Coronavirus

[MrGongGong]

I saw that JR - important message repeated there.

[jayne lee wilson]

Which is odd, odders, because many ( most?)footy fans seem to be remarkably relaxed about its absence right now.


Especially fans of teams in the bottom few positions in their leagues........

I kinda felt the same.... but it did begin to sink in a coupla weeks ago - this isn't coming back anytime soon in anything like its previous form.....

So I began watching the live B-C-D (get used to it - behind closed doors) of Dortmund v Schalke on Saturday, soon appreciating their high-class pass-and-move.
I was relaxed, but early on, Dortmund put a lovely sweeping move together ending with Haaland (it had to be him..!) flicking it in - so elegant, so nonchalant....wonderful goal.
I burst into tears at the so-long-missed beauty of it....but I do seem to be doing that more now about many things.......

But I'll probably do more Beethoven than Bundesliga.

[johnb]

I see that PHE have warned this morning that one of the symptoms of coronavirus is loss of smell and advise those who experience it to self-isolate.

However, this has been known about for quite some time. I read it on the BBC News website as long ago as March 28 so am puzzled as to why the advice has changed only now.

It is worth reading the views of some of the scientific community on this topic. They welcome the change.

https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-announcement-that-anosmia-has-been-added-to-list-of-official-covid-19-symptoms/

For weeks Prof Spectre of King's College has been saying that his Covid-19 symptom tracking app has shown that ~60% of people who tested positive have a loss of smell.

Once again the UK government is behind the curve on this compared to many other European countries - par for the course I guess.

[johnb]

And now, even more chaos and confusion, this time with the NHS tracing app.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...ck-coronavirus

What really bugs me (apart from the general incompetence) is the lack of transparency and how government ministers default to obfuscation and spin rather than telling the truth.

I would have thought that clarity, transparency and honestly should be paramount in this type of situation.

The government once again decided to go it alone and reinvent the wheel with its centralized app. I understand there is merit in having centralized data which the government/PHE/NHS can use to inform how it controls the spread of the virus, but other European countries will have gone through similar thought processes and yet decided to go for a decentralized app, working with Apple and Google.

It is well known that NHSX has been, in parallel, working on a second, decentralized, app - in case. But the government denies that is the case.

By the way, it seems that the tracking has been outsourced to Serco. I understand that Deloitte has a significant role in (non-NHS) testing, then there are all the other private companies that are involved, not to mention Movianto who have the contract for (mis-)managing the stockpile of PPE.

I can understand that it might well be right to utilise commercial companies when PHE and the NHS are under considerable stress but it does seem that doling out contracts to these companies has become the default position.

[Bryn]

Common hydroxychloroquine side effects include:
headache, dizziness;
nausea, vomiting, stomach pain;
loss of appetite, weight loss;
feeling nervous or irritable;
skin rash or itching; or.
hair loss.

[oddoneout]

What really bugs me (apart from the general incompetence) is the lack of transparency and how government ministers default to obfuscation and spin rather than telling the truth.

I would have thought that clarity, transparency and honestly should be paramount in this type of situation.

The government once again decided to go it alone and reinvent the wheel with its centralized app. I understand there is merit in having centralized data which the government/PHE/NHS can use to inform how it controls the spread of the virus, but other European countries will have gone through similar thought processes and yet decided to go for a decentralized app, working with Apple and Google.

It is well known that NHSX has been, in parallel, working on a second, decentralized, app - in case. But the government denies that is the case.

By the way, it seems that the tracking has been outsourced to Serco. I understand that Deloitte has a significant role in (non-NHS) testing, then there are all the other private companies that are involved, not to mention Movianto who have the contract for (mis-)managing the stockpile of PPE.

I can understand that it might well be right to utilise commercial companies when PHE and the NHS are under considerable stress but it does seem that doling out contracts to these companies has become the default position.

It seems to me that trying to change that is just about impossible. It has now become second nature and so an automatic behaviour but also, now so many people are aware of the extent to which the government has lied and is continuing to lie to them, it will continue to be assumed that anything emanating from that direction is untrue - even if perhaps it isn't. Additionally,admitting to mistakes and anything other than a positive(or at worst neutral - anything rather than negative) spin on the situation would be so damaging to the Tory Party(in its perception)that it won't be allowed - the Party wellbeing is way ahead of the country's wellbeing. That also has a bearing on the awarding of contracts in my view.
Foolishly perhaps I think there must be at least a few Tory MPs who know that what is going on is wrong, but can't bring themselves to act on that belief.Given the precarious state of the country and its economy(which won't be helped by Brexit) I suppose it is inevitable that MPs will hang onto their safe 'jobs' at any cost rather than risk life in the real world with a clear(ish) conscience.

[Old Grumpy]

Common hydroxychloroquine side effects include:
headache, dizziness;
nausea, vomiting, stomach pain;
loss of appetite, weight loss;
feeling nervous or irritable;
skin rash or itching; or.
hair loss.

Hair's OK, it's stuck on isn't it?

Does that list include Itchy Twitter Finger?

[oddoneout]

Common hydroxychloroquine side effects include:
headache, dizziness;
nausea, vomiting, stomach pain;
loss of appetite, weight loss;
feeling nervous or irritable;
skin rash or itching; or.
hair loss.

As many rheumatoid arthritis sufferers know only too well - but they have to make a trade off between the side effects and the progression of the disease. There must be many among that group who wonder why on earth someone would choose to take it without any medical justification.

[MrGongGong]

What really bugs me (apart from the general incompetence) is the lack of transparency and how government ministers default to obfuscation and spin rather than telling the truth.

I would have thought that clarity, transparency and honestly should be paramount in this type of situation.

The government once again decided to go it alone and reinvent the wheel with its centralized app. I understand there is merit in having centralized data which the government/PHE/NHS can use to inform how it controls the spread of the virus, but other European countries will have gone through similar thought processes and yet decided to go for a decentralized app, working with Apple and Google.

It is well known that NHSX has been, in parallel, working on a second, decentralized, app - in case. But the government denies that is the case.

By the way, it seems that the tracking has been outsourced to Serco. I understand that Deloitte has a significant role in (non-NHS) testing, then there are all the other private companies that are involved, not to mention Movianto who have the contract for (mis-)managing the stockpile of PPE.

I can understand that it might well be right to utilise commercial companies when PHE and the NHS are under considerable stress but it does seem that doling out contracts to these companies has become the default position.

Sad but true
I think (and this has probably been true for much longer than we imagine)

One needs to start from the position that those in charge DON'T have the best interests of the population or environment at the top of their list.
Nothing will change because it's not in their interests to change it.....
and (following on from this https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...-for-15-months) the myth (?) that people are fundamentally selfish, hostile and one step away from criminality, is very powerful. Many people really DO believe that without "God", a threat of eternal damnation, the "forces" of law and order, more and more rules imposed and so on, that society will descend into chaos. It's a shame because experience largely says otherwise.

The narratives (and they are that) of "bad" people "breaking the rules" have been everywhere. Which is NOT to say that we should ignore what is best for society at all, more that we do it because we know it to be sound. If Gove or BJ tell me to do something I'm NOT going to comply because they tell me, they have been proved to be untrustworthy. If Robert Winston tells me that the science indicates something, I will believe him. It's quite simple really. We need people whom we trust not a pack of self-serving liars.

[Count Boso]

Common hydroxychloroquine side effects include:
headache, dizziness;
nausea, vomiting, stomach pain;
loss of appetite, weight loss;
feeling nervous or irritable;
skin rash or itching; or.
hair loss.

Maybe Trump's taking it in order to lose weight? (Actually, I suspect that he's not taking it, but can claim it "works" because he feels absolutely fine and doesn't have the virus. Then lots of people will take and, maybe, be cured. As he woud say, "Who knows? It's worth try -what do you have to lose?") Maybe Johnson should take it - he's overweight too.

[LMcD]

He's probably got shares - directly or indirectly - in Novartis.

[oddoneout]

He's probably got shares - directly or indirectly - in Novartis.

It's Sanofi that he has a financial interest in, I think as some kind of unit trust arrangement, and it's suggested the actual sum involved is very small - one article I read recently gave a figure of possibly $99 - which as was pointed out doesn't really signify in a wealth pit of billions.
The Novartis connection is through a lawyer - now in jail - acting as policy advisor.

[oddoneout]

Another Covid-19 'side effect' And the government wants us to have ever closer ties to an administration that considers this acceptable and will see no reason why the UK shouldn't move in this direction. I think we can all take it as read that 'assurances' that we will not allow welfare and food standards to be lowered in this country as a result of Brexit are lies. With Liz Truss negotiating on our behalf in the US we could even be signed up already, she's not the brightest bunny. Whatever criticisms we level at such matters in this country we haven't yet got to this stage as far as I know. Please be warned it isn't pleasant reading.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/19/millions-of-us-farm-animals-to-be-culled-by-suffocation-drowning-and-shooting-coronavirus

[LeMartinPecheur]

I think we can all take it as read that 'assurances' that we will not allow welfare and food standards to be lowered in this country as a result of Brexit are lies. With Liz Truss negotiating on our behalf in the US we could even be signed up already, she's not the brightest bunny.

I wrote to my (Tory) MP recently about current US trade talks and possible debasement of our food and animal heath standards.

He's rushed to reassure me that our rules preventing the likes of chlorinated chicken, although deriving from EU law, are to be maintained by HMG so I needn't worry. It's true that the govt's starting position on EU-derived law that was originally approved by due parliamentary process (usually the 'laying before Parliament' of a set of UK regulations) is that they will maintain the status quo until parliament decides to change it so I'm slightly reassured, even after filtering out all the anti-EU and other misc. crap/ waffle in his letter.

[MrGongGong]

I wrote to my (Tory) MP recently about current US trade talks and possible debasement of our food and animal heath standards.

He's rushed to reassure me that our rules preventing the likes of chlorinated chicken, although deriving from EU law, are to be maintained by HMG so I needn't worry. It's true that the govt's starting position on EU-derived law that was originally approved by due parliamentary process (usually the 'laying before Parliament' of a set of UK regulations) is that they will maintain the status quo until parliament decides to change it so I'm slightly reassured, even after filtering out all the anti-EU and other misc. crap/ waffle in his letter.

I'll bet you £100 he is lying (not that I have £100 so how about a bandcamp download code ? )