Main Coronavirus / Covid-19 Discussion Thread

[The Wizard]

Certainly appears as if the absolute peak passed on 8th April

 

[atomised]

That was my GP and then her friend from Hove became the first UK ‘super spreader’. They traced back his subsequent movements to a yoga class, The Grenadier, her’s to a large Hollingbury doctors surgery. Some people in contact must have got the virus, but self healed and so never knew.

My family work on empty covid-19 prepared wards at Brighton and Worthing. Some staff are now standing down to go back to original duties.

Could this be the calm before the storm, or have the good people of Sussex (in the main) taken social distancing really seriously over the last month or so?

We may well have done but you wouldn't know it to read the meltdowns on the argus comments pages everytime they publish a photo of people on the seafront.

 

[Weststander]

We may well have done but you wouldn't know it to read the meltdowns on the argus comments pages everytime they publish a photo of people on the seafront.

I had a rare look at The Argus earlier, just to see if they had any worthwhile covid19 stats. After battling against their ad traps coming at me from every angle, I found the usual bait to draw in a comments war from political enemies. This could be an opportunity for one bright person at The Argus to analyse the covid19 effect on Sussex, benchmark us for example against similarly populated shires and conurbations, where Sussex is on ‘our curve’, and so on. But nowt.

 

[Mtoto]

It is interesting to see how fragmented the USA appears in this crisis. One thing Trump stated last night which is true, was that in all other fights in recent history, there has been someone physical to fight with, and with the exception of the civil war (and Pearl Harbour), all elsewhere. Without wishing to become embroiled in politics, it strikes me that if the USA which has been around for a few hundred years, shares a common language and mostly cultural similarities between states, is struggling so much, how difficult the task is for the Europeans who want a more unified European Union.

Perhaps what strikes you is a very superficial take?

If you honestly believe that Alabama is basically like Massachusetts, that California is pretty much the same as Kansas and that Washington State is, give or take, the same thing as Florida, that's up to you. But it's a poor basis for any argument.

The good ole US of A is comprised of 50 states with huge variance in ethnicity, population density, equality, prosperity and pretty much every measure you want to think about. It operates on the basis of a constitution that - with a few subsequent amendments - was put together by a few dozen blokes in a room in Philadelphia in the 1770s, at a time when there were 13 "states", the middle of the country was completely unexplored and everything west of the Rockies was Spanish. It also endured the bloodiest civil war of the 19th century, losing nearly a million of its people in the process.

And yet ... it still hangs together. In fact, it's the world's biggest economy and greatest power - from a standing start about 250 years ago. Personally, I've always thought it's astonishing that it's still together at all. There's at least four countries in there: the west coast, the east coast, the midwest and the south.

Do you think there's any chance it might be because it's not a zero-sum game, and they get more by co-operating as a whole than they do by going their own way?

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Still only 305 cases in Brighton and Hove, I just cannot fathom how there is so few cases in such a populated city. I’ve read things like being by the sea/less polluted can help ect whether or not that’s true it will be very interesting to find out in future what is really going on here and why certain cities are so effected whilst others are not.

You make an interesting point however my dear friend it’s etc not ect. I don’t wish to be seen as one of the grammar police but I have one of those irrational moments every time I see it spelled incorrectly. Sorry

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Perhaps what strikes you is a very superficial take?

If you honestly believe that Alabama is basically like Massachusetts, that California is pretty much the same as Kansas and that Washington State is, give or take, the same thing as Florida, that's up to you. But it's a poor basis for any argument.

The good ole US of A is comprised of 50 states with huge variance in ethnicity, population density, equality, prosperity and pretty much every measure you want to think about. It operates on the basis of a constitution that - with a few subsequent amendments - was put together by a few dozen blokes in a room in Philadelphia in the 1770s, at a time when there were 13 "states", the middle of the country was completely unexplored and everything west of the Rockies was Spanish. It also endured the bloodiest civil war of the 19th century, losing nearly a million of its people in the process.

And yet ... it still hangs together. In fact, it's the world's biggest economy and greatest power - from a standing start about 250 years ago. Personally, I've always thought it's astonishing that it's still together at all. There's at least four countries in there: the west coast, the east coast, the midwest and the south.

Do you think there's any chance it might be because it's not a zero-sum game, and they get more by co-operating as a whole than they do by going their own way?

Well no, I do not think the states are the same at all. The variance is striking. The point I was trying to make is that even after more than a hundred years of federal government, they are inclined in their own direction. However, they are more similar than say, France and Germany or the Netherlands and Hungary or Greece and Ireland.

 

[Triggaaar]

Apparently we’ve just had delivery of over 20,000 ventilators, from Shanghai. - BBC News

That sounds too many? Really?

They've just made the figure up.

 

[Mellotron]

They've just made the figure up.

Who did? The reporter at BBC News? Shanghai? The people at Heathrow who received it?

 

[dazzer6666]

This nails it for me.

https://www.effiedeans.com/2020/04/journalism-is-missing-mood-country.html

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

This nails it for me.

https://www.effiedeans.com/2020/04/journalism-is-missing-mood-country.html

Very very good.

 

[cjd]

This nails it for me.

https://www.effiedeans.com/2020/04/journalism-is-missing-mood-country.html

A brilliant piece.

 

[beorhthelm]

This nails it for me.

https://www.effiedeans.com/2020/04/journalism-is-missing-mood-country.html

journalists need stories, if events dont provide them, they'll induce them.

 

[Rugrat]

Up to 319 now. I've been looking at this regularly, and it's been trickling up. We can only speculate as to why but, for comparison, Bristol's number is about 50% higher whereas their population is double B&H. If we are on the low side, two factors might be high % of residents able to WfH, and also a comparatively younger population.

Is the 319 current cases or all cases? If it's all cases do we know how many recovered/died/active?

 

[Machiavelli]

Well no, I do not think the states are the same at all. The variance is striking. The point I was trying to make is that even after more than a hundred years of federal government, they are inclined in their own direction. However, they are more similar than say, France and Germany or the Netherlands and Hungary or Greece and Ireland.

This isn't a black-and-white issue, but I think there's much more commonality between five of those countries (Hungary being the exception, and it's cranking up its exceptionality currently) than you credit. That's certainly the direction of travel, perhaps in part as a result of a recognition of the shallowness or repulsiveness of the differences that were exacerbated a century or so ago. That's not to claim that this direction of travel is set in stone, but that's my current hunch at least.

 

[Machiavelli]

Is the 319 current cases or all cases? If it's all cases do we know how many recovered/died/active?

It's described as 'total cases' which, unless anyone can indicate otherwise, I'll take as all cases:

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/#local-authorities

 

[keaton]

That piece is bs. The press are reporting good news stories. They have a duty to question those in charge even in the time of crisis. They did in the financial crisis, they did it in the Falkands and Second World War.
In 2008 people didn't complain that people were playing politics with it and we should wait til it's sorted until we start blaming people.
I'd wager the same people complaining about negative coverage of the government are the same people complaining about snowflakes unable to hear bad things the rest of the time

 

[dazzer6666]

That piece is bs. The press are reporting good news stories. They have a duty to question those in charge even in the time of crisis. They did in the financial crisis, they did it in the Falkands and Second World War.
In 2008 people didn't complain that people were playing politics with it and we should wait til it's sorted until we start blaming people.
I'd wager the same people complaining about negative coverage of the government are the same people complaining about snowflakes unable to hear bad things the rest of the time

Bollocks - every single news report or press conference starts with a tide of negativity.

 

[keaton]

Bollocks - every single news report or press conference starts with a tide of negativity.

Even the most positive person would admit there is a lot more negative than positive stuff happening.
The point of the press conference would be to question what is happening and what they're saying.
There are also issuea with a lot of what people are highlighting as good news stories. the PPE order was regarded as good news , but then it didn't arrive for 2/3 days later than expected. If the government has made mistakes that will cost lives that is the biggest story

 

[Jim D]

journalists need stories, if events dont provide them, they'll induce them.

In that case maybe they should all be furloughed

 

[LamieRobertson]

In that case maybe they should all be furloughed

I’ll second that