love* in the time of plague (and by love* i mean brexit* and other dreary matters of uk politics)

NHS working with Peter Thiel's Palantir company to mine data in response to the current crisis.

Meanwhile it appears a government spokesperson confirmed they knew about the EU ventilator email on live TV *before* the government claimed it had somehow been lost.

We're literally all gonna die because of the government's obsession with handling the politics of Brexit in a pandemic. And while things like that medicines report in the Guardian from a couple of weeks elicited an eye roll and a fuck off at the time - this sort of stuff is a concrete example of why it really matters, beyond blue face paint FBPE hobbyhorsing.

A lot of the fiasco surrounding the ventilators will be totally due to the likes of Bodger and his covid-positive cronies seizing the controls of the procurement process like they're fucking Errol Flynn, and phoning round their business mates to cut a deal instead of just letting the people that do it as their actual job just get on with it

Yes that's another infuriating aspect to this.

Also for all the headline talk about ventilators, there are doctors and nurses with a shortage of basic protective wear.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/28/chaos-and-panic-lancet-editor-says-nhs-was-left-unprepared-for-covid-19

Today we donated our entire stock of disposable scrubs to an NHS hospital. It was just a few sets, because we don't carry large stocks, but they were desperate, so we sent them free of charge.
We don't usually do politics on Twitter, but here's a short thread. [1/5] pic.twitter.com/Z4ygmGr99M

— MedFetUK (@MedFet_UK) March 27, 2020

they should have been working on the PPE shortages weeks ago, total lack of planning here from the govt and NHS Trust bosses by the sound of it.

People on wards are literally wearing bin bags right now so that fetishwear story isn't just lols.

The scale of the enquiry when this is all over will need to be gigantic and the government should have nothing to do with it.

That clapping tho

I imagine Labour might think the clapping can be weaponized at a future date. I think they're wrong, for reasons people have pointed out upthread. I understand that lots of people are going thru a lot of tough emotions so to a large extent I'm trying to rein in my personal distaste for twee keep calm and carry on bullshit in all its forms, even tho really I think that's always been part of the problem, alongside non-directed "kindness" and the general bourgie public weltenschaung.

No investigation needed. Anyone can see that we’ll need 5-10 years of austerity to pay for this massive one-off event. It’s not nice but we’ve all got to pull together on this one.

I have a horrible feeling you're right.

look we’re sorry that covid-19 disproportionately killed tens of thousands of sick, elderly and vulnerable people but out only option now to restart the economy is to introduce policies which will kill tens of thousands of sick, elderly and vulnerable people

I was just thinking that what this country needed was another dose of austerity. We've all had it too easy for too long.

There will need to be an enormous period of economic reconstruction and a flood of cheap cash though. The rest of the 2020s might be more like the 1920s than any of us thought :/

Pushing through 2010s style austerity might be easier said than done when a) most of the country is on government income support of one form or another and b) everything that can be cut has already been cut to the bone.

my local mutual aid whatsapp group experienced a politics-driven meltdown and a tempban today, expecting more or this not less (he was a tory and overtly being a dick, also possibly channer-trolling not real)

Part of the PPE problem would be a supply shortage from China due to constraints on manufacturing followed by a huge global spike in demand, and unlike ventilators, literally everyone is trying to buy the things. But aprons and gloves and goggles are a barely adequate measure anyway, they should have had a strategic reserve of visors and suits and the like, but apparently Jeremy Hunt put the kibosh on that a couple years back. Should be able to scale up production of that stuff fairly rapidly though cos its pretty low tech

The secretary of state for Scotland, Alister Jack, is self-isolating after developing coronavirus symptoms. He is the third cabinet member, after Boris Johnson and the health secretary, Matt Hancock, tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday, to self-isolate after experiencing symptoms. In the past 24 hours, Jack said he had developed a cough and mild temperature so was self-isolating and working from home. He has yet to be tested.

Should be able to scale up production of that stuff fairly rapidly though cos its pretty low tech

In Taiwan the govt had a PPE count, realised there would be drastic shortages and ramped up PPE manufacturing and put a block on exports. It isnt fucking rocket science. I know our manurfacting base is quite pathetic after decades of Thatcherism, but fucking hell they could have tried something at least.

Herd Immunity would have meant superhero NHS staff able to use karate on viruses.

1,019 dead from coronavirus in the uk

260 in the last 24 hours :(

A nation of grasses and curtain-twitchers.

”We are getting calls from people who say 'I think my neighbour is going out on a second run - I want you to come and arrest them'.

"We have had dozens and dozens of these calls."

And that's well before we've reached the point where the system is totally swamped, local exceptions aside xp

had a video call with a friend this morning and we talked about how that was probably gonna happen. I confessed that on Wednesday this week I posted a birthday card to my mum in the post box across the street, then an hour later I went out for a walk. rebel without a cause, me

xp

Wondering how long it'll be before the first double-jogger is convicted on the strength of their strava

Whatever I said about people being under emotional strain, I just despair sometimes.

Was listening to some expert on civil legislation saying that the good thing about the lock down rules in the form that they're in, is that the public need to see that everyone is being treated equally and fairly and there would soon be complaint and unrest if people thought that were not the case. And yes, you can see that happening already as people see the grave social injustice of their neighbour letting their dog take two shits in one day on the barren scrubland across the road. Fairness is indeed the British way and no-one can tell me otherwise

And in Bournemouth a woman has been arrested after “endlessly driving around for no reason”, police said.

rozzers loving this

sickening comments on the original fb post. so many expressions of support
https://www.facebook.com/BmthSouthPolice/posts/2891169884306354?__tn__=-R

Unfortunately someone like that could be trying to avoid an abusive partnerxp

I had no idea endlessly driving around for no reason was a criminal offence, good to see the filth taking a tough stance on environmental issues. Maybe when we get the squaddies out they can just shoot people

endlessly driving round for no reason = all motorsport ever

At least people are sharing a lot of this stuff

At 7.55 am this morning at my local Corner Shop which was only opening for seniors between 8 - 9 am, a young man came from the car park and tried to cut in to the front of the queue, an old woman beat him with her stick and forced him out, when he tried a 2nd time an old man punched him in the gut, as he approached the front of the queue a 3rd time he shouted, if you don't let me unlock the fucking door you won't get in there.

rozzers loving this

Shooting fish in a barrel innit? They don't have to do any work like they do when, you know, they have to catch actual criminals.

A guy jumped the queue we were in earlier just to buy a lighter. I wasn't too fussed as at least he was in and out in ten seconds but he was coughing before entering :[

Funny to read this and remember that outside of this thread a beloved ilxor nearly got banned when US lib monocles shattered cause they were rude about the filth

#thankful pic.twitter.com/K1dIlsHftp

— Manny (@mannnnny80) March 28, 2020

Good man

Funny to read this and remember that outside of this thread a beloved ilxor nearly got banned when US lib monocles shattered cause they were rude about the filth

just posting some highly necessary content here

love you king pic.twitter.com/kfgLDFTNto

— what cloud the new hxh chapter on 🤔 (@nencontrol) March 27, 2020

xp I was sober then and not wanting to get into it

we should adopt said ilxor into this thread

he already posts here occasionally

morbs, silby? it's one of them innit? i rarely peer into American lib hell, because it's usually got too much Fred in the thread, or at least more than I can stomach.

the latter. Actually I realise posting now silby may not be a he, sorry if I got this wrong. calz, not even gonna touch your other point.

It is silby, who is not a he iirc

Xp!

ty wins, I still love silby

yep silby is a fine poster

Funny to read this and remember that outside of this thread a beloved ilxor nearly got banned when US lib monocles shattered cause they were rude about the filth

what's the story here. bunch of cap'n-save-a-cops on the USpol threads?