MAY: Wednesday the 13th
Shrinking Giants
At PMQ’s, Kier Starmer accused the government1 of “seeding” the care home epidemic by moving in hospital patients with or recovering from COVID. Boris Johnson denied the existence of the published care homes advice and stated it was “very unlikely” residents would become infected with the virus. The report, showing widespread COVID presence in care homes across the UK and the discharge of hospital patients into care homes, some of whom had COVID, is freely available2 to the public.
Johnson, who is struggling to deal with effective opposition in parliament, also failed to address why charts comparing death tolls across Europe have disappeared from the daily government briefing presentations since Britain’s death toll3 became the continents highest. 33,186. 494 today.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak4 said there will probably be a recession. GDP shrunk by 2% in the first quarter of this year alone. On the plus side large scale infrastructure projects such as HS2 and Heathrow’s third runway may be finally forced through to prop things up, recession is an abstract for actual people until they lose their jobs. The slimy suits industry was placated by the announcement that golf courses5 are now allowed to open, in England. Even if deals can’t be clinched on the green an alibi for cheating on corporate wives is back in play. Swing on Richard, Head of Acquisitions.
Another reason to hit the course is the sudden awakening of this city. As predicted by everyone, the opening of urban workplaces meant public transport across London6 was rammed, but better elsewhere. The pictures are unbelievable considering how careful we were so recently, are meant be being. The tube was made a subterranean pathogen paradise. It also appears that firms have been falsely signing up7 their staff to the furlough scheme and pocketing the money themselves, dobbed in by whistleblowing, cheated, employees.
Bad news then, as the scheme and so the fraud might be around a while yet. The WHO is musing publicly that COVID-19 might never be eradicated8 and as if to confirm this Jilin City9 in northeast China, population 3.6million, has partially locked down after a cases cluster was discovered. Lesotho recording its first case3 means COVID has now spread to every African country. Better news, for China (84,464 cases, 6 new, 4,644 deaths, 0 new) at least, is the former head of MI5 has joined Australia’s (6,975, 11, 98, 13) spooks in dismissing the theory10 the virus originated in a lab. German intelligence11 apparently think the opposite but Parker should know. He only stepped down two weeks ago.
Sweden’s ‘leave it to the people’ approach to COVID took has taken another bash with the news the government plans to hire 10,00012 more nursing home carers. Half of all deaths13 in Sweden (3,460, 147 new, 27,909 cases, 637 new) have been among nursing home residents. Afghanistan3 has passed 5,000 cases, (372 new, 136 deaths, 9 new) and Mexico (38,324, 1,997, 3,926, 353) and Brazil (177,589, 9,258, 12,400, 8813) have reported thier highest14 daily death tolls yet. Worrying then that Mexico’s government has said restrictions will ease in certain less affected counties15 from next Monday.
The last thing worth mentioning is Sebastian Vettel leaving16 Ferrari’s F1 team, a sporting juggernaut of my childhood, reduced first to frustration after his four consecutive world championships and now off to who knows where. Six years ago he was the young King of motorsport. I read the news after finishing laying a patio with Grandad, which made his heyday seem all the longer ago. Children don’t lay patios. Not that these adults did it with any learned elegance.
1 Catherine Neilan for The Telegraph Care home row erupts as PM accuses Starmer of quoting advice 'misleadingly and selectively' 2 Care Quality Commission COVID-19 Insight published 10th May 2020. 3 WHO Situation Report – 115 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) 4 Faisil Islam for The BBC Coronavirus: Chancellor Rishi Sunak warns of 'significant recession' 5 Kieth Jackson for Sky Sports Golfers in England permitted to play with people from outside own household from Wednesday 6 Talia Shadwell & Dan Bloom for The Mirror Tubes and trains crowded on first day back for workers under new lockdown rules 7 Sarah Butler for The Guardian Nearly 800 reports of people defrauding UK furlough scheme 8 Al Jazeera Coronavirus: WHO says ‘this virus may never go away’ 9 CGTN China's Jilin City tightens COVID-19 control measures 10 Royal Society of Medicine RSM In Conversation Live with Sir Andrew Parker 11 BBC News German spy agency 'believed Covid likely started in lab' 12 The Local Se Sweden rolls out billion-kronor cash boost for elderly care 13 The Local Se Sweden pledges to give up to 10,000 care workers permanent jobs 14 Martin Farrer for The Guardian Global report: Brazil and Mexico record deadliest day from Covid-19 15 Mary Beth Sheridan for The Washington Post Mexico to start reopening border region, other areas as coronavirus lockdown eases 16 Andrew Benson for BBC Sport Sebastian Vettel to leave Ferrari at end of Formula 1 season