General Chat

Von, I am in agreement with you - I, too, despair!

I am surprised that Harries seems to be toeing the government line so I wonder what she's after, I ask myself?

The Indian variant is rampant in an area not too far from where I am and the ADVICE is that only essential travel into and out of the area is preferable!

It will spread as many people from there will travel to the city for work in shops etc. If the man in the street can see that ..... ?

Australia's death rate 3.7 , UK's 190,2 from the table mentioned above. So I think we in the UK have got something to complain about. As I mentioned above, Cygnus should have prepared the government to deal with a pandemic, but it was ignored.

Hindsight is a marvellous thing; it allows all the armchair experts to point out where things have gone wrong and where they would have made different decisions.

I'm just as guilty, but what we tend to forget is that in all our 'advice' and 'we would have done this way or that way' there is a massive omission we do not have to take any responsibility for any consequences which may arise from such advice.

I can't speak about the situation in the UK, but nearly everything that has been posted on this Thread could apply to Australia.

Yes, Australia closed its borders very early on, no travel in or out, unless, of course, you are an ex-Minister who happens to be jetting around the world to pit in a bid for the top job in the IMF.

Yet figures recently released show that since the lockdown 140,000 people were given an exemption on 'compassionate' grounds to travel abroad.

Victoria is about to enter its third major lockdown due to failures in the hotel quarantine scheme, and so things continue.

I would hate to be in any Government, unless it was an absolute dictatorship, and try to juggle all the decisions regarding health, the economy. compassionate considerations and all the rest of the paraphernalia that goes with it and then at the end of the day being Responsible for those decisions and their consequences.

Hi. Maggie

Yes that’s the one.

Names

Hi. Maggie

Yes that’s the one.

Names

And Professor Jenny Harries was still saying that we don’t know if it’s the variant that

is causing the increase or the easing of restrictions :-| :-| :-|

As I see it does it matter you act according to the situation that is front of you not wait until you’ve reached the next crisis :-(

Boris is still saying he doesn’t think there is any reason why we shouldn’t open up on June 21st.
I despair :-(

It appears that, up to 75% of new UK cases could be the Indian variant.

"On Thursday, a further 3,542 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported in the UK.
It is the second day in a row the number of new Covid cases has topped 3,000 - the first time infections have reached this level since mid-April.
Over the last seven days, cases are up 20.5% compared with the week before."

Is this the table?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/57268471

There is a very interesting table on the bbc website news page - sorry I’m on my IPad so can’t post the link.

Our figures are also an estimate, Maddie.

we are good at recording info thats why we look bad, they can only estimate the numbers in india brazil etc no one mentions africa
and where do they get the world figure an estimate again ??

He was Maggie, but I think it was to placate the instigator, the boss, who still had in mind the economy.

Many months ago, when Trump was still in, I wrote on here that per capita, our numbers were worse than the USAs and I don't think a lot of people believed it, so the comparison with India is no surprise to me, Maggie.

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Hancock’s half hour is going to interesting this evening.

With the infection numbers creeping up again what will be the reaction if the country doesn’t open up in June.

JoyLouise, Sunak was the creator of the 'Eat Out, Help Out' fiasco, which led to the second rise and further lockdown.

As for deaths - rarely mentioned here, we're hearing about the millions dying of covid in India, which is, on the whole, a lot worse off financially than the UK, but so far their death rate is 22.79 per 100,000 population, whereas the UK's death rate is 191.52 per 100,000 population.
Obviously, there may be more covid deaths in India than so far announced - but the same could be said for the UK, where only those who die within 2 weeks of a positive test are counted. What about those who die 15 days or more after a test, or those who die without a test?

I am not BJ so I can't say why he became PM.What I can say is that I would not want the job, it is unimaginably hard without having to deal with not one but two unprecedented situations.

The problems caused by Brexit may not have been rectified but they did need to be accommodated on top of running an economy that would ensure future employment for as many of the population as possible.

There was one unprecedented situation that needed to be dealt with when along came another. The scientists may have had a great deal of information about epidemics, they, also, had never dealt with the Covid pandemic.

It is very unlikely that anybody had any evil intent toward the populace and I really feel they could have made a far worse fist of it than they did and that there is nothing to be gained from apportioning blame for mistakes that my or may not have been made with no ill intent. there is, after all, another enormous job to come, to get the economy running again.

I'm tending to agree with Island here. It would be a shame if much of what DC spoke about was swept under the carpet as I, too, think he spoke much truth. I am no DC fan but I believe a man such as he will have copious notes to refer to. Let me say that I'd be gobsmacked if he had made none!

Losers: Boris, Matt Hancock

Winners: Dominic Raab, Rishi Sunak

Outright, Total and Overall Winners:
the Scientists (can't speak too highly of them)

About nine days before the March 2020 lockdown, my coffee group had all decided we'd waited long enough, we made the decision ourselves to lock down at home.

Boris & Co were privvy to a lot more information than the man in the street yet, well before he took action, we were screaming at him to make the decision. If we could see the writing on the wall, why couldn't he? Without a doubt I think he put the economy first - it is a natural tendency to 'keep in with the money men' and Boris needs a job when he's finished at Number 10 because he seems to have done his dash as far as newspaper editorialship is concerned - remember his sacking from one newspaper, it seems to me that he had a fairly loose relationship with truth.

I remember feeling how useless Boris was at making such an essential decision and that it was indicative of his natural tendency for bonhomie. I also remember thinking that the only one worse at the time was Trump.

I am no fan of DC but he, himself, could have made a better fist of the job. In fact, anyone who would be guided by scientific facts would have done better!

Matt Hancock - well, could he lie straight in bed was what I asked myself??

I'm afraid I did not notice Dominic Raab much so I'm guessing that his mantra was, 'First, do no harm."

Sunak, I thought, played a blinder when he worked with the Treasury to come up with the furlough scheme and put a rest to the minds of so many people who feared having no work meant no pay. He came up with an ace at a time when others - like Boris - were floundering.

Scientists - it took them a while but they won through at last, not before screaming and hammering to get through to Boris.

I am no fan of DC so I listened carefully to his Durham explanation. The security of his family at stake? It rang true, but under no circumstances should his wife and child have returned to London with him, however, DC said he could not persuade his wife to stay in Durham.

I am surprised he mentioned Barnard Castle again - quite an error for a man of his ability. He could have done a quicker round trip from his Durham base to test his eyesight and driving capability and many people are well aware of that.

So, all-in-all, I believe much of what DC spoke about was as it happened.

It will be interesting to hear what the rest of them have to say.

On another tack, did anyone catch mention of procurement of supplies for the NHS. Dom wants to centralise buying to reduce costs which is something I gleaned from his talk on telly a while ago. I sincerely hope that it's only the procurement process and it's not an assault on our NHS.

Well said Kense! :-D :-D :-D

Operation Cygnus in 2016 highlighted shortcomings in the UK's preparation for a pandemic. These were not addressed. The nation should have been able to cope far better than it did.

Boris wanted the job of PM because of the kudos and status it offers, in spite of the salary being less that his living wage.

As for Brexit what mess has he cleared up? He has implemented Brexit but not solved any of the problems. So far no brexiter has been able to show any advantage .we have gained. All the trade deals that have been signed are either cut and paste of the deals we had with those countries as EU members, or they are worse deals eg Japan.

The vaccination success is perhaps something he can be proud of but is something he could have achieved if we were still in the EU even though he says otherwise.

The problems with our government as related by Cummings were widely rumoured for some time, though I must admit I thought Cummings was more responsible for them.

If we'd closed the borders properly - ie given time for those who needed to travel home, to get there, then not let anyone in, we'd have had a lot fewer deaths.
If people think they're so 'entitled' that they don't have to follow the rules, then they should just have to learn the hard way, that they aren't special.

Mind you, the way this Government, and members' relations, has flaunted its 'entitlement' isn't a good example to us plebs.

Johnson attending COBRA meetings would have been helpful, too, but obviously, he had 'better' things to do.