Downing Street Briefing Today Sinks To New Low.

[needawin]

People of a certain age will remember a series of black and white comedy films starring 3 hapless characters namely, " The Three Stooges".
Today we had a remake on the Downing Street briefing.
We had Robotic Rabb, yes minister Jenny Harries and a bottom of the barrel reasonably new to the screens Professor Ian Diamond.
We got the usual prattle from Rabb followed by the mind numbing data and 5 tests from Jenny Harries.
We got the R value treatment with figures from Rabb which unfortunately did not agree with the figures from the Professor.
Prof gave an R value between .5 and .9 but when asked to define and elaborate 4 times by two different people he refused to answer and retreated behind a wall of mumbo jumbo. This man is the Government chief statistician so that explains a lot.
Prof thinks there is not a lot of difference between .5 and .9
Would be a vast difference if you were paying for your central heating oil!
Today was the day that legally the Government had to announce the further restrictions for the public. No such luck. Sunday will do said Rabb echoing Boris.
Testing failed to reach the target again but that's ok as Jenny explained it was due to a technical glitch. From the book of excuses no doubt.

[Theland]

Needawin - I don't know, you are never happy.
This is the best that Westminster Amateur Comedy Dramatic Society can come up with at short notice.

Oh no it isn't!

Oh yes it is!

He's behind yoooooooou!

[Gromit]

Didn’t watch it.

Testing has been a national disgrace throughout this crisis, but the Government will get away with it. They announced the 100,000 Tests a day target before they had a clue how to deliver that, and then dismally and embarrassingly missed the target. Then, not having learned anything from the debacle, Boris plucks another undeliverable target of 200,000 a day, out of the air and announces it, presumably to fail just as badly as the first target.

[Tilly2]

It's a laugh a minute, isn't it?

[JimF]

The right-wing apologists will be along anon to inform how everyone who doesn't think this is the greatest government the country's ever had is a brain-washed fool...

[Buenchico]

>>> Today was the day that legally the Government had to announce the further restrictions for the public

Rubbish. All that the law states is that "if the restriction or requirement is capable of remaining in force in relation to any person, thing or premises for more than a specified period, a specified person may require the continuation of the restriction or requirement to be reviewed in accordance with the regulations at specified intervals by a person determined in accordance with the regulations"
and
"the period specified . . . and the intervals specified by virtue of that subsection must be 28 days or less"
[s.45 Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984]

As long as 'a person determined in accordance with the regulations' carries out a periodic review of the regulations, there is no no requirement whatsoever for any announcement to the public.

[fiction-factory]

Worse that Tuesday's ?
https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/ChatterBank/Question1705962.html
They did say the R is higher in hospitals and care homes than in the general population. It's actually not easy to pin down precisely- would you know how to do it? They also want to not put a precise figure as it will lead to more speculation about measures before Boris announces the road map on Sunday.
The technical glitch was in the labs- that was covered a few days ago.
I like the 'mind numbing' data. No doubt there would be complaints if they didn't go through the data

[Gromit]

The lockdown was due to be reviewed today, and probably was. But they are not obliged to tell us the result of that review immediately. Instead, Boris will tell us on Sunday, which will be some modest easing. The easing will be gradual, and in several stages.

[Togo]

If you are so inactive that you are still watching that nightly guff it serves you right if you are bored gormless. I started giving it a swerve about 2 weeks ago when the Beep Beep See repeated the "are we there yet" question for the umpteenth time in a row.

[fiction-factory]

The BBC only get to ask one question (well usually a 2 or 3 parter) but they are just one of about 10 media outlets asking questions, plus the 2 members of public. The questions from the media are often annoying but you sometimes get a new angle. I enjoy the charts and science answers though but I'm fed up of seeing the 5 tests for easing lockdown twice each briefing

[AuntPollyGrey]

With every day that passes I have less and less faith in this Government. The moment yesterday at PMQT where Boris stutteringly pronounced 'we should not be focussing on what is going on internationally' only to have Starmer say 'Really? as he fluttered one of the graphs showing the figure for both Europe and the USA , that they use on a nightly basis, under his nose ( well as close as he could following social distancing guidelines) was pure Class. They are a joke the lot of them.

[ToraToraTora]

ah needaclue surfaces! PMSL!

[fiction-factory]

The graphs on the briefings show total deaths. UK and US do better than Spain, Italy, Belgium when population is taken into account. but they are not shown as a competition with other countries since they stress all count differently- it's so we can see the trends up and down as all follow a similar pattern/flight path but are at different stages

[Tilly2]

Why is anyone who disagrees with your thoughts, anti British? What rubbish.

[Jackdaw33]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the R?

[ToraToraTora]

err can't see anyone using the word "anti" except you tilly!

[Buenchico]

For JD33:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-52494495/coronavirus-r0-what-is-the-r-number-and-why-does-it-matter

[THECORBYLOON]

CHRIS, the reviews must be made every twenty-one days as per Regulation 3(2)
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) 2020.

Similar Regulations apply to each of the other three nations.

"3(2) The Secretary of State must review the need for restrictions and requirements imposed by these Regulations at least once every 21 days, with the first review being carried out by 16th April 2020."

[Jackdaw33]

I can't read links, I'm virtually blind.

[THECORBYLOON]

The "R" is the infection rate. If it's two for example, an infected person infects another two. Those two each infect another two folk and so on.

If R is more than one, the number infected each day continues to increase. If it's lower than one, the number infected each day goes down.