Dominic Cummings Covid evidence

[Newtonianmechanics]

Is anyone going to watch this man give evidence today?

Apparently there is a vigil in Barnard Castle ahead of this.

The shopping trolleys emoji seems to mean they think Carrie was controlling Boris from the last few days. Wonder if this will feature.

I look at Sturgeon and Drakeford and no that kind of harsher restriction isn’t for me. Given the risk criteria for that pandemic anyway.

To give an example Scotland shut private nurseries when England did not. That massively impacted working women and would have been me.

I don’t look at harsher, longer restrictions with envy, at all. Too much damage.

On lessons to learn... that we must have a different way of voting and ensuring that we never have a PM like Bojo again.

Some means of holding politicians to account for lying would help, other European countries have sent former leaders to jail, that appears to be impossible here, the assumption is PMs are above the law.

Perhaps if some restrictions had been introduced sooner by someone who understood the science and stuck to the rules, the overall duration and impact of the restrictions would have been much reduced.

Yes locking down earlier, means shorter restrictions.

We should also be acting as one, we are not 4 different countries.

Why sooner? The lockdown fitted the SE and not North which is why they had massively drawn out restrictions.

Earlier on the curve was hideous for them, not better.

I've always wondered about his actual grasp of Classics and supposed facility in languages. He certainly doesn't set it out on display with natural flair.

The thing is with Helen MacNamara, I appreciate she is being honest in her witness testimony.

But I recognised her name.
She was part of the No 10 Friday/and othe parties during covid.
In fact it was she, who brought in the karaoke machine and became the "DJ" for their regular parties.
She was one of the first named by Sue Gray and got a police fine.

So whilst she may be coming across as reasonable during this Covud Inquiry, I'm keeping in my mind that she, along with BJ and Sunak, has shit morals - to be partying while the country was in lockdiwn and people died.

There is growing evidence that the reason that did not happen had more to do with a few newspaper owners than anything to do with ensuring public safety.

I thought you said you were in favour of fewer restrictions, I merely proposed one of the easiest ways of achieving that.

No that wouldn’t work, sounds a bad way to be stuck in restrictions, as some places did.

You’ll keep restrictions longer. As you’d just release them and cases would go up.

It’s why the North suffered longer restrictions, it was earlier on their curve.

The evidence I have read suggests it would, but feel free to provide science that shows otherwise.

Yes indeed

https://x.com/johnestevens/status/1719698657618821533?s=20

Boris Johnson asked scientists if you could "kill covid" by blowing a hairdryer up your nose after watching a YouTube clip claiming you can

Someone below mentioned ‘squash the sombrero’

That’s it. Whitty knew we’d get lockdown fatigue so going too early on the curve was pointed out at the beginning as a risk. You’ll have to search it up if interested.

Going into lockdown or restrictions very early would do what?

Close the economy for how long, and what happens after you release?

Obviously you’d just get a later spike. There’s nothing stopping the rise of cases.

Why anyone would use a major policy before the peak hospitalisation doesn’t make sense.

Hence the ‘squash’ part.

Clearly Eton don't teach science or critical thinking.

I am sure you can provide evidence as to why scientific studies such as this one are mistaken?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9009677/#:~:text=Results,from%2069%20to%2035%20days.

Helen MacNamara now answering questions about domestic abuse increase.

She is saying, I think, that the politicians and their aides were looking a 'hidden harms' through a very narrow lens, rather than more broadly to pick up the data around domestic violence.

She also previously indicated that they were concerned about the disproportionate impact of lockdown on PoC, especially women.

Now onto PPE for women.

The decision making in January and February 2020

You mentioned Jan / Feb in pp. that’s incredibly early on the curve. You won’t find many supporting restrictions that early.

It doesn’t make sense, you’d be stuck in restrictions for a very long time, unless you are prepared for the same spike as soon as you release, which would be when?

On one or two weeks earlier, I’m not that fussed but data shows we had reached the peak just before lockdown which makes me wonder if we were already self regulating enough or Covid was acting in a natural wave - See More or Less on that info.

Helen MacNamara is right - Equality Impact Assessments should be ordinary, bread-and-butter civil service work.

Sounds like the civil service had to fight for weeks (and possibly months) to 'sell' basic legal requirements to the politicians and and aides.

She is saying, I think, that the politicians and their aides were looking a 'hidden harms' through a very narrow lens, rather than more broadly to pick up the data around domestic violence

I’m not listening but this part sounds interesting. Any recognition of harms shows a realisation of the balance needed to be found.

Decision making in Jan/Feb 2020 did not have to include implementing a lockdown at that time, but it could have included making a plan if such an eventuality became necessary. It could have included ensuring that appropriate stocks of PPE and other equipment were available as per the plan for a pandemic.
But of course Boris was far too busy writing a book, skiing and meeting newspaper propeitors to attend meetings about the biggest threat to the country.

Who are all the people sitting with little screens at the enquiry?

Legal support to the KCs and inquiry.

Journalists.

Off screen, there are relatives of people who died due to covid and/or lockdown.

Here is a good example of the decision making that could have happened if we had of had a government that was in the last concerned about the harms to the population of covid 19.

https://twitter.com/tamcohen/status/1719719820105482482?s=46&t=Uw4lJNwxFZFnX0Xs3doHYg

Amidst all the noise about at least Boris knows what a woman is, isn't it striking that women's needs were not considered as part of the governments decision making.

I wouldn’t have wanted the harsher approach of Drakeford or Sturgeon, others may have which is up to them. I recall a group of us being v glad private nurseries were open.

But their decisions although harsher had little effect on numbers anyway.