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Stenmark's latest comments
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11th May 2020Stenmark commented on:
Does the new 'Stay Alert' slogan convey a clear message?The response to the PM's slight change in strategy has been ‘fevered’. A lot of people saying it is all so confusing and there seems to be a fair amount of anger and anxiety. I think the message was clear in as much as you can be in 15 minutes; a 50 page document following it up is expected this morning. Many of the confused, angry and anxious people are, I think, in this state for two reasons: 1. They want the government to provide the detailed interpretation of the rules for their particular situation, instead of them making a sensible interpretation themselves using common sense and following the spirit of the message. Maybe these people are not used to or capable of doing this on their own. Someone else usually makes the decisions for them. 2. They want someone, the government, to provide them with an answer to this bizarre and unexpected crisis. They expect a government to be like an all powerful parent keeping them safe and always knowing exactly what to do. They need to accept some uncertainty and understand there may not be a perfect answer out there from someone else. They need to use their judgement in the context of governmental direction. I am no fan of the way the government has responded to this pandemic but feel it is wrong for uncertain people to rubbish the advice and cause disquiet. This also applies to certain politicians in the 'north'.ViewDate:
7th May 2020Stenmark commented on:
Does wearing a face mask when out make sense to you?The UK is going to ease off lockdown. The only way this can work is by reducing cross infection and live cases sufficiently so that test, track, trace can work to stamp out the virus as in other countries. If we do not we will be going back to herd immunity with resurgent peaks and 10s of 1000s of more deaths. Social distancing will break down because it just cannot be done all the time whilst working and commuting. The next best way of stopping the spread of the virus is by face masks. If everyone wears them properly and they are of high quality this is our best chance of reducing infection. The government needs to stop telling us to wear scarves or bandanas and start ordering / manufacturing surgical standard face masks sufficient to supply the public without taking them away from frontline workers. The people opposing face masks must ask themselves: Why do they work for frontline workers but not the public? Why do they stop ‘particles’ going out from infected mouths/noses but not stop them coming in the other way? (Why are people fixated on saying they only work one way?) Why do they say face masks will make us over confident and cause more infection, when a similar argument used against seat belts was soon dismissed? Why can’t we tell the public to use face masks and train them how best to use them? Why is it being suggested that a public face mask should be different (lower quality) to an NHS one when the aim should be to make enough NHS standard ones for the whole population? Why are so many other countries advising / insisting the public use them and supplying them? We must start using face masks in public - now.ViewDate:
18th Mar 2020Stenmark commented on:
Is it realistic to expect over 70s to remain in their homes for 4 months?I am not sure it is a question of whether the 4 month isolation is acceptable or not, pleasant or not. To put it another way the government are suggesting by doing this you will significantly reduce your increasing chance of being infected and die. At the moment it is voluntary and the choice is yours, however, I would point out if you ignore the advice and get infected you risk passing it on to others who would prefer not to be infected by you and risk death.ViewDate:
16th Mar 2020Stenmark commented on:
Is the UK Government doing enough to lessen the spread of Covid-19?The most significant characteristic of the coronavirus pandemic is how infectious it is - how easy it is to pass on and how it can sometimes be passed on without symptoms. In the light of this the UK government's approach of allowing events where 100s of people collect in close proximity (concerts, horse racing, football games) is baffling. Even more so when much of the early advice has been about hand washing and social distancing. What can be a better circumstance to spread the disease than to pack people close together in a celebratory atmosphere? Their counter argument that sitting in a pub is worse is derisible. Yes infection can happen here as well but to a much more limited number of people. Again this approach has been devised by experts who are more worried about acting too dramatically causing public disquiet than actually concentrating on the best way to stop the spread of a very infectious disease. As an aside this softly softly, belated approach may be a product of the ultra PC world we live in today - careful and fearful of criticism rather than bold and effective.ViewDate:
16th Mar 2020Stenmark commented on:
Is the UK Government doing enough to lessen the spread of Covid-19?Unfortunately the government's approach seems to be more based on perception than reality. They want their actions to be seen to be suitable for how bad the situation is in the present and not to act too early for fear of the public's reaction. This will inevitably mean we will be reacting to events rather than preventing them. This type of approach will mean we are always a little too late. Ask Italy. What we need is bold action in advance of events to head off the worst outcomes. The present approach might be wise when you are not sure what is coming but 'luckily' we do thanks to other countries that succumbed earlier. In addition the 'herd immunity' approach suggested by government indicates that they know the above approach will not stem the spread of the disease. Their aim is to let the infection spread through the population albeit at a slower rate whilst hoping the elderly and infirm keep out of the way if possible. This 'go with it' plan might be better for the young, the working population and the economy but if you are in one of the groups (elderly and infirm) that will pay the price, i.e. die, you should be asking for a proactive approach as used in China, South Korea, Singapore etc.ViewDate:
13th Mar 2020Stenmark commented on:
Is the UK Government doing enough to lessen the spread of Covid-19?From what I heard this morning the government want a lot of the public to catch the virus so we build up immunity and it will not come back as strongly next winter. Hence allowing children to go to school and get infected, plus allow contamination at big sports venues. They have some preventative measures in place to try and spread out the infections so the NHS isn't catastrophically overwhelmed. The problem with this strategy is that the many in the vulnerable categories (older and/or underlying health issues) will die. Testing needs to be increased dramatically. Firstly this will enable the medics to know if they are moderating the spread enough. Secondly it would identify infection in the vulnerable categories early and so lead to prompt medical intervention. Indeed I would suggest that the vulnerable groups are prioritised for testing because they are the ones who are going to die. This is better than just letting the disease work its way through the population, even at a reduced speed, and then trying to attend to the vulnerable when their condition becomes serious. Finally, there was even some indication of reducing the testing. "Most people will just get better". People need to know if they have had coronavirus or just a cold so that they know if they can get infected in the future - is it safe to visit older relatives, go to infectious zones etc.ViewDate:
24th Nov 2017Stenmark commented on:
Should Theresa May stay or go?I agree with Sissiesis - let her get on with it. All the negative media attacks and destructive twitter chatter only succeed in weakening the government's negotiation position. We will end up with a worse deal because of all these attacks from within - the european side cannot believe their luck. The argument from some that democracy means we can continually keep repeating the referendum whenever we think the outcome *might* have changed is quite a surprise to me. Just like a general election there is a set period before it can be rerun - that is democracy. (in electronics they call it hysteresis to avoid a constant flipping of states). I do not want Corbyn to get in but if he did I would cooperate with what ever policies were introduced; I would accept the democratic decision until the next election was due. If only removers knew what democracy means.ViewDate:
20th Oct 2017Stenmark commented on:
Should Theresa May stay or go?She was made prime minister. The main reason she called the last election was because of disloyalty within her own party - she could not be certain of her own conservative MPs voting for government policies. There was no failure of judgement, her hand was forced by disloyal MPs. These are the same MPs that now (off the record) call for her to step down. Plus the media were hell bent on talking up the dissent writing about the certain demise of Mrs May when it was actually a few crackpots who were behind it. I thought the media were supposed to report the news not try to make it. If she falls it will be because of her own "remoaner" MPs and then labour will get in. If the conservative party chooses political suicide so be it. The trouble is that the 'remoaners' are willing to do anything to thwart brexit and impose their minority view on the people of the UK.