Just to show you that old orange face doesn't have the monopoly on stupid, it has been revealed by a Financial Times investigation that the modelling that the UK government has been relying on for predicting the progress of the crisis was based on
viral pneumonia and not Covid-19. So they've been rejecting the "anecdotal" evidence from Italy in favour of COD science in the form of models using the wrong illness. Genius.
They've now been alarmed by the perfectly predictable upturn in people admitted to hospital and have suddenly decided that we are to do social distancing. They're not closing the pubs, clubs and theatres, which would allow them to claim on their insurance, just advising everyone not to go there, OK?
Schools remain open because kids don't get it badly and so it is no threat to them, and their parents might have to stop work if they were sent home. As though the kids aren't going to infect their parents who will have to self isolate *anyway*.
Meanwhile, NHs workers are protesting that even when they are dealing with patients in hospital, they are not being allowed tests for Covid-19. So either they have to go home and self isolate in case it IS covid 19 or they have to continue working and maybe infecting the patients. That is not a sustainable solution, at all.
It seems that they are putting in their best efforts to make new test kits. Meantime a manufacturer of test kits in England and Northern Ireland reports
that he has had no requests for kits. That beggars belief. My blood pressure is reaching head explosion levels.
It's not as though they would be fully protected against Covid-19, as they are short of protective gear and the bunch of assholes who are advising the prime minister have loosened the rules for what protective equipment they have to wear, in line with what they have in the cupboard. Not surprisingly, very few of the doctors and nurses in the front line are in favour of this.
We have 4500 intensive care beds with ventilators in the UK, which are 98% occupied. Germany, with 12 million more people in the population has 100K beds. Last weekend the tories said they had asked Rolls Royce to change over to making ventilators - an assertion that Rolls Royce immediately denied, saying they had had no contact with the UK government.
I think this crisis was eminently predictable and have been saying so for weeks. I've been heavily criticised for asking questions and accused of frightening people by suggesting that we are on the road that Italy has already followed, and I don't give a damn about that. I didn't want to be in a position to say I told you so... but....
www.theguardian.com
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