Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[bullybeef]

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.

Fair play.
NZ seem to have dealt with this in a very clear and concise way, not to mention very effectively.

The UK on the other hand have bumbled their way through it after the apparent initial hope that it was just something or nothing.

All the warning signs were clearly there to see.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

OBR figures not looking good. Maybe somebody (Bruce?) a touch less technically challenged than me could post them in here.

Just forecasts obviously and I do find them to generally veer towards the pessimistic side

Think they were shared in a tweet or something earlier. Something to keep in mind with the stats, tragic though they are, is that many of those in nursing homes are in palliative care, so are dying anyway, COVID just made the process a bit faster. It's a tough environment though for sure, not least because the instances of dementia etc. in care homes makes it very difficult to do any kind of social distancing, and of course, the staff are much more tactile than nurses in ICU, so the risk of spreading must be greater.

 

[jamieni]

OBR figures not looking good. Maybe somebody (Bruce?) a touch less technically challenged than me could post them in here.

Just forecasts obviously and I do find them to generally veer towards the pessimistic side

Report on it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52279871
assumes a 3 month lock down which might be optimistic!

 

[Deleted member 48881]

Some people are douchebags. A friend of mine from Canada:

Yesterday a man and his wife got on my elevator, going over the recommended limit that was posted on the door. When I asked them, before they entered, to please wait for the next one as recommended, he said "no". When I asked him did he know the recommended safe limit he said "yes".
These days, elevators arrive within seconds they are so underused. So, before getting off myself and waiting for another one, I told him I was very high risk, and asked him if the inconvenience of having to arrive home one minute later was more important to him than possibly infecting someone, he said "yes."

 

[Tea_drinker]

My next door neighbour is a lecturer at LIverpool Uni and he`s told me that they`ve been told to expect major job losses due the fact that the masses of Chinese students at the Uni will not be back anytime soon.

Knock that onto all the purpose built accommodation that they occupy around the city centre that will be empty / no rent being paid and all the money they spend when out and about.

A disaster not only for the Uni, but the City too.

The universities are huge employers from teaching, maintenance, cleaning, IT, and so on and that's just on campus. If an exit strategy is not found soon this city and those right across the country are going to be set back decades.

Besides the economic devastation it seems likely that some level of civil disorder will arise so how far will this Government and those across the world be prepared to go to contain or repel this?

 

[jamieni]

The universities are huge employers from teaching, maintenance, cleaning, IT, and so on and that's just on campus. If an exit strategy is not found soon this city and those right across the country are going to be set back decades.

Besides the economic devastation it seems likely that some level of civil disorder will arise so how far will this Government and those across the world be prepared to go to contain or repel this?

it’s a horrendous quandary to be in. if they lift lock down and there is an even more devastating second wave there could also be civil disorder if services are overwhelmed. It all has to be a balancing act.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

Fair play.
NZ seem to have dealt with this in a very clear and concise way, not to mention very effectively.

The UK on the other hand have bumbled their way through it after the apparent initial hope that it was just something or nothing.

All the warning signs were clearly there to see.

It helps when their population is, what.... 4 or 5m?

Not to mention population density.

Factor in number if inbound travel.

Just isn't really any serious comparatives.

 

[ToffeeTim]

Sone of the people saying we were too slow to lockdown are now saying we're being too slow to lift lockdown. I don't get it.

If staying in lockdown slightly longer than other countries helps save more lives or gives more respite to our health service, then we have to do it. End of the matter.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

It helps when their population is, what.... 4 or 5m?

Not to mention population density.

Factor in number if inbound travel.

Just isn't really any serious comparatives.

Just checked this and;

• The population density in New Zealand is 18 per Km2 (47 people per mi2).
• The population density in the United Kingdom is 281 per Km2 (727 people per mi2).

 

[Tea_drinker]

it’s a horrendous quandary to be in. if they lift lock down and there is an even more devastating second wave there could also be civil disorder if services are overwhelmed. It all has to be a balancing act.

If there was ever an unarguable time to distribute wealth to all for the good of mankind it's now.

 

[ToffeeTim]

It helps when their population is, what.... 4 or 5m?

Not to mention population density.

Factor in number if inbound travel.

Just isn't really any serious comparatives.

This is another frustration of mine. People keep saying why not do what they are doing in (x)?

But the reality is that the tight solution in one area could be entirely wrong in another. Countries with 70m cannot be compared to countries with 7m.

 

[JimmyJeffers]

Wouldn’t surprise me if Brazil ends up the worst hit country of them all due their monumentally dumb president.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

Sone of the people saying we were too slow to lockdown are now saying we're being too slow to lift lockdown. I don't get it.

If staying in lockdown slightly longer than other countries helps save more lives or gives more respite to our health service, then we have to do it. End of the matter.

 

[JimmyJeffers]

This is another frustration of mine. People keep saying why not do what they are doing in (x)?

But the reality is that the tight solution in one area could be entirely wrong in another. Countries with 70m cannot be compared to countries with 7m.

They can be compared, just with noting that there is a difference in population. Most countries will have demographic differences, however the ones that seem to be coming out best, took quick and decisive action.

 

[bullybeef]

It helps when their population is, what.... 4 or 5m?

Not to mention population density.

Factor in number if inbound travel.

Just isn't really any serious comparatives.

Those are valid points.

However, I’m not drawing a direct comparison in terms of fatalities or rates of infection which those points may influence.
Im thinking about the approach adopted by the two governments.

The UK, in my humble opinion, have been complacent, inept and woefully inadequate.
Putting thousands of lives at risk.

Just my opinion though.