Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[bendan]

1 hour ago, FrankChickens1 said:

We shouldn't be reposting Chinese propaganda.

The Chinese govt has already been ramping up the efforts with nonsense stories about sending staff to Italy, then the Jack Ma donation etc, both of which went absolutely wild on reddit. 

Then the stories of cases being imported into China - although clearly true - are obviously being worded so as to try and make people forget where it started.

Then this nonsense US caused it theory - that the BBC would report that is just playing right into their hands.

We're still getting plenty of 'some boy ate a bat' on here. The whole world is largely talking pish at the moment, so no need to exclude anyone.

Edited March 16, 2020 by bendan

[bendan]

59 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

 

.. people are running with the headline figure (OVER 170K INFECTED BY VIRUS JUST NOW), when the reality is theres half of that figure.

The reality is there's far more than that. UK government estimated 5 to 10k (for the UK) a few days ago.

Edited March 16, 2020 by bendan

[WhiteRoseKillie]

21 minutes ago, WATTOO said:

I always find it amusing when people in this country automatically believe that the likes of the Russians & Chinese are evil regimes who suppress information from their citizens etc but the UK is somehow held up as a beacon of virtue.

Strangely, when I'm abroad I tend to find out much much more from the local news stations about the rest of Europe and even the UK than what I get from my own News.

We report loads of nonsense in this country about Z list celebrities and like to have little stories about complete trivialities which are better suited to the pages of a women's magazine as opposed to an actual news channel.

Dress it up however you like, but it's still a form of suppressing the News.

As a quick example, Pension ages in the UK against the rest of Europe and also levels of payment are extremely relevant but never actively discussed, as undoubtedly this would cause anger and outrage among many in our population.

Is this being suppressed ?

I'd say Yes. 

Basically the message here is that Britain is indeed "great" and our citizens have "never had it so good", however it's only when you travel and open up your eyes that you begin to see the truth for what it is.

Poland another prime example, the narrative that our Government and media love to hear repeated is the old moronic favourite of "why are they all over here then" ? This makes people believe that Poland is a very poor country and miles behind the UK in living standards and basic public services etc, however NOTHING could be further from the truth.

 

Britain's media really does love the "bread and circuses" ethos.

I listen to 5 live while driving to work in the morning - from about 0610 until 0700. This morning, with no sport to speak of at the weekend*, they were reduced to repeating phone-in calls from the weekend.

I could have filled an hour easily asking questions of the Government, like when did the Telegraph become an official communication channel, why we're not receiving daily briefings from the Prime fucking Minister of the country, exactly what level of mortality do our masters expect the country to just "take on the chin" - but the BBC can't, even now, channel even one percent of the anger I'm hearing all around me and demand answers on behalf of the people who fund it. All we get is discussions as to what boxsets the presenter will be watching if they'r e self-isolating - again, I'd like to hear some tips for people asked to self-isolate who are in shared or overcrowded accommodation, temporary digs, or even homeless. You know, actual useful stuff.

[Jacksgranda]

29 minutes ago, WATTOO said:

1. Didn't say you did.

2. Maybe, but True.

3. Heard it often.

I don't hide my attitudes or beliefs and don't go around the forum talking about others, rumour mongering, twisting words or indeed looking for green upticks. I'm far from perfect but at least I'm honest and willing to see other peoples viewpoints even if I don't always agree with them.

What can I say, this forum would be far better place if some of the posters practiced what they preached.

1/ But you included me in your quote and that was the first thing you mentioned in your post. ("I always find it amusing when people in this country automatically believe that the likes of the Russians & Chinese are evil regimes who suppress information from their citizens etc but the UK is somehow held up as a beacon of virtue".)

2/ I've never heard it, and according to the received wisdom of P&B we're all racist xenephobes over here.

3/ I speak my mind, me. 

Edited March 16, 2020 by Jacksgranda

[Florentine_Pogen]

2 minutes ago, Gaz FFC said:

Repeat post number 1000......people are c***s 

The more I post this I feel more People realising how wise beyond my years I am.

May actually just make that my signature.

Hmmm.......I think Jean Paul Sartre might have beaten you to that when he wrote "L'enfer, c'est les autres" in his book 'Huis clos, suivi de Les mouches'

in 1946.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, WhiteRoseKillie said:

Britain's media really does love the "bread and circuses" ethos.

I listen to 5 live while driving to work in the morning - from about 0610 until 0700. This morning, with no sport to speak of at the weekend*, they were reduced to repeating phone-in calls from the weekend.

I could have filled an hour easily asking questions of the Government, like when did the Telegraph become an official communication channel, why we're not receiving daily briefings from the Prime fucking Minister of the country, exactly what level of mortality do our masters expect the country to just "take on the chin" - but the BBC can't, even now, channel even one percent of the anger I'm hearing all around me and demand answers on behalf of the people who fund it. All we get is discussions as to what boxsets the presenter will be watching if they'r e self-isolating - again, I'd like to hear some tips for people asked to self-isolate who are in shared or overcrowded accommodation, temporary digs, or even homeless. You know, actual useful stuff.

Yes, it's dumbed down moronic nonsense most of the time. I even saw Skysports News were asking an English Non League Manager what his thoughts and expectations were on how the Coronavirus would develop as if he was some sort of messiah / expert on the subject.

I mean, Jesus Christ.

[Gaz FFC]

1 minute ago, Florentine_Pogen said:

Hmmm.......I think Jean Paul Sartre might have beaten you to that when he wrote "L'enfer, c'est les autres" in his book 'Huis clos, suivi de Les mouches'

in 1946.

Plagiarism at its finest my good man

[GordonS]

1 hour ago, welshbairn said:

And if that takes a while to turn off the tap the half bottle will be be overflowing, ie. the NHS swamped before severe control measures are put into action. Seems to me that it would be better to follow the example of the likes of Singapore and WHO advice at least until we actually have the capacity to manufacture new ventilators and more people trained to operate them. And maybe even getting closer to antiviral drugs being developed.

The WHO don't know the capacity of the NHS better than the four Chief Medical Officers. You might well know better than I do but in the absence of a reason to doubt them, I'm going to let them make the judgment calls.

[zidane's child]

A fella in my work seems to think this will end the Tories stint in power.

Sadly, I can't see that happening!

[bendan]

1 minute ago, WATTOO said:

 I even saw Skysports News were asking an English Non League Manager what his thoughts and expectations were on how the Coronavirus would develop as if he was some sort of messiah / expert on the subject.

 

I don't really mind this at all. 

[Florentine_Pogen]

1 minute ago, Gaz FFC said:

Plagiarism at its finest my good man

Oh, absolutely Gaz......in these dark times when we're being led to The Big Burny Fire by Joris Bonson and his ClownCabinet, a little bit of plagiarism never hurt..........Spirit of The Blitz n'that, eh ?

[WhiteRoseKillie]

16 minutes ago, WATTOO said:

All out anarchy is probably only a few weeks away as we stand.

Wait until the businesses start falling like dominoes and we'll have mass unemployment, bitterness, frustration, anger and a feeling of desperation and uselessness, that only can lead to one thing and it's a thing the younger ones have never encountered and that the rest of us haven't seen since the late 80's early 90's.

Add to this the fact that there's no release valves this time around due to Sports and Recreational activities being shutdown and things could get very interesting indeed.

#Alwayslookonthebrightsideoflife

 

The scare story pre-banking crash was that a majority of workers were only two payslips away from the streets. Given the increased insecurity of employment these days, I would think many would love such a safety buffer right now.

I spoke to a copper who was "on the line" during the Tottenham riots in 2011 who reckoned that the Police were very, very lucky to have contained disorder to the extent they did. Nine years on, we have angrier, more desperate people, a growing feeling of betrayal as the sunlit uplands fail to appear, and, crucially, a lot less coppers.

It's at times like this I feel selfishly glad that I have a safe CS job, but equally angry and ashamed that I work directly for this bunch of incompetent, greedy, bigoted cúnts.

[Granny Danger]

1 minute ago, zidane's child said:

A fella in my work seems to think this will end the Tories stint in power.

Sadly, I can't see that happening!

In truth the biggest at risk age demographic are overwhelmingly Tory voters.  And in Scotland they are overwhelmingly NO voters.

[welshbairn]

2 minutes ago, GordonS said:

The WHO don't know the capacity of the NHS better than the four Chief Medical Officers. You might well know better than I do but in the absence of a reason to doubt them, I'm going to let them make the judgment calls.

I don't know either, but if that video is a true representation of policy it means avoiding extreme infection control measures until the NHS is already at full capacity. It might be exaggerating the actual Government plans, hope so anyway.

[Distant Doonhamer]

Not necessarily, they could be quite easily downplayed.
For instance I have COPD, if I get this and then die my death certificate could read - cause of death: Complications due to emphysema.

Coronavirus is a notifiable disease i.e if detected the medical team involved have a legal duty to report it so they won’t be deliberately downplayed. It’s possible of course that some people will die without the virus being detected but the vast majority of people who get significant illness will be tested. I would imagine one of the reasons we aren’t testing everyone is to concentrate resource in testing those who do get seriously ill. Hopefully you will remain well but if the worst happened and you had been tested positive there would be a legal obligation for any death certificate to include Coronavirus as a cause of death, as a contributing factor or as a co-existing condition. Apologies in advance if I’ve misunderstood your post.

[WhiteRoseKillie]

4 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

In truth the biggest at risk age demographic are overwhelmingly Tory voters.  And in Scotland they are overwhelmingly NO voters.

Absolutely, GD. Unfortunate, then, that it took them so long to catch that bat for their tea over in Ol' Cathay. If we'd managed to thin the old fuckers out a year ago, we could be looking at a very different future right now.

 

[bendan]

36 minutes ago, hk blues said:

That's a fair point but that can happen in normal situations anyway - we cannot legislate for medical technicalities for want of a better expression.  I don't believe there is any kind of agenda to do this.

I was more referring to the fact that the number of deaths won't increase because they are testing more people (should come down in fact) but the number of infections will rise so the mortality rate will fall.  

The death rate might well go up, because they are only testing people in hospital now, and only the more serious cases will get to hospital. I think they should put out an estimated infections figure every day to stop people panicking over the death rate.

[Jacksgranda]

1 minute ago, Distant Doonhamer said:

Coronavirus is a notifiable disease i.e if detected the medical team involved have a legal duty to report it so they won’t be deliberately downplayed. It’s possible of course that some people will die without the virus being detected but the vast majority of people who get significant illness will be tested. I would imagine one of the reasons we aren’t testing everyone is to concentrate resource in testing those who do get seriously ill. Hopefully you will remain well but if the worst happened and you had been tested positive there would be a legal obligation for any death certificate to include Coronavirus as a cause of death, as a contributing factor or as a co-existing condition. Apologies in advance if I’ve misunderstood your post.

Tbqh, if this kills me I don't think I'll be too concerned what's on my death certificate.

[Granny Danger]

1 minute ago, bendan said:

The death rate might well go up, because they are only testing people in hospital now, and only the more serious cases will get to hospital. I think they should put out an estimated infections figure every day to stop people panicking over the death rate.

I would be worried about politicains having this leeway and using it for their own ends.

[Distant Doonhamer]

Tbqh, if this kills me I don't think I'll be too concerned what's on my death certificate.

[emoji106]Yep I’m sure you won’t be. Just trying to make the point that there is a legal obligation to report Coronavirus should anyone test positive for the virus and also to include it in any relevant certification. As others have said concerns over the death rate will be increased because we don’t have an accurate denominator for the total number of cases. The number of deaths will be pretty accurate and the mortality will look higher than it is.