Coronavirus

[oaksoft]

39 minutes ago, smcc said:

 

Seems to me he was suggesting that the UK government's preoccupation with Brexit and Scottish independence over the past few years distracted them from making proper preparations for dealing with a pandemic.  

That would make no sense though.

We have a health secretary, an entire civil service department, a range of NHS boards and countless managers who are tasked with focussing entirely on the NHS.

Independence is no excuse.

[faraway saint]

One of the first adverts after the PM's speech was an NHS UK Government ad telling us to stay at home. 

Ooops ,my apologies that was what Scotland should still be seeing. 

Edited May 10, 2020 by faraway saint

[Guest TPAFKATS]

 
Seems to me he was suggesting that the UK government's preoccupation with Brexit and Scottish independence over the past few years distracted them from making proper preparations for dealing with a pandemic.  

Could be

[Guest TPAFKATS]

Johnson just talks in f**king riddles doesn't he.

[StanleySaint]

So I'm currently working from home and my staff contact me daily to let me know they are ok, but I have one who doesn't have broadband so can't work from home so according to the PM they should go to work tomorrow but I know for a fact that the building is closed, so that would be pointless, it is so vague as to be unhelpful and by indicating tomorrow as the commencement of this it gives no time for proper planning!

[Guest TPAFKATS]

So I'm currently working from home and my staff contact me daily to let me know they are ok, but I have one who doesn't have broadband so can't work from home so according to the PM they should go to work tomorrow but I know for a fact that the building is closed, so that would be pointless, it is so vague as to be unhelpful and by indicating tomorrow as the commencement of this it gives no time for proper planning!

He mentioned that his government will publish guidance on how to return to workplace safely.
In theory no one should be returning until this is available and followed.

[nedflanders123]

BoJo saying people can take as much exercise as they wish and go to parks etc. Now, can you imagine public parks with people unrestrained from having to stay home? I can only foresee many 1,000s all congregating in parks, beaches and other public places. How can this reduce possible infection rates? Social distancing? Forget it and police helpless to enforce.

[smcc]

11 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

That would make no sense though.

We have a health secretary, an entire civil service department, a range of NHS boards and countless managers who are tasked with focussing entirely on the NHS.

Independence is no excuse.

I am well aware that Scotland has a separate health service but Exercise Cygnus, run by Public Health England in 2016, revealed huge gaps in the preparedness for a 'flu pandemic but little action was taken by the UK government on its recommendations.

[StanleySaint]

He mentioned that his government will publish guidance on how to return to workplace safely.
In theory no one should be returning until this is available and followed.

Indeed, but this should have been available before mentioning a start date, and he did say from tomorrow, not everyone will understand the full message if they've been stuck at home since 23rd March, so confusion has been unnecessarily instigated.

[faraway saint]

5 minutes ago, nedflanders123 said:

BoJo saying people can take as much exercise as they wish and go to parks etc. Now, can you imagine public parks with people unrestrained from having to stay home? I can only foresee many 1,000s all congregating in parks, beaches and other public places. How can this reduce possible infection rates? Social distancing? Forget it and police helpless to enforce.

So has the Scottish government? 

So if you want to go for a walk more often - or to go for a run and also a walk later on in the day – then you can do so.

[nedflanders123]

13 minutes ago, faraway saint said:

So has the Scottish government? 

So if you want to go for a walk more often - or to go for a run and also a walk later on in the day – then you can do so.

Yes, but NS talked about additional walking and not to have picnics and BBQs.  I do not recall her mentioning going to public parks but happy to be corrected.  Tonight she clearly stated there is a difference in exercising and sitting having a picnic. 

[faraway saint]

10 minutes ago, nedflanders123 said:

Yes, but NS talked about additional walking and not to have picnics and BBQs.  I do not recall her mentioning going to public parks but happy to be corrected.  Tonight she clearly stated there is a difference in exercising and sitting having a picnic. 

Who mentioned picnics or BBQ's? 

Edited May 10, 2020 by faraway saint

[GMan]

If it was down to me, I'd have sent every household a letter stating the occupants' full names, dates of birth and address.

I would then allow the early hours, until 11 am for the elderly and vulnerable (the latter would need to get a letter from their doctor) to go out and get things done. 

Starting at 1100 hrs, people living at a house number ending in the digit '1' would be allowed out, e.g. 1 Calefonian Way, 11 Caledonian Way, 21 Caledonian Way, etc. They would need to be back at home for 1200 hrs. 

At 1200 hrs, people living at a house number ending in the digit '2' would be allowed out. 

At 1300 hrs, people living at a house ending in the digit '3' and so on. 

The police would do random checks, and anyone not carrying their letter and photographic ID, or flouting the rules, would be arrested and prosecuted for endangering the public's health. Their punishment would be a day in the stocks, where the public can throw rotten food at them and a £1,000 fine. They would then be fitted with an electronic tag and monitored. 

It's time the government got serious about this.

Key workers would also get a letter from their employer. 

 

[oaksoft]

26 minutes ago, smcc said:

I am well aware that Scotland has a separate health service but Exercise Cygnus, run by Public Health England in 2016, revealed huge gaps in the preparedness for a 'flu pandemic but little action was taken by the UK government on its recommendations.

Did Scotland have an equivalent to Cygnus?

If not, why not?

If they did, why did they end up with PPE shortages as well?

[oaksoft]

47 minutes ago, StanleySaint said:

So I'm currently working from home and my staff contact me daily to let me know they are ok, but I have one who doesn't have broadband so can't work from home so according to the PM they should go to work tomorrow but I know for a fact that the building is closed, so that would be pointless, it is so vague as to be unhelpful and by indicating tomorrow as the commencement of this it gives no time for proper planning!

Personally, I wouldn't be opening my shop until Sturgeon gave that advice and when I did it would only be once government advice was published on how to do it safely. The last thing I'd want is a death on my hands and a potential lawsuit.

On the positive side for me, it looks like our English-based suppliers might be getting back to normal this week so we can get some more stock bought in.

[oaksoft]

11 minutes ago, nedflanders123 said:

Yes, but NS talked about additional walking and not to have picnics and BBQs.  I do not recall her mentioning going to public parks but happy to be corrected.  Tonight she clearly stated there is a difference in exercising and sitting having a picnic. 

You can exercise where you want as long as it's close to home.

Just don't congregate in groups or meet up with your friends and keep away from others. If the park is mobbed, go somewhere else.

I think we have to be trusted with exercising a bit of commonsense here.

[nedflanders123]

32 minutes ago, faraway saint said:

Who mentioned picnics or BBQ's? 

Trying to differentiate between what our FM said and the ambiguity from the PM. I have no doubt some will use what the PM said to visit beaches and travel across the UK.

[nedflanders123]

26 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

You can exercise where you want as long as it's close to home.

Just don't congregate in groups or meet up with your friends and keep away from others. If the park is mobbed, go somewhere else.

I think we have to be trusted with exercising a bit of commonsense here.

Alas some do not practice common sense. Watch this space to see if this latest guidance is adhered to or not.

[faraway saint]

3 minutes ago, nedflanders123 said:

Trying to differentiate between what our FM said and the ambiguity from the PM. I have no doubt some will use what the PM said to visit beaches and travel across the UK.

The PM did mention you can have Twister competitions in parks. 

FFS Ned, what the hell. 

[smcc]

12 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

Did Scotland have an equivalent to Cygnus?

If not, why not?

If they did, why did they end up with PPE shortages as well?

 

43 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

Did Scotland have an equivalent to Cygnus?

If not, why not?

If they did, why did they end up with PPE shortages as well?

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/scotland/pandemic-planning-exercise-was-insufficient-to-prepare-for-covid-19-msps-told/

"She was asked about Exercise Silver Swan in 2015, where Scottish public services dealt with a simulated flu outbreak.

The UK Government ran a similar exercise called Cygnus, though the results of neither have been published in full.

The Health Secretary said: “In Scotland we had Silver Swan, which was in 2015, and predated Cygnus, but like Cygnus it focused on a pandemic flu situation.

“Because at that time flu was considered globally to be the most likely infection that would be a pandemic.

“The principal conclusion from that for the NHS in Scotland was the need to create the pandemic stockpile, which we did.

“There was also a UK pandemic stockpile created for use across the four nations of the UK, so that stockpile was created to hold in case there was a pandemic.”

She said Silver Swan was useful in preparing for the current pandemic, but Covid-19 behaves differently than flu."

It looks likely that both governments underestimated the size of stockpile needed although the UK government had responsibility for building up the UK pile for all four nations..

[Cookie Monster]

He mentioned that his government will publish guidance on how to return to workplace safely.
In theory no one should be returning until this is available and followed.

The guidance for England is dont come within 2 mts of someone. Avoid if possible public transport to get to work.

[faraway saint]

For those who use Sky News for their information.........................swimming in an outdoor pond, yip, that's her interpretation. 

 

[oaksoft]

40 minutes ago, smcc said:

 

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/scotland/pandemic-planning-exercise-was-insufficient-to-prepare-for-covid-19-msps-told/

"She was asked about Exercise Silver Swan in 2015, where Scottish public services dealt with a simulated flu outbreak.

The UK Government ran a similar exercise called Cygnus, though the results of neither have been published in full.

The Health Secretary said: “In Scotland we had Silver Swan, which was in 2015, and predated Cygnus, but like Cygnus it focused on a pandemic flu situation.

“Because at that time flu was considered globally to be the most likely infection that would be a pandemic.

“The principal conclusion from that for the NHS in Scotland was the need to create the pandemic stockpile, which we did.

“There was also a UK pandemic stockpile created for use across the four nations of the UK, so that stockpile was created to hold in case there was a pandemic.”

She said Silver Swan was useful in preparing for the current pandemic, but Covid-19 behaves differently than flu."

It looks likely that both governments underestimated the size of stockpile needed although the UK government had responsibility for building up the UK pile for all four nations..

Thanks for that.

As I thought, both got caught out just like virtually every other country. I really think there's limited mileage in overly criticising any government for being ill prepared in this sense.

If something truly contagious hits a population, all planning and preparation goes out the window overnight.

I was reading today that a massive stockpile of safety goggles purchased by the last Labour government turned out to fail safety tests and was rendered useless.

There are people out there not doing their jobs properly and blaming governments IMO gives these lazy, useless people an easy get-out.

[oaksoft]

53 minutes ago, nedflanders123 said:

Alas some do not practice common sense. Watch this space to see if this latest guidance is adhered to or not.

I think that most people will follow the advice both in spirit and in letter.

Others will try to find ways of getting around the rules but they'll be in a minority.

 

[Guest TPAFKATS]

Indeed, but this should have been available before mentioning a start date, and he did say from tomorrow, not everyone will understand the full message if they've been stuck at home since 23rd March, so confusion has been unnecessarily instigated.

I genuinely think that's the intention. 7pm on a Sunday night ffs