Brexit, for once some facts.

[oyster]

Nor is 10 Downing Street necessarily, it's an office. Tony Blair chose to live in number 11 Downing street as Prime Minister.
.

Johnson, I believe, lives in the flat in number 11.

It is probably fairly reasonable to suggest that the place where someone spends the most nights is usually their primary home. (Obviously have to take into account night shifts, and so on.)

And where someone is registered for council tax, address for NHS, HMRC, etc., purposes.

 

[Wicky]

"He said Johnson was continuing his recovery at Chequers, his official country residence. Asked why he was there rather than his primary residence of No 10, the spokesman said it was “considered to be a suitable place”."

Lucky he doesn't have a beach hut

 

[Barry Shittpeas]

Are these daily Downing Street briefings worth bothering with. I’m starting to tire of the spin, excuses, bullshit and blame shifting. They never answer the questions asked and the journalists are letting them off the hook.

It might be worth the media boycotting the briefing en-mass. That might send them a message.

 

[Barry Shittpeas]

So how are the government doing with Coronavirus testing? Robert Jenrick promised 25000 tests per day by mid April. That promise was made less than two weeks ago. We are now about 30 hours away from that deadline and are testing around 8000 per day.

Why isn’t this the main headline?

 

[flecc]

Johnson, I believe, lives in the flat in number 11.

It is probably fairly reasonable to suggest that the place where someone spends the most nights is usually their primary home. (Obviously have to take into account night shifts, and so on.)

And where someone is registered for council tax, address for NHS, HMRC, etc., purposes.

"He said Johnson was continuing his recovery at Chequers, his official country residence. Asked why he was there rather than his primary residence of No 10, the spokesman said it was “considered to be a suitable place”."

My point was that Chequers is an official home of the Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street isn't necessarily as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown showed.

10, Downing Street is the official home of the First Lord of the Treasury, an ancient office, who by convention but not necessarily is also the Prime Minister. During Blair's time as PM, Gordon Brown lived as the First Lord of the Treasury in number 10, rather appropriate since as Chancellor he was the political head of the treasury.

If Johnson lives in a number 11 flat, he's continuing with that change in tradition and that is his official London residence.

I don't think either Chequers or Downing Street can be considered second homes since both have office and meeting place functions of the Prime Minister, so are also work places.
.

 

[Woosh]

So how are the government doing with Coronavirus testing? Robert Jenrick promised 25000 tests per day by mid April. That promise was made less than two weeks ago. We are now about 30 hours away from that deadline and are testing around 8000 per day.

Why isn’t this the main headline?

NHS has done 352,974 tests, 88,621 confirmed cases (25.1%) 11,329 deaths (12.8% of confirmed cases)
Highest daily tests: 18,000 a day
Still looking for a reliable antibody test.
No hope for 100,000 tests a day by the end of this month.
Maybe the end of May.

 

[Nev]

I think it’s more to do with the body counters being on Bank Holiday leave.

Yes I think so. Over the last couple of weeks there has been a fall for a couple of days over the weekend then by around Tuesday the numbers shoot up again. In all fairness officials have said that over the weekend (probably includes bank holidays) there is a slight delay in the reporting of deaths.

 

[Nev]

I just heard on the radio that RoI include deaths in care homes as well as hospitals in their figures. They have found that the number of deaths in the homes are about the same as the number in hospitals. If that's correct then I can't see why it would be any different in the UK, then we are looking at over 22,000 covid deaths so far.

 

[Woosh]

I just heard on the radio that RoI include deaths in care homes as well as hospitals in their figures. They have found that the number of deaths in the homes are about the same as the number in hospitals. If that's correct then I can't see why it would be any different in the UK, then we are looking at over 22,000 covid deaths so far.

quite likely - we won't know for sure for at least a couple of months.
Raab says: we have to wait for the right time come...

There are 11,000 care homes in the UK, 433,000 residents and 37% have COVID19.

 

[Barry Shittpeas]

I’m expecting one of these Downing Street briefing journalists to ask a really tough question any moment now, something along the lines of, what’s your favourite colour?

 

[oldgroaner]

Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister's chief adviser, has not been tested for coronavirus after self isolating with Covid-19 symptoms.
He remains "in contact" with no 10 but he is not working in downing Street, the prime Minister's spokesperson said.

I wonder, has be been tested for Foul Pest or Swine Flu?

 

[oldgroaner]

Out of curiosity I would like to see a chart of the deaths from Flu over this winter to see if there are any comparisons we can draw from the relationship and severity.
for instance
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/30/winter-deaths-hit-highest-level-40-years-experts-blame-ineffective/
There were an estimated 50,100 excess winter deaths in England and Wales in 2017/18 -
The number of excess winter deaths observed in 2017/18 was higher than all years since the 1975/76 winter period, when there were 58,100 extra deaths. The last peak was in 2014/15, when there were 43,850 excess deaths - which was the worst figure since the millennium.

Last year's flu jab protected just one in 10 pensioners.
The worst protection was among over 65s - the age group most vulnerable to flu - with effectiveness of 10.1 per cent and none at all against some key strains, an evaluation by Public Health England shows. Figures among younger adults were little better at 12.2 per cent, with rates of 26.9 per cent among children, the provisional end-of-season estimates show.

Flu outbreak: UK deaths triple with GPs seeing major rise in patients

Although flu cases are higher than at any point since 2010/11, health officials say it is still not an epidemic

Hmmm..............so 50,100 deaths was not an epidemic???
And this was the American situation
https://www.contagionlive.com/publications/contagion/2018/june/flu-season-2017-2018-a-look-at-what-happened-and-whats-to-come


What is interesting is that no one seems to have bothered then to ask what was happening in other countries at the same time!
And this is interesting too
https://www.contagionlive.com/news/results-from-a-controlled-trial-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid19

 

[oldgroaner]

Whatever Patel suffers from it travels faster than Coronavirus

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1249743660138233858

 

[oyster]

My point was that Chequers is an official home of the Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street isn't necessarily as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown showed.

10, Downing Street is the official home of the First Lord of the Treasury, an ancient office, who by convention but not necessarily is also the Prime Minister. During Blair's time as PM, Gordon Brown lived as the First Lord of the Treasury in number 10, rather appropriate since as Chancellor he was the political head of the treasury.

If Johnson lives in a number 11 flat, he's continuing with that change in tradition and that is his official London residence.

I don't think either Chequers or Downing Street can be considered second homes since both have office and meeting place functions of the Prime Minister, so are also work places.
.

It is, surely, only a place of work if it is being used for work? And we are told he isn't working. Ergo, it isn't a place of work, just a residence. And not his primary residence.

If I recover from covid-19, with or without hosptial treatment, may I go to my beach hut to recuperate?

(I don't have a beach hut, much as I might want somewhere pretty much on a beach.)

 

[jonathan.agnew]

NHS has done 352,974 tests, 88,621 confirmed cases (25.1%) 11,329 deaths (12.8% of confirmed cases)
Highest daily tests: 18,000 a day
Still looking for a reliable antibody test.
No hope for 100,000 tests a day by the end of this month.
Maybe the end of May.

As Hancock well knew all along, I sort of get Polly from Chesterfield's hysteria about everything (smiley after each post), if Peter Cook were alive his darkest sketch wouldn't scratch the surface of this macabre comedy

 

[oyster]

BBC reports about face masks. Why the repeated use of the word "could"? Patently obvious that they could change guidance. It is their own guidance so they can change it! But would they? Are they already planning to?

And if they have seen "more persuasive" data, what is holding them back?

The UK's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance told the daily Downing Street news conference an ongoing review was considering the guidance on whether people should wear face masks.
Asked by the BBC's David Shukman whether the government could change its advice to the British public on wearing face masks while outside, Sir Patrick said that, if evidence supported it, the guidance could change.
He added that the government had already seen "more persuasive" data suggesting masks can stop a person passing the virus to someone else, rather than preventing them from catching it.

 

[wheeler]

I’m expecting one of these Downing Street briefing journalists to ask a really tough question any moment now, something along the lines of, what’s your favourite colour?

Too difficult, they'll just witter on heaping praise on our wonderful NHS like they always do when they can't or don't want to answer.

 

[oldgroaner]

Just another day, another statistic

To put it in context you would have to crash two well filled jumbo jets to beat that score, and it hardly raises a ripple in the press

 

[Danidl]

I just heard on the radio that RoI include deaths in care homes as well as hospitals in their figures. They have found that the number of deaths in the homes are about the same as the number in hospitals. If that's correct then I can't see why it would be any different in the UK, then we are looking at over 22,000 covid deaths so far.

Certainly in RoI the figures include Care Homes.. Just one of those things,I am bizzarly grateful that an aunt, for whom I had PoA died late February, and had been in a care home, ..at least we had the full family funeral... I shared a car with English cousin and her family, including a young doctor and the discussion on the way to the cemetery was on Covid!. Even then

 

[oyster]

Nice to see something good happening re treatment:

Eluned Morgan
8 hrs ·

Wales is playing a leading role in the UK programme for treating coronavirus patients using a blood donation extract taken from people who have recovered from Covid19 - ‘convalescent plasma’.

Non Covid19 plasma has been used daily in NHS Wales for a variety of needs for many years. Covid19 convalescent plasma will help patients develop immunity as it ‘transfuses’ antibodies against the virus, helping the receiving individual fight infection.

Recovered patients are being invited by letter, if eligible, to donate blood to the scheme. The Welsh Blood Service, Welsh Government, Public Health Wales and University Hospital of Wales are now working with partners across the UK to share knowledge, procedures, best practice and learning.

The programme will capture the benefit of plasma transfusions to improve Covid19 patients’ speed of recovery and survival. In Wales, the plasma collected will be made available to clinicians for the benefit of Covid19 patients, for example through participation in clinical trials which will inform the best possible future use.

Public Health Wales will identify and write to potential donors who have a confirmed Covid19 positive test result and are eligible.

The plasma will be collected and processed by the Welsh Blood Service. Donor safety and wellbeing are paramount, and donors must be fully recovered before donating and virus free. For these reasons, normally, plasma will be collected no sooner than 28 days after recovery and the established safe blood donor selection criteria .

It’s brilliant to see Wales is playing a leading role on this project which has the potential to significantly improve patient recovery and save lives. We will be capturing all outcomes and feeding into the UK and worldwide learning on the use of this technology.

Oh dear, Hancock messing it up:

https://dorseteye.com/matt-hancock-delaying-over-blood-plasma-testing-is-frustrating-virologists/