Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[BlueToff]

I said the majority of the wealthy and middle class will be working from home.

I didn’t say that the majority of people working from home will be middle class.

Please learn to read and comprehend.

Okay, fair enough

But as a wider point, I think the mass labelling of people as middle class if they can work from home - appreciate that is not what you're saying - in some quarters isn't right.

Just like it's unfair to label every middle class person as a Tory voter or working class as a Labour voter etc

 

[Brisan123]

Is PPD like PPG ?

I thought it was more like XG in zone 13

 

[Kenshin]

Sounds like job retention scheme to be extended till 30 Sept, but reduced to 60% with some sort of mechanism to allow part time work.

As ever, the detail will be what matters but good that it seems to be staying on. It's not sustainable long term to pay more on wages than the NHS, but a phased removal of the scheme over time is far better than an abrupt end on 30 June.

I do still worry about how many could be laid off when it ends, regardless of how long it goes on.

What about part time staff?

60% won't be enough to live on. And I know someone who isn't getting the rest paid by the employer after this month so 60% will render them unable to pay rent / buy food

 

[Brisan123]

So not only have the government managed to kill more people than any other European country - they've also managed to economically destroy us by closing down for longer then anywhere else

Takes some doing that - how have they managed to make such a monumental balls up?!

Well a lot of people voted for a BJ and they normally come with balls lol

 

[YoboCopter]

Theres no way this r number goes down now, life is just going ahead where it can itll only go up imo... we will struggle to hit the next phase before august unless the virus just magically dies out...

Or unless as i have a feeling most people have already had it

 

[ToffeeTim]

What about part time staff?

60% won't be enough to live on. And I know someone who isn't getting the rest paid by the employer after this month so 60% will render them unable to pay rent / buy food

Dunno yet, will need to see details. Only going off media reports at this stage.

You currently can't work at all if you are on furlough, not even casually. The talk is that they will bring in a rule where you can be furloughed but do some part time work.

If it's reduced to 60% I would hope employers are expected to pay 20% or more themselves. A 60% subsidy is still generous.

From my experience, not that many people have had their 80% topped up by their employer. Although this can be down to internal workplace politics where people still at work would not be happy if they earned the same as people furloughed.

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

I told the staff in Lidl this morning that a retired millionaire thinks they're foolish for being at work.

I get the thrust of what you are saying but should his wealth exclude his scientific opinion (as the countries former CMO)?

 

[daza_1973]

Sounds like job retention scheme to be extended till 30 Sept, but reduced to 60% with some sort of mechanism to allow part time work.

As ever, the detail will be what matters but good that it seems to be staying on. It's not sustainable long term to pay more on wages than the NHS, but a phased removal of the scheme over time is far better than an abrupt end on 30 June.

I do still worry about how many could be laid off when it ends, regardless of how long it goes on.

My firm has already implied in writing to us this will happen (3 month lay off) - I fear we are all currently in the honeymoon period of this disaster

 

[navidson]

Over the past few days we've been inundated with amateur scientists bemoaning the guidelines that have been amended - Almost everybody complaining that the guidance is incorrect and ill-advised.

What I haven't seen a lot of is what we SHOULD be doing instead - So i'm asking you lot, what should we do differently?

I'm no Tory apologist - I can't stand them or their leader - but I haven't seen much in the way of alternative ideas coming out of this.

The rest of Europe are easing lockdowns and getting back to work but seem to be exempt from criticism.

Are we leaving lockdown too early? Was the lockdown ever really in place? Are other countries doing things differently than we are and we should be copying them?

What should we be doing?

 

[Brisan123]

That's an underlying weakness in our democracy though isn't it? When we give politicians a term limit of 4 or 5 years, it kinda forces them to think only in that timeframe. Adequate disaster preparation requires a slightly longer-term perspective that few politicians will ever sign up for.

The first job of a politician is to get re elected

 

[tsubaki]

Over the past few days we've been inundated with amateur scientists bemoaning the guidelines that have been amended - Almost everybody complaining that the guidance is incorrect and ill-advised.

What I haven't seen a lot of is what we SHOULD be doing instead - So i'm asking you lot, what should we do differently?

I'm no Tory apologist - I can't stand them or their leader - but I haven't seen much in the way of alternative ideas coming out of this.

The rest of Europe are easing lockdowns and getting back to work but seem to be exempt from criticism.

Are we leaving lockdown too early? Was the lockdown ever really in place? Are other countries doing things differently than we are and we should be copying them?

What should we be doing?

read this article in today’s Guardian, it explains what we should be doing and why some people are questioning the government responsible:

Unless the government changes tack, the UK's lockdown will have been for nothing | Devi Sridhar

Easing social distancing without a proper programme of testing, contact tracing and isolating will lead to a second wave of coronavirus, asks Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

www.theguardian.com

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

Apparently you aren’t alone and there may be a physical reason - many are getting more sleep than usual and it is the end of the sleep cycle when the most vivid dreams happen according to this podcast “quarantine dreams”

Today, Explained | Vox

Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. In text, video and audio, our reporters explain politics, policy, world affairs, technology, culture, science, the climate crisis, money...

www.vox.com

The grandma dream is one I'm having. I've had a few dreams about my grandma. My missus was telling me one morning that during the night she woke up and I was sitting up in bed talking, she asked what I was doing and I said I was talking to my grandma (it has happened twice) and I told her that my grandma was sitting at the end of the bed, she then said I just lay back down. She said it spooked her because it really did look like I was having a proper conversation. I didn't remember a thing. I was brought up by my grandparents from a very young age so that's probably triggered it.

 

[Brisan123]

For everyone complaining about people being told to go back to work, what if people actually want to go back? Carry on earning money because they lost most/all their earnings since this started? From someone who has been on work since the lockdown started , if correct measures are in place then there is no more risk than just sitting at home.

Everyone has been following government advice for 7 weeks, why is it now they can't be trusted? Johnson told everyone to stay at home and we did, so why now he has eased it a little based on statistics is the advice wrong? After all, the virus will still be a threat 3 months from now

After all, you can still stay at home. There is nothing stopping you not going out still. If you continue to follow that advice then you are on no more threat than you were before Boris spoke last night.

All the data is retrospective anyhow. How the numbers you keep reading are always in the past. The infection rate is in the past , people aren't developing the virus the morning of the test and deaths can he registered 2 months from the day they are in that daily statistics.

What if the government is right in doing this? And the data has lower than you think it is?

that's the bits I have a problem with

 

[ForeverBlue92]

I am having some very weird dreams of late LL, you would have to pay on 'specialist sites' for some of my dreams. lol

How much you charging mate?

 

[COYBL25]

Over the past few days we've been inundated with amateur scientists bemoaning the guidelines that have been amended - Almost everybody complaining that the guidance is incorrect and ill-advised.

What I haven't seen a lot of is what we SHOULD be doing instead - So i'm asking you lot, what should we do differently?

I'm no Tory apologist - I can't stand them or their leader - but I haven't seen much in the way of alternative ideas coming out of this.

The rest of Europe are easing lockdowns and getting back to work but seem to be exempt from criticism.

Are we leaving lockdown too early? Was the lockdown ever really in place? Are other countries doing things differently than we are and we should be copying them?

What should we be doing?

@davek is just finishing his morning briefing with Xi Jinping and once he`s finished getting up to speed with what a great job the CCP are doing to save the world, he`ll be able to fill you in mate.