As of last night: Scotland had 25 deaths from 894 cases giving a mortality rate of 2.8%, down from 3% the previous day. The UK had 578 deaths from 11 658 cases giving a mortality rate of 4.8%, down from 5.3% the previous day. Obviously, these falls derive from large increases in the number of cases but, equally, from the ability of the NHS to keep deaths down. Things may well get worse in the weeks to come but these mortality rates, two months since the first recorded cases of infection in York, do not suggest a crisis on a … Continue reading Coronavirus death rate falls

By Contrary: Well, I have to say that following the trial proceedings had somewhat the opposite effect for me. I’m pretty much ambivalent about all politicians. They are like actors, playing a part. A good politician is always on show, and Alex Salmond is a good politician, a very good debater and is on par with many a Westminster character, and he has charisma, and rarely says the wrong thing. A good politician does not necessarily make a good person, because you don’t know if you only ever see their game face. This is why I wonder at people that … Continue reading ‘Don’t follow leaders?’

Tom Gordonstoun again, at his his best, which is of course quite creepy too: ‘ONE of Alex Salmond’s defence witnesses at his recent trial has described him as an insecure “creep”. Alex Bell, who was a special adviser to the former First Minister, said Mr Salmond had been cleared of sexual assault charges by effectively arguing “I’m sleazy, but not criminal”.’ This is from the man who wrote that the SNP politicians were ”Thatcher’s children to a person‘ and ‘Everyone gets prizes in Scotland, while the NHS crumbles, education declines and the poor get little.’ Bell’s comments and Gordonstoun’s reporting … Continue reading Creep Effect or that sinking feeling?

This anaesthetist is not an infection prevention specialist. There are many of those working across NHS Scotland. None have made such ludicrous claims. The crises in Italy and Spain have little if anything to do with events in hospitals but are the consequence of a failure by politicians to impose restrictions on football events soon enough and a similar slowness in encouraging social distancing. NHS Scotland has a coronavirus infection and mortality rate far lower than in these countries and, for that matter, only half that of the UK average. Anyone looking at the statistical trends can see that things … Continue reading Is this doctor well? Why is BBC Scotland allowing an ill-informed hysterical rant to scare the people?

From the Scottish Government today, a report on the most damaging form of poverty: ‘Persistent poverty identifies individuals who live in relative poverty for three or more ofthe last four years. It therefore identifies people who have been living in poverty for asignificant period of time, which is more damaging than brief periods spent with a lowincome. The impacts can affect an individual throughout their lifetime.’ Regrettably, for all groups other than children, persistent poverty is as common in Scotland as it is in England and Wales but more common than in Northern Ireland. However: ‘Children have consistently had a … Continue reading Scotland keeps persistent child poverty lower than in England or Wales

After the hand cleansers not in right place scandal Here’s the headline claim: ‘We hear about a man with MND left lying on a floor for hours due to a lack of crisis care as his brother self-isolated.’ Here’s the truth of the situation: ‘The local social care partnership said it offered respite care to Richard, 50, but he turned it down. He told them he wanted to remain in his own home.’ So, with care staff unavoidably reduced by the coronavirus outbreak, the man is offered temporary care in a respite centre but refuses it. The brother self-isolates and … Continue reading Reporting Scotland’s second* Covid-19 dirty trick? Exploiting ONE man’s trauma and faking a wider crisis from it

From sam: “The role of modelling burst into the open last Monday, when the UK government switched its strategy on the virus. Gone was the idea to allow it to pass through the population in a managed way (and build up ‘herd immunity’), and in came complete suppression. It soon became clear why. A shocking new analysis from disease modellers at Imperial College suggested that 250,000 people would die under the old strategy. Some have reported the U-turn as a triumph for the modelling team, but that’s not the full story. Buried in the report was the admission that only … Continue reading Scotland to follow new modelling to defeat coronavirus?

Once again, we’ve had to sort out the Herald headline before they lose any more readers. Their Royal Correspondent, Tom Gordonstoun (good eh?) was going to accuse a former SNP MSP of something disloyal. I forget what. Does the Herald have some kind of collective death wish? Continue reading Herald’s Tom Gordonstoun attacked for sookin’ up to Prince Charles

That’s how they looked on the Scottish Government site after yesterday’s increase of a further six. Note the graph only goes up to 22 even though there have been more than 500 cases. Look what happens if you flatten the graph: Doesn’t seem so worrying does it? What if we squeeze it? OMG! What if we put it into some kind of context, say overall cases admitted, as Reporting Scotland did the previous day? Relatively low? Sign of excellent care? Or, as she has it, we’re ‘behind the curve?’ Continue reading Are Scotland’s coronavirus deaths ‘soaring’ or ‘increasing slowly?’ Depends how you draw the graph?

As of last night, there were 22 deaths from 719 cases giving a rate of 3%. The UK average rate with 433 deaths from 8 227 cases is 5.3%. The rate in Italy has risen to more than 10% while in Germany it remains below 1%. https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/1572472/?utm_source=showcase&utm_campaign=visualisation/1572472 While more factors than we can measure will be behind these variations, I remain sure that the performance of health services must be one, and so NHS Scotland must be praised for what they have achieved in saving lives. Some, especially on Twitter, have criticised both these data and what they think are … Continue reading Coronavirus Update: As cases climb Scotland’s mortalities increase but less so