[22nd April 2020: while I firmly believe that politicians should be held accountable for their actions and decisions during this crisis, it’s clear that this site and page are not receiving nearly as much attention as the site did when it was purely security-focused, so it’s unlikely that I’ll continue to update it in the foreseeable future. Fortunately, there are lots of other voices in this particular wilderness. I will still maintain the Covid-19 resources information page when it seems appropriate.]
So often the same thing…
I make no apology if you detect a certain leaning to the left in my choice of links here. The government gets plenty of exposure of its viewpoint on the Covid-19 resources information page, the right-leaning media, and the BBC…
19th April 2020
- Guardian: Impossible for UK to meet Covid-19 testing targets, scientists say – “Government’s 100,000-a-day pledge was only designed to be a headline grabber, claim sceptics”
- The Telegraph: Revealed: Why Asia was better prepared to fight the coronavirus than Britain – “While Britain’s pandemic plan assumes a new virus will be unstoppable, Asian countries focused on containment in a bid to minimise mortality”
- Guardian: How did Britain get its response to coronavirus so wrong? – “As the warnings grew louder, the government was distracted by Brexit. On testing, contact tracing and equipment supply, there was a failure to prepare”
- Sunday Times: Coronavirus: 38 days when Britain sleepwalked into disaster – “Boris Johnson skipped five Cobra meetings on the virus, calls to order protective gear were ignored and scientists’ warnings fell on deaf ears. Failings in February may have cost thousands of lives”
18th April 2020
- Yahoo News: People coming into the UK not asked to self-isolate as the virus is already so prevalent, Matt Hancock tells MPs
- Financial Times: Muddled thinking punctures plan for British ventilator – “Non-specialist manufacturers sent off to design new products that clinicians and regulators say were unsuitable for Covid patients”
- BBC: Coronavirus: Facebook alters virus action after damning misinformation report
- Guardian: Government ‘ignores’ UK textiles firms desperate to make PPE – “Too much emphasis placed on brand names to help during coronavirus crisis, say industry sources”
16th April 2020
- Guardian podcast: The story behind Trump’s ‘miracle’ drug hydroxychloroquine “there is scant evidence it is effective – and it could actually be harmful”
- Metro: Docs have to wear bin liners and wash kit in buckets of disinfectant
- Guardian: Warning as UK coronavirus outbreak leads to sharp rise in deaths at home “A&E chiefs believe many people who could be saved are too scared to go to hospital”
- Guardian (yes, I know…): UK needs lockdown exit strategy, says key coronavirus adviser “Prof Neil Ferguson suggests there has been more planning for Brexit than Covid-19”
15th April 2020
- HSJ: Government has misled public over UK deaths being lower than France
- Guardian: Trump halts World Health Organization funding over coronavirus ‘failure’ – US president accuses group of promoting disinformation and says it ‘must be held accountable’ [I’m speechless…]
- Open Democracy: Exclusive: Controversy over key coronavirus role for Boris ‘cycling pal’ Andrew Gilligan – “Ministers claim COVID-19 response is led by science and experts – so why is Gilligan calling up labs to negotiate critical virus testing? Labour demands clarity.”
- Guardian: We scientists said lock down. But UK politicians refused to listen
14th April 2020
- Before you take Trump’s advice and rush over to the surgery demanding chloroquine… Ciinical study into the safety/efficacy of chloroquine (CQ) and/or hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for the treatment of COVID-19: Chloroquine diphosphate in two different dosages as adjunctive therapy of hospitalized patients with severe respiratory syndrome in the context of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection: Preliminary safety results of a randomized, double-blinded, phase IIb clinical trial (CloroCovid-19 Study) “In conclusion, the high CQ dose scheme (12g), given for 10 days, was not sufficiently safe to warrant continuation of that particular study arm. We therefore strongly recommend that this dosage is no longer used anywhere for the treatment of severe COVID-19, especially because in the real world older patients using cardiotoxic drugs should be the rule. No apparent benefit of CQ was seen regarding lethality in our patients so far, but we will still enroll patients in the
low CQ dose group to complete the originally planned sample size.” - Independent: The government claims it’s been ‘led by the science’. So why has it led to a place far worse than elsewhere? – “To be “led by the science” means one thing, which is to be led by the advice of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, better known as Sage. […] So it is particularly unfortunate when a member of Sage, the director of the Wellcome Trust, Professor Jeremy Farrar, appears on national television on Sunday not only to say that the UK may well be the “worst affected country in Europe”, but also to heap yet more praise on the markedly different German approach, which has yielded significantly superior results.”
- Guardian Long Read: How coronavirus almost brought down the global financial system – “The crisis has brought the economy to a near halt, and left millions of people out of work. But thanks to intervention on an unprecedented scale, a full-scale meltdown has been averted – for now.”
- Guardian: Revealed: how Britain missed three chances to bulk-buy protective kit
13th April 2020
- @simbrowning Simon Browning (BBC) via Cornwall for Europe: “BBC business reporter Simon Browning has been talking to UK manufacturers who are desperate to help supply PPE and other medical equipment desperately needed by frontline NHS staff. What they told him is shocking. His tweets below..”
- New Yorker: How Did the U.S. End Up with Nurses Wearing Garbage Bags? – “A Silicon Valley C.E.O., Jared Kushner, and the race to get P.P.E. for America’s hospitals.”
- Jon Danzig: From “very low risk” to 10,000 hospital deaths in just 80 days
- Cabinet Office document from 2013 ‘Preparing for a Pandemic Influenza’
- Jon Danzig video: HERD IMMUNITY’ WAS GOVERNMENT’S INITIAL STRATEGY
- Guardian article from March on the obsession with herd immunity: Scientists have been sounding the alarm on coronavirus for months. Why did Britain fail to act?
- Evening Standard article from March: More than half of UK needs to catch coronavirus to develop ‘herd immunity’, Government’s chief scientist says
12th April 2020
- I’ve decided there’s generally no point in linking to Trumps idiotic and self-serving ramblings here: they’re too dangerous to be funny, and those who need to know how dangerous he is are not going to be looking at this page for information on misinformation and disinformation.
- Philadelphia Inquirer: Trump administration rejects bailout for U.S. Postal Service battered by coronavirus
- Los Angeles Times: Hospitals say feds are seizing masks and other coronavirus supplies without a word
11th April 2020
Reuters: “Special Report: Johnson listened to his scientists about coronavirus – but they were slow to sound the alarm”
The Independent: “Coronavirus: Lack of PPE ‘shocking indictment’ of government’s handling of crisis, doctors’ leaders say – Nurses reject Matt Hancock’s claim that overuse of ‘precious’ facemasks and gowns is fuelling shortage”
BBC: “Coronavirus: NHS workers’ lives at risk over PPE shortages, says BMA” [includes responses to Matt Hancock’s claims]
The Guardian: “NHS workers angered at Hancock’s warning not to overuse PPE – Health secretary says protective equipment should be treated like ‘precious resource’ ”
Ad Sinistram: If your politics lean to the right, you’ll hate this page, but some very interesting links and resources.
A Pandemic Puzzle – article by me on another blog about what I sometimes call a semi-hoax relating to a poem by Kitty O’Meara. That is, there is some misinformation around, but it’s not exactly security-critical.
10th April 2020
The Guardian: ” ‘We won’t see coronavirus here’ … and other gems from Trump’s new press secretary – Kayleigh McEnany, who replaces Stephanie Grisham, has embraced birtherism and claimed Democrats were rooting for the pandemic”
The BBC:” Coronavirus: Call for apps to get fake Covid-19 news button”
The Independent: “Coronavirus: Government rejected advice on NHS protective equipment three years before epidemic”
The Guardian: “Tech giants struggle to stem ‘infodemic’ of false coronavirus claims”
Washington Post: “No, coronavirus is not a ‘false flag’ event or linked to 5G cell towers. That and more news literacy lessons.”
Daily Sound And Fury: “MSNBC Cuts Into Briefing So Doctor Can Refute Trump’s “Mystifying” Claim That Zinc Can Treat Covid-19”
The Guardian: “Coronavirus is the greatest global science policy failure in a generation”
David Harley
The AVIEN Portal 