Coronavirus

[DracoM]

Latest Private Eye worth a read!

[Bryn]

Latest Private Eye worth a read!

Fortunately, I took out a sub before last Christmas.

[oddoneout]

The hapless Health Minister, Helen Whately said on this morning's Today programme that the government hadn't received the email about the EU's bulk procurement.

Most people would find it utterly mortifying to repeat such obvious bunkum on the radio and TV.

Talk about brass neck.

It dawned on me this morning what all this lying reminded me of - a small child, face covered in chocolate, the wrappers at its feet, still denying to the adult that it has eaten the sweets...

[Bryn]

Hancock trying to shift any blame onto the cabinet's chosen scientific advisors. Hmm, if I recall correctly, "Advisors advise. Ministers decide".

[oddoneout]

Courtesy of Liz Truss, talking about lack of women in briefings.

Thérèse Coffey ... she’s done a number of media appearances and I think she’s doing an absolutely brilliant job in dealing with the number of universal credit claims.”

I would have thought it takes more than one person to deal with all those claims, but it would explain a lot.

[MrGongGong]

Hancock trying to shift any blame onto the cabinet's chosen scientific advisors. Hmm, if I recall correctly, "Advisors advise. Ministers decide".

He is obviously the "fall guy" for BJ
and trying to pin it on those chosen to advise
a shame that they are prepared to go along with it
but, I guess, they have a price and we all know what happens to those who "speak out"

Do they have "gagging clauses", I wonder ?

[Serial_Apologist]

Do they have "gagging clauses", I wonder ?

If you mean inadequate face masks.............

[LMcD]

If you mean inadequate face masks.............

I always thought gagging clauses were sick Santas.

[Dave2002]

A seemingly much more honest press briefing today, with the advisers giving opinions which probably many people didn't/don't want to hear.

[MrGongGong]

A seemingly much more honest press briefing today, with the advisers giving opinions which probably many people didn't/don't want to hear.

Did they tell us that we have been lied to?

And did Handoncock apologise ?

[johnb]

A seemingly much more honest press briefing today, with the advisers giving opinions which probably many people didn't/don't want to hear.

I'm not sure that I would entirely go along with that.

I noticed that they showed a chart of hospital deaths by date reported, i.e. the figures that are quoted each day. It is impossible to read very much into the day to day variations because the figures are heavily distorted by administrative delays at the weekend. The reported deaths are markedly understated on Saturday and Sunday (released the following day) and then overstated during the rest of the week as the figures catch up.

NHS England publish a daily update of the deaths by date of death but there are continuing daily adjustments going back, say, two weeks, but especially over the previous seven days and in particular over the previous three days.

For what it's worth, I've cobbled together a chart that shows, for England only, the current information for hospital deaths by date of death compared with the deaths by date reported:



The peak on the 8th April is clearly visible. That probably indicates that the infections peaked something like 3 or 4 weeks earlier, possibly even before the official lockdown.

[muzzer]

How much longer will people put up with lockdown? Not ‘should’ but ‘will’?

[Dave2002]

Did they tell us that we have been lied to?

It was Raab today. Whitty said it would be a very long time before we'd get through this, and Raab didn't disagree.

[muzzer]

They’re making it up as they go along.

[oddoneout]

It was Raab today. Whitty said it would be a very long time before we'd get through this, and Raab didn't disagree.

Testing times - there was a grown up in the House today and Raab was rumbled and rattled - hooray.