Coronavirus

[JBZ]

Yes or no would have done.

Now the trolls chastise you for biting on their posts...

[RobertT]

On this subject, I proudly present an image that confirms Swindon is influencing worldwide traffic management policy.  While the story about the closing of roads is worth a read, it's the picture of a roundabout that is the gem here (there are now 3 within a mile of my house):

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/seattle-streets-closed-stay-healthy-trnd/index.html

[Ardiles]

Johnson dodges the daily briefing again.  The invisible PM.  Biggest challenge of his political career, and he's nowhere.

It feels to me that the decline of the death rate is a lot slower than anyone would hope or expect it to be.  It's going to take a very long time to get us down to the infection rates & death rates being experienced by most larger European/EU states.  First major test of the post-Brexit era, and we're being left behind already.

[Batch]

you can't expect him to work on a day ending in a y.

most people get paternity leave. most people aren't the pm in the middle of a pandemic

[Outletred]

Johnson dodges the daily briefing again.  The invisible PM.  Biggest challenge of his political career, and he's nowhere.

It feels to me that the decline of the death rate is a lot slower than anyone would hope or expect it to be.  It's going to take a very long time to get us down to the infection rates & death rates being experienced by most larger European/EU states.  First major test of the post-Brexit era, and we're being left behind already.

Absolute bollocks. The EU has handled this pandemic dreadfully, hardly came to Italy’s aid in their time of need did they.

The EU/Euro will likely collapse in the next couple of years thankfully. Go back to sovereign states.

Most countries in the EU are reporting deaths very differently- Italy/France are way behind on their reporting and Germany look good however they don’t count any deaths from coronavirus where the patient had pre existing medical conditions.

The government is doing its best under very difficult circumstances of course lessons will be learned.

Think the majority of the public think he is doing an ok job which is reflected in the polls.

Opposition just seem to want to sneer from the sidelines without providing any solutions/ what they would do differently

[mystical_goat]

The government is doing its best under very difficult circumstances

Can you give a couple of examples of their achievements?

[4D]

Absolute bollocks. The EU has handled this pandemic dreadfully, hardly came to Italy’s aid in their time of need did they.

The EU/Euro will likely collapse in the next couple of years thankfully. Go back to sovereign states.

Most countries in the EU are reporting deaths very differently- Italy/France are way behind on their reporting and Germany look good however they don’t count any deaths from coronavirus where the patient had pre existing medical conditions.

The government is doing its best under very difficult circumstances of course lessons will be learned.

Think the majority of the public think he is doing an ok job which is reflected in the polls.

Opposition just seem to want to sneer from the sidelines without providing any solutions/ what they would do differently

You can't get in the way of a good moan on here about anything Conservative, surely you know that by now? 

[Outletred]

Can you give a couple of examples of their achievements?

The NHS has not been overwhelmed which was the primary objective

[Outletred]

You can't get in the way of a good moan on here about anything Conservative, surely you know that by now? 

Very true

[pauld]

The NHS has not been overwhelmed which was the primary objective

By leaving the elderly to die in their thousands in care homes.

The government is doing its best under very difficult circumstances of course lessons will be learned.

I'm sure they are doing their best. And it's woeful. That's the point. Not going to bother listing all their very many failings because they've been listed over and over. But spin it how you like, no international comparisons needed, 42,000 excess deaths up until April 24th is utterly terrible.

[RobertT]

You can't get in the way of a good moan on here about anything Conservative, surely you know that by now?  

Most of the Western world appears to have largely botched the first month or so of this Pandemic, and that includes Govt's of all persuasions.  They all went full on Larry Vaughn

Coming over the horizon to save them some face is Brazil though.

[4D]

"By leaving the elderly to die in care homes in their thousands" ? What's the answer then Paul?

[Flashheart]

"By leaving the elderly to die in care homes in their thousands" ? What's the answer then Paul?

I'm not Paul, but Shirley the obvious answer is to move then into the many empty hospital beds?

[RobertT]

"By leaving the elderly to die in care homes in their thousands" ? What's the answer then Paul?

At the outset, people over 70 and people with pre-existing conditions were identified as vulnerable.  As such, a high priority should have been placed on:

Ensuring all facilities were locked down - no visitors
All staff were tested, daily
All residents are tested, maybe daily
Get the Army onsite to conduct regular cleaning and support logistics
PPE
Potentially isolate away from the facility anyone tested positive, including residents.  There may be some too weak to move - in which case facilities should have been prepared for in home isolation units.
Daily reporting from every facility to the Govt.

That's off the top of my head.  Not sure how much of that was in place?  The tested positive vs death rate in Swindon tells me all I need to know about the UK's testing capabilities though.  No way should only 400 or so people have tested positive so far with nearly 100 deaths.

[Outletred]

By leaving the elderly to die in their thousands in care homes.

We are one of the only countries now reporting care homes deaths I seriously doubt the picture would be any better elsewhere.

How do you stop a virus spreading in a care home- apart from separating residents (which many have done) it is very difficult for the staff whether it’s a council or private care home.

I'm sure they are doing their best. And it's woeful. That's the point. Not going to bother listing all their very many failings because they've been listed over and over. But spin it how you like, no international comparisons needed, 42,000 excess deaths up until April 24th is utterly terrible.

Again you aren’t appreciating the differences between how countries are reporting deaths from this. We are the only country recording hospital, community and care homes deaths- no other country including the EU as far as I am aware is doing this. Germany don’t count anyone who already has a pre existing condition like COPD majorly deflating their numbers.

PPE is a major problem everywhere- a friend of mine works in Hannover in a hospital and they have had exactly the same issues with PPE shortages , even the Channel Islands have been effected and they’re self governing.

As I said, lessons will be learned throughout the world after all this- we’ve never had a pandemic before of this kind.

Anyone who thinks labour would’ve done better is seriously deluding themselves