Westminstenders: Political vacuums are very bad things

[RedToothBrush]

Johnson has been notible (once again) but his absence.

Whilst we appreciate he has been ill and has a new baby, we are in the midst of a national crisis and a sense of leadership and guidance from our prime minister has been lacking.

And its not gone unnoticed.

Not just by the press. And not just by opposition. Nor NHS and care managers. But on the ground where it matters.

The lack of the sense of seriousness has dissipated. The sense of duty to country to behave. The idea that it will some how be all over this week when it doesn't appear to be the government strategy. The total lack of policy for a week whilst it's become clear bit by bit that these things have been under discussion and decided upon prior to the supposed key meeting on Thursday from the announcements from the regional assemblies. All in favour of a TV stunt tomorrow night.

Let's see how that goes.

The grandstanding isn't a substitute for detail and substance in a crisis. And we still have the looming show down at the end of June over extension of transition. More optics. More lack of practicality at a time when things will really be on the brink.

The next month will be telling and we hit the wall of economic reality which will bring the whole world crashing in on the lives of so many people.

This is the calm before the storm. Enough the sunshine. Enjoy the time with families. Before this is over everything will have changed for so many.

This is just the start of things unravelling and it needs someone to take control and draw up solid blueprints for all our futures. Is a man who is so frequently awol from where he is supposed to be and doesn't take commitments and responsibilities seriously, really the man for that?

Churchill had a vision for the country that cited housing as our second social service, the NHS being our first.

Will Johnson manage to some how forge out so grand new venture which gives the resource and rewards it deserves to the NHS (beyond lipservice and empty platitudes and clapping, that recognises the importance of social care and can stop the almost inevitable coming wave of homelessness and unemployment

And can he do it without selling us off as a basement bargain to the us?

"•Why would we seek to give favourable market access conditions to certain British professionals when our European fishermen would be excluded from British waters and risk losing their livelihoods?"

I posted too soon there. I imagine that it's more complex and that our financiers and commercial lawyers have skills which are in demand in the EU. With fisheries it is a different matter - the English didn't want the bother of fishing, and now it's a very dog in the manger attitude to say that "We don't want the fish, but you can't have them either."

BTW to Liz Truss - don't expect the US to provide us with fish - the fish we eat tends to come from Norway and Iceland.

in the South west there are huge areas with no cases
so kids and teachers are safe (as grockles do not go into schools)
ListeningQuietly

This is completely misguided, as the experience of Vietnam amply illustrates.

BCF if widespread testing of all students and staff is not done daily then this will result in a second wave.

At Thursday’s meeting, the senior Ministers also discussed ending the legal loophole that allowed the United States government to insist that Sacoolas was above the law through her husband’s work as a diplomat at the US spy base RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire. A waiver for criminal immunity drawn up in the 1990s for staff working at the base did not specifically mention spouses, leading to US State Department lawyers to pounce on the loophole and spirit Sacoolas out of the country.

Just pondering whether Sacoolas was actually on active CIA duty and not covered by the loophole. How likely is it that the US would declare that she was spying?

It emerged in February that Ms Sacoolas also reportedly worked for the CIA as a spy, and was more senior than her husband.

However, she was not "active" as a spook when she was in the UK, reports the Mail on Sunday.

But a security source told the newspaper: "You never really leave the CIA."

The Foreign Office said Sacoolas was "was notified to us as a spouse with no official role".

www.thesun.co.uk/news/10079907/anne-sacoolas-us-diplomat-wife-harry-dunn-death/

My observation of the vacation habits of Americans is that they tend not to slip over the Canadian border for a break, especially in winter. They go to Mexico or the Caribbean. If they want to ski they go to northern New England/Maine or Colorado.

math We'll have to see what happens on the continent

Once cases are a low level, then a limited amount of social distancing may suffice
Especially if, as seems likely, children are less likely to transmit infection

Germany has small local lockdowns after rises in several care homes and 2 meat processing plants,
but so far nothing centered around schools

Similarly in other countries, so far, nothing around schools

... hopefully there won't be any more foreign school trips for a long time to come !

Germany has a lot more community testing than the UK and can respond much faster and with appropriate measures. Is testing in the UK as comprehensive?

France, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland ....
I'm not sure if France is testing more than the UK ?

In this situation, there are no good options, but we do have to restart economies soon,
or face different horrendous options later

Economies cannot be safely reopened without testing on a mass scale.

Reopening without testing is a recipe for disaster.

The danger with that statement @Singasonga is that it’s stroking racist and xenophobic sentiments. It’s implying that the reasons for CV are foreigners. And that all foreigners are dangerous because they can bring THE or A virus into the country. Never mind that if they live in the U.K., they aren’t more likely to do so than Brits (who love travelling abroad).

When you see that attacks again the Chinese community has exploded since the pandemic, you can see where this would go.

Interesting listening to Prof Spector just now on R4 and the points he makes about how the UK's continued focus on fever and cough as the only symptoms to trigger testing (such that it is) means that many (thousands) of people are infectious without knowing it, without self isolating and who will be going out and about once lockdown lifted.

NHS 111 Online Covid Advice still says:
It's unlikely you have coronavirus - what to do next about your symptoms

As you:

do not have a high temperature
do not have a continuous cough

It's unlikely you have a coronavirus (COVID-19) infection as these are the most common symptoms.

Testing should be wideaspeard
BUT
COVID is here to stay, we have to learn to live with it.

And keeping kids out of school will do much more harm than sending them back
www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/18/keeping-schools-closed-in-england-will-widen-educational-inequalities-study-ifs
(the bit at the bottom about which groups of parents want to do what speaks volumes)

My 19 year old ds complained to me (via WhatsApp ), relatively early in lockdown, about "out of season" chilblains, complete with photograph of the rash on his toes. He had no fever and no new cough.

I now wonder if he was right and he did have "Covid toe" which affects, otherwise asymptomatically, children and young adults .

He was already pretty isolated - in a flat on his own and only going out to run/cycle or to Lidl (next door) when he absolutely needed to - so in practice it wouldn't have made much difference.

But it would mean that he might be immune - or however much immunity that is provided by this virus.

mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN22U0M9?taid=5ec242d0cad00f0001221ec2&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A%20Trending%20Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true
Britain still in talks with France over quarantine exemption: minister

Britain is still in talks with France over whether French travellers should be exempt from a requirement for a 14-day quarantine when they arrive in the United Kingdom, culture minister Oliver Dowden said on Monday.

"Discussions are ongoing with the French on that," he told Sky News.

The two countries had said earlier this month that Britain would not impose quarantine to travellers coming from France at this stage but Britain has still not set out the full details.

Interesting story.

I wonder what the sticking point is.

Also I wonder what arrangements for quarantine going TO France are looking like. Nothing mentioned about that here.

Is that so all the Tory voters/grandees can go to there places in France for the summer?

In France there are adverts on the radio. Saying that if you even have MILD symptoms you should call your doctor who will consider testing you. They give a long list of possible symptoms, including loss of sense of smell or taste.
So there's obviously loads more testing happening there.

Exactly, I believe that the UK is the ONLY country that continues to rest on just two symptoms and, given the plethora of evidence, I don't understand why these are not extended. Wouldn't this help the gov't reach their testing targets? In any event, who gets to have the testing kits mailed out to them (can anyone just 'ask' for one)?

However, my point is, do we really have a good sense data of Covid-19's prevalence in our population? If we don't, we might experience our 2nd wave sooner rather than later. Though going by the eugenics on MN, nobody will mind as it'll only be the old and undeserving to actually die

The small labs that set up independent testing like KCL and the Crick are now testing their scientists weekly which is an indication of what responsible employers should be doing in order to protect their staff...... It will be interesting to see what they pick up.

Why are not all employers and schools taking the basic precaution of providing employees / parents with thermometers and requiring them to stay home if their temp exceeds 37, with spot checks in the workplace to make sure it is being adhered to?

In Asia that is the most basic precaution, there are even temperature scanners at shop entrances, along with on demand testing etc.

As I see it, the English and Welsh boat owners sold their rights voluntarily.

It's not just how you see it. It's how it is. Under the cloak of "democracy", people are deemed to have voted for what happens to them.

It's one reason why I was so vocal and vigorous in opposing the Iraq war ....

As this is one of the best informed threads on the internet ...

www.vpr.org/post/llama-antibodies-neutralize-virus-causes-covid-19-new-research-shows

Scientists are pursuing multiple tracks of research in the quest for an effective treatment to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. One pathway showing some early promise involves llamas. A new study shows that antibodies from llamas can neutralize the virus that causes COVID-19.

Daniel Wrapp, the co-author of that study, is a graduate student affiliated with Dartmouth College and the University of Texas at Austin. He spoke to Mitch Wertlieb about his research. Their interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Mitch Wertlieb: So presumably you did not just pick any animal out of a hat. Why did your team think that llamas might have antibodies that could actually help fight the coronavirus?

Daniel Wrapp: In the early 90s it was discovered that camelids, which is a group that includes llamas, alpacas, camels and a couple other animals, produced a specialized class of antibodies which are called nanobodies. The reason they're called that is because they're about half the size of the conventional antibodies that you and I would produce. And because of that smaller size, they have enhanced stability and they're also able to wedge themselves into crevices that larger antibodies wouldn't otherwise be able to access.

(contd)

Emily I've just completed a workplace covid safety survey, which asked me about what precautions I hoped to see being used. None of the tick box options mentioned temperature scanners, but which are used widely in Asia / SE Asia and though they won't catch the asymptomatic, they'll screen the overtly symptomatic, which must be good.

Were they reading this thread ?

Coronavirus: Loss of taste and smell added to official symptom list http://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-loss-of-taste-and-smell-added-to-official-symptoms-list-11990305

It's not just how you see it

I think you have taken my quote slightly out of context there DGR. I know those fishermen sold their boats and quotas voluntarily. It's the Brexiters attitude that they don't want the fish, and so no one else should have them either, and it's all the EU's fault which is annoying me. Maybe if their fisheries MEP had done his job we would not be in this situation now.