At home, the failures of Public Health England are also being widely documented. Having missed the bus on testing, and exhibiting an attitude of dismissal towards more distinguished and qualified advice, they continue to offer a mediocre and lackadaisical response to the crisis. The organisation, under the management of Duncan Selbie, has hitherto concentrated on campaigns against tobacco and the evils of sugary drinks. Selbie, an unknown bureaucrat, earns more than the PM. He was due to answer some very pertinent questions from the Commons' Health & Social Care select committee on the 28th March, but reported he was exhibiting some of the early symptoms of C-19 and so was unable to attend. He is now self-isolating and working from home.
We deserve better than Selbie and Adhanom. This sort of woke stupidity costs lives and ruins others. I leave you with one chart - levels of TB, often multi drug resistant, in London that are actually higher than those in Ethiopia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Selbie has been in his job since 2013. This should have been his bloody priority, not his campaign to ban smoking in all hospital grounds. He has failed at every aspect of public health. The man must go.
27 comments:
C-19 is a crucible which will expose fault lines wherever it finds them. No place to hide for individuals , corporations, organisations of whatever description, political systems, governments et al.
Regretabbly the PHE's and Selbie's of this world will survive since the system protects its own.
There are two points here:
1) Trying to get the world's monster super-tankers to pivot quickly, which they cannot do because they weren't designed to and
2) Burke's "little platoons" which as exactly what we need to get stuff done locally (but replicable across the land) in a crisis.
One simple example which bypasses the leviathans is our FB page called #printforvictory and it now has hundreds of members all of the UK with 3D printers that are printing protective shields for front line works. We've made thousands - and all donated for free!
It's a "maker movement" that requires no top-down authorisation; no 3 month decision making process. And there are other groups sewing up scrubs for the NHS. We don't have or need a big mountain; we have many people doing a little bit and delivering locally.
No need for PHE or WHO.
We have been told that 40% of the CV cases are in London. It would be interesting to see a map showing their distribution and whether it correlates to the map you've giving showing distribution of TB.
We have also been told that the experts believe one of the reasons Italy and Spain have had such a high death-rate is because they tend to live in multi-generational families. So transmission from healthy young to vulnerable old happens far more frequently there than in the UK, where extended families are less common except in ethnic minority families, particularly from the sub-continent.
Public Health England should be using information like this to address health issues which may affect certain communities more than others. Targeted health campaigns would be far more successful than the scatter-gun approach they take on their pet evils of smoking, drinking and sugar.
Of course, even if the Government had this information it would never release it for fear of giving "offence" to those who must never be offended.
Yep.
Pay attention in a month or two or whenever the madness passes. See if anybody publically raises any of these points and the reaction they are likely to get.
Where I live (a seaside town that is about as "diverse" as berchtesgarten) people are behaving generally sensibly, queuing patiently in shops etc (the panic buying seems to have passed) and I haven't seen a copper yet (not that you ever did)
This blanket lockdown is clearly not appropriate for large swathes of the country. But of course, it was letting it get in in the first place.
It's in the nature of organisations to rumble along under normal circumstances and become increasingly 'managed' by those who can best manage an organisation rumbling along. Skills like budget setting, excuse making, protecting the organisation against criticism, are valued above those which prioritise the original purpose of the organisation.
Come a non-routine event the organisation, led by business-as-usual bosses, is only able to respond well if all the minions are still focused on the original priorities. But sometimes you might just as well send in the clerks.
@Mark....
Not Frinton perchance?
Good morning Raedwald, I hope that all is well with you and yours?
I have been having some problems finding any alternative news that has not subjected its readers and writers to some rather tasty, but sickly "Kool-Aid" as the Americans would call it... see also "Brawndo" (...it's got electrolytes").
However, once again, I refer to a website which you previously deemed unacceptable, regardless of the fact that it is supported by left and right MP's (and erstwhile MEP's) and other prominent public figures.
That site is called, this time, I appeal to your sense of balance, as "facts4eu.org"... a name which is an unfortunate victim of the then (2015) circumstances.
See, if I may, the latest post https://facts4eu.org/news/2020_mar_corona_what
N.B. this is not related to any single political party, or personality, even if I have effed up the link!
Stephen - it's off topic and not a site I would recommend anyone to trust in the way a reputable academic or think tank site can be trusted. To be frank it's verging on spam.
Long term one solution to many of the public service problems becoming evident.
No organisation in receipt of public funding shall pay anyone more than the PM. ( This includes Local govt, governing bodies and boards and charidees)
The only way to start clearing some of the sloth and sinecures is to make the PM salary the absolute max anyone in public service can get.
I do not think that is spam but it is the following two weeks that are key. This last week has seen not much difference (rising yes) in deaths and infected, the graph goes up to March 20th, plus we are moving out of "winter" season so normally the deaths would fall in April. We should have another week's figures shortly...
Re DeeDee's point and current TB distribution and possible (ahem) ethnicity link etc, Guido had a SARS-CoV-2 hotspot post yesteray that linked to the Centre For Ctites website [ https://www.centreforcities.org/coronavirus/ ]
London has the highest number of cases followed by Sheffield and Birmingham...OK, big cities you say, HOWEVER, Slough is right up there and Milton Keynes and Luton have a higher ratio than Manchester....
...could be just Slough near Heathrow and the others are London commute towns OR could be there's a link after all.
Picking up on DeeDee's observation of the extremes of Italy and Spain, surely there must be a link between the 300,000 Chinese textile workers in Northern Italy and the 200,000 in Spain.The former are all part of the agreement with China and its Belt and Road Scheme. That contrarian act did not find favour with Brussels, naturally.
Apart from cohesive grouping of lonely workers and the scope for easy transmission of viruses and other diseases; many will have gone home periodically for family or business reasons so providing a perfect vector for disease. Never does one see a breakdown by nationality of those affected, even allowing for the dubious figures released by Italy. Bags and cats spring to mind.
Well I think it is very pertinent, whether the particular reference is on topic since it discusses government published statistics that directly relate to the death rate during the current "crisis”, is moot perhaps?
However, I suppose, that I have the option to remove from my RSS feed a site like yours that is frequently not pertinent, or on topic, (including many of the comments and original content), nor that trustworthy either. A conclusion that I will leave for others to judge. Though it has to be said that it has been an old friend which perhaps, like the old dog… Has had its day.
Incidentally… Spam would suggest that the only reason for its existence would be to advertise a non-existent product. However, the only product that this outfit is flogging is the time taken to collect government recorded facts and statistics (lies).
So for now, I will leave you to your alter ego "JPM" and remove this portal from my RSS feed.
So it is good bye from him, and goodbye from her.
KBO
Statistics. Did they die FROM Covid or WITH Covid? The distinction is important and, I believe, distorted to suit a purpose.
The WHO clearly used statistics to justify their decision making as do many, many others who wish to progress a policy with little chance of retribution since 'the facts gave us little choice'....
This is too close to 'just following orders' for my liking but this seems to be the direction we are moving towards and with the inevitable consequences.
There are a couple of links I would recommend - from John Lee in the speccie https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/The-evidence-on-Covid-19-is-not-as-clear-as-we-think who flags up many of the issues identified by Toby Young, Peter Hitchens and commenters here - but with the caveat the figures are still all over the place and we simply don't know *yet*
The second from the ONS https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/statementsandletters/deathsrelatingtothecoronaviruscovid19 which publishes figures weekly that are 11 days out of date.
The bottom line is that if the peak comes in 3 weeks time i.e. 3rd week in April, we won't know the figures until the first week in May.
So by all means let's carry on speculating and scrutinising and questioning and challenging - all good - but let's not pretend that anyone knows the answer at this point in time.
God no, not that sophisticated!
One final comment, before I go... From the above mentioned URL... A caveat!
"FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT
Follow Government advice
Nothing in any of our facts-based reports on the Coronavirus has suggested that anyone should do anything other than follow the latest official advice from the Government and from its medical advisers.
Of course we care
For an individual to develop any serious illness is of course terrible on a personal level, especially if their immune system is compromised or if they are elderly. The Brexit Facts4EU.Org team have personal experience of these scenarios, as a great many readers do.
The figures from the ONS naturally lag behind reality
Whilst we have shown the latest figures from this morning, these will not reflect the very latest position today. The figures are those reported to the ONS for the week ending 20 Mar 2020 – around 10 days ago.
We are not doctors nor epidemiologists: we publish facts
We have experience in observing how quangos in the EU and around the world have started to act as if they can define the news agenda, rather than simply providing facts on it. We constantly observe these organisations growing and spreading their influence as much as they can. More funding usually follows.
We therefore feel it is appropriate to provide some facts for our readers so they are as informed as possible."
Stephen J, your comments are informed and - at least by soem - welcome.
Peejo, "...[Chinese workers] will have gone home periodically for family or business reasons so providing a perfect vector for disease"
Chinese New year, end Jan to beginning Feb. Spain, the Wuhan football team were there Jan to March! (I kid you not)
@Span Ows: Thank you, again sir for both of your recent supportive comments.
I suspect I will be back following a bit of a cooling off period, since the Raedwald blog has made for a reasonable gathering place for genuine conservatives, from whichever political party we support.
Yesterday's word of the day:
Agglutinative - A tendency to stick together!
Very amusing, slagging off the WHO. Puleeze, its a political outfit that has to choose heads that have some cred with those parts of the worlds that need help. Pale, male and stale won't do. Now we have some sort of petition and much jumping for joy from Fox News. So cui bono? Follow the scent of Fox. Perhaps this is a diversion to take some heat off poor old Donald in his election year. TBH I doubt Donald need worry too much about the election, his opposition look pretty rubbish. All he has to do is look halfway sensible until November.
As for Selbie, any civil servant who called out the cavalry on every hint of a pandemic would not last long. Trouble, expensive trouble is always coming over the hill but usually evaporates. CV-19 is one of the rare problems that didn't evaporate.
For a couple of weeks there was the possibility of overtly or covertly giving up on the lock down and letting matters take their course. The economy would splutter back into life and many companies saved. But now with the virus still spreading and affecting the big economies I see that option being delayed by politics so long we might as well wait for a vaccine. It's going to be a long boring wait.
PHE has been conspicuous by its complete absence. It should be showing leadership, ordering testing with millions of test kits it should have ordered back in January and should be showing high levels of leadership in the fight against this virus plus regular communications about the COVID-019 situation in England with numbers and graphs. It seems to be doing bugger all. We spend £4 billion a year of these useless idiots.
@Jim:
Yes, amusing to read that you consider the most downtrodden tribal group on this planet of 7.8 billion, as having no legitimate claim for complaint in relation to their impending extinction.
I say fi to your bollocks
KBO
Well, you might make a few good points Raedwald, but the simple facts are that South Korea and China have followed WHO advice assiduously, whereas the UK and other western countries have not.
Death rates in the first are tiny compared with those in the second.
Bereaved families and anyone that cares about them are going to want to know why.
That is what should be focusing minds.
If a pilot with, poor A levels, manages to glide a passenger jet to a safe landing with all engines out, then he will rightly be celebrated as a hero. His academic standing is neither here nor there.
On topic:
China Concealed Extent of Virus Outbreak, US Intelligence Says
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-01/china-concealed-extent-of-virus-outbreak-u-s-intelligence-says?
Tucker Carlson Blasting WHO Shilling For China & Possible Origin Of Coronavirus in Wuhan Labs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=180&v=X03DeM0EldI&feature=emb_logo
Steve
There are all sorts of stories circulating around the run up to this Pandemic. Like Chinese researchers being found passing through US customs with live bacteriological samples in their hand luggage, or the three caught stealing material from a Canadian lab. Then there are the pictures of lab staff in the Wuhan lab actually injecting bats without more than a mask and wearing street clothes.
This outbreak may not have been deliberate, but the Chinese are certainly culpable.
As for those pink areas on your map, wonder what the demographics are.... Although I could hazard a reasonable guess.
Rather late to the day a post on Guido Fawkes about an ASI report
https://order-order.com/2020/04/02/embrace-private-sector-ramp-coronavirus-testing/
makes the case that PHE have been worse than useless, they have actually hindered testing.
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