COVID-19

it isn’t the number itself that is important for looking at patterns. It is tracking them to look for the pattern. So the important part is to keep tracking the same figure.

 

I think it most likely is, but who knows. Until we get the testing sorted.

 

Also some might just get a cough or just a fever . People don't have to get all the symptoms at once.

Some might think they had it but hadn't the testing is key.

 

Think when Patel couldn't even say sorry it just highlighted that it's the conservatives show. She was a nightmare for the conservatives and the daily update.

Rishi is the only one that seems down to earth and I think he knows we need come out of this lockdown as think he feels it's going to cripple the economy for years and years to come. He seems guilty. I am not sure he's convinced we should be doing what we're doing. Hopefully, we end this lockdown soon.

 

Still playing politics? You said we shouldn't.

 

We shouldn't but Patel and Hancock certainly do.

 

The OBR assessment of Economic impact is horrific, though their recovery estimate offers some encouragement. What's interesting though is their assessment is based on a 3 month lockdown then a 3 month phased release of lockdown. Clearly they're just assumptions, but when questioned at todays briefing, Rishi Sunak didn't exactly dispel those assumptions.

I'd wager that the lockdown period will end up being nearer 3 months than 3 weeks. And 6 months of some form of significant restrictions seems about about right with how this has played out so far.

 

No way it's going to be 3 months. People are cracking now.

Self employed businesses are opening and over 70's thinking they can still walk the 3 peaks.

Early/middle of May is the longest this will go on for.

They won't risk 2m unemployed because that will increase to about 4m when the Furlough stops & companies don't care about their reputation.

People need to all get back to work ASAP or this country will be on its knees.

 

Its clearly possible, otherwise the OBR wouldnt have used 3 months as their working assumption. Whether it happens, time will tell.

From the government website:

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) gives independent and authoritative analysis of the UK's public finances. OBR is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by HM Treasury.

This lot dont work in a vacuum. They're sponsored by the treasury and will be in regular contact. Both they and the government will have known full well how these figures would be used by the media, and a level of briefing for the terms of the assessment will have been given. To think otherwise is just daft.

Now, there'll always be a bigger picture and intent for this sort of thing. I'd guess that either the government set a 3 month expectation as a worst case scenario and wanted to use the damning results to demonstrate why a lockdown CAN'T go on that long. Or they wanted to get sight of the projected recovery to provide reassurance about a post lockdown upturn, because they fully expect a lockdown WILL go on for somewhere near 3 months.

 

I honestly do think the original idea was 3 months. Everything did seem set out for June lockdown finish but the Furlough was only really meant for 1-2m companies and it's over 9m plus unemployed rates rocketing. Add every sector wanting help it just can't continue.

You just know many people on Furlough will be made redundant.

Housing sector will crash. Jobs will be hard to come by.

You don't want the next generation paying for this and the longer this continues it will.

 

Trump saying he wants his sports back.

Some states ready to open back up by end of this month.

Named top businesses from different all sectors like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, McDonalds etc that meeting this week to discuss opening back up.

Says they have the testing now up to the states to be strict & get testing.

UK we talk about death and unemployed .. grim!

 

Trump is just backing Republican governor Rick DeSantis, as he always does. He's declared professional wrestling to be essential because the WWE wants to hold shows and Vince McMahon is a Republican - Trump's his buddy, and has appeared on WWE numerous times. They're all rich, so sod it, who cares?

But actually, I think Trump's right to talk about opening some states up fairly soon - if you think of the States as individual nations, some just aren't going to be hit hard, like many European countries. Covid19 just isn't a blanket virus, it doesn't hit everyone as hard as everyone else, and I imagine more sparsely populated states, countries, even counties won't suffer that badly and should be the first to resume normality (unless things take a turn).

It's going to be interesting, though, as Disney and ESPN just told Dana White to stop hosting UFC events, and he did so the second they demanded it. Trump probably doesn't want to clash too hard with mega money media suits, either politically or personally, so he's already creating a problem for himself with his current narrative - not that that's ever a problem, Donald doesn't mind doing a complete 180, he'll just declare himself a hero for doing it.

 

Well they’re not doing a very good job imo. We account for roughly a 10th of all confirmed deaths from corona virus and in many instances are struggling to provide our NHS staff with even the most basic of PPE equipment. Not helped by the fact our Prime Minister was openly lauding the fact he’d shaken hands with corona virus patients (what type of message is that sending out?) and we delayed the lockdown so people could have a chance for one last hurrah no doubt causing many more needless deaths.

Not sure why your ilk immediately go on the defensive. “BuT wHat WoUld LabOuR hAvE dOne”. What other governments doesn’t matter. The only ones that do are the ones in charge and given the consequences of getting it wrong I think it’s right that they are being held to account. The type of scrutiny they are under is hardly unreasonable given the circumstances

If there’s anyone who has an agenda here it’s you. So what if he’s American and doesn’t like Donald Trump. Doesn’t mean he’s lying does it?

 

There's a massive issue that hopefully will be addressed in the coming years about the UK producing as much of what the UK needs as is possible.

It requires consumers to back the UK's own produce, rather than being tempted by industry-wide flooding from Asia - everything from steel to clothes.

We can't just be a nation that provides services when coronavirus' keep occurring over and over as they have been doing for a while now.

 

America's exit plan.

10 pages.

LINK BELOW!

https://context-cdn.washingtonpost.com/notes/prod/default/documents/f99f42b3-55c4-4613-9f9c-3ac174f10a4b/note/1a8a55a6-68f9-4b76-8e02-01779290c1a5.#page=1

It will be a 1st frame plan but I thought it was interesting sure it will change.

Has things in there like office tests every day with those positive sent home.

Companies to apply for like a hygiene certificate to let people know all clear from virus.

Hygiene people to inspect offices those not clean closed.

A social distance break every 4 weeks.

Secondly school to be sent It equipment and given free broadband to work from home.

* reading that though just highlights how crap Hancock is doing with the testing. We can't even test our front line NHS. Health V Economy- sorry but lack of testing both health and economy are both f&cked!

 

@JonButterfield - it has been apparent for some time over here that El Tango is favoring governor's and their states in terms of their status as either Rep or Dem for a while now. Certain governor's and states got all they asked for (and in some cases more) than others. I'll leave it to the readers to guess which way it worked. The man is odious at best but not as much as his "enablers", those on the religious right who are happy to support a sexual assaulter, serial adulterer etc. But they don't care, they get tax breaks and abortion banned so let him alone.

 

The constant rhetoric that all states should have been better prepared in terms of stockpiling ventilators is also pretty rich, all things considered.

Perhaps states should also be stockpiling defibrillators in case the next virus is more pulmonary-minded?

Donald Trump is nothing more than Captain Hindsight's deluded sidekick.

 

he took pathetic to a new level today

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/15/donald-trumps-name-to-be-printed-on-covid-19-stimulus-cheques-report

 

Beat the virus
Then look at what has happened, what can be done and what to do next