Trump Responsible for Some US Deaths?

[Airbrush]

Peter Navarro memo to Trump on Feb 23:

“...increasing probability of a full-blown COVID-19 pandemic that could infect as many as 100 million Americans, with a loss of life of as many as 1.2 million souls"

The next day, Feb 24, Trump tweeted:  "The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA."

"Despite the warnings from Navarro, Trump in the past several weeks has claimed that "nobody" could have predicted the coronavirus pandemic."

Trump said on March 19:  "I would view it as something that just surprised the whole world.  And if people would have known about it, it could have stopped – stopped being in place. Nobody knew there'd be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion. Nobody had ever seen anything like this before."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/04/07/coronavirus-peter-navarro-warned-coronavirus-january-february/2959826001/

Is Trump demonstrating catastrophic mismanagement?

Edited April 7, 2020 by Airbrush

[swansont]

33 minutes ago, Airbrush said:

Is Trump demonstrating catastrophic mismanagement?

You’re just asking this now? It’s been clearly “yes” for two months or more now, on this particular topic. (Earlier for others)

[Phi for All]

I think withholding funding from the WHO during a pandemic may make Trump responsible for some US deaths: https://www.vox.com/2020/4/15/21222756/trump-halts-who-funding-coronavirus-pandemic

In defending Trump's actions, Kellyanne Conway claimed that the WHO is too busy working on the other 18 COVID viruses to be effective in this one. Apparently, nobody told the WH that COVID-19 was named for the year it was discovered.

[iNow]

5 hours ago, Phi for All said:

Apparently, nobody told the WH that COVID-19 was named for the year it was discovered.

They're working with alternative facts

[J.C.MacSwell]

6 hours ago, Phi for All said:

I think withholding funding from the WHO during a pandemic may make Trump responsible for some US deaths: https://www.vox.com/2020/4/15/21222756/trump-halts-who-funding-coronavirus-pandemic

In defending Trump's actions, Kellyanne Conway claimed that the WHO is too busy working on the other 18 COVID viruses to be effective in this one. Apparently, nobody told the WH that COVID-19 was named for the year it was discovered.

I don't believe you. It's probably just a miscommunication. I'm sure Trump will clarify soon.

Edited April 16, 2020 by J.C.MacSwell

[Airbrush]

It will be interesting to see if there is a spike in Covid-19 among the unprotected protesters, and their family and friends, at Dem state capitals that were protesting lockdown.  I hope someone keeps track of them.  They must be very healthy people who feel invulnerable to a tiny virus.

Trump responded that the protesters were observing physical distancing "if you will believe it" he qualified.   When I saw video of protesters standing close to each other, shouting near each other's faces, I would NOT believe it.

Edited April 25, 2020 by Airbrush

[Casio]

I can't say that I got or heard full facts about what I'm going to say here, but on the TV the other day Trump was putting the view forward that people injecting dettol or detergents into themselves could possibly kill the virus. Then Trump turned to his doctors at his side and her face was a picture to the seem. At some point Trump said to the press you are all lies and Trump said he is in his words god, and what he said for the American nation goes, and he seemed quite stern the way he came across, in fact if I had of been an American voter I'd not be voting him in next time round. To me if your American you need a new President and quick.   

[J.C.MacSwell]

 

6 hours ago, Casio said:

To me if your American you need a new President and quick.   

2016 had 2 of the worst candidates running for POTUS I can really remember. (Hillary would have been a better POTUS than she was a candidate...but still)

2020 isn't looking much better...to state it optimistically.

Edited April 25, 2020 by J.C.MacSwell

[CharonY]

It is interesting (well, to put it nicely) how many folks actually think that Trump did a good job..

 

[MigL]

President Trump's strategy is simple ...

He ran on a platform of 'draining the swamp'.
He's fired four IGs in quick succession; the latest for investigating Pompeo's misuse of resources.
I guess without IG overseers ( or free press ), he can claim there is no swamp.

Similarly, since infections were found in White House staff, everyone there is tested daily; The rest of the country is way undertested.
I guess without testing, he can also claim there is no more virus.

What bothers me is his supporters, who defend him and buy into his crap.
Abuse and overreach of power, nepotism, pay to play, bribery, corruption, and the worst response to the pandemic of any civilized country, and he still has that kind of support ( people thinking he's doing a god job ) ?

[DrP]

It's similar here across the pond...  many are suggesting we 'clap for Boris' and any criticism of him is unfair...  here is his timeline of events in response to the crisis:

Timeline:

December 31st China alerts WHO to new virus.

January 23rd Study reveals a third of China’s patients require intensive care.

January 24th Boris Johnson misses first Cobra meeting.

January 29th Boris Johnson misses second Cobra meeting.

January 31st The NHS declares first ever ‘Level 4 critical incident’ Meanwhile, the government declines to join European scheme to source PPE.

February 5th Boris Johnson misses third Cobra meeting.

February 12th Boris Johnson misses fourth Cobra meeting. Exeter University published study warning Coronavirus could infect 45 million people in the UK if left unchallenged.

February 13th Boris Johnson misses conference call with European leaders.

February 14th Boris Johnson goes away on holiday. Aides are told keeps Johnson’s briefing notes short or he will not read them.

February 18th Johnson misses fifth Cobra meeting.

February 26th Boris Johnson announces ‘Herd Immunity’ strategy, announcing some people will lose loved ones. Government document is leaked, predicting half a million Brits could die in ‘worst case scenario’.

February 29th Boris Johnson retreats to his country manor. NHS warns of ‘PPE shortage nightmare’. Stockpiles have dwindled or expired after years of austerity cuts.

March 2nd Boris Johnson attends his first Cobra meeting, declining another opportunity to join European PPE scheme. Government’s own scientists say over half a million Brits could die if virus left unrestrained. Johnson tells country: “We are very, very well prepared.”

March 3rd Scientists urge Government to advise public not to shake hands. Boris Johnson brags about shaking hands of several people in hospital with Coronavirus patients.

March 4th Government stops providing daily updates on virus following a 70% spike in UK cases. They will later U-turn on this amid accusations they are withholding vital information.

March 5th Boris Johnson tells public to ‘wash their hands and business as usual’.

March 7th Boris Johnson joins 82,000 people at Six Nations match.

March 9th After Ireland cancels St Patrick’s day parades, the government says there’s “No rationale” for cancelling sporting events.

March 10th - 13th Cheltenham takes place, more than a quarter of a million people attend.

March 11th 3,000 Atletico Madrid fans fly to Liverpool.

March 12th Boris Johnson states banning events such as Cheltenham will have little effect. The Imperial College study finds the government’s plan is projected to kill half a million people.

March 13th the FA suspends the Premier League, citing an absence of Government guidance. Britain is invited to join European scheme for joint purchase of ventilators, and refuses. Boris Johnson lifts restrictions of those arriving from Coronavirus hot spots.

March 14th Government is still allowing mass gatherings, as Stereophonics play to 5,000 people in Cardiff.

March 16th Boris Johnson asks Britons not to go to pubs, but allows them to stay open. During a conference call, Johnson jokes that push to build new ventilators should be called ‘Operation Last Gasp’.

March 19th Hospital patients with Coronavirus are returned to care homes in a bid to free up hospital space. What follows is a boom of virus cases in care homes.

March 20th The Government states that PPE shortage crisis is “Completely resolved”. Less than two weeks later, the British Medical Association will report an acute shortage in PPE.

March 23rd UK goes into lockdown.

March 26th Boris Johnson is accused of putting ‘Brexit over Breathing’ by not joining EU ventilator scheme. The government then state they had not joined the scheme because they had ‘missed the email’.

April 1st The Evening Standard publishes that just 0.17% of NHS staff have been tested for the virus.

April 3rd The UK death toll overtakes China.

April 5th 17.5 million antibody tests, ordered by the government and described by Boris Johnson as a ‘game changer’ are found to be a failure.

April 7th Boris Johnson is moved to intensive care with Coronavirus.

April 16th Flights bring 15,000 people a day into the UK - without virus testing.

April 17th Health Secretary Matt Hancock says “I would love to be able to wave a magic wand and have PPE fall from the sky.” The UK has now missed four opportunities to join the EU’s PPE scheme.

April 21st The Government fails to reach its target of face masks for the NHS, as it is revealed manufactures offers of help were met with silence. Instead millions of pieces of PPE are being shipped from the UK to Europe.

April 23rd - 24th Government announces testing kits for 10 million key workers. Orders run out within minutes as only 5,000 are made available.

April 25th UK death toll from Coronavirus overtakes that of The Blitz.

April 30th Boris Johnson announces the UK has succeeded in avoiding a tragedy that had engulfed other parts of the world. At this point the UK has the 3rd highest death toll in the world.

May 1st The Government announces it has reached its target of 100,000 tests - They haven’t conducted the tests, but posted the testing kits.

May 5th The UK death toll becomes the highest in Europe.

May 6th Boris Johnson announces the UK could start to lift lockdown restrictions by next week

[J.C.MacSwell]

25 minutes ago, MigL said:

President Trump's strategy is simple ...

He ran on a platform of 'draining the swamp'.
He's fired four IGs in quick succession; the latest for investigating Pompeo's misuse of resources.
I guess without IG overseers ( or free press ), he can claim there is no swamp.

Similarly, since infections were found in White House staff, everyone there is tested daily; The rest of the country is way undertested.
I guess without testing, he can also claim there is no more virus.

What bothers me is his supporters, who defend him and buy into his crap.
Abuse and overreach of power, nepotism, pay to play, bribery, corruption, and the worst response to the pandemic of any civilized country, and he still has that kind of support ( people thinking he's doing a god job ) ?

All Trump's "antics" aside, that really isn't true. There are countries with worse numbers. France, UK, Spain, Italy, Sweden all have significantly more deaths per capita. Take out New York State and the US has numbers better than most countries that are doing comparable testing.

Obviously New York has had a tough go of it. Arguably the worst response... or arguably the worst circumstances.

I'm not buying into all of Trump's crap, but why is Trump "responsible for deaths" (not directed at you MigL, just the thread title) any more than Governor Cuomo in New York?

[CharonY]

35 minutes ago, MigL said:

President Trump's strategy is simple ...

He ran on a platform of 'draining the swamp'.
He's fired four IGs in quick succession; the latest for investigating Pompeo's misuse of resources.
I guess without IG overseers ( or free press ), he can claim there is no swamp.

Similarly, since infections were found in White House staff, everyone there is tested daily; The rest of the country is way undertested.
I guess without testing, he can also claim there is no more virus.

What bothers me is his supporters, who defend him and buy into his crap.
Abuse and overreach of power, nepotism, pay to play, bribery, corruption, and the worst response to the pandemic of any civilized country, and he still has that kind of support ( people thinking he's doing a god job ) ?

It could be well posted into the other thread as the overall strategy is pretty much the same, regardless whether there is an international crisis or something really unimportant.

It is part of a larger effort to remove accountability from their actions. Obviously, if politicians are not accountable for their actions anymore, it will boil down entirely to pundits duking it out in a fact-fee conversation. Fundamentally that will entrench positions into partisan clusters. The fatal bit is that any group that still insists on relying (at least partially) on facts, science and/or reason are likely to be pounded into submission as it is much faster to just make up things than waiting until data comes in. It also has the risk that data does not agree fully with ones position. And we just see that that happening in realtime. Typically, you would expect this only to happen in authoritarian regimes, where the government controls the information. Now it seems that folks have successfully found a way for folks to do it to themselves. Sure it was predicted some time ago, such as during the rise of the Murdoch empire, but back in my mind I had always the thought that actual challenges (say a pandemic...) would bring folks to their senses as the impact could not be talked away by pundits. Obviously, I was wrong.

 

 

[MigL]

Considering the ruckus that was made over the death of 3000 people on 9/11, and the trouble three successive governments went to, to mitigate and punish the perpetrators of the incident, I find the government's nonchalant attitude regarding the death of >90 000 people slightly unsettling. Re-election is more important than lives.
That's 92 000 people, so far ...

Other world leaders are not much better. And I ( and many other countries ) aren't letting China off the hook either.
If China didn't want to politicise the Dovid-19 response, thy should have at least allowed Taiwan's observer status at the WHO, and the WHO should have heeded Taiwan's warnings in December instead of being China's mouthpiece and claiming there was no human-to-human transmission for three weeks. Saving face is more important than lives.

But as bad as all the others are, none of them, not even B Johnson, has ever suggested people inject bleach disinfectant, or shine a UV llight up their butt.

[CharonY]

13 minutes ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

I'm not buying into all of Trump's crap, but why is Trump "responsible for deaths" (not directed at you MigL, just the thread title) any more than Governor Cuomo in New York?

That I can answer. These levels of crises generally require somewhat centralized responses. States are not able to track or control international travel, for example. Now we have documented it before, but the big issue with the WH response is not only that they were too late in their response (which to various levels was also the case in other countries). But the problem is that even once the issue was recognized, the WH continued to downplay the risks and contradicting their own experts, which effectively puts folks at risk. And obviously there are federal responses to, say PPE seizure and redistribution that appear to be confusing at best. They might be redistributing them to where they are needed, for example, though the WH says that everyone has enough (thus indicating seizures and redistribution are not needed) whereas local leaders indicate that they are in a bidding war to actually get supplies.

So not only being inactive, the actual actions are problematic or at least unexplained. None of which is good in a crisis. In other words, if you are given the power to actually coordinate efforts around the country but cannot make up your mind even within a single interview whether a crisis actually exists, I think it is fair to state that one is not fulfilling ones responsibility. 

Now going back to the impact, other countries that were hit harder, also had the issue of belated responses. Effectively for most of the Western world Italy was the start signal, rather than China. But the difference is that after that most governments (local and federal) kind of agreed on a strategy, and started implementing them. Meanwhile, the US had a strategy and then they basically said that they are not necessary (including their own guidance, or shelving guidance from the CDC). Yes the US has lower population density overall resulting in less spread in certain areas, similar to, say Canada there are hotspots. But even so death rates are close to much more densely populated areas. But perhaps worse than that, the other countries that have been hit harder, are flattening the curve. New cases are dropping across the board (except perhaps the UK), with levels around 12-15% compared to peak times. The US, is still at around 70%. 

And it is hard to believe that the political climate in the US is not at at fault for that. The US has some of the finest institutions in the world to deal with these issues- and normally states would be expected to fall in line when the Feds are creating strong responses. Now we have got folks thinking that it is a hoax.

[iNow]

57 minutes ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

I'm not buying into all of Trump's crap, but why is Trump "responsible for deaths"

Besides the people who died merely by following his shit advice directly (drink Clorox?), there’s also the issue of all the weeks he spent downplaying things and trying to spin information so he wouldn’t look bad... every second he was unclear and was prevaricating could’ve instead been used manufacturing tests and PPE and generating support for a collective “we’re all in this together, let’s wear masks” response.  Even today, wearing masks has become political, he forces his people to take them off in meetings, and he’s contradicting the advise of his own experts. Tens of thousand of deaths could’ve been avoided, but he was too busy blaming Obama like a fucking toddler 

[CharonY]

1 hour ago, MigL said:

If China didn't want to politicise the Dovid-19 response, thy should have at least allowed Taiwan's observer status at the WHO, and the WHO should have heeded Taiwan's warnings in December instead of being China's mouthpiece and claiming there was no human-to-human transmission for three weeks.

While I agree with the general sentiment (though Taiwan's status was always problematic, and it was always in a state of "we do not want to talk about it"; things may change now that there finally movement from Taiwan to drop the one China view- i.e. claiming to be the "real" but no acknowledged China so to say. Mainland China will still block it, but at least it would make it easier for other countries to support Taiwan.). But I think you got the timeline wrong. Taiwan did not issue any warnings in December 2019. On the 31st Taiwan only sent a request for more information to Beijing and the WHO. Only on Jan 13-15th did a Taiwanese team arrive in Wuhan and there they found a family that appears to be indicative of human to human transmission. It took until the 20th for Chinese researchers to publicly state that there were human-to human transmission and WHO followed suit two days later.

So while Taiwan may have been suspicious, they were not sure, either. It is true that China should have engaged more aggressively (or truthfully) inf figuring the risk of human-human transmission rather than sitting on the fence on it. In fact even while sitting on the fence they should erred on the side of caution. And that bit is where the Taiwanese criticism came from:

The text of the mail from Taiwan was as follows:

Quote

"News resources today indicate that at least seven atypical pneumonia cases were reported in Wuhan, CHINA. Their health authorities replied to the media that the cases were believed not SARS; however the samples are still under examination, and cases have been isolated for treatment. I would greatly appreciate it if you have relevant information to share with us. Thank you very much in advance for your attention to this matter."

The bit they are now highlighting is the fact that folks were put in isolation- a good precaution, but the question is whether that is also indicative of risk of human-human transmission. I.e. if folks were careful about that, why was it not announced as such more broadly? The flipside of course is if folks claimed transmission resulting in lockdowns and it turns out  not to be true, there would likely also be unpleasant consequences.

Now, from the viewpoint of the WHO, unless there were more unreported exchanges, I can see why the mail itself would not be sufficient to change the narrative. Assuming that they were informed regarding the thoughts on the Taiwanese team (which included folks from Macau and Hong Kong) there was a delay of about a week. But I have not found reports on further exchanges so far.

Also, it should go without saying, but during that time there was obviously no way to accurately diagnose COVID-19. The genome was published January 11 (I think) first tests were developed about a week after?

The only thing to go on were pulmonary disease that was not flu. So while initial response was botched, it is difficult (without insider information) to figure out how much was actually known at any given point. Prior to mid-end January.

[MigL]

Information regarding the Taiwan timeline was recollections of the Time article I read this morning...

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/taiwan-says-it-tried-to-warn-the-world-about-coronavirus-here-s-what-it-really-knew-and-when/ar-BB14jlTX?ocid=msedgntp

"In the weeks following the Dec. 31 note, the WHO echoed Chinese officials that there was “no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission”— even as cases began cropping up that raised suspicion of contagion."

While the China vs US ( and a lot of other countries ) comes from this NYT article...

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/u-s-china-feud-over-coronavirus-erupts-at-world-health-assembly/ar-BB14iUmT?ocid=msedgntp

"Earlier, Trump administration officials denounced China’s aid announcement as an attempt to influence the W.H.O., which is facing pressure from member states to investigate whether it was complicit in Beijing’s lack of transparency in the early days of the outbreak in Wuhan."

Edited May 20, 2020 by MigL

[CharonY]

I think the first article at least references a similar timeline as the one that I have seen. So roughly having first evidence around 15th of January.

But perhaps taking a step back, this is an issue which epidemiologists, medical professionals and microbiologists are facing. At which point do we make a call? Is circumstantial evidence enough? But if you are wrong there is a chance that you are considered an alarmist and with enough backlash it could sink your career. This is especially problematic if you live in an authoritarian regime, of course. But even elsewhere, if you piss of the folks from granting agencies or those you rely on to conduct your research, it may kill your future chances.

Or just say something after you have ironclad evidence? But then it may be too late and folks may consider yourself incompetent. There is a huge pressure for not being wrong (and I think partially that also explains the sluggish response in many countries) and in this case it came to bite us. Hard.

[MigL]

My apologies CharonY, I edited my post to include discussable quotes.

[CharonY]

37 minutes ago, MigL said:

My apologies CharonY, I edited my post to include discussable quotes.

Well, yes we could discuss those, but ultimately the increase of cases starting January was what ultimately solidified concerns of human to human spread. The fear was also driven by the upcoming Chinese New Year which would have had massive consequences, which were at least somewhat mitigated (luckily).

But again, starting January there were more cases which could indicate transmission of it, but as it could not be diagnosed clearly it was still suspicion at that point. The correct (in hindsight) reaction would have been to assume transmission, unless proved otherwise, rather than doing the opposite. I have yet to see hard evidence that should have forced the WHO to change its stance at that point. Unless, of course we can agree on stopping criticizing the WHO when they make calls for caution that do not turn into predicted disasters. I.e. if we allow them to make more cautionary calls. But I think a lot of countries (not only China) would not agree to that, either.

And that goes to my previous post, which level (without the luxury of hindsight) of caution can we agree to?

[MigL]

Now that D Trump's approval rating has dropped 4 points in the last month, and he trails J Biden by 8 points, I'm surprised he is still concentrating on China.

I would have thought by now, he'd suggest that SARS-COV2 is a man made virus, specifically by the Democrats ( and that bi*ch N Pelosi ) and the fake-news organizations ( all of them ? ), to oust him from power.
In all likelihood 99.9% of his followers will believe him.

[swansont]

3 minutes ago, MigL said:

Now that D Trump's approval rating has dropped 4 points in the last month, and he trails J Biden by 8 points, I'm surprised he is still concentrating on China.

I would have thought by now, he'd suggest that SARS-COV2 is a man made virus, specifically by the Democrats ( and that bi*ch N Pelosi ) and the fake-news organizations ( all of them ? ), to oust him from power.
In all likelihood 99.9% of his followers will believe him.

I don't know if he, specifically, has made that suggestion, but others in his administration have strongly suggested it was engineered by China, and Eric T. made the statement that it will magically disappear (echoing his dad) in November, after the election, because it's a conspiracy to keep his dad from holding rallies. 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coronavirus-will-magically-disappear-by-november-eric-trump-says-2020-05-17?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo

[CharonY]

How US-centric can one get? Jeez. 

[John Cuthber]

On 5/20/2020 at 12:38 AM, DrP said:

It's similar here across the pond...  many are suggesting we 'clap for Boris' and any criticism of him is unfair...  here is his timeline of events in response to the crisis:

Timeline:

December 31st China alerts WHO to new virus.

January 23rd Study reveals a third of China’s patients require intensive care.

January 24th Boris Johnson misses first Cobra meeting.

January 29th Boris Johnson misses second Cobra meeting.

January 31st The NHS declares first ever ‘Level 4 critical incident’ Meanwhile, the government declines to join European scheme to source PPE.

February 5th Boris Johnson misses third Cobra meeting.

February 12th Boris Johnson misses fourth Cobra meeting. Exeter University published study warning Coronavirus could infect 45 million people in the UK if left unchallenged.

February 13th Boris Johnson misses conference call with European leaders.

February 14th Boris Johnson goes away on holiday. Aides are told keeps Johnson’s briefing notes short or he will not read them.

February 18th Johnson misses fifth Cobra meeting.

February 26th Boris Johnson announces ‘Herd Immunity’ strategy, announcing some people will lose loved ones. Government document is leaked, predicting half a million Brits could die in ‘worst case scenario’.

February 29th Boris Johnson retreats to his country manor. NHS warns of ‘PPE shortage nightmare’. Stockpiles have dwindled or expired after years of austerity cuts.

March 2nd Boris Johnson attends his first Cobra meeting, declining another opportunity to join European PPE scheme. Government’s own scientists say over half a million Brits could die if virus left unrestrained. Johnson tells country: “We are very, very well prepared.”

March 3rd Scientists urge Government to advise public not to shake hands. Boris Johnson brags about shaking hands of several people in hospital with Coronavirus patients.

March 4th Government stops providing daily updates on virus following a 70% spike in UK cases. They will later U-turn on this amid accusations they are withholding vital information.

March 5th Boris Johnson tells public to ‘wash their hands and business as usual’.

March 7th Boris Johnson joins 82,000 people at Six Nations match.

March 9th After Ireland cancels St Patrick’s day parades, the government says there’s “No rationale” for cancelling sporting events.

March 10th - 13th Cheltenham takes place, more than a quarter of a million people attend.

March 11th 3,000 Atletico Madrid fans fly to Liverpool.

March 12th Boris Johnson states banning events such as Cheltenham will have little effect. The Imperial College study finds the government’s plan is projected to kill half a million people.

March 13th the FA suspends the Premier League, citing an absence of Government guidance. Britain is invited to join European scheme for joint purchase of ventilators, and refuses. Boris Johnson lifts restrictions of those arriving from Coronavirus hot spots.

March 14th Government is still allowing mass gatherings, as Stereophonics play to 5,000 people in Cardiff.

March 16th Boris Johnson asks Britons not to go to pubs, but allows them to stay open. During a conference call, Johnson jokes that push to build new ventilators should be called ‘Operation Last Gasp’.

March 19th Hospital patients with Coronavirus are returned to care homes in a bid to free up hospital space. What follows is a boom of virus cases in care homes.

March 20th The Government states that PPE shortage crisis is “Completely resolved”. Less than two weeks later, the British Medical Association will report an acute shortage in PPE.

March 23rd UK goes into lockdown.

March 26th Boris Johnson is accused of putting ‘Brexit over Breathing’ by not joining EU ventilator scheme. The government then state they had not joined the scheme because they had ‘missed the email’.

April 1st The Evening Standard publishes that just 0.17% of NHS staff have been tested for the virus.

April 3rd The UK death toll overtakes China.

April 5th 17.5 million antibody tests, ordered by the government and described by Boris Johnson as a ‘game changer’ are found to be a failure.

April 7th Boris Johnson is moved to intensive care with Coronavirus.

April 16th Flights bring 15,000 people a day into the UK - without virus testing.

April 17th Health Secretary Matt Hancock says “I would love to be able to wave a magic wand and have PPE fall from the sky.” The UK has now missed four opportunities to join the EU’s PPE scheme.

April 21st The Government fails to reach its target of face masks for the NHS, as it is revealed manufactures offers of help were met with silence. Instead millions of pieces of PPE are being shipped from the UK to Europe.

April 23rd - 24th Government announces testing kits for 10 million key workers. Orders run out within minutes as only 5,000 are made available.

April 25th UK death toll from Coronavirus overtakes that of The Blitz.

April 30th Boris Johnson announces the UK has succeeded in avoiding a tragedy that had engulfed other parts of the world. At this point the UK has the 3rd highest death toll in the world.

May 1st The Government announces it has reached its target of 100,000 tests - They haven’t conducted the tests, but posted the testing kits.

May 5th The UK death toll becomes the highest in Europe.

May 6th Boris Johnson announces the UK could start to lift lockdown restrictions by next week

You missed the bit where it took until this week to come up with any sort of controls/ checks at the border.

 

39 minutes ago, CharonY said:

How US-centric can one get? Jeez. 

About as US centric as the US.
But, by thunder, you have to work at it.