Opinions on how the Government have handled the coronavirus outbreak

[slinger]

Scotland still have an upward curve in infections especially in care homes. But less face facts. Sturgeon is two faced having continually hinting at relaxations and future plan up until this point. Suddenly jumping the opposite way when she sees the situation in Scotland is worse than England. I always suspect that nationalist politics inform her decisions.

The flipside of that is that Wee Nicola could be seen as flexible, in that she's responded to the situation rather than just ploughed on with her first thoughts regardless. I much prefer a reactive leader to a rigid one who refuses to admit that he or she could have possibly made a mistake in the first place.

[slinger]

There's a pretty decent article here, from the Sydney Morning Herald, looking at how we've handled, or mishandled, the coronavirus pandemic, from half a world away. https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/biggest-failure-in-a-generation-where-did-britain-go-wrong-20200428-p54o2d.html

[Classicrock]

There's a pretty decent article here, from the Sydney Morning Herald, looking at how we've handled, or mishandled, the coronavirus pandemic, from half a world away. https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/biggest-failure-in-a-generation-where-did-britain-go-wrong-20200428-p54o2d.html

I was worried about the Liverpool match and Cheltenham at the time. Wincanton held a meeting at same time behind closed doors. Cheltenham should have done the same. Also the government had the wrong advisors (civil servants). Ironic that the guy who broke the rules persuaded them to change course. It might have dawned on them that other countries were doing something different however. Boris admitted in PM questions that as numbers rose they did not have the testing available to make a difference. I'm still not clear if herd immunity was ever a serious policy or something the advisors were keen on. Perhaps ministers should have realised they were talking bollocks from the off. Boris dismissed experts in the Brexit campaign and he would have done better to do the same with Chris Whitty and co.

However would this have made a difference? It's possible the virus was in the country earlier than France (December). Was speaking to a neighbour who had symptoms very similar to Covid 19 in November. Possible this reached Europe well before Chinese revealed it's existence. The virus must have been well established before March.

[savvypaul]

There's a pretty decent article here, from the Sydney Morning Herald, looking at how we've handled, or mishandled, the coronavirus pandemic, from half a world away. https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/biggest-failure-in-a-generation-where-did-britain-go-wrong-20200428-p54o2d.html

Boris dismissed experts in the Brexit campaign and he would have done better to do the same with Chris Whitty and co.

The experts were certainly not advising Johnson to shake hands with Covid patients and then boast about it on national TV.

[CN211276]

[quote=Classicrock post_id=207151 Also the government had the wrong advisors (civil servants).
[/quote]

Civil servants would not have been the source of advice on Covid 19. It would have been medical experts and, more likely, Demonic Dom who attended the SAGE meetings.

[CN211276]

Some Johnson quotes...

3rd Feb

"...we are starting to hear some bizarre autarkic rhetoric, when barriers are going up, and when there is a risk that new diseases such as coronavirus will trigger a panic and a desire for market segregation that go beyond what is medically rational to the point of doing real and unnecessary economic damage, then at that moment humanity needs some government somewhere that is willing at least to make the case powerfully for freedom of exchange, some country ready to take off its Clark Kent spectacles and leap into the phone booth and emerge with its cloak flowing as the supercharged champion, of the right of the populations of the earth to buy and sell freely among each other."

3rd March

“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."

“We already have a fantastic NHS, fantastic testing systems and fantastic surveillance of the spread of the disease … I want to stress that for the vast majority of the people of this country, we should be going about our business as usual.”

5th March

"...one of the theories is, that perhaps you could take it on the chin, take it all in one go and allow the disease, as it were, to move through the population, without taking as many draconian measures. I think we need to strike a balance, I think it is very important, we’ve got a fantastic NHS, we will give them all the support that they need, we will make sure that they have all preparations, all the kit that they need for us to get through it. But I think it would be better if we take all the measures that we can now to stop the peak of the disease being as difficult for the NHS as it might be, I think there are things that we may be able to do."

12th March

"...many more families are going to lose loved ones."

March 20 - rush hour in Toronto



March 20 - rush hour in London

[NSNO2021]

Classic Rock I wish you well trying to make a silk purse out of Boris Johnson's pig's ear response to the pandemic. I think only Boris's most fervent supporters think he has done ok. The rest of the public range from could have done a lot better to useless, complacent arrogant fool

[slinger]

Can we put this "shaking hands in the hospital" story to bed? At the time of his visit, I've seen multiple sources (including staff at the hospital) report that there were ZERO coronavirus patients anywhere in the place.

Johnson was just bragging (or lying, as usual) about what a brave boy he was, but it backfired and made him look like a total cock.

[CN211276]

Some Johnson quotes...

3rd Feb

"...we are starting to hear some bizarre autarkic rhetoric, when barriers are going up, and when there is a risk that new diseases such as coronavirus will trigger a panic and a desire for market segregation that go beyond what is medically rational to the point of doing real and unnecessary economic damage, then at that moment humanity needs some government somewhere that is willing at least to make the case powerfully for freedom of exchange, some country ready to take off its Clark Kent spectacles and leap into the phone booth and emerge with its cloak flowing as the supercharged champion, of the right of the populations of the earth to buy and sell freely among each other."

3rd March

“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."

“We already have a fantastic NHS, fantastic testing systems and fantastic surveillance of the spread of the disease … I want to stress that for the vast majority of the people of this country, we should be going about our business as usual.”

5th March

"...one of the theories is, that perhaps you could take it on the chin, take it all in one go and allow the disease, as it were, to move through the population, without taking as many draconian measures. I think we need to strike a balance, I think it is very important, we’ve got a fantastic NHS, we will give them all the support that they need, we will make sure that they have all preparations, all the kit that they need for us to get through it. But I think it would be better if we take all the measures that we can now to stop the peak of the disease being as difficult for the NHS as it might be, I think there are things that we may be able to do."

12th March

"...many more families are going to lose loved ones."

March 20 - rush hour in Toronto



March 20 - rush hour in London

If it was not so tragic it would be funny.

[Classicrock]

[quote=Classicrock post_id=207151 Also the government had the wrong advisors (civil servants).

Civil servants would not have been the source of advice on Covid 19. It would have been medical experts and, more likely, Demonic Dom who attended the SAGE meetings.
[/quote]

Some of Sage are outside experts others are Civil Servants. The ones you see on the Coronavirus update every day such as The Chief Medical Officer. If they had all been independent experts they might have made better decisions. All we know is Cummings was attending at least one meeting and is not a member of SAGE so I doubt he was overruling their decisions. It doesn't enhance your argument raising his name constantly as a bogeyman.