Westminstenders: Pah International Law. Who needs it?

[RedToothBrush]

I mean its not as if trade deals and human rights are relevant is it?

(sorry eating my dinner so must be brief)

And I am not advocating lockdowns mandated by Whitehall - but there needs to be measures..... indie sage believes the answer is it being managed locally for the most part.

I do feel that local restrictions are the way to go. We're also quite low round here and I wouldn't appreciate keeping my kids off school unless there's a case at their school. I hope dearly that that never happens, because of course that case may well be my own children.

France

13,215 Cases
154 Deaths in 24 hours

Sadly this week's continuing rise in deaths - more than double last week - has been expected, as it was known infections had increased in the elderly as well

This is what is really concerning me about UK infections:
the rise in pillar 2 positivity for the age 85+ - the group with by far the highest death rate from COVID
also the rise in pillar 1, which would include care home staff

France and the UK, both 66-67 million population, can cope with 150 deaths or considerably more
but if the UK deaths get to this level, I'd expect a lot more restrictions

imo, every European country had just 1 chance at a lockdown in March-April
and even if any of them - looking at your chumocracy, BJ - didn't use that time to get systems for testing, track & trace, health service etc working efficiently,
they probably still won't be allowed a 2nd shot by their disgusted public

“What on earth happened to the freedom-loving, twinkly-eyed, Rabelaisian character I voted for? Oliver Hardy has left the stage, replaced by Oliver Cromwell,” said columnist Toby Young, complaining of a “lack of engagement with the detail”.

What a jerk. As if a freedom loving, twinkly-eyed, Rabelaisian character was in any way, shape or form going to be a sober, measured, attention to detail kind of PM. How utterly childish. Sounds like some sort of moon eyed crush one school boy has on another.

France and the UK, both 66-67 million population, can cope with 150 deaths or considerably more
but if the UK deaths get to this level, I'd expect a lot more restrictions

But again I reiterate
spreading the hospital beds across the country is irrelevant if the illness is clustered
it NEEDS to be local and targeted

The huge testing centre near me (takes up a 700 space car park) still has no people turning up ....

there is no point providing 50 beds in my local hospital if the ill people are 200 miles away

@DrBlackbird

“What on earth happened to the freedom-loving, twinkly-eyed, Rabelaisian character I voted for? Oliver Hardy has left the stage, replaced by Oliver Cromwell,” said columnist Toby Young, complaining of a “lack of engagement with the detail”.

What a jerk. As if a freedom loving, twinkly-eyed, Rabelaisian character was in any way, shape or form going to be a sober, measured, attention to detail kind of PM. How utterly childish. Sounds like some sort of moon eyed crush one school boy has on another.

In a nutshell

France during the peak was sending high-speed trains with patients to ICU in other parts of the country and into Germany, as ICUs filled up.
The German air force also flew out some patients from France (and some other countries) for ICU treatment in Germany

re UK tests:

Dido Harding was giving evidence to the HoC Committee and said the demand for tests is 3-4 x the number of tests available.

She also said they didn't realise there would be this increase in demand when schools returned 🤦🏻‍♀️

The chumocracy lives on ... other people, maybe not so much

I don't know whether more than 1-2 test centres are genuinely standing around with nothing to do,
or whether they have run out of kits
or have not yet received staff
or - sounds likely in your case - they are not listed properly online for appointments !

Moving a few test centres from the wrong place to areas of high cases is not going to increase capacity by the desired 3-4 x

Bigchoc
the centre near me has offended my sensibilities since it opened in April.
It turns out that its ONLY for people about to be admitted to the hospital
(even though 3/4 of their admissions come via A&E because elective has been cancelled)
AND
it does not take up the slack from main testing despite having the capacity to test hundreds of people a day
BUT
as a drive in only, is useless to all the poor and vulnerable and old people

you could not make this shit up

BJ has lost the support of the DT and Speccie over his Covid restrictions

He is such a political animal that I am amazed he has stuck to his guns there and taken the public health advice

However, if he believes the risk is tens of thousands of extra deaths,
then that would be difficult for even him to spin, if he'd ignored Whitty, Vallance & co - who would spill the beans even just to save their own reputations

He has just stated that a 2nd wave is sadly unavoidable

Though Listening - the fact that the huge testing Center is not doing tests is not necessarily a sign people don't want them. We have a huge testing facility up the road in Milton Keynes - it is capable of doing at least 200 tests a day (based on the fact that when my son had a fever when we looked at the lunchtime- we had the choice of approx 100 appt's. But when we looked on Monday and Tuesday this week for my daughter, there were not slots apparently available...... but that coincided with a local journo parking out side for several hours and only noted a couple of cars going in, in that time. We have several hot spots around that would be clos-ish to that testing site.... Bedford and Luton.

MrsL
If you look back through the threads
I was ranting about that centre in April ...
people who NEED tests (doctors, paramedics, delivery drivers etc) have never been allowed to use it
but the staff sit there paid doing FA month after month

It is an example of inefficiency, if that really is the case

but there is 3-4 x the demand for tests as tests available - which includes any unused capacity that may be in the wrong place

Harding admitted they totally underestimated demand
The test system is in collapse, begging for help from Italy, Ireland, Germany

The government must tighten the criteria for tests to match the test capacity

I absolutely know you were .... I remember.
Thing is - in April I was prepared to not be angry about it - because it was all new...... but that they have been making the same mistakes over and over.....they haven't learnt from those mistakes, they haven't looked overseas to see what has worked and adapted. It's the same shit again and again...... and now Boris is hinting about another national lockdown- it won't work....
They need to fund the LA's .......
it seems so simple , the answers are simple ...... but they won't do it.....

As experts predict some sort of 2nd wave now, the demand for tests will only increase, especially if criteria are not tightened

btw, there is a ludicrous Mirror headline claiming March-April level hospital admissions by next weekend
That level of panic can be ignored

Harding admitted they totally underestimated demand

I believe what she said was that the modelling had underestimated demand. Nice bit of blame shifting.

And Hancock said this morning that test availability was being affected by people applying for tests that didn’t actually need them (and then spouted something about that’s the problem when you offer things for free). So more blame shifting.

I think anybody with half a brain could have predicted that: return to work + return to school + return to college = big spike in demand; but you do have to consider that we’re talking about Hancock and Harding here.

BJ saying "The UK is now seeing a second wave" of Covid-19....It's been inevitable we'd see it in this country."

As ever, it is something being done to him/the country and nothing whatsoever to do with the policies, in particular the loosening of restrictions and encouraging people to go back to the workplace and Rish's "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme , that he has implemented

He never takes responsibility

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/18/matt-hancock-test-and-trace-dido-harding

Marina Hyde being scathing and hilarious. Especially her quip about Chris Grayling.

@ListeningQuietly

MrsL If you look back through the threads I was ranting about that centre in April ... people who NEED tests (doctors, paramedics, delivery drivers etc) have never been allowed to use it but the staff sit there paid doing FA month after month

I remember your rant and subsequent rants. Infuriating situation.

Saturday Papers running with BJ statement on 2nd wave

The picture of BJ in a white coat is particularly cringeworthy
A white straitjacket would be more appropriate

Honeysucklejasmine thank you for the link, it was indeed hilarious. Also mightily depressing because it’s all true.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg has died.

Mitch McConnell confirms they'll get to push a judge through before election.

The news about RBG has really depressed me.
Obama calling on Trump to follow precedent and not appoint a replacement until after the elections is a call to values Trump can't begin to fathom.

Although Marina always makes me laugh:

"His own ma and pa clearly hopelessly overindulged Jacob Rees-Mogg, but millions of other parents just will not feel minded to take it from this rejected Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character. If there were any justice, Jacob would have been stretched into a mile-long liquorice lace by vigilante Oompa-Loompas as they sang one of their trademark cautionary songs."

"“What on earth happened to the freedom-loving, twinkly-eyed, Rabelaisian character I voted for? Oliver Hardy has left the stage, replaced by Oliver Cromwell,” said columnist Toby Young, complaining of a “lack of engagement with the detail”."

He never existed.
Oliver Hardy was scripted and directed, too.