From Insider yesterday: Opportunity for growth remains in Scotland’s digital technology sector despite the Covid-19 lockdown, industry experts have said. In a survey of 200 businesses in the sector by ScotlandIS, one third said they believe they will see increased demand. With many people now working from home, ScotlandIS said there have been more calls for cloud services, digital connectivity, remote working technology and digital health solutions. Almost 30% of digital technology businesses said they will need to increase staff levels by the end of 2020, while 71% said they expect workforce numbers to stay the same. https://www.insider.co.uk/news/survey-shows-digital-technology-companies-21946392 Continue reading Covid-19 ‘silver lining?’

Last night, a still working, but young, female and apparently non-partisan, expert appeared on BBC Scotland’s own Debate Night to say: Scottish government has ‘called it right’ on face covering. The Scottish government “probably called it right” with its advice for face coverings in enclosed public spaces, says Professor Kat Smith. The University of Strathclyde Public Health Policy professor says ministers are in a “difficult position” because current scientific advice is uncertain. She told BBC Debate Night it is important that people who choose to cover their faces do not reduce other coronavirus social distancing measures as a result. Reporting Scotland featured … Continue reading Reporting Scotland have plenty time to repeat Boris but none for an expert who appears on their own Debate Night praising the Scottish Government

BBC Good Morning Scotland’s Gary Robertson reflecting this morning on the care home deaths and the First Minister’s reminder that they have strict guidelines to follow, asks: ‘So does the guidance need tightening up and is enough being done to equip our care homes and care workers?’ Note the agenda. Why does he not ask whether the care home owners are failing to follow the guidelines or whether they, the owners, are doing enough? He starts from the position of implying that the Scottish Government guidelines might be flawed and that they should be making sure there is enough PPE. … Continue reading Gary Robertson’s hostile agenda is clear

From stewartb: Introduction The focus on one retired professor as a prime source of Coronavirus expertise by parts of the corporate media and amongst some in the Brit Nat/Unionist clique is unwarranted but unsurprising!  However, the Talking-Up Scotland Collective would rather introduce readers to the current, internationally renowned and diverse, research capability present in Scotland and to the contributions it is making during this global public health emergency. UK Research and Innovation uses Scottish university research capability Coronavirus-related research now receiving funding via ‘UK Research and Innovation’ include the following projects lead by staff in Scottish universities: University of Edinburgh … Continue reading The Not-Pennington Profiles – Issue Two of an occasional series

When the BMJ blamed Tory austerity for the deaths of 120 000 people, the BBC would not report it claiming its ‘independent’ scientific advisers, the ‘Science Media Centre’ had rejected the BMJ’s figures. So who is this mysterious ‘Science Media Centre’, which is so influential on the BBC that when it comes to science, its opinion trumps the British Medical Journal and both Oxford and Cambridge Universities? Shockingly, it turns out the SMC is not independent at all. It is an organisation with a history of pushing corporate interests as well as anti-environmentalism, funded by industry and headed by a controversial genocide-denying journalist, Fiona … Continue reading SHOCK: Are BBC and UK Government using pro-corporations fact-checker headed by alleged genocide denier and terrorism supporter?

Two days ago, we saw in the Herald, from the not really widely respected, bacteriologist/ virologist/ political activist: Professor Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, gave evidence to Holyrood’s health and sport committee – criticising leaders for “not putting enough emphasis on testing”. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18410402.coronavirus-hugh-pennington-mistakes-made-testing-ppe-care-homes/ Then, today, we read: Earlier this month, South Korea’s health chiefs reported the puzzling – and potentially troubling – cases of 91 patients who appeared to have recovered from the infection only to test positive again later. It is unclear exactly why this happened but a ‘relapse’ rather than a re-infection has been suggested. There is evidence … Continue reading Herald exposes Pennington’s lack of up-to-date knowledge on testing

Expect a gleeful media pile-on as another SNP target is apparently failed. I wouldn’t go so far as to call this an opinion piece. I’m less certain than that by some way. Like Prof Pennington, I too am not a virologist, I’m getting on a bit and haven’t worked for some time but my contrarian nature just senses that the almost uniform support for mass testing, expressed by experts and mainstream media, might require some examination. So, sensing cracks under my feet, here we go. These comments from Doyin Odubanjo, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Academy of Science, caught my eye at … Continue reading Are there good reasons for ‘Sturgeon’ government not wasting resources on mass testing?

By stewartb: Introduction The focus on one retired professor as a prime source of Coronavirus expertise by parts of the corporate media and amongst some in the Brit Nat/Unionist clique is unwarranted but unsurprising!  However, the Talking-Up Scotland Collective would rather introduce readers to the current, internationally renowned and diverse, research capability present in Scotland and to the contributions it is making during this global public health emergency. Medical Research Council (MRC) centres in Scotland Within the UK scientific research ‘system’ the MRC is the prime investor of public funds in research capability, projects and programmes concerning with human health. … Continue reading The Not-Pennington Profiles – Issue One of an occasional series

Imagine you’re a researcher for BBC Scotland and you’ve been asked to find someone to speak on pandemic control. You find Professor Devi Sridhar of Edinburgh University’s 12-strong Global Health Governance Programme: http://globalhealthgovernance.org/team-1 Eight of the team do research into infectious diseases for, amongst others, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation. Professor Sridhar led the team whose recommendations have prevented another Ebola outbreak: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(15)00946-0/fulltext You take your suggestion to a meeting with the editor. Lisa Summers and Glen Campbell might have been there. They agree that what you’ve found is ‘all very interesting’ but they’re going to go … Continue reading For advice on pandemics should we consult an Edinburgh team of 12 led by a professor of ‘global public health’ or one long-retired expert on contaminated church lunches in Wishaw?

Regular readers may remember Herald headline writers’ previous struggles with a desire for covid-19 cases to ‘soar’ when they are really stubbornly falling: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2020/04/28/coronavirus-cases-soar-down-in-heraldland/ https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2020/04/17/new-coronavirus-cases-fall-for-third-day-in-a-row-but-soar-in-the-herald/ They’ve done it again with the one above from yesterday. I feel for them a bit this time. There were 313 new cases compared to only 200 the previous day but to soar you need to be in the air and ascending increasingly for a bit longer. The graph below helps: See that dashed line showing the trend? The number of new cases has been falling for nearly two weeks now with just some variation … Continue reading Nope, Herald headlines still a soarpoint as ‘Scottish cases crawl past 11 000?’