Covid tests sent to Italy and Germany as UK labs are overwhelmed

Leaked documents reveal backlog of 185,000 swabs and tests sent abroad for processing

Oh dear oh dear... But... is anyone remotely surprised that the testing systems are a compete fiasco?

If you want something done very slowly, very badly and at colossal expense, get the government to do it.

The government’s coronavirus testing programme is dealing with a backlog of 185,000 swabs, with tests being sent to Italy and Germany as local labs are overwhelmed.

Not even a week after the government was forced to apologise for continuing delays to Covid testing, the Department of Health and Social Care insisted on Sunday that the capacity of the NHS test-and-trace system was the highest it had ever been but there was a “significant” demand for tests.

This includes demand from people “who do not have symptoms and are not otherwise eligible”, the DHSC said.

Leaked documents revealed the 185,000 backlog and the fact that tests are being sent to German and Italian laboratories for processing, according to the Sunday Times.

The documents also show there has been an increase in tests being voided.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... verwhelmed

UK's autumn Covid-19 redundancies could exceed 700,000

These are serious numbers and that is without the second wave, now well underway, and the threat of further lockdowns. These are estimates based on known figures up to the end of June. The real numbers are likely to be worse.

Close to half a million redundancies are likely to be announced in the autumn, although the number could end up exceeding 700,000, according to a study that lays bare the scale of the Covid-19 jobs crisis facing the UK.

These job cuts are on top of 240,000 redundancies officially recorded by the government up until June. That means the total redundancy figure for 2020 could top one million.

In a bleak warning, the Institute for Employment Studies (IES), which published the analysis, said the number of jobs likely to be lost “will almost certainly exceed anything we have experienced in at least a generation” – far exceeding the peak reached in the last downturn just over a decade ago and the highest since at least 1995.

So far, official data on redundancies is only available up to June and shows that 240,000 people were made redundant in the first six months of the year.

The IES is predicting that there were 445,000 redundancies between 1 July and 30 September, with most of them occurring in August and September. It reckons there will be a further 205,000 between October and December.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... eed-700000

William and Kate roll up sleeves to make bagels during visit to Brick Lane

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today rolled up their sleeves to help make savoury treats at the famous Beigel Bake Brick Lane Bakery.
William and Kate were in east London as part of an afternoon of engagements to highlight how communities have been coping during the coronavirus pandemic.
The couple handled dough with ease at the bakery, kneading it into balls big enough to make 30 4oz bagels.

I bet he's well handy in the kitchen

"We are so excited to come to your famous shop,’" William told Amnon Cohen, 70, one of the co-founders, who started the business with his late brother, Asher.

And for the huge free advertising too

"How has the supply chain been?" asked William.

Like he has any idea what that is.

Later in the day, the Duke and Duchess visited the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre to meet staff, volunteers and local business leaders who helped provide food parcels during the pandemic.

I wonder if he took any fresh bagels from Mr Cohen's shop?

The mosque's senior Imam Mohamed Mahoud brought up the issue of mental health - championed by the couple through their Heads together campaign - when he spoke to the royals.

I don't like the sound of that.

"The Muslim community often feel they have to do more than what is required to be recognised as part of mainstream society and their visit to the East London Mosque and Tower Hamlets borough helps us with that cause in establishing ourselves as part of the mainstream.

Nor that either.

If this pointless exercise and associated PC drivel and pre-agreed 'remarks' counts as a worthwhile use of public money in financing that dysfunctional rabble, then I will be voting for a republic at the first opportunity.

No wonder Harry told them to stick it.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newslond ... d=msedgdhp

The Saturday Morning Soapbox

I have a theory (what a surprise).

I think this virus was in the country a lot earlier than the first detected case, probably by the end of last year. There is nothing new in that belief. Exactly when will probably never be known. The graph below, and all the 'official' graphs all show the same thing: Infection rates by way of TESTING. And that testing was small in scale and when the hospitals began filling up most positives were just the worst cases. The vast majority went undiagnosed.

Testing is now much more widespread and includes people with no, few or just mild symptoms who would never have been picked up back in March. The amount of people infected in January to March were, I think, WAY higher than any of the official government numbers. The fact is they just don't know the infection rate that caused the hospitals to fill up. Until we test everyone for antibodies we will never know.

Currently, the hospital admissions are far below what they were in April and this is strong evidence that the number of people infected now is far below the number back in March. That's the good news. However, as long as as the country goes about it's business in relative normality, so too will the virus. The lockdown achieved some breathing space for the government who were caught out napping in January when this virus became official. It achieved nothing clinically, it just put the viral spread into 1st gear for a while - at colossal expense.. They bought a little time for a lot of money.

Once normal life resumed so did the viral spread and nothing is going to stop it; NOTHING. All we can do is manage it, and that means people washing their hands all the time, wearing masks, staying out of pubs and busy public places and generally taking sensible precautions. Further lockdowns are futile and economically disastrous. WE should just do what Sweden did. But the government cannot suddenly adopt their model because that will be an admission that the first lockdown was pointless.

This graph is a work of pure fiction: