Day of Chaos 2: a.Covid-19 thread.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Quite a reassuring drop-off here in Ireland from over 8000 new cases a month ago to just over 500 now.  The resulting death toll of the last spike is still worryingly high though.  Just wish we could get those vaccines rolling out as quickly as you're doing it in the UK - anti-Brexit as I am, the EU has really dropped the ball here.

[IndigoPrime]

Although it does now turn out a great many of our vaccines are Oxford, which will do fuck-all against the SA variant. That's fine if we stay in semi-lockdown until autumn boosters, but given this govt...

[Funt Solo]

A nice wee story in a difficult time: I saved dad's business with a single tweet

[IndigoPrime]

Also an excellent example of the need to market your services.

[The Legendary Shark]

Disabled people more likely to die of COVID.

[shaolin_monkey]

The Good Law Project has won the first of several court actions against the U.K. government related to dodgy contracts given out to Tory mates due to COVID19 (ie PPE, marketing and communications, ICU equipment, track and trace etc etc), without oversight, scrutiny or tender. The court has found the government has acted illegally.

" The High Court has ruled "The Secretary of State acted unlawfully by failing to comply with the Transparency Policy" and that "there is now no dispute that, in a substantial number of cases, the Secretary of State breached his legal obligation to publish Contract Award Notices within 30 days of the award of contracts." We have won the judicial review we brought alongside Debbie Abrahams MP, Caroline Lucas MP, and Layla Moran MP.

In handing down the judgment, Judge Chamberlain brought into sharp focus why this case was so important. "The Secretary of State spent vast quantities of public money on pandemic-related procurements during 2020. The public were entitled to see who this money was going to, what it was being spent on and how the relevant contracts were awarded."

The Judge went on to say that if Government had complied with its legal obligations we "would have been able to scrutinise CANs and contract provisions, ask questions about them and raise any issues with oversight bodies such as the NAO or via MPs in Parliament."  When Government eschews transparency, it evades accountability.

Government's behaviour came under criticism in the judgment. If it had admitted to being in breach of the law when we first raised our concerns, it would have never been necessary to take this judicial review to its conclusion. Instead, they chose a path of obfuscation, racking up over £200,000 of legal costs as a result. 

We shouldn't be forced to rely on litigation to keep those in power honest, but in this case it's clear that our challenge pushed Government to comply with its legal obligations. Judge Chamberlain stated that the admission of breach by Government was "secured as a result of this litigation and at a late stage of it" and "I have no doubt that this claim has speeded up compliance". It begs the question, if we hadn't brought this legal challenge, what other contract details would have remained hidden from view?"

https://goodlawproject.org/update/the-judgment-is-in/

[The Legendary Shark]

Vaccine refusers will be kept to 'supermarkets, pharmacies' when Israel opens up.

[The Legendary Shark]

I've just read an  international statement by health professionals, medical doctors and scientists, (including Nobel laureates) which has been sent to the governments of thirty countries. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it was about, what it said, or where it is.

[Funt Solo]

I've just read an  international statement by health professionals, medical doctors and scientists, (including Nobel laureates) which has been sent to the governments of thirty countries. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it was about, what it said, or where it is.

Memory loss: When to seek help

[Funt Solo]

Vaccine refusers will be kept to 'supermarkets, pharmacies' when Israel opens up.

Seems entirely reasonable, given the circumstances. For years, people in my current country who refuse to vaccinate their children are not then allowed to send said children to federally funded schools. Because that would be endangering everyone else for no good reason.

I also had to provide evidence of my own vaccination history (can't recall what for, off the top of my head - maybe it was MMR) in order to do my job in a federally funded school. Because if I didn't make sure I was vaccinated I'd be endangering everyone else for no good reason.

Anti-vaxxers are determined to endanger everyone else (often including their own children - who they're supposed to care for) for no good reason.

[von Boom]

Anti-vaxxers irritate me no end. They should just wear hats saying 'Let's Make Polio Great Again!'

[IndigoPrime]

Humanity has a short collective memory. Because many in the west no longer find themselves experiencing how these diseases are — either first-hand or through friends/family — some immediately leap to bizarre arguments like how we should just be natural. My FIL was the last year in his country to miss the polio jab. He got polio. The result is a lifetime of physical challenges and, recently, increasingly obtrusive surgeries.

To eradicate diseases from circulation, those diseases need nowhere to go. Fully vaccinating the population is impossible and so we need to shield those who are very young or who have conditions that mean it is unsafe to vaccinate them. I find it terrifying and upsetting that in the UK, we are fast heading to a place where diseases that shouldn't even be on the radar could well make a comeback. (The USA is much further down that road.)

[JayzusB.Christ]

I've just read an  international statement by health professionals, medical doctors and scientists, (including Nobel laureates) which has been sent to the governments of thirty countries. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it was about, what it said, or where it is.

I'm guessing this is some kind of satirical jibe at some person or group, but I'm honestly not getting it. Sorry if I'm being naive but could you explain it?

[The Legendary Shark]

If I explained it, that explanation would be deleted.

[JayzusB.Christ]

OK.