Your opinion on reporting of the pandemic

It is easy to find local information. It is on the BBC pages, you just type in your post code and it tells you how many new cases, how many cases in total, etc.
In North Somerset, there are now 2 in every 100,000 people with this virus. Four new cases in the last week. No change from previous week.
Now, should I be frightened with those sort of figures, enough to keep me locked up in my home for the foreseeable future??
Surely, when I take my car for its weekly ride three miles to the local supermarket I am, statistically, in far greater danger.

At nearly 80yrs old, I have lived through the epidemic of killer Diptheria in my childhood, the horrific consequences of Polio in my teens, Asian Flu, in my twenties, and various other things over the years.Things like norovirus, etc most years - increasingly dangerous to me as I age - and have a rather defuctional digestive system.

When this first started and the government were forced to stop pretending it was not happening, they used Behavourists to advice them how to get compliance with lockdown rules. So, the Project Fear came about -and everyone was astonished as to how successful it was. Yes, we - the public - were terrified into obeying all the rules!!!
Problem was when they tried to start lifting some of those, large numbers of the population were still totally traumatised and living in fear.
I am horrified as to hearing parents talking about keeping their children out of school when they finally return. The damage to children being out of school can be life-long - and I do not mean educationally. Are these youngsters being taught to be ever-fearful of germs, of other people coming anywhere close to them - of enclosed spaces - of breathing!!!????

I think the whole reporting has been totally mishandled - The media went along with Project Fear for a time, until the Cummings incident. Since then, many of the so-called 'news'papers have just wanted sensational stories with clever, photos using special lenses- showing (often quite false), pictures of holiday makers daring to go to beaches, etc.

Even the Shielding mallarky was totally mishandled. Again, a letter sent which was designed to strike total fear into the recipients. But, those who needed this changed almost week to week, with some being added very late, and others being told they no longer need to do so. Then on one particular date - no shielding was needed by anyone.

Reporting has been dreadful. Very one sided and keeping the fear factor going. Probably because they are pushing the vaccine agenda as the only way out. Bill Gates has not only funded the WHO and vaccine development, but has also put his hand in his pocket to fund the BBC too. Call me Mrs Cynical.

rosecarmel

The upbeat messaging grated on my last nerve .. but then again so did the opposite ..

Network news carries those tones so instead listen to radio "reporting" and other outlets that are more about facts than attitude-

That's why I ignored it or skimmed through it and looked at first hand sources.

It was politicised early on with a few nutjobs even writing the most preposterous stuff and/or in denial.

All people need to know is that it's easily transmitted, how to avoid transmission, what the chances of being infected are and how it's likely to affect you and the people around you, knowing your personal risk factors.

There will almost certainly not be a viable vaccine for at least a year, so people need to stop thinking that they can rely on that. Treatments do seem to be improving, but people are still dying or being left with serious after-effects.

The question was do we think the reporting from main stream media has been poor and do we deserve better.
Yes, the reporting has been abysmal and unreliable from main stream media and we do deserve better.
You can find more reliable sources - they are out there.
I would advise people to really ask questions as thousands upon thousands are wakening up to what's going on.
Please don't allow yourself to be manipulated.

The upbeat messaging grated on my last nerve .. but then again so did the opposite ..

Network news carries those tones so instead listen to radio "reporting" and other outlets that are more about facts than attitude-

rosecarmel It's not really surprising that those places have no cases. Most of them are islands and are hardly hubs of international travel and business.

It's actually quite concerning if it's true that so many people are asymptomatic. Obviously it's fine for them, but it means that they could unknowingly pass it on to somebody much more vulnerable. People who were at high risk of serious illness are still at high risk. You only have to be in contact with one infected person to catch it. We also now know that some people suffer serious long-term effects.

I'm fed up with jolly, upbeat messaging. I want to know how many people in my area are infected, so that I can make my own risk assessment, but that information isn't that easy to find and doesn't seem to be very accurate.

I'm fed up with people using language like "muzzle", "imprisoned", etc. The most vulnerable were shielded for their own protection. If people want to behave like selfish idiots, that's up to them, but I hope they realise that they've contributed to community transmission.

I'm fed up with hypocrisy. It always seems to be somebody else's fault. Currently, the biggest outbreaks are in places of work, including food processing factories. The workers are on minimum wage and can't afford to take time off sick. There's also some evidence that they're not observing social distancing, especially on their way to work.

I'm fed up with the way statistics have been manipulated to hide what's really going on.

I wish one of the networks would have said that the pandemic wasn't preventable- Maybe they said it and I didn't catch it when they did-

It was already out there circulating before .. you know .. China let the cat out of the bag-

If wishes were horses .. China would have .. not acted like China ..

Some countries responded so much better than others- That is true-

And these places have not reported any cases:

Kiribati

Marshall Islands

Micronesia

Nauru

North Korea

Palau

Samoa

Solomon Islands

Tonga

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

Whitewavemark2
What about your own project fear? Do you remember when you gave a prediction of a rise in covid 19 in 4 weeks time?
Nothing happened dispute the country going through some of the hottest weather we have known which sent 1,000s rushing to the beaches.

Figures are now showing that the increase in infections is in the 20 to 40 year olds with far fewer in older people.

Despite this increase there has not been a rise in hospital admissions, and three quarters of those who tested positive were asymptomatic.

Apparently this trend has been noted in other European countries.

Obviously we are all aware that the virus is still around and a certain amount of caution is sensible at least until a vaccine is available.

I still think there is much to be encouraged about from those latest findings.

growstuff

Strange how people have different perceptions. Maybe some people are of an anxious disposition because I've missed this "frightening news".

What I have seen is manipulation of statistics to hide reality, clips of our alleged leader trying to make stupid jokes and talking of "world beating" systems and attempts to persuade the public that there's a vaccine just round the corner and a "blame game" with the government ducking responsibility for its own failures.

I agree. Nothing frightening, but reports that need looking at with your critical head on.

I don't know anyone who has had covid but out of the 16 properties in our close, one man has been sectioned and I fear that a dear neighbour who I took out every week, will never venture out again.

Strange how people have different perceptions. Maybe some people are of an anxious disposition because I've missed this "frightening news".

What I have seen is manipulation of statistics to hide reality, clips of our alleged leader trying to make stupid jokes and talking of "world beating" systems and attempts to persuade the public that there's a vaccine just round the corner and a "blame game" with the government ducking responsibility for its own failures.

The media have behaved disgracefully throughout. They have drowned us in frightenintg news, which has often been pure speculation . Luckily I live with sane and reasonable people, and we are in good health. Those who live alone, are timid or suffering depression must have gone through hell listening to the reports that have been made and the distortions of truth.

That's really illuminating SunnySusie, what a strange world we live in....

The trouble with the media is all of it, including the BBC, is staffed by journalists. My daughter is a journalist. Her performance is measured first and foremost by the impact of the stories she writes. She takes care to make sure her pieces are accurate (not true of many journalists), but in order to get people to read what she writes the content is spun.

Human beings have a cognitive bias. They are more likely to read negative stories than positive ones. It possibly evolved as a way to anticipate and avoid trouble, but in the modern world its being massively exploited by the media. Every journalist knows if you present the facts in a negative way then more people will read your article, or listen to your news item. Currently anything about second waves is being lapped up, so an up and coming journalist who wants to demonstrate to their editor that they are having an impact will write about a second wave. The public pay more attention to negativity therefore they get negativity.

Halfpint1 love your quote, 'if you don't like wearing a mask, you won't like wearing a ventilator!

Something the media hasn't been quick to mention is that ventilators were over used at the start of the pandemic.

It's since been discovered that they aren't always needed.

It's been a learning curve. An unknown. But we're learning how to deal with the virus much better than initially

www.statnews.com/2020/04/21/coronavirus-analysis-recommends-less-reliance-on-ventilators/

There is a world-wide recognised pandemic.

People are dying or becoming seriously ill with many on-going after-effects (although not seriously ill with Covid I have had several infections since, which I am told are Covid-related).

Quibble all you want about statistics, Covid-19 has not gone away yet. It's not nearly over.

This thread was about reporting of Covid and reporting has always been subjective. Read everything with a pinch of salt.

Halfpint1 love your quote, 'if you don't like wearing a mask, you won't like wearing a ventilator!

wearing a mask will help prevent catching the common cold and this winter's flu, so its 2 for the price of 1!

varian

You get out and about as much as you want JE and I sincerely hope that you do not come to harm,.

I really object to being accused of excessive fear for being sensible and weighing up risks by the reckless!

I wonder how many single mothers were told it was OK if you had sex standing up?

I see you managed to get a dig in about illegal immigrants JenniferEccles! Well done!

You get out and about as much as you want JE and I sincerely hope that you do not come to harm,.

I read the other day that more people are dying now from flu and pneumonia than covid.

I think the media has a big part to play in encouraging us to get out and about.

If we are not careful the recession will have a more devastating impact on our lives than the tiny risk of catching the virus and an even tinier risk of dying from it.

We have a population of sixty eight million (plus the ones we know nothing about) so that puts the deaths in perspective.

Obviously the vulnerable should still be very careful but the vast majority of us should guard against excessive fear.

Oh how I agree with rowanflower, statistics can be used to say anything you like and so much of the reporting is skewed to be negative

As crazy as this may be, reading all of your post gives me a small sense of comfort about C19. Although we all know the entire world is dealing with the same terror it's comforting to read that others feel the same as I do. Here in the Mid West of USA, our businesses have been opened since May and our schools have been reopening for the past 2 weeks. Our C19 numbers continue to rise. There seems to be no plan to close the school down if they remain active with infections. Everyone here seems to have a different opinion of what should be done but no plans to do anything at all. Those that agree with our President seem to be blinded to the rising infection rates. Our politicians seem to close their eyes to rising infections to please our President. Then you have the opposition who will complain but don't offer any alternative plans. I feel like we are completely on our own as citizens. Waking up every morning I pray it is all a big nightmare and I will be able to hold and kiss my grandsons again. But no such luck. The entire world seems to be in the same horrific place. Very sad. On the brighter side, you all have kept me from losing my mind. I feel comforted as I read all of your post on the many topics you tackle. Thank you for that.