COVID-19 ~ Johnson and Trump The Incompetent Brothers

Prime Minister's Speech Greenwich, London 3rd February 2020

In case anyone was in any doubt of good old Boris Johnsons thinking prior to coronavirus hitting the UK. I suggest you take a look at the start of this speech made on the 3rd of February 2020.

“And when there is a risk that new diseases such as coronavirus will trigger a panic and a desire for market segregation that go beyond what is medically rational, to the point of doing real and unnecessary economic damage. Then at that moment humanity needs some government somewhere that is willing at least to make the case powerfully for freedom of exchange” - Boris Johnson

Johnson then goes on to tell us, or those that are concerned about what sort of trade deal the UK might end up with the USA, that they should grow up.

Well, it turned out that he was the one who needed to grow up, particularly after his "I shook hands with everyone" speech at a briefing a month later to the day.

"I was at a hospital the other night, where I think there was a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody! you'll be pleased to know and I continue to shake hands" ~ Boris Johnson 3rd March 2020

Inspirational and outstanding leadership in getting the message across....NOT.  This isn't leadership this is pure childish incompetence.

Yet people still say he's doing a good job, it beggars belief and is the same blind faith exhibited by those followers of Trump. A world leader that lurches from one idiotic statement to another and then claims he's misquoted or his other favourite "its fake news".

Strange that the two leaders who were prepared to sacrifice unknown numbers of the population are now facing seeing the biggest death totals.  The UK is not there yet, but slowly, day by day the UK is overtaking other countries in that area. Will we make number two?  Highly probable in the next few days but certainly in the next few weeks.

But the sheer incompetence of both Johnson and Trump does not remain to be seen it's on plain view.

It's not like coronavirus stealthily crept up on us, we had the warnings, it was plain to see. There was no surprise, it was obvious what was coming to all those with a mediocre of common sense.

Unfortunately, common sense seems to be low in both Johnson and Trump and it nearly cost Johnson his life, if we can believe that part of the saga.

The UK is currently 3rd in the dubious rankings of coronavirus deaths. We should have been lower, we were warned, we knew it was coming. Only the governments slow reaction has put us in what will be 2nd place in the next few days.

The government also failed to plan correctly and put in place stocks of non-perishables, like masks and gowns after the pandemic exercise in 2016, Exercise Cygnus.  The report has never been released, I wonder why?

Covid-19 strategies: Britain planned for herd immunity while Asia intended to contain virus
Britain had prepared for a herd immunity strategy to contain Covid-19, while other countries focused on enhanced testing capacity

Who got it right?

Well it's plain to see from the numbers that certainly the UK and the USA didn't, especially with the advanced warning both countries had. Asian countries have got off lightly with regard to deaths so it was possible.

There is one caveat to this.  Were the deaths enough to get near to herd immunity? Because for every death there are x number of people that have had it and had mild or no symptoms.

Have the deaths been enough to get near the 60-80% needed for herd immunity to work?  As we have no reliable test, or any reliable evidence, as yet, that if you've had it you get immunity. That remains to be seen when the 2nd wave comes. The 2nd wave in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic killed far more than the 1st wave.

So hold onto your hats, we could be in for a bumpy ride and with the likes of Johnson and Trump in charge what could possibly go wrong.....

LOTS!

UPDATE 06 May 2020

6 days after I posted this blog we surpassed Italy in deaths and the UK took on the sad crown of the country with the 2nd highest deaths in the world.

LINKS

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/infection-trajectory-flattening-the-covid19-curve/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_Cygnus

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
Johnson said COVID-19 would cause “real and unnecessary economic damage” beyond “what is medically rational”.

COVID-19 ~ Trumps ludicrous disinfectant suggestion and the fallout from it.

I know there will be lots of blind followers of Trump that will think that he's brilliant and follow him regardless of what lies and misinformation he spews out. In general, there is so much of it it's just not worth commenting on, you would spend a lifetime checking through it all. He is another pathological liar which is why he constantly comes out with so much rubbish, he actually believes what he's saying, which is all the more dangerous. In fact he a Narcissistic pathological liar.

The President of the United States declared at a briefing yesterday: 

‘and then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that?’ - ‘By injection inside, or almost a cleaning. ‘Cos you see, it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that.’ - 'So that your going to have to use medical Doctors with' - 'but it sounds interesting to me'

So there is one thing on this disinfectant comment in the briefing. Regardless of what he said, whether he said it, whether he meant what everyone heard or interpreted it in the right way. (Then again things shouldn't be open to interpretation).  One thing that cuts through all that crap.

1. Trump should not be using a briefing that goes out to the whole world to try and make himself look intelligent or knowledgable about a subject he clearly knows absolutely nothing about and has no qualifications for, as he himself said 'Im not a Doctor'.  The place to brainstorm even stupid ideas,  is in meetings with those who have the scientific knowledge to either expand on them or explain why its an idea that's going nowhere. It's as simple as that, he shouldn't have said what he said in a briefing, he was just trying to pretend he's a clever ideas person and he's not.  END OF.  There is no excuse for those type of comments in a press briefing.

Now we've got that one point over we can have a look at what was said and what wasn't.  In these videos, you can see exactly what was said. Also the myriad of graphic images of which there are too many to produce them all here.

SOAPBOX OPINION...
Basically, if you wanted to go all out and make yourself look like an absolute idiot to the rest of the world you would struggle to beat this one.

Dr. Birx's reaction to Trump's disinfectant suggestion

Trump then claimed he was being sarcastic

He clearly wasn't being sarcastic, he was clearly trying to be the look at me I'm clever with another of his numerous I have a good brain quotes.

Trump Knows More Than Anybody, And Nobody Knows More

Trump's Way Of Speaking Is 'Oddly Adolescent'

Trump vs Trump on Coronavirus: the US President's changing tone in just a few weeks

Any questions Trump doesn't like is put down by belittling and bullying comments and the comment your just fake news, when in fact most fake news or misinformation is spewed by trump.

Trump's musings spurred a media, manufacturer,  frenzy around the world with Doctors and Scientists apparently, all taking Trump's comments the wrong way. Maybe Trump needs to work on communication skills.

Various images

As an update, this YouTube video came to my attention and shows the cutting involved particularly by the BBC. Not that I saw any BBC clips but here it is anyway.  {Updated 27/04/20)

BBC lies & fakery: editing and manipulating Trump “sunlight and bleach” press briefing

My comment would be
Doesn't really get away from the fact that Trump shouldn't be pontificating in a press conference about ideas such as that and why are they are telling everyone that bleach kills the virus? I thought that was common knowledge, so makes no sense. They were saying it as if it was some great revelation, very strange.  He did also say "I then asked the question ....." seemingly making it look like he was the perpetrator of these questions but maybe that can be attributed to the cutting. He's always trying to make himself look like the one with all the knowledge the superior intellect and regularly says so ...he probably should have kept his mouth shut and let the scientists deal with the science, then there would be no ammunition. Nothing is as it seems.



Updated 27/04/20

Seems only correct to post the full briefing, certainly doesn't change my opinion. 

Various LINKS

Coronavirus: Disinfectant firm warns after Trump comments

Coronavirus: Trump’s disinfectant and sunlight claims fact-checked

Piers Morgan leads celeb outrage to Donald Trump’s ‘insane’ disinfectant comments Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/24/piers-morgan-outrage-donald-trump-disinfectant-12603387/?

https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/25/donald-trump-unfollows-piers-morgan-getting-called-senseless-stupid-theories-12608347

‘It bothers me that this is still in the news cycle,’ Birx says of Trump’s disinfectant and light comments

COVID - The Cummings Castlegate saga

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52784290

23 March: The prime minister tells the UK public they "must stay at home". People are warned not to meet friends or family members they do not live with. Those with symptoms had already been told to self-isolate.

27 March: Mr Cummings is seen leaving 10 Downing Street. "I suddenly got a call from my wife who was looking after our four-year-old child. She told me she suddenly felt badly ill." He went home, but after a couple of hours his wife felt better and he returned to work.

Guidance: If Mr Cummings believed his wife may have had coronavirus, the guidance was that "all other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days".

• What are social distancing and self-isolation rules?

Evening: Mr Cummings went on to explain - "That evening I returned home and discussed the situation with my wife. She was ill. She might have Covid although she did not have a cough or a fever." Mr Cummings said many people he worked closely with, including the PM, had had symptoms or were absent with symptoms. He said: "I thought there was a distinct probability that I had already caught the disease."

Later: Mr Cummings drove up to Durham with his family, arriving "at roughly midnight". "I was worried that if my wife and I were both seriously ill, possibly hospitalised, there was nobody in London we could reasonably ask to look after our child and expose themselves to Covid.

"My wife had felt on the edge of being able to look after him safely a few hours earlier." Mr Cummings did not say that at the point the family drove north his wife was unable to look after their child.

Guidance: Stay at home is the simple government advice for households where one or more members have coronavirus symptoms. However, the main advice page says it is not always straightforward when children are involved. It says: "If you have children, keep following this advice to the best of your ability, however, we are aware that not all these measures will be possible."

Other government advice did not contain this caveat, such as the leaflet drawn up at the end of March to be sent to every house. Nor did the government page on essential travel which said: "Essential travel does not include visits to second homes... whether for isolation purposes or holidays. People must remain in their primary residence."

• What are the lockdown rules for caring for children?
• Coronavirus: Can it affect eyesight?
• Kuenssberg: Questions remain

28 March: Mr Cummings says he woke up "in pain and clearly had Covid symptoms, including a bad headache and a serious fever".

30 March: A No 10 source confirmed Mr Cummings had developed symptoms of the virus and was self-isolating "at home".

1 April: Durham Constabulary speak to the father of Dominic Cummings who confirms that his son and family were present at the property.

2 April: During the night, Mr Cummings' four-year-old son "threw up and had a bad fever". Following medical advice, an ambulance took the child to hospital. He was accompanied by Mr Cummings' wife. Mr Cummings "could barely stand up".

3 April: After being taken to hospital, Mr Cummings' son woke up the next day having recovered. He was tested for coronavirus and his mother, who was with him at the hospital, was told "they should return home". According to Mr Cummings, there were no taxis so he "drove to the hospital, picked him up and returned home". He said he "did not leave the car or have any contact with anybody on this short trip". But according to his wife's later article in the Spectator Mr Cummings had a high fever and muscle spasms in his legs throughout this period.

Guidance: People with symptoms that may be caused by coronavirus and who do not require hospital treatment are told they "must remain at home until they are well". General NHS guidelines on being discharged from hospital say: "If you're being discharged, arrange for a relative or friend to collect you, or let the staff know if they need to make other transport arrangements for you."

6 April: At some point in the week leading up to this date, Mr Cummings discussed his decision to travel to Durham with the prime minister. "When we were both sick and in bed," he said, "I mentioned to him what I had done. Unsurprisingly given the condition we were in, neither of us remember the conversation in any detail."

4-11 April: Mr Cummings said "after I started to recover, one day in the second week, I tried to walk outside the house". He confirmed he, his wife and his son went for a walk into woods owned by his father and it was at this point he was seen by passers-by but his family "had no interaction with them". The exact date is not clear but his second week isolating in Durham would have between these two dates.

Guidance: Advice concerning outdoor exercise changed during the second week in April, when Mr Cummings and his family walked in the woods. Until 9 April, people with coronavirus symptoms and their household were told they could exercise outdoors. On that date, the advice changed to say "any exercise should be taken within your home".

11 April: Believing he had recovered by this date, albeit "feeling weak and exhausted", Mr Cummings said he "sought expert medical advice". "I explained our family's symptoms and all the timings and asked if it was safe to return to work on Monday or Tuesday, seek childcare and so on. I was told that it was safe and I could return to work."

12 April: Mr Cummings drives to Barnard Castle, about 25 miles from his parents' home in Durham, with his wife and child. He explained this episode as needing to test his driving was fine before making the long drive back to London. He said he'd been having problems with his vision.

Guidance: The 1988 Road Traffic Act says: "If a person drives a motor vehicle on a road while his eyesight is such (whether through a defect which cannot be, or one which is not for the time being, sufficiently corrected) that he cannot comply with any requirement as to eyesight prescribed under this Part of this Act for the purposes of tests of competence to drive, he is guilty of an offence." The Highway Code says: "You MUST report to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) any health condition likely to affect your driving."

Sir Peter Fahy, former chief constable of Manchester Police, said the drive to Barnard Castle was potentially a criminal offence. "It's not the way to test your eyesight and put, potentially, other people in danger." On Twitter, John Apter, chair of the Police Federation for England and Wales, said: "If you're feeling unwell and your eyesight may be impaired do not drive your vehicle to test your ability to drive. It's not a wise move."

Michael Gove told the BBC: "Dominic's eyesight was good enough. That was the whole point of the journey, to determine that he could drive safely."

13 April: Mr Cummings and his family travel back to London.

14 April: Mr Cummings is seen in Downing Street for the first time since 27 March.

19 April: Five days after being in London, The Observer and Mirror report that Mr Cummings is seen again in Durham by an unnamed witness. Mr Cummings says he did not return to Durham and that evidence on his phone proves this.

Mr Cummings insisted he did not break the law, saying: "I believe that in all the circumstances I behaved reasonably and legally, balancing the safety of my family and the extreme situation in Number 10."

He said "I don't regret what I did" and added that "the rules make clear that if you are dealing with small children that can be exceptional circumstances and the situation I was in was exceptional circumstances".

LINKS
https://dominiccummings.com/sitemap.xml
https://web.archive.org/web/diff/20200409151643/20200503060009/https://dominiccummings.com/2019/03/04/the-most-secure-bio-labs-routinely-make-errors-that-could-cause-a-global-pandemic-are-about-to-re-start-experiments-on-pathogens-engineered-to-make-them-mammalian-airborne-transmissible/
https://fullfact.org/health/cummings-blog-coronavirus/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52802703
https://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/2020/05/if-hell-lie-about-coronavirus-to-make.html?
https://twitter.com/faisalislam/status/1265034438645293056
https://twitter.com/jwiechers/status/1264953956758884354
https://youtu.be/8VgZ-gIFakU
https://twitter.com/nicktolhurst/status/1265214266765950982
https://fullfact.org/health/dominic-cummings-lockdown-rules/
https://fullfact.org/online/not-dominic-cummings-sister/
https://mailchi.mp/fullfact/no-one-of-the-uks-first-covid-19-vaccine-trialists-has-not-died-1056846?e=a47ce1c25d

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Cummings_scandal

Covid-19 ~ Boris Johnson missed 5 Cobra meetings

LINKS
Boris Johnson missed FIVE emergency cobra meetings in early stages of coronavirus response 180420
Boris Johnson ‘skipped five Cobra meetings’ in early stage of coronavirus crisis 180420
The eleven days that may have tragically cost the UK in the fight against coronavirus  170420
https://www.minghella.com/from-the-dark-end-of-the-street/
https://www.minghella.com/eleven-days-in-march/
https://www.minghella.com/ramping-up-the-rubbish-three-reasons-covid-19-testing-is-useless/

COVID-19 ~ “The UK is one of the first countries to develop a world-leading test for coronavirus" Really?

“The UK is one of the first countries to develop a world-leading test for coronavirus", ~ Matt Hancock Thursday 23 January 2020

Why in that case is the UK virtually at the bottom of this list of major countries?



House of Commons transcript
Wuhan Coronavirus

11:23:00

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Matt Hancock)
With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to inform the House about the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China and the UK’s response to protect the British public. As of this morning, 571 cases have been confirmed by the Chinese Government, and 17 people are reported to have died of this new strain of respiratory illness. All the fatalities have so far been contained to mainland China. However, this is a rapidly developing situation and the number of cases, and deaths, is likely to be higher than those that have been confirmed so far. I expect them to rise further. It has been reported that the Chinese authorities have placed further transport restrictions on the epicentre of the outbreak, Wuhan city, including on international flights. A small number of cases of the new coronavirus have now been detected in other countries, including Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States. Experts at the World Health Organisation are meeting again today to determine whether this new outbreak now constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern”.

Most cases of the new coronavirus so far have been non-fatal. In these cases, most people experience cold and flu-like symptoms and then recover. However, there have been a small number of cases so far where it has proven more serious and fatal.

There are no confirmed cases of this new infection in the UK so far. We have been closely monitoring the situation in Wuhan and have put in place proportionate precautionary measures. Our approach has at all times been guided by the advice of the chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty. Since yesterday, Public Health England officials have been carrying out enhanced monitoring of direct flights from Wuhan city, and all passengers on direct flights from China will receive information on what to do if they fall ill. Professor Whitty and Public Health England, aided by independent experts, are in close contact with their international counterparts, and are continually monitoring the scientific evidence as it emerges.

The chief medical officer has revised the risk to the UK population from “very low” to “low”, and has concluded that while there is an increased likelihood that cases may arise in this country, we are well prepared and well equipped to deal with them. The UK is one of the first countries to have developed a world-leading test for the new coronavirus. The NHS is ready to respond appropriately to any cases that emerge. Clinicians in both primary and secondary care have already received advice, covering initial detection and investigation of possible cases, infection prevention and control, and clinical diagnostics. Acting on the advice of Professor Whitty, we have updated our travel guidance to British citizens to advise against all but essential travel to Wuhan city.

We are working closely with our counterparts in the devolved Administrations. The public can be assured that the whole of the UK is always well prepared for these types of outbreaks, and we will remain vigilant and keep our response under constant review in the light of emerging scientific evidence.

I commend this statement to the House.


LINKS
Coronavirus Antibody Tests Could Help Us Get Back To Normal — Or They Could Be The Next Testing Crisis
Why the UK failed to get coronavirus testing up to speed
UK government urged to abandon 'poor' finger-prick antibody tests
Coronavirus: What can the UK learn from Germany on testing?
NHS to ramp up coronavirus testing labs
Thermo Fisher agrees to supply UK coronavirus tests
Why isn't the UK testing more people for coronavirus?
UK vows to boost coronavirus testing after criticism, as officials release guidance on who to save first
Coronavirus testing 'nightmare' deepens as Government official says Brits will have to POST their blood samples – and not get a result within 10 minutes
Why is Germany able to test for coronavirus so much more than the UK?
How Europe failed the coronavirus test
The UK’s Covid-19 testing scandal
THE URGENT NEED TO DECENTRALISE COVID-19 DIAGNOSTIC TESTING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

COVID-19 ~ 'I shook hands with everybody,' says Boris Johnson

'I shook hands with everybody,' says Boris Johnson

Inspirational and outstanding leadership in getting the message across.
"I was at a hospital the other night, where I think there was a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody! you'll be pleased to know and I continue to shake hands" ~ Boris Johnson 3rd March 2020

It was a totally irresponsible statement and led to a large proportion of the UK to carry on believing the threat wasn't a big as it really was.  It also shows that Johnson didn't really believe the enormity of the situation, even with all of the evidence available from other countries like China and Italy.

Emergency situations have a way of revealing things about people and it showed Boris Johnson for the buffoon, he really is.  Intelligence has no bearing on common sense and Johnson needs a few bags of common sense delivered to his doorstep because at present he's a danger to the UK.


TIMELINE

3rd   March - 'I shook hands with everybody,' says Boris Johnson

11th March - Boris Johnson, meets with the Queen who is 93. (Who thought that was a good idea?)

26th March - Mild symptoms advised to get tested  (23 days on from 3rd March)

27th March - Mr Johnson, 55, announced the test results by posting a video on Twitter where he said he had developed a temperature and a persistent cough.

28th March - It's announced that Johnson will write to every UK household urging people to stay at home

29th March

30th March

31st March

1st    April

2nd  April

3rd   April

4th   April

5th   April - Spends 1st Night in Hospital

6th   April - About 7pm Moved to intensive care overnight

7th   April - Intensive care overnight

8th   April - Intensive care overnight

9th   April - Moved out of intensive care back to a ward.

10th April - father, Stanley Johnson, said the Prime Minister "almost took one for the team"

11th April - 

12th April - Johnson is discharged after seven nights in St Thomas’ and is taken to Chequers.

LINKS
'I shook hands with everybody,' says Boris Johnson weeks before coronavirus diagnosis
Coronavirus: Boris Johnson says 'it could have gone either way'
Boris Johnson recovering from coronavirus at Chequers – latest news
Coronavirus intensive care figures: how long Boris Johnson could be in hospital, according to the data - and what the risks are
Timeline: Johnson's activities before his hospitalisation with coronavirus
The strange lead-up to Boris Johnson's admission to hospital

COVID-19 ~ Has Sweden Found the Right Solution to the Coronavirus?

Well, no country is the same, so let's look at population density.

UK population density per Mi2             = 710
Germany population density per Mi2    = 603
Italy population density per Mi2            = 518
China population density per Mi2         = 377
France population density per Mi2        = 319
Spain population density per Mi2          = 241
USA  population density per Mi2          = 87
Brazil population density per Mi2         = 64
Sweden population density per Mi2      = 60

Swedens population density is far less than the UK's, in fact, its the lowest of all those listed above.  Obviously, this figure is purely based on landmass and they may well have highly populated cities but I don't think so.

Sweden is also 1.9 times bigger than the UK. 54.5 million fewer people live in Sweden compared to the UK.

Swedes comply to rules and regulations better and are dealing with self-regulation better. Something that didn't happen in the UK. Mainly I believe due to inconsistent messages given out by the Government with Boris Johnson claiming "I'm still shaking everyone's hand" a good example as the Chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty winced by his side and could only respond "wash your hands" as advise.

Brazil is also going down this route but mainly because the President thinks its just Flu. So all the scientific data being thrown out the window there, at least the Swedes are working on the scientific data.

It's not like flu, Flu has been around for hundreds of years we have gradually built up immunity to it and we have a vaccine. Even so Flu still kills lots of people.

We have no immunity at all to coronavirus, we have no vaccine and the infection rate is 3 times higher than flu. It's as simple as that.

However, we can only get immunity by catching it or if a vaccine is produced. The trick is catching it when the NHS isn't overwhelmed by lots of patients if you are unlucky and need an ICU bed. There's no telling who will get it bad and who won't so Russian roulette.


So yes going back to Sweden, in my opinion, it just makes sense that it may well work in Sweden with their compliance to self-regulation and much, much lower population density.



Update 02/05/20
WHO Declares Sweden's COVID Response a Model for the World
It should be noted that the actual wording from the WHO was "potential “model” for battling the COVID-19.  Also, be that although Swedens death rate appears low, due to population density, it's one of the 10 highest in the world with a high mortality rate in care homes.
As noted above Swedens population density is far far less than the UK's, so not really comparable.
Johnson was indeed going down the same route until the realisation hit that in the UK the NHS would have been quickly overwhelmed and the death rates could have hit levels not worth thinking about. This would have highlighted even more the failings that have happened and possibly Johnson being no more. A complete U-turn was taken from the herd immunity route, basically to save his job and the Tories. He wasn't to know at that point that it would possibly save his life.

It should
However, back to the Sweden model, I think it's valid as a model for coming out of the stay at home policy now the 1st wave has been contained and people are a bit more mindful that it's not just Flu.

LINKS
Has Sweden Found the Right Solution to the Coronavirus?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Whitty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_density
'I shook hands with everybody,' says Boris Johnson weeks before coronavirus diagnosis
https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_sweden_goes_it_alone_the_eus_coronavirus_exception
https://inews.co.uk/news/sweden-coronavirus-no-lockdown-covid-19-measures-cases-deaths-social-distancing-restaurants-open-2517991
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-sweden-no-lockdown-asks-people-to-stay-apart-2020-4?r=US&IR=T
Updated 02/05/20
Sweden Says Controversial Virus Strategy Proving Effective
WHO Official: Sweden’s Policy of Individual Responsibility “a Model” for the Rest of World
Has Sweden's coronavirus strategy played into the hands of nationalists?
Sweden says its coronavirus approach has worked. The numbers suggest a different story
What we can learn from Sweden's approach to COVID-19: WHO coronavirus briefing
Updated 16/05/20
Americans calling for herd immunity should look at Sweden's coronavirus experiment to see why it won't work

COVID-19 ~ I wish Boris Johnson a speedy recovery because I don't wish ill on anyone...BUT

It's amazing that in 2008 the greedy banks crashed the world economy and we had to bail out banks that were deemed too big to be allowed to fail. The Tory press and the Tories convinced the country "Labour Bankrupt the country". After 8 years of austerity, we are over 800 billion more in debt, so I think we can put that one to bed and safely say we were nowhere near-bankrupt, we were lied to.

Fast forward 12 years and a nasty little virus comes along, something they always knew would happen.

Apparently, they have been planning for it for years, and it was even higher than terrorism on the treat list. So to plan for this over the last 10 years the government reduced hospital beds by over 12,000-14,000 along with staff, ICU beds, ventilators etc etc. to one of the lowest in Europe. (The sixth richest country in the world has one of the lowest levels of hospital beds? and hence no room to cope for an emergency)

But now we are not allowed to criticise the government’s handling of this, it's insensitive, and they are doing their best in an emergency situation, what utter claptrap. And all the Tory memes are already out in circulation and the sheep are falling for them, sorry but if the cap fits wear it. The same memes that did the rounds during Brexit. Oh, we weren’t allowed to criticise then either I remember, the poor things were dealing with a tough situation. A load of old eyewash my Dad would have said.

I wish Boris Johnson a speedy recovery because I don't wish ill on anyone, even those politicians that I know are pathological liars. However just because you're in hospital doesn't make the government suddenly unaccountable for its actions.

Their actions have certainly been wanting, from Boris Johnson claiming to have shaken hands with Coronavirus patients. A statement along with other woolly and unclear advice that clearly lessened the impact and the reality of the situation to the general public.

We see the evidence of that with people flouting the social distancing rules. Because they don't believe it. They don't believe it because of Boris Johnson’s absolutely ridiculous handling of it. It’s akin to a Dads Army sketch.

And were not allowed to say anything because he has an unborn child. It’s insensitive? Really?  There are plenty of people that have died, some had children I’m sure there are a few others that had unborn children that would have liked to have known their Dad. Boris Johnson doesn’t get the monopoly on it.

FFS boils my piss.

Get well soon Boris but when you get out stop with the Dads Army humour, woolly conflicting information and get it right, because at present you’re not.

COVID-19 ~ Herd Immunity

The hilarious thing was the UK Government claimed they were going by scientific advice. Pretty much any scientist will confirm it takes about 18-24 months to get herd immunity and it helps if you have a vaccine.

With Corronavirus its estimated Herd immunity should kick in at about 60-80% of the population. For the UK that means approx 36 million people need to get it and recover, unless a vaccine is produced. If you have a vaccine the time scale reduces. Getting to 60% without a vaccine could mean a lot of deaths.

Problem is we don't know how many people have had it already due to being lucky and only getting mild symptoms, the testing kits have also proved unreliable and cant be used.

1% of 36 mill = 360,000 deaths which is not a good figure.

The Ro (reproductive ratio) of COVID-19 is around 2.5 ie every infected person infects 2.5 others. If that can be reduced to 1.3 it becomes similar to Flu and herd immunity kicks in at around 25% of the population. With no vaccine on the horizon just yet, that's what needs to happen.

So how do we achieve that? It's simple STAY AT HOME as much as you can.

Staying at home reduces the infections, if the Ro is reduced to 1.3 we reduce the 60% level where herd immunity possibly starts to kick in to 25%.  (a 35% reduction in when herd immunity starts to work).

Simples :-D

How long that will take is another thing.


UPDATE 12/05/20

• Ro in the UK is now presently under 1, if true thats really good.
• It's possible that no effective vaccine will be available, certainly not in the near future, maybe never, we don't have one for SARS or HIV.
• SARS was eradicated without a vaccine.  Therefore in theory we don't need a vaccine to eradicate COVID-19 although it might be a bit more of a challenge due to the number of infections.
• COVID-19 is more infectious than SARS with the latter having a higher death rate.
• The 2nd wave of a pandemic is generally the worst.
• The Spanish flu pandemic had 3 waves and lasted 2 years and killed an estimated estimated 20 million to 50 million victims worldwide. Obviously there's big difference in medical knowledge.
• COVID-19 is totally different to previous pandemics, in that lots of people can have it, not know they have it and infect lots of people.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 resulted in more than 8000 cases and 800 deaths. SARS was eventually contained by means of syndromic surveillance, prompt isolation of patients, strict enforcement of quarantine of all contacts, and in some areas top-down enforcement of community quarantine. By interrupting all human-to-human transmission, SARS was effectively eradicated.

LINKS
https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-comments-about-herd-immunity
History of SARS, flu a guide to whether coronavirus will have a second wave
We don’t know how many people in the UK have Covid-19 and the symptom tracker app doesn’t tell us
Leaked Cabinet Office briefing on UK pandemic threat – the key points
Coronavirus: Mass testing earlier 'would have been beneficial'
Can we contain the COVID-19 outbreak with the same measures as for SARS?
How do SARS and MERS compare with COVID-19?
Influenza and COVID-19 - similarities and differences
Mythbuster: ‘Covid-19 is just like seasonal flu’
1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic

COVID-19 ~ Sorry Boris Your Not Fooling Me

Let's say this before continuing. I don't wish Corronavirus on anyone and I wish Boris Johnson a speedy recovery, however.....

Just because you catch Coronavirus and end up in ICU doesn't wipe the slate clean.

Yes I hope Boris gets better. But let's not forget. Yes, he did clap for the NHS at 8pm, he was also there clapping and cheering when they voted down a pay rise for NHS workers who are drastically underpaid for the work they do.  Voting against the pay rise is one thing but cheering? That tells you a lot about the people that voted it down.

Supported the UK? well, that's a moot point. He's switched sides and done everything possible including Lying, (in fact, he's a pathological liar), misleading, insulting anything he could just to get into No10.  I call that self-serving not supporting the UK.

He voted against Mays deal and then claimed to negotiate a better deal which handed the EU what they wanted in the 1st place, a border down the Irish sea and then claimed he'd got a better deal and everyone thought he was a god. It's unbelievable, I mean It literally beggars belief.

WAKE UP PEOPLE YOU'RE BEING CONNED!!

He was possibly the most incompetent Foreign Secretary the UK has ever had and if he hadn't jumped would have probably been sacked. There's a UK citizen still in an Iran jail because of his stupid comments.

He was sacked twice before for lying, misleading information.

For years the Tories have been quietly privatising the NHS, you only have to talk to NHS workers to understand that. But now they claim they are champions of the NHS, because they know its a vote winner.

We have one of the lowest numbers of hospital beds in Europe, so we are already on the back foot in regards to Coronavirus. In the past 10 years, the Tories have reduced the number of hospital beds by over 12,000. 14,000 depending on which stats you use, I'll use the lower.

We also have one of the lowest levels of ventilators in Europe.  We are the 6th richest country in the world, we should not be one of the lowest!!!!

Look around you everything is falling apart, holes in the roads, etc etc the list is endless. 10 years of Tory austerity we've had so many cuts, clubs for kids axed so their all out on the streets now. Police numbers cut, Firefighters cut, nurses cut, social support cut, etc etc

And they are claiming to be heroes for just putting back what they cut in the 1st place. We are over 800 billion more in debt than in 2010 and the debt/fall out from the worldwide banking crash was levelling off at that point.  The Tories brought in austerity and lost our AAA rating. Which we still haven't got back and they were warned that would happen if they carried on on the path that they were going down.  800 billion more in debt, where did the money go?  No one seems to ask that.

I for one am not fooled, I'm not taken in by the charming Buffon pathological Liar, I'm not fooled by the we are champions of the NHS statements.

I'll say it again the Tories clapped and cheered when voting down a pay rise for NHS workers who are vastly underpaid for what they do and they have the audacity to try and win votes by applauding the NHS now.... when they are expecting them to die. Expecting them to put their lives on the line to save people, to save Mr Johnson. For the same pay......For the same pay!!

They say all politicians lie, well maybe they do, but they should not be allowed to and this current government takes it to a whole new level, we've never seen anything like it before and they are getting away with it.

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

I will be clapping the NHS workers for putting their lives on the line to treat you and thousands of others, battling to stay alive.

Boris Johnson, I wish you no ill, I hope you recover and if you do you'll probably come out of this a national hero.



BUT YOU'RE NOT FOOLING ME!!   Not one little bit.