Where's Boris?

I don't think I said that. I was actually saying that if you can't take scientific advise what advice can you take, or do you listen to several options and then, bearing in mind you're not a scientist, stick a pin in to choose one of them?!

He found time to go jogging on Sunday so he can't have been that ill as he was only in intensive care 4 weeks ago, and for an overweight 50 year old to make such a recovery in such a short time is nothing short of a miracle.

Jabber, I don't think that anyone was expected to remember the last pandemic

Neil Ferguson is being attacked because he predicted 500,000. But that was what could happen if we took no precautions. Belatedly we did, hence the numbers are nowhere near the worst case scenario. Robert Winston on tv this morning - angry about the treatment by the press and the govt. of NF and quite rightly IMO.

Take your pick on scientific advice, much of it so far has been wrong and then the politicians agree a line to take. Care homes are a big problem - that was entirely predictable with so many vulnerable in one place and no PPE.Many companies are getting back to work and finding they can do quite a lot online.
Next week we will get more retail open, maybe even hairdressers and takeaways but I really don’t see the point of reopening schools for a few weeks.

What does it matter where Boris is? it's Cummings who is running the country. If there was a book it would need the Boris figure to be removable, with a balding faceless figure behind it.

Looking at deaths in care homes across other European Countries the U.K. has a much better record.

I’ve given up listening altogether but I do have a quick look at BBC news website and the headline papers occasionally. Nobody seems to know what they are doing right now. I’d just like enough PPE, testing that could be relied upon and clear advice on exactly what the population is allowed to do.

Where is our Nanny state? Oh, I forgot, we don’t need it anymore!

Daisyemae. Of course no one can remember the last pandemic! That's exactly what I was pointing out!! Therefore no guidelines whatsoever for this one!!

Rees-Mogg has announced that MPs have to return to Westminster on June 1st because 'Parliament can't function effectively with some in the chamber and most on-line at home. They need to be there in person.'
He more or less brushed aside questions about long distance travel for MPs based miles from London , those who are shielding , have vulnerable family members or need child care usually undertaken by grandparents.

He also said that not enough legislation is being debated at the moment.
So why are they having a two week recess?

So yes, Boris Johnson most definitely should be there in person. No excuses.

Reuter’s via ECDC care Home mortalities England 21% Wales 25% Scotland 45% Germany 37% Spain 66% France 50% Belgium 51% Norway 61% Sweden 45%
UK and Belgium are the only Countries to add mortalities in all settings.
MSM not reporting these facts as they do not fit their anti PM/Government agenda.

As a matter of interest, what do those percentages mean?

21% of what? Overall deaths? Or 21% of people in care homes?

Without the context, the figures don't mean that much.

For example, it could mean that other countries have more frail people in care homes. Or it could mean that some countries have higher death rates, but have been shielding people in care homes. Those kind of statistics are needed to make sense.

I'm just about to do something, but I looked up the original ECDC document.

It's the percentage of Covid-19 deaths in care institutions.

Norway has a very high percentage, but a low overall death rate, as does Germany, so it would be more meaningful to know what percentage of people in care institutions have died. (I don't know.)

45% OF 2000 IS STILL A LOT LESS THAN 21% OF 40,000 and thats if you believe the figures for England.I heard someone on TV this morning saying it was at least 20,000 more that the almost 40 000 Downing Street is admitting to. Its one in ten of the occupants of care homes here.Staff at all local care homes were tested last week and then the Scottish governmnet was accused of blaming the carers for giving the virus to the occupants...That WAS the only way it could have got in...in most cases .The care home on Skye owned by a UK wide company actuallyy brought staff in from Kent AFTER lockdown without testing them

I expect he is catching up on his sleep with having a young baby in the house!

Wherever he is I am perfectly certain he is not sitting twiddling his thumbs.
We are in the middle of a global pandemic, and then there are the Brexit negotiations to ensure we finally, at long last, leave the EU at the end of December.

Exactly JE!

Those figures for Care Home deaths from the virus -
To compare the rate per country you would need to know what proportion of each country's population was in a Care Home at the time of death.

Exactly, Fennel. They don't make much sense on their own. The other issue is how all Covid-19 deaths were recorded. Obviously anybody in a care home would have had other health issues and, as I'm sure most of us know, death certificates aren't always very comprehensive, especially for the elderly. For example, both my parents had all sorts of things wrong with them when they died, but in neither case did the death certificate actually record what killed them.

In any case, this isn't some kind of competition of league tables. The question should be whether care home deaths could have been prevented and it does seem that many of them could have been.