Inverted

Finally finished that Stalin book.

Called in sick from work today. Was up all night with a splitting headache and a cough and slept most of the day. If I hadn't been homeworking I would have been given a week off. But, since I'm already homeworking I'm back to work as soon as I feel better.

One other thing that makes it tricky to assess Germany's situation is that it has by a large distance the biggest population in Europe (besides Russia or Turkey if you want to count them). Comparing it in absolute terms to the UK, France, or Italy isnt very useful since their population is about a fifth larger than any of those countries. At the same time, thinking proportionally also isn't that easy since Germany is doing so much more testing than everyone else.

Globally, experience seems to suggest a strict shutdown of non-essential movement is vital for buying time, and then then any kind of a solution first requires aggressive testing. In Europe, Italy wavered and is suffering for it. The UK briefly flirted with an alternative, realised it was based on several over-optimistic assumptions, and belatedly went into lockdown. We might still suffer from it. Germany acted promptly with testing from the start, and seems to be in best shape, but also could be influenced by strong starting position in terms of hospital capacity. America is doing next to nothing and could be facing disaster.

Apparently banking services over the phone are "key" so I'm still in work tomorrow. I would disagree since many major banks operate without telephone banking, but hey.

Lots of guitar playing inspiration from this guy recently

Im quite introverted and love a night at home to myself, and I'm still going to work, but im already getting a bit bothered by the distancing. I think it's just the idea that you're not doing it by choice. Normally I'd go for a pint or some food once a week or two, and that's enough group socialising for me, so it's not on paper a huge adjustment at all. I think I'll need to be a bit disciplined and get back into some kind of schedule , like start reading a book a week, or practising an instrument every day for an hour, or going for a few more runs a week.

Something like a lock down for leisure and hospitality now. Better something than nothing. Job retention scheme, and increase to UC introduced. Finally a modicum of leadership.

People are always quick to condemn political violence when we look back at history, but it's a simple fact of life that there are people who have no place in society, except at the bottom of a ditch.

Yeah I can imagine it's equally as bad in branches, if not worse, than for us in the offices. I presume every bank is experiencing basically the same problems. A lot of our branches are having to reduce opening hours to due to staff shortages, and most appointments are being cancelled. This is something each branch is having to decide on it's own; there's no overarching policy. So we are told to refer to branch as required (security checks, document hand-ins, etc), and book appointments if the customer wants one, in the knowledge that there's a high likelihood that they're not going to be seen. Again, because this isn't happening as part of some overarching policy, we aren't to communicate these issues to customers. If they turn up and the branch is shut, or their appointment is cancelled, then that's just an "individual" branch issue. Everything is falling apart at the seams, but on paper we are just supposed to be soldiering on as if nothing has happened. It's a feeling a lot of people in a lot of workplaces have at the moment, I can guess.

Sometimes I try and calm myself by reminding myself that they have a very old population.Then I also think of the fact that their healthcare system is considered of the world's best. There is a slight feeling of dread coming on now. We're heading for some truly horrendous times.

Things are getting pretty grim at work. I work customer service for a high street bank. We're at under half strength with people sent home or off sick, and the number of calls is getting overwhelming. It's like Christmas or New Year, but worse, and with less staff. Today our automated directory broke, meaning people were being routed to the wrong teams for their queries, or being left on hold for hours, or being hung up on after hours of waiting. We've not yet worked out a comprehensive policy on mortgage holidays - things are still being assessed on a case-by-case basis. We're also dealing with lots of desperate or misinformed people who call under the impression that there are schemes offering reprieves on loan repayments, or even emergency overdraft facilities. People are broke, and when told that there isn't really any way set up for us to extend emergency funds to them, they're basically reduced to begging over the phone. Most people are sound, and almost apologetic for taking up our time. Some people are obviously very tense and the stress understandably is getting to them. A large number of people are obviously still being pricks and wasting our time complaining about stupid shit like our interest rate reductions - at a time when UK rates are at a historic low - or calling us because they've mindlessly thumped the wrong details into our website 5 times and locked themselves out of their accounts.

12 Angry Men - 8.5/10 A brilliant movie, unbelievable that they made a movie so gripping and thought-provoking back in the 1950s with nothing but 12 men in a room talking.

My dad drives as well. His taxi firm are apparently cutting the weigh-in he needs to pay, but still it's going to be tough for him.

Like Aristotle, or Boethius.

According to this fella at the Pasteur Institute in Shanghai, the team from Imperial College, that originally formulated the herd immunity strategy, worked on an assumption that herd immunity was developed in roughly 20% of those infected. He claims that the Chinese experience indicates that it is more like 5%, or maybe even 1-2%. Its like we reached for every assumption possible in order to arrive at a strategy which made doing nothing look like the smart thing.

The UK is perhaps the perfect example of representative government. A nation of people far too desperate to be clever and happy to gamble with the welfare of those around them adopts a bizarre, laissez-faire policy expcting that it is somehow not like the rest of the world. The moment we realise that other countries might be right to react seriously, there will be a period of boneheaded denial, and then after that we will panic.

Idk if this is a dumb question, but has the UK government actually done anything? I mean this seriously, I'm struggling to think. Like, beyond giving "advice" and "warnings", have they actually implemented any measures in response to the crisis?

What's the use of telling people not to go into work if it's not necessary, but not telling employers to stop calling their employees into work if it's not necessary? If your boss says they still expect you in tomorrow, then it's pretty much "necessary" that you turn up. Most people don't have the luxury of deciding whether going into their work is necessary or not, that's kind of where the government needs to step in and decide.

I'm starting to think it's very prevalent now in the UK. Yesterday we were at less than 100 cases in all of Scotland, and since then it's come out that there's 3 confirmed cases at Glasgow Uni, a confirmed case at Strathclyde University, and 6 confirmed cases at a carehome just outside Glasgow. So that's all just around one city, revealed by a small amount of testing. I'm pretty sure there's a carrier in most universities, colleges and large workplaces.

I mean, even being the raging pinko Marxist that I am, I don't think crises are something to be politicised. My gripe is more with the media culture in the country, and the sickening proximity of journalists with government, than the policy itself.

I want to trust the government but my composure regarding our strategy is wearing thin. I feel like I vaguely understand the idea - delay the peak, but also get enough cases out of the way in time for winter when the situation could get a whole level worse, while protecting those who are really vulnerable. But I don't think it's been clearly communicated. We have ministers drip-feeding rationales and potential future measures to journos through unnamed sources, and then this news being put out behind paywalls. We have people hinting at herd immunity, and others saying it's totally irrelevant. And I think that when your expert advice leads you to a conclusion which basically involves doing the least amount of work, and it seems to contradict the advice in every other country, there is an added burden to clearly articulate your reasons, and to explain why you don't feel the measures taken elsewhere are correct.

I've got a feeling that the government is listening a lot more to behavioural psych experts about how to manage the public, than to medical experts about how to manage the virus.

I think a main factor, rather than just killing a lot of boomers, is the fact that it will illustrate to people of all ages that there are many situations in life where acting selfishly will backfire, and that we need the capacity to enact strong collective measures for the public good.