How to Keep Pubs and Schools Open? Merge Them
This piece in the Daily Mash is quite funny.
TEACHERS have announced that they would be willing to relocate schools to pubs as a compromise to keep both open.
As scientists warned that curbing coronavirus might mean closing pubs so schools can operate normally, educators have volunteered to teach classes from behind the bar.
Primary teacher Lauren Hewitt said: “The wellbeing of children is at the forefront of everything I do as a teacher, and drinking heavily is at the heart of everything I do out of school.
“It’s a visionary solution. There are blackboards at both, beer gardens can double as playgrounds, dividing up a bill between six is a maths exercise, and the kids can go on Tripadvisor to review the pub for their creative writing.
Worth reading in full.
Victorian Police Chief Threatens to Smash Car Windows and Drag People Out for “Non-Compliance”
This video is pretty shocking. A black-shirted police chief in Victoria threatens to break car windows and drag out the occupants if they refuse to tell police officers why they’re out of their homes. Chilling.
Government’s Test-and-Trace App to be Relaunched
The Government has concluded that the world-beating test-and-trace app it has already spent more than £10 billion on isn’t fit for purpose, something the rest of us concluded long ago. The Times has the story.
Ministers will launch a scaled back version of the coronavirus app this month after accepting that it was not accurate enough to be used for contact tracing.
A version that tells people about infection levels in their area and allows them to use personal information to calculate a risk score will be trialled.
The app was originally developed as an automated form of contact tracing, but is likely to begin instead as an individualised information and advice service informing people about their personal exposure to coronavirus.
The functions being explored include alerting users when they have been in contact with more people than usual.
While Bluetooth signalling showing that phones have been near each other is not yet trusted as a basis for instructing people to self-isolate for two weeks, officials hope that giving people data on how many close contacts they have could encourage them to stick to social distancing guidance.
These new functions are due to be tested in trials in coming weeks with the hope of having an app available nationwide in time for winter. NHS Test and Trace is planning to launch an app with whichever functions prove effective, in the hope of being able to add automated contact tracing later.
The service has previously announced plans to allow people to book coronavirus tests through the app and use it to scan Quick Response codes at pubs and restaurants so patrons can be alerted if other customers test positive. Although contact tracing was the original stated aim of the app, it is now being downplayed by a business plan that refers to the technology as an “app that supports the end-to-end NHS Test and Trace service”.
The revival of the app came as Times Radio uncovered evidence that some contact tracers have done minimal work since the NHS Track and Trace programme was launched three months ago. One said: “Since mid-May I’ve done two calls. I know some people who’ve had no calls in that time and some who’ve had four or five . . . Most of the time you sit around and watch Netflix.”
£10 billion of taxpayers’ money up in flames so tens of thousands of people can sit around watching Netflix all day. Couldn’t they have done that at home?
Worth re-reading yesterday’s magisterial round-up of the failures of trace-and-test apps around the world by our very own test-and-trace app correspondent.
Stop Press: Richard Dobbs, former McKinsey Director, has devised an ingenious way of measuring the effectiveness of the Govt’s test-and-trace app in the Spectator. According to his Harding-Hancock Test, it’s not faring well.
My initial estimate is that at the moment, Harding-Hancock Efficiency is at a potentially catastrophic level of less than 5 per cent for England. That means that for every person successfully isolated, there are around 20 not isolated, potentially spreading the infection.
Ambulances Reluctant to Take People to A&E
A reader with a friend who works in the care department of a Midlands local authority has passed on an alarming bit of intel.
Another reason for increased home deaths I’ve come across is the practices of ambulance crews. I’ve visited people who are having some sort of crisis or relapse and are waiting for an ambulance. The crews are still operating on the basis of treating people at home and only very reluctantly taking them to A&E. This is the policy still, despite the crisis having passed months ago of no critical care beds. Previously the policy was “if in doubt take them to A&E”.
One of the crew members said last month that they haven’t been so unoccupied in his career.
How Reliable is the PCR Test?
A scientist has got in touch to weigh in on the subject that’s been debated on these pages over the last couple of days: How reliable is the PCR test?
Having read Lockdown Sceptics today, I thought I’d add in a bit more about screening. I’m senior scientist in a biotech company and have been involved in some diagnostic development so have some experience in this area.
This is a useful article that explains some of the issues with the PCR test in relatively understandable language.
Although I don’t think there is much doubt about SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19, your reader is absolutely right to be concerned about false positives in PCR screening.
The main focus on understanding the PCR test’s performance is on the high “false negative”, which means that the test isn’t very sensitive, i.e. many patients with virus don’t test positive. However, what I cannot seem to find within the literature (and maybe another reader can point me in the right direction) is what the “false positive” rate is. All the studies I can find are on patients with COVID-19 and working out how often the test fails to identify them as infected (depending on sample type, between 10 and 70% of the time). But I can’t find a study where a large number of known negatives patient samples have been screened to work out how many would come out as positive. This is assumed, probably reasonably given the nature of the test, to be low and that a positive result probably indicates you have the virus, meaning the test is quite selective. But the actual false positive rate for the test is either not known or is very difficult to find, especially in the context of screening labs where they do handle positive samples and so there is also the risk of cross-contamination.
So what the problem? It is this: we base policy decisions on positive results and not negative ones.
To illustrate the issue, imagine we have a false positive rate of 0.1%, i.e. 1 in 1000 results. Pretty impressive for a test. However, we are screening 10,000s of individuals. If within this screening population there are a lot of infections then the 1 in 1000 false positives is not an issue as it is lost among the multitudes of true positive results. Even the false negatives are not too much of an issue as trends within such an infected population are probably meaningful. However, what if you screened 30,000 individuals without COVID-19? Then you’d get 30 positive results. In fact, at a large population level you can never get to a “0” and COVID-19 will be with us forever!
Given that policy decisions affecting millions of people are being based on small changes in positive results within a large sample size then understanding both your false positive rate and false negative rate is really important in deciding if a trend is real or just statistical noise based on screening artefacts. The errors (over- and under-estimates) are really critical in deciding if there is a trend: is 19 positive tests in 30,000 tests different from 24 positives in 28,000? What are the error bars on the tests? Taking it for granted that all positives are real and that the test is always under-reporting the true figure (based on the false negative rate) is not a safe assumption, especially as we don’t do confirmatory tests in the vast number of cases. However, given Prof. Heneghan’s recent blog regarding the “increase” in COVID-19 cases in England, which was posted earlier in the week, it seems that in England we can’t even normalise data to account for number of screening tests, let alone take a more sophisticated analytical approach which attempts to include an understanding of the analytical error in assessing data trends.
There’s something really dispiriting about his final point. He’s quite right of course. If public health officials can’t even control for increased testing when analysing trends in the testing data, what hope is there of them factoring in something more complicated?
Another reader has got in touch to flag up this letter to the BMJ by Brendan Healey of the Public Health Wales Microbiology Department, warning of the dangers of widespread testing when prevalence is low because of the risk of false negative and false positive results. He concludes that it may cause more harm than good.
The harm afforded by false positive results should not be ignored and the potential for adverse consequences during periods of low prevalence needs to be taken into account when deciding on testing strategies. We recommend that testing strategies need to be more agile and decisions on screening of various populations should be flexible and respond to the changing prevalence in the community/setting that is being investigated. Large volume screening at a time of low prevalence has the potential to do more harm than good and some of these strategies should be temporarily suspended. Some of these strategies are likely to be of greater benefit in interrupting transmission during periods of high prevalence and we propose that they are re-instated when the prevalence in the community or particular settings warrant such an approach.
Finally, a retired Professor of Forensic and Biological Anthropology has got in touch with his thoughts on the PCR test. What’s interesting about this email is the detail concerning how false positives might arise.
I’m writing to comment on PCR tests from a forensic science perspective. DNA based PCR tests used in forensic labs are extremely sensitive – like RNA based RT-PCR tests used to detect Covid-19. They will reliably detect in the region of 10 or fewer copies of the source DNA or RNA. Contamination with intrusive DNA or secondary transfer of DNA is widely recognised as a persistent risk in forensic. The tests are so sensitive it is realistically impossible to totally exclude the possibility of contamination – of the source or during the analytical process. Amplified DNA (PCR product) is a particularly potent source of contamination of the next DNA PCR reaction. The use of appropriate controls at all stages is necessary to reduce the risk of contamination and permit its detection. Unfortunately, there are examples of both lab and scene based incidents of contamination that were not detected until rather late in the prosecutorial process. There has also been a big scandal – involving Randox – of drug control tests allegedly being faked (hence compromising the actual results).
I’ve just been looking over the publicly available NHS Guidance and SOP and – while it does emphasise the need for proper viral containment and describes ‘positive control’ RNA to make sure the reaction has worked and reduce the risk of false negatives – the document offers little or no consideration of contamination or cross-contamination as a cause of false positives. These are systemic issues, not just related to the choice of test kit.
I would be reassured to know what measures the NHS have in place to detect false positives via the inclusion of negative ‘blank’ controls 1) at the virus RNA extraction step, 2) in the RT-PCR reaction step and 3) to detect contamination of the RT-PCR reaction with previously amplified DNA (or other measures, where appropriate); and what the rate of contamination of negative extraction and RT-PCR controls has been during testing.
Frankly, if we are doing 100,000 tests a day, I’d be surprised not to see more than a few contaminated blanks and by implication contamination-based false positives of this kind, but this may have more significance to earlier results, as now there seem to be hardly any covid positive cases left to provide a source of cross-contamination (although in certain circumstances the positive control RNA might).
In such situations, complacency can easily arise.
I’ve been in science and technology for 38 of the last 40 years, and if Boris and Chris Whitty et al. are doing anything based on the science, then sadly I’ve learned nothing.
He concluded by pointing me to a commentary on the PCR test in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences by Stephen Bustin and Tania Nolan published in April. They conclude:
RT-qPCR testing programmes for SARS-CoV-2 are wholly inadequate, poorly organised and surrounded by confusion and misinformation. Comprehensive testing is not hindered by availability of suitable assays, reagents, equipment or testing capacity. It is delays in the bureaucratic validation and approval process and lack of involvement of the wider research and commercial service provider community by public health laboratories that are at the heart of the testing conundrum.
Ouch!
Could Possession of the Bible Become a Hate Crime in Scotland?
There’s an excellent piece by Andrew Doyle in today’s Spectator about the awful Scottish Hate Crime and Public Order Bill. This dreadful Bill promises to make Scotland the least free-speech friendly country in Europe, including Hungary.
Scotland’s new Hate Crime and Public Order Bill was ostensibly proposed to repeal outdated proscriptions against blasphemy, but will instead usher in a range of new blasphemy laws by stealth. Most controversially, part two of the Bill pertains to the offence of ‘stirring up hatred’, which criminalises anyone who ‘behaves in a threatening, abusive or insulting manner’ or ‘communicates threatening, abusive or insulting material to another person’.
Moreover, the Bill explicitly allows for intention to be put aside. If behaviour or material is ‘likely’ to stir up hatred against any protected groups (defined by age, disability, racial or ethnic identity, sexual orientation, transgender identity or ‘variations in sex characteristics’) then whether or not the perpetrator intended to do so is immaterial. Even an actor playing a bigoted character could be prosecuted under the proposed laws. An entire section of the Bill is devoted to the ‘public performance of a play’, which specifies that actors and directors can be found culpable if members of protected groups find the material offensive. So if you are troubled by the anti-Semitism of Shylock’s detractors, or the Islamophobia of Tamburlaine’s decision to burn the Quran, you can complain to the Scottish police. Next year’s Edinburgh Festival should be interesting.
The implications for stand-up comedy are similarly dire. As practitioners of an art form that often teases the limits of public tolerance, comedians frequently find themselves involved in free speech battles. The dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Roddy Dunlop QC, has already warned that stand-up would not be exempt from the SNP’s Bill, and that even an old-fashioned ‘Scotsman, Irishman and Englishman’ joke may be perceived as discriminatory. Certainly, some of the more subversive acts that regularly appear at Comedy Unleashed, a night I co-founded in London, would be at risk of prosecution should they venture north of the border.
The Bill even goes as far as to criminalise the possession of ‘inflammatory’ material, which is why senior Catholic bishops have raised concerns that possession of the Bible could become a criminal offence. Let’s not forget that Leviticus 20:13 calls for the execution of gay men.
It won’t surprise you to learn that the Free Speech Union is vigorously opposing this Bill. We have submitted evidence to the Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament drawing attention to its shortcomings that you can read here.
Round-Up
- ‘New cancer diagnoses fell sharply as the coronavirus pandemic first hit‘ – Cancer diagnoses in the US fell dramatically between March 1st and April 18th
- ‘McDonald’s nugget horror: Aldershot girl, 6, chokes on blue face mask found inside chicken‘ – The sheer extent of the collateral damage caused by every measure associated with the lockdown continues to surprise me
- ‘Sluggish footfall in first full week of mandatory face coverings‘ – The Retail Gazette reports that the introduction of mandatory face masks in shops only increased footfall by 2.8% compared to the previous week. Footfall is down 36.7% compared to the same week last year
- Alan Jones eviscerates Kim Jong Dan – Marvellous tirade against Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews by Sky News Australia commentator Alan Jones
- ‘COVID-19 Measures Have All but Wiped Out the Flu in the Southern Hemisphere‘ – Interesting piece in the WSJ. Suggests we don’t need to worry about the NHS being overwhelmed this Winter
- ‘Never has a virus been so oversold‘ – Lionel Shriver on top form in the Spectator
- ‘Voters will turn on Boris Johnson if there is a second lockdown‘ – Sherelle Jacobs’ column in the Telegraph is always worth reading
- ‘Checkpoints in New York to keep all visitors out‘ – A taste of things to come?
- ‘Covid Incoherence‘ – Another Medium post by Lockdown Sceptics contributor Omar Khan
- ‘British workers lag behind Europeans in returning to the office‘ – Shock!
- ‘Bank of England: UK economy to have biggest annual decline in 100 years‘ – The Bank of England says it expects the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) to shrink by 9.5% this year, the worst contraction in a century
- ‘Yorkshire Nightingale Hospital “extended for two weeks”‘ – Harrogate Convention Centre was converted into a Nightingale Hospital and, needless to say, has never been used. The local council faces a £9m deficit as a result of the pandemic, most of which is lost income from the convention centre
Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers
Just one today: “Last Night (I Dreamt I Had a Job)” by Blancmange.
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 (and some of them are at risk of having to close again). 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.
Forums Back Up and Running
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 have created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums that are now open. Initially, they became a spam magnet so we temporarily closed them. However, we’ve found a team of people wiling to serve as moderators so the Forums are back up and running. Any problems, email the Lockdown Sceptics webmaster Ian Rons here.
“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/card. You can print out and laminate a fairly standard one for free here and it 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 (now showing it will arrive between Sept 9th to 18th). The Government has instructions on how to download an official “Mask Exempt” notice to put on your phone here. You can get a “Hidden Disability” tag from eBay here and an “exempt” card that looks like as if it’s been issued by the NHS for just £2.79 from Etsy here.
Don’t forget to sign the petition on the UK Government’s petitions website calling for an end to mandatory face nappies in shops here.
A reader has started a website that contains some useful guidance about how you can claim legal exemption.
Shameless Begging Bit
Thanks as always to those of you who made a donation in the past 24 hours 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. I may not be able to manage an update every day over the next few days as I’m off to Wales today to do some walking in the Brecon Beacons.
And Finally…
In my Spectator column today, I weigh in on the Policy Exchange report laying bear the extent of the Free Speech Crisis in Britain’s universities.
About 18 months ago, I attended a debate at Policy Exchange, the think tank founded by Nick Boles, Francis Maude and Archie Norman, on whether there was a free speech crisis at British universities. One panellist, Professor Jon Wilson of King’s College London, vigorously denied that any such problem existed. Various people pointed to examples of right-of-centre academics being no-platformed — Charles Murray, Amy Wax, Linda Gottfredson — but that was scarcely conclusive. It was anecdotal evidence, not hard data.
The same cannot be said any more. This week, Policy Exchange published a paper by three academics — Remi Adekoya, Eric Kaufmann and Tom Simpson — which proves beyond reasonable doubt that free speech is in trouble in the higher-education sector. They commissioned a YouGov survey involving a randomly-collected sample of more than 800 professors and lecturers, some working, some retired, who represented the 217,000 academic staff in British universities in 2018-9. Surveys of academics have been done before, some involving larger sample sizes, but none as rigorous as this.
Their findings won’t surprise anyone familiar with the sector. For instance, 75 per cent of UK academics voted for left-of-centre parties in the 2017 and 2019 elections, compared with less than 20 per cent who voted right-of-centre. Just over half said they would feel comfortable sitting next to a Leave supporter at lunch, while only 37 per cent said they would risk sharing a table with a dissenter from trans orthodoxy. Among the small minority of academics who identify as ‘right’ or ‘fairly right’, 32 per cent have refrained from airing their views in front of colleagues.
Worth reading in full.
Discussion
Comments
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7th Aug Edition is available now. Please gather your belongings and move over.
I am so angry that Prince William and Kate and team, photographs security etc., have been allowed into a care home and been photographed chatting to residents and staff. Families in that care home and many others, including my Dad’s have not been able to support their family since March. People don’t need Kate and William they need the familiarity of their families. Seems royals aren’t vectors of disease whilst we commoners mean instant death to residents. So, so angry!!!!!
Here are the exemptions in the Auld Sod as set out on the Irish government’s website.
Who should not wear one
Cloth face coverings are not suitable for children under the age of 13 and anyone who:
Good to know they are letting anyone off who is unconscious. Has the British government thought of that?
Wow, there are 863 comments here in just one day, there is no way I can read them all and so my apologies if I am repeating something. I am thinking about writing to my MP, probably a futile gesture but I thought I would give it a go. I have kept it simple straightforward and to the point in the hope of at least getting a considered reply, my first draft is as below, I would be interested if you have any thoughts on this before I send it off?
Dear Mr Cox,
I am a resident in your constituency of Torridge and West Devon.
When the Covid 19 outbreak started in the UK measures were introduced aimed at flattening the curve, saving lives and protecting the NHS. Well Covid 19 certainly hit hard in the UK but we are now at the position where weekly total registered deaths are running below average, hospitals have a relatively low number of Covid cases and are doing fine and all the graphs have been flattened. Consequently, by the criteria outlined by the Prime Minister in March we should by now be breathing a sigh of relief and getting back to normal.… Read more »
An extremely good letter.
Thankyou, letter now sent. I doubt it will achieve much but I guess you have to try.
Very well done, an excellent letter.
“Well Covid 19 certainly hit hard in the UK”
… but did it in the great (historical) scheme of things? How hard? How much mortality was solely due to Covid? How much mortality was the result of political choices? How much was pretty inevitable?… etc.
Glaswegians rejoice! Soap dodging has been given a thumbs up.
Might seem slightly off topic but it raises some points on our balance with nature. At a basic level the more we mess around with nature the more we have to do it. For example, let’s say we were able to wipe out COVID19. At some point in the future the immunity we might have obtained from this current virus would not exist, therefore human intervention would be required to mitigate the effects of similar new viruses, and any future ones after that.
Soap dodger: meet the doctor who says we have been showering wrong
https://bit.ly/2XAHToR
Even if you have not yet read up on our microbiomes – the trillions of microbes that lead symbiotic lives with humans, colonising our skin and our guts – you may have spotted vague statements such as “microbiome-gentle” printed on bottles of shower gel. This because microbiologists – and brands – are learning more and more about the complex relationship we have with our germs. These include their starring roles in developing our immune systems, protecting us from pathogens (by creating antimicrobial substances and competing with them for space and resources) and lessening the… Read more »
Yes exactly this. We evolved with the world not separate from it but it seems we have forgotten currently.
The Eugenics movement
“Eugenics is the self-direction of human evolution”
This was part of the logo of the Second International Congress of Eugenics, held in 1921
Mhmm – remove humans from the natural world, elevate and select the best ones!!!
This poem which I thought was by Lear but isn’t (it’s American and called Antigonish) seems rather appropriate as to where we (or rather the Lockdown lunatics) are with Covid:
Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today,
Oh how I wish he’d go away.
When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me.
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away and don’t you slam the door!
Another thread on possible downsides of mask wearing. Anecdotally, I’ve worn a mask a couple of times and definitely find it hard breathing in one. The main argument I would use about mask wearing is that their utility presupposes that you are infected/infectious. If you’re fit and healthy there is zero benefit, yes absolutely zero, and definitely potential downsides to your health. In a population where the prevalance is low, the vast majority of people wearing masks are making zero contribution to slowing the spread of the virus:
https://threader.app/thread/1291018047386460163
Correct. But the ‘law’ (diktat would be a better word) is predicated on us all being ‘lepers’.
It’s when you work out the probability of even coming across a single Corona virus that the absurdity becomes obvious.
Hey all,
Can anyone recommend a European holiday destination that is free of masks and Covid zealotry? I’d like somewhere sunny, with a beach.
Thanks
Sweden, obviously! I’m sure it is lovely at this time of year, though I haven’t actually checked the weather. But I went to Legoland in Denmark one summer as a child and had a lovely time in pleasant weather as I remember.
Personally I am hoping for somewhere in Britain in September for a holiday. I might try my Eurosceptic b ‘n’ b owners where I usually go in Wales if they’re up and running again by then. Failing that, perhaps I should try a first excursion to Northern Ireland, they sound relatively sensible about all this.
Though when all’s said and done, the UK is European geographically, regardless of membership of the Brussels (and Strasbourg, and Luxembourg) regime. But I digress…
Sweden is lovely but on the FCO red list currently so you would currently have to quarantine on return. I don’t think there is anywhere else that ticks all the boxes at the moment and as we have seen overnight, things can change very quickly with France now also likely to be added to the no go.
Iceland is pretty much mask free and an incredible country but of course not hot. I went last year and was blown away by the place, truly stunning.
sweden
Croatia.
What chance have we got if even the ‘fact checkers’ are corrupt?
https://off-guardian.org/2020/08/06/fact-checking-a-fact-checker-a-response-to-healthfeedback-org/
quis custodiet ipsos
custodes?
I’m guessing that translates as “Who will put the Guardian into custody?”
… or custard.
… but perhaps Viner’s done that – yellow and less than flavoursome.
Here is a bit of upbeat music to entertain on this Thursday evening:
https://youtu.be/iNU3zxuZOp0
I do not know if the title is referring to The British Isles:
Blondie; Island of lost souls
The Guardian: NHS shutdown risks thousands of deaths in Covid-19 second wave.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/06/nhs-shutdown-risks-thousands-of-deaths-in-covid-19-second-wave
Well f. me – that’s a late dawning of light from one of the establishment’s house journals.
… even if it’s balanced by more crap about the mythical monster of a ‘second wave’.
Lockdown in March ‘to help cope with the huge influx of patients’. Did we miss something?
Yup the huge influx of patients which crippled The NHS.
Blimey it’s a fairly good article. It’s is the first time for 3 weeks I’ve opened the guardian website because it’s been so fear laden but perhaps something is turning?
Qu: how robust is ‘the Science’ surrounding asymptomatic transmission. As this is part of mask-lore, would be interested to know.
I saw two reports. Both reports had a sample of… wait of it… ONE patient “asymptomatically” “infecting.” Both reports are, quite frankly, so abysmal that they won’t pass for “science” in the first year of a degree, but we now have “the science,” and I didn’t get “the memo” what the latter involves…
Here’s the first one: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2001468 (read the transcript of questions!)
Here’s the second one: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/9/20-1798_article (look up under what circumstances you’d get IgG (you might have to dig around))
Employees of the national blood service seem to think The Science is settled. We’re all disease spreaders!
It’s likely to be rare but possible. Only worth worrying about if you’re somewhere like NZ who are trying to eradicate the virus locally. Completely irrelevant hysteria anywhere else.
This would be sensible answer.I’d suggest it’s only possible if the asympto virus-bomb literally licked their victim. All over.
Where do I sign up to be the victim?!
DavidC
Dirty Farinances!
This is the mere exposure effect that’s used in advertising, there’s no good verifiable evidence of asymptomatic transmission; at least I’ve not seen any, and I know what Fauci saw when he proclaimed asymptomatic transmission.
The WHO disagrees. (Briefly. Then rows back when it realises it wants more money from Billy Gates)
National blood service still don’t care.
I have wondered if asymptomatic spread is a myth. When you think about it asymptomatic spreaders is a perfect bogeyman for the lockdown zealots because without this idea lockdowns would be much harder to justify and it would be harder to frighten people. The idea of asymptomatic spreaders is useful for the following reasons –
Quarantining healthy symptom free people and putting the entire population into lockdown can be justified on the basis asymptomatic people can spread the disease. If the idea of asymptomatic spreaders didn’t exist lockdowns of the entire population would be much harder to justify.
Asymptomatic spreaders creates fear in that people think they will spread the disease without symptoms or anyone can pass the disease. This will not be possible without the idea of asymptomatic spreaders.
It can be used to control people’s behaviour. For instance if people don’t social distance or meet in large groups, the idea of asymptomatic spread is used to give the message this behaviour is wrong.
I am suspicious about asymptomatic spread because the idea is too convenient for the lockdown zealots.
Exactly. It causes 99% of the harm, paranoia and hysteria for 1% of the benefit.
Simple proof : Let it run, and we’ll see. Interventions up to press have done nothing – so why bother?
I (as an old fart with some vulnerabilities) will risk it.
Agreed. Debunk this myth and face nappies, go back to sneeze into a tissue, wash your hands and stay at home if you feel unwell. Isn’t that what we used to do?
Excellent summation!
Has anyone else noticed an decrease in mask compliance? I’ve noticed this on the tube, and on my foray into Kent today, which seems very mask resistant…
On another note, have any other Telegraph readers noticed how much this ‘Fraisy Lou’ or whatever they’re called are spamming the comments with lockdown and mask zealotary? Is this another CCHQ plant to compliment the legend that is Adam Hill?
I reckon boredom about ‘mask compliance’ is mixed with a lot of ‘Ah well … best do what we’re told when someone’s looking’.
That’s quite a way from active resistance and anger at the erosion of normal liberties. There’s a lot of docility about the fundamentals.
As to ‘Telegraph readers’ – I’m surprised at anyone of a critical bent still reading (other than out of curiosity) that, or any other bum fodder from Fleet Street.
I’d agree there’s a bit of when no when is looking going on – but it’s a start…..
Farinances – I hope things are better up North..!
I think you may be right you know.
Well…. I dunno maybe I’m not a good measure unless I’ve been out and about in Leeds…. or somewhere that’s not my local, my parents local, or…. the Yorkshire coast. Lots of muzzled freaks there sadly. Outside.
I’ve noticed far fewer staff being masked in Waitrose than there were from 24th onwards
If you Google Adam Hill most of the results turn up someone connected with Imperial College. It seems awfully coincidental that someone who seems to spend ridiculous amounts of time spreading propaganda would just happen to have the same name as someone at an institute strongly connected to this deceit – in fact, I challenged him at one point on whether he was that Adam Hill and he ducked the question. I think we can assume that Imperial are paying him to spend his time pushing the agenda. What we can do about it, however, I don’t know.
On trains but not restaurants.
There’s a whole bunch of them nowadays. Once we get to know their names, they’ll no doubt invent new ones.
They post stuff that’s blatantly rubbish, it’s so puerile.
I think people are learning not to feed them, though the considered responses are probably helping to educate some of the sheep.
Speaking to a friend of mine last Saturday … manager for M&S, reckons this muzzling is going to kill them. A store in NW England, footfall 7000/wk, staff don’t wear masks – not one has been off work with even a sniffle since this nonsense began in March.
How opinion polls work and weak governments are controlled….
https://youtu.be/G0ZZJXw4MTA
Penn and Teller did a “hit job” on polls over a decade ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If9EWDB_zK4
I find the efforts of the masked to express their individuality through their “face coverings” particularly sad. Your face is the most unique physical thing about you and the masked have acquiesced in its obliteration from the public sphere for no material gain in terms of public health. Trying to reassert your individuality through your choice of muzzle really ain’t going to cut it!
I find that bizarre as well. Especially taking selfies or having their photos taken while muzzled. I mean, what’s the point? Even if the muzzle is made out of “cute” fabrics or has your favourite cartoon characters in it, it still obliterates your personality and makes you a nonperson.
The make up tutorials as well are weird especially with focusing on eye make up. I’ve found those women muzzled up have gone OTT over eye shadow, eye liner and mascara which makes them look even more fake and unnatural which is accentuated further by their muzzle of choice.
Every idiot needs something to remind them just how idiotic they are capable of being (they just might not consciously realise that yet, but the lizard brain is whispering “go on, take it, you’ll thank me later”)! 😉
All the fashion labels making them is spew-worthy. Even Liberty is selling useless “face coverings” made from their famous Tana lawn:
https://www.libertylondon.com/uk/assorted-upcycled-tana-lawn™-cotton-face-coverings-set-of-five-000709208.html
They’ve never had any individuality if they are wearing a mask. They are a follower.
Actually, I did see one that really made me laugh. A guy had a mask that had his own face printed on it, and it looked really funny. We had traveled from the people’s republic of WA state to free Idaho and went to Silverwood (theme park), where virtually nobody was wearing masks and people interacted normally. It was absolutely lovely, and my family got to enjoy the water park/roller coasters as if covid had never happened.
It’s all about virtue signalling. Many of these home made masks are as effective as a chocolate teapot anyway. I am ‘wearing’ a mask on public transport as some of the Champaign socialists would at my workplace would clock my true beliefs, a few of them already suspect – and cause me trouble. But I am in passive aggressive resistance -today on the District line I rubbed and fidgeted my mask repeatedly in front of someone with a True Corona zealot NHS rainbow mask. The dismay was something to behold.
That’s very reassuring Ryan
Looks like Comrade Nicola’s idea to shut the border to the English has some unexpected traction … an acquaintance of mine and his wife were refused tickets by the train company to travel to Edinburgh for a long weekend, because they had a M33 postcode !
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sprqh5054o0
A powerful message from Bodo Schiffmann, in English, to all journalists and parents.
Spread it with them, and see you in Berlin on 29.8.!
I wish we had a proper event over here. But the Germans are actually waking up, most of us British are still happily asleep.
No they are awake but are too stupid and lazy to see/find out what is actually going on.
I think a lot are quickly waking up but we’re not joined up.
Keep Britain Free is full of Rainbow Warriors and New
Agers.
StandupX is better organised but are not one-pointed in their approach – 5G, paedophilia in the BBC and masks, all in one rally is not a good look.
I got an email from a friend, from another freedom group but their main focus is the rollout of 5G – of which they say the lockdown is a big part – and I can believe it.
Anyway, their site is here, if you’re interested:
https://www.saveusnow.org.uk/
I don’t think that’s quite a fair assessment of Keep Britain Free. The ‘Rainbow Warrior’ rubbish is limited to one thread and a couple of loony posters, it’s hardly characteristic of the whole site.
I attended one of the first KBF regional social meetings earlier this week and found it very helpful and productive. There were 13 people there including a sociology teacher, microbiologist and mathematician/statistician, all very rational and considered in their opinions.
I think activism on a smaller, local scale is much more likely to have the desired effect than StandUpX’s enormous, slightly dogmatic marches. I’m trying to kick-start another group for my area.
Cool. I think both are good 🙂 but local is def the way to go until we get a million out like Berlin!
There was a sweary irrational ill-considered dude there too, Ben, I believe …
Another lonely maskless supermarket shop. With the exception of myself, every single customer and every single member of staff wearing them. I’m very glad for this place!
same here. it’s good not to feel alone.
Thoughts for today.
If a person can self exempt on the grounds of “severe distress” – doesn’t this make the law a “dead letter”?
Can one claim exemption on the grounds one is a “conscientious objector”? – one’s conscience will not allow one to support laws one believes to be totalitarian?
Welcome to post-modernism Ned… ( law arts arquitecture music etc etc )
The important thing is, you don’t have to say what the grounds are, except possibly to a police officer in the unlikely event that they got involved.
They’re not allowed to ask you either – would be contravening the Equalities Act, like everyone else.
The equality act is great. I’d never read it before March. People have a lot more rights than they think.
Any health problems are between you and your doctor. I think this is one of the reasons why doctors won’t issue exemption letters.
DavidC
Yep. Everybody is exempt if they want to be. Most people either aren’t aware of this or are happy to wear a face nappy anyway.
Yes, such fun to obliterate your mouth, your nose, your smile, your expression, your humanity.
I honestly can’t believe people are wearing them. I look at them when I’m in a shop and think “what in the fuck are you doing wearing that around your face for no reason whatsoever”
I know right? It’s like walking around and seeing everybody wearing tin foil hats lol!
They’d make more sense!
It would be a fun experiment. We introduced mandatory masking at the tail end of the pandemic in most places. Numbers continued to fall, and our idiot governors are claiming victory. We should have done some test cases – one city where everyone wore tin-foil hats instead. And of course the numbers would do the same thing. Whenever anyone points to declining numbers and says “masks work!” I say “yes, so do rain dances and virgin sacrifices. See? The sun came up! It rained this spring! Hooray for science!”
I think most don’t know – which is why it helps if we get chance to tell them!
Yeah that is what I’m doing. Sometimes it takes a while to sink in when I say to somebody that everybody is exempt. People don’t think it’s true otherwise why is it a law is the response I get. I send them the legislation and let them decide what to do
Severe distress, yes.
Conscientious objection, no. Sadly. I mean I conscientiously object to men wearing crocs but the police aren’t out to nab them.
— We need a legit fashion police.
Lol with masks we kinda already do.
Going against your conscience causes severe distress ……
Only in people of principle.
Does the law assume we all have them?
Maybe it does.
I think the government knew that when they made the guidelines so holey. You really can choose whether to wear one or not.
The good aliens lent on the bad aliens, and insisted upon get-out clauses.
I’ve said it before Ned, but the fact that the exempt categories are so broad that anybody could be included and the fact that it’s self-certification only together mean that the government knows it’s a farce and couldn’t be less interested in compliance
Spot on Matt.
DavidC
I went into a comic book shop today to grab some comics for my kids. Well, I sort of went in. At the door, the guy – who was wearing a cloth mask over a full beard – jumped back when he saw my bandanna under my nose. He said “I have health problems, I need you to lift it,” which I did… I kind of wanted to point out that I am healthy, and that regardless of what health problems he thinks he has, his risk of getting covid at all is extremely low, his risk of dying even lower, and none of those risks are in any way changed by the stupid cloth mask he has on… but instead I thumbed through the comics and gave him some business. The whole thing is extremely depressing. People you expect to be capable of critical thinking turn out to be complacent as their rights are stripped away on a pretext that is so shaky as to be laughable – but you can’t laugh, because that only reminds you of how many people don’t even ask the questions that would lead to the conclusions that you’re wanting to laugh at… depressing.
Did you tell him that if has health problems (well, OK, specifically breathing problems, distress at wearing a mask problems or mental health problems) he doesn’t need to wear a mask?
DavidC
Just read CEBM twitter post from Carl Henegan pointing out that the mask-pushers claimed that masks could reduce Cov transmission by 40% yet ‘cases’ rose over 20% since mask day.
We now know the PCR test accuracy and false positives are starting to have a light shone on them.
But could it also be possible that mask wearing is preventing people exhaling the debris from a dead Cov virus, as it is being partly trapped in the mask then re-inhaled.
These fragments are then being detected by the PCR thus leading to a positive result. The masking means it is taking much long for the body to be rid of the virus debris hence a rise in ‘cases’
I’m no biologist (but was a physicist in my past) but some things are seeming to link up and poor decisions and lack of MSM challenge to the Govt/PHE science are having severe consequences.
Sounds reasonable to me, but I am in no way qualified to say either way. The list of poor decisions with severe consequences gets longer by the day!
The problem is that they’ll simply put in harsher restrictions because what they’re doing isn’t getting the desired result.
I’m not sure of the connection – I think Carl Heneghan was just underling the stupidity of masks.
It’s not a good idea to counter the establishment propaganda with similar speculative non-science.
I just think it is something that needs looking into. Masks are stupid, I agree. But we must find a way to fully prove this. This could be a scientific route.
Speculation yes, but does not every scientific discovery come from proving or disproving a speculation?
Some people reckon that this is one of the reasons masks were mandated, so coronavirus cells (common cold cells) wouldn’t be expelled properly.
Lili,
I think you may mean coronavirus virion or particle. Viruses are VERY much smaller than cells (it’s cells, or bacteria, that viruses invade). If the virions are contained in droplets then masks may have an effect on exhalation, but for aerosols or inhalation the effect would be very much less if at all. Surgical masks are worn to prevent droplets affecting the patient, not to stop the wearer from inhaling anything from the patient (I have an school friend who is a retired dentist who used to wear them for patient interraction).
DavidC
Was at work today and during our briefing, the mandatory muzzling was mentioned and this is what my workplace will be doing:
Visitor without a muzzle will be offered one on the entrance unless they say they’re exempt. We are not supposed to question why they are exempt.
Staff dotted around the museum – if visitor is walking around without a muzzle assume they are exempt and do not approach them.
Exemptions will be in the new signage that will be installed on 8 August.
It looks as if some sort of equilibrium has been reached. Organisations are becoming aware that demanding medical details for non-mask-wearing is in breach of disability discrimination laws. But a high enough proportion of people are wearing them that the authorities may not think it worth pushing harder by demanding doctor’s lines or whatever. However that equilibrium doesn’t offer a path away from mass masking. We need to keep emphasising the harms caused by masks to the wearer’s health, to human interaction, to children’s social development, and to the environment by their disposal.
Exactly. Given the demographic of people who visit, I will be definitely keeping a close eye because of the possibility of accidents and first aid incidents associated with wearing masks.
Plus my workplace is very, very afraid of the courts and especially the media. It only takes one angry visitor to take to Twitter to complain about how they were treated, discriminated upon and when its picked up by the media, all hell will break loose.
This is why it’s ‘better’ in my mind to not claim exemption unless you are genuinely exempt for a legitimate medical reason. Keep pushing ahead with just walking in those shops regardless and if challenged, leave.
However the face is what’s important. And being genuinely disturbed by wearing a mask- as most of us are- is also reasonable grounds for exemption. So do what you have to.
To be honest I would rather that we do not offer a muzzle in the first place but we were told that we have to be seen to be doing something and implementing government guidelines.
But as I mentioned earlier, given our visitor demographic, the possibility of a major accident or first aid incident taking place on our site is high. Maybe a few of those and even management would quietly ditch the muzzles and basically go back to the way we were.
After a few days, when the initial zeal is fading, you might just be able to have the box of masks there but not draw attention to it. Like the handgel and trolley sanitiser by Aldi’s entrance that everyone now walks straight past ……
That’s true with the hand sanitiser, many people just walk past it now but there are some that do it at every stop.
Not sure about the muzzles though, I fear that many of my colleagues will be fairly zealous about drawing attention to it.
Not everybody, earlier this week at Morrisons most people walked past the table with the gel, apart from one guy, who look like a serious bodybuilder he was keen as mustard to get those hands protected and that trolley wiped down.
I can only think he has something like OCD.
To me he look like the least likely sort of person to fear, fear.
I do have a reason to be exempt but I just walk muzzle-free into the shops and act normally. I haven’t been challenged.
Even better 😊
Ditto Cheezilla. I’m a bit diappointed I haven’t been challenged yet, they’ll be subjected to a tirade of facts and data!
DavidC
Childrens’ social development is, as a result of this FARCE, I think, being MASSIVELY underrestimated.
DavidC
Can anyone point me towards figures for covid linked hospitalisations linked to any of the recent new lockdowns?
Nope.
Because they don’t exist. The so-called ‘spikes’ had no validity .
I recall that on this site, there was an anonymous report from an anonymous doctor in Leicester pointing out that the ‘rise’ in cases there were unrelated to the more consistent monitoring that had gone on in the hospitals.
Probably over the top…
But I can’t resist…
Added benefit — it’ll be harder for people to fiddle with their mask if they’re diddling!
( OMG)
and the rectum has less germs than the mouth…..
In a similar vein …
Brutal!
Zombies would take it absolutely seriously.
Are doing.
Definetely NOT OTT….
*giggedy*
You naughty, naughty person.
Change ‘lubricant’ to ‘lubricate.’
Write it out one hundred times.
Sadly I have to agree with your pessimism Steven,I could see this,whatever ‘this’ is really all about,still ongoing next summer and I’m quite worried that we haven’t seen even half of the madness yet.
I.E. merging schools and pubs. A suggestion: Shirley Temple for the children and hot toddies for the teachers.
Sorry correction to my post below – the speaker was Jonathan Davies economist, author of Boom and Bust podcast
Thanks for the heads up. Just listened to him. He’s a jeffing LS legend. Starts about 25mins or so in https://youtu.be/o_BLNne3R-M
I was almost elated when I started listening. Clear and totally uncompromising. Also cheered me up as had my usual weekly visit to the hospital ( for necessary blood tests) and was thoroughly depressed by the increasingly hostile environment it’s become. Can’t get in without being accosted by security wanting to know why I’m there and demanding an appointment letter ( I don’t have one as it’s a standing blood test every week). Then a temperature check in corridor, a lecture about the one way system ( which I always get wrong) before further hassle to get the test done (have you booked a time on line, where’s your dr referral etc) I’ve been having these weekly tests throughout lockdown and only in the last couple of weeks have they started being really heavy handed. I absolutely hate going but I have no choice.
You obviously didn’t clap these heroes enough.
Thankyoooooouu
On the long one he comes about 1:10:00
they’ve just put a shorter video up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXWOVJMc68
Quote: “‘New cancer diagnoses fell sharply as the coronavirus pandemic first hit‘ – Cancer diagnoses in the US fell dramatically between March 1st and April 18th”
I assume that’s not implying that Covid cures cancer?
I remember reading back in April/May that cancer diagnoses were about half the norm throughout Europe. Something like 5M diagnoses in a typical month (can’t remember the exact number but it was high) so it’s not as if it’s something that wasn’t known.
As a PS, 10 years ago I had cancer, fortunately resolved through an operation alone. Also fortunately I got a fast-track to the op. Which is just as well as I remember registering that 4 weeks after the diagnosis I was already losing my appetite and starting to have to force food down – normally I’m the sort of hearty eater Boris now disapproves of. Without that diagnosis and fast-track I would have been dead within 3 months. That’s an example of how the lockdown can and no doubt has affected people.
This happened to my dad, about ten years ago too. Prostate cancer – he was 5….8, so relatively young. They got it *just in time, but he had to have his prostate removed as any other treatment would have been too risky as it had grown right up to the edge of the prostate. He was *extremely* lucky (mainly due to my mum moaning at him to go to the doctor’s).
So yeah. Another month or so, they said, and it would have quite possibly been spread and curtains. But not an uncommon cancer obv in men, most of you end up with it at some point. Anyone in a similar position in April would now be fucked.
SAVE THE NHS!
Approx 1 in 9 men develop prostate cancer. You looking for a job with Ferguson ?
Apparently, and this is per my Dad’s consultant not me, most old men develop prostate cancer at some point, but they die of something else. So er….. bit like covid ;)They don’t need to treat it in the majority of cases as it’s never detected. Hence your 1 in 9 will be *detected* cases of prostate cancer.
You’re going to die of some kind of cancer if something else doesn’t get you first. And yes, prostate cancer is almost inevitable in any man who lives long enough to get it.
Speaking as the son of an oncologist.
Heart disease or cancer.
“That’s a certain text” 😐
Gimme a heart attack whilst clutching a roulade of cheese any day.
I was in exactly that position. My operation scheduled for the end of March was postponed to July. No visitors allowed. I was the ONLY patient on the ward for most of my stay.
Had a post op infection. Calling 111 resulted in recommendation to have a Coronavirus test, “as you have just been in hospital.” This delayed the treatment of my infection which was instigated by GP phone consultation. My operation follow up consultation will be by telephone.
Ugh no. This is so disgusting!!
I’m sorry for you. And everybody really. I feel like you could turn up in A&E with a limb hanging off and they’d corona test you before stabilising the bleeding 😑
Well. These new 90 minute tests will give them similar opportunities. It’s horrible.
No. They stopped performing any diagnoses.
Good title for this just published article.But they take for granted that it protect from spread to others .
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01918/full#ref3
Why Do Japanese People Use Masks Against COVID-19, Even Though Masks Are Unlikely to Offer Protection From Infection?
“The results of our nationwide survey revealed that people conformed to societal norms in wearing masks and felt relief from anxiety when wearing masks. However, risk reduction expectations did not affect mask usage. The social psychological motivations successfully explained much about mask usage. Our findings suggest that policymakers responsible for public health should consider social motivations when implementing public strategies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Good for them…, I’m Portuguese not Japanese.
Exactly right. Do not confuse one culture’s reaction for that of another.
https://thecritic.co.uk/face-masks-make-you-stupid/
Should be re-posted every day. 🙂
I have an antisocial antimotivation.
When asked what can the government do – his answer is again spot on – ‘wrong question – government should walk away now and let economy sort itself out – short term pain but the right strategy medium and long term.’ Government meddling in the economy leads to extreme lacklustre growth
Listen to Talk Radio now!! Think it’s a businessman / very articulate and passionate against lockdown and the economic catastrophe. He’s is giving it both barrels – pleading – ‘why are people not out on streets protesting the restrictions’ Absolutely brilliant. Toby must mention this in tomorrow’s update. Don’t know how to alert him. He’s on the economic’frontline’