A day to enjoy in the garden - and my sympathies to those who don't have one

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Well the police implying you can't drive to exercise (even though you can provided its local) seems to have done wonders for my 5am runs.

Average 1-2 dog walkers now (and I can easily keep 50-100m away from them) compared to around 6 a few weeks back. And that's despite it starting to get back to the same kind of light levels as before.

 

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Here in Western Australia the most stringent border security measures in Australian history are being brought in from midnight. No person will be able to cross from any other part of Australia unless they have an excemption which is applied for. Even West Australian's if they are not in the state by midnight will not be allowed back. The shut border will then be applied for 6 months. The state premier is hoping that due to such low social transmission in our state that we maybe able to open restaurants, pubs and the economy again in a matter of a few weeks. The borders will remain closed. Essentially we are now isolated in this state and no one from anywhere around the World will be able to enter, apart from those with an exemption which will be very tough to get.

The UK lockdown measure are due to be reviewed this week. My view is the government needs to announce quickly and decisively that they will be extended. If there appears to be any dithering the combination of fine weather and Easter could be lead to more people heading out. 

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Have to say this doesn't surprise me a great deal but it is very worrying nonetheless.

Inside No 10 everyone is at war over coronavirus

While the prime minister is upstairs with a fever, ministers, civil servants and the NHS are playing the blame game

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/inside-no-10-everyone-is-at-war-over-coronavirus-56rwtmf9q

 

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It was said on the Home Service just now that there  is a cabinet battle   about this going on between  Hancock  (strict controls) and    Sunak   who wants an earlier relaxation.

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The existence of a competent opposition leader may concentrate minds?

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I agree, albeit reluctantly.  I would like to see them relaxing measures so that we can visit family over Easter.  However, realistically speaking, I can’t see that working because there will be too many people bending the rules.  

On a personal note, I don’t feel too inconvenienced at all by these restrictions and I’m making the most of this escape from the rat race and the slower pace of life.  Sadly though, I know others are finding their situation extremely difficult, especially those with older loved ones.  

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That's a good shout ( Easter suggestion ) but cant see it happening because of the very reasons you say .

I also agree that the current restrictions haven't changed my life massively if I'm honest 

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Absolutely shocking.

Coronavirus: The NHS workers wearing bin bags as protection

Several healthcare workers in England have told the BBC of a lack of equipment in their hospitals. Warned against speaking to the media, they were unwilling to talk publicly. However, one intensive care doctor from the Midlands wanted to go on record. The BBC agreed to change her name in order to protect her identity.

...

However, nothing Dr Roberts describes is quite as alarming as the fact that these medical professionals, who continue to care for critically ill patients for 13 hours every day, are having to resort to fashioning personal protective equipment (PPE) out of clinical waste bags, plastic aprons and borrowed skiing goggles.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52145140

 

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Is Boris in a worse state than people are letting on?  

I am with Hancock on keeping it tight - Sunak is clearly arguing with his financial head on  

Has anyone any idea what the current restrictions are costing us a country ( per day ) 

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That sounds like the same debate that has raged throughout: health v economy.

What’s the equation?  Perhaps hundreds of thousands of deaths and a collapsed healthcare system v a ‘normal’ economy, which in any event would be affected by a pandemic.

Not, in my view, a difficult equation to solve unless you don’t care about losing 1-2% of the population.

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Shocking indeed if true, but not surprising.

The NHS wouldn't be the first organisation in the world to have a senior management who had no idea of what was happening at the coal face. The culture of most organisations is designed so that only "good news" is passed up the management chain because at every level managers are seeking to protect their reputations, secure their jobs and career advancement.

Here's an internal NHS memo that was sent out about PPE on 20th March. All sounds under control doesn't it?

https://www.bda.org/advice/Coronavirus/Documents/NHS%20guidance%20on%20PPE%20200320.pdf

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The current restrictions seem to be working well at the moment so I see no need to bring in any new ones. There will always be a % of idiots who will ignore the guidelines in place but the vast majority of the country do seem to be adhering to them. Hopefully the death rate of increase will continue to fall and perhaps we are not too far from the peak.

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That’s a very jaundiced view of how information flows in an organisation and doesn’t reflect my experience from 30+ years in business.  Businesses don’t survive without honesty

That note certainly does not suggest it’s under control: there are several references to key issues, such as supply chain issues. Then when you place the numbers quoted against the number of staff in the healthcare sector it doesn’t imply complacency.

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Agreed. If you want to deal with the lowest common denominator then you’d need troops and police in almost every street and detention camps for the idiots. That’s never going to happen and nor should it.

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I think lockdown must remain in place for the rest of April as a minimum and then should be reviewed at the start of May.

I can’t see the Time article. What were the key messages?

I also don’t think the PM is as well as we think. He looked awful on Friday. No word at all for the last two days.

I am starting to get the feeling he is losing control. He must stand down as PM until he is 100% fit.

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Jeez, since when did they start charging £15-£26 per month for a subscription!

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I'm quite worried about him actually. Overweight, Male in his mid fifties. And he has had it for 10 days and it isn't improving which means his demographics which probably imply a 1/50 ish chance of dying have now probably increased to 1/30 or even 1/20. If he doesn't improve in the next few days his risk of dying will skyrocket.

 

 

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Disgusting that the owners of the Nightingale in London are charging the NHS millions in rent ………………...shocking 

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You don’t get papers for nothing; why would you expect free access?  They’ve charged for on-line access for years; many newspapers have the same model: FT, Telegraph, Economist.

They have people to pay and overheads like every other business.

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I know and understand the subscription model - I was just shocked at the actual cost. I would have expected about £10 per month. 

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You have been blessed in your career. I have had the opposite experience - businesses struggle on despite dishonesty at all levels.

As for the NHS memo, apart from

"COVID-19 is generating unprecedented global demand on the supply chain, combined with a manufacturing slowdown in affected countries, especially China which manufactures a large amount of PPE. Government, NHS Supply Chain, and the NHS are doing everything to work with industry to secure additional supplies and manufacture further PPE."

it makes no admission whatsoever that there is a chance that front line workers will not get the equipment they need. No guidance on what to do if it doesn't get delivered.

My neighbour is a dentist and he told me a month ago he was finding it impossible to order masks.

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You do get them for nothing - go to pressreader and log in with your library card number. You get pretty much everything except the Times for free.

The Times is free if you use the "bypass paywalls" addin for Firefox. It works by making it look like your browser is Google: papers such as the Times allow Google full access for free, so that their stories can be indexed.

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Ferguson on Marr says everything is going to plan, lockdown is working, cases dropping!

We must end the lockdown ASAP, hopefully in a few weeks, or at least ease it

 

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