Johnson: Government 'didn't understand' virus at start

[Sheepy]

Oh look there is central park in the background.

[papasmurf]

So they are relaying the drains in your back garden?

Idiot, that is from New York.

[Borchester]

No. They have dug up the cats' cemetery by mistake.

[Sheepy]

President Trump and that they can't leave their homes because the streets are choked with the bodies of the dead and dying. The belief in the general inefficiency of government does not seem restricted to the UK.

So they are relaying the drains in your back garden?

What exactly does that to do with the fact that everybody the world over thinks that their government has been woefully unprepared for Covid 19?

Dunno why is everybody so short? Maybe we have found a new side effect of the virus. it kills short non obese people.

[Borchester]

President Trump and that they can't leave their homes because the streets are choked with the bodies of the dead and dying. The belief in the general inefficiency of government does not seem restricted to the UK.

So they are relaying the drains in your back garden?

What exactly does that to do with the fact that everybody the world over thinks that their government has been woefully unprepared for Covid 19?

[papasmurf]

President Trump and that they can't leave their homes because the streets are choked with the bodies of the dead and dying. The belief in the general inefficiency of government does not seem restricted to the UK.

[Borchester]

I don't understand the government figures.
For example they say the official infections number is currently 299,426.
Then they say 6% of the population has antibodies. Which means 4 million+ have had it and recovered.
They say the death rate is 45752 of 299,426 which is about 15%.
Really the death rate is < 45752 as PHE have been silly with the counting of more than 4 million infected which is around 1.1% death rate.

No wonder the government are confused. Their own figures don't stand up to any scrutiny. No wonder my elder brother has been s**t scared to go out of his house for 5 months. And he's not even in a high risk group.
Confusion and misinformation reigns.

No governments' figures stand up to scrutiny. The figures on the Worldometers site are continually being update because figures come in late and there is often doubt about the date of death.

I have been having a bit of a craic with some American posters and they have assured me that no government has been so unprepared as that of President Trump and that they can't leave their homes because the streets are choked with the bodies of the dead and dying. The belief in the general inefficiency of government does not seem restricted to the UK.

[Barry]

I don't understand the government figures.
For example they say the official infections number is currently 299,426.
Then they say 6% of the population has antibodies. Which means 4 million+ have had it and recovered.
They say the death rate is 45752 of 299,426 which is about 15%.
Really the death rate is < 45752 as PHE have been silly with the counting of more than 4 million infected which is around 1.1% death rate.

No wonder the government are confused. Their own figures don't stand up to any scrutiny. No wonder my elder brother has been s**t scared to go out of his house for 5 months. And he's not even in a high risk group.
Confusion and misinformation reigns.

[Javert]

The government has been trying to claim recently that nobody had any idea that there was asymptomatic transmission of the virus back in March.

To be fair to them, I remember the CSO saying the same or at least saying that any asymptomatic spread is thought to be only in a few hours before symptoms come on.

However, you can go back to late January and February and see that there was already evidence of asymptomatic spread of Covid-19 coming from other countries including China, and certainly there was not grounds to say that asymptomatic spread is not happening.

Actually in this case the government may have a point if they are only talking about themselves, as it seems like their scientific advisors were downplaying the asymptomatic possibility - why that was happening is what needs to be investigated in a public inquiry.

What is annoying as usual, is their determination to distort the facts and create a smokescreen rather than be up front and honest.

[Streetwalker]

I spend a bit of time when I have nothing better to do (which has been quite a lot lately ) looking at the news in other countries . I would say the the vast majority have dealt with the pandemic in generally  the same way that the UK has that being following the advice of the scientists . Nobody knew how it would pan out though I think we could have best guessed some of the responses a bit better .

My only criticisms would be the care home fiasco at the start and the unclear advice given throughout where 'You must' was often followed with 'if you can ' which translated to many as 'if you like ' . Other countries followed 'You must' with or you will be fined /imprisoned 

[papasmurf]

Pappy smurf and his usual labour party forum broadcast on how scotland and england are the only two countries in the world to have shortages of PPE during this pandemic....obviously because clueless labour arent in charge.

No again, I am not, nor ever have been a member of, supporter of, or proselytiser for ANY political party.
It is merely the Tories are by a very long way the worst of a bad lot of political parties in Britain.
The Tories had four warnings about the need for stockpiling PPE, they ignored all four.
It has never been a case of if there was going to be a pandemic it was when.
The lessons learned from the pandemic of 100 years ago were forgotten.

[Thomas]

All you need to know about PPE

Worldwide shortages of personal protective equipment is endangering lives of healthcare workers, experts say.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/ppes-important-200419071536635.html

WHO: The chronic, global shortage of PPE 'is one of the most urgent threats to our collective ability to save lives'

https://www.businessinsider.com/who-global-shortage-of-ppe-is-urgent-threat-2020-3?r=US&IR=T

Latin America and Its Global Partners Toil to Procure Medical Supplies as COVID-19 Pushes the Region to Its Limit

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2767350



I thought it was just england and scotland according to the labour party and their activists like smurf?

[Thomas]

Here's How Some Of The Countries Worst Hit By Coronavirus Are Dealing With Shortages Of Protective Equipment For Healthcare Workers



Topline: The coronavirus pandemic has put unprecedented pressure on global healthcare systems, with the surge in medical needs exposing yawning gaps in inventory of personal protective equipment like face masks, lifesaving equipment like ventilators and basics like hospital beds. The shortage is putting healthcare professionals at increased risk of contracting the virus and forcing them to improvise with the next-best alternatives.

    The U.S.: Healthcare workers on the front lines have, in some cases, taken to creating PPE using office supplies, or reusing existing supplies more times than the CDC recommends in order to stretch supply. Doctors, nurses and medical workers desperate for more protection are protesting, while the New England Journal of Medicine has warned that "no matter which estimate we use, there are not enough ventilators for patients with COVID-19 in the upcoming months" in the U.S. Donald Trump ordered General Motors to make ventilators, but this week suggested that they could also be sent to Europe.

    Italy: Now the worst-hit country by number of deaths linked to COVID-19, healthcare workers accounted for more than 8% of national infections between March 11 and 17, 2020, according to one study. At least 61 Italian doctors have died after contracting the virus, with the threat to front-line staff caused in part because of a lack of PPE. "So far, the outbreak-related global PPE shortage has forced the use of lower-protection PPEs," including masks for infection control procedures on hospital patients, one study found. 

    Spain: Spain is the third-worst-affected country in terms of cases, and a severe PPE shortage has contributed to at least 12,000 healthcare professionals contracting the virus, or 14% of total infections, the New York Times reports. Some staff at Madrid's La Paz hospital are left with little choice but to reuse gowns when treating different patients, and doubling up on flimsy masks in the absence of more sophisticated respirator masks. The shortage of PPE and its effect on the number of infections among medical professionals, is having a knock-on effect on the availability of medical staff.

    France: Authorities have seized tens of thousands of face masks being hoarded by individuals seeking to profit from online price gouging. France's health minister over the weekend said the government had ordered a billion masks from China, while 40 million are consumed there each week—around ten times precrisis levels, Reuters reported. French luxury brands Chanel and LVMH have pivoted their facilities to produce PPE and hand sanitizer.

    India: Doctors are using raincoats and helmets in place of N95 masks, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government is trying to get access to a bulk shipment of PPE from South Korea and China. Ambulance workers in one state are on strike, while one anonymous doctor told Reuters: "We won't work at the cost of our lives." India's 1.3 billion residents are on lockdown, while there have been 1,250 confirmed cases to date.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/03/31/heres-how-some-of-the-countries-worst-hit-by-coronavirus-are-dealing-with-shortages-of-protective-equipment-for-healthcare-workers/#4354d902c13b


Pappy smurf and his usual labour party forum broadcast on how scotland and england are the only two countries in the world to have shortages of PPE during this pandemic....obviously because clueless labour arent in charge.

[Thomas]

Same as every other government across the planet. Whats your point apart from "tory bad" as normal?

It wasn't the same as every other government though.  The government had ignored one Labour commissioned report on preparation for a pandemic which had reported just before the 2010 election and ignored three subsequent reports commissioned by the Tory government.
Which is why the shortages of PPE which are still ongoing.

Feck labour and labour "reports".

If labour spent less time "reacting  badly" to events as they happen( running around like headless chickens for four years over brexit for example) and trying and failing to make political capital out of pandemics , and instead got on the side of ordinary people and came out with progressive forward thinking policies instead of rehashing out of date politics from the 70s and 90s , they might be in power instead of constantly carping like squealing weans from the feckin sidelines.

Every country to a lesser or greater degree has had shortages of PPE , and has struggled with this pandemic.

Most normal people recognise this , except you of course , because it gives you a chance to constantly bleat about your favourite subject of tory bad.

My brother in law in france says the french are moaning about their government the same as the scottish and english are with our governments in edinburgh and london over covid 19. People are fed up with it all over the world.

[papasmurf]

Same as every other government across the planet. Whats your point apart from "tory bad" as normal?

It wasn't the same as every other government though.  The government had ignored one Labour commissioned report on preparation for a pandemic which had reported just before the 2010 election and ignored three subsequent reports commissioned by the Tory government.
Which is why the shortages of PPE which are still ongoing.