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.

The other thing I couldn't understand about the antibody tests is that even though millions have apparently been ordered, they still need to be checked to see if they work

The other thing I couldn't understand about the antibody tests is that even though millions have apparently been ordered, they still need to be checked to see if they work

Pretty simple I'd have thought . We know very little about viruses to start with. Less so about C-19.

(if I were less scrupulous, I'd break into our stash of cotton buds, shrink wrap them individually and sell them as "C-19 test swabs" for £10 each. Just run around your mouth and if it goes red, you've got the lurgy.)

Gosh Hansard is hard to read.
I'm watching a particular clause in the Covid regulations and the amendements went in and out and the explantatory documents are a pita to follow
BUT
there are some provisions in there that I hope will survive the sunset clauses as they bring UK governance into the modern era

just as Brexit will take us back to the pre internet era

Problem is wth Johnson declaring he's taken the advice of 'experts' right from the beginning, is: how on earth would we know? We're not privy to any of those conversations. That leaves us having to take him at his word. No problem with that then...

Problem is wth Johnson declaring he's taken the advice of 'experts' right from the beginning, is: how on earth would we know? We're not privy to any of those conversations. That leaves us having to take him at his word. No problem with that then...

It was only a week ago (was it ?) that Matt Hancock was telling us how he was working with all the supermarkets to ensure supplies ect etc, until Tescos boss "corrected" him and said "Matt who ?"

We need a Minister called Fawlty.

Tonight's figures in France:
1 331 deaths (+231 in 24hrs)
at least 25 233 cases
3900 recovered after being in hospital
1/3 of those in hospital are under 60

So Hancock lied about the testing like he lied about consulting the supermarkets over supply chains.
Not surprised, just observing.

...I wonder why?

Coronavirus: Scotland to set up its own expert group https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-52036314

grinchly also in an interview on Friday Hancock said that healthcare workers would have PPE by Sunday night at the latest.

Clearly that didn’t happen either.

Exactly DGR... and what happened to 'going for herd immunity' oh yes we are, oh no we're not.

Granted that whenever there are complex decisions to be taken with multiple contrasting inputs and options, it will be difficult to arrive at a final set of actions. However, I lack trust in the motives of those who are making the final decision and I'm not talking about 'the experts'.

The contrast between Khan and Johnson over construction workers is an example of the kinds of background tensions that we only glimpse whilst we still see the very tangible outcomes (packed underground tube). And it is my health and the health of my family that is at risk as someone who now has the cough and the fever despite living in a location that had one (!) confirmed case a week ago.

Why hasn't today's figures been released yet? Have they stopped doing it now? I know Scotland Ireland and Wales have released theirs but why hasn't England??

G7 haven't been able to agree a statement on the COVID pandemic because US insists it must be referred to as the "Chinese Virus"
🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/streit-um-wuhan-virus-a-6bb570bb-9f2b-4cd1-a895-fdeabf53f6b4

Will the death rates in the US expose how many Americans don't seek medical help at early stages for fear of increased premiums?

Premiums rise regardless of whether you have visited a doctor - every few years your bill increases because you are now in a new age cohort.

It's fear of being denied new insurance outright because of a diagnosed pre-existing condition that keeps Americans away from doctors.

America doesn't have a health system. It has an insurance industry.

Of course the global community could just go 'Look ! A squirrel !' and return back to how things were. But that would be to gamble on a huge scale that there will never be another pandemic even remotely bad as this.

That is exactly what will happen. Because money.

Ireland currently has a v low death rate as a % of cases, like Germany. Are they also v organised, wrt testing, monitoring and contact tracing?
BCF

Just from personal observation via my Dsis who caught the virus, testing isn't great. She is on a list but not holding her breath (pardon the pun) waiting to be tested. She has very rigorously self isolated and she relayed her temp readings and symptoms to her GP daily as did her immediate household who all had milder symptoms and all stayed home for the duration.
(Dsis recovering nicely yesterday and today).

My mum's NDNs were at a family gathering a few weeks ago (yes, idiots) and were identified as contacts of someone at the gathering who tested positive, so they are also self-isolating.

Striplings making merry are a problem. WTF is wrong with that kind of stripling and the families they come from?

I had wondered if the military had any plans to stop Trump deciding to take the rest of the world with him, if he got a big dose of COVID
^OK, now looks like they'd take him out, then take over*

Quite honestly, BCF, apart from concern about the obvious issues surrounding a military coup and concern about the virus, there are many in the US who would dance in the streets if that were to happen.

And to think the Senate had a chance to impeach him only a few short months ago and wasted it...

Is the figure of 43 deaths in the UK accurate? Only 28 in England?

That doesn't seem right to me but it's being widely reported.

Still too many of course.

The red/blue wall
Quelle surprise
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52036168
Boundary review cancelled

clash Yep, 43 deaths
There will be a lot of day to day variance at this level of numbers
I see it in German deaths too, with falls for a couple of days, then it rises again

The low UK figure followed yesterday's figure, which had the largest rise with 87 deaths

We need to see several days, preferably a week, to have a statistical trend.
Even then, any cluster can flare up again. Horrible

re the UK, peak expected to start in about 3 weeks,
but flattening the curve could mean it happens later, not just lower and for longer

That makes sense BCF.

Likely just a blip - I hope I'm wrong, but I can't see any reason why we wouldn't follow the trends of other countries. Particularly as we have not taken the steps tha others have.

....So it turns out that "Brexit, Do or Die," was accurate.

Excellent points, Blackbird

Too true Mockers.

Social distancing has led to vicars giving online sermons

God may have given an unexpected answer to this vicar's question: 😂

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-vicar/british-vicar-catches-fire-waiting-for-gods-answer-idUKKBN21C0GI?il=0

Stephen Beach of St Budeaux Parish Church in Plymouth, southwest England,
was getting his congregation to reflect on the experience of waiting
in the final section of a sermon delivered from his home last week.

“It’s a great thing to pause in the presence of God and to ask the question: Lord God, what are you saying to us?,”
Beach said, warming to the theme.

“And then, of course, to wait for an answer. I’ve just been pausing between these...”

he continues before realising his left shoulder has moved too close to the flame.

“Oh dear, I just caught on fire”,
he exclaimed, batting and blowing out the flame.
“Oh my word.”