Forum Topic

Boris and the pandemic.

Boris has said today that the gov. have been remarkable in dealing with the pandemic and he is proud of them ... Really ?

Helen Bamberger ● 1638d34 Comments

They have been remarkable -- remarkably useless.

Susan Kelly ● 1638d

Ha ha Susan !!

Helen Bamberger ● 1638d

Actually Susan my answer was glib- it's serious- I'm appaulled with this statement.

Helen Bamberger ● 1638d

Aah yes. They must be so proud have having the highest infection rates ever!  They must also be proud of the headlines today about the NHS being  at its worst ever!! This government is setting new records of incompetence and chaos.

Steve Taylor ● 1638d

Oh well he kept the comedians alive.

Janice Evans ● 1638d

Talking of comedians did you hear the one about the Tory lickspittle apologists .......

Basil Finnis ● 1638d

Thought you would have hit on Zelenskyy as you are so fond of him.

Janice Evans ● 1638d

And here is why Boris has failed, failed, failed. He and is government are 100% to blame. “ Covid cases have climbed by a million in a week in the UK, data from the Office for National Statistics reveals.Swab tests suggest about one in every 16 people is infected, as the contagious Omicron variant BA.2 continues to spread.That's just under 4.3 million people, up from 3.3 million the week before.”

Steve Taylor ● 1638d

It’s a clever use of words. It can  be remarkably good or bad. Presumably, if you had a relative die in hospital or a care home without any visitors you might think  that the government erred on the side of callousness. If you partied in Downing Street, you might think that the government managed it all terribly well., even if you got a fine.

Stewart Jones ● 1638d

I agree, Steve. Who’d have thought?

Stewart Jones ● 1638d

Bottom line. People are still dying and Boris doesn’t give a toss.

Steve Taylor ● 1637d

"People are still dying.."Do you have any current statistics for people dying of Covid so far this year ? The impression is that the vaccination programme has given protection to the most vulnerable people and that the currently rampant strain is much less lethal.

Richard Greenhough ● 1637d

Thing to do is wear a mask there will always be new variants.

Janice Evans ● 1637d

That's my impression too Richard. I do wonder though whether part of the reason reported infections have started to fall is because it's not possible to get hold of NHS supplied LFT tests any more - it used to be quite easy (I never stopped going to work because it's impossible to work from home in my job - so I used to test very regularly) - but there have been no LFT test delivery slots available for a couple of weeks now, even if officially they are available until the end of this month.

Andrew Jones ● 1637d

Interestingly, the data is know telling us approx a third of reported Covid deaths were NOT as a result Covid…..we are right to open up and get on with our lives for so many reasons all of which have been itemised on the forum many times. The vaccine programme did make the difference and enables us to move on just pray nothing more serious than Omicron comes along 🙏🙏🙏🙏

Jayne Thorburn ● 1637d

It is easy to find the data on deaths occurring within 28 days of testing positive - about 15,000 since the start of the year. This compares to 50,000 for the same period in 2021. A marked improvement but not quite risk free living with Covid. Even if you take the 'one third not really a result of Covid' assumption this is still quite a high number.As a comparison France had 17,000 and 30,000 reported deaths for the two periods. As another comparison road traffic deaths for the whole of 2019 was 1,700 in the UK, accidents in industry deaths was about 135 (falls, hit by object/car, crushed), and flu for 2018-19 was 29,000 deaths. Others can draw conclusions or not from these comparisons. I'll just note that the Covid numbers remain very high.

Alan Clark ● 1637d

"Deaths within 28 days of positive testLatest data provided on 30 March 2022Last 7 days1,070THERE HAS BEENAN INCREASE OF 193(22%)COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS 7 DAYS.Rate per 100,000 people: 1.4"

Steve Taylor ● 1637d

Where is the sense in pushing vaccinations whilst allowing people to enter the country who do not need to prove that they are vaccinated or show evidence of a recent negative test?

Stewart Jones ● 1637d

I agree it does make sense to keep testing for travel even if it is just one test departure and arrivals thus reducing the cost, it’s about balance.

Jayne Thorburn ● 1637d

Of course the current Covid cases are radically under-reported so you could add tens of thousands (possibly a million???) to the current high levels. It's a disgrace that one is no longer legally required to report it when you have Covid.  Another devious Boris move to 'pretend' that the situation is better than it is - which in reality - is still a catastrophic situation.

Steve Taylor ● 1637d

Most of the deaths were reported to be those who had refused the vaccination and had no protection.

Janice Evans ● 1637d

"Most of the deaths were reported to be those who had refused the vaccination and had no protection."Nonsense!

Steve Taylor ● 1637d

Janice, Silly Steve knows a great deal about nonsense, given that he is full of it.

Richard Greenhough ● 1637d

Em. 😒 Seems like it.

Janice Evans ● 1637d

This is why you are talking nonsense, Janice. You are simply speculating!"Comparing mortality across coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination status is challenging because the size and age structure of vaccinated and unvaccinated populations changes over time, because of vaccinations being offered according to priority groups set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).To account for these differences, we calculated age-standardised mortality rates (ASMRs). However, there are other factors such as the health status of individuals, changing infection levels, changing dominant variants and differing levels of immunity from prior infection that can influence the mortality rates.ASMRs are therefore not equivalent to measures of vaccine effectiveness."

Steve Taylor ● 1637d

Stuart,  I travel around a lot, Austria have killed so many businesses in the alps with stupid vaccine checking before you can buy a lift pass.  I was in Italy last week and they are checking you are vaccinated before you can eat in a restaurant?  WHAT IS THE POINT OF THAT?  WHAT IS THE POINT OF CHECKING A VACCINATED STATUS TO ENTER A COUNTRY?  How does that help in the slightest?? Please do tell I'm all ears??

Nik Solomon ● 1637d

Steve, we did discuss this on another thread before Xmas and the figureswere showing only 5% of the deaths were vaccinated patients.

Janice Evans ● 1637d

Tell me where I said that PEOPLE SHOUD BE VACCINATED BEFORE THEY EAT IN A RESTAURANT? I didn’t, did I?All did was question the rationale behind pushing a vaccination programme whilst opening your borders to people who do not need to be vaccinated to enter it.I appear to have touched a nerve.Today some friends were due to travel to Switzerland. They  had to cancel as their daughter, who lives with them , has Covid. As they were intending to travel through France they did not comply with the French ‘attestation’ requirements even though they are vaccinated.A couple from anywhere in the world can arrive in the UK with no requirements to declare vaccination status, proof of a negative test , Covid symptoms or contact with anyone with Covid.

Stewart Jones ● 1637d

you said "allowing people to enter the country who do not need to prove that they are vaccinated OR negative"Do people think if you are vaccinated then you can't spread it?  You can spread it vaccinated or not.  So why bother checking? I made the point that other countries are doing stupid things like checking restaurants and lift passes based on being vaccinated.  Killing industries for no reason.  Being vaccinated doesn't prove you don't have it.  I have been boosted as recently as end of Jan 2022 and had it last week. 

Nik Solomon ● 1637d

Oh, SHOUTY CAPITAL LETTERS from angry man. Calm down dear.The idea of checks to enter certain places or for travelling is primarily to give confidence to everyone going there that it is safe as it can be. Everyone around you in the restaurant or plane will be either vaccinated or recently tested negative. That sounds like a good thing and certainly it made me more comfortable eating out or travelling. I do not want to be sat right next to someone who is not vaccinated or has not tested recently.Secondly it is to track who goes to these places as the app that confirms the vaccine pass is tracking who is there, and so if there is an outbreak it is easy to track everyone who went to that restaurant or gets on that plane or enters that country. That enables tracing and controlling the outbreak to avoid the spreading of the virus that ran unchecked and untracked through 2020. That also sounds like a really sensible thing.Thirdly, it gives a benefit to people who are vaccinated. A small one but nonetheless real - if you are vaccinated you get to eat out, you get to travel. If you do not get vaccinated then you are not acting in the benefit of those around you and surely there must be a consequence for that. Also the unvaccinated present a higher risk so should be treated as such and not given open access to infect others.Those seem to be significant benefits and while there are so many cases surely such checks are sensible. Plus the vaccine check takes seconds and I doubt this simple swipe is killing businesses.

Alan Clark ● 1637d

You are correct that being vaccinated does not stop you getting covid and if you get covid the vaccine does not prevent you spreading the virus. True but not quite wholly true.The vaccine significantly reduces the affect of the virus. You get less ill for a shorter period. Both have a significant impact on spreading the virus - you spread less for a shorter period. So the viral load that you are likely to pass onto others will be less. And they will get less ill.I'd like to know how a quick swipe of a pass is killing businesses. I've eaten out in many places, from up market restaurants to fast food cafes, and the swipe took maybe 5 seconds and did not get in the way of service.

Alan Clark ● 1637d

Why bother checking?Why bother  testing?Why bother at all?It seems to have escaped your notice that millions of people throughout the world have died because of  a global pandemic but as long as you can get back to getting a ski pass then all is good.

Stewart Jones ● 1637d

“ were showing only 5% of the deaths were vaccinated patients.”Yes, Janice but that was before Xmas. Times have changed the pandemic has worsened. We are now in April. (almost)

Steve Taylor ● 1637d

To the SHOUTY MAN Genuinely sorry to hear that you have had Covid.Genuinely  pleased that a theatre visit  in London next week requires proof of vaccination before being allowed in and that one needs to arrive an hour before the curtain goes up  Clear rules. And no, it does not guarantee that any audience member won’t contract it there but it reduces the chances. And it’s been booked out for months.

Stewart Jones ● 1637d