Main Coronavirus / Covid-19 Discussion Thread

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Heard Hanoncock earlier explaining how the two different track and trace apps have both been in deveopment as is standard practice in business. He was lying - you could hear it in his voice. In the pharmaceutical industry, a company will have one lead compound and it will be this that goes into the eye-wateringly expensive clinical development phase. Nobody takes rival platforms in parallel into human testing. He is relying on the fact that some early work with the rival platform will have been done. His claim is a bit like West Yorkshire police saying they had a parallel investigation on Peter Sutcliffe when they were chasing 'Wearside Jack', based on the fact that Sutcliff's name came up at a meeting and was dismissed.

 

[ManOfSussex]

I think pubs restaurants gyms should be reopened in albeit a strict controlled way. Throughout latter few weeks of lockdown street parties were going on albeit outdoors and we've had protests with thousands gathering, Manchester raves with alleged 2000+ involved (no social distancing). I admit again, it's outdoor gatherings which the virus is less transmittable but pubs with punters being careful and even limit the amount you can sup surely would be no more risk than say hundreds piling into a primark store.

Alcohol and being careful aren't the easiest things to combine though. I don't really fancy going into a pub to get served by someone wearing PPE from behind a perspex screen, but I'm sure they'll open though.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Heard Hanoncock earlier explaining how the two different track and trace apps have both been in deveopment as is standard practice in business. He was lying - you could hear it in his voice. He claimed this is standard in business. This is also a lie. In the pharmaceutical industry, a company will have one lead compound and it will be this that goes into the eye-wateringly expensive clinical development phase. Nobody takes rival platforms in parallel into human testing. He is relying on the fact that some early work with the rival platform will have been done. His claim is a bit like West Yorkshire police saying they had a parallel investigation on Peter Sutcliffe when they were chasing 'Wearside Jack', based on the fact that Sutcliff's name came up at a meeting and was dismissed.

Having spent many years responsible for software development in businesses across various sectors, I can confirm that what Hancock said is completely untrue. Why on earth would you waste any resource on 'developing an app' in parallel, vertical or any other way, when you are aware there is an underlying critical technical issue which was highlighted, publicly, at the concept stage ?

Apart from which, if there is a 'secret second app' that has been developed in parallel, (and I can't believe I'm indulging in this bullshit), why don't we simply go ahead with that, rather than start again and wait another 6 months ?

It is what I believe is commonly known in modern parlance as 'Barnard Castle'.

Complete and utter bollocks which is totally unbelievable to anyone with a brain cell

 

[oldboyroy]

Alcohol and being careful aren't the easiest things to combine though. I don't really fancy going into a pub to get served by someone wearing PPE from behind a perspex screen, but I'm sure they'll open though.

I agree alcohol and being careful don't mix but limit the amount U can be served(for a trial period) and I think most would adhere to it. 2 months ago there were gatherings in street where I was almost daily and by time evening came yes, it wasn't social distant and I hazard a guess that was going on thousands of times throughout the UK but infections have decreased over that time.

 

[beorhthelm]

Heard Hanoncock earlier explaining how the two different track and trace apps have both been in deveopment as is standard practice in business. He was lying - you could hear it in his voice. In the pharmaceutical industry, a company will have one lead compound and it will be this that goes into the eye-wateringly expensive clinical development phase. Nobody takes rival platforms in parallel into human testing. He is relying on the fact that some early work with the rival platform will have been done. His claim is a bit like West Yorkshire police saying they had a parallel investigation on Peter Sutcliffe when they were chasing 'Wearside Jack', based on the fact that Sutcliff's name came up at a meeting and was dismissed.

i dont think for a moment it would be by clever strategic leadership on his behalf, there might be some nugget of truth. he probably only found out yesturday. its quite possible that alternative prototypes have been designed and developed, as its relatively cheap to do so unlike pharma development. i know my company has multiple programmes for similar objectives, sometimes by mismanagement, sometimes only slideware, sometimes to see which is better solution. small team could have been working on Google/Apple approved route the past month, you'd be surprised how quick good devs can knock out functional stuff. scares crap out of me when they want to release it to live, another issue.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

i dont think for a moment it would be by clever strategic leadership on his behalf, there might be some nugget of truth. he probably only found out yesturday. its quite possible that alternative prototypes have been designed and developed, as its relatively cheap to do so unlike pharma development. i know my company has multiple programmes for similar objectives, sometimes by mismanagement, sometimes only slideware, sometimes to see which is better solution. small team could have been working on Google/Apple approved route the past month, you'd be surprised how quick good devs can knock out functional stuff. scares crap out of me when they want to release it to live, another issue.

No, indeed.

But the tracing app is a really tricky blighter that is not expected to be functional till September. HMG famously initially rejected the version they have now gone for. For Handcock to suggest that both versions were being tested in competition simply isn't true.

It is now a hallmark of HMG that when they do a U turn they then claim this is part of their overall plan, heaping praise on others (such as Rashford) only when the original suggestion to U turn had been made by Starmer. I don't mind U turns per se - shows flexibility and decisiveness. What I don't like is so many examples of the first plan being stupid, sometimes linked to financial interest of friends of the party, and then all the lies and maniplulation when the U turn happens.

 

[vegster]

Debt has is larger than GDP for the first time since 1963

We will be paying this back long after we are gone.

£300m and £600m seem quite popular figures in that list ? Surely a lot or rounding up going on there on these applications ?

 

[nicko31]

Bank of England have published the list of the biggest loans given out under the government scheme. Few eye openers

Spurs £175m, I choked on my coffee.

Have to say I'm pretty impressed a Tory government has made it to 100% GDP to debt, its some achievement Covid or no Covid when you consider the austerity over the past decade

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Spurs £175m, I choked on my coffee.

Have to say I'm pretty impressed a Tory government has made it to 100% GDP to debt, its some achievement Covid or no Covid when you consider the austerity over the past decade

It’s mad.

Absolutely mad

Levy/Lewis are pond scum

 

[sydney]

Debt has is larger than GDP for the first time since 1963

We will be paying this back long after we are gone.

some of those figures really bro beggar belief .....ffs.

 

[nicko31]

It’s mad.

Absolutely mad

Levy/Lewis are pond scum

I think the Sunak honeymoon will soon be over.

 

[The Wizard]

Easy Jet on there when they apparently have billions in cash reserves?

 

[Yoda]

Easy Jet on there when they apparently have billions in cash reserves?

And people were moaning about Virgin when most of Branson's fortune is locked up in existing assets.

 

[Machiavelli]

Easy Jet on there when they apparently have billions in cash reserves?

Easyjet were paying out dividends at about the same time when they were claiming that money.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

https://twitter.com/euronews/status/1270294720183484416?s=21

 

[The Wizard]

I’m not a small business owner, but I must say seeing that list it must be sickening to business owners all over the U.K, many of whom are having to shut up shop permanently due to rent demands and obviously lack of business, to see some of the companies on that list who earn 400M a year profits taking hundreds of millions in loans whilst they go out of business for the sake of a few thousand pounds seems deeply unjust.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I’m not a small business owner, but I must say seeing that list it must be sickening to business owners all over the U.K, many of whom are having to shut up shop permanently due to rent demands and obviously lack of business, to see some of the companies on that list who earn 400M a year profits taking hundreds of millions in loans whilst they go out of business for the sake of a few thousand pounds seems deeply unjust.

I want to see an audit after this is done

I know of a couple of companies who have furloughed Uk staff and are paying cheaper overseas staff to outsource at the moment

 

[beorhthelm]

Bank of England have published the list of the biggest loans given out under the government scheme. Few eye openers

you mean all those european businesses seeking loans for their UK operations?

 

[The Wizard]

50K new cases in Brazil recorded in one day, awful.

 

[Weststander]

The utter stupidity of Republican politicians, encouraged by their mate Trump, in ending much of lockdown at the beginning of May.

A fortnight later on 14 May, Florida Governor boasted “We were reasonable. We trusted the people to act appropriately and we've had better results than some of the states that you've seen.' Florida had 35,000 confirmed cases when he acted, now its 90,000 and growing fast. Inadvertently, he proved that lockdowns work.



A similar story in Texas which lifted much of lockdown on 1 May.