once enough people have it, and get immunity, then the virus can't transmit so easily

You won't slow the rate of transmission at the moment by shutting schools before many kids have it, especially if the kids get bored before enough people have caught the virus , because then they go out to play and whoops, we have an uncontrolled peak..which we need to avoid

It's about minimising deaths not about min8mising how many people get the virus

Well as someone they are deeming expendable?
He’s a raging buffoon. This is what Tory voters voted in.
Thanks a bunch.
(Someone with underlying health issues who could well not make it.)

People do realise that he doesnt make decisions in isolation, right?

Jesus the world and medicine and our understanding of how things spread has moved on a bit since WWI. Stop being dramatic and listen to the people who actually listen to the people who know what they are talking about.

Oh If only we could isolate him. Far away on a deserted island.
But I digress.
He’s the PM. It’s his responsibility. He’s failing.

What’s going to happen to the economy when all of the other countries that are focusing on containing the virus and putting strict social distancing rules in place decide to put travel bans in place for the UK because we’ve decided to just let it spread?

Where is the opposition? Who is questioning these dingbats????

I despair.

And what would you recommend OP?

Not ignoring WHO advice would be a good start.

What specific who advice?

It's true, the opposition is crap, that's why this lot are getting away with it.

I said this before on another thread--this situation reminds me of watching Years and Years when the homeless people and immigrants were left to die of flu in the Erstwhile camps.

It is shocking.

Can we get back to the specific advice from the WHO that we are ignoring?

Today I briefed @WHO's Member States on #COVID19 and our decision to describe it as a pandemic. We have made this assessment for two main reasons:

-the speed & scale of transmission

-the lack of political commitment in some countries to control it, despite our frequent warnings.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
@DrTedros
Director-General of the World Health Organization

mobile.twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1238110199795396611