Helen McArdle, real journalist, driven by a desire to inform the public and by a corporate pay package, thinks no care homes in these East Asian countries can teach us, well really Nicola, how to do things properly. Aren’t journalists expected to be skeptical especially about such claims? A mere sociologist, I thought, instantly, let’s see if that’s true once we have a wee dig around. I feel sure the facts will not be easily found, so this will be only a starter. I feel equally sure that some friends of this blog will be on this like a pack … Continue reading No care home deaths in South Korea? Doesn’t that teach us to dig a bit deeper?

In the Times yesterday: Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she refused to follow England out of lockdown because Scotland was “behind the curve” has been called into question by official statistics. The First Minister has not mentioned the curve recently but did on the 7th May: And we are not yet confident that the all-important R number is comfortably below 1 – and I’ve explained and set out before why it is so important to get it and keep it comfortably below 1. Indeed, we think it could still be hovering around 1 just now – which means that any significant … Continue reading Times writers fail to check just what First Minister said

Two weeks after the Nike Conference in Edinburgh where 25 people may have contracted the virus, over 250 000 attended the Cheltenham four-day horse racing event and: Prof Gabriel Scally, former director of public health in the south west and visiting professor of public health at the University of Bristol, said there “seemed to be” a high number of virus cases in Gloucestershire.’ Government data shows there have been 972 cases of the virus in Gloucestershire, and 147 people have died. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-52380282 Local Conservative MP Laurence Robertson, whose constituency Cheltenham is in, attended this year’s festival but said there should … Continue reading Does Jackson Carlaw now think the public has a right to know if cramming 250 000 into the Cheltenham festival two weeks after the Nike Conference caused a spike in deaths in the area?

By Brenda Steele: In December last year, newspaper circulation continued to fall across the industry. Even The Sun reported a 13 per cent fall in just that one year. All paid-for newspapers continued to see their sales fall year-on-year, with the smallest drop (three per cent) at the Observer. Then the COVID-19 crisis came and ad revenues crashed. More than 2,000 staff across the UK’s national and regional press have temporarily lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, Press Gazette research has found. Across the country, news publishers have been furloughing staff, cutting wages and suspending print … Continue reading The Nike reporting shows just why the press is dying

In four repetitive questions, all patiently if at times wearily, answered by the First Minister, the Conservative leader, Jackson Carlaw, ignored the answers and tried desperately again and again to show that the SNP administration and not its advisers was responsible for the decision to protect the privacy of the those Scots attending the Nike conference in Edinburgh on 26th February. With no evidence, he doubted the officials had carried out enough contact tracing and tried to portray the decision as some kind of cover-up by the administration The First Minister, among several careful and restrained comments, said: My final … Continue reading Scottish Conservatives leader ‘blames’ civil servants for Nike conference ‘cover-up!’

Black and Minority Ethnic people make up 14.5% of the population in England but have had 17% of all Covid-19 deaths. However, some groups, are particularly affected. Black Caribbeans are likely to die at twice rate of their population share. Even more striking, Pakistanis are dying at three times the rate of their population share. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52219070 Two weeks ago, Miles Briggs and Anas Sarwar called for an urgent investigation, expecting some data they might use to batter the SNP administration with. They were to be disappointed again. BAME deaths from Covid-19 only half that of peely-wally Jocks! Yesterday, the First … Continue reading Covid-19 death rate among black and ethnic minorities in Scotland is ‘lower’ than wider population

From sam: On the subject of incoming flights we know from Taiwan that airports and planes are significant points of transmission. So why did the UK government not suspend travel into the UK? “Based on these factors and our experience, Chen is correct in asserting that this coronavirus can be found in the cabins of many airplanes, and therefore people should avoid flying. However, not enough emphasis is being placed on the roles of international airports in spreading COVID-19, due to the numerous passengers and many aircraft arriving for maintenance.From a statistical point of view, the probability of physically encountering … Continue reading How many deaths in Scotland has the UK Government’s delay on air travel arrivals caused?

By stewartb: As the Covid-19 political recriminations are ramped up in Scotland, the ‘factual record’ becomes more and more important. One ‘factual topic’ of relevance is when this new virus, Covid-19 was made a ’notifiable disease’, meaning that medical practitioners become legally required to share patient information with public health authorities when they have reasonable grounds to suspect a patient has coronavirus. The UK government added Covid-19 to the list of notifiable diseases within England on 5 March, 2020 Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-covid-19-listed-as-a-notifiable-disease A similar action to make Covid-19 a notifiable disease was taken by the Scottish Government but MUCH EARLIER, the regulation … Continue reading Scottish Government made Covid-19 a notifiable disease ELEVEN days earlier than UK

By sam So how does the UK and its component parts compare? http://www.progressivepulse.org/brexit/covid-19-how-is-the-uk-doing “International comparisons are difficult, as testing and reporting regimes vary from country to country. Other governments are not above putting a gloss on their data. Fortunately just as the UK has the ONS, all European countries have an independent statistics office and other bodies free of political spin….. ….The z-score is effectively the number of standard deviations the measurement is away from the expected value…. …At the height of the pandemic, the top five in terms of peak z-score were England 42.75 (Wk 15), Spain 34.41 (Wk … Continue reading Scotland’s ‘Z Score’ or measure of excess covid mortality is far lower than England

Some of you were shouting ‘Ian Bell!’ He was the last and even back then, a freakish exception. He was really, really good and had many followers so the Scotsman’s and the Herald’s corporate owners tolerated him. Before you have a go, I should explain my terms. It’s complex. For ‘socially progressive’, there cannot be a trace of homophobia, transphobia or misogyny or racism or elitism and favoured policies must work toward a fairer more inclusive society including full rights for all, including children,………….you know what I mean. Veganism is not required but foxhunting is out! For ‘economically leftist’ the … Continue reading Name me one, just one, genuinely socially progressive and economically leftist journalist in Scotland’s mainstream media