Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[Toffee in Jandals]

I hear you, but my concern is how quick we can trace contacts of those who are positive. Seems we are a bit behind others on that.

What's your thoughts on Jacinda? A true leader or "lip stick on a pig"?

Very good communicator, and fair play to her, she is a leader in the truest sense of the word. She's also clearly empathetic, and her decision-making and ability to get a sense of the public's feeling is generally sound. Also she's not afraid of making the big decisions - chucking us all into lockdown so early on clearly has saved lives.

I'm not a fan of much of her politics, and personally I find so many peoples' love-in with her a bit vomit-inducing.

As a leader though, I can't think of too many other politicians I'd prefer to lead my country through a crisis. Which in itself is high praise.

 

[tsubaki]

The one good thing that I’m hoping that will come out of all this, is that the government will now see that under no circumstances should Trump be allowed anywhere near our NHS in any capacity whatsoever.

Irrelevant of the moral and social issues it would be political suicide.

I agree but the danger is thinking that Biden wouldn’t want to back healthcare firms / drug manufacturers to exactly the same degree that Trump would. The system over there is rotten and it’s something both parties have allowed to flourish.

 

[aazak]

More than half again the reported levels:

I've had issues with spin/lies on these figures for a long time, but I've just seen the above reported as:

"Deaths in England caused by the coronavirus by 3 April were 15% higher than previously reported, according to official data published today."

It looks like they are wilfully selecting confusing figures from different time periods to give a more palatable headline.

 

[peteblue]

one would hope so Pete,but I cannot see capitalists giving up profits too easily
I seen a programme a few years ago where they took a lady who lost her job in a textile factory to a production plant in India
They brought her to the plant in India ,which had recently shut down and moved to China for cheaper labour
Even the company I work for ,a major British multinational (now american owned ) and a household name built a purpose built factory in Poland to take advantage of lower labour costs
At the time our wages would have been roughly 800 euro a WEEK while in Poland at the time it was 60 euro a MONTH

The EU eh, don’t you just love it... Scary numbers though....

 

[BlueToff]

I hear you, but my concern is how quick we can trace contacts of those who are positive. Seems we are a bit behind others on that.

What's your thoughts on Jacinda? A true leader or "lip stick on a pig"?

I was in NZ when the Christchurch shooting happened last year and from an outsiders' perspective, she handled that brilliantly.

Then what happened with White Island and then subsequently this - she's had some almighty crap to deal with in the last year!

 

[aazak]

BBC:

Nearly half of all deaths (47%) registered in London in the week ending 3 April were linked to Covid-19, new figures show

 

[Barnfred 55]

I've seen a few things suggesting London might have already peaked, and any growth in the UK is now coming from elsewhere. It seems thus far as though the London hospitals have managed to cope with the demands placed upon them, which is positive. I'm not sure, for instance, how many of the 5,000 beds at the Nightingale in the Excel are occupied?

Another government balls up. The money wasted on that could have been spent on more PPE

 

[jamieni]

The one good thing that I’m hoping that will come out of all this, is that the government will now see that under no circumstances should Trump be allowed anywhere near our NHS in any capacity whatsoever.

Irrelevant of the moral and social issues it would be political suicide.

There is going to have to be a serious/grown-up conversation about paying more in taxes after this. We all want first class health care and other public services but don’t want to pay for them.

 

[BlueInNZ]

I was in NZ when the Christchurch shooting happened last year and from an outsiders' perspective, she handled that brilliantly.

Then what happened with White Island and then subsequently this - she's had some almighty crap to deal with in the last year!

Tbh with you, I value what you've said and I think you've nailed it. The "lipstick on a pig" was from the out field, something another politic opponent said. Not so much at her, more at the party behind her. Some desperate lightweights. Not least the minister of health who twice broke the lockdown.

I've enjoyed your comments about being in NZ in other threads. Cheers .

 

[BlueInNZ]

Take the pay take the pain. It's so obvious Witty and Valence are under the influence political mandarin masters. I know in the UK contrary is a default, however, they have ignored World health organisation too many times.

Do you trust the WHO?

 

[BlueToff]

Tbh with you, I value what you've said and I think you've nailed it. The "lipstick on a pig" was from the out field, something another politic opponent said. Not so much at her, more at the party behind her. Some desperate lightweights. Not least the minister of health who twice broke the lockdown.

I've enjoyed your comments about being in NZ in other threads. Cheers .

No probs, loved the country and am planning to get back for a 6-month/year in Auckland at some stage in the next few years.

Obviously I don't know the ins and outs of the political system though!

Stay safe, hopefully you're starting to see the other side of this.

 

[Brisan123]

The EU eh, don’t you just love it... Scary numbers though....

If they don't move to Europe they move to Brazil .south Africa etc as our company has done
We are lucky in Ireland as they are investing here but the 2 British factories are not getting a penny in investment

 

[BlueInNZ]

No probs, loved the country and am planning to get back for a 6-month/year in Auckland at some stage in the next few years.

Obviously I don't know the ins and outs of the political system though!

Stay safe, hopefully you're starting to see the other side of this.

Auckland? Ffs. I take back everything I said you JAFA

 

[Barnfred 55]

And tbh, I have no idea how other parts of the country fare in terms of healthcare capabilities. You see stats around differing spending on transport and so on, but I have no clue if the same applies for healthcare, ie if parts of the country have less capacity to deal with an outbreak than, say, London does. Obviously there are parts of the country with a toxic combo of an elderly population and few emergency care facilities (or staff), so you just hope there's enough for everyone.

That'll be down here Bruce. Cornwall has the lowest number of ICU beds per head of population and the second eldest population.

Luckily there's plenty of space to socially distance and people are doing what they're told so both the infection and death rates are among the lowest in the country.

It is a potential time bomb as you say though

 

[BlueToff]

Italy have apparently rejected outright the EU's offer of a repayable loan to help them get someway back on track. They're demanding a package similar to what Greece got a few years ago.

I can't see Germany and France footing the bill – and would not blame them for not doing so.