Chris Whitty to hold briefing tomorrow

[molifly14]

According to sky news, Chris Witty is to hold a briefing tomorrow and will not be joined by any members of the cabinet or Boris Johnson and won't take questions. He will apparently discuss different scenarios.

Does that sound odd to anyone else and does this maybe mean no further restrictions this week, let's just try and scare us all into being good instead?

Link: Coronavirus: 'Critical point' in pandemic as UK infection rate heading in wrong direction, says chief medical officer news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-critical-point-in-pandemic-as-uk-infection-rate-heading-in-wrong-direction-says-chief-medical-officer-12077482

So if they had symptoms what would you do?

Comparing case numbers now with case numbers back in the early months of the pandemic is meaningless as there was no community testing then. So those cases were all cases serious enough to be hospitalised. Whereas now the case numbers include asymptomatic people and people with mild illness who won't ever need to be in hospital.

Yes, cases are going up. But the graph is very deceptive as there is a very obvious difference in what it's measuring over time.

@ineedaholidaynow I don’t know, as I said, hasn’t been an issue in the last 6+ months. Situation changing daily at the moment. I would consult the guidelines at the time, if necessary.

Shitfuckoh

Won't take any questions is a strange one.
What a strange one. Negative side of me says he's resigning (hence no questions) due to him not agreeing with the Government (and can't say as such due to NDA?!)

There are rumours he is going to resign, strongly denied by the government so the chances are they’re true.

The most popular scientist is Van Tam who hasn’t been seen since he made it clear he didn’t approve of Dominic Cummings actions. Perhaps they would do well to let him be part of the briefing.

@bitheby isn't that why we need to look at hospital admissions?

Hospital admissions are going up now, so maybe time to just look at the rise in those since community testing has fallen over in a major way.

@sorryforswearing

I stan Van Tam. Bring back Jon Claude!

@bitheby

Comparing case numbers now with case numbers back in the early months of the pandemic is meaningless as there was no community testing then. So those cases were all cases serious enough to be hospitalised. Whereas now the case numbers include asymptomatic people and people with mild illness who won't ever need to be in hospital.

Yes, cases are going up. But the graph is very deceptive as there is a very obvious difference in what it's measuring over time.

@bitheby

I'm not talking about case numbers. I am talking about the number of patients admitted to hospital and the number of patients currently on mechanical ventilation (in England with Covid):

1141 patients in hospital in England today (20/9/20) with Covid. Compared with 661 a week ago (13/9/20) and 464 two weeks ago (6/9/20).

142 patients on mechanical ventilation in England today (20/9/20) with Covid. Compared with 74 a week ago (13/9/20) and 52 two weeks ago (6/9/20).

(cross post)

If there's no end in sight a lot of people are now just thinking fuck it. If he can't give some kind of a timeline of when we'll get back to proper normal, there's no hope is there so really what's the point in carrying on like this.

@sorryforswearing

Shitfuckoh

Won't take any questions is a strange one.
What a strange one. Negative side of me says he's resigning (hence no questions) due to him not agreeing with the Government (and can't say as such due to NDA?!)

There are rumours he is going to resign, strongly denied by the government so the chances are they’re true.

The most popular scientist is Van Tam who hasn’t been seen since he made it clear he didn’t approve of Dominic Cummings actions. Perhaps they would do well to let him be part of the briefing.

I wonder what it's like being Dominic Cummings right now, he must be the most hated man in the country

@TheMurk

Deaths aren’t going up. The “curve” in that respect is flat. Quite simple to find this information. It’s not “science” either.

"Average daily COVID-19 hospital deaths in England tripled between 31 August and 14 September, albeit from a very low base."

mobile.twitter.com/ActuaryByDay/status/1306988076972072962

There is also a lag in reporting.

Jean-Claude Van damme would totally have this sorted by now with one of his flying roundhouse kicks
(if that's a thing 👀)

Pubs, restaurants, soft play and everything else remaining open isn’t a lockdown!
This is why people aren’t complying with staying out of each other’s houses. They quite rightly think it’s stupid when they can mix in a room with the exact same people (and more) down the pub. The government needs to close all of the unnecessary leisure activities if they want to stand a chance of being listened to.

@Ranunculi

Pubs, restaurants, soft play and everything else remaining open isn’t a lockdown! This is why people aren’t complying with staying out of each other’s houses. They quite rightly think it’s stupid when they can mix in a room with the exact same people (and more) down the pub. The government needs to close all of the unnecessary leisure activities if they want to stand a chance of being listened to.

Surely people can understand that we need to prioritise the economy over socialising?

@TheMurk

Deaths aren’t going up. The “curve” in that respect is flat. Quite simple to find this information. It’s not “science” either.

...and yet again you ignore the fact that deaths lag about 3-4 weeks behind infections . The worldometers page very clearly shows death rates are flat but infections are rising more sharply each day. You are peddling dangerous nonsense

@TokyoSushi

I suspect it's one last go at saying behave yourself or else (while going back to work, spending money etc etc) Then a few days later Boris will come on and say 'right, nobody behaved, we did warn you, lockdown.'

(not that we encouraged you to enjoy summer safely, and get back out there spending money, it's all entirely the public's fault 🙄)

Yeah he kind of did that last time

Anyway, pretty much says here what he's going to say: www.itv.com/news/2020-09-20/coronavirus-whitty-uk-infection-rate-heading-in-wrong-direction-as-britain-stands-at-critical-point

Surely people can understand that we need to prioritise the economy over socialising?
People think if they can socialise in the pub then why can’t they socialise at home? If the government wants people to obey social distancing then they need to implement it EVERYWHERE, not just in places that don’t have a till.

The UK coronavirus infection rate is “heading in the wrong direction”, Professor Chris Whitty will warn in a public briefing on Monday morning, as he lays the ground for tough new controls in an urgent attempt to halt the surge in infections.

In a televised briefing at 11am, the chief medical officer for England will say Britain stands at a “critical point” in the pandemic and the country faces a “very challenging winter.”

Prof Whitty, who will appear alongside the government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, will explain how the virus is spreading in the UK and the potential scenarios that could unfold as winter approaches.

They will draw on data from other countries such as Spain and France, which are experiencing a second surge, to underline how their experience could be replicated in the UK.

Prof Whitty is expected to say: “The trend in the UK is heading in the wrong direction and we are at a critical point in the pandemic.

“We are looking at the data to see how to manage the spread of the virus ahead of a very challenging winter period.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has spent the weekend with senior ministers and advisers discussing what action to take as the rise in the number of new cases showed no sign of slowing.

It is thought the PM could announce new measures in a press conference as early as Tuesday.

@Ranunculi

Surely people can understand that we need to prioritise the economy over socialising? People think if they can socialise in the pub then why can’t they socialise at home? If the government wants people to obey social distancing then they need to implement it EVERYWHERE, not just in places that don’t have a till.

The government need to explain why one is OK and not the other. They can’t keep treating people like toddlers and just telling them what to do and expect compliance without explaining the rationale. They are a bunch of useless cunts.

If Whitty was resigning he wouldn’t be doing a briefing. He’d just resign and then they’d publish his carefully phrased letter to the PM.

I reckon they’ve done a few focus groups and found:

• There’s little trust in the government now after Cummings broke the rules and they tried to claim he hadn’t

• There’s little trust in Boris

• After Boris has specifically told us to get back to the office and eat out to help out we are likely to react badly to being blamed by him for doing exactly that and to being told to do the opposite now

• People are more prepared to trust Whitty and Van Tam to tell them the truth

• A lot of people are confused by all the chopping and changing of the rules

I suspect it’s been decided that we need Whitty and Van Tam to explain things first (keeping Boris and his confusing bluster well away) and then Boris gives the official stamp on new restrictions saying he’s “following the science” as we all heard it the day before

@sorryforswearing

Shitfuckoh

Won't take any questions is a strange one.
What a strange one. Negative side of me says he's resigning (hence no questions) due to him not agreeing with the Government (and can't say as such due to NDA?!)

There are rumours he is going to resign, strongly denied by the government so the chances are they’re true.

The most popular scientist is Van Tam who hasn’t been seen since he made it clear he didn’t approve of Dominic Cummings actions. Perhaps they would do well to let him be part of the briefing.

Agree and also the female ...cannot remember her name who was the head of the RCN who also refused to condone Dom Cummings trip .

The argument about household spread is blatantly bullshit as it comes INTO the household from somewhere. So where? Pubs? Offices? School?

Why are we meant to be surprised about rates going up when people have largely (with government encouragement) gone back to normal? How would they not go up?

No masks in pubs, restaurants etc and no masks or distancing in schools. People back in offices who absolutely do not need to be there, sharing meeting rooms instead of zoom and group toilets instead of their own loos.

@TheMurk you said och shoosh. Utter nonsense. to I need a holiday when they told you the actual official definition used to determine that someone has been a "close contact" for track and trace (15 mins / 2m). It's NOT nonsense - its basic facts. That's what's considered a risk for transmission (long enough / close enough). You've lost all credibility when you can't even accept a simple explanation of what a contact is.