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.

I disagree with the political analyst Agon Maliqi. I think there has never been such an open transatlantic split, but it has been clear from 2016 (and even during the 2016 presidential election) that Trump wants to destroy the EU. Brexit was part of his plan.

We applaud every evening at 8.
It's a little ritual, we call out to one another and check everyone's OK. We can hear clapping and saucepan lids clanging all around town and I know my nurse friend finds it very touching. I think if you can, it is a good gesture.

Tonight's post-applause chitchat means I know from her husband that a friend on the other side of the street has probably got CV...

Steady on. Our Govt includes people who don’t understand averages.

I wondered if the mixup happened after BJ refused to allow Hancock to attend the EU health minister meeting

Maybe they all got their homework card put in their schoolbag, so Hancock didn't get one ?

Averages aren't great, as I'd prefer to have the individual days

However, the numbers were based on different numbers of hours, so an average is the best we can do

That doesn't seem a huge rise. We have so far avoided the explosions that other countries have seen.

However, the cheltenham/football/gigs/panic buying/rush to the pub is unlikey to have come into play yet, I suppose.

Coronavirus: Mexicans demand crackdown on Americans crossing the border

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52053656

Mexican protesters have shut a US southern border crossing amid fears that untested American travellers will spread coronavirus.

Residents in Sonora, south of the US state of Arizona, have promised to block traffic into Mexico for a second day after closing a checkpoint for hours on Wednesday.

They wore face masks and held signs telling Americans to "stay at home".

Mexico has fewer than 500 confirmed Covid-19 cases and the US over 65,000.

Trump wants to destroy the EU. Brexit was part of his plan.

Aided and abetted by similarly like minded plutocrats...

Mexico's president has been shocking about this though.
I would really fear what is heading Mexico's way.

BCF Well that's a headline I didn't expect! Wonder if Trump will change his tune now?

Sorry I am far to cynical to believe that it's a mix up that led to them to not take part in the EU healthcare procurement group. I think they wanted to say 🖕🏻to the EU....... but now they have been found out for the arseholes they are, and realise the public actually aren't necessarily laugh this off , they are back peddling as fast as they can.....

Well that's a curveball bigchoc

So - this is completely off topic, DH and I are making a donation to local food bank.
But also want to make a donation to a homeless charity. In the past we have done Crisis and shelter.
(DENs is local to us - and I have done fundraising for them - generally quite well funded)

DH wants to make sure as much as possible goes to the frontline so to speak.....any opinions /suggestions? I know some of you peeps are quite well informed on these things....

Talking of emergency alerts as we were the other day we have just had one saying that all the public spaces that had been kept open are being shut.
Everyone in house had it come to their mobile phone.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/3862328-Westministenders-The-Virus?watched=1
New thread

** https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/2020/3/26/21193823/coronavirus-mexico-andres-manuel-lopez-obrador-health-caree*

The Mexican's I know are very concerned.

I fear what is heading the US way
Over 12,000 new cases today and 136 deaths

New York State Gov. Cuomo press briefingng*^:

• COVID-19 patients average time on ventilator: 11 - 21 days (vs. 3 - 4 days for non-COVID-19 patients).

"We have patients that have been 20 days 30 days on a ventilator. The longer you are on a ventilator, the more likely you are not going get off a ventilator"

Tomorrow, the USA will exceed China's cases (although not much over ⅓ of their deaths)

• and Trump will be handling it all, at least until January

Germany also has over 6,000 new cases and 56 more deaths

Merkel warned that numbers would get worse for 2-3 weeks even with lockdown, before they got better
Also with taking in critical cases from France & Italy - may be deaths from those too, now or later

All hoping that cases will go down soon
Daily deaths fluctuate too much to see a trend, but remain a comparatively low % - for now
If many people have been on a ventilator 3 or 4 weeks, as in the US, we may see a lot more deaths in the next few weeks

Bad though the USA healthcare system is in places it is still a lot better than Mexico's.
Mexico has fantastic healthcare for those who can afford it but it really is a small group at the top.
Where we lived in Mexico was aiming to be the first state to have running water and hard floors in every house.
It was a small, rich state and still miles off this aim.
It will be bad in the USA but I'm not seeing how it won't be worse in Mexico if it takes hold and the President is doing less than nothing.

@mrslaughan
re food banks .... @yoikes works with one so might be able to advise....

"the President is doing less than nothing"

Something in common with Trump then

Digging into the UK statements, it may be that the 115+43 were not for a full 2 day period, but only for 32 hours

158 deaths in 32 hours would be worse than we thought
Let's wait for tomorrow's figures though.

Even when they seem to vary the time intervals of bulletins at random,
enough data points on a curve will show the trend

@BigChocFrenzy yes America, Mexico and Brazil have all got populist presidents more concerned with their own image than their people.
It seems the hard left and the hard right have a fair amount in common.
I'm not sure how genuinely federalized Mexico is though, which makes ignoring the President harder to do.

Someone I work with a lot was in Mexico on holiday until last weekend - he'd been there for 2 weeks. They were totally ignoring Coronavirus for the first week. Bars, shops, schools - everything was open and people were carrying on as normal. The second week he said things started to shut down.

He was quite shocked to find how locked down the US was when he arrived.

Maybe the Mexicans should build a wall to keep the Yanks out?