elisi: (Protest)
elisi ([personal profile] elisi) wrote2020-05-11 05:15 pm
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Update from The House of Plague, Day 56

Today is just me being grumpy about Boris (and the government generally) and reposting a lot of stuff from Twitter.





Videos:

Still not over Piers Morgan being one of the few holding the government to account...







General bitchiness, and a lot of re-writes of the new slogan:















ignoreboris

goout

slogan

ack
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ruuger: My hand with the nails painted red and black resting on the keyboard of my laptop (Default)

[personal profile] ruuger 2020-05-11 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)
What baffles me most about your situation is that compared to Finland, in some ways you've actually taken harsher actions to stop the virus. The only thing that we've closed is public institutions and bars/restaurants and banned gatherings of over 10 people (and briefly isolated Southern Finland, but that decision was revoked after 2 weeks to avoid going against the constitution). We're free to go outside as much as we want and most shops are still open. And yet we actually have a problem now that hospitals are too empty!

And I wonder how much that has to do with communication. Because I was with a colleague when I watched our Prime Minister's first briefing about the situation, and afterwards we both agreed that Sanna Marin made us feel that even though the situation was serious, we could trust that the government was doing its best to keep everyone safe. That afternoon I took my laptop with me and have been working from home ever since, voluntarily limiting my contact with other people.

Most people seem to be doing the same (60% of Finns are now working from home, the highest number in Europe), being wisely cautious, voluntarily doing their best to avoid a situation where we would need a harsher lockdown. And I wonder how much of it is down to the fact that in her communication Marin has been so honest and level-headed about what can be done and what must be done that people take more responsibility of themselves and others without needed to be forced to do it.
elisi: (Vote Saxon by diapadme)

[personal profile] elisi 2020-05-11 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Interesting. I've not seen Finland pop up... at all really, when people talk about different countries and different approaches. (The way Sweden is constantly being weighed & measured.)

As you say, communication is probably key. That and organisation I'm guessing. (Our lot don't seem able to organise a piss-up in a brewery.)

It might also be down to how the saying puts it: 'The spread of coronavirus depends on how dense the population is, and how dense the population is.'

So yeah, communication, and trust in the government. :(
maia: (Default)

[personal profile] maia 2020-05-11 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
No matter how bad your government is, ours is worse...


elisi: (Clara (FACE))

[personal profile] elisi 2020-05-12 06:11 am (UTC)(link)
That's not really comforting. :(

By which I mean - I'm so sorry.
Edited 2020-05-12 06:32 (UTC)
ruuger: My hand with the nails painted red and black resting on the keyboard of my laptop (Default)

[personal profile] ruuger 2020-05-12 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
UK & US really have been cursed with the worst possible leaders for the situation. I remember speaking with the colleague I mentioned in the comment above how lucky we are that this happened now, and not last Autumn or last year, when our prime minister would have been Juha Sipilä or Antti Rinne, neither of which would have been as good at communication as Sanna Marin. And how very very narrowly we avoided a darkest timeline where our prime minister would have been the ultra-right wing Jussi Halla-aho, thanks to SDP beating the True Finns party with less than a percentage point in the last election...
ruuger: My hand with the nails painted red and black resting on the keyboard of my laptop (Default)

[personal profile] ruuger 2020-05-12 03:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't think we've had clear strategy as such, hence not being a poster child of any one way of dealing with the crisis. So far iyt looks to me like decisions have been made pretty much on the fly, depending on the latest information - which has worked well since the situation and what we know of the disease keeps changing quickly. For example, schools are opening again this week because latest data suggests that children are unlikely to spread the disease, and the Minister of Education is of the opinion that the risk of schools becoming hotbeds of infection is smaller than the detrimental effects of remote school on children's mental health.

We've had our own cock-ups, like missing the deadline for EUs shared PPE order because the decision got stuck in byrocracy, but I think the biggest criticisms against Marin & co has been their refusal to a) compromise civil liberties to stop the virus or b) make long-term decisions without supporting data (for example, the mayor of Helsinki wanted them to say already now if there could be 500+ people events in August).
elisi: Don't breathe (coronavirus) (Current events)

[personal profile] elisi 2020-05-12 06:24 pm (UTC)(link)
I guess you basically have sane, trustworthy people in charge, who are good at communicating clearly.

Re. PPE then I found an article about how Finland has been hoarding PPE (and other essentials) since WW2? Go you! Alas, the UK - which WAS prepared and DID have Plans in place some years - let it all slide. Well, the Tories did. >:(

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