Children More Likely to Die of Flu than Covid – Deputy Chief Medical Officer
Dr Jenny Harries, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer of England, told Sky News this morning that children are more likely to die of flu or be killed in a road traffic accident than succumb to COVID-19.
“The long term harms of children not attending school significantly, we think, outweigh those potential risks,” she said.
“No environment is completely risk-free.
“Every time a parent sends their child off to school pre-Covid they may have been involved in a road traffic accident, there are all sorts of things.
“In fact that risk, or the risk from seasonal flu, we think is probably higher than the current risk of Covid.”
This message was complemented by the Times’s front page story this morning, which says, “Teachers spread virus more than pupils.”
New research from Public Health England revealed that two thirds of outbreaks arose from staff-to-staff transmission, or staff-to-pupil.
In June the number of schools open was between 20,500 and 23,400, with pupil numbers increasing from 475,000 to 1,646,000. In June and last month 200 children and staff were affected by the illness. Over the same period 25,470 cases were recorded across England as a whole.
Thirty outbreaks, defined as two or more linked cases in one school, were recorded between the start of June and the end of last month. These represented 0.01% of preschools and primary schools in England.
The figures will encourage those who have argued that school is a safe place for children during the pandemic.
Killer line: “These [outbreaks] represented 0.01% of preschools and primary schools in England.“
Stop Press: Boris issued a statement this morning saying children’s “life chances” will suffer if they don’t go back to school and in the Telegraph Iain Duncan-Smith urges the PM to show “some Churchillian spirit” to get kids back to school.
Lockdown Was a “Monumental Mistake on a Global Scale” – Sage Member
Lockdown will come to be seen as a “monumental mistake on a global scale” and must never happen again, says Mark Woolhouse, a scientist who advises the Government on infectious diseases. The Express has the story.
Mark Woolhouse said lockdown was a “panic measure” but admitted it was the only option at the time because “we couldn’t think of anything better to do”.
But it is a crude measure that takes no accounts of the risk levels to different individuals, the University of Edinburgh professor said, meaning that back in March the nation was “concentrating on schools when we should have been concentrating on care homes”.
The Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology said that the Government must now focus on increasing testing and striving to unlock society safely rather than restricting it further.
Prof Woolhouse OBE, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours that advises the Government, said: “Lockdown was a panic measure and I believe history will say trying to control Covid-19 through lockdown was a monumental mistake on a global scale, the cure was worse than the disease.
“I never want to see national lockdown again. It was always a temporary measure that simply delayed the stage of the epidemic we see now. It was never going to change anything fundamentally, however low we drove down the number of cases, and now we know more about the virus and how to track it we should not be in this position again.
“We absolutely should never return to a position where children cannot play or go to school.
“I believe the harm lockdown is doing to our education, health care access, and broader aspects of our economy and society will turn out to be at least as great as the harm done by COVID-19.”
He said that Sage, the government’s advisory board on dealing with Covid, needed to have members from a wider range of fields.
At last, one of the Government’s scientific advisors is talking sense. Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: According to NHS England there has only been one Covid death of someone under 40 in the past month.
NHS Ordered Care Homes Not to Resuscitate
Alarming story in the Telegraph. According to Sarah Knapton, the Science Editor, one in 10 care home staff members changed ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ plans without discussing them first with family members, nursing staff, or residents.
Care homes were asked by NHS managers and GPs to place blanket ‘Do not resuscitate’ (DNR) orders on all their residents at the height of the coronavirus pandemic to keep hospital beds free, a new report has found.
The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) – the world’s oldest nursing charity – discovered one in 10 care home staff surveyed was ordered to change DNR plans without discussion with family members, nursing staff, or with the residents themselves.
Half of staff members who said they had been asked to change DNRs worked in homes for the elderly, while half worked in homes for younger people with learning or cognitive disabilities.
Staff also warned that some hospitals were operating a ‘no admissions’ policy for care home residents – even for non-COVID-19 conditions such as heart attacks – and some said they had struggled to make appointments with GPs for elderly people.
Report author Prof Alison Leary MBE said the findings were ‘worrying’ and called for an inquiry.
This is a scandal. Worth reading in full.
Another Terrible Cancer Story
A couple of days ago I invited readers to send me their stories about failing to secure adequate cancer care on the NHS. They’ve been flooding in. Here’s another heart-breaking tale.
My husband has a history of Hodgkins Lymphoma and is one of the 1.5 million people who were sent a long, terribly concerned letter from the Government strongly urging him to stay at home until they decided it was safe enough to venture out again. In the first week of lockdown he discovered a lump in his neck and, after some hesitation, tried to see our local GP. The surgery was abandoned by all the doctors who we were told were “working” from home.
A doctor rang my husband the following day for a consultation – no Zoom and no access to his medical notes. However, due to his history, the doctor agreed to refer my husband to our local hospital in Chelmsford. After two weeks we discovered he had been referred back to the GP. We tried again and another referral was made which was taken more seriously.
Since then he has had a PET scan showing “areas of concern” and two biopsies, the first one on June 26th, the results of which would be discussed with us by phone on July 24th. The day came but no phone call. We rang them only to be told the wrong biopsy had been done – a fine needle aspiration instead of a core biopsy – and a new biopsy would be done on August 5th. He was now officially a “fast path” patient and we were promised a phone consultation to discuss the results on August 20th. Again, no call, no results.
My husband first made contact with the GP on April 9th. It is now nearly September and he is yet to see a medical professional and we know no more than we did in early April. The stress and anger this has caused us, me in particular, are impossible to describe. My husband is an otherwise fit and healthy 60 year-old and father of two teenage children. He hasn’t missed a day of work during this whole time keeping a small manufacturing company in Harlow going without any redundancies or furloughs.
I feel I’ve woken up in a parallel universe where the normal citizenry have been turned into obedient Stepford wives and the government and its institutions are the smug husbands. We are at sea in a sinking boat drifting further from shore whilst the lifeguards look on shrugging their shoulders before turning away to deal with a couple of cases of mild sunburn.
I don’t feel I can ever love my country again.
I know how she feels.
Twitter Thread Claims China Used Fake Media Accounts to Promote Lockdown
There’s a fascinating Twitter thread by Michael Senger about how the Chinese Communist Party launched a massive disinformation campaign in March urging governments around the world to impose full lockdowns. It links to plenty of evidence, such as this piece in the New York Times about how the CCP used fake Twitter accounts to amplify tweets praising China’s response to the pandemic in early March. The day after that Times article appeared, Twitter suspended more than 170,000 suspicious Chinese accounts. But according to Senger, many of these accounts remain active.
For instance, when the Governor of South Dakota refused to shut down her state, her Twitter feed filled up with thousands of abusive messages from these accounts. “By contrast, the accounts heap praise on governors who tighten lockdowns, like Dan Andrews, gov of Victoria, AUS,” writes Senger.
When Boris initially seemed to plump for herd immunity, the bots went to work, swarming his feed with messages comparing the policy to “genocide”.
And the disinformation campaign continued, focusing on different leaders each day, urging them to lock down. “Hard to think of any place more ill-suited to a total lockdown than Africa, but that’s exactly what CCP’s fake accounts demanded of South African President @CyrilRamaphosa on March 22,” Senger writes. “The next day, they got what they wanted, and Ramaphosa announced a total lockdown.”
After South Africa, it was India’s turn to be targetted. “On March 23, CCP’s army of fake accounts implored PM @PMOIndia to lock down India and order the army to ‘shoot on sight’ to enforce it,” writes Senger. “The next day, Modi announced a destructive lockdown.”
Senger is continuing to compile evidence and adding to his thread every day. If you’re not on Twitter, you can read the whole thread here.
Disturbing.
Stop Press: Sue Denim, who knows a thing or two about Twitter bots, says this is complete balls. Treat with extreme caution.
Covid Mortality Higher in Democratic States
A reader has been comparing the deaths per million in US states run by Democratic governors with those run by Republican governors.
On my first day of quarantine from Majorca I thought I’d amuse myself by looking at US state stats by political affiliations. Deaths 67% higher in Democrat states, deaths per million 41% higher. Cases actually higher in Republican states. All data from Worldometers.
Looser lockdowns in Republican states and the fact that many are in the south explains it I would think. However, if I were the US President it’s something I’d be flagging daily in the run up to an election. Obviously runs counter to the media narrative.
Postcard From the Dolomites
Sounds like this reader had a very different experience to me. Sorry to read this.
I know you were in the Dolomites a few weeks ago and I seem to recall that you said things were relatively relaxed at that time. My wife and I arrived in Villabassa yesterday for a weeks’ walking in the mountains and I am sad to report that we have found ourselves in muzzle central.
In our hotel you are expected to wear muzzles in all public areas unless seated at a table in the restaurant or bar and sadly everyone is complying. On stepping outside I had assumed that at least in the streets people would be largely muzzle-free but not a bit of it. Outside in the town 75 to 80% of those walking around, including those who are clearly serious mountain walkers are muzzled. Most children are muzzled, even some of about two.
Today we have walked about nine miles from the town to the Lago di Braies. This is a glacial lake which attracts a lot of tourists in coaches plus some fairly keen walkers, such as us. On the way up we passed a fair number of people walking down in muzzles. Others when they saw us approaching put on their muzzles even though there was plenty of room to pass. I reckon about 30% of those we passed (or possibly a little more) fell into this category even though we we were out in the open and they quite literally passed us in a second or so.
If that was bad enough, it was far worse when we reached the lake. This was where we encountered the coach trippers and 90% were masked even though we were high up in the mountains. We saw 2 men fully masked riding mountain bikes up quite a steep hill and a masked couple having a snog! What is it about these people that they have reached such an irrational level of fear that they spoil their enjoyment of the fresh air and beautiful mountain scenery that they feel it necessary to act in a totally irrational manner?
Normally I love a holiday in the mountains but I fear that my experience of the last 24 hours is making me feel that it is one I shall quickly wish to forget.
Submitting Evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus
A reader has come up with a sensible suggestion:
I am not sure how important the work of the APPG on Coronavirus will be to the Government’s ongoing approach but I assume it may have some relevance. This is obviously very worrying. Unfortunately, I do not fit into any of the categories from whom they would like evidence and the list of those that have provided evidence thus far does not inspire confidence that they will hear a balanced view. Hence, I would suggest you give more prominence to this issue in a future edition of Lockdown Sceptics and encourage some of your readers that do have the relevant expertise to submit evidence as soon as possible!
If you’d like to submit evidence to the Group, click here.
Italian Philosopher Becomes Lockdown Sceptic, Shunned by Colleagues
There’s in interesting article in the New York Times about Giorgio Agamben, a radical, left-wing philosopher whose been shunned by his Italian colleagues after coming out as a lockdown sceptic.
The part of the Italian intellectual establishment that calls itself “radical” has been Mr. Agamben’s milieu for half a century. His position on the coronavirus has cost him its support. Paolo Flores d’Arcais, the influential editor of the bimonthly MicroMega, accused Mr. Agamben of “ranting.” The newspapers La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera and Il Foglio all called him a negazionista regarding the coronavirus, using a word generally reserved for those who deny the Holocaust happened. Just as unexpected as these repudiations was the sudden receptivity to Mr. Agamben’s recondite philosophy in the pages of La Verità and Il Giornale, newspapers more often sympathetic to Mr. Salvini’s League.
A member of the radical Left, Agamben was very critical of the West’s “War on Terror”. In 2004, he was so alarmed by the U.S.’s new fingerprinting requirements for foreign visitors that he gave up a post at New York University rather than submit to them. He warned that these measures were only passing themselves off as temporary; they would inevitably become a normal part of peacetime life.
His argument about the coronavirus runs along similar lines: The emergency declared by public-health experts replaces the discredited narrative of “national security experts” as a pretext for withdrawing rights and privacy from citizens. “Biosecurity” now serves as a reason for governments to rule in terms of “worst-case scenarios.” This means there is no level of cases or deaths below which locking down an entire nation of 60 million becomes unreasonable. Many European governments, including Italy’s, have developed national contact tracing apps that allow them to track their citizens using cellphones.
Agamben has written a series of critical pieces about the Italian authorities’ response to the virus and they’ve been published in a single volume called Where Are We Now? The Epidemic as Politics. It hasn’t yet been translated into English, but it should be. Many of his sentiments will strike a chord with sceptics around the Anglosphere.
The politics of the pandemic expose a deeper ethical, social and even metaphysical erosion. Mr. Agamben cites Italians’ most beloved 19th-century novel, Alessandro Manzoni’s “The Betrothed,” which describes how human relations degenerated in Milan during the plague of 1630. People came to see their neighbors not as fellow human beings but as spreaders of pestilence. As panic set in, authorities executed those suspected of daubing houses with plague germs.
When a society loses its collective cool this way, the cost can be high. Rich, atomized, diverse, our society has a weak spot, and the coronavirus has found it. “For fear of getting sick,” Mr. Agamben writes, “Italians are ready to sacrifice practically everything – their normal living conditions, their social relations, their jobs, right down to their friendships, their loves, their religious and political convictions.”
In fact, “the threshold that separates humanity from barbarism has been crossed,” Mr. Agamben continues, and the proof is in Italians’ treatment of their dead. “How could we have accepted, in the name of a risk that we couldn’t even quantify, not only that the people who are dear to us, and human beings more generally, should have to die alone but also – and this is something that had never happened before in all of history from Antigone to today – that their corpses should be burned without a funeral?”
Worth reading in full.
Sir Humphrey Writes…
A retired Civil Servant has been in touch to take issue with last week’s post, “The Covid Civil Servant“, which in part blamed the Civil Service’s poor response to the coronavirus crisis to a lack of numeracy and scientific literacy.
As someone who worked in the Treasury for 21 years, in the final period of my working life, I don’t quite buy the line from your anonymous senior civil servant last week lamenting lack of civil service numeracy and scientific knowledge. During my time, the place acquired vastly more trained economists than when I had first arrived, the majority with postgraduate qualifications in the subject, along with more staff with graduate/postgraduate qualifications in other disciplines requiring sophisticated numeracy such as accounting and statistics. And although I never myself formally acquired any such expertise, I would not have survived a month without being very comfortable with handling numbers. Does this history mean that we became progressively wiser as a department? Does it hell. People who revel in numbers tend to be very uneasy with anything that can’t be captured in numbers, so narrowness, rigidity and sheer lack of imagination increasingly prevailed. The influence of the Treasury right across Government remained immense throughout my time there, and in that time it certainly imposed more widely than hitherto its own version of greater discipline in financial management across Whitehall departments and their related bodies. That didn’t make for better governance overall – there’s no panacea to be found in that direction. Also, the Senior Civil Service are not well paid by comparison with swathes of senior management with far less onerous responsibilities right across the rest of the public sector – that’s a big part of the problem.
Sweden’s Declining Case Numbers Are Due to Herd Immunity
Sweden is doing better than many other European countries when it comes to case numbers thanks to the fact that it didn’t impose a lockdown. The Times has more.
Figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control show that the infection rate in France is more than 60 per cent higher than that of Sweden. France implemented a strict lockdown in the spring and requires masks to be worn in many public areas but has a fortnightly infection rate of 60 cases per 100,000 people.
Sweden, which decided not to implement compulsory measures at that time and which rejected the use of masks, has a rate of 37 cases per 100,000 people. The government is recording between 200 and 300 new cases a day, with deaths down to three last Friday.
Anders Tegnell, the Swedish state epidemiologist leading the response to the pandemic, has noted, based on the statistics, that infection rates have increased in countries such Spain, Belgium and France during and following the mandatory wearing of masks in many public areas. “The belief that masks can solve our problem is very dangerous,” he said last week.
Worth reading in full.
A Left-Wing Reader Responds to Yesterday’s Letter From a Liberal Sceptic
I love getting emails like this.
I was so pleased that you published the email from the left-leaning lockdown sceptic in your latest update. This was really heartening to read, and made me feel more like I’m a legit sceptic. I have been reading Lockdown Sceptics since you started it but I have wondered from time to time whether I really belong, as I’m a Labour-voting Remainer. (I used to be a Guardian reader, too, but I knocked that on the head in early April when I cancelled my subscription because of the lamentably biased and narrow-minded nature of their coronavirus coverage).
I say I’m Labour-voting but if there was a general election tomorrow I don’t think there’s anyone I could vote for with a clear conscience. What a ship of fools.
Thanks for all you do. I would think I disagree with you on just about everything but scepticism about coronabollocks unites us all.
If you missed the “Letter From a Liberal Sceptic” yesterday, you can read it here.
Postcard From Munich
A reader writes to tell me about his recent trip to Munich. Could have been better…
I’ve just returned from a weekend visiting a friend in Munich. It was… just ok. The German stereotypes of following the rules were very much in show: facemasks when moving around in any indoors or outdoors restaurant/bar area – so if you are coming in from the street to an outdoors restaurant area, you have to wear a mask from the street to the table. And everyone obeys: I barely saw anyone not wearing a mask where required (over mouth and nose) throughout my whole weekend. The beer halls were very much open though; apart from having to wear a mask for the regular loo trips it was relatively normal and we had some good conversations with men in leather shorts. Slightly odd that some tables in the beer hall were cordoned off, meaning that people were crammed into the tables that were available.
Had an interesting experience at a “seesauna” (lake sauna) the next day to try and get rid of the hangover from the beerhall. Very strict social distancing rules (although thankfully no masks in the sauna areas) – the two of us went into one sauna with an eight-person limit (there were seven there already) and got shouted out. A lot of rules which, combined with the experience of being in your natural state of dress with members of both sexes, made for a relatively stressful experience.
All in all, I was pleased to come home to our comparatively liberal (and increasingly ignored) covid rules!
Round-Up
- ‘A second lockdown? Most English neighbourhoods haven’t had a Covid case for a month, says academic‘ – Prof John Clancy, of Birmingham City University, warns current fears of a second wave are based on “dodgy data”
- ‘Three jailed on Isle of Man for breaking Covid quarantine rules‘ – The Manx Chief Minister, Howard Quayle, is giving Dan Andrews a run for his money as a mini-dictator. This should do wonders for the Isle of Man’s tourism industry
- ‘“Selfish few” put Birmingham on brink of local lockdown‘ – Depressing piece in the Times accepting that a second lockdown in Birmingham is inevitable (even though the infection rate is lower in Birmingham than London)
- ‘The generation betrayed by Boris‘ – Hard-hitting piece by Louise Perry in UnHerd
- ‘We’re stuck in a coronavirus time warp‘ – Good article in the Spectator by Dr Waqar Rashid
- ‘“We can’t keep living like this”: COVID-19 state of emergency opens political divide‘ – There are rumblings of discontent in Victoria against Kim-Jong Dan’s iron rule. But will they develop into an effective opposition movement? I think it was Clive James that said the problem with Australians isn’t that they’re descended from convicts, but too many of them are descended from prison officers (h/t Christopher Snowdon)
- ‘An Epidemic of Depression and Anxiety Among Young Adults‘ – Alarming piece in Bloomberg Opinion by Andreas Kluth
- ‘Kenyans forced to hunt giraffe for food‘ – Terrible story about the toll the lockdown has taken in Kenya
- ‘Patients will have to book a spot at A&E by autumn‘ – Just when you thought the NHS couldn’t get any more dysfunctional. To state the obvious, how can you book an “emergency” appointment?
- ‘Four million people could be tested daily for COVID-19 by early next year‘ – Matt Hancock discovers yet another way to spunk taxpayers’ money up against the wall
- French Professor Exposes the Casedemic Hysteria – Professor Jean-Francois Toussaint lets rip about Covid hysteria on French television
- ‘We now have the best evidence yet that everyone develops long-term coronavirus immunity after infection — and it’s not just about antibodies‘ – Good piece by Aylin Woodward in Business Insider
- ‘BBC considers dropping Rule Britannia from Last Night of the Proms‘ – I spoke to Julia Hartley-Brewer about this on TalkRadio this morning. Link here
- ‘Generation Z feels intimidated by full stops, experts find‘ – How dare you call them “snowflakes”!
- ‘Slaves to R‘ – Good bit of scepticism about the R number from John Redwood
Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers
A bonanza of songs today: “Anything You Say Now I’ll Believe” by the Flaming Lips, “Complete Control” by the Clash, “Land of Fear” by Julian Cope, “Turnstyled, Junkpiled” by Townes Van Zandt, “F.E.A.R.” by Ian Brown and “Look out There’s a Monster Coming” by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (trigger warning: all the band members are wearing black face).
Love in the Time of Covid
We have created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums that are now open, including a dating forum called “Love in a Covid Climate” that has attracted a bit of attention. We’ve also just introduced a section where people can arrange to meet up for non-romantic purposes. We have a team of moderators in place to remove spam and deal with the trolls, but sometimes it takes a little while so please bear with us. You have to register to use the Forums, but that should just be a one-time thing. Any problems, email the Lockdown Sceptics webmaster Ian Rons here.
Small Businesses That Have Re-Opened
A few 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 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! If they’ve made that clear to customers with a sign in the window or similar, so much the better. Don’t worry if your entries don’t show up immediately – we need to approve them once you’ve entered the data.
“Mask Exempt” Lanyards
I’ve created a 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 Oct 3rd to Oct 13th). 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 with lanyard for just £3.99 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 (now over 29,500).
A reader has started a website that contains some useful guidance about how you can claim legal exemption.
And here’s a round-up of the scientific evidence on the effectiveness of mask (threadbare at best).
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. Doing these daily updates is a lot of work (although I have help from lots of people, mainly in the form of readers sending me stories and links). If you feel like donating, please click here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links I should include in future updates, email me here. If you want me to link to something, don’t forget to include the HTML code, i.e. a link.
And Finally…
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
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They’ll get what they deserve if they continue to keep her in power…..
Prof Devi Sridhar is advising her, worse luck.
I think by the end of today Bozo Boris will have done a dramatic U turn and will announce that secondary school pupils will have to wear face masks. Two days ago Education Minister said the evidence of pupils wearing masks is weak. But because Boris is a weak, spineless & incompetent bell end who cannot stand up to anyone will follow Sturgeon and inflict abuse on our poor children.
We’ll all be required to wear them outside soon….
Nicola Sturgeon has just announced that jumping off a cliff is to become obligatory in Scotland as it reduces COVID-19 infections and deaths.
The MSM are pushing Boris Johnson to implement this in England to save lives.
No scientific evidence has yet been found to prove this, but all decisions made by other governments must be followed blindly!
She needs treatment, as all dictators eventually do, they all go mad in the end
German doctors (impressively qualified) challenging the MSM covid 19 narrative at The Corona Extra-Parliamentary Investigation Committee: https://acu2020.org/
Reports from a recent conference in Hungary and Doctors for Education site: https://www.xn--rzte-fr-aufklrung-pqbn68b.de/
Also on YT with English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X21UboS93qc&feature=emb_title
A shopkeeper friend greeted us with, ‘Have you noticed how as the ‘cases’ go up, the deaths go down, nearly to zero and the hospitals are empty?’. He had an elderly woman in yesterday who started talking about ‘Covid’ and burst into tears, she was so scared and demoralised. He thinks ‘they’ are are trying to break us all down mentally and we agree. We will not be broken down though, will we? We will resist.
Some zombies outside the stores; I fear they are becoming habituated to wearing them. Some muzzles in the street including a woman carrying a child of about 1. Horrible!
A merry couple in the bus shelter, sharing a picnic during a short break in the sideways rain. She said it was her birthday and at least we could all smile at each other and wish her well. We were the only people on the bus. Again. MW
Rundown of countries with mask mandates and their infection transmissions:
https://twitter.com/CovidSenseBloke/status/1297865055036411905
Very useful guide of this massive failure
I have a comment waiting for approval is this normal?
It is if it contained multiple links
OK Thanks – Probably hit the link twice or something like that
yes, you might have more than 3 links
https://twitter.com/AlistairHaimes/status/1298207748887371777/photo/1
“If masks work, can anyone explain why there has been no reduction in respiratory deaths since their introduction? Covid-related deaths continue the decline they were on anyway.”
Excellent evidence.
In the comments someone links to tweet from Labour MP in Oldham saying even without evidence, we should do this on precautionary principle (re: children being forced to wear masks in school) — beggars belief, it really does. It’s like these virtuous heroes dont actually know what precautionary principle means – you should be certain that the precaution you are taking does not cause greater (or any, really) harm than the measure being taken first – which is obviously not the case with masks.
Its like a virtue signalling arms race!
They are saying “precautionary principle” when they mean “just to be sure”. A bit like the way most of the plebs think ‘exponentially’ means ‘very’.
The same people wouldn’t switch their choice in the Monty Hall problem. Sometimes you have to look at the impact of the negative. The Precautionary Principle is often akin to Pascal’s Wager.
I’d like to know if there has been an increase in respiratory, cardiac and blood pressure admissions to hospitals and calls to GP since the introduction of face masks.
I’ve heard a few times 2nd hand from people who have spoken to GPS and I have had it happen once to me direct from a GP that bacterial lung infections are rising.
Exactly. We’ve had a month of this mask malarkey and all that’s happened – if you believe the Government – is that the number of cases has risen sharply,
Also further evidence here:
https://principia-scientific.org/neurosurgeon-face-masks-pose-serious-risks-to-healthy-individuals/
Just one para from the new ONS bulletin:
Of the deaths registered in Week 33, 139 mentioned “novel coronavirus (COVID-19)”, the lowest number of deaths involving COVID-19 in the last 21 weeks and an 8.6% decrease compared with Week 32 (152 deaths), accounting for 1.5% of all deaths in England and Wales.
So, what’s the problem?
It’s gone too quickly for our lords and masters before they have had the chance to manufacture a second wave. The emperor has no clothes.
But, but… ‘Reinfections’ have soared to… 1.
The government knows that children not attending school is harmful. The government knows that the coronavirus presents less risk to children than their risk of being hit by lightning. The same government closes schools and engages in a deliberate campaign to create fear and hysteria. Then, the same government threatens the people it has frightened with fines for being fearful.This is precisely how to send people mad.
They have known this since March!
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12481469/sweden-coronavirus-herd-immunity-pandemic/
Sweden, which controversially never went into lockdown and has rejected the use of masks, currently has a 14-day case rate of 36.6 per 100,000, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
In France, that rate is 59.8 per 100,000 – despite implementing a strict lockdown and stringent mask measures.
Spain’s 14-day case rate is 152.7 and the UK is 22.3.
Arne Elofsson, a professor in biometrics at Stockholm University, said: “Sweden is doing fine. Strict rules do not work as people seem to break them.”
Anders Tegnell, the top epidemiologist leading the response to Sweden’s pandemic, claimed the infection rates of Spain, Belgium and France have increased after mask mandates in public spaces came in.
He said last week: “The belief that masks can solve our problem is very dangerous.”
Lovely Sweden!!!!!
During lockdown, my sons (18 and 20), who both speak Spanish and Italian, have taken it upon themselves to learn Swedish. They are lockdown sceptics, but, I cannot discount it has something to do with something else!
They didn’t consider the unintended consequences of lockdowns in advance and they certainly haven’t considered those of masks either.
They will discover the harm masks do in due course and then claim there was no way of knowing. Who could have thought that not breathing in fresh air and having a dirty mask covering your mouth and nose for hours would be harmful, right?
I definitely like that Tegnell is off his back foot now and starting to troll other countries.
We need to find a way of making the politicians, advisers and panic merchants boosting masks personally liable for all harm caused by masks.
Evidence that they cause harm is well known so when pols & others ignore that evidence they need to be held accountable:
https://principia-scientific.org/neurosurgeon-face-masks-pose-serious-risks-to-healthy-individuals/
Heads! Spikes! Walls!
It’s the only way out of this.
Or the right to a pension far above waht ordinary workers can expect and paid for by those wormers is forfeit when harmful action os deliberately taken by those with power over us.
It should be a standard control measure over those who wish to boss their fellow citizens about.
Somewhat pessimistic, Concrete. There is also opposition, and/or revolution,
Uniforms are to please parents.
Latin I’ve found useful for etymology but not for much else.
However, I’ve found Greek etymologically useful too – and I never studied that!
Just read that pupils in Scottish secondary schools are obliged to wear ‘face coverings’ from next Monday (except in classrooms). Education Secretary John Swinney is reported as stating that the new rules are ‘not mandatory’, but should be ‘considered obligatory’.
So, in theory you don’t have to wear a mask, but in reality you do, because we say so?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53900825
“Scottish government adopts child abuse as policy”
I’ve always thought of mandatory and obligatory as synonyms. Find it a bit odd that an Education Secretary seems to think they mean different things…
If you followed any of the recent exams fiasco, you would not be suprised by anything from the Education Secretary.
The ability to think does not go with this job.
Yeah but no, but yeah, but no
mandatory
[ˈmandət(ə)ri]
ADJECTIVE
It would appear that those teaching English in Scottish Schools know sweet FA about the language
BBC now pushing for same in England.
Reasons given,Scotland are doing it.might give parents reassurance no mention that they have any benefit or any scientific basis.Puff pieces about schools doing it anyway.
Disgusting
FFS what do the BBC know about anything. They are trying their best to bring the government down and contributing to the suffering and abuse of many people. I don’t understand why they think they are so powerful when it is licence payers who own them!
“They are trying their best to bring the government down”
Wake up! – the problem with the BBC has been it’s continual reinforcement of government nonsense.
That’s it – they’re trumpeting govt.nonsense so that the govt’s proposed examination of how the BBC is funded doesn’t take place.
Not sure about that. My suspicion is that, if the government were to go down the sceptic, back to normal route, the BBC would start to attack it very heavily indeed. For a while, their agendas align.
My hypothesis (aka a conspiracy theory) is that the Gov told the BBC that if they towed the line then they’re funding model wouldn’t be reformed.
‘the new rules are ‘not mandatory’, but should be ‘considered obligatory’
= Double speak
Mandatory – means the Gov is telling you to wear them.
Obligatory – no need to wear them, but you will be forced into wearing them by being shamed, bullied and peer pressure.
Obligatory is worse than Mandatory.
You are a 15 year old with a natural disposition to ‘act out’ or in other words clumsily learn about life in your own way. You are what tge 1950s called a rebel. How can this possibly end well – with weasel words from weasel in chief obligitory, mandatory, law not law.
It will only take one vicious teacher to badly rule with authoritarian ziel for months of learning to be upset. For all their suppose sophitucation teenagers learn by trrial and error. This is setting them up for a draconian fall.
Out of words to describe my opposition to this creep and all the others ruling over us. They are in position to facillitate our lives not this.
Its the same game but using words instead of numbers. Another definition of obligatory is If you describe something as obligatory, you mean that it is done from habit or custom and not because the person involved has thought carefully about it or really means it.
Not only do they clearly not have a grasp of the English language, the maths skills of all those making these decisions are inadequate too.
In a country of 5,454,000 after 6 months of panic and fear and endless testing and encouragement to get tested, this supposedly highly contagious and deadly virus has still only found its way to less than 20,000 individuals (positive tests – obviously we’re aware its found its way to more but they were so symptom free they werent picked up despite the campaign).
At present the prevalence is lower than 1 in 4000 (as I recall?) in Scotland, children aren’t known to pass it on or at least not in any meaningful amount, have no to mild symptoms and there’s no concrete evidence of regular asymptomatic spread… and yet they have somehow calculated that amongst that absolutely minuscule risk there is justification for yet another costly (in numerous ways) and disgusting policy. If I was a maths teacher and they were my pupils I’d be requesting to see their workings, as the answer they’ve given is clearly not right.
I am scared for the future of my two children. I’m worried what kind of life they are heading into. One is in secondary and the other still at primary school. They’ve had all social activities taken away from them and some are not starting yet due to it not being safe yet?! They were both active children, I only had one night free but I didn’t mind ferrying them everywhere.
And now there’s talk of masking them up at school. I’m deeply upset and if it happens I’m not sure what to do. Keep them off? They won’t get a good education from me. I tried to school them in March and it just doesn’t work.
One question id like the answer to is why does the MSM push for masks in school? Why do people think it’s alright to mask our kids?? I haven’t wore a mask yet and have encouraged my kids to stand strong and not be bullied into wearing one from their masked friends.
It is horrible Lydia. I think it is people pandering to those who are panicking and fearful and in doing so it makes other people like us more angry as if feels to us we are having irrational things imposed on us and this feels and is abusive.
I have been looking at Michael Levitt and worldometer and and it is really looking like the pandemic is over. Deaths going down. I am very angry about what is being done to children but I think as the hospital admissions and deaths continue to stay low people will not be able to keep on deny the risk has gone soon. Masks on children are particularly abusive but children are resilient and won’t be as affected by them as us.
A lot of people will have a lot to answer for and their credibility will be gone.
Even with all the evidence around that suggests the pandemic is over, people are still fearful over the virus and the threat of a second wave still being pushed by the MSM and these so called scientists. I don’t think it’ll ever go away. And that’s what I’m afraid off for my two kids.
Your two kids have you.
Tell them the truth.
Live the truth.
I’m very open and honest with my two kids. I believe if we’re open with them then they’ll be the same with us.
I don’t know how long they could keep up masks in practice. Having been a child at school among other children (though not a parent) I foresee 25% of the pupils losing their mask by 1st break, 90% dropping the mask by lunchtime so the corridors are awash with them and someone from 5B accidentally starting a blaze because they want to see what happens if they set fire to the bloody thing.
Ha Ha! I think you could possibly be right there.
You don’t even have to look at Worldometer.
Much closer to home, the evidence is clear : there has been no epidemic for a couple of months, and all-cause mortality has been at unexceptional levels since the middle of June.
Even by the dodgy ruler that is the PCR test, you’d have to come into close contact with over 2000 random individuals to even cross the path of a Corina virus – let alone catch an infection.
And the true figure, given that the test simply picks up a loosely connected RNA strand, is probably near 1 in 10,000 for actual infection.
I know. So the only explanation for the BBC to not be shouting this out loud must be political and that is criminal as people are suffering. But lack of admissions and deaths it can’t be ignored forever can it?
Wendy, it can’t be ignored forever but if coronavirus is with us forever and cases are still being picked up then they can ignore hospital admissions and deaths and continue to scare us with cases.
I think a lot of people in the MSM are heavily invested in the coronapanic – some because they pushed it and, like the government, don’t want to admit they were wrong, some because bad news sells, and some because it suits their political agenda and view of the world.
I don’t know what I would do in your shoes, as a parent. Mine are grown up now. They need an education and will be missing out at home. Is moving to a different school or area an option? If not, maybe the best you can do is educate them that this is all nonsense, and continue to put pressure on the school to provide them with the full educational experience they deserve and that you’ve paid for, and also try to persuade parents of like mind to do the same.
I have spoke truthfully to my kids about this virus and gave them the evidence and stats to educate them on what is happening and with continue to do so.
I see young children/adults wearing masks but they’re wearing them as a fashion accessory and think they’re pretty cool. If my eldest child doesn’t wear one will he be bullied for it? Then pressured into wearing one. They’re trying to reprogramme our children that they’re only safe when wearing a mask! And its not going to go away for a very long time.
The problem is that leaves schools in the same position. We need to get normality back for the sake of all children.
I am using this as an opportunity to teach my kids about questioning authority and engaging in civil disobedience. They seem to be learning quite quickly and enjoying it.
As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
I think the questioning of authority mantra is very important. I was taught this by my father, in particular, from a very early age. I was always in trouble at school, from about age 7 – first memory being ‘TT will you never accept that you are wrong?’ Continued all the way through secondary school, where I was routinely described as ‘aggressive’. My father used to phone the school, and merely say ‘she has nothing to apologise for’. Thanks Dad, I wish you were still here with us.
Yes, thank you, Mr. TT Senior. People like you are the reason people like us are here. Nowt to apologise for, not going away.
Good. I’ve never questioned authority or engaged in any disobedience until now and I’m loving it.
Lydia, masks have nothing to do with this faux pandemic. It is being pushed nationally and internationally by lobby groups that want us to stay indoors and only go out if absolutely necessary (for our own ‘safety’ of course) ..Our elected governments have abdicated all responsibility for this outrage.Our lives are now being manipulated by the MSM, billionaires and activists
masks4all.org.uk
masks4all.org
Jeremy Vine will be spreading the ‘reinfection’ fear from 12pm. What do you mean you are too busy….?
I’m listening to Radio 2 and he’s just spoken and I could have smashed the radio up I’m that angry at his comments!
Vine is some one not to listen to EVER!!!!!
I will listen as I am curious to see what the callers say about today’s Scottish mask announcement. For some reason I have hope that they will speak to a sensible, non-hysterical caller, though Jeremy would prbably just talk over them anyway…
First caller, member of the public who wants face masks imposed on children and said that she already makes her 7 year old wear one. Even though it isn’t madatory for under 12’s. Stupid *bleep*.
There are a lot of callers for the use of face masks for children. No one yet ringing up to counter argue.
Yep, I am waiting for the counter argument. All very one sided at the moment.
They choose their callers ‘very well’ – unless you fit their narrative you will not get on air
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CeTliWwDPOg
Tucker: When do we get America back?
Answer: according to the latest announcement from Tedros at the WHO, it will be never.
It’s not about flattening the curve, not overwhelming hospitals, getting a vaccine….It’s about climate change and control of the populace.
“WHO is committed to working with all countries to move into a new stage of opening their economies, societies, schools and businesses safely.
To do that, every single person must be involved. Every single person can make a difference. Every person, family, community and nation must make their own decisions, based on the level of risk where they live.
That means every person and family has a responsibility to know the level of transmission locally, and to understand what they can do to protect themselves and others.
At the same time, we will not – we cannot – go back to the way things were.
Throughout history, outbreaks and pandemics have changed economies and societies. This one will be no different.
In particular, the pandemic has given new impetus to the need to accelerate efforts to respond to climate change.
The pandemic has given us a glimpse of our world as it could be: cleaner skies… Read more »
The WHO have been disgraceful.
The WHO have been criminally irresponsible, as was its leader when he was the Ethiopian (bad) Health Minister.
He is a revolutionary Marxist, who cosies up to Communist China
By clogging the environment with disposable, single use PPE. He’s a moron.
Reminiscent of:
“a Saudi hanging out in Afghanistan causing terrorist acts in the US?
Let’s bomb the shit out of Iraq.”
We will get our countries back because most people want them back how they were and the WHO can go F… their selves
So we’re all governed by a corrupt Ethiopian politician now?
For anyone who is in a choir and missing the joy of singing together:-
https://twitter.com/MartinDaubney/status/1298134947325239297
https://twitter.com/Adrian_Hilton/status/1298149862752636930
Great comments:
a) BBC would report on a ‘far-right’ hate rally and the police would arrest dozens.
b)They wouldn’t report it at all if the choir was wearing “Defund the BBC” t-shirts.
Interesting:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8661609/Boris-Johnson-planning-quit-Covid-aftereffects-claims-Dominic-Cummings-father-law.html
Wonder whether Mrs Gove has got the dress and hat ready to meet Her Majesty?
I think that’s wishful thinking. Though maybe not – it could get worse. We could get Hancock.
You just ruined my day!
I want the whole lot of them out of the way, and preferably yesterday. I’ve been saying for a while now that Boris is mentally unwell. That, in itself, is dangerous and he should be removed now, not in 6 months time. We need a caretaker government with lots of grey hairs, spine and intellectual rigour. Perhaps a few people from on here?
Interesting! No 10 has denied it – of course.
However, it nicely promotes the Long Covid narrative that’s the latest tool in the scaremongering bag ……
It also gives Boris an excuse for not being prosecuted!
Exactly, pull the pin, throw the grenade and calmly walk away as the country explodes. What a tosser!
Cameron 2.0
The long covid is going to be difficult to sustain as a scare tactic with over 3.5 million in England with antibodies. Perhaps every time we hear it we can make this comment if comments are allowed on any item. The BBC are a disgrace. But we have to hold to that we are right, we have Carl Heneghan to show we are right, and that means a lot of people will have egg one their faces soon enough.
Interesting indeed. So there are rumours he is still unwell and rumours he is spitting from Carrie Symmonds. Is this preparing for him to step down before he is removed.
Do you think that Carrie Symonds will find a fat, balding ex-Prime Minister someone she would spend the rest of her life with? Not sure Johnson is much of a catch without the power thing, so I don’t see him giving it up.
She’s done the job she was put in to do!
They do look very mismatched and he can’t stay PM forever no matter how or when that happens.
Hope Carrie has found a really chic mask to put in their baby.
I’ve just said a prayer to St Anthony in the hope that he brings it about
Infomercial for Long COVID.
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.bbc.co.uk
Don’t forget to add your review to this of the BBC. Currently 93% 1 star (you can’t give no stars)
93% plus mine now, wish it could have been minus ten stars.
https://twitter.com/kylamb8/status/1298063747374886912
“You may hear about the ‘2nd wave’ of Covid in Spain, right? What they don’t tell you is that it’s mostly occurring in the southern portion of the country that didn’t get hit, among a younger crowd. Cases since July 1: 124,458. Deaths since July 1: 517. 0.4% CASE fatality.”
Correction: Some part also in the North,Catalonia and Aragon and the Islands
I’m afraid that is just not true. The south of Spain remains pretty unaffected.
https://www.andalucia.com/health/coronavirus
Most areas with an increase in cases remain pretty unaffected.
You may well both be correct.
Remember this is a disease so virulent you need a test to see if you’ve got it.
I’m feeling unusually angry, having just read this: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/24/have-make-work-nightmare-challenges-headteachers-trying-reopen/
….. a recent survey of parents at the Premier Academy’s Eaton Mill primary school in Milton Keynes, over which Mr Harrison presides: asked if they planned to send their children back in September, almost a third said they were not. It’s an “incredibly high” proportion, Mr Harrison admits.“If I can take any measures whatsoever to increase confidence and put another barrier of security in, it’s worth doing,” he says.
To this end, his school is believed to be the first to make face masks mandatory. All staff, children and parents must wear one when on site or they will be denied access. Once in their bubbles, children and members of staff in close contact with them will change from a mask to a visor supplied by the school. Only reception-aged children will be exempt from the new requirements.
….. At the Premier Academy, where 27 per cent of staff are deemed clinically vulnerable according to Government criteria, they have also invested in two airport-style thermal scanners, hand-held temperature scanners for every classroom and two isolation rooms, each equipped with a full set of personal protective equipment lest any child falls ill.
… Read more »
Imagine throwing £30k of already stretched school budgets at fucking PPE equipment that all evidence tells you is not an issue within schools – the guy is a complete twat. I wonder if some of those 30% of parents who wont send kids back, was actually because of the horrible environment they feared, and this will make it worse.
A generation of children with PTSD.
Well done politicians, teachers and parents.
The sole ‘consolation’ is that they will most likely not replicate, or as they are soon also being poisoned with mRNA and vector vaccines, their few children will likely only have a very short lifespan too.
… and OCD.
We could assume it’s being done by mistake.
Or we could assume it’s being done deliberately.
This piece was posted several months ago, regarding schools in Quebec:
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/schools-after-covid-prison-camps/
“by Daisy Luther
If you’ve been wondering what it will look like when the kids go back to school, one school in Quebec has released their new guidelines and they’re shocking.
Apparently, schools are going to look a lot like prison camps.
This is another example of how things will not just “go back to normal.” Everything is changing, including life for our children.”
“Once assigned to a class, students will spend their entire day (including lunchtime) in their assigned seats;
Students must expect to be regrouped based on the number of students returning;
Students must not expect to return to their regular class with their classmates;
Your child may not be with the same teachers as before as several members of our staff will not be returning to school;
Teachers not returning to school will continue working and keeping close contact with students remotely from home as recommended by the government;
Activities completed while in school will not be evaluated or graded;
No physical materials will be transported back and forth… Read more »
Nail on head:
And did you notice there are quite a few inconsistencies? Kids can’t take anything back and forth from school. You know, except for their lunches, their garbage, their water, their PPE, and some books to read. That stuff doesn’t count as gong back and forth and clearly, is germ-free.
“If I can take any measures whatsoever to increase confidence”
Of course, the most effective way to increase confidence and reduce fearful hiding away of the kind described would be a robust dismissal of fears as nonsense together with social shaming of those exhibiting excessive fearfulness.
It’s the abandonment of that approach,.which was pretty widespread in British culture at one time, that has created the conditions for the disaster we are currently going through.
Exactly!
These supposedly intelligent people genuinely seem to be too stupid to grasp that demonstrative covid theatre measures don’t “reduce fear”, they increase it, by making people believe there really must be something to be afraid of, after all.
They are trying to increase fear. But they can’t say that.
But why would a petty figure like a primary school headmaster particularly want to increase fear?
Common Purpose.
Please keep up, Mark it’s pretty prevalent in all spheres. 🙂
Because he us a stupid fucking zombie. I am SO. glad I don’t have children or grandchildren.
I doubt he does. He’s just left his brain somewhere and is panicking between a rock and a hard place.
Maybe he believes covid is a terrible threat. Maybe he knows it isn’t.
Either way, he’ll not please all the people all the time but HMG is leaning on him to open his school next week.
There’s a serious absence of cajones in our public servants, that’s for sure.
It’s about this, nothing to do with protecting the children
I think it’s important to remember when talking to people that even if schools do reopen, and stay open, the experience will be massively diminished for pupils, from a social, sporting and extra curricular point of view. The government should get NO credit for reopening schools on this basis. Schools as they will be are part of the ongoing, indefinite lockdown.
Is it masks or visors? Mirror seem to think the latter:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/headmaster-defends-decision-insist-children-22569797
From the Mirror:
Mr Harrison instructed them that all children will be required to wear surgical masks when being dropped off and picked up from school.
The letter stated that all staff, children, parents, carers and visitors must don a mask when on site, or they will not be allowed access.
Children will then be allowed to take off the masks and switch them for a named face visor – provided by the school – once in their classrooms.
Maybe some parents won’t send their children back because they don’t want them brainwashed, or terrorised by all these “safety” measures. They are going to damage the physical and mental wellbeing of these children for years to come. It’s nothing short of abuse. As has been said elsewhere, there’s nothing worse than someone abusing you for your own good.
I wouldn’t want to send mine. Not just the because of the conditions, but what does it say about the teachers? Pathetic!
My message to Mr Harrison did contain abuse. As part of the phrase ‘child abuse’.
Good for you – because that’s exactly what it is!
If his salary was directly related to how many kids he had in school and the success of their education (i.e. skin in the game) and he saw that salary plummet because of these idiotic measures, he would soon change tune. But as he’s a public servant and paid by tax payers money…
“Show me the incentive and I’ll show the outcome”
They are complete loons:
https://principia-scientific.com/u-k-study-very-little-evidence-of-virus-spread-in-schools/
Whats the point of scientific research if the loonies go ahead and ignore all the evidence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2674&v=w6koHkBCoNQ&feature=emb_logo
Look for yourself Dr Fauci 44 10 about asymptomatic transmission.
Fauci: “in all of the history of respiratory viruses, there has never been one in which asymptomatic carriers drove an outbreak.”
It is strange how old Fauci comments are often hard to find and are forgotten it is like the internet is being scrubbed of any information that doesn’t fit the current narrative. Funnily enough Serco the governments favourite company are one of the leading specialists in erasing information on the internet.
Updated CDC guidance on isolation and masks
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/public-health-recommendations.html
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/cdc-guidelines-say-wearing-a-mask-during-prolonged-exposure-to-coronavirus-wont-prevent-possible-infection
Pretty much backtracking to May. No evidence to say general public wearing them has any real tangible effect
Masks are visible and keep the fear alive.
And it let’s the police enjoy themselves enforcing it.
Never see any police round here. Not many masks either 😉
All cause deaths are above the five year average for the first time in nine weeks. When added to the huge 1 cases of ‘reinfection’ this presents clear evidence of a second wave.
Either that, or as we are talking averages, as long as it’s ‘at or about’, everything is fine.
It’s so confusing, isn’t it?
Well, the waters were muddied by lockdown and the ongoing backlog in health care. At least some of the “excess” deaths this year will be attributable to lockdown and not to covid.
But the all cause deaths are not due to the virus, as the ONS state that deaths from the virus continue to decline. I suspect that all cause deaths are going to rise above average soon due to the missed hospital check ups for cancer, etc.
Increase in overall deaths is being widely attributed to the heatwave. Will see next week if it was a blip. Deaths with Covid on the death certificate still down on the prior week.
Interesting thoughts, SOP and other guys. Of course, there are loads of contributory factors, but we know which way it will be spun, don’t we?
The all-cause mortality remains well within normal range – particularly when you consider that we have gone through ten years of notably low mortality. This is non-significant.
Then we have the issue of what comprises that mortality – which will more and more contain the impact of lock-up.
Well none of those options suit me. I’m just going to carry on laughing at the absurdity of it all, and ignoring all absurd rules.
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
Well said, Mr Dee.
Plandemic 2
Mystery Thriller Starring Bill Gates, Fauci and the WHO
Watch the video in link below
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/08/25/plandemic-indoctornation.aspx
“Plandemic — Indoctornation” reveals the driving forces behind the vaccine agenda. It looks at the roles of the World Health Organization, Bill Gates, Tedros Adhanom, Dr. Anthony Fauci, mainstream media, Silicon Valley tech giants, Big Pharma and many others, connecting the dots between them The U.S. CDC owns the patent for SARS-CoV (the virus responsible for SARS) isolated from humans. In 2007, the CDC filed a petition with the patent office to keep their coronavirus patent confidential. They also own patents for detection methods, and for a kit to measure the virus By law, one cannot patent naturally-occurring DNA. If SARS-CoV is natural, then the patent is illegal. If the virus is manmade, the patent is legal, but the creation of the virus would be a violation of biological weapons treaties and laws. So, either way, the CDC has engaged in illegal activity Because the CDC owns the patent on SARS-CoV, it controls who has the ability to make inquiries into it. Unless authorized, you cannot look at the virus, you cannot measure it or make tests for it, since they own… Read more »
Option 4 – Keep Buggering On and discipline yourself not to go mad, because that means they’ve won.
I’m wavering between that and emigration at present. I will give it a few months and if things have not got much better, fatigue may have set in and I’ll be looking for somewhere else.
South Dakota and Wyoming have plenty of space. Governor of South Dakota seems like a sceptic.
KBO – we owe it to ourselves, to our heroes and to our children.
It’s good to find a limited number of things to focus on. We do one cultural activity (music making at home) and I mostly work on ‘Climate Change’ and I just KBO on that. We need additional time to exercise, walk, work the garden, do quizzes, make home food, make friendly contact with people – and give ourselves a big pat on the back when each day comes to an end.
Beautiful places and lovely people, but damn cold in the winter Julian.
Yes. Sweden’s cold in the winter too. Maybe best to go somewhere hot where the country is too poor to worry about covid.
Going to Portugal. Can´t speak the language, so I can´t follow the local news, and will order food online.
Tanzania
Agree! Morocco?
Costa Rica is top of our list.
Can we emigrate to the US of A ?