Westminstenders: All bets are off

[RedToothBrush]

We are seeking an extension. Apparently. No prizes for guessing why.

There is no news but COVID news. And that's all there will be for a long time.

Enjoy your stockpile and your sunny uplands it brought.

Keep safe.

Poor lass, sadly likely to be the first of many young victims in the UK, over the next month or so

food

I mentioned before I was worried about the heavy dependence (about 50%) of the Uk on food imports
(which goes back about 150 years to the heyday of Empire)

A few producer countries in Asia are banning exports of food staples

More immediate concern is maybe that wholesale food prices are rising in some countries
Bad enough for Western countries, but has before caused revolutions in developing ones

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-24/countries-are-starting-to-hoard-food-threatening-global-trade

It's always been a frustration that many public health messages are 'don't do / do this' without explaining the 'why'. Granted that there is a need to balance clarity of message against information overload, but explaining why helps people to understand and therefore act on the message.

However, it's not a stretch to say our current government and their SPADs are the master of the soundbite and probably believe fervently in the need to keep messages to no more than three words.

Just a crying shame that Cummings was not as good in convincing the people to 'stay at home' as he was to 'take back control' or 'get brexit done'. Maybe in the case of the latter, there was considerably more money going into a somewhat less transparent SM information campaign? Has anyone seen any paid PHE ads coming up on their FB pages explaining to them about virus transmission? I mean apart from the totally crazy conspiracy theory ones...

Poor lass, sadly likely to be the first of many young victims in the UK, over the next month or so

While I get her poor mothers emphasis on no underlying medical conditions, it's a tragedy that some youngsters are only going to discover they have an underlying medical condition after exposure to C-19 .

Was just chatting to DW about a memory from the 80s when totally young fit healthy (mainly boys) teenagers started dropping dead for no apparent reason. Eventually it was discovered that Kawasakis disease contracted in infancy could leave the heart and arteries weakened.

The only reason I know that is a friends granddaughter contracted KD in the mid 90s, and they were testing afterwards to see if there had been any permanent damage (there hadn't). But it took years to make the link.

From Beth Rigby on Twitter.

Looks like PHE evaluating antibody testing kits that could be made available to NHS workers and the general public pretty quickly.

Just a crying shame that Cummings was not as good in convincing the people to 'stay at home' as he was to 'take back control' or 'get brexit done'.

The thing is "stay at home" is pretty unambiguous. Which makes it a hard sell (as we are seeing).

"Take back control", and "get Brexit done" are so vague and meaningless as to appeal to any and all.

She doesn't know anyone who has been ill among her Sorbonne friends and teachers.

(Outs self, hi Auld!) Staff have been ill, she just doesn't know it.

I went to the supermarket today to refill the larder.
I was lucky that I walked straight in past the three security guards and EVERYTHING on my shopping list was in stock except a particular moisturiser.
By the time I left there was a queue of over 30 people waiting to be let in.

My local supermarket has crush barriers to control people getting in and out (I went to the other one as its more likely to have stuff in stock).

I am not using delivery - I'm leaving those slots free for those who are not able to go out.

Lots of the old folks just getting one or two things locally, as part of their fresh air daily walk. several hundred OAP flats within 1/2 mile of the shop

YouGov poll

93% support / strongly support the government's new measures to tackle CV
4% Oppose / strongly oppose
3% Dont't Know

yougov.co.uk/topics/health/articles-reports/2020/03/24/public-overwhelmingly-backs-governments-new-measur

93% support / strongly support the government's new measures to tackle CV
4% Oppose / strongly oppose
3% Don't Know

So we can deduce from this the disconnect between the "YouGov panel" and UK public ...And it's clearly fucking huge.

I don't think YouGov are quite as worth paying attention to anymore. They clearly have a skewed panel.

Still astonished & baffled by what's going on in Uk supermarkets
WTF, sounds so difficult

No guards were required, at least in my region, at any stage
People have been encouragingly decent and sensible, back when I shopped, before lockdown

Only a few packs left usually of loo paper or pasta, both usually rationed by the shop now,
but otherwise food shelves are packed as usual
with fewer people than normal in shops over the last month

And as posted, I had no problem getting an online slot within 2 working days

DG I'd say most people would welcome even stronger measures
Many people are terrified and demand anything that will protect them

In rl, I suspect there is even less tolerance for the MN dog-walkers, joggers, toddler-wranglers, scenic drivers etc who are far too special to follow rules even in an emergency

There is high compliance in Germany too, probably in most countries

DG I'd say most people would welcome even stronger measures Many people are terrified and demand anything that will protect them

I wasn't arguing with that - personally I have no problems with stronger measures either.

My point was that if YouGov are claiming 93% support stronger measures, and we then tally up the instances where people clearly don't (because they are ignoring the current ones) then we have to come to the conclusion that YouGovs panel is only representative of say .... 40% of the population.

One way or another, something doesn't stack up, does it ?

Bigchoc
The door guards were much more to restrict numbers - the shelves still had gaps but less so than a week ago.
The shop I was in, people were politely self distancing.
The other one is known for kids running riot sometimes on scooters and bikes while their parents shop.

Supermarket this morning had plenty of fruit and veg, some pasta, some flour, fresh bread. I even saw a man with loo roll . By the time I left they were controlling entry. It was all perfectly calm.

Staff have been ill, she just doesn't know it.

Yes I'm sure, just apparently not her teachers (though I suppose they could be working when ill) and none of her friendship group. Which surprised me given what we know about the number of cases in Paris.

I don't know anyone in our area who's been ill either, although my neighbour told me today that there have been suspected cases at my son's lycée.

Like I said yesterday, it's going to be like Brexit and not knowing any leavers: because cases occur in clusters you'll most likely know loads of people who've been ill, or none.

Hello All

Back at work, much better, bar cough and throat.

I'll preface what I'm about to say by pointing out I'm an extreme introvert, who loves quiet, live alone.

Do you know what? I'm absolutely loving the peace and quiet that has descended. My neighbourhood isnt noisy by any means, but I have acute hearing and the lack of any traffic or background noise is absolute bliss.

I am working from home every day, rather than two or three. I'm in touch with friends by phone and SM. I don't have to psych myself up to agree to meet someone, because we can't. One of my friends who is the same, says it's like being on a retreat, or going back in time. I agree. I've already adapted my day to going to bed early and getting up at dawn.

This may sound in terribly bad taste, knowing as we do what is to come. We are in September 1914, I realise that.

It does go to show though, how much introverts like me have to battle against the background noise of every day life, every day.

Currently, because of The Great Quiet, ( TM) I feel as prepared as I can be for what is to come.

@BurneyFanny
Coucou! Hope everyone I know there is OK. (And everyone else, too, of course, but YKWIM)

Is anyone else in France finding data hard to come by?
Someone passed on a rumour today that everyone in France will be tested at a later date to check for antibodies.
We'd only know how many people caught it when it's all over.
(Apart from the ones who die of it, of course.)

Glad you're better Grinchly
I get what you mean. I sometimes think how nice the quiet and the birdsong are.
Then I realise the only noise from the street is the occasional ambulance siren and feel a bit guilty.

Auld - there is a lot of data on the ministry website (solidarites-sante.gouv.fr/) and they are also tracking coronavirus now on the sentinelles network.

@Grinchlywords, I get it. I have ME and staying at home wo going out is part of my normal.
Not having to go to work means I can rest/take it slowly wo feeling guilty about it. And I don't have to drag myself to work when I don't feel like it.

I am quite happy to stay like this for a couple of months.

Pretty simple I’d have thought. people can support measures but still personally disregard them. If you asked “do you support UK roads having speed limits?” I suspect you’d get a differnt answer from asking “do you always drive so that you never exceed the speed limit?”

Anyone watching the presser?
All those tests won't be here next week... Whitty is clear on that.
He's now setting up the experts to take the blame for the tardiness in introducing stronger measures.

Thanks, Mistigri...

Anyone watching the presser?

Nope. Last PM I watched live was Tony Blair who lied to me. I got the message/

All those tests won't be here next week... Whitty is clear on that.

There appears to have been an almost religious faith placed in these test kits. Presumably by the vested interests that stand to make a fortune from flogging them to the simple public. For myself I'd be curious about the false positive/false negative error rates.

He's now setting up the experts to take the blame for the tardiness in introducing stronger measures.

Because we can't come out of this trusting experts again. That would undo a lot of hard work.