Day: 18 October 2020

Veronica Richards The early morning mini-bus from Yambol trundles into the village, and drinking a coffee outside the bar the village mayor from a few years back calls out jovially to those of us waiting to board: “Mask!” Unaffronted (you’ll see why in a moment), the majority of us pull from our pocket a crumpled, grubby-ish scrap of ear-looped linen and don it, at least until we reach our seat. “Losho!” laughs the ex-mayor, rocking merrily back and forth on his seat (maybe it was a rakia he was drinking, not coffee), and nobody disagrees. ‘Losho’ can mean anything from ‘bad’ to ‘useless’ to ‘barmy’ which I would say is the majority view now in Bulgaria with regard to mask-wearing. Masks there are ‘said’ to be mandatory on public transport and in shops, but I discovered by no means everyone wore them except for in some chain stores and in Sofia’s metro, and even there most soon pull them down under their nose (humans feeling better for a free flow of air). This under-nose style one I’m not that averse to for the same reason that men of a certain age start growing a beard: it covers a sagging jaw-line but doesn’t render them faceless. I arrived in Bulgaria mid Sept and have just returned to the U.K. a month ...

Government Was Warned About Looming Cancer Crisis Five Months Ago Lockdown Sceptics has obtained a briefing note written by Professor Karol Sikora on May 18th warning the Government about the looming crisis in cancer care and making a series of recommendations about how to avoid it. Prof Sikora even flagged up the risk that GP referrals of suspected cancer patients would fall dramatically, which Cancer Research UK said yesterday meant that 350,000 people who would normally have been referred to hospital with suspected cancer in the past six months have still not been seen. The briefing note was produced at the behest of Sir Simon Stevens, the NHS's Chief Executive, but after submitting it to a civil servant in the DHSC Prof Sikora never heard anything more. Not only did Prof Sikora identify all the risks that have subsequently materialised, he also suggested a solution: collaboration with the private sector. Here's his conclusion: The surge of cancer patients is expected by late summer 2020. The independent sector has huge resources to assist the NHS by working in partnership. Developing a plan centrally and authorising local coordination based on existing NHS cancer centres would provide the most effective structure for implementation. This will significantly mitigate against delay and strict rationing to ensure the best long-term outcomes for our patients. When the ...