Dead Souls
Zugzwang, a reader of Lockdown Sceptics (not his real name, obviously), has written a great essay which I’m publishing today. The opening three paragraphs set the scene:
The anti-hero of Gogol’s Dead Souls, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, had his reasons for cultivating the nobility of a provincial Russian backwater, and buying from them, for a nominal sum, those of their serfs who happened to be dead. This saved the vendors an amount of poll tax (which continued to be payable for some time after death) and transformed Chichikov himself into a gentleman proprietor of some 400 serfs, potentially capable of raising a large loan on these assets and eloping (presumably under another name) with the Governor’s daughter.
When I first read Gogol, I found the whole idea totally obscure and mystifying, and I’m not sure that he ever spells out in words of one syllable how Chichikov’s business model is supposed to work. There’s a highly respectable view that the whole thing was always intended as pure shaggy-dog, and it’s only fitting that it breaks off in mid-sentence, as an act of Shandyean surrealism.
Compared with the COVID-19 mortality statistics, however, Gogol provides us with a paradigm of lucidity. Chichikov had found a way of monetising actual serfs who merely happened to have died. We have a Government agency, Public Health England, which seems to be busy manufacturing statistical deaths, to no purpose that makes even Chichikovian sense.
He then goes on to disect the official Covid death data and can discover little rhyme or reason:
Since July 17th, the daily death statistics from PHE have not been published directly by the Government, which is currently “investigating” them. But they do go on being input into the Government’s coronavirus dashboard, which is fed by PHE. Not only that, they continue to illustrate the official thesis that while the virus may be on its way out, it is going very, very, slowly. The rolling seven-day average number of deaths per day on July 26th was 66, holding its own with 68 the week before. No decline recorded at all – and 444 deaths reported by PHE in the week ending July 24th.
The thing is, though, that it is entirely mysterious where these deaths are occurring. For the week to July 24th there have so far been zero deaths reported in Scotland and Northern Ireland and just one in Wales. In the hospitals of England, the total recorded deaths (according to the NHS) were 67. So we have 376 unaccounted for (85% of them).
I’ve given it pride of place on the right-hand menu under “Are Sceptical Voices Being Suppressed?” Worth reading in full.
America’s Frontline Doctors
A group of sceptical doctors in the US, including Dr Dan Erickson, one of the two Bakersfield doctors, held a press conference on the steps of the US Supreme Court in Washington yesterday in which they talked a great deal of sense. They pointed out, among other things, that the lockdowns across the US are causing more harm than they’re preventing, that COVID-19 is treatable and that the vast majority of the population, e.g those under 65 without any co-morbidities, aren’t at risk from the disease.
Needless to say, America’s tech giants quickly moved to suppress the information. Breitbart News posted a video to Facebook yesterday which became the top-performing Facebook post in the world before the social media company removed it, and YouTube and Twitter removed footage of the press conference too. You can still view it on Breitbart, however.
The same group organised a second event yesterday at which they sang the praises of Hydroxychloroquine. If YouTube has taken it down by the time you click on this link, you can find the information at AmericanFrontlineDoctors.com.
Cat Tests Positive For Coronavirus
Oh no! Time for another panic. A cat has tested positive for COVID-19. The BBC has the story, although for once the news organisation is trying to tamp down the hysteria.
A pet cat has tested positive in the UK for the strain of coronavirus that is causing the current pandemic.
Experts say it is the first confirmed case of infection in an animal in the UK but does not mean the disease is being spread to people by their pets.
It’s thought the cat caught coronavirus from its owner, who had previously tested positive for the virus. Both have now recovered.
Health officials stress the case is very rare and no cause for alarm.
Reminds me of the story about the goat testing positive in Tanzania. The President, Dr John Pombe Magufuli, promptly sacked his chief health advisor, taking this as evidence that the test being used was unreliable. I wonder if the Covid cat might also be a false positive? The BBC doesn’t record whether the moggy was retested to confirm the initial diagnosis.
Heart-Rending Stories
I’ve been sent a harrowing story by a reader who works for a cancer charity.
I don’t know if this story is helpful to you at all, but I work for a national cancer charity answering support calls. I had an extremely distressing call the other week from an 90 year-old lady whose 69 year-old daughter who was in a hospice due to her advanced cancer.
The lady told me that she hadn’t seen her daughter for months – since lockdown was imposed – and knowing her daughter didn’t have long left she drove to the hospice, desperate to see her, only to be refused at the front door. Worse still, she said she was verbally reprimanded by the manager for trying to come in and told that she was putting herself and everyone else at risk.
Her daughter died a few days later. She never got to say her goodbyes….
On the phone to me, the lady was emotionally distraught, crying inconsolably. She also told me that she lives alone and had been self-isolating herself since February, which she has really struggled with as well. I have been supporting cancer patients for many years and never been lost for words, but on this occasion I was. I just felt so angry inside.
The prevention of people being able to say goodbye to their loved ones is, for me, one of the most shockingly under-covered stories throughout this whole lockdown. I’m sure this is not a one off….
And another reader sent me this story. Pretty awful, too.
I have a rather depressing story told to me by a close friend.
Her grandmother died in hospital at the start of lockdown and sadly, having tested positive for COVID-19 and locked in a Covid ward, she was not able to see her family in her final days. As it happens, the cause of death was certainly not Covid as she had been struggling with cancer for some time.
Upon trying to recover the grandmother’s belongings, however, my friend’s family were told that they were missing. The items’ total value was a sizeable four-figure sum as she had been wearing her jewellery at the time of her death. After months of wrangling with the hospitals and fears the items had been stolen, they finally received a concrete response.
The hospital said that at the time of the grandmother’s death, guidance for dealing with Covid patients’ property had not been set up, leading to large build-ups of personal property at the hospital. When guidance did materialise it stated that personal clothing (at the time, it has since changed), were to be disposed of. The hospital admitted that the likely outcome was that, due to the pressure the hospital was facing, the grandmother’s jewellery had been disposed of by mistake along with her clothing.
Of course, this caused great distress to the family in question and it has led me to wonder how many families were similarly affected. It is not inconceivable that due to this absurd guidance, the total value of patients’ lost items could be millions of pounds, and many deeply saddened families.
This whole saga seems typical of the whole national response to Covid, where an easily sterilisable item, such as an engagement ring, is thrown aside in the name of irrational Covid responses. I feel that stories and scandals like these are going to continue surfacing for months to come.
No Second Wave in Spain
Will Jones, a contributor to Lockdown Sceptics, has written a good piece for Conservative Woman about the needless panic over Spain’s “second wave”.
While there has in the past month been a surge in cases, mainly in Catalonia, there has been no corresponding surge in deaths nor in serious cases, which remain notably flat, indicating a surge so far either among the low risk or in the number of tests only.
Further considerations are that half the new cases in Spain are asymptomatic and we have no reason to believe that the asymptomatic are infectious. In addition, with the number of people being tested so high, and the percentage of cases so low, it’s likely that some of the uptick is due to false positives. The antigen test is notoriously unreliable, as this episode illustrates, when six out of seven staff members at a Scottish football club who’d tested positive turned out to be negative when retested.
In other words, the newly-imposed quarantine for travellers returning from Spain (and the Spanish islands) is completely pointless.
Who would have guessed?
As Alexandra Phillips points out in the Telegraph, the Government’s U-turn on quarantine travel restrictions is straight out of The Thick of It.
Worth reading Will Jones’s piece in full.
Risk of Catching the Virus From Inanimate Surfaces or Objects is Tiny
A reader has flagged up a recent comment in the Lancet saying the risk of catching COVID-19 from fomites – inanimate surfaces or objects – has been wildly exaggerated. The author – Professor of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the New Jersey Medical School – points out that the studies purporting to show the virus can survive on fomites for up to six days all used huge quantities of live virus that bore no resemblance to real life situations.
In a study in which the authors tried to mimic actual conditions in which a surface might be contaminated by a patient, no viable SARS-CoV was detected on surfaces.
He concludes:
In my opinion, the chance of transmission through inanimate surfaces is very small, and only in instances where an infected person coughs or sneezes on the surface, and someone else touches that surface soon after the cough or sneeze (within 1–2 h).
Phew! This means there’s no need to “quarantine” food deliveries for three days before consuming and no need to remove clothing that’s been touched from rails in shops.
But I think we all knew that anyway.
Examples of Newspeak
I’m thinking about introducing a new regular slot featuring Orwellian use of language by the mainstream media. Here’s a gem: “Protesters in California set fire to a courthouse, damaged a police station and assaulted officers after a peaceful demonstration intensified.” (This was tweeted by ABC News in the US.) I don’t suppose I need to spell this out, but if protestors set fire to a courthouse, vandalised a police station and attacked the police, how was the demonstration “peaceful”? It’s reminiscent of that now famous BBC headline about the BLM protest that turned ugly in Whitehall: “27 officers injured in largely peaceful anti-racism protests.”
If readers notice any other examples of Newspeak, email me here.
Round-Up
Here’s a round-up of all the stories I’ve noticed, or which have been been brought to my attention, in the last 24 hours:
- ‘Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional: week ending 17 July 2020‘ – Latest ONS data shows the number of deaths registered in Week 29 from all causes was 3% below the five-year average
- ‘The Biggest Fraud: Part 1 – The Hocus “Science” Behind Lockdown‘ – Investment whizz kid Barry Norris on the fraudulent science behind the lockdown
- ‘The Biggest Fraud: Part 2 – The Vaccine Scandal‘ – Not the usual anti-vaxxer rant, but a thoughtful analysis by Barry Norris of why a coronavirus vaccine is unlikely to be effective
- ‘The virus has taken our liberty. Must it take our humanity as well?‘ – Lord Sumption makes a powerful argument for returning to normal in the Telegraph
- ‘FCO tightens Spain ban to include Balearics and Canary Islands‘ – Airlines have announced no refunds for people cancelling flights to the Spanish islands
- ‘Quarantine to be cut to 10 days for people arriving from Spain‘ – Government announces returning travellers from countries not in the travel corridor will only need to quarantine for 10 days, not 14. The plan is to test them after eight days and if they’re negative allow them to leave their homes two days later
- ‘Rise of the anti-maskers: The psychology of why face coverings are causing so much upset‘ – Reasonably even-handed piece by Sarah Knapton, Science Editor of the Telegraph
- ‘Higher Ed and the Fragmentation of America‘ – Excellent piece by former Senator Orrin Hatch about what can be done to eliminate cancel culture in US universities
- ‘You can’t defeat racism with censorship‘ – Great piece by Fraser Myers in Spiked on why state regulation of social media is a terrible idea
- ‘Selfridges to cut 450 jobs as sales fall “significantly”‘ – Not Selfridges! Is no department store safe?
- ‘PM Johnson commits two billion pounds in cycling and walking health drive‘ – So let me get this straight. Boris is spending £2 billion to save the NHS £200 million? Something doesn’t add up…
- ‘Why herd immunity to COVID-19 is reached much earlier than thought – update‘ – A follow-up by Nic Lewis to his May 10th article on why herd immunity will be reached earlier than thought
- ‘Sweden: The One Chart That Matters‘ – Good piece by Tyler Durden in Zero Hedge. The chart in question is the one showing the number of people dying from COVID-19 in Sweden has fallen to almost zero
- ‘Woke warriors threaten our sense of identity‘ – Trevor Philips on the money as usual in the Times
- ‘Patrols set up to prevent wild camping as police crack down on “illegal” staycations‘ – Just when you thought the authorities couldn’t get even more draconian, families camping in the wild are being arrested by the police
- ‘Google to Keep Employees Home Until Summer 2021 Amid Coronavirus Pandemic‘ – But of course
- ‘McDonald’s revenue falls 30%‘ – Only 30%?
Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers
Three today: “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey” by the Beatles, “Let’s Not Go Shopping” by Robbie Williams and “House Arrest” by Gorgon City x SOFI TUKKER.
Small Businesses That Have Re-Opened
A couple of months ago, Lockdown Sceptics launched a searchable directory of open businesses across the UK. The idea is to celebrate those retail and hospitality businesses that have re-opened, as well as help people find out what has opened in their area. But we need your help to build it, so we’ve created a form you can fill out to tell us about those businesses that have opened near you.
Now that non-essential shops have re-opened – or most of them, anyway – we’re now focusing on pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants, as well as other social venues. As of July 4th, many of them have re-opened too, but not all. Please visit the page and let us know about those brave folk who are doing their bit to get our country back on its feet – particularly if they’re not insisting on face masks! Don’t worry if your entries don’t show up immediately – we need to approve them once you’ve entered the data.
Note to the Good Folks Below the Line
I enjoy reading all your comments and I’m glad I’ve created a “safe space” for lockdown sceptics to share their frustrations and keep each other’s spirits up. But please don’t copy and paste whole articles from papers that are behind paywalls in the comments. I work for some of those papers and if they don’t charge for premium content they won’t survive.
We created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums, but they became a magnet for spam (apologies for mixed metaphor) so we’ve temporarily closed them. However, we can open them again if some readers volunteer to be moderators. If you’d like to do this, please email Ian Rons, the Lockdown Sceptics webmaster, here – and thanks to those who’ve already volunteered. We’ll be re-opening the Forums soon.
“Mask Exempt” Lanyards
I thought I’d create a new permanent slot down here for people who want to buy (or make) a “Mask Exempt” lanyard. The one featured above is available for free here and has the advantage of not explicitly claiming you have a disability. But if you have no qualms about that (or you are disabled), you can buy a lanyard from Amazon saying you do have a disability/medical exemption here. The Government has instructions on how to download an official “Mask Exempt” notice to put on your phone here. And you can get a “Hidden Disability” tag from eBay here.
Although bear in mind that some mask Nazis are so deranged they may just go completely nuts if they see you not wearing one in public. In San Diego, a man having a picnic with his wife in a public park was maced by a woman for not covering his face.
Meanwhile, here’s Peter Hitchens railing against face masks on Mike Graham’s TalkRadio show yesterday.
And you can sign the petition on the UK Government’s petitions website to end mandatory face nappies in shops here.
Shameless Begging Bit
Thanks as always to those of you who made a donation recently to pay for the upkeep of this site. If you feel like donating, however small the sum, please click here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links I should include in future updates, email me here.
And Finally…
In the latest episode of London Calling, James Delingpole and I talk about being part of the anti-mask rebel alliance, why Covid rule enforcement appeals to aggressive conformists and the unconvincing rhetoric of Sasha, the Oxford BLM rabble rouser. If you enjoy the podcast, please do subscribe.
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
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WEDNESDAY’S PAGE IS HERE
https://dailysceptic.org/2020/07/29/latest-news-88/#comments
Move along please !!!!
Been out and about in Billericay earlier, and can report that I hardly saw anybody in face coverings. Went into the BP filling station and shop.No one on the forecourt wearing. Inside some old guy had what looked like a dishcloth he was holding to his mouth, one young couple where female was unmasked and male was, but only around his neck. Three other customers were masked. Two ladies serving, one masked, one unmasked. I was beckoned over by the masked one. I smiled at her and she was extremely pleasant. She had to remove her (quite heavy duty looking) mask to ask me a question and I could see she was smiling. My local convenience store and off licence both seem to be making a point by being overtly friendly to non-maskers, and none of their staff ever wear them. . Am I being too optimistic, or is this falling apart already? PS I went onto Waitrose on Sunday. I was the only one un-masked. To my disappointment though, nobody said anything!!
Just listened to Sky report on potential new quarantine measures. Husband just declared, ‘Well F… that, I’m off to put the housekeeping money on the greyhounds’!
This continuing insanity is having a severely detrimental effect on my mental – and possibly physical – health. Assuming I outlive the current panic, what are my options for seeking recompense from the powers that be?
I’ve been lurking around here for the past couple of months so have jumped off the fence and registered today.
It doesn’t matter where we live we face the same shite so in that sense we share a common bond as sceptics. Here in Ireland masks aren’t mandatory yet but you would think so judging by the number of musslers running around. It’s really depressing to witness, especially as many of our friends and family members have bought into the C19 hoax and don’t leave home without a mask. Fortunately quite a number of shops have taken a reasonably lax attitude to face nappies so it is not as hellish as what you sceptics in the UK have to endure.
Anyway, on a positive note we do have a very outspoken woman fighting in “our” corner and that is Prof Dolores Cahill. Here is another great video of her addressing a crowd a few days ago, along with a couple of takeaway quotes…
“…when they talk about a second spike, [remember] there wasn’t a first one”
and
“I’ll never wear a mask!”
Stay strong!
I am wondering about two things, maybe someone can clarify:
That the Moderna vaccine seems to have worked when the monkeys were challenged is at first glance good news.
But did they use ferrets as well?
Ferrets have sofar always had cytokine storms and died when challenged with coronaviruses.
Suspicious as I have become, I can also imagine that they have neglected to investigate that for that reason.
Not sure whether monkeys or ferrets are more relevant then, but not comfy even if monkeys survive
challenging but ferrets don’t.
Can anyone evaluate whether the Minnesota studies were legit, comparable and really detrimental to the case of using HCQ or not?
The first ine seems to have been for prophylaxe, HCQ only, the second one just adding zinc but no antibiotic, or am I wrong?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-prisoner-free-man_b_1832930
This article was written in 2012.
At least my suspicions that Waitrose is in fact evil have been proven correct.
I always suspected they thought I was too dirty to buy their quinoa. Now I have confirmation.
Stay away from this surgeon. If he does not know that surgical masks are there to prevent gob and sweat to fall into an open wound then he is severely incompetent. Maybe one of the vaginal mess implant doctors.
After my experience at Waitrose this morning, will definitely not be going back
Been to my local Tesco Express unmasked a couple of times now. No issues, although sadly I was the only unmasked customer both times.
My wife went to the bigger Tesco up the road unmasked today, and received a few weird looks from conformists. She was hoping that they’d say something, but none of them plucked up the courage. She reports that most staff were unmasked and friendly, and that the lady on the till removed her mask to speak to her.
As for other customers, she saw one lady probably mid-30s and one soldier in uniform unmasked (just doing his shopping, not enforcing masks – yet lol). We have a long way to go, but at least the big supermarkets aren’t bothering us!
Bet nobody messed with the soldier!
Nice idea. Let’s all go shopping in camo.
Scot Gov daily figures today – for context sturgeon was pleading yesterday for voluneers to take a vaccine trial. Yes covid is a non event in the real world.
Can anyone explain how 22 of 9557 is 0.7%?
22 new confirmed cases of COVID-19; this is 0.7% of newly tested individuals.
9,557 new tests for COVID-19 that reported results.
These figures are consistently incompatible and yet so insigificantly small, I don’t understand why they are not accurate.
Other numbers today:
0 new reported death(s) of people who have tested positive.
2 people were in intensive care last night with confirmed COVID-19.
260 people were in hospital with confirmed COVID-19.
Some people being tested more than once could explain it. But looking at the figures, if that were the case it would mean everyone testing positive had been tested three times – unless my maths is wonky (which it could well be).
I didn’t consider multiple tests of the same individuals that then become cases. Thanks. It is very unclear reporting.
This seems to work out that 3,143 were newly tested individuals. The other 6,414 had previously been tested.
Thanks. I’ve considered that, however these are daily figures with weekly figures and since the beginning figures also published at the same time.
Just on these tests in Scotland. Are staff at each football club tested each day or every other day? So if there is 6,000 previous tests, and there’s 42 clubs, then if there was 15 on average at each club each day who are tested, then that’s accounts for the 6,000 previously tested each day.
In relation to football I do not know there is a protocol but that seems to have changed through time. 15 false positives from 6,000 is that the going rate. Midday reporting of the figures can possibly account loosely for the difference. I will keep in my as I try to understand. Thanks.
– Rangers are under investgation for feilding 9 players at Dundee without up to date tests. Roll eyes.
Only 2 people in all of Scotland in an ICU with Covid-19?
Shhh don’t notice that bit
https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-daily-data-for-scotland/
-Yes 2 in icu-
Out and about with the wife, both of us maskless all the time. She now actually asks me before we leave the house if i have my badge on, before she didn’t care. Now she puts ear’s on and reminds me.
Few downer observations:
Apart from us only 1 other person unmasked – highlights below in the outdoor shopping area at Trentham gardens it’s amazing how many people do not know the meaning of the word enclosed and masked up all the time every shop had a Trentham Estates A4 notice in the window about masks being required, only 1 had any reference to exemptions and thats as handwritten and said “under 11s exempt”. It was a really nasty shopping experience with all the signs and warnings and empty units. Trentham may get a letter about our experience which left them life really despondent it was that bad after I ahem a few beers and the creative juices start flowing. Lots of child abuse happening with children in pushchairs in masks sad to see a group of young teen girls walking about with matching handbags, muzzles and hair bands as if they were fashion accessories. Lots of furtive glances then… Read more »
Be interesting to see how long those shop lasts at Trentham Gardens, as even before they expanded a lot of them only lasted about a year before closing. I can see there being loads of units empty in a few months time, and they wont be able to do the usual Xmas stuff that they do there anymore with social distancing in place.
Me and wife said exactly the same – few more months and the place will be empty.
Masked children. Was chatting to a non believer woman and mentioned muzzling the kids, she said her nieces liked it since it made them feel like grown ups.
Can’t she just get them meaningless and unfulfilling jobs, and saddle them with heaps of debt instead to make them feel like adults, rather than muzzling them?
Sad, very sad.
Good grief,there is no hope if people are letting their children think like that.
Bad news from the frontline. Mrs Tenchy went to M&S at Teesside Park today. She had a look in the cafeteria, where they’ve surrounded all the tables with seven-foot-high plastic screens. Had this put people off? Not a bit of it! The place was full, and there was a long (antisocially distanced) queue of people who just couldn’t wait to eat their lunch IN a box.
M&S… nuff said
This is not just any dystopia, this is an M&S dystopia… I’ll get my coat.
I liked that!
Good one 🙂
Must watch: Immunology Prof. Beda Stadler: we have reaxhed herd immunity and masks for all make no sense: https://youtu.be/GBRcK-od50Q
Today’s UKColumn covered the SNP MSP wishing to wear a face mask for life.
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/politics/scottish-politics/2370675/snp-msp-stewart-stevenson-says-he-is-considering-wearing-a-face-mask-for-the-rest-of-my-life/
”
North-east SNP MSP Stewart Stevenson indicated he is planning to wear a mask “for the rest of my life” as he mounted a staunch defence of anti-coronavirus face coverings.
”
Today’s Uk Column news will be uploaded shortly
https://www.youtube.com/user/ukcolumn
He should be in a lunatic asylum instead of Scot. Assembly but perhaps not that big difference.
Needs to read Alexander Dumas (sp?).
UK Column New is worth a watch, each Monday, Wednesday & Friday.
They also do occasional specials on specific subjects.
He’s a monumental wanker.
B+M staff tell me they have been told by top management NOT to challenge anyone without a mask under any circumstances as the company does not want to be embroiled in a disability discrimination case.
Not that any of them care two hoots anyway about customers and the law, they hate wearing the masks all day themselves. Dropped a few hints about challenging the risk assessment to them.
Found this out while chatting in the checkout queue after walking round maskless.
All through this madness,B&M have been really good,apart from some tape on the floor,which the staff encourage customers to ignore when queues have been building up,they have pretty much normal.The way some of the customers have been behaving in there is a different matter though.
My message to those pushing the coronapanic message in daily interactions and on social media:
All you who wear masks and cringe away from human contact out of fear of this disease, you create your own Hell for yourselves to live in, and you are to be pitied for that. Until you try to force your personal Hell on others by imposing your fear-based rules upon them, or lecturing them for their failure to join you in your hell. Then you become evil.
More figures I don’t believe:
From the Governemtn’s weekly surveillance report (very detailed analysis – lots of charts and graphs here):
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/903450/Weekly_COVID19_Surveillance_Report_week_30_FINAL_UPDATED.pdf
“In week 29, the weekly admission rates for both hospitalisations and ICU/HDU COVID-19 admissions decreased. The hospitalisation rate was at 1.07 per 100,000 in week 29 compared to 1.28 per 100,000 in the previous week. The ICU/HDU rate was at 0.09 per 100,000 in week 29 compared to 0.13 per 100,000 in the previous week (Figure 23).”
I accept the ICU figures – 0.09 per 100,000 equates to just over 50 people in the whole country in intensive care with Covid.
But the admissions to hospital figures feels shaky – 1 per 100,000 = about 600 new hospital admissions in the past week with Covid. Does that feel right to those of you on the inside?
Could be. If they were admitted for minor treatment then quickly discharged.
Actually that would be a good way of scaring people. Admit everyone who has even minor symptoms for a day or two.
Which is why hospitalised death rate went down from 6% in April to 1.5% (ish) more recently.
Depends. If they count anyone admitted to hospital for any illness who just happened to also test positive for covid, then yes, definitely.
I think this is what they do. So it’s very misleading. Often, the patients won’t be in hospital FOR coronavirus.
That figure could be accurate. Cebm have published figures for hospital admissions with COVID-19 in England and on 24th July there were 65.
Two newly published articles. The first very interesting about cross reaction with one of our earlier Coronavirus. The second article about the short infectiousness and also prolonged shedding of non viable virus.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.27.222943v1
At one of these sites, we demonstrate that the SARS-CoV-2 response strongly and recurrently cross-reacts with the endemic virus hCoV-OC43. Our analyses reveal new diagnostic and therapeutic targets, including a site at which SARS-CoV-2 may recruit common pre-existing antibodies and with the potential for broadly-neutralizing responses.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.25.20162107v1
Although SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding in respiratory and stool can be prolonged, duration of viable virus is relatively short-lived. Thus, detection of viral RNA cannot be used to infer infectiousness. High SARS-CoV-2 titres are detectable in the first week of illness with an early peak observed at symptom onset to day 5 of illness.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/news/breaking-10-brits-returning-Spain-22427
Please don’t anyone think that I read the Mirror, but I came across this site whilst looking for something I had spotted on the Independent site earlier (I don’t read that rag either)
It concerns the 10 people who have reportedly returned from Spain since July 1st and tested positive for Corona virus-notice it doesn’t say they had Covid 19.
In an interview on Radio 4, Tory Minister Simon Clarke said:
”it was entirely plausible that Britons came back from Spain carrying the Corona virus” but repeatedly stressed he had NO data showing this was true.
He was asked the question a further THREE times and kept repeating the same answer about the two thousand new cases in Spain. Later two thousand cases became “thousands”.
So he doesn’t have any data. Presumably that applies to data about serious cases, hospitalisations and deaths, which have all been flat lining in Spain for months. This is all due to increased testing and we all know how good are the tests.
Surely these ten “cases” could conceivably be false positives, especially if they’re asymptomatic?
And even if they’re not, the govt manage to rustle up anywhere between 500 and 700 new cases per day the moment. Why would an extra 10 cause an uncontrollable outbreak?
Exactly. Just come across another article which is saying that:
”Half of Spain’s Covid-19 cases (55%) show no symptoms with most aged 15-29”
This is from the Carlos lll Health Institute.
I thought Covid 19 was the illness that was supposed to result from the Corona virus, so if they don’t have any symptoms they can’t have Covid 19 but have just tested positive for Corona virus.
Apologies for the link above but it is on the Mirror website somewhere!
Precisely. When did you last hear of anyone having an asymptomatic cold?
There are so many aspects of this virus that defy logic — like how you can infect someone else when you’re healthy had have no symptoms, and how the face muzzle protects others and not you. How does a mask filter virus particles in only one direction?
Cos its not about a virus Lisa. It’s a global reset.
I have one now, I am totally well.
Aye, as thee says, or implies, if there are already so many new cases each day in Britain why would a few extra ‘imported’ ones matter that much? Has there been an estimation of the numbers that might be ‘imported’? The Government responds as if it was a new breed of virus they want to keep out.
Here’s my account of a real-life viola lesson, using the train: Since ‘the virus’ the trains have mystically grown from 2 to 4 carriages but there was hardly anyone on mine. A gang of lads on mountain bikes, not sure how many muzzled. 3 girls in the same carriage, one facing me. She took her mask off almost immediately. My journey was only 2 stops and at the 1st one, a load of faceless zombies got on and she seemed to take fright and it went back on.
On the way up the steep hill to my lesson I passed the undertaker’s. As usual they were laughing and joking but they didn’t seem to be sizing me up as they usually do.
Good lesson, wonderful to be there. My teacher is not exactly in our camp but not far off. All of her pupils now go to her house and no masks. Her husband’s orchestra is hoping to do live orchestral concerts in the autumn. I wish them all the best!
On the way down, passed a crazy overweight woman carrying a box of cakes up the steep path wearing a muzzle. She cringed away from me so I ignored… Read more »
“On the way down, passed a crazy overweight woman carrying a box of cakes up the steep path wearing a muzzle. She cringed away from me so I ignored her“
These people create their own hell for themselves, but it’s possible to sympathise with them to some extent as victims of evil propaganda and manipulation, until they inflict their personal hell on others:
https://twitter.com/hector_drummond/status/1288228285957242884
The trains would always run on time if people didn’t get on them!
The girl that you mention seems to be very suggestable, first she follows your example then falls in with the herd. Clearly not an avid believer.
An example where a scientific ‘expert’ was shown to be wrong:
Sir Roy Meadow – claimed that odds of two cot deaths in the same family were one in a million, leading to a mother’s conviction for murder. Then claimed that odds in another family were one in 73 million leading to another mother’s conviction for murder. The real odds were one in 77.
Both mothers failed in their appeals.
The cases were later overturned, but Sally Clark, who had been widely reviled in the press as a child killer, and targeted in prison because she was a solicitor and daughter of a police officer, had developed serious psychiatric disorders in prison and drank herself to death.
Eventually Meadow was struck off, but not before ruining many lives.
Maybe this doesn’t seem completely relevant to Covid, but I think it is: it’s the same mindset as, say, Neil Ferguson, where belief in pathetic, stupid, dumb, wrong ‘science’ leads an ‘expert’ to ruin the lives of others without any apparent doubt in their mind.
An earlier example of something similar would be Sir Bernard Spilsbury. A pioneering and brilliant forensic pathologist but prone to excessive interpretation of ambiguous evidence. His testimony sent more than one innocent party to the gallows as juries believed in him rather than considering all the evidence in full
Replying to myself, I didn’t spot that you could say that Meadow was effectively using a ‘mathematical model’ to ruin people’s lives. Ferguson’s model is just as wrong, and being followed just as blindly.
Unfortunately there will always be errors, and science is based on theories and assumptions and open to further research that disproves them. It’s accepted that innocent people will be sent to prison as mistakes will be made.
I believe the estimated figure in the UK for people who are in prison but are innocent is 1-3%, whereas in the USA it 2-10%. So, with there being around 100,000 prisoners in the UK potentially 3,000 are innocent.
A Magistrate once said to me that he believes there is one innocent man on every wing.
I remember the Sally Clark case. These so-called expert witnesses making up numbers as they got along (thumb suck). Some research link the Pertussis vaccine (included in MMR) to cot death, can happen up to around 28 days after jab
Hello everyone! Guess what?? I’ve only gone to Aldi shopping with my mum this morning without a mask! After a guilt ridden shop last Friday and vowing I wouldn’t go shopping again, today I felt completely different. It felt good. My mum wore a mask under her nose and once she got to the packing area I told her to take it off. There was only me, another couple and a young person in the store without a mask. I did cheat a little bit though so don’t get to excited, I had my son’s snood on around my neck so I suppose I did look like I was trying a little bit but it wasn’t covering my face. Think that helped me feel confident entering the store. Feeling very happy!
Much what I did in Sainsbury’s Local yesterday, I wore a skulls & roses bandana with a 1984 badge that I half heartedly pushed up on entering the store – no queue and no one on the door- then let fall. No one was bothered, not that there were many people around. I am annoyed with myself for not being brave enough to walk in with nothing, but I do not want to end up in an arguement with a shop assistant.either…
“No one was bothered” this is what surprises me, while willing to go along with the mask stupidity themselves I have had no negative reactions for not wearing one.
Co Op door marshal (inside since no queue) said in a friendly manner ‘you need to wear a mask’, “that’s ok I’m exempt thanks” I replied cheerily as he wandered off.
Same here, no comments from other shoppers, which is odd as if they believe they are saving me, why are they not telling me I need to mask up?
They don’t believe it, they are just trying to avoid getting fine or verbally flattened by someone else. They have no interest in stopping you from getting fined 😉
My husband has freely walked into Co Op several times over the weekend with no mask and no one has said anything to him. We don’t have a door marshal at our local store though and the shop assistants have told him that they’re not enforcing it. He loves walking in not giving a f**k!
Pretty sure this will be the state of play in my two local small stores. Have yet to test.
Don’t be annoyed with yourself for walking in with nothing, its a confidence builder. I don’t want the confrontation from customers so if me wearing it around my neck looks like I’m trying then I think its a great first step to build my confidence. The amount of people walking out of stores and immediately ripping off the mask becuase they’re hot and struggling to breathe yet continue to wear on the next trip is baffling.What will it take for them to realise that the masks are not beneficial to their health? When they collaspe in a heap??
Good stuff! Step by step….
Definitely Mark.
Jolly good!
YAY!
Just a thong and a smile next week!
https://twitter.com/Pollemann1/status/1288357182338142209/photo/1
Look at this graph from Argentina with lockdown date followed by mask date. To be shown to politicians.“Due to seasonality, they had enough time to prepare, to take the right measures and so on… Seems a virus does what it does and decision makers live in the illusion of control”
It certainly looks like it. I think lockdowns do “work” but only for a short time like maybe a few weeks. It doesn’t matter what the rules are, after a few weeks people start breaking them.
I have yet to see any data that demonstrates any positive effect of lockdown – have you?
I didn’t say it had a positive effect 🙂 Just an effect.
I posted this the other day:
https://syndromictrends.com/metric/panel/rp/percent_positivity/organism/main
Showing trends for various respiratory pathogens (not including Covid but there are other coronaviruses on there).
Not that helpful without source of data, definition of detection rate?
I guess it depends what you mean by “work”. If they are strict enough I guess they stop the spread, if done early enough, though given the need for people to buy food and eat, keep power supplies going etc etc there is always going to be contact. I think for it to truly “work” you’d need to lock people in their homes as they did in China. And then what do you do?
Do what New Zealand now has to do, stay in self isolation forever until the Covid arrives anyway which it surely will.
I was under the impression that NZ is like 1950s Britain, community still exists, people look out for each other, a generally more polite society etc.
Now it seems NZ has gone straight to 2150s Britain, fear the state, hide indoors, only do what the state gives you permission to do.
I think both both parts of your comment are correct, sadly.
I think the modest hygiene and distancing measures probably have some effect (handwashing – NUMBER ONE) and lockdowns only ‘work’ in the sense that they incentivise and make these measures ‘conscious’ to people. Which means the lockdown isn’t really working it’s just having a residual psychological effect.
The lockdown, hygiene and social distancing did work in that the NHS was not overwhelmed but that was done after 3 weeks.
Had johnson! then said ‘Crikey well done chaps now back to work and no pfifle malingerers’ mortality would have been normal, Lockdown a distant memory and our economy would not have been in ruins.
So there is a resurgence of viruses (including Covid in some places) as lockdowns are lifted. It’s possible people have also given up on the handwashing but if not it does imply that lockdowns temporarily reduce spread of viruses.
Are you not confusing lockdown with quarantine? Quarantine for infected persons fine (humane socially acceptable quarantine), indiscriminate lockdown no. Seen no data to support that as containing a virus whatsoever, but seen masses that say lockdown causes all sorts of collateral problems.
Americans can’t say Quarantine since that brings into play all sorts of legalaly binding ramifications, protocols re Compensation and procedures.
By calling it safe in place (?) State Governors were able to make it up as they went along.
Yes indeed. ‘Shelter in place’ is such an insidious phrase.
‘Shelter’ implies there is something to shelter from and also that that thing is some kind of natural disaster. Also that ‘sheltering’ cannot possibly be anything but good despite the fact you may starve.
Toby’s study on the language used in this will be very interesting. Honestly I think the creepily Orwellian language was the first alarm bell for most sceptics. It was for me anyway. Well that and the NHS clapping.
”and decision makers live in the illusion of control” It does seem that our leaders are increasingly looking like King Canute trying to hold back the tide. They all seem to have Covid OCD and are getting us all to chase our tails but is there any point?
A spokesperson on the lunchtime news at least admitted that the rise in infections was partly due to the increase in testing and that many of these cases are young people who are asymptomatic. Which you could read as a lot of young people have a light summer cold, in which case, the problem is??????????????
WHO Standard Scientific Analysis of the Effect of Face Masks on Heart Rate
Right, finally got around to testing this today as I had earlier mentioned I would. Based on heart rate information from the last 3 months of walking back from the supermarket with approximately 15kg of shopping (beer weighs a lot) over 1.2km with ~30metres elevation gain the highest peak heart I can see recorded was 125bpm.
Today, the peak heart rate was 140bpm, this occurred twice, once upon immediately leaving the supermarket (possibly a factor of putting my ruksack) before dropping back down to 120-125 and then peaking at 140bpm again upon reaching the highest part of the walk back.
One final point: today was quite cool and not particularly humid thanks to a rather pleasnt breeze. It was only about 16C here. A lot of the recent weather has been warmer and a lot more humid with the amount of rain we’ve had. I’ll try again to get some more data points, preferably when it’s hotter and more humid.
For reference, 140bpm is what I see when fell walking, although it does get about 10bpm higher during steep climbs in the Lake District.
The increase is… Read more »
It might make you fitter, like that documentary that showed cyclist Chris Boardman training in a hypoxic chamber he made out of one of his kid’s bedrooms.
Not making any specific allegation against Boardman but I should point out there was and still is a need for all pro-cyclists to have a narrative to explain their extremely uniformly high red blood cell counts.
LOL, indeed.
I can see why athletes do this kind of training, particularly to prepare for high altitudes, but they’ll be doing it with full monitoring from physios and doctors and from position of being fitter than 99%+ of the population
We’ve some decent weather coming up, and I’m going to jump on my bike. There is a reason I will not conduct this experiment again then.
Thanks. This is very descriptive. Repeatable too. 15kg to the bottom of the hill and back would begin to establish a data set… you’re welcome!
I’ll make it my daily exercise plan!
How about a vaccine against Government; pending which could we please put Government in lockdown?
Of course early-developed vaccines often have serious effects on their recipients. Still, no pain, no gain!
Warning about the return of the Daily Brainwash.
No 10 to advertise for spokesperson to front planned daily TV press briefings
Downing Street will today be posting an online advert for the new spokesperson post it is creating for the person who will take the daily televised press briefings it plans to start holding in the autumn. According to the Daily Telegraph (paywall), the advert will say No 10 is looking for “an experienced and confident media operator who would enjoy working on camera and with senior ministers, political advisers, officials and journalists; who would relish the challenge and pace of televised briefings, and who has a strong grasp of foreign and domestic policy issues”. And it will say:
The successful candidate will become a trusted political adviser to the prime minister and member of the senior team at Downing Street, reporting into the prime minister’s director of communications.
You will represent the government and the prime minister to an audience of millions on a daily basis, across the main broadcast channels and social media, and have the chance to influence and shape public opinion.
You will speak directly to the public on the issues they care most about, explaining the… Read more »
Missed the paragraph ” You must have no conscience, no common sense, and be able to lie convincingly and keep a straight face whilst explaining the government’s position”
Beat me to it!
and lying through your teeth!
Mason Mills wrote about this on his new Patreon site. I do not know who is but he certainly knows stuff before it is released and it is not all it seems. Loads of interesting stuff on there such as how long masks will be for etc. but condition of joining is confidentiality. I recommend joining as you can can cancel at anytime.
Can you summarise some stuff here – e.g. how long a face nappies on the agenda for?
Probably the same answer as ‘how long is a piece of string’ would elicit! Except that it will definitely be longer than even most muzzle-zealots wish to see.
“ condition of joining is confidentiality”. That makes me very suspicious indeed. Attention-seeking, money-making. Nothing good can come of this, surely, whether or not it is someone truly “in the know” or just pretending. If they are not in the know, they are a fraud, if they are then they are one of the guilty.
It is not a condition but an ask as could compromise source. I am prepared to risk it for a month or two and to be fair, the info so far is very interesting and before made public.
I would have thought profiting from privileged information as a government employee would be gross misconduct and instant dismissal – it would in my firm, and rightly so. If it’s whistleblowing then you don’t charge for it and you reveal it to journalists or some other interested body, in the public interest. Sounds like a wind-up to me. If there are people close to the top, they are guilty, unless they can demonstrate they are working from within to end this evil.
True, but whoever he is, he has been right about everything which has to make you wonder if he is an authorised ‘leak’… Remember he posted at the beginning of April that mask advice would change..
Well there is the risk of confirmation bias if he makes lots of predictions, but it does seem likely it’s an “approved leak” source.
Before he locked his Twitter account, MM was posting that 1. The Oxford Covid vaccine would be used as leverage for a Brexit deal and 2. From August the migrant taxi service from France would stop.
Today it seems the government have bought far more of GSK’s Covid vaccine than the UK population need – will we be selling this to the EU as opposed to the Oxford vaccine?
He also hinted that the mask policy would only be for 8-10 weeks…
Will be interesting to see the accuracy of these MM tweets in the next month or so….
Oh yes, and he also said action is planned as regards tackling the BBC, but not what. Hints too re Sadiq Kahn, but that was a while ago and nothing has happened…
I suspect the BBC has been too useful in this coronapanic to be dealt with properly now, although perhaps there will be some personal animus from the Cummings issue that might lead to action eventually.
Could be an “approved leak”. Reprehensible, in my view.
I agree. Fits with our cynical, manipulative, post-democratic zeitgeist, though.
Can you at least say if this ‘interesting’ information that MM is posting is good news or bad for us?
Yes, you have to wonder if he is storing people’s IP numbers… We know DC is into AI and using data/statistics..
I opted for Gold Membership i.e. 18 a month hoping to get insight into travel corridors and potential quarantine changes etc. as would be very useful for my business. I have sent him an email regarding this but no answer as of yet.
Benefits:
Did think about the tracking etc. but behind VPN and more just spectator than raising sceptical views.
Some of the subjects:
Mandatory Masks – For How Long
BBC to Fall – Timeline for Action
Head of Comms vs. MSM
Oldham Lockdown and Labour Games
Ooo, I was hoping someone from here would join and tell us what he says, now that he has locked his Twitter account. What level of membership do you have? The one where you can send emails and be guaranteed a reply? As you say, he does seem to have inside info – which can be good (if he says what we want to hear) or not…
I did see someone comment on Guido that they think he is either a government-approved ‘leak’, to bypass the MSM, or a group of people, possibly some who do not entirely approve of Boris/Cummings..
What else does MM have to say? I do understand the confidentiality bit, but there are no ‘cheap’ memberships left and I cannot afford 18 quid a month.. Can we not groupfund a membership?
It would be interesting to have some truthful insights into what these bastards are plotting, but no-one is going to be sharing those. Anything coming out like this that is “public” will just be more spin, lies and bullshit. I think we should ignore it.
He certainly has some good sources (inside cabinet I’d say). Think he’s a Cummings approved leak in some way, even if he isn’t Cummings himself.
I’m available. I can guarantee high ratings while explaining the government’s policy to the populace. However, I might be replaced after one session.
The salary is £100,000 – yet more money wasted…
Phillip Schofield?
Gordon the Gopher
Gordon would at least be amusing!
It may as well be the Downing Street cat – for all the rationality it will bring – with or without Co Vid. I fear they’re actually enjoying this governing by edict and with no accountability. Why would they want it to end?
Maybe this is Boris’ plan to escape his certain fate.
Declare a scary second wave… it doesn’t happen… because we had masks… which were his idea… he’s a hero!
Except Spains ”second wave” occurred after masks made mandatory pretty much everywhere…..
Everything is being driven by conclusion bias: Masks work because Asians wear them and they did better than us, so we should wear them, too.
Then it’s just necessary to ignore anything that contradicts this.
Asians from the far east have, as Prince Phillip put it, slanty eyes. They also eat a lot of soy sauce. The same logic applies. They did better than us so we should all put soy sauce on our cornflakes and pull our eyelids
It would have been worse without masks. The new science rests on statements that cannot be falsified. Second dark age.
Except Spain aren’t really having a second wave as far as I can see.
hence these ” ”
Clearly not
Thank you very much to all who replied to my post of earlier today. Feeling much better after reading all your replies. When I have a mental wobble about all this, it is always so much worse in the morning and gets better as the day progresses, and so it is today. I have been greatly helped and supported by this online community. Too much helpful content in the replies to absorb in such a short period of time, so I will print out to read and re-read as needed. Thanks again.
YAY!