Dido Harding

[Cpl654321]

What is the actual point of her. She's in the news again today saying there was no way to know these new variants are coming. What?? Plenty of scientists were saying just that before it happened.

Why has she not been sacked yet. It's infuriating.

I could have gone either way, it was only when i looked at what would happen to the fishing industry that i thought remain was the right choice.

The more i see of brexit, the more i think we were stupid to leave.

when i looked at what would happen to the fishing industry that I thought remain was the right choice

I think it's far too early to say what will happen to the fishing industry. They are still receiving millions of pounds in Covid-19 funding/grants - restaurants and hotels are closed across the EU as well. Seafood Scotland have just appointed a "crack team of exporting consultants" -- a bit late in the day but at least they've been appointed now.

Clav You are showing your true little Englander colours. The cultural differences between the Asian countries you mentioned are massive. The whole point of their COVID strategies is that they are tuned to their cultures.

Korea for instance had to address an issue with its religious minorities because millennial evangelical groups (which are popular and have a long history in South Korea, christian evangelicals found a rich environment for conversions ) were persisting in meeting in large gatherings (thousands of people closely packed ). These proved to be superspreader events that were responsible for several outbreaks. Just one cult was responsible for 36% of cases by August. The Police here have actually broken up events at a evangelical church in a nearby suburb to here, whose leader is an extreme right wing nutter who is now preaching against any sort of infection control because Covid is a conspiracy, so are we unfairly victimising religious minorities here too? it’s just in Korea it was a much bigger issue.

Quarantine in Korea is regarded as a community activity. Local families provide home cooked food which is apparently far superior to anything you would be served in a Korean restaurant in this country. People who quarantine are treated as local community heroes.

Japan may be only across the water but their response has been quite different because infection control stayed wired into their culture after the 2018 Spanish Flu outbreak. Anyone who is ill with anything wears masks, social distances and isolates even before Covid. They never had a formal lockdown but as with Sweden people changed their behaviour anyway.

I am sure Jeremy Hunt is aware of those differences. It is just that these countries have responded quickly and with firm leadership to implement the measures that work for them. Do you not think that with 110000 dead we might have something to learn from countries who have kept deaths to 1464 (South Korea)?

I have a lot of friends in Asia and Australasia and they have a lot to complain about in terms of their governance otherwise but none are complaining about their response to Covid because they have been kept safe. My entire family had been infected here as well as locked down for months at a time, and had to isolate on five separate occasions, including for three weeks around delayed surgeries, that delay causing a lot of suffering. We have got off relatively lightly since we still have our jobs. I certainly look east and think we could have done a lot better.

Emilyontmoor

• Clav You are showing your true little Englander colours

You are not being condescending again are you?

• Japan may be only across the water but their response has been quite different.

Has Jeremy Hunt suggested we copy Japan?

• South Korea, christian evangelicals found a rich environment for conversions) were persisting in meeting in large gatherings (thousands of people closely packed). These proved to be superspreader events that were responsible for several outbreaks.

Yes - I know - I posted about the large cluster outbreak (hundreds of cases) linked to a Christian group in South Korea 9 months ago.

• Do you not think that with 110000 dead we might have something to learn from countries who have kept deaths to 1464 (South Korea)? As I pointed out up thread - we appear to have copied quite a few initiatives from South Korea already, which politicians on both sides have complained about, e.g. the 10 pm curfew for bars and restaurants was introduced shortly after Seoul's 9 pm curfew. I thought it was a good idea - other people disagreed.

I would love Priti Patel to introduce sweeping new laws tracking Covid contacts via credit card purchases, CCTV etc. just to call everyone's bluff. I've got nothing to hide.

New article published in the Guardian yesterday;

5 Feb 2021 - I've been in Covid quarantine in South Korea – there's a lot Britain can learn.

After flying into Seoul, I tested positive despite having no symptoms. Before I knew it, I was in a government-run hostel. ...

Self-quarantining at home if you have Covid-19, no matter how mild the symptoms, is not an option in Korea. Thus began my 14-day stay in a youth hostel in the heart of Seoul that had been converted to a quarantine facility for mildly symptomatic Covid-19 patients ...

I was in a medium-sized dorm room with a television, a bathroom and a kettle. To my dismay, I had to share it with three other Covid patients, all of whom were asymptomatic. The doctors assured me that there was little to no possibility that asymptomatic patients could cross-infect one another. ...

Despite these restrictions, however, two things stood out. First was the level of service on offer ...

The second was the emphasis on solidarity. The medical staff regularly expressed their regret that we were in this position. They emphasised, however, that we had to do it for others ...

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/05/south-korea-covid-quarantine-britain-tested-positive

If it would have prevented just half of these 110k deaths and not wrecked the economy, is 14 days hotel isolation so bad?

But unfortunately, we have a PM who courts popularity, so whilst Korea might have had a few small religious gatherings that helped spread CV, we had pop concerts, football and cheltenham - 500k people in total :(