Tea time news update

Good point there SueDonim about the repetition of journalists’ questions. So irritating!

Eddie Mair ( amongst others ) thinks that the health and science journalists of various media outlets ought to be able to ask questions. Today on his programme, he gave several the opportunity to phone in with the questions they would ask if they could - they were really interesting. This bunch at the press briefings are generally scientifically illiterate and innumerate to boot. And yes, those ludicrous questions about how long will it last etc etc

I think Eddie Mair is GREAT! I love his voice and his style is pretty forensic. Radio 4 PM when I used to drive home from work was one of my favourite programmes. Lost to LBC.

Of course journalists should be able to ask questions but it would be more useful if they could be sensible ones. Sometimes we shout the answers as they're so obvious!
I wonder if press conferences are always like this but the general public don't usually see them?

I agree, some of the journalists just repeat questions that have been answered five minutes before. The three presenters are unfailingly polite and often ask the journalist if they have answered to their satisfaction. Perhaps they should just say 'I refer the honourable member to the answer I gave earlier' like they do in the House of Commons.

Not it was only last week that the journalists were invited to come back if they felt their question hadn’t been answered. Some of the earlier briefings were dire but last week MH showed he’d been listening to the criticisms. However, with one or two exceptions, the questioning remains poor - the journalists often seem to ask questions with their next headline in mind.

I didn't watch today as the questions are just so samey and that awful Laura Kuessberg or whatever her name is can be so irritating.

The journalists repeatedly asking for a time scale on the length of restrictions and wanting to know the “exit strategy” are so irritating. They are like kids in the back seat of the car repeatedly asking “are we nearly there yet? As for Robert Peston and his drawn out self importance ?

This is the time i am glad i dont have a tv.i think the media is hyping things up.they not really helping scare mongering..yes i am truly sad that so many people are not keeping the lock down.they dont realise its not just sneezing and coughing that passes germs on....i say full lock down for at least 2 weeks.

They are like kids in the back seat of the car repeatedly asking “are we nearly there yet?

A perfect analogy!

Laura Kuessenburg and Robert Peston are so full of their own importance. Ms Kuessenburg was quite good when she first started out but she got too self opinionated very quickly.

I’m so glad we’re not the only household shouting at the TV.

I listen to the report (I like graphs) and then make the tea while the question bit is on and come back for the report afterwards.

What questions would you ask?

I totally agree I find myself asking ‘didn’t you listen they already answered that ‘ time and time again !!

It’s like they’re dying to trip them up ! I can’t remember the mans name today but wanted to cheer when asked yet another ridiculous and wrong question he started by saying - actually I disagree and you are wrong .. this is what was said .

Laibak it is puzzling why the Germans are doing better than other countries (if we can call it better , just not as bad) because I don't think they have gone into a lockdown like Italy and Spain and have not introduced such strict restrictions as others have, including the UK.

I heard that anyone with an underlying condition with which they could have lived for many years, but who caught COVID19 and died, had their death recorded as being from the underlying condition.
I don't know if that is true.

I do think Peston has become far more opinionated; perhaps he is trying to prove he is better than Kuenssberg as she got the job he wanted.
I think he speaks like that, though, because he overcame a stammer.

Some of the questions from many journalists are just inane.

"Grannynannywanny" (brilliant name, by the way) what a wonderful analogy!

Call this story about Germany counting deaths differently is just that - a story. This is an excellent article explaining why they’ve done so well and testing is a key ( but not the sole ) factor. The CMO yesterday was pretty clear that there were lessons to be learned from Germany’s testing strategy

www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/world/europe/germany-coronavirus-death-rate.html

We’ve never used so many swear words in our house as we do when it gets to the reporters’ questions. Some waste so much time asking questions that even as a layman I can answer.

The PM aught to play a game where if you repeat a question that’s already been asked a big stick with a large hook on the end picks you out and drags you off!

So what should be done to the person on the other end of the question who repeatedly doesn't answer the question [which happens 90% of the time].

Growstuff - 'what questions would you ask?'

I'd ask why the lockdown is being dishonestly presented as a solution. It's a mere delaying tactic, (a very important one but) that's all.

I'd ask about the 'exit strategy' too, because, unless a miracle happens and a vaccine is developed and produced in record time, there isn't one - we are still in a (slowed down) herd immunity situation.

The whole point of lockdown is to prevent excess deaths. The more the NHS is overwhelmed, the more there'll be.

We are held back from catching the virus - so that we can be processed through the hospitals in batches. Why is that not clearly explained?

The plan is to lift restrictions, then watch infections and death rates rise again until they are, of necessity, imposed for a second time.

It's not much of a plan - but better than nothing. Why has it not been presented and discussed?

Why was lockdown presented initially for three weeks (when we knew it would have to be longer)?

Do the public need to be treated like small children and protected from the truth? If so, who made that decision?

The fact remains that the virus will spread until about 80% of the public has had it. At that point it should naturally die out, due to difficulty of transmission - perhaps by next spring. The lockdown has just extended the timeframe for infection - all we could do with an inadequate NHS.

I agree with everything you've written Hetty.

I wonder how many people really believed the lockdown would only last three weeks. I must admit I haven't read that widely on the topic, so I don't know what the MSM is claiming.

Anybody with a brain even slightly larger than a goldfish must realise that restrictions need to continue until there's a vaccine. Herd immunity is still very much on the agenda and there will come a point within the next few weeks when the NHS is totally overwhelmed. That's why the Nightingale hospitals have been built. People will die, either because there aren't enough ICU beds or because other procedures are being postponed or cancelled.

The deaths aren't rising quite so fast as predicted, so maybe there's a slight flattening off, but still the rate of increase is one of the fastest in the world. Of course, the government isn't going to admit to any failure on its part, especially now the boss is out of action.

I would ask why the government still isn't addressing the holes in financial assistance to some of the lowest and most insecure paid. There are also people being told to leave rental accommodation because they're key workers. I'd like to know what the government is going to do to protect them.

There is absolutely nothing the government can do to kill the virus, apart from locking everybody in individual cells to stop transmission, which wouldn't of course be possible. It has a choice - everybody is infected within a short time or within a longer time frame. The government does need to stop fudging and to tell the truth. However, I'm not sure what would happen if it did. Would everybody bite the bullet and think that they might as well get it over and done with? What does our Home Secretary think about enforcing the lockdown more effectively?

Arrangements for protecting the most vulnerable need tightening up because there are reports that they're not working that well in some parts of the country. Arrangements for convalescence also need tightening up. If ever there were a need for an efficient civil service it's now. I'd like to know what the government intends to do about ensuring that people do get the assistance they've been promised.

Really well articulated Hetty and growstuff.
You two should be on tv!
?

I give the news 15 minutes of my day then turn it off for the rest of the day. Expecting anyone to have all the answers makes no sense. If there was a clear, concise response it would be in use. Govt. leaders, researchers and front line stalwarts would jump at a solution. My anxiety in no way helps.

Hetty growstuff excellent posts. Did you read the NY Times link? The reason I mention this is that one of the points it makes is about how Germany is dealing with infected people at home, how they see doctors early, are monitored and have earlier admission to hospital. This seems to impact number if deaths and there is less need for ventilation. If we are going down the ‘most people will get it route’ then surely we need better strategies in the community than just contact 111 online. It’s all left to the individual’s judgement without personal monitoring contact.

As others have said, the media breathlessly asking if lockdown will be renewed is utterly head bangingly awful.

We watch the briefing and then the journalists being repetative, asking questions which have already been spoken about.

Evan Davies on radio 4 at 4.30/ 6.00 is the most sensible of the lot. A better listen and a cheering request at the end before 6.00. We have had La Mer, Here Comes the Sun and some Jeeves and Wooster.

It is not the briefings that annoy me - they are easily avoided. It is the relentless repetitive 'adverts' that pop up during and between programmes. Just when you are enjoying a bit of escapism or comedy to take your mind off the dire situation, up pops some sombre spokesperson to remind us that we are all going to die

I am hardly watching any TV, preferring to play computer games or clean, exercise or knit with my favourite music blasting out.