Westministenders: The Virus

[RedToothBrush]

Its like living in a Bad Disaster B Movie.

If you thought Brexit on your TV every day was Bad, The Virus is a whole new level.

The 5pm broadcast with Johnson and friends, and the public infomation video with the unblicking Chris Witty (who has such unfortunate mannerism he makes me think he's me a Dr Who alien akin to the Slitheen).

Who knows what will happen. Just that everything has changed and our entire economy is now on life support whilst we figure out how to deal with the crisis and what on earth our exit strategy is.

Johnson has however refused to join a joint EU purchase scheme designed to assist countries through the crisis.

Meanwhile the US is about to go nuts... so what does that do to a trade deal?

More money for the NHS? More hospitals?

Well its possible that might just happen...

Yes all my own work bigchocfrenzy done this week

Thanks for praise all. I'm no artist but love to draw! Trouble is only have 2 pencils now mere stumps one rubber which is almost past it and I'm not allowed out for another 11 weeks!

Bcf no surprises there. I'm trying to drum it into DHs head.

Such a big game changer for all countries. I'm especially worried about poorer countries like Africa and India. The death toll there will be horrendous. I think it will in America too! And the aftermath will produce its own death toll too!
Is this a wake up call for mankind and will we take notice? I think the world is going to become even more unsafe as there will be a lot of countries wanting to be 'top dog'. It could seriously herald the third ( and last) world war as each country becomes even more closed for fear of another pandemic. Mass civil unrest across the world as economies collapse and divide between rich and poor widens even more along with a ride in racism. It's going to be really ugly I fear.😭

Not fun reading.

Ah yes, the blitz spirit.

amp.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/28/families-borrowing-buy-food-week-of-lockdown?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet&__twitter_impression=true
Families borrowing to buy food a week into UK lockdown
Food Foundation warns of crisis as YouGov poll reports 1.5m people worrying about hunger

This is before things start to get difficult....

We are headed towards some sort of government led rationing. Not supermarket rationing.

Plenty of warnings in here. We have a government which has consistently ignored warnings only to lead us into crisis

www.politicshome.com/news/article/excl-crops-could-be-left-to-rot-during-coronavirus-outbreak-due-to-shortage-of-workers-mps-warn

The other day the government had a press conference in which they actively used the term food securing and talked about ensuring it.

At the moment they are saying there is plenty of food for all and to buy normally. Whilst simultaneously announcing they have appointed someone to oversee food security.

This does not add up.

We have a problem coming.

We already have reports like this:

amp.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/28/families-borrowing-buy-food-week-of-lockdown?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet&__twitter_impression=true
Families borrowing to buy food a week into UK lockdown
Food Foundation warns of crisis as YouGov poll reports 1.5m people worrying about hunger

No doubt as with war time rationing the rich will come off better. E.g. in the early days it was possible to eat out at restaurants because the food there wasn't rationed. With clothes, for which you had to give coupons, the quality wasn't specified so the rich could obtain, say, a good quality winter coat, while the poor could only afford a cheaper one. It was eventually remedied - restaurants were limited as to what they could provide and the utility scheme was brought in to provide good quality basic goods.

My late parents, getting married just after the war, had a utility sideboard which was soundly made and still going strong 60 years later.

Noone in govt see a problem with this ?

"the scheme is not yet running and will take a few weeks to scale up to supplying food to 400,000 people. "

There are a couple of million working poor who have always lived pay cheque to pay cheque and cannot cope currently with reduced income, not receiving FSM etc
Hence taking out loans already

They and probably the next couple of million above them will not cope easily with significant increases in food prices
The sinking pound will worsen this, unless the US dollar suffers more

Some prices will likely rise soon, although many could take up to 6 months for current contracts to finish

"We are headed towards some sort of government led rationing."

Only responsible outcome, if food does become limited and / or not affordable for asignificant minority

We've already seen that faced with the prospect of millions of desperate people,
this govt can abandon Tory principles and steal Corbyn's Y-fronts

Jay Rayner (writing about Brexit, 2017):

"If you can't feed a country, you haven't got a country"

I think after all the virus angst is over the world will be desperately rebuilding economies and will be desperate for trade deals.

Ace sketches there, sos
Do you have a few quid spare to order some drawing supplies from Amazon or wherever ?
Important for MH to be able to do a hobby you love during this lockdown - especially if it's going on until June

red The virus will be nowhere near under control by 20 April, in the UK or Germany,
but there could be much more public / business / party pressure then to just unlock and to hell with the casualties.

There's pressure both because of the economic cost and from those, like some pp on MN, who cannot stand being cut off from their usual social interactions

Of course, a premature end to lockdown could be the worse of all possible worlds:
a high number of deaths and an economic depression together

I don't think people understand what's coming yet.

Not a clue.

Food riots are becoming a realistic prospect in UK.

There was a memo about risks and this was put as low. I think that was a poor assessment tbh.

I'm nervous. Very nervous.

Things could easily explode in various ways in the coming weeks.

Staying at home and keeping head down is a very attractive prospect. And not because of covid-19...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/28/boris-johnson-coronavirus-outbreak-will-get-worse

Boris Johnson will warn every household in Britain that the coronavirus outbreak is likely to worsen and that
he is prepared to tighten the nation’s lockdown,
after the UK suffered the biggest daily increase in its death toll.

The country’s 30 million households will receive a letter from the prime minister cautioning them that the worst is still ahead,
along with details of the government’s orders on social distancing, symptoms and handwashing,
as ministers battle to prepare the NHS for the coming surge in cases.
.....
The latest Opinium poll suggested 57% of the public think the lockdown measures should go even further,
while a third (33%) think there should be a ban placed on all public transport.

A majority (56%) also think the government did not act fast enough.
However, the vast majority of voters (92%) back the current lockdown measures and approval for the government’s handling of the crisis is also growing.
< BJ may yet come out of this well, wearing Corbyn's Y-fronts >
....
Stefan Dräger, the head of ventilator manufacturer Drägerwerk, told German magazine Der Spiegel that
the number of intensive care beds in England per capita was lower than Italy and five times lower than in Germany.
“The challenge in England will be greater than in Spain,” he warned.
< cheery bugger >

red Building work is still allowed - if you're nervous about the neighbours, maybe have a tall fence put up
and plant lots of veg

he is prepared to tighten the nation’s lockdown

Construction workers to stay home unless on critical infrastructure.

Banning the daily exercise.

Next two obvious ones.

Also non essential shopping - I seem there's been a lot of muttering about asos today and requiring multiple ambulances.

What might be difficult for the govt to explain is if the UK ends up with that very low ball Imperial figure of 15k CV deaths, even 30k

.... and then suffers food shortages / rationing and a long economic depression

Analagous to explaining why all the expensive precautions re the Millenium Bug worked - and therefore the threatened disaster ( ¼ or ½ million deaths) didn't happen

I thought weeks ago that this dilemma was what was making the govt so hesitant and late to act,
more than ideology

A strict Italy-type lockdown you think, then ?

At this stage, I had expected merely some tightening up on the piss-taking pleasure trippers

• if he really announces ramping up after only 1 week lockdown, then maybe the NHS is struggling a lot more than they expected at this stage (London hospitals ?) or Imperial have tried some new numbers in their model ....

Civil disorder starting in Italy after 3 weeks lockdown

• because people are struggling to feed themselves. And their kids

Grim story

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-italy-becoming-impatient-with-lockdown-and-social-unrest-is-brewing-11965122

At this stage, I had expected merely some tightening up on the piss-taking pleasure trippers

How do you do that?

We have not got the capacity to do that easily.

Far more effective to make the rules tougher.

London has a particular problem with the tube which seems connected with construction.

And the police have had issues with people going for walks at beauty spots or in national parks.

Apparently police round my way have been stopping cars to check where they are going and that travel is essential.

If it's more obvious you are taking the piss it's harder to slip by what few checks there are.

I didn't think BJ would have the nerve

... hence my concern if he does this, that things are already not going to plan ..... who'd a thunk it

Must have learned about exponential growth at Eton, surely

Apparently police round my way have been stopping cars to check where they are going and that travel is essential.

In France you have to print a form off and tick the appropriate box to say why you are out and and about. When DS took us to the airport the other day, we duly printed off our forms, but weren't stopped at all, much to our surprise.