How do you think Boris has handled it so far ?

[WATFORD zero]

Don't really want to get involved in your beef with someone else, but just a couple of points.

Exercise Cygnus carried out in 2016 identified a basic lack of PPE in the event of a Pandemic.

The decisions are not made by "the science" but by scientists. Scientists can make calls depending on their own beliefs, or possibly the beliefs of others if they are being lent on..

As for the parliamentary team, the only person who will come out of this shit shambles in credit is the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Sorry for going all pedantic on you, but no decisions are made by scientists. Scientists can give information on different scenarios to Government and, when asked can make recommendations. There are very strict rules on this, including one which says that the advice can only be presented to Ministers by the expert body and is not allowed to be conveyed by any political advisor. This is obviously to stop any political spin by a political advisor who decides for the first time in the history of SAGE that they should be allowed to be in those meetings.

The only people who make decisions are the Government, having taken advice directly from various scientific and expert groups

I agree we came very late to the party and when we did no one had told us it wasn't fancy dress...

However, lockdown was nearly 7 weeks ago now, if social distancing was being practised as well as it should be, or for that matter was as effective as we are told, then being late with the advice should now have passed and the figures should be lower than they are.

Something isn't right...

And just re-iterating what has been said above. Lockdown has worked and is reflected in the hospital death rates. The problem is that the care home situation was ignored until it was too late and we are now seeing the effects of that, which is masking the drop in hospital deaths.

And, I know it wasn't you that said it, but I can't understand why people think everyone would have ignored the lockdown had it come a week (or more) earlier ? And it would have certainly had more effect than waiting until various sports events, shops etc started making the decision and then following their lead.

I think that has been the single biggest problem with the Government throughout this. See what happens and then react to it.

 

[darkwolf666]

Sorry for going all pedantic on you, but no decisions are made by scientists. Scientists can give information on different scenarios to Government and, when asked can make recommendations. There are very strict rules on this, including one which says that the advice can only be presented to Ministers by the expert body and is not allowed to be conveyed by any political advisor, who for the first time in the history of SAGE sat in on it !

The only people who make decisions are the Government, having taken advice from various scientific and expert groups



And just re-iterating what has been said above. Lockdown has worked and is reflected in the hospital death rates. The problem is that the care home situation was ignored until it was too late and we are now seeing the effects of that, which is masking the drop in hospital deaths.

And, I know it wasn't you that said it, but I can't understand why people think everyone would have ignored the lockdown had it come a week (or more) earlier ? And it would have certainly had more effect than waiting until sports events, shops etc started making the decision and then following their lead.

With regards the "science" bit I was answering Mouldy Boots, who said - as has Boris and his team - that we were directed by the Science. Science, as has been demonstrated, can be interpreted differently, by different scientists around the world, and often to fit their paymasters agenda!

 

[WATFORD zero]

With regards the "science" bit I was answering Mouldy Boots, who said - as has Boris and his team - that we were directed by the Science. Science, as has been demonstrated, can be interpreted differently, by different scientists around the world, and often to fit their paymasters agenda!

Which is the very reason that all scientific groups and committees advising UK Government have to maintain their independence from any Political influence and have very strict rules to try and achieve this. The rules which the current Government have recently, and very publicly, ignored.

And if Boris has said they were 'directed by Science' then it's a lie

A Government is informed by Science to allow it to direct the Country. Or else, why do we bother having a Government, we could save a fortune and just do what the experts say © Michael Gove

 

[vegster]

With regards the "science" bit I was answering Mouldy Boots, who said - as has Boris and his team - that we were directed by the Science. Science, as has been demonstrated, can be interpreted differently, by different scientists around the world, and often to fit their paymasters agenda!

I think that what has happened is that the " science " has probably given Johnson a list of fatalities, the size of which varies according to which actions are taken at which time and at what cost to the economy. The decision on what to actually do depends on how much Johnson is prepared to gamble on the fatalities/economic loss ratio.

 

[Pork Knuckle Pete]

Pm's often miss Cobra meetings.
PPE, do have proof about this, PPE was always going to be a struggle, THIS IS A PANDEMIC.
I believe science effectively made the call of lockdown?
What the feck has bluster got to do with this?

He has one of the most capable in-depth teams, they have stepped up to plate with the hardest challenges of any parliament in history and they are doing all they can.

So so easy to pick holes in a situation like this, and why would you consistently add petrol on a fire that needs taming?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Of course it's a political matter. Follow the science is just another 3-word slogan.

Absolutely.

 

[Hugo Rune]

I think that what has happened is that the " science " has probably given Johnson a list of fatalities, the size of which varies according to which actions are taken at which time and at what cost to the economy. The decision on what to actually do depends on how much Johnson is prepared to gamble on the fatalities/economic loss ratio.

When this all began, Mr Johnson had a vision. A vision of a Country free from the restraints of lockdown, a vision where the economy takes priority. This Churchillian style speech hints at a single government standing up and doing the opposite to most other countries. Mr Johnson tried to do it but then U-turned when the expected death count got to six figures.

‘Humanity needs some government somewhere.....who is willing to make the case for freedom of exchange’

https://twitter.com/politicsjoe_uk/status/1251458390028664832?s=21

 

[Ratso2005]

"How Boris Johnson refused to fight the virus

Through a deadly combination of arrogance and incompetence, Boris Johnson’s government ignored international warnings and allowed Covid-19 to spread largely unchecked in the UK.

Like one of his predecessors he ignored a gathering storm, downplayed the threat then failed to act. He appeased the virus.

By the time he realised his mistake it was too late, thousands would needlessly die and the economy would face a protracted lockdown.

Today the UK is the second worst hit country in the world.

He’s not Churchill. He’s Chamberlain.

Timeline of failure:
China alerts WHO to new virus
China confirms human-to-human transmission
Wuhan is locked down
Research reveals severity of coronavirus
A study in the British medical journal The Lancet shows that a third of China's Covid-19 patients require admission to intensive care and 29% worsen to the point where they need ventilation.

Johnson skips first Cobra meeting on the crisis
“The committee – which includes ministers, intelligence chiefs and military generals – gathers at moments of great peril such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters and other threats to the nation and is normally chaired by the prime minister.” (Sunday Times)

January to March: Government fails to check or quarantine airport arrivals
Fewer than 300 people out of the 18.1 million who entered the UK in the three months prior to the coronavirus lockdown were formally quarantined. The number of potentially infected individuals entering the UK from coronavirus-affected countries in that period is thought to be in the tens of thousands. (Guardian)

Johnson misses second Cobra meeting on virus
(Spectator)

WHO declares 'public health emergency of international concern'
UK raises threat level from 'low' to 'moderate'
Two people in the UK test positive for coronavirus
The virus has infected almost 10,000 people globally, with 213 fatalities in China.

NHS England declares first ever 'Level 4 Critical Incident'
UK declines to join European scheme to source Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
On the day Britain leaves the European Union, UK officials attend a meeting of the European health security committee at which a joint procurement scheme to secure crucial medical supplies is discussed. The supplies include personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, goggles and gloves. Despite being eligible to join the scheme, and being present in numerous subsequent meetings at which it is discussed, the UK declines to join. (Guardian)

Johnson misses third Cobra virus meeting
(Spectator)

More cases confirmed in UK
A British businessman in Brighton tests positive following a trip to Singapore. The 'superspreader' will be linked to 11 cases, five of which are in the UK. (Metro)

As the danger grows, Boris Johnson urges Britons to remain "confident and calm"
(ITV News)

Study warns that coronavirus could infect 45 million people in the UK if left unchallenged
Exeter University research warns that Covid-19 cases could peak within four months and infect two-thirds of the country. (Reuters)

Johnson skips fourth Cobra meeting
The Prime Minister is yet to attend a single meeting of the coronavirus emergency response committee. (Spectator)

Johnson skips conference call with European leaders
The PM and Matt Hancock fail to dial in to a conference call with EU leaders and health ministers to discuss coronavirus response planning, despite being invited. Over the next six weeks they will fail to attend a further seven such calls. (Reuters)

Johnson retreats to Chevening for a 'working holiday'
The PM decamps for a fortnight to the grace-and-favour estate in Kent. Despite the UK raising the official threat level to 'moderate' and NHS England declaring a Level 4 Critical Incident at the end of January, aides are told to keep Johnson's briefing notes short. “Box submissions have to be brief if he is going to read it. If they’re overly long or overly complex, Dom [Cummings] sends them back with savage comments,” one official reveals. It will later emerge that much of Johnson's time was actually spent reaching a divorce settlement with his estranged wife, in order to pave the way for the announcement that he and girlfriend Carrie Symonds are now engaged and expecting a baby. (Sunday Times)

First coronavirus death in Europe
(BBC News)

Johnson skips his fifth coronavirus Cobra meeting
(Spectator)

Mid February: "There was a real sense that he didn’t do urgent crisis planning" – Senior Downing Street adviser
Looking back at this period, the adviser will later say: "There’s no way you’re at war if your PM isn’t there. And what you learn about Boris was he didn’t chair any meetings. He liked his country breaks. He didn’t work weekends. There was a real sense that he didn’t do urgent crisis planning. It was exactly like people feared he would be." (Sunday Times)

First coronavirus death in Italy
All public events are banned and schools closed in several towns southeast of Milan. (Telegraph)

UK government keeps threat level at 'moderate'
(Sun)

Johnson emerges from his 'working holiday' and returns to Downing Street
(Mirror)

"Days make a difference with a disease like this" – WHO
"Time is everything in this disease... If you can slow something down by three days by the time you get to a fifth generation of cases you can cut the size of that by 90%. Days make a difference with a disease like this." – Dr Bruce Aylward, WHO China Envoy. (WHO)

Half a million Britons could die, according to leaked UK government 'Worst Case Scenario' document
With 13 known cases in the UK, the study estimates that the coronavirus could infect up to 80% of the population. (Independent)

Late February: "Herd immunity, protect the economy, and if that means some pensioners die, too bad"
A summary of how Dominic Cummings described the Government’s coronavirus strategy, according to a witness who later spoke to the Sunday Times. Despite little being known about the disease, the Government insists on pursuing an off-the-shelf flu pandemic plan centred around mitigation rather than testing, tracing and suppression of the virus to limit its spread. (Sunday Times)

Australia designates Covid-19 a pandemic and enacts emergency response plan
(USA Today)

First British coronavirus death confirmed
A British man who was quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship dies from Covid-19. (Guardian)

First recorded transmission of the disease on UK soil
(Times)

NHS bosses warn of PPE shortage and "nightmare" facing health service
In 2019, the Government's own National Security Risk Assessment warned of the severe risk from a coronavirus pandemic. Yet the Government failed to heed even basic recommended preparations. Instead, Brexit preparations took priority over training key workers for a pandemic, and emergency PPE stockpiles had severely dwindled or gone out of date following years of austerity cuts. (Sunday Times)

Johnson retreats to Chequers to announce engagement and fiancé's pregnancy
(Telegraph)

Johnson says the virus is likely to "spread a bit more" in the UK
(Reuters)

Government's own scientists say more than half a million Britons could die if virus is left unrestrained
(Reuters)

PM finally attends a coronavirus Cobra meeting
Chairing his first Cobra meeting about the disease, the PM is confronted with estimates of half a million deaths in the UK. Despite these chilling warnings from its own pandemic modelling panel, the Government declines another opportunity to join EU countries jointly buying essential PPE, including overalls, gloves and face masks. (Sky News)

Johnson tells country we are "very, very well-prepared"
As chronic PPE shortages and other failures will soon reveal, Britain is not in fact prepared. (Sky News)

Scientists urge Government to advise public not to shake hands
Government scientists agree that the public should be warned "against greetings such as shaking hands and hugging, given existing evidence about the importance of hand hygiene." (Government)

"I'm shaking hands continuously... we should be going about our business as usual" – Boris Johnson
"I’m shaking hands continuously, I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody, you’ll be pleased to know. I continue to shake hands..." He adds: "I want to stress that for the vast majority of the people of this country, we should be going about our business as usual." (Guardian)

The total number of coronavirus cases now recorded in mainland China reaches 80,026, with 2,943 deaths
(Guardian)

Government stops providing daily updates on Covid-19 cases
Following a 70% spike in coronavirus cases in the UK, the Government stops providing daily updates on cases – instead moving to weekly updates. The Government will later U-turn amid accusations it is withholding vital information. (Guardian)

First coronavirus death in the UK
Greece closes its schools, following in the paths of Iran and Italy
Larger public gatherings at Greek theatres, cinemas, museums and sports events have been cancelled in three western regions of the country. The Greeks will later be lauded for successfully suppressing the virus through early action. (Guardian)

"Wash your hands and business as usual" – Boris Johnson
(BBC News)

The Prime Minister joins 82,000 at Six Nations rugby match
In the absence of clear government direction many major organisations, businesses and sporting bodies have cancelled events or implemented urgent action plans. Meanwhile Boris Johnson takes his pregnant fiancé to Twickenham. (Express)

France bans large events and begins stricter distancing measures
(New York Times)

Ireland cancels St Patrick's Day parades
(BBC News)

"No rationale" for cancelling sporting events, says UK Government
(BBC News)

278 recorded coronavirus cases in UK
10 - 13 March: Cheltenham Festival goes ahead with more than a quarter of a million people attending
The festival organisers cite Johnson's attendance at the rugby three days earlier as part of their rationale for going ahead. Data will later reveal a spike in cases in the region after the event. (Guardian)

WHO declares global pandemic
Italy reaches 827 deaths, with over 12,000 confirmed cases. (BBC News)

Madrid becomes the centre of Spain's coronavirus crisis, closing schools
With over 1,600 cases confirmed, Madrid's regional government announces the closure of all nurseries, schools, universities and cultural institutions. (Guardian)

Johnson allows 3,000 Atletico Madrid fans to fly to Liverpool
UK government allows the Champions League match between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid to go ahead, seeing 3,000 football fans travel from Madrid to Merseyside. 52,000 people attended the match. An investigation will later be launched into a regional spike in cases. (Guardian)

"The strategy of the British government in minimising the impact of Covid-19 is to allow the virus to pass through the entire population so that we acquire herd immunity" – ITV's Robert Peston is briefed by the Government on its strategy
ITV's political editor reveals that ministers want everyone to become infected but "at a much delayed speed so that those who suffer the most acute symptoms are able to receive the medical support they need." (ITV)

Mass testing and contact tracing stopped
UK Government sharply departs from the course of action adopted by Germany and South Korea. At this point the UK has seen 10 deaths and 590 confirmed cases. “If we hadn’t stopped it on 12 March, our epidemic would have been much less,” professor of global health Anthony Costello will later say. According to the Royal Society of Medicine's Gabriel Scally: “Abandoning testing gave the virus the green light to spread uncontrollably.” (Bloomberg)

Official UK death toll reaches 10
"Banning such events will have little effect on the spread" – Johnson on the Cheltenham Festival
(Independent)

UK Government's plan is projected to kill a quarter of a million people
The Government is presented with "shattering" findings from Imperial College modelling. Untrammelled, the virus could kill half a million people, while the Government's herd immunity plan is projected to kill a quarter of a million. It is critical that action is taken urgently to suppress the spread of the virus. Nevertheless it will be a further 11 days before Johnson introduces a lockdown. (Sunday Times)

"We are not, I repeat not, closing schools now" – Boris Johnson
(Politico)

President Macron announces the closure of all French schools and universities
(CNBC)

Ireland's Taoiseach Leo Varadkar shuts all education institutions
Germany closes schools, nurseries and universities
(Express)

WHO declares Europe the "epicentre" of the coronavirus pandemic
(BBC)

"As Europe Shuts Down, Britain Takes a Different, and Contentious, Approach" – New York Times headline
"Prime Minister Boris Johnson has largely kept Britain open, opting for more targeted measures," says the newspaper, "a strategy that has startled some epidemiologists." (New York Times)

EU officials discuss joint purchase of ventilators. Britain refuses to join the scheme, despite being invited
(Guardian)

Premier League suspends top flight football, in the absence of clear government guidance
(BBC)

Johnson lifts restrictions on those arriving from known coronavirus hotspots, including Wuhan, Italy and Iran
(Independent)

"Do not just let this fire burn" – WHO
In contrast to the UK Government's approach, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom, urges governments around the world to "Find, isolate, test and treat every case to break the chains of transmission... Do not just let this fire burn." (WHO transcript

Government adviser defends herd immunity strategy
“Communities will become immune to it and that’s going to be an important part of controlling this longer term,” says Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. “About 60 per cent is the sort of figure you need to get herd immunity.” The strategy would require 40 million Britons to become infected. (Financial Times)

NHS staff put at risk
Government downgrades its guidance on PPE, advising NHS staff to wear less protective equipment in all but the most high-risk situations. (BBC News)

Official UK death toll reaches 20
Government still allowing mass events as 5,000 pack arena in Cardiff
Stereophonics play in Cardiff, while across town the Wales vs Scotland Six Nations rugby match is postponed – by the organisers, not the Government. (ITV)

Germany imposes border controls
Germany tightens border restrictions with five neighbouring countries: Austria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland. (BBC News)

Ireland asks all pubs to close
With just two days to go until St Patrick's Day celebrations, the Irish Government asks all pubs to close. Ireland only has 169 cases and two deaths confirmed. (BBC News)

UK Government keeps pubs open
At this point the UK has 1,400 confirmed cases and at least 35 deaths. (BBC News)

Official UK death toll reaches 50
Austria tightens borders and bans gatherings of more than five
(Metro)

Imperial College study is published. It concludes over half a million Britons could die
Even the government’s “mitigation” approach could lead to 250,000 deaths and intensive care units being overwhelmed at least eight times over, the study finds. Imperial’s prediction of over half a million deaths is no different from a report by the Government’s own pandemic modelling committee two weeks earlier. They knew.

Johnson asks Britons not to go to pubs but allows them to stay open
The Government requests that the public avoid non-essential contract and travel, but the measures stop short of a lockdown and mass gatherings are still allowed. (Fortune)

“Test, test, test" says head of WHO
“You cannot fight a fire blindfolded. And we cannot stop this pandemic if we don’t know who is infected. We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test.” - Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom. (WHO)

Johnson jokes that push to build new ventilators should be called "Operation Last Gasp"
The comment is made during a conference call with CEOs to discuss life-saving ventilator production. (Politico)

France goes into lockdown
(France24)

20,000 deaths would be "a good outcome" – Government Chief Scientific Adviser
(Telegraph)

Official UK death toll reaches 100
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

NHS staff "thrown to the wolves" by government over lack of PPE
The claim, from frontline NHS staff, follows acute shortages of PPE, including gowns, eye protection and face masks. (Bloomberg)

"Tracing every contact must be the backbone of the response in every country" – WHO
(WHO)

Six days since UK stopped contact tracing
Despite the urging of the WHO, the UK has not reinstated contact tracing. Meanwhile, tracing continues to great effect in other countries tackling the virus, including Germany, South Korea and Singapore. It will be more than six weeks until the UK releases an app to facilitate contact tracing. (Guardian)

Coronavirus patients sent back to care homes
A Government diktat tells NHS hospitals to move elderly patients into care homes even if they have Covid-19. A Whitehall official will later state that the policy was designed as a “stiff broom” to free up capacity in hospitals. The policy is blamed for a later explosion of cases in care homes. (Telegraph)

UK closes schools and pubs
The UK finally closes schools, cafes, pubs and restaurants. The move comes later than in any comparable European country. (BBC)

Government adviser claims PPE shortages "completely resolved"
“The country has a perfectly adequate supply of PPE,” says Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries, stating that supply issues have been "completely resolved". In less than two weeks, the British Medical Association will report acute shortages in dozens of NHS trusts across the UK, putting frontline NHS staff at risk. (The Lancet)

Johnson tells nation he is hoping to see his mother on Mother's Day
"I hope to get to see her," he tells Downing Street press conference. (Independent)

Official UK death toll reaches 200
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Under pressure, Johnson now tells people not to visit their mothers on Mother's Day
(Daily Mail)

UK finally goes into lockdown
A senior cabinet source will later state: “We didn’t want to go down this route in the first place – public and media pressure pushed the lockdown, we went with the science." In reality, many scientists were urging a much earlier lockdown. (Telegraph)

Official UK death toll reaches 400
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Government strategy slammed by scientists
In damning testimony to a Parliamentary committee, Lancet editor Richard Horton slams the Government for failing to heed evidence of the severity of the coronavirus back in January and thinking it could manage "a controlled epidemic". (House of Commons Science and Technology Committee)

Brexit over breathing?
The Prime Minister is accused of putting "Brexit over breathing" by not joining the EU ventilator scheme. When asked why the Government did not join the scheme, the PM's spokesperson replies: "Because we're no longer members of the EU." The European Commission confirms that the UK was indeed entitled to participate. The UK Government then changes its story, saying it hadn't taken advantage of the EU ventilator joint procurement scheme because it had missed an email due to a "communication problem". (Politics Home)

Official UK death toll reaches 1,000
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Herd immunity strategy intolerable, says New Zealand Prime Minister
"There were some countries who initially talked about herd immunity as a strategy. In New Zealand we never ever considered that as a possibility, ever. Herd immunity would’ve meant tens of thousands of New Zealanders dying and I simply would not tolerate that and I don’t think any New Zealander would" – Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, on the initial UK strategy. (TVNZ)

Official UK death toll reaches 2,000
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Just 2,000 of 1.2 million NHS staff have been tested, the Government admits
Only 150,000 tests have been carried out across the UK. (Evening Standard)

Germany carrying out 50,000 tests per day
(Financial Times)

Government contacts the UK's testing industry for the first time
The revelation comes from the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association, which represents 110 companies that make up most of the UK’s testing sector. (Financial Times)

PPE crisis deepens
PPE shortages reported in more than 30 hospital trusts, according to the British Medical Association. (Guardian)

UK death toll now bigger than China
(Daily Mail)

Government discourages British public from wearing facemasks
The advice will shift a few weeks later. (inews)

NHS Nightingale opened
The London hospital was built in just nine days and opened to much fanfare. In the following 17 days, however, the hospital will treat just 41 Covid-19 patients, while turning away 50 more requiring critical care largely due to a shortage of nurses. (Guardian)

Official UK death toll reaches 4,000
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

"Game changer" antibody tests are a failure
17.5 million antibody tests ordered by the Government – which Boris Johnson described as a "game changer" – are found to be unreliable, failing to detect up to half of coronavirus cases. (Guardian)

Johnson admitted to hospital with "persistent symptoms"
(CNN)

Thousands of contact tracing experts unused in UK
The Government is criticised for failing to deploy thousands of contact tracing experts it had at its disposal. It will be another 11 days before ministers announce plans to restart contact tracing. (Guardian)

Johnson is moved to intensive care unit as his condition worsens
(BBC News)

Still nowhere near enough tests being carried out in the UK
To date, only 208,000 tests have been carried out in the UK: just one-fifth of those conducted in Germany. (Fortune)

Relief as Johnson leaves hospital
(Guardian)

Official UK death toll reaches 10,000
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Flights still bringing 15,000 people a day into UK without virus testing, including travellers from China, Italy & the US
(Sun)

"I would love to be able to wave a magic wand and have PPE fall from the sky” – Health Secretary Matt Hancock
The UK has now missed at least four opportunities to join the EU's joint PPE procurement scheme. (BBC News)

Government's ventilator plan falls apart
Ministers' call for UK manufacturers to embody the 'Blitz spirit' and shift their manufacturing capacity to ventilators has largely been a tactical misstep. A lack of clarity over what was needed sent the majority of non-specialist manufacturers trying to 'reinvent the wheel' and submit prototypes for ventilators which are unsuitable for treating Covid-19 patients. (Financial Times)

Personal protective equipment is running out, Government admits
(Guardian)

Government has failed to secure promised PPE
The Government has failed to secure 16 million face masks for the NHS in the past month, it is revealed, as manufacturers' offers of help were repeatedly met with silence. Instead, millions of pieces of PPE are being shipped from the UK to Europe. (Telegraph)

80 frontline health workers have died from coronavirus
Calls grow for an inquiry into the "grotesque" failure to provide adequate protective gear to frontline staff, following the news that 80 health and social care staff have died from Covid-19. They are disproportionately from the BAME community. (Politics Home)

Death toll surges in area around Cheltenham Racecourse
Gloucestershire hospitals NHS trust, which covers Cheltenham, has now recorded 125 deaths, roughly double that of two nearby trusts in Bristol (58 each), and those covering Swindon (67) and Bath (46). (Guardian)

True UK death toll revealed: over 40,000
UK coronavirus deaths are more than double the official figure, it is revealed. With the Government tally of 17,337 deaths only counting those who died in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19, a Financial Times analysis of 'excess deaths' based on Office for National Statistics data shows that the true number of coronavirus deaths is around 41,000. (Financial Times)

Contact tracing to restart
The Government announces it is training an 'army' of 15,000 tracers within the next three weeks, resuming a policy it scrapped in early March, finally mimicking the 'test, trace, isolate' strategy which has proven effective in South Korea, where Covid-19 deaths have remained under 250, despite a similar-sized population to the UK. (Times)

Government announces testing kit website for key workers
The initiative will make it "easier, faster, and simpler for any essential worker in England, who needs a test, to get a test," says Health Secretary Matt Hancock. (ITV)

Testing kit website for key workers runs out within minutes of launch
Website for home testing kits made available to 10 million key workers runs out within minutes of opening as only 5,000 kits are made available for the first day. (Bloomberg)

Official UK death toll reaches 20,000. The real total is more than The Blitz.
The likely true figure is over 45,000 people. In the past month, Covid-19 has killed more Britons than died in The Blitz.

“We have so far succeeded in the first and most important task we set ourselves as a nation – to avoid the tragedy that engulfed other parts of the world,” says Boris Johnson
At this point Britain has the third highest number of deaths in the world. (Conservative Party)

Government artificially inflates testing numbers to meet target
The 100,000 tests a day target is 'met' by mailing out tens of thousands of tests rather than conducting them. Over subsequent days the number of UK tests will fall substantially below 100,000, showing the target was artificially met. (Guardian)

UK death toll becomes highest in Europe
As the UK approaches 30,000 recorded deaths, a grim milestone is reached. On the same day The Times reveals that the true number is probably around 55,000. (Times)"

(http://appeasement.org/?fbclid=IwAR2R702DpqCxzlNleA9m90dD7waKexejDn7et97rJ5t27DDmitcsubYLUmQ)

 

[Bakero]

Follow the science but hide the bits you don't like https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...s-fury-over-attempt-to-censor-covid-19-advice



According to the scientists “We weren’t given advance notice and we still haven’t been given a satisfactory explanation,” the second SPI–B member said, adding they felt the redaction had been intended to stifle criticism.

“This government has failed to show any self-criticism whatsoever, when it is glaringly obvious to everybody that big mistakes have been made. If you want the trust of the population you hold up your hand and you say ‘we’ve made these mistakes, this is why they happened, we regret it, we’re learning from it’. Rather than just keep saying ‘we’ve done the most fantastic job’ and not being open to criticism in any way.”

“What is recorded in the redacted document is us criticising those proposals. They were just not particularly well thought out. Here we were being independent, and you can’t see it [because of the redactions].”

 

[Machiavelli]

I agree we came very late to the party and when we did no one had told us it wasn't fancy dress...

However, lockdown was nearly 7 weeks ago now, if social distancing was being practised as well as it should be, or for that matter was as effective as we are told, then being late with the advice should now have passed and the figures should be lower than they are.

Something isn't right...

You might be right, and I'm only speculating here in an attempt to respond to your legitimate point:
If it is the case that many of those infected only have very mild symptoms, are asymptomatic, or the virus is particularly virile before the symptoms appear then, even with the lockdown restrictions, there are many that might still be spreading the virus this far down the line. This presupposes that there were many affected at the point of the lockdown, and those affected have continue to transmit to others (who have transmitted to others ...).
The other point that might be somewhat more secure is that the death rate in care homes is high and has followed the hospitalisation rate. They've obviously been neglected but, last time I heard (and I haven't heard anything to indicate that something is being done about this), care homes were still employing agency workers, some of whom visit multiple care homes each day.

 

[Machiavelli]

"How Boris Johnson refused to fight the virus

Through a deadly combination of arrogance and incompetence, Boris Johnson’s government ignored international warnings and allowed Covid-19 to spread largely unchecked in the UK.

Like one of his predecessors he ignored a gathering storm, downplayed the threat then failed to act. He appeased the virus.

By the time he realised his mistake it was too late, thousands would needlessly die and the economy would face a protracted lockdown.

Today the UK is the second worst hit country in the world.

He’s not Churchill. He’s Chamberlain.

Timeline of failure:
China alerts WHO to new virus
China confirms human-to-human transmission
Wuhan is locked down
Research reveals severity of coronavirus
A study in the British medical journal The Lancet shows that a third of China's Covid-19 patients require admission to intensive care and 29% worsen to the point where they need ventilation.

Johnson skips first Cobra meeting on the crisis
“The committee – which includes ministers, intelligence chiefs and military generals – gathers at moments of great peril such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters and other threats to the nation and is normally chaired by the prime minister.” (Sunday Times)

January to March: Government fails to check or quarantine airport arrivals
Fewer than 300 people out of the 18.1 million who entered the UK in the three months prior to the coronavirus lockdown were formally quarantined. The number of potentially infected individuals entering the UK from coronavirus-affected countries in that period is thought to be in the tens of thousands. (Guardian)

Johnson misses second Cobra meeting on virus
(Spectator)

WHO declares 'public health emergency of international concern'
UK raises threat level from 'low' to 'moderate'
Two people in the UK test positive for coronavirus
The virus has infected almost 10,000 people globally, with 213 fatalities in China.

NHS England declares first ever 'Level 4 Critical Incident'
UK declines to join European scheme to source Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
On the day Britain leaves the European Union, UK officials attend a meeting of the European health security committee at which a joint procurement scheme to secure crucial medical supplies is discussed. The supplies include personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, goggles and gloves. Despite being eligible to join the scheme, and being present in numerous subsequent meetings at which it is discussed, the UK declines to join. (Guardian)

Johnson misses third Cobra virus meeting
(Spectator)

More cases confirmed in UK
A British businessman in Brighton tests positive following a trip to Singapore. The 'superspreader' will be linked to 11 cases, five of which are in the UK. (Metro)

As the danger grows, Boris Johnson urges Britons to remain "confident and calm"
(ITV News)

Study warns that coronavirus could infect 45 million people in the UK if left unchallenged
Exeter University research warns that Covid-19 cases could peak within four months and infect two-thirds of the country. (Reuters)

Johnson skips fourth Cobra meeting
The Prime Minister is yet to attend a single meeting of the coronavirus emergency response committee. (Spectator)

Johnson skips conference call with European leaders
The PM and Matt Hancock fail to dial in to a conference call with EU leaders and health ministers to discuss coronavirus response planning, despite being invited. Over the next six weeks they will fail to attend a further seven such calls. (Reuters)

Johnson retreats to Chevening for a 'working holiday'
The PM decamps for a fortnight to the grace-and-favour estate in Kent. Despite the UK raising the official threat level to 'moderate' and NHS England declaring a Level 4 Critical Incident at the end of January, aides are told to keep Johnson's briefing notes short. “Box submissions have to be brief if he is going to read it. If they’re overly long or overly complex, Dom [Cummings] sends them back with savage comments,” one official reveals. It will later emerge that much of Johnson's time was actually spent reaching a divorce settlement with his estranged wife, in order to pave the way for the announcement that he and girlfriend Carrie Symonds are now engaged and expecting a baby. (Sunday Times)

First coronavirus death in Europe
(BBC News)

Johnson skips his fifth coronavirus Cobra meeting
(Spectator)

Mid February: "There was a real sense that he didn’t do urgent crisis planning" – Senior Downing Street adviser
Looking back at this period, the adviser will later say: "There’s no way you’re at war if your PM isn’t there. And what you learn about Boris was he didn’t chair any meetings. He liked his country breaks. He didn’t work weekends. There was a real sense that he didn’t do urgent crisis planning. It was exactly like people feared he would be." (Sunday Times)

First coronavirus death in Italy
All public events are banned and schools closed in several towns southeast of Milan. (Telegraph)

UK government keeps threat level at 'moderate'
(Sun)

Johnson emerges from his 'working holiday' and returns to Downing Street
(Mirror)

"Days make a difference with a disease like this" – WHO
"Time is everything in this disease... If you can slow something down by three days by the time you get to a fifth generation of cases you can cut the size of that by 90%. Days make a difference with a disease like this." – Dr Bruce Aylward, WHO China Envoy. (WHO)

Half a million Britons could die, according to leaked UK government 'Worst Case Scenario' document
With 13 known cases in the UK, the study estimates that the coronavirus could infect up to 80% of the population. (Independent)

Late February: "Herd immunity, protect the economy, and if that means some pensioners die, too bad"
A summary of how Dominic Cummings described the Government’s coronavirus strategy, according to a witness who later spoke to the Sunday Times. Despite little being known about the disease, the Government insists on pursuing an off-the-shelf flu pandemic plan centred around mitigation rather than testing, tracing and suppression of the virus to limit its spread. (Sunday Times)

Australia designates Covid-19 a pandemic and enacts emergency response plan
(USA Today)

First British coronavirus death confirmed
A British man who was quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship dies from Covid-19. (Guardian)

First recorded transmission of the disease on UK soil
(Times)

NHS bosses warn of PPE shortage and "nightmare" facing health service
In 2019, the Government's own National Security Risk Assessment warned of the severe risk from a coronavirus pandemic. Yet the Government failed to heed even basic recommended preparations. Instead, Brexit preparations took priority over training key workers for a pandemic, and emergency PPE stockpiles had severely dwindled or gone out of date following years of austerity cuts. (Sunday Times)

Johnson retreats to Chequers to announce engagement and fiancé's pregnancy
(Telegraph)

Johnson says the virus is likely to "spread a bit more" in the UK
(Reuters)

Government's own scientists say more than half a million Britons could die if virus is left unrestrained
(Reuters)

PM finally attends a coronavirus Cobra meeting
Chairing his first Cobra meeting about the disease, the PM is confronted with estimates of half a million deaths in the UK. Despite these chilling warnings from its own pandemic modelling panel, the Government declines another opportunity to join EU countries jointly buying essential PPE, including overalls, gloves and face masks. (Sky News)

Johnson tells country we are "very, very well-prepared"
As chronic PPE shortages and other failures will soon reveal, Britain is not in fact prepared. (Sky News)

Scientists urge Government to advise public not to shake hands
Government scientists agree that the public should be warned "against greetings such as shaking hands and hugging, given existing evidence about the importance of hand hygiene." (Government)

"I'm shaking hands continuously... we should be going about our business as usual" – Boris Johnson
"I’m shaking hands continuously, I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody, you’ll be pleased to know. I continue to shake hands..." He adds: "I want to stress that for the vast majority of the people of this country, we should be going about our business as usual." (Guardian)

The total number of coronavirus cases now recorded in mainland China reaches 80,026, with 2,943 deaths
(Guardian)

Government stops providing daily updates on Covid-19 cases
Following a 70% spike in coronavirus cases in the UK, the Government stops providing daily updates on cases – instead moving to weekly updates. The Government will later U-turn amid accusations it is withholding vital information. (Guardian)

First coronavirus death in the UK
Greece closes its schools, following in the paths of Iran and Italy
Larger public gatherings at Greek theatres, cinemas, museums and sports events have been cancelled in three western regions of the country. The Greeks will later be lauded for successfully suppressing the virus through early action. (Guardian)

"Wash your hands and business as usual" – Boris Johnson
(BBC News)

The Prime Minister joins 82,000 at Six Nations rugby match
In the absence of clear government direction many major organisations, businesses and sporting bodies have cancelled events or implemented urgent action plans. Meanwhile Boris Johnson takes his pregnant fiancé to Twickenham. (Express)

France bans large events and begins stricter distancing measures
(New York Times)

Ireland cancels St Patrick's Day parades
(BBC News)

"No rationale" for cancelling sporting events, says UK Government
(BBC News)

278 recorded coronavirus cases in UK
10 - 13 March: Cheltenham Festival goes ahead with more than a quarter of a million people attending
The festival organisers cite Johnson's attendance at the rugby three days earlier as part of their rationale for going ahead. Data will later reveal a spike in cases in the region after the event. (Guardian)

WHO declares global pandemic
Italy reaches 827 deaths, with over 12,000 confirmed cases. (BBC News)

Madrid becomes the centre of Spain's coronavirus crisis, closing schools
With over 1,600 cases confirmed, Madrid's regional government announces the closure of all nurseries, schools, universities and cultural institutions. (Guardian)

Johnson allows 3,000 Atletico Madrid fans to fly to Liverpool
UK government allows the Champions League match between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid to go ahead, seeing 3,000 football fans travel from Madrid to Merseyside. 52,000 people attended the match. An investigation will later be launched into a regional spike in cases. (Guardian)

"The strategy of the British government in minimising the impact of Covid-19 is to allow the virus to pass through the entire population so that we acquire herd immunity" – ITV's Robert Peston is briefed by the Government on its strategy
ITV's political editor reveals that ministers want everyone to become infected but "at a much delayed speed so that those who suffer the most acute symptoms are able to receive the medical support they need." (ITV)

Mass testing and contact tracing stopped
UK Government sharply departs from the course of action adopted by Germany and South Korea. At this point the UK has seen 10 deaths and 590 confirmed cases. “If we hadn’t stopped it on 12 March, our epidemic would have been much less,” professor of global health Anthony Costello will later say. According to the Royal Society of Medicine's Gabriel Scally: “Abandoning testing gave the virus the green light to spread uncontrollably.” (Bloomberg)

Official UK death toll reaches 10
"Banning such events will have little effect on the spread" – Johnson on the Cheltenham Festival
(Independent)

UK Government's plan is projected to kill a quarter of a million people
The Government is presented with "shattering" findings from Imperial College modelling. Untrammelled, the virus could kill half a million people, while the Government's herd immunity plan is projected to kill a quarter of a million. It is critical that action is taken urgently to suppress the spread of the virus. Nevertheless it will be a further 11 days before Johnson introduces a lockdown. (Sunday Times)

"We are not, I repeat not, closing schools now" – Boris Johnson
(Politico)

President Macron announces the closure of all French schools and universities
(CNBC)

Ireland's Taoiseach Leo Varadkar shuts all education institutions
Germany closes schools, nurseries and universities
(Express)

WHO declares Europe the "epicentre" of the coronavirus pandemic
(BBC)

"As Europe Shuts Down, Britain Takes a Different, and Contentious, Approach" – New York Times headline
"Prime Minister Boris Johnson has largely kept Britain open, opting for more targeted measures," says the newspaper, "a strategy that has startled some epidemiologists." (New York Times)

EU officials discuss joint purchase of ventilators. Britain refuses to join the scheme, despite being invited
(Guardian)

Premier League suspends top flight football, in the absence of clear government guidance
(BBC)

Johnson lifts restrictions on those arriving from known coronavirus hotspots, including Wuhan, Italy and Iran
(Independent)

"Do not just let this fire burn" – WHO
In contrast to the UK Government's approach, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom, urges governments around the world to "Find, isolate, test and treat every case to break the chains of transmission... Do not just let this fire burn." (WHO transcript

Government adviser defends herd immunity strategy
“Communities will become immune to it and that’s going to be an important part of controlling this longer term,” says Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. “About 60 per cent is the sort of figure you need to get herd immunity.” The strategy would require 40 million Britons to become infected. (Financial Times)

NHS staff put at risk
Government downgrades its guidance on PPE, advising NHS staff to wear less protective equipment in all but the most high-risk situations. (BBC News)

Official UK death toll reaches 20
Government still allowing mass events as 5,000 pack arena in Cardiff
Stereophonics play in Cardiff, while across town the Wales vs Scotland Six Nations rugby match is postponed – by the organisers, not the Government. (ITV)

Germany imposes border controls
Germany tightens border restrictions with five neighbouring countries: Austria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland. (BBC News)

Ireland asks all pubs to close
With just two days to go until St Patrick's Day celebrations, the Irish Government asks all pubs to close. Ireland only has 169 cases and two deaths confirmed. (BBC News)

UK Government keeps pubs open
At this point the UK has 1,400 confirmed cases and at least 35 deaths. (BBC News)

Official UK death toll reaches 50
Austria tightens borders and bans gatherings of more than five
(Metro)

Imperial College study is published. It concludes over half a million Britons could die
Even the government’s “mitigation” approach could lead to 250,000 deaths and intensive care units being overwhelmed at least eight times over, the study finds. Imperial’s prediction of over half a million deaths is no different from a report by the Government’s own pandemic modelling committee two weeks earlier. They knew.

Johnson asks Britons not to go to pubs but allows them to stay open
The Government requests that the public avoid non-essential contract and travel, but the measures stop short of a lockdown and mass gatherings are still allowed. (Fortune)

“Test, test, test" says head of WHO
“You cannot fight a fire blindfolded. And we cannot stop this pandemic if we don’t know who is infected. We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test.” - Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom. (WHO)

Johnson jokes that push to build new ventilators should be called "Operation Last Gasp"
The comment is made during a conference call with CEOs to discuss life-saving ventilator production. (Politico)

France goes into lockdown
(France24)

20,000 deaths would be "a good outcome" – Government Chief Scientific Adviser
(Telegraph)

Official UK death toll reaches 100
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

NHS staff "thrown to the wolves" by government over lack of PPE
The claim, from frontline NHS staff, follows acute shortages of PPE, including gowns, eye protection and face masks. (Bloomberg)

"Tracing every contact must be the backbone of the response in every country" – WHO
(WHO)

Six days since UK stopped contact tracing
Despite the urging of the WHO, the UK has not reinstated contact tracing. Meanwhile, tracing continues to great effect in other countries tackling the virus, including Germany, South Korea and Singapore. It will be more than six weeks until the UK releases an app to facilitate contact tracing. (Guardian)

Coronavirus patients sent back to care homes
A Government diktat tells NHS hospitals to move elderly patients into care homes even if they have Covid-19. A Whitehall official will later state that the policy was designed as a “stiff broom” to free up capacity in hospitals. The policy is blamed for a later explosion of cases in care homes. (Telegraph)

UK closes schools and pubs
The UK finally closes schools, cafes, pubs and restaurants. The move comes later than in any comparable European country. (BBC)

Government adviser claims PPE shortages "completely resolved"
“The country has a perfectly adequate supply of PPE,” says Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries, stating that supply issues have been "completely resolved". In less than two weeks, the British Medical Association will report acute shortages in dozens of NHS trusts across the UK, putting frontline NHS staff at risk. (The Lancet)

Johnson tells nation he is hoping to see his mother on Mother's Day
"I hope to get to see her," he tells Downing Street press conference. (Independent)

Official UK death toll reaches 200
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Under pressure, Johnson now tells people not to visit their mothers on Mother's Day
(Daily Mail)

UK finally goes into lockdown
A senior cabinet source will later state: “We didn’t want to go down this route in the first place – public and media pressure pushed the lockdown, we went with the science." In reality, many scientists were urging a much earlier lockdown. (Telegraph)

Official UK death toll reaches 400
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Government strategy slammed by scientists
In damning testimony to a Parliamentary committee, Lancet editor Richard Horton slams the Government for failing to heed evidence of the severity of the coronavirus back in January and thinking it could manage "a controlled epidemic". (House of Commons Science and Technology Committee)

Brexit over breathing?
The Prime Minister is accused of putting "Brexit over breathing" by not joining the EU ventilator scheme. When asked why the Government did not join the scheme, the PM's spokesperson replies: "Because we're no longer members of the EU." The European Commission confirms that the UK was indeed entitled to participate. The UK Government then changes its story, saying it hadn't taken advantage of the EU ventilator joint procurement scheme because it had missed an email due to a "communication problem". (Politics Home)

Official UK death toll reaches 1,000
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Herd immunity strategy intolerable, says New Zealand Prime Minister
"There were some countries who initially talked about herd immunity as a strategy. In New Zealand we never ever considered that as a possibility, ever. Herd immunity would’ve meant tens of thousands of New Zealanders dying and I simply would not tolerate that and I don’t think any New Zealander would" – Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, on the initial UK strategy. (TVNZ)

Official UK death toll reaches 2,000
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Just 2,000 of 1.2 million NHS staff have been tested, the Government admits
Only 150,000 tests have been carried out across the UK. (Evening Standard)

Germany carrying out 50,000 tests per day
(Financial Times)

Government contacts the UK's testing industry for the first time
The revelation comes from the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association, which represents 110 companies that make up most of the UK’s testing sector. (Financial Times)

PPE crisis deepens
PPE shortages reported in more than 30 hospital trusts, according to the British Medical Association. (Guardian)

UK death toll now bigger than China
(Daily Mail)

Government discourages British public from wearing facemasks
The advice will shift a few weeks later. (inews)

NHS Nightingale opened
The London hospital was built in just nine days and opened to much fanfare. In the following 17 days, however, the hospital will treat just 41 Covid-19 patients, while turning away 50 more requiring critical care largely due to a shortage of nurses. (Guardian)

Official UK death toll reaches 4,000
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

"Game changer" antibody tests are a failure
17.5 million antibody tests ordered by the Government – which Boris Johnson described as a "game changer" – are found to be unreliable, failing to detect up to half of coronavirus cases. (Guardian)

Johnson admitted to hospital with "persistent symptoms"
(CNN)

Thousands of contact tracing experts unused in UK
The Government is criticised for failing to deploy thousands of contact tracing experts it had at its disposal. It will be another 11 days before ministers announce plans to restart contact tracing. (Guardian)

Johnson is moved to intensive care unit as his condition worsens
(BBC News)

Still nowhere near enough tests being carried out in the UK
To date, only 208,000 tests have been carried out in the UK: just one-fifth of those conducted in Germany. (Fortune)

Relief as Johnson leaves hospital
(Guardian)

Official UK death toll reaches 10,000
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Flights still bringing 15,000 people a day into UK without virus testing, including travellers from China, Italy & the US
(Sun)

"I would love to be able to wave a magic wand and have PPE fall from the sky” – Health Secretary Matt Hancock
The UK has now missed at least four opportunities to join the EU's joint PPE procurement scheme. (BBC News)

Government's ventilator plan falls apart
Ministers' call for UK manufacturers to embody the 'Blitz spirit' and shift their manufacturing capacity to ventilators has largely been a tactical misstep. A lack of clarity over what was needed sent the majority of non-specialist manufacturers trying to 'reinvent the wheel' and submit prototypes for ventilators which are unsuitable for treating Covid-19 patients. (Financial Times)

Personal protective equipment is running out, Government admits
(Guardian)

Government has failed to secure promised PPE
The Government has failed to secure 16 million face masks for the NHS in the past month, it is revealed, as manufacturers' offers of help were repeatedly met with silence. Instead, millions of pieces of PPE are being shipped from the UK to Europe. (Telegraph)

80 frontline health workers have died from coronavirus
Calls grow for an inquiry into the "grotesque" failure to provide adequate protective gear to frontline staff, following the news that 80 health and social care staff have died from Covid-19. They are disproportionately from the BAME community. (Politics Home)

Death toll surges in area around Cheltenham Racecourse
Gloucestershire hospitals NHS trust, which covers Cheltenham, has now recorded 125 deaths, roughly double that of two nearby trusts in Bristol (58 each), and those covering Swindon (67) and Bath (46). (Guardian)

True UK death toll revealed: over 40,000
UK coronavirus deaths are more than double the official figure, it is revealed. With the Government tally of 17,337 deaths only counting those who died in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19, a Financial Times analysis of 'excess deaths' based on Office for National Statistics data shows that the true number of coronavirus deaths is around 41,000. (Financial Times)

Contact tracing to restart
The Government announces it is training an 'army' of 15,000 tracers within the next three weeks, resuming a policy it scrapped in early March, finally mimicking the 'test, trace, isolate' strategy which has proven effective in South Korea, where Covid-19 deaths have remained under 250, despite a similar-sized population to the UK. (Times)

Government announces testing kit website for key workers
The initiative will make it "easier, faster, and simpler for any essential worker in England, who needs a test, to get a test," says Health Secretary Matt Hancock. (ITV)

Testing kit website for key workers runs out within minutes of launch
Website for home testing kits made available to 10 million key workers runs out within minutes of opening as only 5,000 kits are made available for the first day. (Bloomberg)

Official UK death toll reaches 20,000. The real total is more than The Blitz.
The likely true figure is over 45,000 people. In the past month, Covid-19 has killed more Britons than died in The Blitz.

“We have so far succeeded in the first and most important task we set ourselves as a nation – to avoid the tragedy that engulfed other parts of the world,” says Boris Johnson
At this point Britain has the third highest number of deaths in the world. (Conservative Party)

Government artificially inflates testing numbers to meet target
The 100,000 tests a day target is 'met' by mailing out tens of thousands of tests rather than conducting them. Over subsequent days the number of UK tests will fall substantially below 100,000, showing the target was artificially met. (Guardian)

UK death toll becomes highest in Europe
As the UK approaches 30,000 recorded deaths, a grim milestone is reached. On the same day The Times reveals that the true number is probably around 55,000. (Times)"

(http://appeasement.org/?fbclid=IwAR2R702DpqCxzlNleA9m90dD7waKexejDn7et97rJ5t27DDmitcsubYLUmQ)

But, what about ...
He's been ill. He's just had a baby ....

 

[vegster]

"How Boris Johnson refused to fight the virus

Through a deadly combination of arrogance and incompetence, Boris Johnson’s government ignored international warnings and allowed Covid-19 to spread largely unchecked in the UK.

Like one of his predecessors he ignored a gathering storm, downplayed the threat then failed to act. He appeased the virus.

By the time he realised his mistake it was too late, thousands would needlessly die and the economy would face a protracted lockdown.

Today the UK is the second worst hit country in the world.

He’s not Churchill. He’s Chamberlain.

Timeline of failure:
China alerts WHO to new virus
China confirms human-to-human transmission
Wuhan is locked down
Research reveals severity of coronavirus
A study in the British medical journal The Lancet shows that a third of China's Covid-19 patients require admission to intensive care and 29% worsen to the point where they need ventilation.

Johnson skips first Cobra meeting on the crisis
“The committee – which includes ministers, intelligence chiefs and military generals – gathers at moments of great peril such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters and other threats to the nation and is normally chaired by the prime minister.” (Sunday Times)

January to March: Government fails to check or quarantine airport arrivals
Fewer than 300 people out of the 18.1 million who entered the UK in the three months prior to the coronavirus lockdown were formally quarantined. The number of potentially infected individuals entering the UK from coronavirus-affected countries in that period is thought to be in the tens of thousands. (Guardian)

Johnson misses second Cobra meeting on virus
(Spectator)

WHO declares 'public health emergency of international concern'
UK raises threat level from 'low' to 'moderate'
Two people in the UK test positive for coronavirus
The virus has infected almost 10,000 people globally, with 213 fatalities in China.

NHS England declares first ever 'Level 4 Critical Incident'
UK declines to join European scheme to source Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
On the day Britain leaves the European Union, UK officials attend a meeting of the European health security committee at which a joint procurement scheme to secure crucial medical supplies is discussed. The supplies include personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, goggles and gloves. Despite being eligible to join the scheme, and being present in numerous subsequent meetings at which it is discussed, the UK declines to join. (Guardian)

Johnson misses third Cobra virus meeting
(Spectator)

More cases confirmed in UK
A British businessman in Brighton tests positive following a trip to Singapore. The 'superspreader' will be linked to 11 cases, five of which are in the UK. (Metro)

As the danger grows, Boris Johnson urges Britons to remain "confident and calm"
(ITV News)

Study warns that coronavirus could infect 45 million people in the UK if left unchallenged
Exeter University research warns that Covid-19 cases could peak within four months and infect two-thirds of the country. (Reuters)

Johnson skips fourth Cobra meeting
The Prime Minister is yet to attend a single meeting of the coronavirus emergency response committee. (Spectator)

Johnson skips conference call with European leaders
The PM and Matt Hancock fail to dial in to a conference call with EU leaders and health ministers to discuss coronavirus response planning, despite being invited. Over the next six weeks they will fail to attend a further seven such calls. (Reuters)

Johnson retreats to Chevening for a 'working holiday'
The PM decamps for a fortnight to the grace-and-favour estate in Kent. Despite the UK raising the official threat level to 'moderate' and NHS England declaring a Level 4 Critical Incident at the end of January, aides are told to keep Johnson's briefing notes short. “Box submissions have to be brief if he is going to read it. If they’re overly long or overly complex, Dom [Cummings] sends them back with savage comments,” one official reveals. It will later emerge that much of Johnson's time was actually spent reaching a divorce settlement with his estranged wife, in order to pave the way for the announcement that he and girlfriend Carrie Symonds are now engaged and expecting a baby. (Sunday Times)

First coronavirus death in Europe
(BBC News)

Johnson skips his fifth coronavirus Cobra meeting
(Spectator)

Mid February: "There was a real sense that he didn’t do urgent crisis planning" – Senior Downing Street adviser
Looking back at this period, the adviser will later say: "There’s no way you’re at war if your PM isn’t there. And what you learn about Boris was he didn’t chair any meetings. He liked his country breaks. He didn’t work weekends. There was a real sense that he didn’t do urgent crisis planning. It was exactly like people feared he would be." (Sunday Times)

First coronavirus death in Italy
All public events are banned and schools closed in several towns southeast of Milan. (Telegraph)

UK government keeps threat level at 'moderate'
(Sun)

Johnson emerges from his 'working holiday' and returns to Downing Street
(Mirror)

"Days make a difference with a disease like this" – WHO
"Time is everything in this disease... If you can slow something down by three days by the time you get to a fifth generation of cases you can cut the size of that by 90%. Days make a difference with a disease like this." – Dr Bruce Aylward, WHO China Envoy. (WHO)

Half a million Britons could die, according to leaked UK government 'Worst Case Scenario' document
With 13 known cases in the UK, the study estimates that the coronavirus could infect up to 80% of the population. (Independent)

Late February: "Herd immunity, protect the economy, and if that means some pensioners die, too bad"
A summary of how Dominic Cummings described the Government’s coronavirus strategy, according to a witness who later spoke to the Sunday Times. Despite little being known about the disease, the Government insists on pursuing an off-the-shelf flu pandemic plan centred around mitigation rather than testing, tracing and suppression of the virus to limit its spread. (Sunday Times)

Australia designates Covid-19 a pandemic and enacts emergency response plan
(USA Today)

First British coronavirus death confirmed
A British man who was quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship dies from Covid-19. (Guardian)

First recorded transmission of the disease on UK soil
(Times)

NHS bosses warn of PPE shortage and "nightmare" facing health service
In 2019, the Government's own National Security Risk Assessment warned of the severe risk from a coronavirus pandemic. Yet the Government failed to heed even basic recommended preparations. Instead, Brexit preparations took priority over training key workers for a pandemic, and emergency PPE stockpiles had severely dwindled or gone out of date following years of austerity cuts. (Sunday Times)

Johnson retreats to Chequers to announce engagement and fiancé's pregnancy
(Telegraph)

Johnson says the virus is likely to "spread a bit more" in the UK
(Reuters)

Government's own scientists say more than half a million Britons could die if virus is left unrestrained
(Reuters)

PM finally attends a coronavirus Cobra meeting
Chairing his first Cobra meeting about the disease, the PM is confronted with estimates of half a million deaths in the UK. Despite these chilling warnings from its own pandemic modelling panel, the Government declines another opportunity to join EU countries jointly buying essential PPE, including overalls, gloves and face masks. (Sky News)

Johnson tells country we are "very, very well-prepared"
As chronic PPE shortages and other failures will soon reveal, Britain is not in fact prepared. (Sky News)

Scientists urge Government to advise public not to shake hands
Government scientists agree that the public should be warned "against greetings such as shaking hands and hugging, given existing evidence about the importance of hand hygiene." (Government)

"I'm shaking hands continuously... we should be going about our business as usual" – Boris Johnson
"I’m shaking hands continuously, I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody, you’ll be pleased to know. I continue to shake hands..." He adds: "I want to stress that for the vast majority of the people of this country, we should be going about our business as usual." (Guardian)

The total number of coronavirus cases now recorded in mainland China reaches 80,026, with 2,943 deaths
(Guardian)

Government stops providing daily updates on Covid-19 cases
Following a 70% spike in coronavirus cases in the UK, the Government stops providing daily updates on cases – instead moving to weekly updates. The Government will later U-turn amid accusations it is withholding vital information. (Guardian)

First coronavirus death in the UK
Greece closes its schools, following in the paths of Iran and Italy
Larger public gatherings at Greek theatres, cinemas, museums and sports events have been cancelled in three western regions of the country. The Greeks will later be lauded for successfully suppressing the virus through early action. (Guardian)

"Wash your hands and business as usual" – Boris Johnson
(BBC News)

The Prime Minister joins 82,000 at Six Nations rugby match
In the absence of clear government direction many major organisations, businesses and sporting bodies have cancelled events or implemented urgent action plans. Meanwhile Boris Johnson takes his pregnant fiancé to Twickenham. (Express)

France bans large events and begins stricter distancing measures
(New York Times)

Ireland cancels St Patrick's Day parades
(BBC News)

"No rationale" for cancelling sporting events, says UK Government
(BBC News)

278 recorded coronavirus cases in UK
10 - 13 March: Cheltenham Festival goes ahead with more than a quarter of a million people attending
The festival organisers cite Johnson's attendance at the rugby three days earlier as part of their rationale for going ahead. Data will later reveal a spike in cases in the region after the event. (Guardian)

WHO declares global pandemic
Italy reaches 827 deaths, with over 12,000 confirmed cases. (BBC News)

Madrid becomes the centre of Spain's coronavirus crisis, closing schools
With over 1,600 cases confirmed, Madrid's regional government announces the closure of all nurseries, schools, universities and cultural institutions. (Guardian)

Johnson allows 3,000 Atletico Madrid fans to fly to Liverpool
UK government allows the Champions League match between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid to go ahead, seeing 3,000 football fans travel from Madrid to Merseyside. 52,000 people attended the match. An investigation will later be launched into a regional spike in cases. (Guardian)

"The strategy of the British government in minimising the impact of Covid-19 is to allow the virus to pass through the entire population so that we acquire herd immunity" – ITV's Robert Peston is briefed by the Government on its strategy
ITV's political editor reveals that ministers want everyone to become infected but "at a much delayed speed so that those who suffer the most acute symptoms are able to receive the medical support they need." (ITV)

Mass testing and contact tracing stopped
UK Government sharply departs from the course of action adopted by Germany and South Korea. At this point the UK has seen 10 deaths and 590 confirmed cases. “If we hadn’t stopped it on 12 March, our epidemic would have been much less,” professor of global health Anthony Costello will later say. According to the Royal Society of Medicine's Gabriel Scally: “Abandoning testing gave the virus the green light to spread uncontrollably.” (Bloomberg)

Official UK death toll reaches 10
"Banning such events will have little effect on the spread" – Johnson on the Cheltenham Festival
(Independent)

UK Government's plan is projected to kill a quarter of a million people
The Government is presented with "shattering" findings from Imperial College modelling. Untrammelled, the virus could kill half a million people, while the Government's herd immunity plan is projected to kill a quarter of a million. It is critical that action is taken urgently to suppress the spread of the virus. Nevertheless it will be a further 11 days before Johnson introduces a lockdown. (Sunday Times)

"We are not, I repeat not, closing schools now" – Boris Johnson
(Politico)

President Macron announces the closure of all French schools and universities
(CNBC)

Ireland's Taoiseach Leo Varadkar shuts all education institutions
Germany closes schools, nurseries and universities
(Express)

WHO declares Europe the "epicentre" of the coronavirus pandemic
(BBC)

"As Europe Shuts Down, Britain Takes a Different, and Contentious, Approach" – New York Times headline
"Prime Minister Boris Johnson has largely kept Britain open, opting for more targeted measures," says the newspaper, "a strategy that has startled some epidemiologists." (New York Times)

EU officials discuss joint purchase of ventilators. Britain refuses to join the scheme, despite being invited
(Guardian)

Premier League suspends top flight football, in the absence of clear government guidance
(BBC)

Johnson lifts restrictions on those arriving from known coronavirus hotspots, including Wuhan, Italy and Iran
(Independent)

"Do not just let this fire burn" – WHO
In contrast to the UK Government's approach, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom, urges governments around the world to "Find, isolate, test and treat every case to break the chains of transmission... Do not just let this fire burn." (WHO transcript

Government adviser defends herd immunity strategy
“Communities will become immune to it and that’s going to be an important part of controlling this longer term,” says Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. “About 60 per cent is the sort of figure you need to get herd immunity.” The strategy would require 40 million Britons to become infected. (Financial Times)

NHS staff put at risk
Government downgrades its guidance on PPE, advising NHS staff to wear less protective equipment in all but the most high-risk situations. (BBC News)

Official UK death toll reaches 20
Government still allowing mass events as 5,000 pack arena in Cardiff
Stereophonics play in Cardiff, while across town the Wales vs Scotland Six Nations rugby match is postponed – by the organisers, not the Government. (ITV)

Germany imposes border controls
Germany tightens border restrictions with five neighbouring countries: Austria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland. (BBC News)

Ireland asks all pubs to close
With just two days to go until St Patrick's Day celebrations, the Irish Government asks all pubs to close. Ireland only has 169 cases and two deaths confirmed. (BBC News)

UK Government keeps pubs open
At this point the UK has 1,400 confirmed cases and at least 35 deaths. (BBC News)

Official UK death toll reaches 50
Austria tightens borders and bans gatherings of more than five
(Metro)

Imperial College study is published. It concludes over half a million Britons could die
Even the government’s “mitigation” approach could lead to 250,000 deaths and intensive care units being overwhelmed at least eight times over, the study finds. Imperial’s prediction of over half a million deaths is no different from a report by the Government’s own pandemic modelling committee two weeks earlier. They knew.

Johnson asks Britons not to go to pubs but allows them to stay open
The Government requests that the public avoid non-essential contract and travel, but the measures stop short of a lockdown and mass gatherings are still allowed. (Fortune)

“Test, test, test" says head of WHO
“You cannot fight a fire blindfolded. And we cannot stop this pandemic if we don’t know who is infected. We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test.” - Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom. (WHO)

Johnson jokes that push to build new ventilators should be called "Operation Last Gasp"
The comment is made during a conference call with CEOs to discuss life-saving ventilator production. (Politico)

France goes into lockdown
(France24)

20,000 deaths would be "a good outcome" – Government Chief Scientific Adviser
(Telegraph)

Official UK death toll reaches 100
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

NHS staff "thrown to the wolves" by government over lack of PPE
The claim, from frontline NHS staff, follows acute shortages of PPE, including gowns, eye protection and face masks. (Bloomberg)

"Tracing every contact must be the backbone of the response in every country" – WHO
(WHO)

Six days since UK stopped contact tracing
Despite the urging of the WHO, the UK has not reinstated contact tracing. Meanwhile, tracing continues to great effect in other countries tackling the virus, including Germany, South Korea and Singapore. It will be more than six weeks until the UK releases an app to facilitate contact tracing. (Guardian)

Coronavirus patients sent back to care homes
A Government diktat tells NHS hospitals to move elderly patients into care homes even if they have Covid-19. A Whitehall official will later state that the policy was designed as a “stiff broom” to free up capacity in hospitals. The policy is blamed for a later explosion of cases in care homes. (Telegraph)

UK closes schools and pubs
The UK finally closes schools, cafes, pubs and restaurants. The move comes later than in any comparable European country. (BBC)

Government adviser claims PPE shortages "completely resolved"
“The country has a perfectly adequate supply of PPE,” says Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries, stating that supply issues have been "completely resolved". In less than two weeks, the British Medical Association will report acute shortages in dozens of NHS trusts across the UK, putting frontline NHS staff at risk. (The Lancet)

Johnson tells nation he is hoping to see his mother on Mother's Day
"I hope to get to see her," he tells Downing Street press conference. (Independent)

Official UK death toll reaches 200
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Under pressure, Johnson now tells people not to visit their mothers on Mother's Day
(Daily Mail)

UK finally goes into lockdown
A senior cabinet source will later state: “We didn’t want to go down this route in the first place – public and media pressure pushed the lockdown, we went with the science." In reality, many scientists were urging a much earlier lockdown. (Telegraph)

Official UK death toll reaches 400
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Government strategy slammed by scientists
In damning testimony to a Parliamentary committee, Lancet editor Richard Horton slams the Government for failing to heed evidence of the severity of the coronavirus back in January and thinking it could manage "a controlled epidemic". (House of Commons Science and Technology Committee)

Brexit over breathing?
The Prime Minister is accused of putting "Brexit over breathing" by not joining the EU ventilator scheme. When asked why the Government did not join the scheme, the PM's spokesperson replies: "Because we're no longer members of the EU." The European Commission confirms that the UK was indeed entitled to participate. The UK Government then changes its story, saying it hadn't taken advantage of the EU ventilator joint procurement scheme because it had missed an email due to a "communication problem". (Politics Home)

Official UK death toll reaches 1,000
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Herd immunity strategy intolerable, says New Zealand Prime Minister
"There were some countries who initially talked about herd immunity as a strategy. In New Zealand we never ever considered that as a possibility, ever. Herd immunity would’ve meant tens of thousands of New Zealanders dying and I simply would not tolerate that and I don’t think any New Zealander would" – Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, on the initial UK strategy. (TVNZ)

Official UK death toll reaches 2,000
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Just 2,000 of 1.2 million NHS staff have been tested, the Government admits
Only 150,000 tests have been carried out across the UK. (Evening Standard)

Germany carrying out 50,000 tests per day
(Financial Times)

Government contacts the UK's testing industry for the first time
The revelation comes from the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association, which represents 110 companies that make up most of the UK’s testing sector. (Financial Times)

PPE crisis deepens
PPE shortages reported in more than 30 hospital trusts, according to the British Medical Association. (Guardian)

UK death toll now bigger than China
(Daily Mail)

Government discourages British public from wearing facemasks
The advice will shift a few weeks later. (inews)

NHS Nightingale opened
The London hospital was built in just nine days and opened to much fanfare. In the following 17 days, however, the hospital will treat just 41 Covid-19 patients, while turning away 50 more requiring critical care largely due to a shortage of nurses. (Guardian)

Official UK death toll reaches 4,000
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

"Game changer" antibody tests are a failure
17.5 million antibody tests ordered by the Government – which Boris Johnson described as a "game changer" – are found to be unreliable, failing to detect up to half of coronavirus cases. (Guardian)

Johnson admitted to hospital with "persistent symptoms"
(CNN)

Thousands of contact tracing experts unused in UK
The Government is criticised for failing to deploy thousands of contact tracing experts it had at its disposal. It will be another 11 days before ministers announce plans to restart contact tracing. (Guardian)

Johnson is moved to intensive care unit as his condition worsens
(BBC News)

Still nowhere near enough tests being carried out in the UK
To date, only 208,000 tests have been carried out in the UK: just one-fifth of those conducted in Germany. (Fortune)

Relief as Johnson leaves hospital
(Guardian)

Official UK death toll reaches 10,000
Later analysis of excess deaths will show that this figure is likely half the actual total.

Flights still bringing 15,000 people a day into UK without virus testing, including travellers from China, Italy & the US
(Sun)

"I would love to be able to wave a magic wand and have PPE fall from the sky” – Health Secretary Matt Hancock
The UK has now missed at least four opportunities to join the EU's joint PPE procurement scheme. (BBC News)

Government's ventilator plan falls apart
Ministers' call for UK manufacturers to embody the 'Blitz spirit' and shift their manufacturing capacity to ventilators has largely been a tactical misstep. A lack of clarity over what was needed sent the majority of non-specialist manufacturers trying to 'reinvent the wheel' and submit prototypes for ventilators which are unsuitable for treating Covid-19 patients. (Financial Times)

Personal protective equipment is running out, Government admits
(Guardian)

Government has failed to secure promised PPE
The Government has failed to secure 16 million face masks for the NHS in the past month, it is revealed, as manufacturers' offers of help were repeatedly met with silence. Instead, millions of pieces of PPE are being shipped from the UK to Europe. (Telegraph)

80 frontline health workers have died from coronavirus
Calls grow for an inquiry into the "grotesque" failure to provide adequate protective gear to frontline staff, following the news that 80 health and social care staff have died from Covid-19. They are disproportionately from the BAME community. (Politics Home)

Death toll surges in area around Cheltenham Racecourse
Gloucestershire hospitals NHS trust, which covers Cheltenham, has now recorded 125 deaths, roughly double that of two nearby trusts in Bristol (58 each), and those covering Swindon (67) and Bath (46). (Guardian)

True UK death toll revealed: over 40,000
UK coronavirus deaths are more than double the official figure, it is revealed. With the Government tally of 17,337 deaths only counting those who died in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19, a Financial Times analysis of 'excess deaths' based on Office for National Statistics data shows that the true number of coronavirus deaths is around 41,000. (Financial Times)

Contact tracing to restart
The Government announces it is training an 'army' of 15,000 tracers within the next three weeks, resuming a policy it scrapped in early March, finally mimicking the 'test, trace, isolate' strategy which has proven effective in South Korea, where Covid-19 deaths have remained under 250, despite a similar-sized population to the UK. (Times)

Government announces testing kit website for key workers
The initiative will make it "easier, faster, and simpler for any essential worker in England, who needs a test, to get a test," says Health Secretary Matt Hancock. (ITV)

Testing kit website for key workers runs out within minutes of launch
Website for home testing kits made available to 10 million key workers runs out within minutes of opening as only 5,000 kits are made available for the first day. (Bloomberg)

Official UK death toll reaches 20,000. The real total is more than The Blitz.
The likely true figure is over 45,000 people. In the past month, Covid-19 has killed more Britons than died in The Blitz.

“We have so far succeeded in the first and most important task we set ourselves as a nation – to avoid the tragedy that engulfed other parts of the world,” says Boris Johnson
At this point Britain has the third highest number of deaths in the world. (Conservative Party)

Government artificially inflates testing numbers to meet target
The 100,000 tests a day target is 'met' by mailing out tens of thousands of tests rather than conducting them. Over subsequent days the number of UK tests will fall substantially below 100,000, showing the target was artificially met. (Guardian)

UK death toll becomes highest in Europe
As the UK approaches 30,000 recorded deaths, a grim milestone is reached. On the same day The Times reveals that the true number is probably around 55,000. (Times)"

(http://appeasement.org/?fbclid=IwAR2R702DpqCxzlNleA9m90dD7waKexejDn7et97rJ5t27DDmitcsubYLUmQ)

A truly damning indictment.

 

[spring hall convert]

So why, exactly, have we got such a high death rate, those people have to have been catching it from somewhere/someone... Clearly social distancing hasn't worked for them.

Care homes are a big problem still.

The government took care homes seriously way too late (until recently they were discharging patients with Covid-19 into care homes!) - they were more concerned about avoiding the PR nightmare of young, healthy people being turned away from hospitals, hence the focus on creating field hospitals and keeping old, dying people out of hospital.

The PPE in care homes still isn't sorted so the virus is getting in and if infected most residents don't stand a chance.

Also, we are a couple of weeks behind Spain and Italy - their numbers weren't vastly different a couple of weeks ago were they? It takes an average of 21 days to die of the virus but that's only an average, some will be longer.

 

[dazzer6666]

Lockdown to me appears to be pretty well observed. There will always be those flouting it, but even a 90-95% adherence is remarkable, and the 5-10% flouting hasn’t been enough to stop it working.

There are a couple of factors for me that stand out way above everything else - lockdown was too late, and the care home situation wasn’t recognised or catered for. I’m convinced these two factors (allied to an ageing population) are by far and away the primary reasons for our high death rate (when all this has passed, I don’t think our total will look anything like as much as an outlier as it does now).

Away from the horrific care home numbers, every other indicator seems to be improving quite rapidly now - admissions, patients in hospital (and ITU), hospital deaths etc. This could have a significant impact on lockdown exit, with a clear distinction for the general public vs the very vulnerable.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

You may not like what I have to say, but I say it all through one account, why hide behind a 2nd or 3rd account



Strange behaviour.

 

[Weststander]

Lockdown to me appears to be pretty well observed. There will always be those flouting it, but even a 90-95% adherence is remarkable, and the 5-10% flouting hasn’t been enough to stop it working.

There are a couple of factors for me that stand out way above everything else - lockdown was too late, and the care home situation wasn’t recognised or catered for. I’m convinced these two factors (allied to an ageing population) are by far and away the primary reasons for our high death rate (when all this has passed, I don’t think our total will look anything like as much as an outlier as it does now).

Away from the horrific care home numbers, every other indicator seems to be improving quite rapidly now - admissions, patients in hospital (and ITU), hospital deaths etc. This could have a significant impact on lockdown exit, with a clear distinction for the general public vs the very vulnerable.

Did you see yesterday’s Downing Street briefing? In the graphs bit, the scientist proudly announced that 82% abided by the social distancing laws in the last 7 days. They were elated with that.

Leaving 18% including Kyle Walker who couldn’t be arsed. Yet again, I’ve seen loads of folk completely ignoring it today. A big group of ‘hard men’ on Dyke Golf Course running amok together, VE Day parties where as the booze flows, the participants have given up on the doing it all from distance with neighbours.

I think Burgess Hill is far more civilised than Brighton and Hove, I know you only see compliance.

In hindsight, I wonder if the UK should’ve done the hard lockdown of Italy and Spain. Their death tolls relentlessly fall fast. Brits taking the pi*s must ultimately have cost lives. I really don’t think it’s 100% down to the neglect of care homes.

 

[The Clamp]

There’s no point having this discussion with you. You are utterly blinded by your love for the left. Pointless.


Both of the above apply to both of you.

Lazy. And utterly inaccurate.

 

[The Clamp]

Totally agree.

I know people like you who post all this anti tory hate on Facebook, I hope you're not one because you are going to lose friends and respect over it as this is not a political matter.

You guys have only just stopped 3 + years of raging hate towards people why carry it on

I see these post on Facebook and the people have 500 hundred or so friends and they are lucky to get 10 likes, it tells a story.

Seriously my friendly advice would be is to wind it in and stop spouting hate everywhere.

I wouldn’t know, I don’t go on Facebook. And if you are so easily offended by criticism of Johnson, don’t open a thread asking for opinion on how he is doing.

And stop being such a drama queen. My 8 yr old niece could have written a more considered, calmer post than your above, histrionic tantrum.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Lazy. And utterly inaccurate.

Inaccurate and really?

 

[Billy the Fish]

In hindsight, I wonder if the UK should’ve done the hard lockdown of Italy and Spain. Their death tolls relentlessly fall fast.

I don't think we're equipped to do it, culturally or practically. Both those countries have been dictatorships in living memory, the policing style is totally different and comparatively harsh and violent compared to what we experience.
I don't think people would stand for it here, quite rightly IMHO.