love* in the time of plague (and by love* i mean brexit* and other dreary matters of uk politics)

either that or he's just jealous that the better-run countries are unlocking.

I see it not so much as jealousy as feeling the need to prove the UK will be financially competitive post-brexit and also preventing people from seeing how other countries are doing, wondering why the lockdown hasn't changed here, and drawing the conclusions. Everything the govt does is about its own PR, not fighting the epidemic.

I wonder how many countries will go down the route of Greece and specifically ban UK residents from entering when the borders re-open.

New NHS 111/999 data on potential covid cases ("based on potential COVID-19 symptoms reported by members of the public to NHS Pathways through NHS 111 or 999 and 111 online") came out this morning. Still showing consistent falls with no e.g. VE Day effect as people speculated. pic.twitter.com/xJbNK6qxYI

— Daniel Howdon (@danielhowdon) May 26, 2020

would the HK people like to pick some fruit?

anecdotally, outside is a lot noisier today, traffic and people. there was even a scooter accident (and a group of people gawping at said accident). usually the noise is idling ocado vans delivering to over the road.

NHS England reported two deaths in London yesterday compared with 250+ at the peak. This is due to be revised obviously but in general, while the number of hospital deaths varies by region but nowhere is above 25 or so. Which suggests this is is predominantly a care home thing now, unless/until it flares up again.

Give it another couple of weeks and we should know but the schools thing is a massive unknown quantity.

Is there any reliable data on whether survival rates for hospitalised patients have improved since the start of the pandemic?

Judging by the amount of traffic going past my window today lockdown is well and truly over on the outskirts of Dundee.

I've had the week off and have been in the park all day every day, although still fully socially distant. Everyone else appears to have sacked it off altogether, there was a group of 30 or so kids hanging out and playing football and no one seemed remotely arsed.

Yeah people think it's all over,who knows where they got that idea from?

Expect to see this replicated almost everywhere:

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/may/29/soas-to-slash-budgets-and-staff-as-debt-crisis-worsens-in-pandemic

For context, SOAS has about 2700 international students and expects to lose up to £16m in revenue.

UCL has 13,000.

At this stage it's evident there isn't going to a magical all-clear moment, at some point there's going to have to be a tapering off and outdoor socialising seems reasonably safe and uncontroversial as long as it isn't thousand of people flooding onto beaches. And they don't just start hugging each other.

More people in closed spaces, including schools, feels like where the danger lies.

Going straight from 'you can meet one person at a distance of 2m' to 'you can have barbecues and use another person's toilet' is where things are going to go wrong.

simply getting people out of doors full stop has probably had a really positive effect. feb and early march were chilly!

the S Korean govt re-opened the schools then shortly afterwards closed them again when there was another outbreak. I know it is a shithole capitalist hellscape as well, but still jealous of just the basic level of competence and commitment to stopping the Rona killing more people their govt has.

There's no incompetence like British upper-class incompetence! Expect this to drag on for years, unless a miracle vaccine manifests itself.

i've said it before here but i think the global economic disaster whose consequences are waiting patiently in the wings is going to make lockdown politics look extremely basic and easy to manage.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/29/coronavirus-symptoms-not-isolating-sage-track-and-trace

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your Second Spike. Please make yourselves comfortable. Your Track & Trace operative will be with you soon*.

*lol

"The main No 10 representative was Ben Warner, a data scientist recruited to Downing Street after running the Conservatives’ election campaign model. He previously worked with Dominic Cummings on the Vote Leave campaign."

🤔

“flash points tend to happen where there is a perceived lack of equity”

"2.9m 'British nationals (overseas)' in Hong Kong"

I presume this will be all about inviting capital flight from Hong Kong into London and have seen that 2.9m boiled down to 300000 BNO's somewhere else.

Can't see people observing distancing at the beach and the like, the government opening things up and most damming of all the inability to get track & trace running means we'll surely have an outbreak.

The question is surely when rather than if at this point.

and given that, will they have the ability to go "backwards" and tighten restrictions again? Either in terms of credibility or mindset. Because I can see them trying to style it out until hospitals really are overwhelmed

they don't give a shit

^^^

By itself the idea of going outside and seeing ppl isn’t horrendous, it’s the loss of whatever grip on clear messaging they ever had (which was close enough to nil) plus the fact that tracing is gonna fall on its arse plus we can all go to primark and schools are opening... just feels like a disaster about to happen. I was thinking there was no way pubs reopen this summer but I wonder now

On the other hand, just use common sense end of 🤣🤣

Tho it kills me to say it reopening pubs in the height of summer will be a recipe for mayhem

I still think they prob won’t

not sure if the govt has quite worked out the details of this yet but it looks like they might be allowing all 2.9 million HKers to come to the UK

this will split the brexit crew nicely

Update on new rules for Hongkongers seeking to live/work in UK: Home Office appears to confirm that if China presses on with security law, *all* 2.9m 'British nationals (overseas)' in Hong Kong will be allowed to come to UK whether or not they *currently* hold a BN(O) passport.

— Hugo Gye (@HugoGye) May 29, 2020

But I worry about them doing it with “guidance” instead of the rules they have elsewhere and it inevitably becoming a free-for-all xp

Wouldn't put anything past this lot now, if the shops don't kill anybody who matters I can see some sort of pub opening before the end of July

Xp This is surprisingly great, what’s the catch?

oh, I see xyzzz and calz - the only two ppl I have blocked! what are the odds? - have posted about it, carry on

This is surprisingly great, what’s the catch?

UK moving further alongside the US in tensions against China, I guess? Still unequivocally a good thing tho.

The government might want to avoid a second spike on the basis that a really bad outbreak would obliterate much of their remaining credibility especially if Cummings remains in position. Which makes me think they've been floating the idea of regional lockdowns for a reason.

Gives London the opportunity to undermine another world financial centre as well.

Scotland's minor relaxation of contact rules has resulted in dozens of households congregating at the bottom of my road and all their kids running around together with not a 2m gap to be seen. If that's what it's like here in a community broadly supporting of the Scottish government it'll be a nightmare in Tory/Orange heartlands.

Oh, and my son's friend, whose father has just recovered from the rona, is having a big house party tonight (my son isn't going).

ogmor - hope you have learnt your lesson.

So we are at + 8k infections a week. The government may not give a shit but should we get a 2nd spike there will be enough people not going out and spending to tank the economy further?

If the infection rate stays the same it won't *look* like a spike, so much as the unfortunate but necessary sacrifice we all have to make, we're all in this together blah blah. Less of a surge than a constant swell, is what I'm saying - a slow-motion tsunami.

Cummings is such a gift to Cockwomble Twitter: yet another means of avoiding structural analysis, protecting their own class interests and very public virtue signalling.

They could simply have voted Labour in 2019, of course.

— paul longue durée ewart (@paulewart23) May 29, 2020

It is an excellent coinage

what a brainfarting thundercunt cumcums is!

Matt 2 OTM according to this. 80 deaths a day to become background noise:

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-scientist-who-advises-government-warns-lockdown-being-eased-too-soon-11996946

the stench of brooker and iannucci is like what you get exhuming a recent mass killing site of rotting cockwombles, next to a maggot farm on a hot summer's day. With a nice flask of smelly warm urine for refreshment.

And even 80 deaths a day, averaged from July to the end of the year, is another 15,000 or so. Except it'd be more. Plus the excess deaths figure will become clearer, and that HAS to be added to the total death toll. So we could conceivably be at 100,000 deaths by 2021, just in time for the much-desired no deal crashout of the EU. *waves tattered flag*

cockwombling xpost

I’ve seen this letter on our local FB page from the Totnes Tory MP who has obviously forgotten to remove the cut and paste instructions from Tory party Central office. Just shows how uncaring they are - do feel free to RT #BorisJohnsonMustGo #SackDom pic.twitter.com/Nchf3XQwq2

— georgie #revokeA50 #FBPE (@getback2thebeat) May 29, 2020

graph on p17 of this - the yellow line has a pretty severe uptick this week
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/888254/COVID19_Epidemiological_Summary_w22_Final.pdf

Scotland's minor relaxation of contact rules...
― BRAVE THE AFRIAD (onimo), Friday, May 29, 2020 6:21 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

cycled through pollok park earlier - lots of young team out cradling empty bottles of MD2020, plus several groups > 8 having BBQs, and one group playing touch (!) rugby

But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools looking for some 2020 vision

lol we're all gonna die pt. 94

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/30/boris-johnsons-test-and-tracing-system-britain-lockdown

Never discount local laziness from local mps! xxp