There’s a first time for everything. I didn’t expect this.
Of course, attributing a lower mortality rate here to the accident of our geography and to the earlier impact of a UK lock-down is a useful way of taking away any credit for the performance of our NHS in saving lives.
Didn’t spot that at first. Helen McArdle’s loyalty to the Union is preserved after all.
The Herald has accepted the words of Professor Jimmy Whitworth, an expert in international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who said:
“It is pretty clear when you look at the data for different countries that the earlier you introduce these measures [lock-down, social distancing] the more effective they are, so in that respect if they were introduced in Scotland – or Scotland was part of them – at an earlier stage then it will have had more effect. Overall, you don’t get such high peaks in your case numbers and your deaths.”
They do flirt with the actual data:
‘The latest figures show that there have been 60 deaths in Scotland, with a population of around 5.4 million, compared to 1,651 in England with a population of 56 million. In Scotland, 1,993 people have tested positive for the virus to date compared to more than 22,000 in England.’
bit fail to do anything much with it along the lines that we have:
The death rate per capita, not that meaningful, in England is 1 in 34 000 while in Scotland, it’s 1 in 90 000 or three times lower.
The death rate per case, a measure of hospital care, in England is 6.3% while in Scotland it is only 3%.
But, the infection rates, contrary to the Prof’s thinking are almost the same. Scotland has 2 000 while England with 11 times the population, has 11 times as many cases at 22 000.
Of course, the Scottish Government’s much-praised initiative in setting up 50 coronavirus assessment centres to alleviate pressure on GP surgeries gets no mention:
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Nope , two hours in and not a word on it on GMS , I am not expecting that to change !
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You know these testing hubs? Why can’t find anything on the SNP ‘here’s what we are doing’?
https://mobile.twitter.com/theSNP/status/1244700927677915141
Tons of stuff on domestic abuse, but cynical me says that if they’d mobilised to do extensive contact tracing, less people would be locked away, less people losing jobs, less children losing out on education, less businesses going under, less need to expand NHS ICU capability, and less deaths.
I heard on the radio this morning that Boris is putting in £21m towards a vaccine – this is good, and means we have a good chance of getting a supply when it’s ready (Katie was interviewed too and she says it could be December, they are starting human trials in April,,, which is now). Although cynical me realises this is a face saving political manoeuvre to show he is doing something without actually doing much at all – though a good thing at least.
There was also a piece on the radio GMS, banks are saying they are going to halt dividend returns, they admitted the banking sector is healthy (the only thing that is then), and so justified mentioning this as a terrible imposition by saying charities RELY on dividends for funding. Really? I had no idea.
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You would think that very basic statistics would be absolutely essential in journalism. The fact that it wasn’t applied comes down to the usual stupidity v unconscious bias v deliberate misinformation question.
The fact that the S NHS success was not mentioned gives us a clue.
Seemed like very begrudging praise to me.
The doctor who says were are lagging behind England but increasing at same rate is not accurate according to this graph which shows that England is doubling every 3 days and Scotland about every 4th or 5th (we have to look weekly not daily but it gives us a rough idea).
https://www.travellingtabby.com/scotland-coronavirus-tracker/
That maps shows all countries ‘starting from the day when the country reaches 1 death per million population’.
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Sorry ‘graph’ not map.
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