Tag: Virus

Don’t assume the Lockdown and 5G are part of a Conspiracy when Government stupidity can be blamed. It would be better to ask why normal people are already thinking this way

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People are looking for answers right now, even though it might appear that many are still supportive of the Lockdown and the so-called fight to ‘protect the NHS’.

They don’t realise it, but the lack of clarity, straight-talking and honesty on the part of Senior Politicians is making a situation that every one of us is finding tremendously difficult so much worse than it ever needed to be.

Unfortunately, the reason that Ministers behave as if they are the only people who know what to do in a crisis is that British political culture has conditioned ambitious, self-serving and weak-minded politicians to behave in this way over a period of many years.

Put simply, there is an inherent belief in today’s political culture that to admit, hint or suggest that they don’t know what they are doing or they don’t have the answer to any question at that moment in time will be seen as a sign of weakness and therefore something that they should never admit to – even on pain of death.

Conversely, the reality during a national crisis would be that for an MP, Minister or the Prime Minister to get up in front of a camera and say ‘we don’t have all the answers, but we are going to work this through and always do the best that we can’ would resonate with normal people in a way that would make perfect sense.

Instead, we have had our freedoms restricted and and the opening stages of a police state forced upon us by a Lockdown which is dubious at best and is in the process of leading to financial and life hardship for many millions of people – the number of which will completely eclipse any benefit that the Lockdown will bring.

The Government doesn’t know what it is doing. But believes its best interests are served by doing everything to make the public believe that it does.

The gap between what the Government says and does is growing. It has opened up what began as a simple communication void when they began telling us what they wanted us to hear and think about COVID-19 instead of what they themselves thought.

That void is now growing day by day.

Normal people like you and I are looking for reason and explanation to explain the experiences that we are having in our own lives that runs contrary to everything that we are seeing and hearing on the news, media and from the mouths of the Politicians themselves.

When we experience a void like this, it is natural to want to bridge the gap and make sense of what is actually happening.

The dots are literally not joining up for many people and what the Government is doing simply doesn’t make sense.

Into this gap jumps the conspiracy theories that make sense when other things do not.

Yes, many mock the tin-foil-hat brigade and speakers such as David Icke. But they may be having the last laugh when they are leveraging genuine truths – however small they might be for their own causes, when the Government is failing to even try to use the same information in honest and open communication to support good strategies and right-minded thinking.

Let’s take the 5G link with Coronavirus as an example.

In the weeks leading up to the Lockdown, the Government was engaged in a process of considering the purchase of 5G technologies from the Chinese firm Huawai. The concerns of a security risk were talked up amid the then almost certain reality that Huawai is to all intents and purposes a commercial conduit required to undertake the Chinese Government’s bidding at will. Having access to the 5G networks through hardware installation would facilitate access for the Chinese Government to otherwise secure private, commercial, military and government data streams, which could be repurposed for all sorts of malevolent uses – if dishonesty were to be their aim or way of working. Despite the advice, Boris Johnson gave the go-ahead.

Whilst this was happening, COVID-19 had began its pathway to the wider world from its recognised start in Wuhan in China. But instead of being open and honest, the Chinese Government obfuscated and covered up what was actually happening with Coronavirus on the Chinese mainland and denied other Countries around the World invaluable time to do more to prevent or slow the spread of Coronavirus before it arrived both in the UK and became the Worldwide pandemic that it now is.

So when it comes to the spread of Coronavirus and the impact it is having here and in other parts of the World, China is being blamed.

China is being blamed because it has been dishonest about COVID-19 in its own Country – where it has open control of information, when days and weeks before this there was the suggestion that it would be dishonest and do dishonest things with information and spread viruses via a system that would secretly be under its control if it were allowed to be involved in UK 5G.

Fact: Telecommunications technology cannot spread a viral disease that affects the human body. But it can be used to spread viruses and other corruptive software through our computers and infect our online lives and potentially though 5G, our lives in every sense.

Laugh as you might, many people do not recognise a difference between a virus that is malware and a virus that will make you ill.

Likewise, when people hear lots of talk about China being allowed to install 5G against the advice of those who think they will use the access for dishonest means and then within weeks China is outed as being dishonest about the spread of an illness which has already affected us all in the UK in some way, it does not take a giant leap of the imagination to see and understand how some of us have built that bridge and joined up the dots.

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that everyone else looks at life through the same lens that we do and that they understand everything in exactly the same way as we do ourselves.

But they don’t.

In fact the way we look at anything – no matter what it is – is always on the basis of the past experiences that we have had which relate to that subject before. It doesn’t matter if its food, money, relationships or what we understand a certain word like virus to mean, it’s all the same when it comes to the reality that we can all be looking at the same thing and each of us see it in a different way.

People need to make sense of the things that they don’t understand. So when the Government misuses the de facto position of public trust that it has been given through democratic process, those who understandably revere and trust the position and power of the Government will look for reasons that are unspoken to explain what the government is actually doing, when it isn’t talking, communicating or acting in a way that is coherent, makes sense, is honest and above all presents itself in a way that engages and allows everyone across our society to understand.

 

 

 

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Why it’s time to end the Lockdown & how to let life resume and face whatever happens next

img_551713 days into this brave new world and you can see that the novelty of the Lockdown and social distancing is beginning to wear thin.

A week from now, the news that 3 weeks of this was just the start of something much longer will be beginning to sink in.

But by then the pain will already be less about being kept inside our homes. It will be more about how people can continue to live and the question of how businesses will survive an indefinite Lockdown, just so they can get to the end of the Lockdown and still exist.

There is a disaster unfolding behind the media coverage and focus on equipping and preparing the NHS to treat a significant number of critical-case Coronavirus Patients.

This real crisis is much bigger than many could comprehend, even if it was something that they could now visibly see.

Already there are businesses that have closed for the Lockdown that will never reopen. Others will close as the Lockdown continues. Some will survive until it is clear they cannot service a growing mountain of debt that accumulates daily, simply because the Government did not think through the implications of what a full Lockdown would mean on so much of our business sector and industry.

The Government has simply failed to comprehend how businesses and the people who own and run them need to be supported so that they will be there to provide services, products and employment for the many others who will need them when the time comes to restart.

Yet to hear the media and read the non-stop commentary wherever you look, the only game in town is ‘Protecting the NHS’.

Don’t get me wrong, we need the NHS to be fully equipped and ready to do the best for people that it can. But with Field Hospitals like the London Nightingale now open and others around the Country clearly earmarked for opening very soon, the political focus needs to move swiftly to the unseen crisis that is beginning to evolve across our Country.

The hard truth is that deaths that will sooner or later become inevitable anyway should really be a lower level priority against what is now set to become a very extensive list of problems that people attempting to live their lives are having to or soon will have to face.

It feels very unpalatable to even think, let alone say that you have to accept and be prepared to let some people die, so that the majority of others can continue to live.

The problem is that it is also the truth.

The Government has backed itself into a corner by implementing the Lockdown. There is no risk-free way out.

Coronavirus Testing will be too slow to be any help in reducing the time it will take to try and manage the process of infection for the whole population.

Using tools such as Immunity Certificates would create massive social problems – if the Government then used the force that would be necessary to keep people who haven’t had Coronavirus at home – which is what they would have to do if they let those who have had it are able to have lives and everyone else does everything they can to catch it, so they can do the same too.

Whilst no politician wants to hear it said of them that they deliberately let people die when some of them could be saved, the harsh reality is that if we are to get out of this Crisis and the Coronavirus Pandemic in the best shape possible, we must all accept that in the world we live in, a life isn’t life if a person cannot actually live.

It is difficult for some to understand this, because in the form of the personal tragedies that we see rolled out continually on TV and the stories of he NHS in crisis that we hear daily, Coronavirus has given the intrinsic fear of death that we all share both a face and a name. It has taken on a very visual and highly emotive form.

The reality is that people are going to die from Coronavirus with or without the Lockdown and it would be much healthier for people, the whole Country and our economy if the Lockdown was ended and we got life restarted as quickly as possible and then dealt with each case of Coronavirus and its respective knock-on effects as we go along.

The genuinely vulnerable members of our society who are likely to be most at risk will continue to be at the same level of risk until a vaccine has been identified, tested and administered to them.

The time that it would take as a minimum to vaccinate everyone – given what will be a worldwide demand – will simply be too long for any civilized Country to wait for whilst keeping a shutdown in place.

Our high-profile Politicians like to talk up the Crisis as if it is like fighting a war. In the Second World War when Campaigns such as Operation Overlord and the D-Day Landings were planned, Prime Ministers, Presidents and the advising Generals around them literally worked out how many lives they would have to sacrifice on the battlefield to get the job done, so that the wider populations of their Countries and the World itself would win the fight against oppression in the end.

Such responsibility and leadership in strategic thinking is required of the leaders that we have now. The Politicians have talked the talk to win power. Now they must walk the walk to enact that power and see this through.

The implications of the Lockdown would not have been nearly so bad, had the Government taken an even handed and fair approach to mitigating the impact of the imposed standstill on workers of every kind and businesses alike.

But they didn’t, and this means that how the end of the Lockdown and the restart of life is managed must take into consideration where things are right now and where they will be rather than where they were before it started, because this whole situation is evolving each and every day.

It’s time for the Lockdown to end now. It’s time for life to restart.

There is no perfect way to plan the fight against Coronavirus, or to put together a strategy for ending the Lockdown, letting life restart and managing cases of Coronavirus either now or thereafter. There are simply too many unknowns and variables within what is a live and evolving Crisis for that ever to be the way.

However, we can ask that the Politicians do their best, and in terms of ending the Lockdown now and getting life back on track, these are some of the key things that they can now do.

Notification of Coronavirus Symptoms

Perhaps the key factor or source of information that the Government needs going forward, is clear and decisive record of who has experienced Coronavirus Symptoms – even if no medical intervention has been involved.

  • Upon first experiencing Coronavirus Symptoms, individuals should be able to Register using their individual identification data on the Government Portal.
  • This responsibility to register would become that of parents, carers and guardians for children and vulnerable people
  • Nobody should be able to claim Coronavirus Sickness Benefit without having registered first.
  • In the first instance and until such time as it is confirmed whether Symptoms of Coronavirus could be suffered more than once, individuals would be able to claim only once,
  • The data can then be used to distribute the Coronavirus Antibody Test once it is universally available and thereby technically available to all
  • On completion of registration, the Government Portal should allocate a unique reference number for every individual to use to claim benefits such as Coronavirus Sick Pay and payment holidays

The NHS

It will remain essential to keep resources flowing towards the NHS so that it can manage the critical stages of the Coronavirus related illness that some people will inevitable suffer – just as they are now.

Field Hospitals, Intensive Care Units, Ventilator numbers and the recruitment rate of staff will have to continue to rise until the natural infection rate and the number of people it will effect critically at any particular time has been reached.

This will not be long once the restart has begun. But there is likely to be a period of time where it doesn’t look like the NHS can cope and numbers of people are dying who might have been saved, had more resources been in place.

‘Protect the NHS’ is the Trojan horse argument that led to the shutdown as the chosen way to attempt to manage demand in the first place. It’s where the Government went fundamentally wrong.

  • Local Trusts should set up Designated Reception Centres, separate to GP Surgeries and Hospital Reception areas used for other purposes
  • Local dedicated helplines should be provided to field calls from those with symptoms
  • Dedicated Ambulance provision should be put in place for Coronavirus sufferers
  • The general emergency Ambulance fleet should be kept separate.
  • Serious consideration should be given to requiring benefits claimants to report for duty as healthcare assistants, with full pay, work and training options to be offered after a qualifying or probationary period.

The Restart itself

The way to lift the shutdown isn’t to try and overcomplicate things by using terms such as calling it ‘gradual’ or ‘taking things in steps’, or anything else that even hints at there being some form of managed delay.

Whilst we might all like to think that the world as we knew it before March could just be switched back on at 9am on Monday morning it won’t happen no matter what we do. The time it will take those businesses still operating to return to full operation will take a lot longer than it took them to shut down. That is before you take into consideration the natural trepidation that many people are going to have as a result of the negativity and scaremongering that has taken place on the part of the media.

Even now, barely a fortnight in to the Lockdown, things will have changed markedly and they will continue to do so each and every day until the new norm for life begins.

People and businesses are going to work differently, travel differently and think differently. So the resumption of participating in everyday life will take time under its own steam, without anyone or anything else being involved.

Social Distancing

Social distancing in areas where people are usually in close proximity will be a good measure to retain formally, even though people are likely to keep their distance for some time as it has already become an accepted part of life.

Even if social distancing plays no further active part in dealing with Coronavirus – given that there are very recent suggestions that the Virus can remain active in air for up to three hours – it will help address any social awkwardness that will exist for some people once the Media’s negative messaging campaign is over and done.

Sick Pay

  • Everyone working who has unable to work because they have caught Coronavirus should be able to rely on having Coronavirus Sick Pay
  • The Sick Pay should last a calendar month from the date of registration
  • There should not be a laborious process of application involving claims for Universal Credit or applications via Jobcentres or the DWP.
  • The Coronavirus sick pay should be claimed on behalf of employees by employers and paid as part of the monthly PAYE process
  • The self employed and/or contract workers should be able to claim their sick pay back as part of their next Annual Tax Return.
  • The reference number allocated at registration should be used by employers for PAYE purposes and on individual Tax Returns.

People

Fundamentally, it is essential that every member of the population is treated like an adult, trusted to do the right thing and given no excuse to do otherwise. To support everyone, the Government must ensure that all practical issues people may experience if and when they suffer with Coronavirus has been mitigated against adequately and given added value as an incentive too.

Put simply, if there’s no way people can lose out, they will do the right thing.

  • Any individual, their parent, carer or guardian will register Coronavirus Symptoms using the Government Portal
  • Upon registration, individuals should be required to immediately self-isolate and remain isolated for a minimum of 14 days
  • Upon experiencing escalating symptoms, individuals should report to local NHS designated reception centres or call designated helplines if transport or an ambulance is required
  • All domestic bills, rents, leases, loans, interest and debt repayments to stopped for a month as a ‘Payment Holiday’
  • Individuals to use the reference number provided when they registered with the Government Portal to confirm they are on a legitimate payment holiday with debtors or those they should normally pay.
  • A payment of approx £100 per week to be payable to every individual Registered in the ‘Coronavirus Window’ for a period of four weeks to cover food and essentials

The Vulnerable

  • The vulnerable have to be allowed to make their own decision about the risk, about remaining in isolation, or returning to ‘normal life’. They should not be pressured to go either way.
  • Benefits Claimants without medical conditions and unemployed should be tasked with providing the support currently provided by volunteers.

For Business

  • Businesses of all sizes should be protected from the impact of the Lockdown for the period of time it will take things to return to or find the new normal, once the Lockdown has been lifted.
  • Where necessary support should be applied retrospectively to the 23rdof March 2020, if not the point in time before that when levels of business within marketplaces are recognised as having began to decline in response to the early stages of the Coronavirus Crisis.
  • All businesses should have a 3-6 months ‘payment holiday’ from rents, leases, mortgages, repayments, interest, debt
  • Heavy fines and/or jail terms should be immediately awarded by a District Judge without trial or appeal, to any Creditor, Company, Director or Partner thereof refusing to facilitate the ‘payment holiday’ and/or attempting to recover any related sums using other or additional debt devices or levying additional payments or raising prices relating to that relationship

Funerals

For the duration of the Coronavirus Pandemic, the Government should intervene to ensure that the disposal of bodies is facilitated without delay, without price gouging or profiteering and is provided on the basis of a same-level, community service for all.

  • The Government should set a fixed, realistic cost for a ‘standard’ funeral with a transparent minimal fixed margin and no additional payments being made for anything not specified
  • The Government should pay the cost of ALL Funerals at the standard rate for the duration of the Coronavirus Pandemic
  • Local Authorities should administer the allocation of care of the deceased and funerals to local undertakers on a take-it-in-turns basis
  • Local Authorities should administer payments to undertakers and make them immediately
  • All funerals should be provided on the same basis and not open to change or being ‘upgraded’ by additional payments from families etc
  • Funeral Insurance payouts to either be split with the cost of the standard funeral being returned to the Government and any outstanding balance returned to the family or estate, or simply paid out to the family or estate

The Media

Whilst free society needs a free press, the current approach, lack of ethical standards and reliance on dressing up subjective opinion as news requires that Government take a different approach and one that doesn’t play into the system as it is.

  • The forward briefing, advance copies of Government speeches and embargoed press releases need to stop.
  • Regulation needs to be introduced that requires news to be news, and for the mainstream media to promote the wider concept of the principle of charity in all things, rather than constantly looking for every opportunity to create negative spin.

#endthelockdownnow

Seeking financial reparation from China for Coronavirus would be ridiculous. The pay-off should be the warning that today they are not a Government the UK can trust

One of the most rotten aspects of culture today is the overriding need that some people have to be able to blame someone or something external to themselves for everything that they consider that they have suffered in some way.

It doesn’t stop there.

Being able to blame someone or something else for the misfortune that they have suffered means that they simply must be compensated – most often financially – in some way.

Money is nothing. It is simply an idea. And giving it value as an emotional currency that can be used to ‘pay someone off’ is helping nobody and least of all the person making the claim.

In recent days, Twitter chat has turned to the subject of seeking reparations from China over the Coronavirus outbreak which we understand to have originated in Wuhan.

Whilst the cost to the economy and the Public Purse in monetary value and the far reaching cost to us all and not least of all those who have lost and will lose loved ones in emotional terms will be significant to say the least, that cost is not something it would be sensible to try and calculate and then present to anyone or any country to whom we might be able to attribute blame.

The reality is that whilst scientists have long suggested that a viral pandemic would be most likely to originate on the Asian Continent in some form, it is in reality just as likely that a problem like Coronavirus could have or still could originate from somewhere in the West in similar or alternative forms. Viruses by their vary nature constantly mutate and it is as feasible that an agent that exists in the UK and is currently viewed as harmless could at any moment change and mutate into a more virulent and malevolent form. All this without any attribution to the science of Porton Down and research into germ warfare being at any time involved.

Whilst conspiracists are already trying to gain traction with the story that Covid-19 was deliberately engineered by one or another Government and simply realised upon the World in Wuhan in its current form, the reality is that the location where this all kicked off was on the part of the Chinese simply a very big dose of bad luck. As such, this is not something in itself that any of us should be seeking to attribute blame or indeed seek reparations from them for.

We have been expecting a Worldwide pandemic for sometime and in the eyes of many, it has long since been overdue. 2020 has simply and unfortunately proven to be the time.

What we could and should be taking note of however, is the approach that the Chinese Government took to notifying and informing the World when the outbreak first took off, and how they may even now be approaching the management and manipulation of information and its flow even now.

Control is everything to the Communist Regime and it is very clear that they are involved in and have access to everything, no matter whether it is government, business or personal in nature – wherever they are involved.

The delay in providing accurate information to the rest of the World may well have prevented many Governments from being able to act sooner to address the spread of Covid-19. The reality is that we will never be sure.

But we should take the whole experience as a reference point for what the Chinese actually does, as opposed to what in parallel it desires us all to be told.