Coronavirus: an essential update

​+We’ve been watching coronavirus for a couple of months as it has followed its slow, inevitable course to Mighty England. One wonders why it is only now that the government has decided it needs more ventilators. I get the strong feeling that despite last week’s ‘amazing giveaway budget’ this government is being as parsimonious as ever.  The emergency demand for ventilators is fully compliant with the economic model based on ‘just in time’ delivery, which abhors carrying any spare capacity anywhere in the supply chain, lest it interfere with financial efficiency. ‘Just in time’ is just another way of saying ‘let’s run everything down and squeeze the system for all it’s worth.’ Spare beds in the NHS? Who needs ‘em?
 
+Fred Olsen Lines, according to the BBC has a cruise ship holed up near the Bahamas, with some crew and passengers testing positive: “ The company said 20 guests and 20 crew members are in isolation but all passengers were being given an all-inclusive drinks package, and the ship's band had been playing on the deck.” I think the elderly everywhere, edging as they are towards self-isolation and God’s Waiting Room should be offered an all-inclusive drinks package too, along with ‘Nearer, My God, To Thee’ playing on a loop on all radio stations. Perhaps interspersed with Gavin Bryars’ ‘The Sinking of the Titanic.’ Let’s get in the mood! Mine’s a G&T!
 
+I bang off a letter to the Guardian:
 
Matt Hancock, writing about the way our grandparents ‘pulled together in one gigantic national effort’ during the Second World War invokes a spirit which some will still remember. So where’s the national government today? Or is this war just to be left in the hands of the Conservative Party?
 
+Another way of looking at the suggestion that the elderly stay at home is that they won’t place demands on the extra ventilators now on order through Poundworld. This is just one way the government can save money. Although on tonight’s BBC news it was said that the stay at home policy was designed to stop old folks passing on the disease. This is a bit odd, since young people can have the virus (and survive it) without even knowing it. Far less likely in the case of codgers. It sounds to me like the not-so-subtle rationing of healthcare has already kicked in. Poor old baby boomers, your time is up!