The Corona Virus

[1959_60]

Good, good.

Well, you better not make a Swiss roll then.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

I once had a Malteser.

She was really, bloody lovely.

[sinkov]

Good, good.

Well, you better not make a Swiss roll then.

Eminently sensible the Swiss 59, in case you hadn't noticed they're not in the EU and want feck all to do with it. Us Brexiteers will roll with the Swiss any day of the week.

[Norder]

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It takes her just 4mins 41s - to sum up this Convid Shlitfest.

[Norder]

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not sure if this was previously mentioned....

full text,as from Telegraph.


Government struck £119m Covid advertising deal weeks before first lockdown

The Cabinet Office signed the lucrative contract with London-based OMD Group as the Government began to gear up its response to the crisis


Ministers struck a deal worth up to £119m with one of the world's biggest marketing companies for a Covid campaign three weeks before the country went into a national lockdown, official filings show.

The Cabinet Office signed the contract with London-based OMD Group, a subsidiary of US ad titan Omnicom, on March 2 - the same day Prime Minister Boris Johnson attended his first pandemic-related Cobra meeting - as the Government began to gear up its response to the crisis.

Although the UK did not go into lockdown until March 23, the outline of its communications strategy appears to have been agreed weeks in advance.

The agreement referred to three “tiers” of messaging that the Government wanted to get across to the public, including telling people to “Stay Home, Stay Safe”, reminding them to wash their hands regularly and promoting healthy lifestyle habits during periods of isolation.

It also referenced marketing campaigns to communicate emergency economic measures.

The price tag of the pandemic information campaign dwarfed the £46m the Government spent on its “Get Ready for Brexit” campaign at the end of 2019, which it billed at the time as its biggest advertising blitz since the Second World War.

According to details published on the Government's website, the contract said: “The outbreak of Covid-19 in the UK requires a significant communications effort including through mass marketing channels to provide clear instructions to the public about actions to take to protect themselves and their communities."

OMD was tasked with buying media space regionally, nationally and internationally across a range of different platforms, including in print and broadcast and on social media sites such as TikTok and Snapchat.

Despite the huge outlay in anticipation of a major push of health and economic messages, the Government still had not closed schools or banned mass gatherings at large events, such as football matches, to control the infection rate at the time the deal was struck.

The Government is under mounting pressure to disclose details of billions of pounds handed over to private companies for contracts related to its pandemic response with campaigners threatening legal action if it does not improve transparency.

Vast sums have been spent on contractors tasked with securing PPE, helping to build the Test and Trace system and delivering emergency lending programmes for businesses. and there are calls for ministers to show that taxpayers got value for money.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...irst-lockdown/

[1959_60]

Eminently sensible the Swiss 59, in case you hadn't noticed they're not in the EU and want feck all to do with it. Us Brexiteers will roll with the Swiss any day of the week.

Glad to hear it Sinkov, this is going well.

All I can say is that you better not rub the Italians up the wrong way. You would make Venetians blind with rage.

**If it wasn't for venetian blinds it would be curtains for all of us**

[sinkov]

Glad to hear it Sinkov, this is going well.

All I can say is that you better not rub the Italians up the wrong way. You would make Venetians blind with rage.

**If it wasn't for venetian blinds it would be curtains for all of us**

Once we leave the EU 59, we will, as a sovereign independent state, have our own individual representation at the WTO, we will be able to argue the case for, and protect, the interests of British trade, industry and commerce, something we are unable to do at the moment, as the EU speaks on behalf of all the EU countries, and our interests are subsumed by what unelected EU bureaucrats decide is in the best interests of unelected EU bureaucrats. Our views are insignificant.

In the light of this, your case that we will become less significant on the world stage once we leave the EU is about as solid as a slice of ripe Gorgonzola, as it slips, slides and oozes all over that warm baguette. For which culinary delights many thanks to our good friends in both Italy and France.

[outwoodclaret]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55134766

The quisling Starmer will tell his MPs to abstain. Labour are not an opposition they are a failure.

[sinkov]

It's times like this I wish I was a member of the Labour Party, then I could resign, cut my card up and send it back to them. But I'm not, so I can't.

[oldcolner]

Hospitalizations of Covid-19 patients in the US reached a new record high of 93,238 on Sunday, according to figures from the Covid Tracking Project.

CNN reports that the number eclipsed Saturday’s 91,635 figure. It marked the third time there have been more than 90,000 Americans hospitalized with Covid-19, all of which have occurred around the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Sunday also marked the 27th consecutive day that the US has reported more than 100,000 new Covid-19 cases.