Cabinet splits emerge over ‘living with Covid’ strategy and free testing
Sajid Javid expected to push to retain some free testing against Treasury demand to slash budget
#thiswillgowell
Living with Covid plan
- Thread starter Badgers
- Start date
#thiswillgowell
High Voltage
In the top 97% of Urban's most interesting posters
I would not trust this current shower with anything more important than a cup of warm piss tbh
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
Wouldn't trust them with that
elbows
Well-Known Member
The NHS Confederation are not impressed.
Covid: NHS bosses call for free tests and isolation to remain
Senior NHS staff say they disagree with the prime minister's planned changes to English Covid rules.
www.bbc.co.uk
Masks in my Covid yard are down to about 5%
Testing down about 50%
Positive tests still the same
Elderly and vulnerable people are very scared. A lot are not online and a fair few without phones, they count on these services.
A lot of people come to us for advice. For family, relatives, work, schools, travel, quarantine, isolation, vaccinations and general peace of mind.
This #ToryScum shit is just another blag disguised as 'moving on' and it infuriates me.
Locking down too late and ending restrictions too early. We know how this goes...
Fuck the #ToryScum
Testing down about 50%
Positive tests still the same
Elderly and vulnerable people are very scared. A lot are not online and a fair few without phones, they count on these services.
A lot of people come to us for advice. For family, relatives, work, schools, travel, quarantine, isolation, vaccinations and general peace of mind.
This #ToryScum shit is just another blag disguised as 'moving on' and it infuriates me.
Locking down too late and ending restrictions too early. We know how this goes...
Fuck the #ToryScum
Yup
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
I wouldn't the fucker would think it was beer and drink it (cheese optional)
There doesn't seem to be much forethought going into their decisions here, the alternative to free testing isn't people paying for tests, it's people not bothering with tests at all.
What about you Badgers you once of these people on fixed contracts that they are talking about.
Steel Icarus
we move
Couple of people in my office very much "sick of it now, we need to move on with our lives". Not sure what"it" means to them. Another saying "Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I see Covid as a cold". Well do you. Doesn't make it fucking so
Am still working on it but our staff have reduced from 40 to 10. Officially I am contracted till end of March, but the plug could be pulled end of February. Fuck knows?
Hard on our staff and people are scared.
Luton is one of the worst in the UK for vaccination uptake and cases sad to say. The council wants to keep free testing going but are mostly reliant on central government funding.
My test centre now has three parts. One is witnessed (for certain hospital appointments/visits and some workplaces), also the distribution of home test kits.
The other is general Covid information. The rules in all areas are very hard to follow, even for us working full time. For the elderly, vulnerable, homeless or refugees it is impossible. We did not have a remit to do this but created it because people need it.
Have regulars who come to us to test twice/thrice weekly. Several on mobility scooters or in wheelchairs. They don't use the internet and many do not have mobile phones. These are the people who will end up hiding indoors for years.
My other role is 'Vaccine Reassurer' which is mostly a thankless task but also very rewarding. Deal with people who are scared/unsure more than the 'AntiVax' types, particularly women of child bearing age and multi generational households.
It will all be gone and the government will blame the people for fucking it all up again.
elbows
Well-Known Member
Would you buy a used car from Nick Triggle? I wouldnt, I have 'other spending priorities'.
He's been warming up the 'half of people werent getting tested anyway' softener for a while so its no surprise to see it again in this new article. And he's always been the propaganda face of the UK PLC's cold pandemic calculations for me since early in the pandemic when he had to sell the original plan to have everyone carry on with their lives and catch it in the first wave. I cant say I was even aware of his existence before the pandemic, but whatever happens with the virus in future I am not planning to learn to live with Nick Triggles output without making noises.
He's been warming up the 'half of people werent getting tested anyway' softener for a while so its no surprise to see it again in this new article. And he's always been the propaganda face of the UK PLC's cold pandemic calculations for me since early in the pandemic when he had to sell the original plan to have everyone carry on with their lives and catch it in the first wave. I cant say I was even aware of his existence before the pandemic, but whatever happens with the virus in future I am not planning to learn to live with Nick Triggles output without making noises.
Boris Johnson: Do not throw caution to the wind on Covid
Self-isolation rules are expected to dropped in England this week - ending all legal restrictions.
www.bbc.co.uk
I guess that all you can do is look at the costs and benefits of spending on testing, including a realistic assessment for what else the money will be spent on. The benefits are being clearly rehearsed, so I won't dwell on them. The realistic alternative is likely to be things like tax cuts, frankly, which doesn't sound like a great option to me, but there you go. But how much will it actually save the government to drop the free testing? It seems quite difficult to get proper figures. "£37bn has been put aside for testing and tracing" doesn't mean that free tests costs anything like £37bn. In fact, it sounds way too high -- even if every person in the country is doing two tests a week, that is likely to cost around £1bn a year from my back-of-a-fag-packet calculation.
Anybody know anything about these people?
www.nao.org.uk
My instinct is that they are one of these right-wing pressure groups like the Taxpayers' Alliance, but maybe I'm doing them a disservice. Anyway, they present some figures for how much things are costing, most of which should be taken with a pinch of salt (like the "support for" measures, since this kind of government spending is rapidly returned in taxes). But they estimate £5bn for "other support and operational expenditure" so far, which is where I guess the cost of testing is included. It's far more consistent with my quick calculation. If this is accurate, it sounds like testing is a relative drop in the ocean of government spending, and the benefits it brings can be weighed against that.
Anybody know anything about these people?
COVID-19 cost tracker - NAO overview
Our interactive tool brings together data from across the UK government on its costs in response to the pandemic.
www.nao.org.uk
My instinct is that they are one of these right-wing pressure groups like the Taxpayers' Alliance, but maybe I'm doing them a disservice. Anyway, they present some figures for how much things are costing, most of which should be taken with a pinch of salt (like the "support for" measures, since this kind of government spending is rapidly returned in taxes). But they estimate £5bn for "other support and operational expenditure" so far, which is where I guess the cost of testing is included. It's far more consistent with my quick calculation. If this is accurate, it sounds like testing is a relative drop in the ocean of government spending, and the benefits it brings can be weighed against that.
The National Audit Office? No, they are not a right wing pressure group.I guess that all you can do is look at the costs and benefits of spending on testing, including a realistic assessment for what else the money will be spent on. The benefits are being clearly rehearsed, so I won't dwell on them. The realistic alternative is likely to be things like tax cuts, frankly, which doesn't sound like a great option to me, but there you go. But how much will it actually save the government to drop the free testing? It seems quite difficult to get proper figures. "£37bn has been put aside for testing and tracing" doesn't mean that free tests costs anything like £37bn. In fact, it sounds way too high -- even if every person in the country is doing two tests a week, that is likely to cost around £1bn a year from my back-of-a-fag-packet calculation.
Anybody know anything about these people?
COVID-19 cost tracker - NAO overview
Our interactive tool brings together data from across the UK government on its costs in response to the pandemic.
My instinct is that they are one of these right-wing pressure groups like the Taxpayers' Alliance, but maybe I'm doing them a disservice. Anyway, they present some figures for how much things are costing, most of which should be taken with a pinch of salt (like the "support for" measures, since this kind of government spending is rapidly returned in taxes). But they estimate £5bn for "other support and operational expenditure" so far, which is where I guess the cost of testing is included. It's far more consistent with my quick calculation. If this is accurate, it sounds like testing is a relative drop in the ocean of government spending, and the benefits it brings can be weighed against that.
Per Wikipedia, The National Audit Office (NAO) is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditingcentral government departments, government agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The NAO also carries out value for money (VFM) audits into the administration of public policy.
In summary, they’re the government’s financial auditors.
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Steel Icarus
we move
All due respect Badgers old bean can this sort of thing be confined to the right forum? I got UK and World politics on ignore because anxiety triggers and I'm sure there's threads on those
elbows
Well-Known Member
Sounds like the shitheads even intend to scrap the weekly ONS infection survey. So they dont want the psychology in play from people still being able to hear figures like 'one in twenty people were estimated to have covid' every week.
I guess back to something like the very small sentinel surveillance systems that this country always favoured in the past, stuff I've moaned about not being good enough and hoped we had permanently got beyond.
I dont know if the wastewater surveillance will survive, but at the moment thats only reported on once a month anyway, with rather a lot of lag.
Do not through caution to the wind says Johnson, as he throws caution to the wind and robs people of good enough data to make personal risk assessments, refuse to go back to the workplace etc. The fucking state of the mixed messages in this, the naked agenda. He deserves to have this sort of shit end up undermining confidence, and it will for some people, but the government will be banking on it being a small minority they can ignore.
I guess back to something like the very small sentinel surveillance systems that this country always favoured in the past, stuff I've moaned about not being good enough and hoped we had permanently got beyond.
I dont know if the wastewater surveillance will survive, but at the moment thats only reported on once a month anyway, with rather a lot of lag.
Boris Johnson: Do not throw caution to the wind on Covid
Self-isolation rules are expected to dropped in England this week - ending all legal restrictions.
www.bbc.co.uk
Do not through caution to the wind says Johnson, as he throws caution to the wind and robs people of good enough data to make personal risk assessments, refuse to go back to the workplace etc. The fucking state of the mixed messages in this, the naked agenda. He deserves to have this sort of shit end up undermining confidence, and it will for some people, but the government will be banking on it being a small minority they can ignore.
friendofdorothy
Solidarity against neoliberalism!
I was beginning to trust a few people if outside or in fairly empty airy venues. I remain terrified of unvaccinated, untested, possibly infected people just getting too close or touching me. This just makes things more scarey and going to public places more difficult. I'd been wondering about trying public transport in time, but now I'm not sure.
elbows
Well-Known Member
The US version of this stuff, with stupid headline about 'life after Covid'.
www.theguardian.com
Experts warn ‘not to get too cocky’ as US contemplates life after Covid
Cases, deaths, and hospitalizations have plummeted – but transmission remains high across the nation
elbows
Well-Known Member
Also:
(from Covid: Living with Covid plan will restore freedom, says Boris Johnson )
I havent found that letter myself, is it publicly available somewhere?
(from Covid: Living with Covid plan will restore freedom, says Boris Johnson )
I havent found that letter myself, is it publicly available somewhere?
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
third time's the charm
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