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In the end almost all of us will catch Coronavirus and some of us will die. The government is simply seeking to delay and lower the averages because although no health system in the world could cope with a flood of cases that is not the same thing as coping with a reasonable number. Also, the government needs time to procure equipment and beds. On an individual level we are doing the same thing but in the end we will catch it. We can only hope for mild symptoms. This is why, when resources reach a certain level society has to get back to normal. In 1914 if you were a working class lad you and your pals would have been expended in Flanders. In 1939 - 45 if you were a Grammar school boy you would have been confronted with a short life expectancy in Bomber Command. History is littered with mortality but since 1945 ordinary people, although living with the threat of nuclear war, have enjoyed the longest period in British history of unconscripted warfare. Before that, in particular as a working class person you would have faced a short life of discomfort, untreated pain, disease, high infant and mother mortality and a high risk of death in warfare. We have happily become used to comfort and longevity. We expect the state to care for our ills but now a plague has arrived. It predominantly kills not young people in their prime or children, it hits the other end of the scale, the people who are only around in such numbers because of modernity. That modernity is based upon an economic model being destroyed to combat the virus. Cherish again the things in life you took for granted, use this time well in other ways, promise to make the most of life hereafter, it is a gift.

When are you going to realise that this just cannot happen. They are not difficulties, they are impossibilities so what can't happen won't happen. Face reality, the season has died of corona virus, it cannot be brought back to life by wooly and wishful thinking.

When it’s the WHO , that’s fine , they’re learning all the way along with this novel virus . But when it’s someone just blowing their own trumpet and saying it was all obvious back in January, when at the time he was saying different !! That’s what gets my goat !!

Pretty weird those shouting about this not being the times for politics, yet having a dig at the opposition leader.. Probably the same people who voted with the Tories to refuse the give the NHS staff inflation pay rises in the last 20 years but clapped them out on the street yesterday.

I’m not reading that!!!! He’s just stating facts.... you don’t have to be a Corbynite or a leftie to see that the Tories and Johnson are incompetent. Dumbing him down has become a typical response to avoid facing the facts. The NHS staff have been let down by this lot since they took charge! Corbyn’s hardly leadership material but the NHS would likely be better prepared had labour been running the show!

As we're almost all stuck inside and probably running thin on things to watch, thought it might be fun to have a bit of a challenge. You simply have to name all 196 officially recognised countries of the world. I'm a geography teacher and only managed to get them all a couple of times - I normally range between 160 and 170 to give you a point of reference for what's a half decent score. Game is simple to play - type the names of as many countries as you can think of into the box above the map. You don't need to press enter - it automatically recognises correct answers and lights them up on the map. If this proves popular then I will dig out a new challenge every couple of days. https://www.jetpunk.com/quizzes/how-many-countries-can-you-name (note: There is an alphabetised list by continent underneath the map which fills as you fill in the countries - sometimes helpful to look there to get a hint of which ones you're missing).

Which is the only way the human species has survived over the millennia. It's an unavoidable outcome for every illness. The trick, as has been said many times, is to not allow hospitals to be overrun with cases while that natural defence kicks in.

I really dont understand what this Boris bashing is all about. I take a neutral stance as regards him or most politicians but to be fair to him, i believe hes acted in the best way possible all these past weeks as any any PM could have possibly done, and mostly at the right times to, taking all things into account. I will not try to argue on his behalf about any one point thats happened in these past weeks because its clear to see from posts in a forum such as this one or any other one, any one thing a poster highlights can then be argued against by another poster and we end up going around in circles, as happened in the 3 year long Brexit topic. Often these past weeks, ive pretty much found myself agreeing with someone like T, im sure in other topics i may have disagreed with him, thats how life is, we all have our own opinions. Ask someone in a nation like Sweden what they think about the UK lockdown, theyve been running at about the same timescale as us regarding the virus, yet up till today all schools, bars, clubs etc are still open, any restrictions are very mild and mostly reliant on the population agreeing on advice, not order. As of today only around 70 ot the worlds approx. 200 nations have lockdowns, over 4 billion people with no restrictions at all. So overall i think Boris has done all he could do and again, remember, his actions have been based on the advice given to him by the scientific and medical people and also they said from day one that certain actions would be taken at the appropiate times. Boris has to go with what those experts say, not what some Joe public says in a forum. Every nation, from China onwards, have had to learn hard lessons, simply because this virus shows no mercy and is the first global pandemic for at least a century. If there is a fault, then Mrs. Wei can likely, has likely, told us where that fault lies. A simple lady, selling Shrimp delicacies on her stall, is caught short, goes to a toilet shared with other wild animal meat providers, meat slaughtered right there on site, with no health regulations of any kind. Animals including Pangolins, scientifically proven now to have the same strand make ups as Covid 19. She very quickly became ill, visited several Wuhan hospitals over the course of a week, eventually her notoriety became being the first classified and proven person with this new virus, in the first half of December. Some dubbed her case zero, yet its now thought that the virus was at that market and forming its deadly effects as early as mid November. The Chinese authorities should be damned for allowing such a market to exist, 17 years after a similar thing in another market led to SARS. Their actions against Coronavirus is commendable, but really only they could clampdown an area in such a way as they did. Finally, no doubt our nation and many others , after this event, will be earnestly looking at their healthcare systems and finally realising how inadequate they were. Our NHS is amazing, but i would actually say that imo its not had enough money and resources thrown its way going all the way back to the 80s. Successive governments have not done anywhere near enough, and its been more noticeable this past decade of course against a backdrop of Austerity policies.

What an utter disgrace some of you lot are using a medical worldwide crisis to try and point score. The government are doing a creditable job managing the situation. When it is all over it will be interesting to compare mortalities as a % of population to judge how well covid-19 has been managed bu the western nations. d

https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/cambridge-virologist-explains-what-we-know-and-dont-know-about-covid-19-9104220/ Worth a read

Comedy statement of the year.....

I’m sure hindsight could have been taken from the Italian situation

Absolute top thread DIABD. After I'd finished shopping at city centre Tesco about 7pm (nice and relaxed and sensible social distancing) I came out and saw it. The sky was a beautiful dark inky blue, a sliver of moon was laying on it's back and directly above it was Venus shining so brightly as you describe. I actually put down my shopping and just stared at the beautiful sight for a couple of minutes - and hardly a soul about either.

So we should simply have a group hug and applaud. No pointing out the 'guilty men' as during WW2 " The Department of Health rejected high-level medical advice about providing NHS staff with certain protective equipment during an influenza pandemic because stockpiling it would be too expensive. " "Documents show that officials working under former health secretary Jeremy Hunt told medical advisers three years ago to “reconsider” a formal recommendation that eye protection should be provided to all healthcare professionals who have close contact with pandemic influenza patients. The documents may help explain a devastating shortage of protective gear in the NHS that is hampering efforts by medical staff to manage the Covid-19 virus pandemic. " And when through ideological bigotry the UK did not join with the rest of the EU to obtain quicker and cheaper supplies of needed medical equipment. The whinging in posts previous shows where the real problem lies. If the above, just the above, could be laid at the door of Abbott then the bleating on here and from Daily Mailers up and down the country would be louder than all the church bell ringing on VE Day. But as it is 'our betters' who are responsible. themn from them has come not a peep. No complaint either that the NHS is in need of 50,000 nurses, that " NHS trusts across England have been asking schools to donate science goggles due to the shortages " No instead we all stood on our doorsteps and clapped. If would be akin to something out of Monty Pythin and the Holy Grail if it were not so tragic -- . If medical staff were not struggling to find masks. Instead we have a bunch of dimwitted simpletons pointing the finger at the boy who dared tostate that the Emperor hasn't any clothes on - nor surgical gown, mask, gloves or eye protection either. Burn the heretic !

He’s entirely correct that our response was too slow 👍🏻

To help ease the boredom, here's an interesting debate to have: Name, in your opinion, the best XI to play in the Premier League era (1992 - present). Formation must be 4-4-2 and each player should be put in the position they're best known. The twist? You can't name any player who has played for the following teams: Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur. Good luck!

No but they're experts aren't they, and Brexiteers don't like experts, especially foreign ones, and most especially foreign ones who highlight the incompetence of the UK government. And anyway we don't need them, Boris is more than capable of highlighting this government's incompetence all on his own and if he does happen to need any help then we've got idiots like Raab, Hancock and Patel to lend a hand.

I knew they were cheating!

Err... how could he answer that impartially other than by ignoring the question? Says yes he pi55es off China. Says no he pi55es off Taiwan.

Dunno where that first page came from. Anyway have just finished reading Life on the inside, Peter's book about his career and subsequent issues. What a good read. The story of his upbringing, career and recent history including his prison sentence is fascinating. Even for non Canary fans the final chapters on the crime and his rehabilitation should be an inspiration to many. Too often good people do one bad thing which shapes the rest of their lives. Seems Peter has got back on track whilst accepting responsibility for his actions. Recommend this highly.

The football authorities are in danger of suffering reputational damage from this. They are living in cloud cuckoo land. I would love a month of football but I think I speak for everyone if I say I would gladly accept relegation if this was ended. Not everyone loves our game.

Yes, yes, yes! I so agree. If only we'd had a great leader like Jezza in 1940, I'm sure the war would have turned out quite differently... 😱 OTBC

So it appears, rugby for the Ronnie Barkers if I recall correctly.

oh dear

Interesting political side point made by T but inaccurate. Germany is one if the few EU countries to insist on private healthcare insurance for almost everyone - mostly via compulsory schemes imposed on employers, but including German nationals and all those who wish to be resident, whether they are EU nationals or otherwise. They have done this for years so there has been far more money in their health system as a result because private health insurers provide most of their care. But don't let facts get in the way of knocking the Tory party - I;m no defender of them usually, but can you imagine the uproar if they suggested the same here....?

You have made the point repeatedly T and I hear you, but before crowing maybe just wait and see how this all shakes down.

We are going to need a simple solution as the minefield that voiding this season, would cause far more problems legally in the long term than re-arranging contracts and adjusting rules. It needs someone to show some leadership.....mind you, the PL and the FA are not historically good at that..... I don't necessarily think that is true LDC. If you void this season then the amount of clubs who will probably beef is far less than those who don't. And for clubs in the lower divisions who rely mainly on gate receipts, to lose any more games because Liverpool Leeds and WBA object, could put them out of business. The minefield of player's contracts alone should next season be delayed because of anything other than the Virus, would delay the season even longer. Lengthy court cases, of which Football may well have to take its turn in the queue of all the others, would be disastrous.

I see German serious or critical suddenly leapt from 20 to 1581. I doubt we will see much difference between any of the European countries when the final figures are in.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/28/chaos-and-panic-lancet-editor-says-nhs-was-left-unprepared-for-covid-19 The NHS could have prevented “chaos and panic” had the system not been left “wholly unprepared for this pandemic”, the editor of a British medical journal has said. Numerous warnings were issued but these were not heeded, Richard Horton wrote in The Lancet. He cited an example from his journal on 20 January, pointing to a global epidemic: “Preparedness plans should be readied for deployment at short notice, including securing supply chains of pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment, hospital supplies and the necessary human resources to deal with the consequences of a global outbreak of this magnitude.” Dr Horton wrote that the government’s Contain-Delay-Mitigate-Research plan had failed. “It failed, in part, because ministers didn’t follow WHO’s advice to ‘test, test, test’ every suspected case. They didn’t isolate and quarantine. They didn’t contact trace. “These basic principles of public health and infectious disease control were ignored, for reasons that remain opaque. “The result has been chaos and panic across the NHS.”

Easyyyyy! Sutch Sutch Sutch Sutch Sutch Sutch Sutch Sutch Sutch Sutch Sutch But thanks for the challenge, was fun while it lasted (Would have been Huckerby... but Man City...)

Good stuff. For extra points & biggest impact, switch off every non-essential load That includes tv and most electronics. But obviously not the second, third and fourth fridge-freezers - the ones with the emergency refreshments and viennettas.

Well we know why Boris got chosen despite general misgivings. Because the majority considered a certain topic more important than healthcare. Should the Govt also be blamed for the epidemic of poor diet and poor fitness which is a major. Underlying cause of vivid 19 deaths. There is plenty of good advice on healthcare and coronavirus but unfortunately the majority of society has chosen to ignore it until the situation has become drastic. Ultimately the government only reflects the attitudes of the majority of UK Society so if there is Problem you need to look at UK society and human nature more generally.

To finish the season after June requires every club in every league to maintain the exact same playing squad. Players contracts will expire, players will have signed pre contract agreements and transfer deals will already be in place for many signings. So no, it far from covers all bases.

Yes we can 😁

Pretty irrelevent at the moment

Far far too much petty ignorant nationalism from many on here. Just anybody who actually goes to any of these places, meets any of these people knows that all peoples are very much the same as individuals good bad and indifferent. Geography and climate certainly also play a part in cultural norms - too hot to work at midday in some places but most of what I read above is pure outdated tropism. By the way us 'Anglo-Saxons' are actually Germans - the hint is in the name. Best place for it is in gentle jokes - my favourite being the Norwegian professor going to work in Sweden "When I go to Sweden the average IQ of both countries will rise!". Same could be said for anybody apparently going to Swindon. I have 6 (webbed) fingers by the way coming from Norfolk! Let it rest and enter the 21st century and not be stuck in the 19th or early 20th.

There seems to be two different and unaligned threads to the EPL (and EFL) questions. From a purely financial point of view the EPL want the full games played and aired for Sky etc. A cut down shoot out or similar would not meet Sky's criteria. Sky and the EPL don't care who's relegated or promoted. It's the games that need to be played in full for revenue. Secondly - we have the supporters - those that don't really care about the remaining games but for the teams to be promoted based on the table as is. Both are of course living in cloud cuckoo land. Even if the peak of the virus passes by May we will still be on 'social distancing' mode i.e 6 foot apart right though the summer into the autumn. No 'team' games can operate let alone provide any good example if they do - until such rules are relaxed. Long and short is the best the EPL can do is scrap this season, negotiate with Sky (who after all themselves don't want to kill the golden goose) and worry - as they should be - if the 2021/22 season will be unaffected and the far bigger financial hit that follows if it is! Should in straightened circumstances clubs fail in the EPL or EFL then clubs such as Leeds (if indeed they themselves are financially sound) could be invited to fill any gaps and so on down the leagues. Yes it will be a long overdue football reset & shake-out! Did cross my mind that even Celtic etc could join but that has other issues. Present season is null and void. Accept it, sort out finances and move on.

I've called her worse.

The testing to deaths rate is irrelevant. Millions have had this virus because at the rate of infection and time it arrived here that has to be the case. A lot of people seem to think it began when Boris hardened the rules this week. Before that it was being spread liberally. We know how many die. We don't know how many died WITH Covid 19 or OF Covid 19. The media likes to highlight young cases and especially deaths but without a post mortem or information on the health of the person this is just them seeking effect. What we absolutely need to clarify is why some people are so adversely affected and others barely or not at all. Are there different strains or is it just down to the condition of the victim. With a typical case of common flu Boris and Hancock would be too unwell to carry on working, talk via video link or even get out of bed but they have such mild Covid 19 they just need to isolate. Famous people have the virus because it is so widespread it is the law of averages, but because of who they are they are tested. At some point in the near future we will need to accept the country has to go back to work and normal routines. We need a test for antibodies to identify how many have had it, we need to be in a position to treat large numbers of serious cases and we need to re-open the economy. There is an awful equation here: As a compassionate society we need to provide medical care. But, we also need to earn a living, avoid a massive debt for younger generations, treat people for other conditions, save the economy, prevent mental health and child development issues, stave off civil disorder, protect our way of life etc. At present we are trying to go against our habits and instincts. We cannot cuddle our Grandchildren, we cannot even be with loved ones as they die. The police are struggling to properly come to terms with implementing new powers. Drones for God's sake! And because so many people turned up at Snowdonia you now can't drive to the beach for a quiet walk. Policy makers have confused us. They are on a steep learning curve but have struggled with their messages. And still flights arrive from all over the world. In the meantime, China allows one flight in per week and quaranteens those arriving. The PRC is a despicable country, expanding its navy to project power and seeking dominance. It is a secretive communist state with poor human rights. China owns a lot of Western debt, especially American, and will probably own much more after all this. What we are seeing is a massive wealth transference from West to East and we will be their clients. It is vital major companies stop producing in China which involves sharing intellectual property with them. China wants things to be developed in China, not just made there but to do that it plagiarises because the system there prohibits the kind of free thinking needed to create the ideas. Ai Wei Wei is despised in his native China because he is free thinking, creative and above all, critical. The only way to bring China down a few pegs is to stop producing there and stop buying products made there. This will cause unemployment and spark unrest which is simmering anyway. This virus is working so well for China, exported via thousands of student and tourist visas, you'd have to admit, as a hostile act to damage competing economies it is far more effective than the usual cyber crime, maritime hostilities or Internet information harvesting. Western companies like Tesla need to pay a price for all this too. There has to be a response for the cost and suffering inflicted on us.

Herewith numbers for this weeks matches from Ricardo 6, 9, 11, 16, 20, 23, 26, 27, 31, 34, 48 Best of Luck Plan Date Numbers View Fixtures Points Result Status Pick 11 28-03-2020 14:55 6 9 11 16 20 23 26 27 31 34 48 - - Not Started 20-03-2020 20:18 Pools Classic Pools £2.75 Thanks Rickyyyyy and good luck everyone🙃👍🍀

Well based on much later knowledge it prompted me to formulate a theory on the relation between moral degeneracy and the lack of prominence of cheekbones...🤓

Oops😂😂😂 It is indeed in the West. Sorry, the co-op had a gin delivery this afternoon.

My claim to fame is Hitler related. But some minor ones before we get to that. In the early 80's lived next door to Adam Ant in Hertfordshire. He used to drink in the local village pub, as did photographer David Bailey. We used to tell Bailey not to come in unless he brought some of his dolly-bird models with him. He never did. Also in the 80's my mates and I gatecrashed a Cambridge May Ball at Caius College and met Mick Jagger. Mick found it really funny when we started to take the p!ss out of Vivian Stanshall of Bonzo Dog fame who was also there. Neil Innes was a pretty cool guy. I had a punch up with Edgar Broughton of the Edgar Broughton band when he was performing on stage. They abandoned the performance and took to the dressing room. When I worked in Munich in the 90's I used to have an after-work beer with some of the local lads and naturally after a while the conversation got around to the war. I asked if there were any N azis of note still living in the area and they told me that Leni Reifenstahl, Hitler's movie propagandist, was still living in Starnberg just outside of Munich. So I did some research, found her address, bought a box of English Tea as a gift and went down to knock on her door. I found the house but it was behind a locked gate. I rang the bell and a few moments later Ms. Reifenstahl came walking down the path. It was a bit cheeky of me but I said I was in the area and had brought her a small gift. She said she didn't take visitors but she took my English tea anyway. We shook hands and she went back inside her house. And that was that.

No it's not like there was anything else similar happening in the world. It's not like anything similar (SARS0 had happened before and there was lessons we could learn Even this never happened " In 2015, what is now the Department of Health and Social Care tasked one of its independent advisory committees, the new and emerging respiratory virus threat advisory group (Nervtag), to review the UK’s approach to stockpiling personal protective equipment (PPE) for use in an influenza pandemic “to help inform future stockpile and purchasing decisions”. Nor has any of the measures taken and the advice given been contradictory and muddled, Nope all of this was quite unexpected........................if you live in a la la land along with Trump. Maybe when deluded fools like you stop kidding yourself there will begin to be something positive coming out of this

This from The Athletic, via the Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8159281/Premier-League-clubs-want-season-CANCELLED.html

Now council are being asked to make sure no homeless on the streets after this weekend. If they can do it now, why not before.

Roger was regularly seen out and about around Holt......that's the Norfolk Town (not Gary or Grant).... 🙂

No change there I imagine, it's still Cummings but he will have to get a stand in to announce his decisions for the next couple of weeks.

No, he said countered when Fleetwood were all over him...honest

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