The Corona Virus

[Supersub6]

Balan --just a slight correction on one point -----I would have to be Superman to get to Morecambe Bay frim here with my arthritic knees. I don't think that I could manage 200 miles these days!
Your talk about Forrest Gump is lost on me because I very rarely watch films unless they are factual, neither do I read fiction unless it is reports in the press, which I always treat with suspicion, particularly these days!

Anyway, please continue to worry, I suppose that BT's views on Israel and Palestine would cause someone who cares to worry. 59_60 is a LIb Dem, therefore, you can worry about him too, however, please do not worry about me because my mindset is never disturbed by anything ---it remains constant and it gets me through anything which is thrown at me, particularly in my charity work.
Always happy!

[Balanbam00]

O k, the Corona virus ! But that period in lockdown has it given you a chance, a new way to look at life .lets say to re-evaluate your lives?

I think a would care less about football ,but if Burnley are playing! Oh yes ,glued to the screen.
But it did not really effect me,virus ? What virus? Great to be in a village ,no police here .Where I live,there are 1300 pecan nut trees to the south,while to the east fields of wheat,on the west side a few houses ,the main road and then the sea 2 km's away. I think to go out more,anything interesting would be 100 km's away? So any great changes or ?

[Supersub6]

The lockdown has not affected me at all because I live life at my own speed, am never in a hurry if I am in the supermarket so having to queue is no hardship for me. I am happy with my life and have never been someone who is looking for an easy fix or instant riches so no evaluation needed.
As you are aware, I live very close to the woods so I am able to go out walking as much as I wish. Also, I am only a 2 mile bike ride from the coast so that is another plus as far as I am concerned.

I do love live sport, whether to actually attend the match or to watch on TV, therefore, I have enjoyed the return of the Bundesliga and watch matched when I can. They say that the atmosphere is not the same etc., however, when watching football on tv I mute the sound so that I don't have to listen to the inane commentary, so it doesn't matter.

The biggest effect on me has been the fact that, particularly as I am in my 70s, I have been forbidden by my charity to continue with the cases I was working on and my clients have been left in limbo because they do not have the internet and do not always hear the telephone. The problem is that these people really need help with alterations to their houses just to enable them to have a shower because they are unable to get into a bath, one of them for several years now. My job is to try to obtain money from the various regimental associations or the merchant navy association to fund the alterations, however, in order to do this I have to get estimates and, at the moment, people are not allowed to visit them because they are in the vulnerable category. It will be resolved, when? --- I do not know.

The one thing which I will add is that I see and hear people moaning on about things, however, having dealt with quite a number of clients suffering from PTSD over the past 11 years, it really makes you put things into perspective and realise how lucky I and my wife are. One of the reasons that I am always happy is that I lost 19 close friends and colleagues in a bad accident in 1985 and I pledged that I would live every day of my life in remembrance of those great blokes. Add to that the fact that, when I go to see a charity client, it is no good me being down in the dumps because they need someone positive to give them confidence that I will do all I can to help them.

Sorry, I have gone on a bit, however, that's the way it is. I suppose in quite a number of respects my attitude is not vastly different to a lot of those in your kibbutz ---or is it?

[1959_60]

Great stuff Super!

It's very commendable that you are helping a vulnerable part of the community - hats off to you.

But it's not true that everyone in politics is in it for themselves.

I am a bog standard councillor but I am passionate about certain issues which I think need improving.

At the moment my big gripe is the funding and structure of health and social care which is nowhere near good enough. Me and another member have written a policy for our party to be considered as official party policy.
The truth is, if politicians don't come up with new proposals then things will never change.
But I agree that there are too many career politicians who don't fully understand what the real issues are and are happy to support their party for their own personal career development.
But please don't fall into the trap of saying "they are all as bad as each other, only in it for themselves". I don't know much about your area Super, but I would be amazed if there were no honest, decent people who represent your area. And these people simply don't deserve to be lumped in with all the others as a single "mouth in the trough" group.

During the lockdown we have had to be ultra cautious about what we do because we live with my Dad (age 92) and my Mother in law (age 96). Their welfare must come first and so I have limited my duties to ringing round the vulnerable people in the area and they have all warmly welcomed my phone calls. I have managed to help quite a few people who, if I hadn't rang, were willing to accept that no help would be forthcoming.

[barrie_burn]

Great stuff Super!

It's very commendable that you are helping a vulnerable part of the community - hats off to you.

But it's not true that everyone in politics is in it for themselves.

I am a bog standard councillor but I am passionate about certain issues which I think need improving.

At the moment my big gripe is the funding and structure of health and social care which is nowhere near good enough. Me and another member have written a policy for our party to be considered as official party policy.
The truth is, if politicians don't come up with new proposals then things will never change.
But I agree that there are too many career politicians who don't fully understand what the real issues are and are happy to support their party for their own personal career development.
But please don't fall into the trap of saying "they are all as bad as each other, only in it for themselves". I don't know much about your area Super, but I would be amazed if there were no honest, decent people who represent your area. And these people simply don't deserve to be lumped in with all the others as a single "mouth in the trough" group.

During the lockdown we have had to be ultra cautious about what we do because we live with my Dad (age 92) and my Mother in law (age 96). Their welfare must come first and so I have limited my duties to ringing round the vulnerable people in the area and they have all warmly welcomed my phone calls. I have managed to help quite a few people who, if I hadn't rang, were willing to accept that no help would be forthcoming.

Bit of a dilemma here.Medical researchers and all personnel do everything they can for the general benefit of the population.This results in better care and in people living longer healthier lives.Unfortunately the nation as a whole have to pay for this,in particular the cost of Social care.With our system of Government first past the post wins the election and stays in power,this is their first priority.One of the major things that they try and do is to avoid increasing taxes to an appropriate level to fund all this because they fear losing National support and hence the election.All major parties have the the same objective,to do as well as they can at the Polls.Do you think that the MAJORITY of people would support the necessary increases in tax to cover the cost of proper medical care and Social care,I doubt it.

[1959_60]

Bit of a dilemma here.Medical researchers and all personnel do everything they can for the general benefit of the population.This results in better care and in people living longer healthier lives.Unfortunately the nation as a whole have to pay for this,in particular the cost of Social care.With our system of Government first past the post wins the election and stays in power,this is their first priority.One of the major things that they try and do is to avoid increasing taxes to an appropriate level to fund all this because they fear losing National support and hence the election.All major parties have the the same objective,to do as well as they can at the Polls.Do you think that the MAJORITY of people would support the necessary increases in tax to cover the cost of proper medical care and Social care,I doubt it.

You've hit the nail on the head Barrie.

Health and Social Care have been weaponised by political parties. Each election they involve themselves in a bun fight, all promising £££ to sort it out.

That's why we have been pushing for an all party group to sort this issue out and to take the politics out of it.

And you are right to mention the huge cost of sorting it out.

Take Social Care for instance. The current budget is £18B - basically the same in 2010 despite a rising population, ageing population and inflation. To return to a 2010 level of care, with care workers on a decent wage, the budget should be around £30B
But we would go further. The Dilnot report made a case for a modernised Social Care system which would not mean that someone needing long term care would not have to spend all their savings, including their house, in order to receive essential care.

Our proposition offers a great NHS/Social Care system (integrated) and free at the point of need.
And I believe the majority would pay a bit more if they were convinced that this is what they would get in return.

[Supersub6]

59_60 ---- I know that you are a councillor and that you care about your local area as a priority and, obviously, with elderly parents still alive, you care deeply about the care system.

To get the necessary funding for any project you have to have a level of taxation which supports it. If we had had good leaders over the past 23 years they would have realised that, compared to the years 1979 to 1996, the population of teh UK was growing at an alarming rate.
1979 to 1996 there was an increase of 1.81 million people --that is a 17 year period.
Compare 1997 to 2010 when the increase ws 4.27 million in 13 years and then the last 10 years where the population had increased by 4.14 million.

It has been well publicised that the number of people over 65 has been growing year by year, hence it is apparent that this is an age group which will need care as they age. The only way to fund this, apart from telling people that they must make private arrangements, is to increase taxes to bring in more revenue. A good leader would have done this, however, because the career politician has really come to the fore in the past 25 to 30 years no leader will take a decision that affects so many, in fact, they would probably have a difficult job to get any bill through the House because MPs would be up in arms about any such proposal because it would be unpopular with the populace.

With this pandemic and the money thrown at it, there are will need to be some very serious decisions made to try to get the nation back on track. I think that this will prove to be a very long job and I can't see the care section of community getting much more help than now.
Sad, I know, and the whole situation will not be helped by the fact that many charities, who would normally help, will also be struggling.

Keep up the good work at the council.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Scrap Trident and sort out social care.

Not rocket science is it?

[Norder]

.

or - lets just get rid of Government, and their license to steal - that'll save the country big bucks !

otherwise, just cut the waste...120 billion of it.

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.ne...pdf?1431430907

[Supersub6]

It appears that in the 6 weeks up to 22 May the number of deaths in Care Homes was 26,128 and of those 10,634 were because of the virus. This means that just under 40.7% were virus related.

During the same period there were a total of 4,607 deaths in hospitals of which 3,294 were because of the virus. This means that just over 61% were virus related.

Also in this period there were a total of 510 deaths reported elsewhere of which 223 were because of the virus. This is 43.7% which were virus related.

There were also 4,425 other deaths reported but not stated where they happened. Of these 1,367 were because of the virus. This is just under 31% which were virus related.

These are deaths in England and do not include the rest of the UK and, sadly, I can find no details of the cause of those deaths which are not related to the virus.