O/T:- Force Majeur

[countygump]

Interesting indeed, but if I've read it correctly you can be tested and get a negative result but then catch the virus on your way home. You could also be tested positive but have passed it on before you got to wherever you get tested. So why test the public if they have to leave home for the test?

What I gleaned from it is that they now believe that the mass testing of the public is a waste of resources and they should stick to testing front line staff.

[jackal2]

How right wing people think. Stage by stage.

I'm not sure this should be a right v left thing, but anyway my thoughts are as follows...

1. Coronavirus isn’t serious, same as flu, lots more people die of other things.

For the vast majority of people who don't have underlying health conditions, Coronavirus isn't serious and only brings mild symptoms. Some sufferers apparently remain capable of "working from home" while they have the virus, which often isn't the case for anyone who has suffered flu (i.e. genuine flu as opposed to footballers' flu! ). And yes, lots more people are dying of other things.

2. Coronavirus is serious, but if we let enough people get it then herd immunity will develop. We'll allow stuff like Cheltenham races to go ahead.

Coronavirus is serious for some older people, especially those with underlying health conditions, and for a tiny number of younger healthy people who develop extreme symptoms for whatever reason. Until a vaccine is available, developing herd immunity remains a practical/inevitable way to tackle the virus. The debate is over how best to allow that immunity to develop whilst minimising the number of deaths.

3. Coronavirus is very serious, but if we make people stop at home then it’ll be all over in 12 weeks/by Easter.

When their scientific advisers recommended a change from delay/containment to lockdown, the Government followed their advice, but for social and economic reasons the lockdown can only be a temporary or sporadic measure, and it won't be a solution. It simply seeks to flatten the trajectory of cases over the short-term.

4. Coronavirus is very very serious and it’s all someone else’s fault when loads of people die.

In the midst of the outbreak people look upon the rising number of deaths and the amount government activity and media attention as 'confirmation' of the seriousness of the virus and 'justification' of extreme measures, but this can be deceptive. Only when we look back on Coronavirus in years to come will we be able to assess just how serious or not it was relative to other pandemics and causes of death, and whether our reaction as a nation was excessive, measured, insufficient, or even futile.

Some say that if China had reacted more quickly to the first signs of the COVID-19 outbreak rather than covering it up, they might have nipped it in the bud, but I'm not sure. They might have been able to delay the spread, giving other parts of the world a little more time to prepare, but a virus of this nature is difficult to contain completely.

Pandemics are a naturally occurring phenomenon which afflict humankind every so often and kill large numbers of people. Perhaps Mother Nature is trying to cull the worldwide population explosion that is the real driving force behind climate change, but if so, she's going to have to come up with something far more deadly than this to save our species.

[LaxtonLad]

What I gleaned from it is that they now believe that the mass testing of the public is a waste of resources and they should stick to testing front line staff.

That's how I read it too but the media have got hold of this testing business as if the public is clamouring for it. It isn't a cure but that doesn't interest the popular press, it's just the latest topic, the plat du jour, and they'll push it till the next dream is conjured up. In a way I feel sorry for Boris and co, they are expected to field questions about diversions like this as if the answer to the epidemic was so simple.

[drillerpie]

Regarding mortality here's an article from an Italian broadsheet (If you speak a Romance language, especially Spanish, you'll probably be able to read it, otherwise Google translate it) which reports data from the Italian version of the ONS showing a significant increase in deaths compared to previous years.

It also shows that in some areas of Lombardy there have been up to four times as many deaths as would be expected for the first three weeks of March.

I'm just baffled that people are still comparing it to the flu.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rep...252910084/amp/

[Elite_Pie]

In a way I feel sorry for Boris and co, they are expected to field questions about diversions like this as if the answer to the epidemic was so simple.

I think we all know there is no obvious answer to the problem as a whole, but why are the government failing so badly on getting PPE to frontline staff? Why has this fairly simple task proved so difficult for them? The warning signs were there several weeks ago, and the fact several staff are buying their own online suggests that availability isn't a problem. Just buy what's needed, load it on lorries, deliver it to hospitals, distribute it to staff. If I'm missing something and it's actually a really hard thing to do, please could someone enlighten me?

[navypie]

I'm not sure this should be a right v left thing, but anyway my thoughts are as follows...


For the vast majority of people who don't have underlying health conditions, Coronavirus isn't serious and only brings mild symptoms. Some sufferers apparently remain capable of "working from home" while they have the virus, which often isn't the case for anyone who has suffered flu (i.e. genuine flu as opposed to footballers' flu! ). And yes, lots more people are dying of other things.


Coronavirus is serious for some older people, especially those with underlying health conditions, and for a tiny number of younger healthy people who develop extreme symptoms for whatever reason. Until a vaccine is available, developing herd immunity remains a practical/inevitable way to tackle the virus. The debate is over how best to allow that immunity to develop whilst minimising the number of deaths.


When their scientific advisers recommended a change from delay/containment to lockdown, the Government followed their advice, but for social and economic reasons the lockdown can only be a temporary or sporadic measure, and it won't be a solution. It simply seeks to flatten the trajectory of cases over the short-term.


In the midst of the outbreak people look upon the rising number of deaths and the amount government activity and media attention as 'confirmation' of the seriousness of the virus and 'justification' of extreme measures, but this can be deceptive. Only when we look back on Coronavirus in years to come will we be able to assess just how serious or not it was relative to other pandemics and causes of death, and whether our reaction as a nation was excessive, measured, insufficient, or even futile.

Some say that if China had reacted more quickly to the first signs of the COVID-19 outbreak rather than covering it up, they might have nipped it in the bud, but I'm not sure. They might have been able to delay the spread, giving other parts of the world a little more time to prepare, but a virus of this nature is difficult to contain completely.

Pandemics are a naturally occurring phenomenon which afflict humankind every so often and kill large numbers of people. Perhaps Mother Nature is trying to cull the worldwide population explosion that is the real driving force behind climate change, but if so, she's going to have to come up with something far more deadly than this to save our species.

How do you that, section by section ?

[navypie]

I think we all know there is no obvious answer to the problem as a whole, but why are the government failing so badly on getting PPE to frontline staff? Why has this fairly simple task proved so difficult for them? The warning signs were there several weeks ago, and the fact several staff are buying their own online suggests that availability isn't a problem. Just buy what's needed, load it on lorries, deliver it to hospitals, distribute it to staff. If I'm missing something and it's actually a really hard thing to do, please could someone enlighten me?

Apparently it isn't that easy, some things are made in different parts of the world. However, I do agree the warning signs were there so the preparation should have been better.

[countygump]

How do you that, section by section ?

Paragraphs? Or did you not want to mention the word 'Para'?

Press return/enter on your keyboard to send the cursor down the page.

Like this.

Miduck.

[Elite_Pie]

How

You

do

do

you

it

do

like

that?

this.

[tarquinbeech]

You



do



it



like



this.

It would be helpful if you explained how to do that......so I will ask nicely....anyone?