Under pressure for his actions in the United States as the Coronavirus death toll rises alarmingly, the US President Donald Trump has tried to deflect the blame onto China and the World Health Organization (WHO) for being too slow to sound the alarm in its tackling of the pandemic, saying 'The WHO really blew it' although in response the WHO has rejected the Trump criticisms and released it's reports showing the timeline of events revealing who knew what and when.
On 31 December 2019, China alerted the World Health Organisation who reported it to Global Health Officials on the same day, the USA National Security Council was informed and 3 days later Donald Trump was advised in his Daily Briefings.
Taking the 4th of January as the day Donald Trump was alerted, he was then warned 6 days later by the WHO that there was a global threat and they suggested isolation procedures to curb the spread.
17 days later on January 21st the first reported case of Covid-19 in the US.
January 28th, 24 days later, the President is urged act to prevent an Epidemic and to build a team for the issuing of medical supplies and on Day 25 is warned that the Government should be developing a containment strategy, a call backed up by the WHO on January 30th who declared a 'public health emergency of international concern' repeating their earlier call for all governments to pursue containment and testing. The same Day US medics warned about a critical shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
29 Days after becoming aware, US Health Officials call on the administration to dramatically expand testing and on Day 30 Intelligence officials advised the Trump administration they would need to take containment actions that could disrupt Americans daily lives.
61 Days after being told by the WHO, and 35 days after being told there is a shortage of PPE, the Health and Human Services System tell the Government that they need equipment and have 1% of the respirator masks needed.
On March 16th, 67 days after being advised by WHO to isolate citizens, the Trump administration advocates social distancing and school closures to slow the spread of the contagion and on April 2nd, President Trump announces a team to handle the logistics and supply chain for providing medical supplies to the states, 90 Days after first being told of the virus and 66 days after being asked to gather a team to distribute the medical supplies.
The breakdown is then after being alerted by the WHO, it took Donald Trump and his team 67 Days to announce the isolation and social distancing measures required and 90 days to organise the distribution of the PPE which looks very much like a failing of Donald Trump rather than a failing of the World Health Organisation.
As of today 11 April 2020, more than 503,177 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in the U.S. and the virus had killed more than 18,800 Americans which explains why Donald Trump is desperate to find a scapegoat and deflect blame for his awful management of this crisis.
Saturday, 11 April 2020
Trump Blames WHO & China- What He Knew & When Timeline (Long Read)
Under pressure for his actions in the United States as the Coronavirus death toll rises alarmingly, the US President Donald Trump has tried to deflect the blame onto China and the World Health Organization (WHO) for being too slow to sound the alarm in its tackling of the pandemic, saying 'The WHO really blew it' although in response the WHO have rejected the Trump criticisms and released its reports showing the timeline of events revealing what and when they knew and passed out advice and i have added Trumps quotes at the time.
31 Dec: 2019 China alerts WHO of 44 deaths with unknown cause in Wuhan and report sent to Global Health Officials.
Jan 3: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar (HHSS) discuss with Chinese counterparts newly emerging disease and informs the White House National Security Council.
Jan 4: Intelligence officials begin offering classified warnings about the virus to Trump in the President’s Daily Brief.
Jan 6: CDC issues a travel notice for Wuhan due to the spreading disease
Jan 7: US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and CDC take part in WHO conference calls with other Global Health Leaders regarding the preliminary Chinese investigations have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission but to keep looking out for signs of such transmission
Jan 8: CDC issues an official health advisory about COVID-19 and warns that people should take precautions when traveling to Wuhan
Jan 9: WHO says the outbreak in Wuhan was caused by a previously unknown type of Coronavirus
Jan 10: Technical guidance notes published by the WHO to Global Health Officials with detailed clinical criteria for dealing with suspected cases and warning of the risk of transmission both by airborne droplets and contact with contaminated surfaces, suggesting isolation procedures. Former Trump Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert warns White House that 'we face a global health threat…Coordinate!'
Jan 11: WHO advises Health Leaders of evidence of human-to-human transmission and advises medical personnel to look out for patients who might have traveled to China’s Hubei province
Jan 12: Full genome sequence shared by China.
Jan 13: WHO warns of virus spreading beyond China’s borders for the first time
Jan 14: WHO warns of the risk of wider human-to-human transmission
Jan 17: CDC announces that it will begin screening air passengers arriving from Wuhan
Jan 21: Health officials in Washington state report the first case in the US. CDC activate its emergency response structure announcing they expect additional cases globally and in the United States.
Jan 22: WHO discuss with Global Health Experts whether or not to declare a global health emergency.
TRUMP: 'We have it totally under control, it’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine'.
Jan 24: Senior CDC officials brief Senators about the latest developments about the virus.
TRUMP: 'China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!'
Jan 27: White House aides meet to discuss greater focus on the threat from the virus as the head of the White House Domestic Policy Council warns that 'dealing with the virus was likely to dominate life in the United States for many months'.
Jan 28: Former Trump administration officials publish letter imploring the President to Act Now to Prevent an American Epidemic and build a team for issuing of medical supplies.
Jan 29: Trump trade advisor, Peter Navarro, circulates internal memo warning that America is defenseless in the face of an full-blown pandemic, imperiling the lives of millions of Americans and to develop an aggressive containment strategy. Republican Senator Tom Cotton warns President Trump to take the virus seriously
TRUMP: 'Just received a briefing on the Coronavirus in China from all of our GREAT agencies, who are also working closely with China. We will continue to monitor the ongoing developments. We have the best experts anywhere in the world, and they are on top of it 24/7!'
Jan 30: WHO declares a 'public health emergency of international concern' calling on all governments to pursue containment and testing. US medics warn about critical PPE materials shortage
TRUMP: 'We think it’s going to have a very good ending for it. So that I can assure you'.
Jan 31: Donald Trump imposes temporary travel ban on 'foreign nationals who had been in China in the last 14 days excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan
Feb 1: Trump administration declined to begin using WHO tests for the virus
Feb 4: Health Officials warn that a pandemic seems inevitable and call on the administration to dramatically expand testing
Feb 5: Intelligence officials brief the Senate Intelligence Committee that the virus poses a serious” threat and the adminstration would need to take actions that could disrupt Americans daily lives
White House officials push for expanding the travel ban to countries such as Italy but the plan is resisted citing economic concerns. HHSS requests for $2 billion to emergency medical equipment is rebuffed by Trump.
Feb 7: TRUMP: 'China will be successful in stopping the coronavirus especially as the weather starts to warm & the virus hopefully becomes weaker, and then gone. President Xi strongly leads what will be a very successful operation. We are working closely with China to help'.
Feb 10: TRUMP: 'I think the virus is going to be — it’s going to be fine'
Feb 19: TRUMP: Trump says: 'I think it’s going to work out fine. I think when we get into April, in the warmer weather, that has a very negative effect on that and that type of a virus. So let’s see what happens, but I think it’s going to work out fine'.
Feb 20: Health Officials advise that tests must be ramped up immediately while we can still intervene to stop spread.
Feb 23: Internal White House memo warns of an increasing probability of 100 million Americans infected and as many 1-2 million fatalities
TRUMP: 'Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!'
Feb 24: WHO warns epidemic is now a pandemic
TRUMP: 'The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. … Stock Market starting to look very good to me!'
Feb 25: CDC says community spread of the virus in the United States is inevitable and Americans should prepare for disruption to everyday life
TRUMP: 'The virus is a problem that’s going to go away'.
Feb 26: TRUMP: 'When you have 15 people and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero that’s a pretty good job we’ve done'.
Feb. 27: Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr states the Virus is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history
Feb 28: TRUMP: 'It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear'.
Feb 29: The United States records its first Coronavirus death and announces new travel restrictions for Iran, Italy and South Korea.
TRUMP: He also asked the press and politicians: 'not do anything to incite panic because there’s no reason to panic at all'
TRUMP: 'We've taken the most aggressive actions to confront the coronavirus. They are the most aggressive taken by any country'
Mar 4: HHSS says they only have 1% of respirator masks needed
Mar 9: Trump’s former Homeland Security adviser advocates social distancing and school closures to slow the spread of the contagion.
TRUMP: 'So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!'
Mar 10: TRUMP: 'Well, this was unexpected. This was something that came out of China, and it hit us and many other countries. You look at the numbers; I see the numbers with just by watching you folks. I see it — it's over 100 different countries. And it hit the world. And we're prepared, and we're doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away'.
Mar 11: WHO emergency committee speaks of 'alarming levels of inaction' from many countries including the US and the UK. The White House suspends travel from most European countries excluding Britain and Ireland
TRUMP: 'The vast majority of Americans: The risk is very, very low. Young and healthy people can expect to recover fully and quickly if they should get the virus'.
Mar 13: Trump declares a national emergency.
TRUMP: 'We have 40 people right now. Forty. Compare that with other countries that have many, many times that amount. But we've done a great job because we acted quickly. We acted early. And there's nothing we could have done that was better than closing our borders to highly infected areas'.
Mar 16: Trump announces a 15-day period of social distancing
TRUMP: 'If you’re talking about the virus, no, that’s not under control for any place in the world. … I was talking about what we’re doing is under control, but I’m not talking about the virus'.
Mar 17: TRUMP: 'We have a problem that a month ago nobody ever thought about'.
TRUMP: 'I’ve always known this is a — this is real — this is a pandemic. I’ve felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic'.
Apr 2: President Trump announces team to handle the logistics and supply chain for providing medical supplies to the states.
As of today 11 April 2020, more than 503,177 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in the U.S. and the virus had killed more than 18,761 Americans, more than any other country in the World.
31 Dec: 2019 China alerts WHO of 44 deaths with unknown cause in Wuhan and report sent to Global Health Officials.
Jan 3: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar (HHSS) discuss with Chinese counterparts newly emerging disease and informs the White House National Security Council.
Jan 4: Intelligence officials begin offering classified warnings about the virus to Trump in the President’s Daily Brief.
Jan 6: CDC issues a travel notice for Wuhan due to the spreading disease
Jan 7: US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and CDC take part in WHO conference calls with other Global Health Leaders regarding the preliminary Chinese investigations have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission but to keep looking out for signs of such transmission
Jan 8: CDC issues an official health advisory about COVID-19 and warns that people should take precautions when traveling to Wuhan
Jan 9: WHO says the outbreak in Wuhan was caused by a previously unknown type of Coronavirus
Jan 10: Technical guidance notes published by the WHO to Global Health Officials with detailed clinical criteria for dealing with suspected cases and warning of the risk of transmission both by airborne droplets and contact with contaminated surfaces, suggesting isolation procedures. Former Trump Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert warns White House that 'we face a global health threat…Coordinate!'
Jan 11: WHO advises Health Leaders of evidence of human-to-human transmission and advises medical personnel to look out for patients who might have traveled to China’s Hubei province
Jan 12: Full genome sequence shared by China.
Jan 13: WHO warns of virus spreading beyond China’s borders for the first time
Jan 14: WHO warns of the risk of wider human-to-human transmission
Jan 17: CDC announces that it will begin screening air passengers arriving from Wuhan
Jan 21: Health officials in Washington state report the first case in the US. CDC activate its emergency response structure announcing they expect additional cases globally and in the United States.
Jan 22: WHO discuss with Global Health Experts whether or not to declare a global health emergency.
TRUMP: 'We have it totally under control, it’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine'.
Jan 24: Senior CDC officials brief Senators about the latest developments about the virus.
TRUMP: 'China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!'
Jan 27: White House aides meet to discuss greater focus on the threat from the virus as the head of the White House Domestic Policy Council warns that 'dealing with the virus was likely to dominate life in the United States for many months'.
Jan 28: Former Trump administration officials publish letter imploring the President to Act Now to Prevent an American Epidemic and build a team for issuing of medical supplies.
Jan 29: Trump trade advisor, Peter Navarro, circulates internal memo warning that America is defenseless in the face of an full-blown pandemic, imperiling the lives of millions of Americans and to develop an aggressive containment strategy. Republican Senator Tom Cotton warns President Trump to take the virus seriously
TRUMP: 'Just received a briefing on the Coronavirus in China from all of our GREAT agencies, who are also working closely with China. We will continue to monitor the ongoing developments. We have the best experts anywhere in the world, and they are on top of it 24/7!'
Jan 30: WHO declares a 'public health emergency of international concern' calling on all governments to pursue containment and testing. US medics warn about critical PPE materials shortage
TRUMP: 'We think it’s going to have a very good ending for it. So that I can assure you'.
Jan 31: Donald Trump imposes temporary travel ban on 'foreign nationals who had been in China in the last 14 days excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan
Feb 1: Trump administration declined to begin using WHO tests for the virus
Feb 4: Health Officials warn that a pandemic seems inevitable and call on the administration to dramatically expand testing
Feb 5: Intelligence officials brief the Senate Intelligence Committee that the virus poses a serious” threat and the adminstration would need to take actions that could disrupt Americans daily lives
White House officials push for expanding the travel ban to countries such as Italy but the plan is resisted citing economic concerns. HHSS requests for $2 billion to emergency medical equipment is rebuffed by Trump.
Feb 7: TRUMP: 'China will be successful in stopping the coronavirus especially as the weather starts to warm & the virus hopefully becomes weaker, and then gone. President Xi strongly leads what will be a very successful operation. We are working closely with China to help'.
Feb 10: TRUMP: 'I think the virus is going to be — it’s going to be fine'
Feb 19: TRUMP: Trump says: 'I think it’s going to work out fine. I think when we get into April, in the warmer weather, that has a very negative effect on that and that type of a virus. So let’s see what happens, but I think it’s going to work out fine'.
Feb 20: Health Officials advise that tests must be ramped up immediately while we can still intervene to stop spread.
Feb 23: Internal White House memo warns of an increasing probability of 100 million Americans infected and as many 1-2 million fatalities
TRUMP: 'Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!'
Feb 24: WHO warns epidemic is now a pandemic
TRUMP: 'The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. … Stock Market starting to look very good to me!'
Feb 25: CDC says community spread of the virus in the United States is inevitable and Americans should prepare for disruption to everyday life
TRUMP: 'The virus is a problem that’s going to go away'.
Feb 26: TRUMP: 'When you have 15 people and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero that’s a pretty good job we’ve done'.
Feb. 27: Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr states the Virus is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history
Feb 28: TRUMP: 'It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear'.
Feb 29: The United States records its first Coronavirus death and announces new travel restrictions for Iran, Italy and South Korea.
TRUMP: He also asked the press and politicians: 'not do anything to incite panic because there’s no reason to panic at all'
TRUMP: 'We've taken the most aggressive actions to confront the coronavirus. They are the most aggressive taken by any country'
Mar 4: HHSS says they only have 1% of respirator masks needed
Mar 9: Trump’s former Homeland Security adviser advocates social distancing and school closures to slow the spread of the contagion.
TRUMP: 'So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!'
Mar 10: TRUMP: 'Well, this was unexpected. This was something that came out of China, and it hit us and many other countries. You look at the numbers; I see the numbers with just by watching you folks. I see it — it's over 100 different countries. And it hit the world. And we're prepared, and we're doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away'.
Mar 11: WHO emergency committee speaks of 'alarming levels of inaction' from many countries including the US and the UK. The White House suspends travel from most European countries excluding Britain and Ireland
TRUMP: 'The vast majority of Americans: The risk is very, very low. Young and healthy people can expect to recover fully and quickly if they should get the virus'.
Mar 13: Trump declares a national emergency.
TRUMP: 'We have 40 people right now. Forty. Compare that with other countries that have many, many times that amount. But we've done a great job because we acted quickly. We acted early. And there's nothing we could have done that was better than closing our borders to highly infected areas'.
Mar 16: Trump announces a 15-day period of social distancing
TRUMP: 'If you’re talking about the virus, no, that’s not under control for any place in the world. … I was talking about what we’re doing is under control, but I’m not talking about the virus'.
Mar 17: TRUMP: 'We have a problem that a month ago nobody ever thought about'.
TRUMP: 'I’ve always known this is a — this is real — this is a pandemic. I’ve felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic'.
Apr 2: President Trump announces team to handle the logistics and supply chain for providing medical supplies to the states.
As of today 11 April 2020, more than 503,177 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in the U.S. and the virus had killed more than 18,761 Americans, more than any other country in the World.
Special Guest Blogger: Joe Louis
Twenty-five defenses of my heavyweight title, a world champion for 11 years and 10 months but i ended up owing the IRS millions.I thought my manager Mike Jacobs and i were a team, i would knock people out and we would share the purse but it seemed i got the bit with the clasp and he got the bit with all the money in it.
I was the one who would end up with my nose on one side of my face and it's tough not being able to smell your food until you've eaten it.
As i was in my prime before television cameras, i do not have much proof that i, 'The Brown Bomber', along with Muhammad Ali, was amongst the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time and my record shows that i won 95.6% of my fights.
Something Muhammad Ali and i do share is that we both stood up to racist governments in our days, Ali the American and me the German Nazi's.
When not busy with world domination, Hitler was fond of idle speculation on which races he thought were superior and when it was announced that i would fight Germany's White Bomber, Max Schmeling, Hitler used the event to laud the Arayan's race superiority.
There must have been some awkwards moments around the Nazi water coolers the next morning because in just two minutes and four seconds of the opening bell, Schmeling was out cold flat on his back with cartoon birds flying around his head.
At a time when African-Americans were still being segregated, discriminated against and lynched, it made little difference in America that the biggest hero in America was a black man but whereas Ali used pacifism to protest against the racists treatment of Blacks, i used my God-given gift for violence to knock seven bales of shit out them and my way was much more satisfying.
Friday, 10 April 2020
Special Guest Blogger: King Edward II
As a King i was no great shakes, i was beaten by the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn, was deposed and held captive in Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire by my own wife and her lover who then had me murdered by having a red-hot poker thrust up somewhere no red hot poker should ever be thrusted. I never wanted to be King and was happy to let others govern while i'd flounce around with my special friend Piers Gaveston who i spent so much time with that rumours began that we were gay lovers, something which in 14th Century England was heavilly frowned upon.
I refused to banish Gaveston or sign a document limiting my power over appointments so my friend was seized and executed.
I led an army into Scotland, but was decisively defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn and losing to an army of kilt wearing Scotsman back then was like losing, well, a war to a bunch of men in skirts so the Barons sidelined me and ruled the realm.
I didn't care so much as it meant i could spend more time with my new special friend, Hugh Despenser, but as with my earlier favorite person, the barons demanded that i banish Despenser but i refused much to the annoyance of my wife, Isabella.
Unbeknown to me, she had been having it away with one of the Barons, Roger Mortimer, who executed Hugh and his entire family and then locked me away in a castle and crowned our 14 year old son as King Edward III.
Amidst rumours that i was planning to get busted out, Mortimer and my wife killed me but not just any old death, they put much thought into it.
Not wishing to leave visible marks of murder on my body, and contemptuous of my rumoured homosexuality, they hired some men to hold me down and shoving a red hot poker up...well you can guess where they shoved it.
It was said that my screams were heard, not unsurprisingly, far beyond the Castle walls.
Thursday, 9 April 2020
Special Guest Blogger: Yuri Gagarin
Apparently the members of the Soviet space program were having a meeting about finding a Russian who was willing to risk their life miles away in outer space and cut off from everyone and when i walked in it was Hello Comrade Gargarin, we were just talking about you.The Soviet Space Program has achieved many firsts, the first satellite, the first dog in space and now they wanted to send a human around the Planet before America got it's Space Race act together but it meant that things were moving so fast that small things like safety took a back seat, when Vostok 1 took off to send me towards the tiny dots in the sky, a bottom panel fell off and i could see the earth pulling away at 17,500 mph.
As if traveling to space wasn't dangerous enough, what with the lack of gravity, the possibility of freezing or boiling to death, the exposure to radiation and the inability to breathe, i managed to take space travel to a whole new level of what the hell!!
That Felix Baumgartner guy made the World news because he parachuted out of space, well, i did that 50 years ago in a rickety soapbox of a spacecraft with the floor panel missing and no brakes.
Despite 8G of deceleration, i somehow managed to keep conscious which was lucky as the re-entry plan was to eject and parachute to the ground before hitting the big blue planet which was in the way and traveling towards me at terrifying speed.
I landed safely in a field much to the surprise of a woman and her five-year-old grandaughter who were planting potatoes near by but rather than run screaming from the thing in a bright-orange suit dropping from the sky, they bought me over some milk that they had for their lunch.
I didn't see any aliens while i was up there but i would suggest to any aliens looking to come to Earth anytime soon, land in Russia, you will be treated well.
I died testing a new Soviet plane a year before Neil Armstrong took his one great leap for man onto the Moon, but i am proud to be part of a nation that had a blatant disregard for safety and being second only to a dog to seeing the Earth from above.
Wednesday, 8 April 2020
Why The Fuss Over Hydroxychloroquine?
The World Health Organisation has said that there is no evidence that the malaria drugs Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine are an effective treatment for the Coronavirus but a few World leaders, admittedly American President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, are claiming they are the cure.
Due to potential harmful effect on the patients liver and kidneys, the body in charge of licensing medicines in America, has granted them the status of 'emergency use only' as has France with the country's medical watchdog warning of side effects.
India's health ministry has tentatively recommended the use of Hydroxychloroquine for Health Workers if they have a prescription from a doctor although it comes with a warning that drug is experimental and only for emergency situations.
In early laboratory tests, Chloroquine seemed to block the Coronavirus but scientists are quick to say that there is insufficient evidence at the moment from current trials as to their effective use in treatment of patients with Covid-19 and the drug brings with it risks of serious side effects, including renal and liver damage which flies in the face of Donald Trump's: 'What do you have to lose'
comment after boasting that the US had amassed 29m doses of the drug despite, Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease doctor, when asked whether it should be considered a treatment for Covid-19, said: 'The answer is no'.
Trump’s promotion of the drug has raised questions about his motivation, and on Monday the New York Times reported that the President holds 'a small personal financial interest in Sanofi, the company that makes a brand name version of Hydroxychloroquine and that is the point where you can stop listening as it explains everything.
Much safer to keep washing your hands and wait for the vaccine.
Due to potential harmful effect on the patients liver and kidneys, the body in charge of licensing medicines in America, has granted them the status of 'emergency use only' as has France with the country's medical watchdog warning of side effects.
India's health ministry has tentatively recommended the use of Hydroxychloroquine for Health Workers if they have a prescription from a doctor although it comes with a warning that drug is experimental and only for emergency situations.
In early laboratory tests, Chloroquine seemed to block the Coronavirus but scientists are quick to say that there is insufficient evidence at the moment from current trials as to their effective use in treatment of patients with Covid-19 and the drug brings with it risks of serious side effects, including renal and liver damage which flies in the face of Donald Trump's: 'What do you have to lose'
comment after boasting that the US had amassed 29m doses of the drug despite, Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease doctor, when asked whether it should be considered a treatment for Covid-19, said: 'The answer is no'.
Trump’s promotion of the drug has raised questions about his motivation, and on Monday the New York Times reported that the President holds 'a small personal financial interest in Sanofi, the company that makes a brand name version of Hydroxychloroquine and that is the point where you can stop listening as it explains everything.
Much safer to keep washing your hands and wait for the vaccine.
Special Guest Blogger: King Richard I
I ruled as the King of England for 10 years but was only in England for six months during my entire reign as i was off earning my nickname of 'Lionheart' by fighting crusades against the Muslims in the Middle East like some sort of 12th Century John Rambo.I gave Britain the Three Golden Lions badge as i thought that a lion best personified the English qualities of strength, courage, dignity and pride but they said i should use a native animal but three badgers or three squirrels just didn't quite cut it.
My courtiers said that as King it might be a good idea to spend a bit more time visiting my own Country but i checked my diary and said that it was hard to fit it into my busy fighting schedule but they insisted that the plebs would get upset if i went abroad again so i decided to do a whistle-stop tour of the main parts of the nation, kissed some babies, shook some hands and then grabbed my sword and buggered back to the Middle East to whack up some more Muslim's.
My greatest foe during the Crusades was Saladin and despite being enemies in a religious war, we got on really well when we weren't catapulting the crap out of other, he even sent his own personal physicians to nurse me back to health when i fell ill with fever.
I died while walking along a vanquished armies castle walls in France, with most of the castle's defenders dead, i saw one determined, lone archer left and he was batting away arrows with a dented frying pan and shouting insults at the top of his young lungs.
I laughed so hard that i dropped my shield and the froggie git fired an arrow through me!
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
The Mask Debate
There does seem to be some confusion over the use of face masks with some countries making them mandatory while others say they are next to no use.
My Asians friends tell me they are used in nations such as China, Japan and South Korea not so much as a way to stop yourself from catching diseases but to prevent them passing them on through coughing and sneezing.
The official advice from the World Health Organization is that masks are not a reliable protection as the virus is spread by contact with contaminated surfaces and would only protect you when you're in close quarters with someone infected who might sneeze or cough near your face.
As there already seems to be a shortage of masks to go around to protect health workers who are in close proximity of the infected, mass use by the general population when they have very little benefit just seems to making that situation worse.
Behavioral scientists do believe that the biggest benefit is that it reminds people to act more hygienically by not touching your face and social distancing and that has to be a good thing but not when there is a shortage of masks for the people who most need them.
My Asians friends tell me they are used in nations such as China, Japan and South Korea not so much as a way to stop yourself from catching diseases but to prevent them passing them on through coughing and sneezing.
The official advice from the World Health Organization is that masks are not a reliable protection as the virus is spread by contact with contaminated surfaces and would only protect you when you're in close quarters with someone infected who might sneeze or cough near your face.
As there already seems to be a shortage of masks to go around to protect health workers who are in close proximity of the infected, mass use by the general population when they have very little benefit just seems to making that situation worse.
Behavioral scientists do believe that the biggest benefit is that it reminds people to act more hygienically by not touching your face and social distancing and that has to be a good thing but not when there is a shortage of masks for the people who most need them.
Why I Won't Clap For Boris
A campaign has been launched to get the nation to 'Clap for Boris' in the same way that NHS workers are applauded each Thursday as he battles Coronavirus in hospital.
Count me out because as much as i wish him a speedy recovery, as i do all patients struck down with the virus, i'm not going to applaud for him especially considering what him and his party have done to the NHS that they are so reliant upon now, him more than most.
He was part of the team that over the last decade of Conservative Party rule have run down the NHS and closed 44 hospitals and treatment centers with a loss of 15,000 beds which are sorely needed now so why would be be applauding anyone associated with that?
Then there is Brexit which Boris himself lied and misled on and the Conservative Parties Hostile Environment for immigrants which it's own report found demonstrated 'institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness consistent with some elements of the definition of institutional racism' so why would anyone want to clap that?
Then there are the ideological austerity measures which has taken 20,000 police off the streets and resulted in a sharp rise in crime and the cutting of benefits to the most needy such as the disabled and
who can forget the moment in Parliament when the Conservative Party actually applauded
That Boris and his Government were so slow to introduce the measures to keep the nation safe from the COVID-19 outbreak with the 'Herd Immunity' being the first strategy until it was pointed out by the medical teams that it would mean up to 47m infected and 1.4m deaths, only then did they bring in the lock-down in extreme, reluctant slow motion and why would anyone want to praise the people behind that?
I hope Boris gets well and is back in 10 Downing Street hopefully with a newfound realisation of just how damaging his parties awful right-wing ideology has been to the country and set about righting the dreadful and atrocious actions they have done, now that would be worth applauding.
Count me out because as much as i wish him a speedy recovery, as i do all patients struck down with the virus, i'm not going to applaud for him especially considering what him and his party have done to the NHS that they are so reliant upon now, him more than most.
He was part of the team that over the last decade of Conservative Party rule have run down the NHS and closed 44 hospitals and treatment centers with a loss of 15,000 beds which are sorely needed now so why would be be applauding anyone associated with that?
Then there is Brexit which Boris himself lied and misled on and the Conservative Parties Hostile Environment for immigrants which it's own report found demonstrated 'institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness consistent with some elements of the definition of institutional racism' so why would anyone want to clap that?
Then there are the ideological austerity measures which has taken 20,000 police off the streets and resulted in a sharp rise in crime and the cutting of benefits to the most needy such as the disabled and
who can forget the moment in Parliament when the Conservative Party actually applauded
That Boris and his Government were so slow to introduce the measures to keep the nation safe from the COVID-19 outbreak with the 'Herd Immunity' being the first strategy until it was pointed out by the medical teams that it would mean up to 47m infected and 1.4m deaths, only then did they bring in the lock-down in extreme, reluctant slow motion and why would anyone want to praise the people behind that?
I hope Boris gets well and is back in 10 Downing Street hopefully with a newfound realisation of just how damaging his parties awful right-wing ideology has been to the country and set about righting the dreadful and atrocious actions they have done, now that would be worth applauding.
Special Guest Blogger: Alan Turing
You like computers? Well my logic engines were the precursor of the modern computers that we use today.You like not being killed in WW2? Well my German engima code breaker shortened the war by years.
During World War II, deciphering German military communications was a massive ball-ache as the German military communiques were composed with the infamous Enigma machine, encoding messages into something that could only be decoded by someone with either a handy cipher or a super-genius.
I used my smarts to design the Bombe machine and suddenly, secret German communications were no longer secret and shortened the war by up to four years.
On my team was Ian Fleming, who'd later go on to write the James Bond books and Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang but we didn't really get along and not just because of his stupid idea of a movie about our fine four fendered friend.
It is an irony not lost on me that by ending the war prematurely, it bought about my own demise even quicker as back then homosexuality was illegal in Great Britain who had laws outlawing homosexuality, in Britain the post-war government was responsible for more convictions for homosexuality under the obsenity act than the Nazis.
We out-Nazied the Nazis at this, one of the rare times when the legitimate response is 'you are worse than Hitler'.
Rather than be celebrated, they took my machine, won the war and then accussed me of gross indecency for being homosexual and sentenced to either imprisonment or chemical castration which as rewards go isn't great so i went for the third option and bit into an apple that i had injected with cyanide and invented the Apple Logo right there.
I was pardoned posthumously through the royal prerogative of mercy under David Cameron in 2013 and i am probably expected to say that i am thankful my name has been cleared and say i am proud of what i did for my country and even that it is being better late than never, but i think f**k 'em, 57 years too late seems much more appropriate.
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