Re: The COVID19 Opportunity for the EU

The measures boris introduced are aimed at keeping the number of corona patients managable with the present facilities. If he is correct, and britons stick to his measures, nothing to worry about! Why the panic?

Re: The COVID19 Opportunity for the EU

Well, as always, it's all 'doom and gloom' from the usual people!

Compare our number of cases (especially per 1 million of population) with those of most other EU countries, on this chart supplied by another member earlier today:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

Some of us like to see the positives rather than the negatives.

Re: The COVID19 Opportunity for the EU

Works for them, though. Same population size as UK or france, they have many more infections than you, but much less death.

Re: The COVID19 Opportunity for the EU

So what ?

I was talking about Italy and Germany, the EU manufacturer decides to keep respirators, face masks and protective clothing for itself.

No unity for these guys anymore.

Re: The COVID19 Opportunity for the EU

And that is one of the main reasons I voted out, there was a plan, which they did their best to keep quiet whereby they'd have full access to a member country's finances, in effect they could help themselves to what they wanted, sheer madness, be honest you wouldn't take out a mobile phone contract if they said, 'well, we might take £20 a month, but if we need to we might take a couple of hundred quid'.
They're already starting talking about not letting any medical stuff go to non EU countries, as they 'might need it themselves' , in my opinion this is aimed at us as a punishment for leaving. I can only hope, although I doubt it happening, that our leaders will adopt a similar attitude and keep hold of anything we have that they might need, just in case we need it.
The EU have been a pita for years, basically it's Germany trying to acheive by stealth what it failed to acheive with two world wars, the only trouble is some people can't see it. I'm all for building business partnerships and closer unity, but it's a little beyond the pale when a foreign country starts trying to tell you stuff such as how long you can lock up your criminals for.

Re: The COVID19 Opportunity for the EU

OK, but it will get a lot worse here in time.

Re: The COVID19 Opportunity for the EU

Hopefully not.

China is recovering due to their having put in place the necessary restrictions, etc.

Perhaps we can too.

It will also depend, heavily, on the common sense of our people. I hope most of us have more than some.

Re: The COVID19 Opportunity for the EU

I think it will because a lot of people will not follow the governments advice & some of those could have the virus.

Re: The COVID19 Opportunity for the EU

Hi

Some simple facts of life.

China put the epicentre in lock down, they are an authoritarian state.

They enforced it brutally, welding people inside affected blocks.

Enforced physical removal of infected people.

They built a hospital in a couple of weeks, forcing people to work on it and companies to supply the materials.

Not an option here.

They have a huge Civil Defence Capacity, which we do not, they moved people and equipment from unaffected areas a thousand miles away to deal with it.

They have huge stocks of protective equipment in store and the manufacturing capacity to produce more immediately.


At the end of the Cold War we had 5300 like me, now less than 400 and minimal stocks.

The number of Labs capable of running the tests has been cut by over 90%.

We have nothing like this now.

Ten years ago we had a lab in the basement and six fully trained staff.

All now gone.

Every Fire Brigade in the Country had specialist decontamination Units, now only one trained officer per
shift and minimal equipment and supplies.

The vehicles and equipment have been sold off.

Now the two decontamination units for a large part of the Country are parked up in a small village in North Shropshire with minimal stocks.

The Chinese also shut down the Internet to stop fake news being posted and entire cities where put in lock down.

Not something we can enforce here.

What do we have here?

An Ex HHS Employee saying facemasks do not work and another saying that all you need is hot water and not soap.

They would have been arrested and imprisoned for that.

Re: The COVID19 Opportunity for the EU

That's a lot of waffle, Swim.

Was there a point you were trying to make?


If anyone thinks this, or any, Govt should have £billions of pounds worth of equipment and stock ( and personnel !) lying around in dusty basements waiting for a theoretical disaster to happen they're delusional.

Boris has been doing a great job and comes out of this with a lot of credit so far.

The Gov't response has been measured and sensitive to the scientific advice at hand.


The Govt is ramping up the response as the situation develops.......

Good Government-Good Leadership..

Imagine if the country was run by the media and the Piers Morgan/James O'Brien's of this world!!

We all would be running for the hills living in caves and slaughtering anyone who came within 100 yards!!

As with any 'war'.........The country responds initially with the peacetime facilities, stocks and personnel to hand and then mobilises the nation depending on how the threat develops.

I thought Swimmy, you would understand that!