Media Coverage of COVID -19

[yorksrob]

David King has been on the more hawkish side of the scientists for a while now. That said, the "call to action" of getting track and trace working better isn't one I disagree with.

 

[Domh245]

That was the Layman's explanation?

The Layman's explanation bit was this

Which does essentially boil down to taking the number of cases and deaths reported by various public health bodies, alongside data/estimates about what level of 'exposure' the virus is getting, to estimate numbers of current and future infections, and then just taking the ratio between the two to determine 'R'

, which is more or less what jtuk suggested. The links to the Cambridge methodology was just to highlight it isn't "back of the fag packet" maths!

 

[bramling]

More scaremongering from the mirror tonight:



As far as I’m concerned, another national lockdown is not going to happen, and I’m absolutely beyond sick of the media using scare-mongering tactics to try and increase clicks and ad revenue.

I’m not saying there should be state-control over the media, as that is very dangerous, but there needs to be a review into how irresponsibly the media has behaved throughout this crisis.

I am not prepared to tolerate another lockdown. Quite simply if that happens I will not be attending work, and will not comply with any stipulations, simple as that. Boris can piffle away all he likes, my supply of patience for him and his shower of a government is now at rock bottom.

 

[Richard Scott]

I am not prepared to tolerate another lockdown. Quite simply if that happens I will not be attending work, and will not comply with any stipulations, simple as that. Boris can piffle away all he likes, my supply of patience for him and his shower of a government is now at rock bottom.

I think a number of people are in agreement. Fed up with media stirring these things up, it just causes misery or is that their aim?

 

[DB]

I am not prepared to tolerate another lockdown. Quite simply if that happens I will not be attending work, and will not comply with any stipulations, simple as that. Boris can piffle away all he likes, my supply of patience for him and his shower of a government is now at rock bottom.

I don't think the government would even try it - there are sufficient people who would refuse to comply that it would be unenforceable - plus of course the government wouldn't be able to justify the cost of another furlough scheme.

The problem we now have is that they don't have an exit strategy, so are trying to look decisive by endless stupid and petty rules and schemes - masks, half-price meals, etc. Not that they are alone in this: many other governments are in a similar position, all having backed themselves into a corner where they can't admit without massive loss of face that they got it wrong and elimination is not a viable strategy. And certainly here, Project Fear has been so successful that there is a vocal minority demanding more, not fewer, restrictions.

 

[yorksrob]

I think that the Government are aware that the public will not tolerate another lockdown.

 

[bramling]

I think that the Government are aware that the public will not tolerate another lockdown.

I don’t know, social media seems to be full of people who seem rather keen on the idea.

Of course what many of these types presumably mean by “lockdown” is a matter for conjecture.

I’m not necessarily sure elements of the media are against it either.

What might quash it is the police - I think they’re already at end-of-tether with Boris, and I suspect they’d privately or even publicly refuse to enforce it.

 

[adc82140]

More to the point lockdown only worked here because pretty much everyone else was doing it at the same time. If we were the only country, it wouldn't be a damaged economy alone we were dealing with, we would be seen as a failed state. Our credit ratiing would be junk. No one would do business with us. The government would fall, and they know that. Trump lite in no. 10 is only interested in self preservation.

I'm still ingrigued to know what sort of special type of Covid we have here that's going to rip through schools, compared to the one in Europe which seems to have allowed schools to open without any damage.

 

[DB]

I don’t know, social media seems to be full of people who seem rather keen on the idea.

Of course what many of these types presumably mean by “lockdown” is a matter for conjecture.

I’m not necessarily sure elements of the media are against it either.

They are vocal, but still a minority - there are a lot of people who went along with it the first time even if they didn't agree, but wouldn't do so a second time.

 

[adc82140]

They are vocal, but still a minority - there are a lot of people who went along with it the first time even if they didn't agree, but wouldn't do so a second time.

And a decreasing amount of them too. My town's Facebook group has mellowed a lot in the last month.

 

[bramling]

And a decreasing amount of them too. My town's Facebook group has mellowed a lot in the last month.

I wish I could say the same here!

Of course there’s a different Facebook fad to keep the neurotic types occupied at present - masks...

 

[DB]

I wish I could say the same here!

Are there actually a lot of them, or are they just very vociferous?

Predominantly female and in their 30s (and probably on furlough), by any chance?

 

[adc82140]

I wish I could say the same here!

Our local economy relies a lot on tourism. I think they've finally woken up to the fact the telling every visitor they are a granny killing murderer isn't going to pay the bills

 

[yorksrob]

I don’t know, social media seems to be full of people who seem rather keen on the idea.

Of course what many of these types presumably mean by “lockdown” is a matter for conjecture.

I’m not necessarily sure elements of the media are against it either.

What might quash it is the police - I think they’re already at end-of-tether with Boris, and I suspect they’d privately or even publicly refuse to enforce it.

The police are drawn from the public themselves which makes them a check on power to an extent.

 

[bramling]

Are there actually a lot of them, or are they just very vociferous?

Predominantly female and in their 30s (and probably on furlough), by any chance?

Yes for the latter point, absolutely the demographic.

It’s hard to judge how many, but it’s definitely more than just a few vociferous ones. I’d say it’s largely the majority opinion. Of course in the grand scheme of things it’s not many. I like to think it’s not reflective of wider opinion.

 

[adc82140]

Today Boris seems to have announced some government policy regarding the opening of schools versus closing of other things via his column in the Sunday Times. I can't link to it as it's behind a pay wall. And this is my issue. Would any other country allow policy to be announced in this manner? Covid aside, I don't think it's appropriate for any sitting PM to discuss any policy issues in a newspaper column. This sort of thing should be reserved for TV interviews by a public service broadcaster (BBC, ITV or C4), or even a ministerial statement if required, which the papers can be free to report on.

What are your thoughts?

(mods feel free to merge with the media coverage thread if needed, but I think this is a diverging topic)

 

[yorksrob]

From the BBC it appears to be the same that schools should be "the last thing to close" in any lockdown (weren't they anyway in March) ?

Whitty spouting more bilge about shutting pubs and restaurants.

 

[adc82140]

From the BBC it appears to be the same that schools should be "the last thing to close" in any lockdown (weren't they anyway in March) ?

Whitty spouting more bilge about shutting pubs and restaurants.

Reading beyond the headline (I have borrowed a Sunday Times login) it actually says that in the event of the need for a severe local lockdown, pubs and restaurants would close before schools. Which is obvious. But doesn't sell papers.

 

[Huntergreed]

Reading beyond the headline (I have borrowed a Sunday Times login) it actually says that in the event of the need for a severe local lockdown, pubs and restaurants would close before schools. Which is obvious. But doesn't sell papers.

Indeed, there’s no way we’ll need to close pubs to open schools in the majority of places (think about it - if every other country is managing then why are we different?). This is just in the event of a severe local lockdown, which would be even more severe than the ones in Manchester, Preston etc

 

[farleigh]

I don't think Boris was announcing a new policy. Just giving his views on re-opening.

 

[Class 33]

It's coming up on the Express now that a second national lockdown could have to be re-imposed next month.....

Coronavirus BOMBSHELL: National lockdown could be imposed next month

A SECOND national COVID-19 lockdown may have to be imposed next month according to an incendiary warning from Sir David King, who formerly served as the Government's chief scientific adviser.

www.express.co.uk

Coronavirus BOMBSHELL: National lockdown could be re-imposed next month
A SECOND national COVID-19 lockdown may have to be imposed next month according to an incendiary warning from Sir David King, who formerly served as the Government's chief scientific adviser.

Sir David warned another UK wide shutdown could be needed in September unless the Government sorts out its ‘Test and Trace’ policy this month. He said the reopening of schools is likely to boost the R rate, the number of people each COVID-19 patient infects, by 0.5.

This would put the rate above one meaning the disease would start spreading exponentially again.

Sir David was the Government’s chief scientific advisor between 2000 and 2007.

Currently he heads the Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies which shadows the Government’s team of scientific advisors.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror he said: “The Government has a month to deal with the level of infectivity as it stands now.

Reopening schools should be a priority, but we believe we are nowhere near the point where it can be done safely.

“We need a proper test and trace system by September.

“Otherwise I’m sure school opening will put us right back.

“We will see the Government backing lockdowns and, yes, I do think this could happen nationally.”

If we reset back to a full national lockdown AGAIN, this will cause even more catastrophic damage to the UK economy, unemployment, people's livelihoods and mental health to the damage that has already been done!!! Many hundreds or even thousands of businesses up and down the country will go under. Many MANY people will just not be able to take a reset back to full national lockdown!!!!! Many people will think life's not worth living anymore. Will the government not take this into account before going ahead with a destructive full national lockdown??!!

Daily Coronavirus deaths now on a 7-day rolling average are now less than 60 per day. This is over a 90% decrease to what they were at the peak back in mid April! And daily deaths are continuing to fall and fall. We should be down to less than 30 deaths per day on a 7-day rolling average, in around a months time. We don't need a full national lockdown!

And just a month or so again, Boris mentioned in an interview that a full national lockdown again is absolutely RULED OUT!!! So if he goes ahead and orders a full national lockdown again, that will be a U-turn on that! But I don't have too much trust in him now. Last month during a press conference he mentioned that "We may MAY be able to cut social distancing completely by November at the earliest.". And I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt over this. But then just a week or so later he then mentioned during an interview "We may be able to relax restrictions around the middle of next year.". So that's totally contradictory to what he said a week or so before that!

 

[Richard Scott]

It's coming up on the Express now that a second national lockdown could have to be re-imposed next month.....

Coronavirus BOMBSHELL: National lockdown could be imposed next month

A SECOND national COVID-19 lockdown may have to be imposed next month according to an incendiary warning from Sir David King, who formerly served as the Government's chief scientific adviser.

www.express.co.uk

If we reset back to a full national lockdown AGAIN, this will cause even more catastrophic damage to the UK economy, unemployment people's livelihoods and mental health to the damage that has already been done!!! Many hundreds or even thousands of businesses up and down the country will go under. Many MANY people will just not be able to take a reset back to full national lockdown!!!!! Many people will think life's not worth living anymore. Will the government not take this into account before going ahead with a destructive full national lockdown??!!

Daily Coronavirus deaths now on a 7-day rolling average are now less than 60 per day. This is over a 90% decrease to what they were at the peak back in mid April! And daily deaths are continuing to fall and fall. We should be down to less than 30 deaths per day on a 7-day rolling average, in around a months time. We don't need a full national lockdown!

And just a month or so again, Boris mentioned in an interview that a full national lockdown again is absolutely RULED OUT!!! So if he goes ahead and orders a full national lockdown again, that will be a U-turn on that! But I don't have too much trust in him now. Last month during a press conference he mentioned that "We may MAY be able to cut social distancing completely by November at the earliest.". And I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt over this. But then just a week or so later he then mentioned during an interview "We may be able to relax restrictions around the middle of next year.". So that's totally contradictory to what he said a week or so before that!

Another batch or scaremongering from the media. No way I could deal with another lockdown and probably not alone in that. I get a feeling he needs an extra 15 minutes of fame as many of these 'top' advisors seem to need. Getting fed up with experts, top advisors etc who just want to make us all miserable, well it's working. This country seriously needs to get a grip, no-one in politics has the guts to admit the reality on this that it's with us and we all have to deal with that and get on with normal life. It's nowhere near the worst virus to hit the human race.

 

[Yew]

I’m not saying there should be state-control over the media, as that is very dangerous, but there needs to be a review into how irresponsibly the media has behaved throughout this crisis.

If only there was some sort of inquiry that was recently made into media behaviour

 

[PHILIPE]

David King has been on the more hawkish side of the scientists for a while now. That said, the "call to action" of getting track and trace working better isn't one I disagree with.

Why don't these scientists who are voicing different opinions just shut up and give their opinion when asked for one. Every one is doom and gloom laden and do nothing apart from cause confusion and put ideas into the PM's head, a PM who can't work things out for himself or think things through.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

It's coming up on the Express now that a second national lockdown could have to be re-imposed next month.....

Coronavirus BOMBSHELL: National lockdown could be imposed next month

A SECOND national COVID-19 lockdown may have to be imposed next month according to an incendiary warning from Sir David King, who formerly served as the Government's chief scientific adviser.

www.express.co.uk

If we reset back to a full national lockdown AGAIN, this will cause even more catastrophic damage to the UK economy, unemployment, people's livelihoods and mental health to the damage that has already been done!!! Many hundreds or even thousands of businesses up and down the country will go under. Many MANY people will just not be able to take a reset back to full national lockdown!!!!! Many people will think life's not worth living anymore. Will the government not take this into account before going ahead with a destructive full national lockdown??!!

Daily Coronavirus deaths now on a 7-day rolling average are now less than 60 per day. This is over a 90% decrease to what they were at the peak back in mid April! And daily deaths are continuing to fall and fall. We should be down to less than 30 deaths per day on a 7-day rolling average, in around a months time. We don't need a full national lockdown!

And just a month or so again, Boris mentioned in an interview that a full national lockdown again is absolutely RULED OUT!!! So if he goes ahead and orders a full national lockdown again, that will be a U-turn on that! But I don't have too much trust in him now. Last month during a press conference he mentioned that "We may MAY be able to cut social distancing completely by November at the earliest.". And I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt over this. But then just a week or so later he then mentioned during an interview "We may be able to relax restrictions around the middle of next year.". So that's totally contradictory to what he said a week or so before that!

Yes just like all those heatwaves and cold snaps that the Express report, and absolutely nothing comes of it...

 

[Scrotnig]

It's coming up on the Express now that a second national lockdown could have to be re-imposed next month.....

Express is currently owned by the Mirror group (Reach) so no surprise they recycle the same headlines.

 

[adc82140]

Ah, Sir David King, from the Independent Sage, a group of people not deemed worthy of the actual Sage. It puts me in mind if a certain episode of Futurama:

"I'll have my own Sage, with Blackjack, and hookers"

Two important press speak words as well "could" and "former", which equate to "won't" and "has no influence"

 

[Scrotnig]

If we reset back to a full national lockdown AGAIN, this will cause even more catastrophic damage to the UK economy, unemployment, people's livelihoods and mental health to the damage that has already been done!!! Many hundreds or even thousands of businesses up and down the country will go under. Many MANY people will just not be able to take a reset back to full national lockdown!!!!! Many people will think life's not worth living anymore. Will the government not take this into account before going ahead with a destructive full national lockdown??!!

No they wouldn't, because it's not the deadly killer virus. No deaths from anything at all matter now, unless they are caused by the deadly killer virus.

450 people die of cancer every day on average, yet in large parts of the country we have STILL not restarted cancer treatment or screening. These people are literally being sent home to die and refused treatment, yet nobody cares. Hancock keeps saying "the NHS is still there for you, please book an appointment as usual", yet when you try you are told to clear off because of Covid-19.

It's a national scandal, but nobody cares. All you get from people is "well better that then murdering thousands of people by spreading the virus".

The media however refuse to talk about anything other than more lockdowns, restrictions and making life as big a misery as possible.

This country is gripped by complete insanity and far from improving, it's getting worse.

 

[NorthOxonian]

Yes just like all those heatwaves and cold snaps that the Express report, and absolutely nothing comes of it...

It's not quite the same though. You don't have a large number of people who assume they will die from a heatwave. We've never destroyed huge swathes of our economy and society over a blizzard before.

The consequences of sensationalised stories around this virus are far more grave than just claiming there's going to be a warm or cold spell in the next week.

 

[bramling]

Today Boris seems to have announced some government policy regarding the opening of schools versus closing of other things via his column in the Sunday Times. I can't link to it as it's behind a pay wall. And this is my issue. Would any other country allow policy to be announced in this manner? Covid aside, I don't think it's appropriate for any sitting PM to discuss any policy issues in a newspaper column. This sort of thing should be reserved for TV interviews by a public service broadcaster (BBC, ITV or C4), or even a ministerial statement if required, which the papers can be free to report on.

What are your thoughts?

(mods feel free to merge with the media coverage thread if needed, but I think this is a diverging topic)

Completely agree the way policies are being leaked / “announced” is bad.