Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

[BigTom]

Coz there will be penalty for late completion clauses in their contracts, contracts that were drawn up without any thought of lockdowns or pandemics

Also the construction industry is filled with self-employed people (some actually self-employed, but many pushed into self-employment by the big contractors wanting to avoid the commitments that come with employment) and the govt. didn't sort out what they were doing to support self-employed people until after the lockdown I think so there will have been lots of people that needed to keep working until the measures for self-employed people were announced.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Also the construction industry is filled with self-employed people (some actually self-employed, but many pushed into self-employment by the big contractors wanting to avoid the commitments that come with employment) and the govt. didn't sort out what they were doing to support self-employed people until after the lockdown I think so there will have been lots of people that needed to keep working until the measures for self-employed people were announced.

Yep that makes sense. Now those measures are there, they're finally stopping. Well done govt. On the case as ever.

 

[Anju]

A team including Mercedes F1 have produced a breathing aid on which they are now hoping for approval, based on a modification to an existing design, Mercedes F1 say they could produce thousands a day once they have the go ahead. Apparently this equipment can be used before a patient needs a ventilator.

And a consortium including Airbus and RR is awaiting approvals on a new ventilator which they will then manufacture.

This is what I find inexcusable. These options should have been looked at already, ideally following the simulations or at least earlier in the outbreak. We could have had weeks of production at this stage.

It would be interesting to know whether companies have approached the government or the other way around.

 

[Red Cat]

Good article (with properly shocking graphs in it) explaining how the NHS has been stripped of capacity for ‘slack’ over the years:

The NHS at capacity - Tortoise

The British state is obsessed with efficiency. But this also makes it vulnerable – as coronavirus is showing – in times of crisis

members.tortoisemedia.com

That was very good bimble, thanks.

 

[teqniq]

Report by Netpol on the somewhat predictable response to the new powers by some officers:

29/30 March Update

Police need to learn a thing or two about the internet, more specifically about the difference between live-streaming and playing pre-recorded material. Twelve officers turned up at the Hot Water C…

policing-the-corona-state.blog

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Report by Netpol on the somewhat predictable response to the new powers by some officers:

29/30 March Update

Police need to learn a thing or two about the internet, more specifically about the difference between live-streaming and playing pre-recorded material. Twelve officers turned up at the Hot Water C…

policing-the-corona-state.blog

Strikes me that too many coppers are at a loose end at the moment. Pubs shut, etc, not a lot to do. This thing is largely policing itself. A very small number of people not following it doesn't actually matter, really, in the wider scheme of things. They might as well just go home and take their 80 per cent. If they're not social distancing properly, we'd be better off if they just went home and took their 80 per cent.

 

[xes]

Report by Netpol on the somewhat predictable response to the new powers by some officers:

29/30 March Update

Police need to learn a thing or two about the internet, more specifically about the difference between live-streaming and playing pre-recorded material. Twelve officers turned up at the Hot Water C…

policing-the-corona-state.blog

Never mind bored coppers...

Swindon residents with doorbell cameras or CCTV at their homes are being urged to register them with Wiltshire Police, who are setting up a database of private cameras. Amazon Ring doorbells, many with motion-activated sensors, can be linked into other smart devices including mobile phones and Amazon’s Alexa. Is this project set up now just to catch thieves, as the police says, or would such a network come in handy to check on people going out, to assist the enforcement of the lockdown – as happens in other countries?

 

[teqniq]

That's in the linked article.

 

[xes]

I know, hence the 'never mind the bored coppers' (though people getting fined for stupid shit like being outside is fucked, I thought that the police getting people to register their door cams with them was more scary)

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I know, hence the 'never mind the bored coppers' (though people getting fined for stupid shit like being outside is fucked, I thought that the police getting people to register their door cams with them was more scary)

Yeah. Not just scary and out of order but utterly unnecessary. Anyone would think that there was mass disobedience going on. At the moment there is the reverse - mass obedience. Just fuck the fuck off, coppers.

And I hate this encouragement of a culture to dob your neighbours in. All kinds of petty, vindictive people empowered to be wankers.

 

[teqniq]

xes Ah apologies.

 

[Mation]

I've been plotting confirmed Covid-19 positive tests for the last couple of weeks, just to see. It's from the cases in your area search feature on this page How many confirmed cases are there in your area?.

There aren't many data points and some are missing, as can be seen. It only includes cases tested positive at hospital (I think, given than ONS collection of home deaths doesn't start till tomorrow). It's only cases, not deaths.

I'm not in any way qualified to comment on whether/how that's a meaningful difference between Camden and Islington vs Lambeth and Southwark, but it does look it by eye, without further analysis.

Apologies if it's not helpful. Posting in case it prompts any useful questions.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Report by Netpol on the somewhat predictable response to the new powers by some officers:

29/30 March Update

Police need to learn a thing or two about the internet, more specifically about the difference between live-streaming and playing pre-recorded material. Twelve officers turned up at the Hot Water C…

policing-the-corona-state.blog

Christ on a bike.

 

[xes]

xes Ah apologies.

No need, honest. But thank you.

 

[Artaxerxes]

In the UK, a Conservative MP has reported a pub in his constituency to the police, alleging they were allowing people in to drink despite the ban. Lee Anderson wrote on Facebook

Madness. On Saturday I was told the Blue Bell pub had been having lock-ins. I reported this to the police. Swift action caught them in the act and the culprits are being dealt with. I told you I would shop you and anyone else thinking of doing the same the think on.

Via guardian feed

 

[not-bono-ever]

I've been plotting confirmed Covid-19 positive tests for the last couple of weeks, just to see. It's from the cases in your area search feature on this page How many confirmed cases are there in your area?.

There aren't many data points and some are missing, as can be seen. It only includes cases tested positive at hospital (I think, given than ONS collection of home deaths doesn't start till tomorrow). It's only cases, not deaths.

I'm not in any way qualified to comment on whether/how that's a meaningful difference between Camden and Islington vs Lambeth and Southwark, but it does look it by eye, without further analysis.

Apologies if it's not helpful. Posting in case it prompts any useful questions.


View attachment 204166

stupid question, but whats the source of these numbers - if they are by hospital. thenwould the clustering of hositals make a difference iykwim ?

 

[Mation]

stupid question, but whats the source of these numbers - if they are by hospital. thenwould the clustering of hositals make a difference iykwim ?

Not stupid. They're from the search function in the link I posted, with the source on that page somewhat ambiguously given as: "UK public health bodies." Updated daily, but still a bit patchily.

I don't know how the figures per borough are calculated (as opposed to the figures per hospitals in a borough). I was assuming they're figures for the former, but I don't know the method.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Via guardian feed

I hope they lose their licence, the twats.

 

[Part-timah]

The government need to get better public information films. Some people may think that Chris Whitty is just a weird-looking science teacher type so no need to pay attention to what he says. Advertising agencies have decades of experience making people worry about germs and hygiene.

They have the entire BBC who have been pumping at full speed propaganda for weeks.

 

[teqniq]

Not good enough.

 

[Doodler]

They have the entire BBC who have been pumping at full speed propaganda for weeks.

You're right but not everyone watches the BBC or is inclined to accept what they put out.

 

[Duncan2]

They gave us all a letter to show to the police today (at our on-line fashion distribution centre) confirming that we were doing "essential" work. They also reminded us that we could go home if we had vulnerable relatives (without pay naturally).

 

[Part-timah]

You're right but not everyone watches the BBC or is inclined to accept what they put out.

What you consciously think you accept and what you’re actually hoovering up are not the same.

 

[Doodler]

What you consciously think you accept and what you’re actually hoovering up are not the same.

Maybe, but how do you know?

 

[Doodler]

For some reason Hope Not Hate commissioned an opinion poll on public attitudes about the pandemic. Maybe they were worried about bigoted anti-Chinese sentiments gaining ground. It was quoted on the Guardian's website today. Some of the findings:

• A third of young people (30%) do not think Coronavirus is as serious as portrayed in the media
• Two-thirds of people (65%) think it is important to seek alternative opinions about Coronavirus and not just rely on what we get told through the mainstream media
• Close to half (42%) felt they would prefer to find the truth out about Coronavirus themselves than simply relying on the Government and their experts

Dated 27 March, source page here. No doubt open to criticism: how many people took part, how they were contacted etc.

 

[Cid]

For some reason Hope Not Hate commissioned an opinion poll on public attitudes about the pandemic. Maybe they were worried about bigoted anti-Chinese sentiments gaining ground. It was quoted on the Guardian's website today. Some of the findings:

• A third of young people (30%) do not think Coronavirus is as serious as portrayed in the media
• Two-thirds of people (65%) think it is important to seek alternative opinions about Coronavirus and not just rely on what we get told through the mainstream media
• Close to half (42%) felt they would prefer to find the truth out about Coronavirus themselves than simply relying on the Government and their experts

Dated 27 March, source page here. No doubt open to criticism: how many people took part, how they were contacted etc.

It says a bit further down:

The results we’re publishing are based on a poll of 2,022 adults 18+ who were sampled from across Great Britain. The poll was carried out between 20th-23rd March, using an online interview administered by Focaldata. The data was weighted to be representative of the GB population.

Never heard of Focaldata, so no idea how good they are.

 

[kazza007]

Raab is so wooden, absolutely devoid of any personality.

I dozed off after about 2 minutes him speaking. Is there a highlights version online somewhere

 

[littlebabyjesus]

For some reason Hope Not Hate commissioned an opinion poll on public attitudes about the pandemic. Maybe they were worried about bigoted anti-Chinese sentiments gaining ground. It was quoted on the Guardian's website today. Some of the findings:

• A third of young people (30%) do not think Coronavirus is as serious as portrayed in the media
• Two-thirds of people (65%) think it is important to seek alternative opinions about Coronavirus and not just rely on what we get told through the mainstream media
• Close to half (42%) felt they would prefer to find the truth out about Coronavirus themselves than simply relying on the Government and their experts

Dated 27 March, source page here. No doubt open to criticism: how many people took part, how they were contacted etc.

tbh I'm not so surprised that 30 per cent of young people 18-24 don't think it's serious. It's highly unlikely to get them personally and people that age tend to feel invincible anyway. And until you reach your late 20s generally people don't have a fully developed sense of responsibility for the consequences of their actions for themselves and others. 30 % almost seems a low figure.

Other things in there are encouraging, given the tendency for people to back the authorities in a crisis eg

78% of people blame austerity and cuts to funding for the NHS struggling to cope with Coronavirus

That's a fantastic number. Why the fuck did a chunk of these same people vote for these fuckers in November though? But it's something to build on to get the NHS better funding in future.

 

[xes]

Not good enough.

View attachment 204168

The date under that sticker says 2016

 

[two sheds]

One thing that's doubtless been discussed above but I was thinking about today. For the 'herd immunity' to be a successful thing the government would have had to isolate all the vulnerable people from pretty well day one.

Then, all the people who wouldn't be badly affected could spread it around happily amongst themselves to build up the herd immunity. As it was, they let the virus rip through the whole population, so we have the needless killing a lot of vulnerable people. And of course nurses and doctors who didn't have proper PPE equipment.