Corona Virus

[swanlee]

28 minutes ago, Line-X said:

Unfortunately for many, gentrification is a very different process to regeneration. 

My links back to Leicester these days are rather tenuous - in last ten years I've only been back for funerals or football matches. Hence my adoption of what generally is a welcoming and, as you say, metropolitan city.

 

Sadly though, I can only agree with you with regards the above point. While London offers many opportunities to those of us fortunate enough to have the desirable skills, knowledge & talent. A huge swathe of indigenous Londoner's have been left behind and marginalised by the rapid changes that have been ongoing for a number of years now.

 

I was working recently in the East End, near where I'd originally lived when I first moved there. I was shocked at the changes that had occurred in that time. The almost total eradication of any kind of local community is ongoing & persistent.

 

Stay safe and be happy.

[EastAnglianFox]

Fully expecting this strength of lockdown to go on until mid May at the earliest which I can fully understand and get to grips with. 

 

But I would love some sort of exit strategy to be announced soon just so we all have a bit of something to look towards

[Blue ROI]

3 minutes ago, EastAnglianFox said:

Fully expecting this strength of lockdown to go on until mid May at the earliest which I can fully understand and get to grips with. 

 

But I would love some sort of exit strategy to be announced soon just so we all have a bit of something to look towards

There will come a point where the governments will have to bite the bullet and open things bit by bit. The virus will still linger on until late 2021-2022 but we'll have to take the chance sooner or later.

 

The minute numbers do come down over a sustained 7-10 days then that's where an exit strategy should start to be mapped out.

[Izzy]

I don't care when the lock-down ends.

 

Just send my fvckin kids back to school soon PLEASE!!! 

[Foxin_Mad]

25 minutes ago, EastAnglianFox said:

Fully expecting this strength of lockdown to go on until mid May at the earliest which I can fully understand and get to grips with. 

 

But I would love some sort of exit strategy to be announced soon just so we all have a bit of something to look towards

Thats the thing, I think a plan and time line would help. It would give people an end point and something to plan and look forward to. You could start to book trips, holidays, meals, arrange days with family and friends etc that would get the economy moving slightly.

 

It the complete unknown thats killing business. If we know shops and pubs are opening again in June for instance; I can start to plan reopening and begin preparations which means work and a potential return for people. Until then.....no idea! 

[Dahnsouff]

2 minutes ago, Foxin_Mad said:

Thats the thing, I think a plan and time line would help. It would give people an end point and something to plan and look forward to. You could start to book trips, holidays, meals, arrange days with family and friends etc that would get the economy moving slightly.

 

It the complete unknown thats killing business. If we know shops and pubs are opening again in June for instance; I can start to plan reopening and begin preparations which means work and a potential return for people. Until then.....no idea! 

Yes, understand this. Uncertainty is the bugbear of all business, but what if they do not know? (I think they do not)

Would it help to have a best guess "return to work" date? (Honest question)

I am not a small business owner, I always work at home and do not go on site, so I have a completely different, uninformed! outlook on such scenarios

[reynard]

1 hour ago, Tuna said:

What is wrong with people?

 

I wouldn't send them to jail I'd make them go and work in hospitals cleaning and taking the dead bodies to the mortuary or wherever they are taking them.

[urban.spaceman]

 

[leicsmac]

2 hours ago, Foxin_Mad said:

The government have made mistakes, and will continue to do so.Generally I think they have handled it well from most angles. 

 

We are not alone, governments left and right have made mistakes, death tolls have been large cross the globe.

 

This is an unprecedented global pandemic, no one could plan for this, previously we had no reason to plan for it. I think in future lessons will be learnt, for now its getting through with as few deaths as possible.Having 60000 ventilators and unlimited supplied of PPE would have been stupid and a waste in normal times. 

...not everywhere.

 

Indeed, the nation that is most like the UK in terms of land area, population and resources that has had a big outbreak has had a vastly different outcome in terms of overall cases and deaths. Is that all down to some additional preparation and cultural differences, I wonder?

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52224183

 

Blame the Chinese.

Blame the WHO.

Blame the Dems.

 

Blame everyone but yourself for the way this has spread on your watch.

[messerschmitt]

21 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

 

White people who are not attracted to people of colour?

[Jon the Hat]

2 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52224183

 

Blame the Chinese.

Blame the WHO.

Blame the Dems.

 

Blame everyone but yourself for the way this has spread on your watch.

Its not like he said only a few weeks ago that it was all under control!  Leave the incompetent orange fool alione!

[Strokes]

1 minute ago, messerschmitt said:

White people who are not attracted to people of colour?

Homophobic and racist.

[urban.spaceman]

5 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52224183

 

Blame the Chinese.

Blame the WHO.

Blame the Dems.

 

Blame everyone but yourself for the way this has spread on your watch.

We won't get fooled again.

[Jon the Hat]

4 minutes ago, messerschmitt said:

White people who are not attracted to people of colour?

Titiana is a spoof woke character by a comedian.

[bmt]

37 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Yes, understand this. Uncertainty is the bugbear of all business, but what if they do not know? (I think they do not)

Would it help to have a best guess "return to work" date? (Honest question)

I am not a small business owner, I always work at home and do not go on site, so I have a completely different, uninformed! outlook on such scenarios

I think what would be good for the government to talk about in more depth is what they actually wish to achieve with the lockdown. I think our aims are somewhat confused, and the timeline/exit plan needs to reflect what that is. If our aim was to get rid of the illness completely (my preference), it would surely involve a temporary Wuhan style lockdown with enduring extremely strict border controls, constant testing and surveillance to alert people to any possible spread. If it is to minimise deaths until a workable vaccine is found, less strict but more long lasting restrictions would need to apply.

 

I think fundamentally what is important is that message being properly communicated before we can even look at potential dates/decisions, and I don't think we are there yet.

[reynard]

4 hours ago, WigstonWanderer said:

I understand what you’re saying, but a great deal more planning could have been done. For example, several firms have reportedly switched production lines to the manufacture of medical equipment (ventilators, PPE, etc). Planning ahead would have ensured that such manufacturers were identified in advance, standards of equipment required agreed, sources of raw materials under pandemic conditions reviewed and a thousand other things that would have made ramping up production easier.

A great deal of planning was done. For anyone interested the following link shows this

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/730213/2018_UK_Biological_Security_Strategy.pdf

 

However, as late as October last year meetings to follow up progress were cancelled.

https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/joint-select/national-security-strategy/news-parliament-2017/biosecurity-human-health1-evidence-19-20/

 

This wasn't the only meeting postponed.  Because of these cancellations it seems quite likely that certain aspects of preparation were behind schedule.

[Strokes]

4 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Titiana is a spoof woke character by a comedian.

Jon!

[leicsmac]

8 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Its not like he said only a few weeks ago that it was all under control!  Leave the incompetent orange fool alione!

Surely no voter base could be that gullib-

 

Shit.

[Guest Kopfkino]

8 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52224183

 

Blame the Chinese.

Blame the WHO.

Blame the Dems.

 

Blame everyone but yourself for the way this has spread on your watch.

 

I realise that the messenger makes a huge difference but let's not allow Trump's overtures and narcissism deflect from the feebleness and pointlessness of the WHO. It would have been useful if they had spent less time being China's rent boy. Of course, that's your argument about China chat deflecting from governments' poor response so I wouldn't expect you to at all.

 

The whole crisis sort of destroys the idea of international cooperation on much anytime soon. The WHO useless and sidelined, the EU incapable, EU member states putting themselves first, G7 and G20 absent and very little joined up international thinking from anywhere (even Central Banks haven't really managed it). A far cry from the financial crisis.

[murphy]

3 hours ago, Izzy said:

The way things are carrying on we’ll end up with a civil war.

On one side the ‘good guys’ who follow the rules versus the ‘bad guys’ on the other side who think they can do as they please. 
A bit like Star Wars but without the light sabres.

 

But the good guys will following the rules.  How do you fight whilst social distancing?

 

  

[Guest MattP]

1 hour ago, theessexfox said:

What would be the opposite of the liberal metropolitan outlooked that Maitlis expressed there? That the virus isn’t disproportionately affecting and killing poorer frontline workers (and BAME communities, for a myriad of reasons I imagine)? That the social safety net we currently have doesn’t have significant holes that people are falling through? Or is the opposite of the liberal metropolitan outlook to pretend that none of that is happening?

It's not the opinion it's the presenting of it. She shouldn't be doing it.

 

If she wants to criticise what Raab said about Boris then interview the medical expert she had on and ask something along the lines of "He said the PM is a fighter, but does that really matter in terms of your immune system and this virus?" - Then he can tell us it's nonsense, it's not her job to give her opinion that ministers are talking garbage. It's her job to be the impartial presenter of a current affairs show.

 

Although having watched it again you realise how screwed it is towards that set of opinions they find acceptable. Low paid workers etc. No mention of how men are far more likely to die from it. 

 

As for high BAME rates, I'd imagine the main reason for this would be the epicentre of the virus is Birmingham and London, which has a far higher proportion of BAME residents than the rest of the country. Sadly I'd also guess in terms of Asian families they will also suffer due to the strong family bond those communities have with elderly relatives with many living at home with the wider family.

 

If the epicentre of this virus was Cornwall, Cumbria and the Shetlands I'm certain BAME communities would be way below the national average.

 

I am expecting elements of the press to become more biased though now Corbyn is out the way (who many in the BBC hated just as much as guys like Boris, probably due to his Euroscepticism) and Starmer is in charge of Labour. Maitlis is off the reservation though since that Prince Andrew interview. She can barely hide her distain for some guests.

[Guest MattP]

3 minutes ago, Kopfkino said:

I realise that the messenger makes a huge difference but let's not allow Trump's overtures and narcissism deflect from the feebleness and pointlessness of the WHO. It would have been useful if they had spent less time being China's rent boy. Of course, that's your argument about China chat deflecting from governments' poor response so I wouldn't expect you to at all.

 

The whole crisis sort of destroys the idea of international cooperation on much anytime soon. The WHO useless and sidelined, the EU incapable, EU member states putting themselves first, G7 and G20 absent and very little joined up international thinking from anywhere (even Central Banks haven't really managed it). A far cry from the financial crisis.

Let's not forget the United Nations either who finally have decided to meet up today.

 

I mean its not like this is anything urgent.

[Dahnsouff]

1 minute ago, MattP said:

If she wants to criticise what Raab said about Boris then interview the medical expert she had on and ask something along the lines of "He said the PM is a fighter, but does that really matter in terms of your immune system and this virus?" - Then he can tell us it's nonsense, it's not her job to give her opinion that ministers are talking garbage. It's her job to be the impartial presenter of a current affairs show.

She is not alone in perpetuating an opinion which is self serving, seems its a "thing" these days, see below and the bit about fortitude. 

 

https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/04/09/the-staggering-hypocrisy-of-the-bbc/

[Foxin_Mad]

26 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

...not everywhere.

 

Indeed, the nation that is most like the UK in terms of land area, population and resources that has had a big outbreak has had a vastly different outcome in terms of overall cases and deaths. Is that all down to some additional preparation and cultural differences, I wonder?

Which nation? Out of Interest. 

 

I think cultural differences to have an impact, for sure. As a free democratic nation the British don't take particularly well to being told what to do, probably less so that a lot of other nations. Culturally we have always had the attitude of we will do whatever we want, which shows.