UK and North American politics. > A look at British politics in the light of the decision to leave the EU.
How Many More Have to Die?
Venturi Swirl:
UK Covid deaths: Why the 100,000 toll is so bad https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55757790 if you want to know why our death rate is so high. As I said, a complex issue. Just blaming the government won’t do and is a quite dangerous position to adopt IMO as it overlooks other important contributing factors.
Venturi Swirl:
Meanwhile the situation in Portugal is currently dire - my heart goes out to the Portuguese who are in a terrible way atm. Undoubtedly their government has made mistakes but now is not the time to point fingers at their leaders and play politics. Now is the time to pull together and do what needs to be done as swiftly and as effectively as possible - IMO.
Oxygen is running out as Covid cases soar and Portugal confronts ‘catastrophe’
Isambard Wilkinson, Madrid | Oliver Moody, Berlin
Friday January 29 2021, 12.01am, The Times
Coronavirus
More than 20 ambulances wait outside Portugal’s largest hospital, the Santa Maria in Lisbon
More than 20 ambulances wait outside Portugal’s largest hospital, the Santa Maria in Lisbon
EPA/MARIO CRUZ
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Portugal is struggling to contain its growing coronavirus outbreak, with overwhelmed hospitals running short of oxygen supplies as the country recorded the world’s highest seven-day average of new daily cases and deaths.
Yesterday afternoon the country announced the closure of its border with Spain from today for two weeks. Flights to and from the UK were banned from last weekend. Flights to and from Brazil, where another worrying variant has been detected, will be banned from Saturday. Germany has also announced a ban on flights to and from Portugal.
António Costa, the prime minister, said Portugal had entered a “terrible” stage. “There is no point in feeding the illusion that we are not facing the worst moment,” he added. “And we’ll face this worst moment for a few more weeks, that is for sure.” He said that had his government known about the British strain it would not have eased restrictions over Christmas. Infections began to soar in the new year and have not yet shown signs of coming down.
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Germany had promised military medical aid, but Mr Costa said: “In everything Portugal has asked for, unfortunately they have no availability, namely doctors, nurses. They have ventilators, but at the moment we don’t need it because we have enough.”
With more than 670,000 cases and 11,600 deaths — including a record 303 dead and 16,432 infections registered on Thursday — the country of ten million people has the world’s highest seven-day average of daily cases and deaths per million. These numbers are the official figures from the Portuguese government and higher than those recoded by the World Health Organisation.
Hospitals in Portugal, which, before the pandemic had the lowest number of critical care beds per 100,000 people in Europe, are using 830 beds out of a total 1,200 for Covid-19 patients. At present 783 Covid patients are in ICUs.
Since Tuesday night, when the oxygen network collapsed at Fernando Fonseca Hospital in Lisbon, more than 100 patients have been moved elsewhere. The Lusa news agency reported that a group of German military doctors had visited the hospital to assess its logistics and equipment needs.
Portugal had entered a “terrible” stage, according to the prime minister
Portugal had entered a “terrible” stage, according to the prime minister
EPA/MARIO CRUZ
TV news showed more than 20 ambulances outside Portugal’s largest hospital, the Santa Maria in Lisbon, waiting for beds. At least ten other hospitals have said they are in a “catastrophic situation”. The capital’s military hospital, which is taking patients from public hospitals, is turning its canteen into a 50-bed ward in three days, bringing its beds to 274, 80 per cent for Covid-19.
“Human resources are finite and that is where the most critical situation is,” said Carlos Robalo Cordeiro, a member of the crisis committee at Portugal’s national association of doctors. “Numbers [of patients] are overtaking the capacity of resources to respond.”
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The German decision to ban travel from Portugal was announced by Horst Seehofer, the interior minister, after online talks with his EU counterparts. “To protect our population, there should be no entry from regions where these variants of the virus are rampant,” he said.
The return of stringent border controls within Europe’s visa-free Schengen zone would be a significant setback for freedom of movement within the bloc. Last March, during the first wave of the pandemic, Germany shut its borders with France, Poland, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark, although there were exceptions for commuters and goods traffic. The controls were eased again from mid-May.
faithlilly:
--- Quote from: Vertigo Swirl on January 29, 2021, 09:34:16 AM ---Meanwhile the situation in Portugal is currently dire - my heart goes out to the Portuguese who are in a terrible way atm. Undoubtedly their government has made mistakes but now is not the time to point fingers at their leaders and play politics. Now is the time to pull together and do what needs to be done as swiftly and as effectively as possible - IMO.
Oxygen is running out as Covid cases soar and Portugal confronts ‘catastrophe’
Isambard Wilkinson, Madrid | Oliver Moody, Berlin
Friday January 29 2021, 12.01am, The Times
Coronavirus
More than 20 ambulances wait outside Portugal’s largest hospital, the Santa Maria in Lisbon
More than 20 ambulances wait outside Portugal’s largest hospital, the Santa Maria in Lisbon
EPA/MARIO CRUZ
Share
Save
Portugal is struggling to contain its growing coronavirus outbreak, with overwhelmed hospitals running short of oxygen supplies as the country recorded the world’s highest seven-day average of new daily cases and deaths.
Yesterday afternoon the country announced the closure of its border with Spain from today for two weeks. Flights to and from the UK were banned from last weekend. Flights to and from Brazil, where another worrying variant has been detected, will be banned from Saturday. Germany has also announced a ban on flights to and from Portugal.
António Costa, the prime minister, said Portugal had entered a “terrible” stage. “There is no point in feeding the illusion that we are not facing the worst moment,” he added. “And we’ll face this worst moment for a few more weeks, that is for sure.” He said that had his government known about the British strain it would not have eased restrictions over Christmas. Infections began to soar in the new year and have not yet shown signs of coming down.
IN YOUR INBOX
Coronavirus update
For a concise rundown of the developments that matter, combined with expert analysis, sign up to receive our dedicated daily coronavirus newsletter
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Germany had promised military medical aid, but Mr Costa said: “In everything Portugal has asked for, unfortunately they have no availability, namely doctors, nurses. They have ventilators, but at the moment we don’t need it because we have enough.”
With more than 670,000 cases and 11,600 deaths — including a record 303 dead and 16,432 infections registered on Thursday — the country of ten million people has the world’s highest seven-day average of daily cases and deaths per million. These numbers are the official figures from the Portuguese government and higher than those recoded by the World Health Organisation.
Hospitals in Portugal, which, before the pandemic had the lowest number of critical care beds per 100,000 people in Europe, are using 830 beds out of a total 1,200 for Covid-19 patients. At present 783 Covid patients are in ICUs.
Since Tuesday night, when the oxygen network collapsed at Fernando Fonseca Hospital in Lisbon, more than 100 patients have been moved elsewhere. The Lusa news agency reported that a group of German military doctors had visited the hospital to assess its logistics and equipment needs.
Portugal had entered a “terrible” stage, according to the prime minister
Portugal had entered a “terrible” stage, according to the prime minister
EPA/MARIO CRUZ
TV news showed more than 20 ambulances outside Portugal’s largest hospital, the Santa Maria in Lisbon, waiting for beds. At least ten other hospitals have said they are in a “catastrophic situation”. The capital’s military hospital, which is taking patients from public hospitals, is turning its canteen into a 50-bed ward in three days, bringing its beds to 274, 80 per cent for Covid-19.
“Human resources are finite and that is where the most critical situation is,” said Carlos Robalo Cordeiro, a member of the crisis committee at Portugal’s national association of doctors. “Numbers [of patients] are overtaking the capacity of resources to respond.”
SPONSORED
The German decision to ban travel from Portugal was announced by Horst Seehofer, the interior minister, after online talks with his EU counterparts. “To protect our population, there should be no entry from regions where these variants of the virus are rampant,” he said.
The return of stringent border controls within Europe’s visa-free Schengen zone would be a significant setback for freedom of movement within the bloc. Last March, during the first wave of the pandemic, Germany shut its borders with France, Poland, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark, although there were exceptions for commuters and goods traffic. The controls were eased again from mid-May.
--- End quote ---
Why do you think that the U.K. has the highest death rate in Europe....even Portugal?
Venturi Swirl:
--- Quote from: faithlilly on January 30, 2021, 02:53:26 PM ---Why do you think that the U.K. has the highest death rate in Europe....even Portugal?
--- End quote ---
See my previous answer(s).
Venturi Swirl:
Figures show there were 50.5 deaths per million in Scotland in the week to 15 November, compared to 40.6 in England
Does this mean that Nicola Sturgeon's government have handled the pandemic worse than Boris and his government?
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