Coronavirus

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  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,148MI6 Agent
    Some good news here is that there are no new positive cases in the Central Visayas region, which Cebu City and Mactan Island are part of in the last 48 hours. 20 cases in Cebu and 1 case on Mactan have been confirmed with 4 deaths in Cebu. It is too early to be confident, but the lockdown, and the heat, seems to be working at the moment.
    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,763MI6 Agent
    I'm saddened to see hospitals in NY have to chose who to give respirators and who probably has to die. Many police officers, firemen and medical staff are infected. I hope the US can handle this well. But I'm worried, and not only in terms of the medical crisis. Russia are sending a airplane to NY with medical supplies. So far the totalitarian powers are winning the Corona propaganda war. Germany is the only democratic country to show leadership and there is only so much they can do. I hope the US will show leadership again the way they often did in the cold war, because China and Russia are ready to fill that void. We've seen the US "leading from behind" in the climate issue and I'm afraid we're going to see this in the Corona crisis too.
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,270MI6 Agent
    I am ashamed of the UK response to the Covid crisis.

    Boris Johnson likes to think he's in the mould of Winston Churchill... in this crisis, make no mistake, with his policy of appeasement and 'herd immunity', he's been Neville Chamberlain all the way.

    But nobody associates Chamberlain with the cruelty of this Government and its austerity policies.

    Oh, talking of which, happy birthday my local MP, champion of austerity policies, Chris Grayling.
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,763MI6 Agent
    edited April 2020
    John-Arne Røttingen, leader of the WHO study group to find a medicine against Corona, said tonight in an interview that an effective medicine won't be available to the general public earlier than in 3-4 months. Some time this summer at best in other words.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,763MI6 Agent
    Bloomberg claims US inteligence report says China lied about teh extent of Corona outbreak. While I believe China has Corona under control now, I've suspected something like this:

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-01/china-concealed-extent-of-virus-outbreak-u-s-intelligence-says
  • 00730073 COPPosts: 1,005MI6 Agent
    0073 wrote:

    This: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OUIR4xAYWQ

    "An engineer allegedly purposely jumped a train from the tracks in a wild attempt to ram the Mercy on Tuesday."
    "Federal prosecutors claimed Moreno said the ship was “suspicious,” and that he didn’t believe “the ship is what they say it’s for,” reported abc7.com. He also allegedly stated “You only get this chance once. The whole world is watching. I had to. People don’t know what’s going on here. Now they will.”"
    "I mean, she almost kills bond...with her ass."
    -Mr Arlington Beech
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,449MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    Bloomberg claims US inteligence report says China lied about teh extent of Corona outbreak. While I believe China has Corona under control now, I've suspected something like this:

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-01/china-concealed-extent-of-virus-outbreak-u-s-intelligence-says

    China's numbers look increasingly unlikely to he accurate or true, I do believe they have a better chance of halting the spread given the nature of the government's grip on the people, and similar with Russia, also two countries who's population are mostly brainwashed by governmental propaganda. But the startling figures in the USA, Italy and Spain surely disprove the Chinese claims, Unless of course Oriental people are less disposed to catch or die of Covid19?
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    edited April 2020
    While there is only little doubt that China‘s numbers have been and still are not accurate, imo this China-blaming recently is only used to deflect from what many other country- leaders have been doing wrong.


    I doubt that earlier and better informations from China would have significantly made a difference - UK as an example was deliberately on a path of infecting as many people as possible to reach herd-immunity and downplayed the threat just as much as Mr. Trump did for a long time.

    Scientists had a pretty good idea about what was coming at an early state, the warnings have been plenty but they have been ignored widely.
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,763MI6 Agent
    I don't think Trump's goal was herd immunity. For a long time he didn' take Corna seriously, calling a it a hoax and downplaying its seriousness. Later he often had a positive message such as wildly over-optimistic claims on when it will be over. I suspect he focused on calming down the stock exchange. He's taken Corona more seriously after seeing what it does to NY.
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    edited April 2020
    Higgins wrote:

    ....downplayed the threat just as much as Mr. Trump did for a long time.

    That was the context only



    The UK government went for herd-immunity while most European Countries chose a different path.
    Trump downplayed the threat until it was obvious that the numbers where exploding.

    In both countries in particular, I am now hearing on and on >>It‘s not our fault - China lied to us <<
    Which is just pathetic and deflecting from their responsibility and bad decisions.

    I‘d go as far as saying that Boris made the decision to go for herd immunity and „if that goes wrong, I‘ll blame the Chinese for lying“.

    Wuhan was locked down on 23rd Jan and both blondes where downplaying the threat more than 6 weeks later still and now right wing echochambers are telling us, that their darling leaders had no clue about how serious that was because the Chinese where lying.

    Not sure what is dumber - telling me that it‘s totally unexpected that the Chinese and Russians are lying - or assuming that I believe that this really surprises any Head of State.
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,763MI6 Agent
    Yes, I misinterpreted your post there.

    In other news the Swedes still believe they are right and everyone else is wrong in spite of having five times as many dead as Norway does. In Norway the military burned or gave away tons of medical supplies just a couple of years ago and other than Scotland everyone else have more breathing machines than we do. In positive news it looks like the number of new Corona patients in hospitals doesn't increase.
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    There are reports that a delivery of facemasks designated for Berlin, made in China by 3M, fully paid, has been seized by US authorities in Bangkok in the last days.

    Similar complaints come from France and Canada.
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,449MI6 Agent
    I think it's worth pointing out that in the UK the coronavirus response is being led by the scientists and not the government. What the government is implementing is on the advice of people like Chris Whitty and his team who aren't aligned with any political party. I don't know if this is the same in other countries? Also the way testing and numbers are being recorded differs from country to country. I think the general plan seems to be not to stop people getting the virus or even dying of it, but to keep numbers manageable for the NHS and and minimise deaths.
    Trump appeared to me to take the attitude that 100,000 deaths was an acceptable amount of collateral damage to begin with, I think his position is shifting now though.
    My concern with China isn't who's at fault as its clear and has been tracked that the nature of the wet markets has brought this about, not what Chinese people eat, and if it hadn't have been China it would have been somewhere else that has such markets and culture. My concern is that they have used propaganda to make the state look good, back in December the WHO had advice from China that the novel coronavirus wasn't transmitting between humans, make of that what you will.
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,763MI6 Agent
    edited April 2020
    I think the Corona policy in Sweden is pretty much run by scientists, I've barely seen a Swedish politician speak in public since the crisis started. This sounds like a good thing, but in Sweden the epidemology community is dominated by one strong personality, and he belives very much in herdimmunity and as few restrictions as possible. here is the result so far. Now the number of Swedes who dies every day is about the same the total number of Corona dead Norwegians in total. The hospitals in Stockholm are expected to Reach full capapsity next week. here is an alarming graph:

    https://www.nettavisen.no/nyheter/grafen-sverige-ikke-vil-se/3423948552.html
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    I doubt that in the UK, the Corona resonse is being lead by scientists.

    Everybody who knows Johnson a bit knows, that he would not let this happen!
    All leaders of course consult scientists and give them the chance to inform the public about threats and facts, but at the end of the day, decisions are made by politicians and not by scientists.

    As for why Johnson chose to follow the herd immunity path for too long before he changed course - it may have a simple explanation.
    He knows well the condition of the NHS (he won't say this in public of course) and he was well aware that the system will be overrun sooner than later. So he put all his money on herd immunity based on early numbers and hoped for the best.

    So basically, he was ready to accept a high number of fatalities because he did not have much of a choice anyhow.
    His problem was, that the Virus was more infectious and lethal than what the early numbers suggested and he's been now caught pants down and his gamble is being exposed. His responsibility for unnecessary deaths and no-one else's
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,485MI6 Agent
    Higgins wrote:
    I doubt that in the UK, the Corona resonse is being lead by scientists.

    Well it is. That’s a fact.
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  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    Scientists leading a country??

    Consult? Yes!
    Advise, yes!

    Lead? I doubt it.
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,763MI6 Agent
    Like I said above: It looks like the scientists (or one scientist?) i leading the Corona policy in Sweden, and judging by the resuts so far the results are really bad.
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,485MI6 Agent
    Higgins wrote:
    Scientists leading a country??

    Consult? Yes!
    Advise, yes!

    Lead? I doubt it.

    Still true whether you doubt it or not. Policy is being led by their strong advice. You can mix the words around but the fact remains the same. It would be a brave or stupid Government that went against what they’re telling them to do.
    ..................Asp9mmSIG-1-2.jpg...............
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,763MI6 Agent
    I think it's a question of degrees in most countries of how much say the scientists. We also need to remember there isn't just one opinion among scientist on how to handle Corona.
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    Exactly, the government chooses the scientists that they trust - and in the case of the UK, just like with Brexit, they went against the advise of the sensible scientists :D and followed the advise of some borderline radicals.
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    Asp9mm wrote:
    It would be a brave or stupid Government that went against what they’re telling them to do.

    So you agree on that scientists advise and the government leads!
    {[]
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,485MI6 Agent
    Higgins wrote:
    Exactly, the government chooses the scientists that they trust - and in the case of the UK, just like with Brexit, they went against the advise of the sensible scientists :D and followed the advise of some borderline radicals.

    Well, none of that is true.
    ..................Asp9mmSIG-1-2.jpg...............
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    :)) :))
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,449MI6 Agent
    The Government is being advised what course of action to take by a large team of scientists led by Sir Chris Whitty, Patrick Vallance, Jenny Harries to name but 3, as has been pointed out on many daily briefings the government's response has been in line with the advice given. The Chief medical Officer role is not political and the advice would have been the same despite which party was in power, they are essentially civil servants and authorities in their field of expertise. So yes the instructions given by the UK government are based on the advice of the scientists, it's the scientists who have decided to pursue the herd immunity and the timescale of any lockdown. This isn't conjecture but a simple fact and is also a matter of public record and open to scrutiny by people who have the legal privilege to access the records.
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,449MI6 Agent
    Asp9mm wrote:
    Higgins wrote:
    Exactly, the government chooses the scientists that they trust - and in the case of the UK, just like with Brexit, they went against the advise of the sensible scientists :D and followed the advise of some borderline radicals.

    Well, none of that is true.

    Whitty was chief scientific advisor to the government since 2017 and promoted to his current role before the world had heard of Covid19, but he's been part of the set for many years previously and did a lot of work for the Sierra Leone ebola outbreak.
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,763MI6 Agent
    Are there any New Yorkers or members from the greater NY area in AJB? It would be interesting to hear about their expderiences. the same goes for Italians anf Spaniards.
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,449MI6 Agent
    My best friend lives in Spain, he's in the Rioja region and I've been talking to him most days.
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    Well it is remarkable that the experienced scientists in the UK where obviously advising to go for herd immunity while the broad scientist community almost everywhere else found that too risky and unethical.

    And that Johnson made a 180 and did exactly the opposite 10 days ago shows, that their initial advise was not such a good one - no matter what they have based it on.
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,763MI6 Agent
    Chriscoop wrote:
    My best friend lives in Spain, he's in the Rioja region and I've been talking to him most days.

    What is he telling you?
This discussion has been closed.