Australia likewise closed their borders early on and have also fared well. So it certainly seems a big mistake that we didn't do the same. Both countries have natural advantages over the UK in dealing with the virus in that they're both sparsely populated and much remote than us. I was interested to read that New Zealand didn't impose a lockdown until three days after the UK.Originally Posted by anthonykay
Which is unsustainable if they want the tourist trade back, and when they do, herd immunity is all there is.
It is a mistake to believe that populations are the same and respond the same. They clearly don’t.
So the idea that a measure “worked” somewhere else is inapplicable.
Contrast Sweden, Belgium , India , sub Saharan Africa.
That's the point I made by saying that New Zealand and Australia are both less densely populated and more remote than the UK.
New Zealand is quite fortunate in that COVID19 blew up in early Autumn, i.e. at the end of the main tourist season. So apart from losing the skiing season, they can afford six months of lockdown before the tourism industry takes a big hit.
The big unknown is: will COVID19 just die away like SARS did; in which case NZ will definitely come out of it much better than most of the world. Or (as I think you are implying), does successfully suppressing the first wave simply leave you vulnerable to future waves of the disease? But with the evidence we have so far, it certainly appears that NZ has done a better job than UK and most European administrations.
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
So no gowns/visors/testing swabs/body bags - and pairs of gloves counted as 2 items, not 1. Amazing they did not count fingers/thumbs so a pair of gloves counted as 10.
You will believe anything that supports your agenda heh mike?
Meanwhile in the real world the numbers of fatalities of NHS workers are such that NHS seem to be at little increased risk compared to general public, presumably because by the time of hospitalisation the people may be infected, most are no longer infectious.
It is not hancocks job to order PPE, it is done on regional basis, and with limited shelf life it is impossible to stock for a pandemic. It is the NHS letting the NHS down. But then other people’s money is no object, to those who screw the nhs.
There is a world shortage of PPE , regular suppliers are letting hospitals down, as are own stupid liberal lefty ethical procurement rules hindering us. I know a couple high up in the procurement chains who are very angry at how the press is distorting the issue and indeed the difficulty of the job they have. Inevitably there are some local problems but on the whole the procurement has done well. None of the reality matters to critics.
The real lesson is how useless and unfit for purpose PHE are , and how it needs rebuilding in a way that harnesses the private sector not rebuffs it. They have stolen the countries PCR machines, but not the staff and skill which is what they really need. But I would like to wager their pensions are first class, and retirement age like doctors and nurses is scandalous. As is going back as contractors to screw the NHS twice. They also think their job is to criticise the government for their own failings.
Tell me. If doctors were such wonderful all knowing people: why are there 3-5 billion negligence claims against the NHS? They are fallible like everyone else.
I much prefer watching Portuguese media about the crisis. They report it objectively, the struggles as well as the successes, the media does not see their role as playing cheap gotcha against the government. Their doctors do not spend their time undermining their own employer with verbal flatulence.
Last edited by Oracle; 28-04-2020 at 10:57 AM.
So Panorama was wrong?
Like last weeks times article , and all the Brexit coverage it will be a massive distortion with a grain of truth.
There’s always a lefty somewhere in NHS willing to lie. It is as reliable as death and taxes.
There is a reason the media are the least trusted group in the present crisis. Called crying wolf.
I prefer listening to those whose day job is sourcing ventilators and PPE.They are aghast at the coverage.
Tell Me. what do have to say about EU? now you know one of the NHS biggest suppliers of PPE, which was ordered before any other country, refused to deliver because macron stole it. That is one of repeated incidents round the world, so I am led to believe by those who do the job?
Had YOU placed the order in feb, would you be expecting to have to go again to world markets to order elsewhere in March? only to be let down again? Would you blame Hancock for the failure to get it, or the french, or just accept there is a shortage,
Like every other critic , everything is easy for those who don’t have to do it.
We would have lost the war with the attitude problem shown by our NHS now.
The media want to mourn a few tens of (sadly ) deceased nhs workers.
What about mourning the other 20000? Across all professions?
One thing is for certain: with the decimation of the only true key workers in private sector business who make the cash everyone spends , we will struggle to support NHS at present levels. As history shows there are always doctors who can be bought if you “ stuff their mouths with enough gold” to quote the man who started NHS, The problem as always is paying for them. Even more difficult now the prima donnas have shut the economy in case they get overwhelmed. NHS was set up because doctors charged the ordinary man 3-5 days wages to see them. Nothing has changed.
I have every admiration for the doctors around the rest of Europe and Portugal in particular , who do it on far less salary, they have far less resources, they accept the problems Of limited supply and they just get on with the job, they don’t spend every waking hour attacking the government that pays them.
Read Portuguese media and doctors interviews there. It is a breath of fresh air.
Last edited by Oracle; 28-04-2020 at 12:22 PM.
Maybe even less risk.
Richard Taylor
"William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
Sid Waddell
