Coronavirus outbreak

[mjr]

Swiss RTS News: extension of lock-out expected, slow roll-out of gov't aid, deaths peak not yet reached, problems accessing physio and allied, questions over professional exams, US advising mask-wearing, France accusing USA of mask gazumping, Russia limiting grain exports despite UN criticism, profile of Kier Starmer, Belgian football league finally abandoned.

 

[PK99]

You seem to have a bit of an axe to grind when it comes to Horton.

Horton, and the Lancet under his Editorship, have long been accused of political bias. Whether one agrees with the political stances taken or not, is not the issue. Scientific journals should not lay themselves open to such accusations as doing so calls into question their scientific credibility.

 

[Rocky]

You seem to have a bit of an axe to grind when it comes to Horton.

All Horton is doing is vocalising the concerns of many of the medical profession.

 

[Rocky]

Horton, and the Lancet under his Editorship, have long been accused of political bias. Whether one agrees with the political stances taken or not, is not the issue. Scientific journals should not lay themselves open to such accusations as doing so calls into question their scientific credibility.

Why not? If political bias is another way of saying the Lancet is concerned about the way health services are funded, managed and organised, I’d say it absolutely is his job.

 

[mjr]

Megabus suspended from Sunday.

That man/cock is on itv laughing away, wittering about immunity certificates, ignoring that it will punish those who avoided the virus by following instructions

Charles Windsor to open Excel virus hospital. The Harrogate one mentioned above has been announced.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Megabus suspended from Sunday.

That man/cock is on itv laughing away, wittering about immunity certificates, ignoring that it will punish those who avoided the virus by following instructions

Charles Windsor to open Excel virus hospital. The Harrogate one mentioned above has been announced.

I listened to him on BBC Radio 4 this morning - nothing to convince me that 100,000 was more than a side of a bus calculation. Except this is not an election campaign and, besides, the bus service has been suspended.

 

[tom73]

Most journals have a political stance in some way or another. It's one of the key questions anyone who has to review them.
Should alway's have in mind. Many once taken out of context even if they never had one soon get turned into one.
Even not allowing free open access to articles could be taken as a political one.

 

[winjim]

Megabus suspended from Sunday.

That man/cock is on itv laughing away, wittering about immunity certificates, ignoring that it will punish those who avoided the virus by following instructions

Charles Windsor to open Excel virus hospital. The Harrogate one mentioned above has been announced.

The woman in the Newcastle station case has had her conviction overturned. Can you imagine the state of policing and courts if immunity certificates have to be enforced?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...me-loitering-arrest-fine-police-a9444311.html

 

[Rocky]

Most journals have a political stance in some way or another. It's one of the key questions anyone who has to review them.
Should alway's have in mind. Many once taken out of context even if they never had one soon get turned into one.
Even not allowing free open access to articles could be taken as a political one.

I agree. Science cannot be separated from politics. All facts are value laden. Look at the issues Galileo faced from the establishment when he published his research about the earth orbiting the sun. Or Robert Oppenheimer and nuclear fission/fusion. There are many cases throughout history.

Horton is simply doing what a good editor of a scientific journal should do. Perhaps our attention should be focused on those who criticise him. What are their motives?

 

[winjim]

My views on the coronavirus outbreak and the country's response to it are very, very political.

 

[PK99]

Why not? If political bias is another way of saying the Lancet is concerned about the way health services are funded, managed and organised, I’d say it absolutely is his job.

That is not the political bias often cited, and criticised by, among others, the NEJM.

 

[Rocky]

That is not the political bias often cited, and criticised by, among others, the NEJM.

You might need to provide references for that - I don't subscribe to the NEJM. The fact that journals criticise each other is nothing new. It is a competitive market. They are looking to boost their impact factor and readership. Science is never independent of politics or society. Different journals take different political stances.

Horton has been a very good editor of the Lancet - editors come and editors go. Scientific publishing is a cutthroat world. He has been editor since 1992 - which I would suggest is a testimony to his competence. In this day of political briefing and undermining our trust in experts, I'd suggest that much of the criticism of Horton originates from those politicians whom he criticises. I see this as him speaking truth to power. Good for him.

 

[Rezillo]

Well, two rather different takes on the same thing:
https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/southwold-and-aldeburgh-second-homeowners-coronavirus-1-6570078
[snip]

or there's this:

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/southwold-second-homes-coronavirus-isolation-1-6570538

"Councillor David Beavan, who represents Southwold on East Suffolk Council, said visitors to the town were “always welcome." He said: “They are clearing out the shops, but that is a pretty good thing for our businesses. Some people are panic buying and that isn’t helping, and we are trying to get things rationed by asking local shops to keep back some essentials like toilet rolls so they don’t all disappear, but people are quite entitled to buy things".

Cllr Beavan appears to have had a welcome change of heart:

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/coronavirus-suffolk-southwold-banners-protest-1-6591748

 

[winjim]

Here's what the IBMS* has to say about the current state of testing.

*Institute of Biomedical Science, that's the body representing the lab staff actually carrying out the tests.

https://www.ibms.org/resources/news...XgoC60IXFLs_uqj9Hax3IlE-QHBDF_l1cw3Zlwg7kl_oQ

 

[newfhouse]

Here's what the IBMS* has to say about the current state of testing.

*Institute of Biomedical Science, that's the body representing the lab staff actually carrying out the tests.

https://www.ibms.org/resources/news...XgoC60IXFLs_uqj9Hax3IlE-QHBDF_l1cw3Zlwg7kl_oQ

The explanation makes it sound like a skilled but repetitive job. Material supply notwithstanding, are there enough trained people to test that many samples day after day after day without increasing the error rate or causing mental burn out?