More problems caused by C19 identified. 

Coronavirus: 'Covid toe' and other rashes puzzle doctors

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52493574

Wrong date Brian!

Corrected - this has been my nightmare when setting up these daily threads

I think it's a mistake to view 'China' as a monolithic state, however much it may want to be so.

My reading of this is that the authorities in Wuhan were scared stiff of losing face in the eye of the CCP in Beijing, and tried to mount a cover-up. When this no loner worked , and the situation became all to clear the central power of the state took over and put appropriate measures very quickly.

So criticism of China should be directed at the political system at its weakest point, the reluctance of regional authorities to admit anything is wrong in their region for fear of offending the central party organisation. Maybe you see this as a distinction without a difference?

This is true but incomplete.

It wasn’t the Wuhan authorities who have massaged the numbers of deaths and it isn’t the Wuhan authorities that have conducted a campaign of misinformation and propaganda. Nor is it the Wuhan authorities who pressurised the WHO into sidelining Taiwan.

China does not have a monopoly on cover-ups. This is another manifestation of the old phenomenon of the intense pressure not to pass bad news up the chain of command. The same thing happened to the US in the Vietnam War and was one of many contributing factors to that debacle.

There are many accounts of this. See e.g. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/10/09/why-us-lost-vietnam-war

"Military officers were rewarded for successful performance of duties, not for failing performance. So, they had a built-in incentive to embellish their reports.  Low level lies were routinely rolled up into higher-level lies, all the way up the chain of command."

"The lying was so entrenched it was impossible to even discover until it was too late.  And when it was discovered the liars tried to impugn the truth tellers by questioning their patriotism."

So that is from an unnamed source but the latest official statement from the Department of Education states: “Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has not set a date for schools reopening. Schools will remain closed, except for children of critical workers and vulnerable children, until the scientific advice indicates it is the right time to reopen and the five tests set out by Government to beat this virus have been met.”

So in reality, based on verifiable sources, a newspaper headline and not a development.

Hi David,

Let me make it clear that at no time in any previous thread have I tried to blame China as a whole for this disaster, including the ordinary Chinese people. I certainly do not criticise the doctors and other medical people in Wuhan who did their utmost at the start to raise the alarm about the severity of the disease and who were then slapped down by the authorities. Some of these doctors and other medics sadly later succumbed to the disease themselves.

The people there that I do criticise very strongly are those in the authorities who tried to deny there was a serious crisis developing and tried to cover it up by bullying and intimidating those that were trying to raise the alarm into silence. Had the authorities not taken the attitude that they did and had taken what their own doctors and medics were saying seriously, then IMO there would have been a much greater chance that the disease would have been largely controlled within China itself and any effect there was on other countries around the world would have been much less serious than has proved to be the case.

Some who have already had it seem to be very smug, especially a certain LBC presenter who thinks he is invincible now

A lot we don't know about this and if you only had mild symptoms the first time, whether you have enough antibodies to ward off a second attack

I assume no more than 10% have had it. I would still rather not get it until a vaccine is available in case it does other damage to your body that will only become apparent later

The Moon is made of Cheese

Today's Russia's daily stats
- New Cases 10,633
- New Deaths 58

The differential between these two measures has been completely out of sync compared to other countries visuals on graphs.
Either there's a huge cover up with the deaths (remember the images of ambulance queues waiting for 9 hours just to admit patients when there were 'just' 3-4k new cases being reported each day a few weeks back, ministers being reported going down like flies), or Russia has found a way to significantly reduce deaths, something all other countries have failed to do.
My money is on the former and just waiting for a leak, a cry of help from someone on the frontline there to say what the position really is there. If it's the latter then someone needs to be having a serious conversation with Russia to find out how they have managed to achieve such low death compared to high infection rates.
My fat gut feeling is the real situation there is horrific!

Presumably, all the people buying the Downing/Tufton Street spin on Panorama will be keen to establish the political allegiances of their doctors before accepting or rejecting any treatment from them.
‘Better dead than healed by an alleged Red’ could be their new slogan.

— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) May 3, 2020

There is no chance Scottish schools will open before August.

Who?

 could be, but Russian peasants don't live beyond 70 anyway. In fact the life expectancy for those in poor rural areas is only about 60

Rather like Africa, there aren't many old people for this virus to kill

The Fat [censored]with an Italian surname

I didn’t know he had it, having seen him, I’m surprised he survived unscathed. 

He thinks he had it, but he was never tested. I reckon it was just a man flu

I thought it was down to vodka and smoking both heavily

Yes, that's the main cause and poor housing and working conditions, and diet

Sir David King launches an Independent SAGE tomorrow: with its guiding principle—transparency. pic.twitter.com/sH1woqPGV3

— richard horton (@richardhorton1) May 3, 2020

ST also reporting that fatties stay infectious for longer

Obese patients are more likely to end up in hospital with the coronavirus — and are more likely to die — than those who are a healthy weight https://t.co/MmUt1rFnQw

— The Sunday Times (@thesundaytimes) May 3, 2020

Meanwhile in the United States of Lunatics. 

Jesus actual Christ.

Donald Trump's four-step plan to reopen the US economy – and why it will be lethal https://t.co/6HD2yC5Axs

— Sarah Phelps (@PhelpsieSarah) May 3, 2020

We see frequent reports of motorists being stopped for non-essential travel and then fined. Question - do they then continue with their journey or are they instructed to turn round and return to home ?