News

I don't want to be living in cloud cuckoo land so I watch the news daily. I read unbiased and scientific articles too as I want to know what's really going on.

I don't want to depress myself either by watching it all day, though. There's no point. Once I've had a morning dose of news or reading, on goes the radio for an afternoon of music.

We get those numbersrubysong the number in hospital ,the numbers in intensive care and the death toll.The first ministers address at 12.30 tells us that

.I dont listen to Boris or whoever is standing in for him as the English NHS is a different animal .NHS Scotland had doubled its intensive care beds and is well on the way to quadrupling them We have 50+ assessment centres throughout the country accessable
only by appointment ...one just a mile and a half from me . We have enough PPE for 6 months ,tests being delivered from Korea ,medical staff being increased through new graduates and newly retired . I have faith in MY government to do whats best for people not the economy and in fact heard yesterday that Boris was dragging his heels on Lockdown and had to be pushed into it by the FM .I dont know how true that is ,it did come from a friend who works at Holyrood and she is normally accurate .Boris as we know thought herd immunity was the way to go so I would believe that its true .
Death rates here are currently lower than expected ,though we are told that we shouldn't be complacent . On Sunday the FM reported ONE death overnight but said even ONE was too many On the whole I'm happy with how the situation is being handled here .

Initially I found myself obsessing over the news.

Now I have taken myself in hand and decided that what is important for my mood is to check out briefly the headlines once or twice a day, understand the virus by taking a course on the virus which helps me feel on top of it.

The rest of the time is filled with everything I like doing and which makes me happy.

Just finished Joe Wicks for the day?

What will be helpful is, once this is over, for as many people as possible to be tested to see whether they have had the virus.

Impossible for numbers of those ill at home to be given as they may, or may not, have the virus. I would like a daily count of those in hospital with CV, how many are in intensive care, how many have been sent home recovering and, sadly, how many have died. The number testing positive is pointless as so few ill at home are tested, if any.

We watch the 6 o’ clock news, just catch a few minutes of the Boris Briefings beforehand. Then try and not see anything else. Think there were two CV programmes on last night, didn’t want to hear it all churned over again.
Also listen to radio news when I get up in the morning, but that’s it really.

Agree Lully
Good post Gaunt47 ??
We do need balance with our viewing and listening.Once we are taking all sensible precautions there is nothing else to do but try and put a positive spin on all we can.
I am gardening more and walking, phoning friends and reading more ( and reading more books that are funny or uplifting than usual).Restricting the amount of news we watch too, other than the daily bulletin and the lunchtime news.

Sorry to be stating the obvious but best avoided altogether right now.

Yes, Lullydully, I agree with you.
I was so heartened by the news about the new Nightingale hospitals that have been produced in so short a time; the pride of the people who have created them and the delight of the medical staff needs celebrating. This is the sort of news we need, not pictures of mortuaries and coffins being unloaded. The BBC is being its usual negative, scaremongering self; this is the time for positive propaganda, good news to inspire people, and the presentation of hard facts should be clear but truthful but without commentators embellishing them to make a story.

It would be impossible to publish statistics of recovery as (a) those who are possibly infected and stay at home are not being tested and (b) those statistics are not being collected. The imperative at the moment is in channeling resources into stopping the spread of the virus so that the NHS can cope. Public health will eventually have a clearer idea of who has recovered when they have devised and rolled out the antibody test. But that isn't for now.

I am also limiting the amount of news I watch or listen to. Just morning and evening to find out if there are any new restrictions. (Although I am staying home - haven't been out of the house for 14 days!)

It seems there is an over abundance of "experts" wheeled out by various news outlets - often with differing opinions which just confuse.

LullyDully No it's not just you!
I would love to hear for instance how many people have recovered from this horrible virus - not just Prince Charles! - but those stats are impossible to collate I guess.
And the authorities need to keep the population scared so that they abide by the rules.
So not watching the news does help your mood, but also concentrating on and celebrating the small local things going on around you in your neighbourhood and family will lift your spirits.

The Worldometer site gives all that information.

No, it's not just you Lully. I feel the same and have restricted my news intake (listening or reading). The one thing that bugs me is whilst there's a a daily death list printed, why isn't there a daily recovery list ? This would give a little bit more balance and optimism to everyone, I think.

Not just you LullyDully , and the ‘experts’ who are interviewed who give their opinions which disagrees with what we have heard from the government leave me confused .

Not easy but need to keep going.