What, if anything, is this supposed to mean?

It's a useless, dysfunctional debacle. As expected.
Why I quit working on Boris Johnson's ‘world-beating' test-and-tracing system

I was, of course, referring to the nations' "leadership" rather than specifically to the virus. BoJo would be considered a far-left radical socialist, if not an outright Commie, by most of our conservatives.

He’d be to the right of your conservatives if he thought it would get him elected.

It's all alright here in the UK. Sure there are hundreds of deaths and thousands of new cases daily but Premier League Football is due to resume in England on Monday.

Asked to respond to SAGE scientists saying that it's too early, the government say they took a range of views. I'm guessing that they ignored the scientific ones.


Edited to add....

My mistake, it's horse racing that's back on Monday (got to keep the bookies happy). Football is due back on the 17th.

There's significant evidence that the UK's official death toll is lower than the reality,perhaps by 40% or so.

Today I have several times heard a new government advert. It's starting off by saying that "we've" done a "good job", and then goes on to say that we need to "Stay Alert", which it defines specifically as not going outside for 7 days if you're showing symptoms and everybody else who lives with you staying inside for 14 days.

I wonder what could have prompted this particular strand of messaging?

I wouldn't disagree.

They're saving advertising money by leaving the 'unless you want to test your eyesight' bit unsaid.

Do you mean the official Covid-19 death toll? Almost certainly. I’m talking about the ONS figures, which are published weekly based on death certificates, and which lag by a couple of weeks but are pretty complete. I don’t know how other countries compare for that sort of reporting. They show a comparison with the 5 year average, and you can clearly see the excess deaths are only partly attributed to Covid-19, though that is likely at least a factor in most of them. (It also puts the lie to those people who think the figures for Covid-19 deaths are being exaggerated by doctors being instructed to put it as cause of death even if other conditions are present.)

Latest figures here - https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulat...nding15may2020

The world needs more lerts.

#JohnsonHasFailedTheNation is trending on twitter.

And I've not seen this sourced, but apparently more SAGE scientists have spoken out against the lockdown being eased this early.

During a pandemic, I'd say that we need more loofs

With or without fans in the stands?

How about starting up the County Championship then?

Can't field at second slip or keep standing up to the stumps for fear of breaking social distancing guidelines.....

The ICC has certainly got COVID-19 beaten.
International Cricket Council recommends rule change banning use of saliva to shine balls post-coronavirus

Sorry, I'm on the wrong side of the Atlantic to understand your comment. :(

UK "major league" cricket. Back in the 40s the grounds would be packed. Nowadays it's one man and his dog in attendance and only if the dog hasn't had a better offer.....

Why is the government still going on about social distancing when our beaches are full & the world & his dog are on the streets?

I’m not sure about the 40s either. There’s a cartoon by Fougasse (1887-1965, responsible for some of the “careless talk costs lives” wartime posters among other things) of two men sitting alone in a huge, empty stand, captioned, “of course, there’s one thing that no foreigner will ever understand, and that’s our enthusiasm for cricket.”

If there is a 'second wave' I think the public will simply no longer comply with any new lockdown. Summer, alcohol, and a taste of freedom means a lot of people won't care.

The UK now has the capacity to perform 200,000 tests every day, ministers claim, hitting an end-of-May target set by Boris Johnson. But only 115,725 tests were recorded in the past 24 hours, including kits mailed out to people.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-52867696

British manners.

Listen, I said I would earn over £1,000,000 this year and I have achieved that by creating the capacity to recieve £100,000 a month in my bank account.

This could be significant if it catches on: Slater and Gordon to close London office as remote working becomes norm

Imagine being so utterly devoid of judgement and decency that you thought Johnson was still doing a good job!

https://punch.photoshelter.com/image/I0000os3YgQfcI7U

1932, if the filename is anything to go by.
:)

A group of 200 travel companies has written to Home Secretary Priti Patel asking for current quarantine plans for people entering the UK to be scrapped.

It follows calls last week from MPs and travel bosses to reconsider the rules.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52873689

"Surprise visits will be used to check they are following the rules."

The "surprise" will be if any are ever checked!

Well I'm sure Shipman and Hitler will be there...

It's impossible to imagi......oh, wait, I'm an American.

Yeah, in my village there's a nature reserve where a chalk quarry used to be, I normally use it for dog walking because it's usually empty and on a hot day gives them a chance to cool off, since the VE day loosening tease I've stopped using it because there's too many picnics and one of my clients who lives next to it was already complaining about all the rubbish being left behind. But on Saturday someone posted on line that the village had "swimming lakes" and the place was utterly rammed,apparently the police were there trying to get people to stay apart. i could hear the noise from there from my place. Apparently on Sunday the residents of the estate next to it barricaded the road to keep them all out and fights broke out over parking. One cul de sac nearby was still blocked off and had people manning the barrier today. This is bizarre.

Royal Ascot is only a couple of weeks away so they've got to get a move on so the Queen can be there. What's not scientific about that?

A local hospital to me, as of a couple of days ago, transferred a number of staff from the COVID ward to deal with the large increase in injury accidents. People are trying DIY that they would have normally GSI.

I think it's kind of the opposite of a dead cat. They're trying to distract from Cummings by telling people that everything is now fine and hasn't Boris handled this well? And when the wave hits in 2-4 weeks, well, that'll be the public's fault for not using their common sense while Staying Alert.

Race meeting today at Newcastle.

Please tell me there are no punters. I mean it's bad enough that the jockeys, lads and officials have to risk life and limb but I hope that there aren't thousands of punters congregating around the onsite bookies.

Yeah not open to the "general public", just like "Royal" Ascot won't be.

Oh isn't it nice to see the Queen up and about in public...