Things go wrong in other countries, too

[avenueq]

I don't think it's helpful how irate people get about the UK government's failings. Yes there are plenty but this is a whole new situation and there are plenty of other countries making mistakes.
Before you ask - I'm not from the UK, but that means I have insight what happens elsewhere,
So to start -
The Eu has been slow in vaccine acquisition

In Austria, vaccinations could not start yet in some areas as not enogh needles (!) had been ordered

Countries with the most severe lockdown did not necessarily solve the Problem (Spain)

Countries who had supposedly excellent track and trace also had a second wave (Germany)

Anyone got other examples?

In Belgium, a care home allowed a visit by a volunteer dressed as Santa. Turned out he was covid positive and 26 residents later died, with many more testing positive. Not the Belgian government’s fault but it shows that there are morons everywhere.

(Ok I might make an exception that US commentators seem to be taking an exceptional interest in the UK. I think there are particular motivations around this which aren’t difficult to
imagine and it has become so notable that there has been a lot of chatter about the phenomenon itself.)

I think other countries will be following us with the one dose bigger gap decision which seems a good one ( despite those countries saying they wouldn’t- Ireland and US I am looking at you - both now exploring this option)

Thepilot fucking hell that's awful 😞

If Boris had announced full lockdown before Christmas there'd have been an outcry and so many people would have broken the law it would have been horrendous. I think many did break the law btw, but more discreetly than if there had been a full lockdown to flout.

I think we need a reboot now and to take it seriously, stop pandering to conspiracy theorists and mask avoiders who think they're somehow different (not those with genuine reasons not to wear one) and act responsibly.

HmmSureJan Do you know or interact with people from or living in other countries than the UK? I do every day. Whilst it is not the sole preoccupation of anyone, people definitely observe and compare how other countries are managing the pandemic (and prior to that they watched on in astonishment as we actively damaged ourselves with Brexit).

The anti-UK stuff on here is astonishing and I think must be the work of bots. We have rolled out the vaccine very fast, and much more effectively than most of Europe

Boris' plan to make you forget everything they fucked up on by getting the vaccine slightly faster than other countries is really working then? I thought people would see right through it but clearly not.

Don't kid yourselves, UK royally fucked up over and over and over again, and missed endless chances to have more control over the numbers. People are dead who wouldn't be if the government had done a better job. Other countries managed it.

@herethereandeverywhere

HmmSureJan Do you know or interact with people from or living in other countries than the UK? I do every day. Whilst it is not the sole preoccupation of anyone, people definitely observe and compare how other countries are managing the pandemic (and prior to that they watched on in astonishment as we actively damaged ourselves with Brexit).

I do too. Not in a work capacity as I no longer do that job but still have at least weekly contact with good friends living elsewhere. Mostly I find that people were baffled by the Brexit outcome and asked what was going on that we as a country thought this was the way to go. They don't really care any more though, they're all worried about their own countries and it's issues. No one is laughing, no one is attempting to engage me in discussion about the "disaster" we are making of the pandemic, more like complaining about their own countries fuck ups!

@Changi

I think the idea that the UK is a laughing stock is interesting as I doubt that people in other countries really are interested in what’s happening in the UK

Exactly. I follow the news in other countries I have links to and they are too preoccupied with their own problems to laugh at anybody else.

Exactly.

The going on about the UK being a laughing stock is another example of UK exceptionalism - everyone is interested in us. No they're not.

The odd newspaper will carry an article about the UK and news affecting the covid response here (or Brexit, or both) but generally people only care about their own country.

@herethereandeverywhere thank you.

The UK has probably one of the worst Covid infection and fatalities statistics (per capita) but each national has different accounting criteria and most don’t actually have any accuracy nor expectations of accuracy as just untrustworthy and not transparent. Examples would naturally include China, Russia and Brazil etc.

However on balance the UK is probably average Covid safety performance on lives and medical damage.

Economically the UK is possibly mid ranking too as other economies are less resilient.

Not sure what happens in developing nations as much is unknown as unreported plus the populations do not have standard healthcare let along pharmaceutical vaccines development expertise.

Overall UK situation is very worrying but on the global perspective probably better than most as although our tax payer funded free at point of use NHS is overwhelmed it is still operational. That can not be said in many overseas nations. However of course nations like Taiwan and New Zealand are best in class on global Covid performance.

Wait, what? The bumbling buffoon managed to pull vaccines out of his arse ahead of the richest country on earth as a cunning ruse to deflect from his failings?

Riiiiiiiight 🤣🤣🤣

Country's

HmmSureJan 'I'm glad I'm not living in the UK' is the vibe from most colleagues (perhaps not the Brazilians but I'd struggle to think of others who think their country is doing a worse job).

It's making me fed up too. The gloom and doom attitude that our country is crap can be self-fulfilling. I wish we had a media that reported a bit more on things that we do well as a country.

I despise our current government and think of them as incompetent, poor communicators who aren't interested in the common good. However, when it comes to the vaccine, I have every faith that our efforts will be fruitful. Not down to our MPs but down to Public Health, Primary Care, Scientists, logistics - which I think we often do very well.

That’s a good point Anne. Those complaining about English “exceptionalism” are actually the most guilty of it themselves. Why would South Korea or Brazil or Canada or any other country be particularly watching us in “ horror” or whatever. They will be be concerned at their own countries mistakes just like we are. We are not that interesting or the centre of the world and it’s so arrogant for those posters to think we are!

Another thing - UK has been praised abroad for its excellent surveillance of the pandemic via the ONS, and for the amount of sequencing.
Also doing a lot more tests than other countries

But we were in the unique position of being an island with shuttable borders, and being able to see what was happening in mainland Europe, but the govt squandered this knowledge. So in a way you can't compare what is happening here to other countries failings, as ours was a spectacular fuck up.

@Apollo3

The anti-UK stuff on here is astonishing and I think must be the work of bots. We have rolled out the vaccine very fast, and much more effectively than most of Europe

Boris' plan to make you forget everything they fucked up on by getting the vaccine slightly faster than other countries is really working then? I thought people would see right through it but clearly not.

Don't kid yourselves, UK royally fucked up over and over and over again, and missed endless chances to have more control over the numbers. People are dead who wouldn't be if the government had done a better job. Other countries managed it.

Rolling out the vaccine is a marathon not a sprint - it is far too early to claim as a national "victory" ...www.ft.com/content/64ba9bdd-32be-44b5-9e5d-b2aac1b8424c

I am also surprised how many people have fallen for this! I suppose we are all desperate for good news, though why this must involve "beating" other countries is unclear to me.

www.ft.com/content/64ba9bdd-32be-44b5-9e5d-b2aac1b8424c

There isn't much difference in strategy between European/Western governments. The UK rules and restrictions have been middle of the road, stricter than some, lighter than others.

I don't think a Labour government would have done things much differently. Every major decision taken by this government has been backed by the opposition.

Any government is damned if they do, damned if they don't. It's a fine balancing act between keeping health services running and the economy. Other countries are no different. We are all learning on the spot

Are there any other countries where schools are safe in the morning but so unsafe in afternoon that they close them all?

But we were in the unique position of being an island with shuttable borders
Do you need a map of the UK? I mean, seriously, have you forgotten the land border with the EU?