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comelately

Wild Horses
Oh sorry, except that we can ignore government scientific advisors because they probably haven't considered something that us random internet people know all about based on a medium article last week.

Strawmen like this don't exactly help to create a sensible discussion.
 

comelately

Wild Horses
So Bolsonaro has the lurgy it seems. Now I'm not going to wish anyone dead, but politicians tend to be old so it wouldn't be exactly surprising if someone bought it.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
The idea that we can trust advisers in the employ of Boris Johnson's government is potentially very harmful, particularly when the general consensus worldwide is that what they are suggesting is ludicrously lightweight.

It comes to something when Jeremy Hunt is far more credible.
 
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john eden

male pale and stale
Boris' short video with the Deputy Chief Medical Officer was good:

Him telling people that their loved ones will die was the right thing to do. Clearly a lot of these people will be his voters as well so it isn't fair to characterise this as similar to the wholesale social murder of poor people via austerity.

I think there are a number of factors involved in when to shut everything down and the economy is definitely one of them. But so is herd immunity and the measurement of where we are in the pandemic.

I think leaving to individual businesses to decide to close is a bit shit though and that is what seems to be happening.
 

comelately

Wild Horses
The idea that we can trust advisers in the employ of Boris Johnson's government is potentially very harmful, particularly when the general consensus worldwide is that what they are suggesting is ludicrously lightweight.

It comes to something when Jeremy Hunt is far more credible.

Tbf, Hunt is setting himself up as the 'return to sanity' alternative in case people get fed up of Boris. I agree with much of what he says, but I see the angle.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Him telling people that their loved ones will die was the right thing to do. Clearly a lot of these people will be his voters as well so it isn't fair to characterise this as similar to the wholesale social murder of poor people via austerity.

I imagine a disproportionate number of the people who die will be in poor areas with shit or no medical care, whether they're Tory voters or not. These people are collateral damage to Johnson.

Regardless of whether he told people their loved ones will die was the right thing to do - the bigger issue that his policies are making it more likely that this will actually happen.

Herd immunity by letting millions of people get the virus is bonkers, is an incredibly high-risk, completely unethical strategy when another strategy is available which *is actually being instituted in other countries successfully*, and herd immunity doesn't have any evidence behind it in this case anyways:


China has 22 new cases in the past day,assuming this data is correct https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ with 3,177 dead ....horrific but seems like it is being contained through strong but comprehensible measures... but the UK is considering a policy where it blithely talks of maybe half a million dead for some herd immunity experiment straight out of a bad dystopian novel!
 
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droid

Well-known member
I imagine a disproportionate number of the people who die will be in poor areas with shit or no medical care, whether they're Tory voters or not. These people are collateral damage to Johnson.

Regardless of whether he told people their loved ones will die was the right thing to do - the bigger issue that his policies are making it more likely that this will actually happen.

Herd immunity by letting millions of people get the virus is bonkers, is an incredibly high-risk, completely unethical strategy when another strategy is available which *is actually being instituted in other countries successfully*, and herd immunity doesn't have any evidence behind it in this case anyways:


China has 22 new cases in the past day,assuming this data is correct https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ with 3,177 dead ....horrific but seems like it is being contained through strong but comprehensible measures... but the UK is considering a policy where it blithely talks of maybe half a million dead for some herd immunity experiment straight out of a bad dystopian novel!

Exactly. The herd immunity approach is insane, completely unscientific.
 

droid

Well-known member
Boris' short video with the Deputy Chief Medical Officer was good:

Him telling people that their loved ones will die was the right thing to do. Clearly a lot of these people will be his voters as well so it isn't fair to characterise this as similar to the wholesale social murder of poor people via austerity.

I think there are a number of factors involved in when to shut everything down and the economy is definitely one of them. But so is herd immunity and the measurement of where we are in the pandemic.

I think leaving to individual businesses to decide to close is a bit shit though and that is what seems to be happening.

Cheltenham went ahead and now we have to deal with thousands of contaminated dickheads coming back here. The justification was that it was on 'government advice'.

There's a very good chance you'll see a total collapse of the NHS if this continues to Italian levels. The current British policy is reckless and cavalier and is going to kill an awful lot of people.
 

sufi

lala
Apparently Bolsonaro has tested positive... how old is he?
That's disputed still apparently, but the trustworthiness of these leaders is a big deal right now
Orhan and the Serbian president also seem to be coming down with something.
May i remind you that i predicted ages ago that likely resolution of teh Trump situation will be for him to die in office :p
Loath as I am to make political capital from this frankly terrifying situation, it's nice to see these tyrants get their comeuppance and i fully expect the UK cabinet will go down within days

I have to say i'm feeling really distressed by the uk complacency, not just from the govt - though they deserve a lot pf blame, but also a lot of regular folk on the streets - i think that is gonna change fast and suddenly though

i met a random guy in the park this morning who was wearing a face mask - he said he's a doctor and has been exposed - don't come closer please

the only ethical behaviour that we can adopt now is to try and help slow the spread, even if we arent in the high risk categories personally, and i think that ethical dimension is tellingly what's most lacking in the populists' responses, as well as in indivuiduals who are being slow on the uptake

but i have probably spent a little too much time reading and worrying about this, it's hard to be stuck with all this happening and nothing to actually do except https://staythefuckhome.com/ we've decided to close my workplace already

and wash your hands
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Even the Daily Mail is expressing concerns about it - that is how insane and extremist it is.

This idea that elderly and vulnerable people are going to be insulated...jesus. With 600 cases there is anecdotal evidence that we can't insulate Covid-19 carriers from other vulnerable ill people in hospitals. The more I think about it, this is the maddest thing I've ever heard proposed in mainstream politics.
 

droid

Well-known member
That's disputed still apparently, but the trustworthiness of these leaders is a big deal right now
Orhan and the Serbian president also seem to be coming down with something.
May i remind you that i predicted ages ago that likely resolution of teh Trump situation will be for him to die in office :p
Loath as I am to make political capital from this frankly terrifying situation, it's nice to see these tyrants get their comeuppance and i fully expect the UK cabinet will go down within days

I have to say i'm feeling really distressed by the uk complacency, not just from the govt - though they deserve a lot pf blame, but also a lot of regular folk on the streets - i think that is gonna change fast and suddenly though

i met a random guy in the park this morning who was wearing a face mask - he said he's a doctor and has been exposed - don't come closer please

the only ethical behaviour that we can adopt now is to try and help slow the spread, even if we arent in the high risk categories personally, and i think that ethical dimension is tellingly what's most lacking in the populists' responses, as well as in indivuiduals who are being slow on the uptake

but i have probably spent a little too much time reading and worrying about this, it's hard to be stuck with all this happening and nothing to actually do except https://staythefuckhome.com/ we've decided to close my workplace already

and wash your hands


Yep. Your government has abdicated responsibility and its now very late. You need to take individual action.

Stay inside, self isolate, avoid unnecessary journeys, minimise contact with friends and relatives in high risk categories whilst offering support in the form of shopping etc.

This is not hysteria. I work with a lot of medics and I know people who are in close contact with the national emergency response team. They are predicting that this is going to get very bad, even with the measures we have taken here.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Loath as I am to make political capital from this frankly terrifying situation, it's nice to see these tyrants get their comeuppance and i fully expect the UK cabinet will go down within days

I have to say i'm feeling really distressed by the uk complacency, not just from the govt - though they deserve a lot pf blame, but also a lot of regular folk on the streets - i think that is gonna change fast and suddenly though

i really, really, really hope you're right (esp about the 'days' part), but my gut feeling is it's going to take quite a few deaths before that happens. Hope I'm wrong
 

droid

Well-known member
"208 more confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK - According to the latest figures from the Department of Health, there are now 798 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, 208 more than yesterday."

Exponential growth.
 
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