Government and UK media push to claim that children are not at significant risk in school blown apart by reality – except it’s not getting a mention
Barely a week after the French government relaxed its coronavirus lockdown and sent one in three French children went back to school, the country has seen at least seventy new coronavirus cases linked to schools.
French Education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer admitted that the decision to re-open schools has put children at risk of infection and told French radio that the affected schools were to be closed again. He did not say how many of those infected were children, teachers or other staff.
At least seven schools in the north of the country saw outbreaks.
A recent study of a pre-lockdown outbreak in a French school found that on average 40% of pupils and staff were infected within a few weeks after just one infected person attended:
In addition, more than ten percent of pupils’ family members caught the virus from their child/sibling during the outbreak at the school in the Oise region. Leading German virologist Christian Drosten said that the result of a study of the outbreak showed that schools should not re-open.
Since schools re-opened in France, class sizes have been limited to fifteen – the same maximum that the UK government’s guidelines specify.
France also saw the first death of one of its children – a 9-year-old boy in Marseille – from the ‘Kawasaki syndrome’-like toxic shock now recognised as a complication of coronavirus in some child victims. The UK has now seen more than one hundred cases in just the two weeks since the syndrome was identified for the first time – around twenty times more than would be expected from the number of known child cases in this country. France has seen 125 cases.
The news of the new school outbreaks in France should kill any pretence that schools in the UK can safely re-open. However, the UK media appears to be steadfastly ignoring it. Instead, they are using stories from countries with very low infection rates to claim that there is little risk – and focusing on attempts to discredit unions and doctors who say it is unsafe to send children back to school.
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It’s about getting the diverse working class parents (workers) back to work for profit as the middle class can generally work at home and the rich and powerful are enconsed in their bolt homes!
Diverse working class pain and RISK, middle class ambivilence (?) rich and powerful gain.
Need to kick Tories & Starmer Out!
There is a excellent article in the Guardian that is well worth a read. We need to be prepared for what’s coming.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/18/revolution-history-fight-back-coronavirus-policies-vulnerable
In reality, the first thing that happens in a recession tends not to be radical reengineering of the economy. The first impulse is to make a quick calculation: who should be saved and who is dispensable. In the US after the 2008 crash, the banks were recapitalised and the economy stabilised, and 10 million Americans lost their homes. The only factor that mattered was how many people could be lost without disrupting the economy for everyone else.
That question is already being asked with regard to the current lockdown. How many deaths can we afford before the economy suffers? Who are we happy to sacrifice, so that the rest of us can thrive? In the UK, the answer to that second question has been those already disproportionately affected by the pandemic. The working classes, the cleaners, the construction workers – the manual levers of the economy – have become the canaries, sent back down the coal mine to test the first stage of lockdown easing. If infections surge, it will hit them first.
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If the loss of life is at a level deemed acceptable by big business and government, the focus will shift to moving on while minimising the need for change. The old order – that some are already writing eulogies for – will surge back rather than retreating. We will be told that deep-rooted reform is not necessary because this is an unprecedented crisis, an unforeseen event, a once-in-a-lifetime shock. Any failings are merely opportunities to learn lessons, as the prime minister’s deputy, Dominic Raab, is fond of saying: lessons about how to respond to an exact similar threat rather than reflect on the reason it was allowed to take hold in the first place.
… which is why some of us have been persistently pointing up the disconnection between the actuality of this virus and MSM propaganda.
Anyone who thinks that the outcome will be some kindly ‘seeing of the light’ in terms of neoliberal economics is living in fairyland.
There are many threads to this – but just consider (a) the *known* level of media control that we saw plainly leading up to the election (b) the fact that the arguments for ‘austerity’ (aka upwards wealth transfer) were then collapsing (c) the techniques now being used to create a compliant population and removal of civil liberties around a constructed narrative.
… then add a bit more and join up the dots. If you come up with an optimistic projection, I’d suggest that Ferguson and the ICL group are doing your modelling.
The old fundamental political question is ‘Cui bono?’
Credit to Skwawkie and the teaching unions who are calling caution on this callous and reckless government’s ill-considered attempts to re-open our schools BEFORE implementing adequate testing and before completing effective SWOT analysis.
Bad government’s are as bad governments do: Dangerous.
How quickly the memory goes down the plug hole about the Fraudian. How quickly it’s washed down the gutter about the misinformation, distortion and downright lies that this ” newspaper ” said was true about WMD and the millions of lives destroyed and damaged from it since. Who can forget the torrent of propaganda pouring and being pumped on a daily. weekly, yearly basis by the Fraudian about AS and the fabricated lies about JC and the Labour party. Not forgetting of course that the B&MHF, the International pharmaceuticals spend vast sums on advertising plus the Fraudian is controlled by bankers, hedge funds and others. Yet. it’s being quoted as a reliable source concerning an infectious disease which is being whipped to dizzy heights of hysteria by it and the rest of the stenographers in the MSM, State Broadcaster.
When we appear to rely on Piers Morgan, Financial Times and Daily Heil then we are truly fucked
90% deaths in Sweden over 70, what we know is elderly have been denied protection and treatment to stop health services being overwhelmed, in every country, now that’s a scandal
Precisely. I can get all the scary bad information I want from the Beeb and the MSM in general. I can induce mathematical illiteracy by bashing my head against a wall, and make up distorted stories about the nature of this infection and its consequences by taking a course in creative writing or journalism.
… none of which is going to do anything about the impoverishment of workers’ health and wealth (or lack of) that is the consequence of a myth-led policy on top of 10 years of ‘austerity’.
i would have thought Skwawkbox would have learned a little more by now about the costs of inaccurate journalism.
brianbotou, what do you dispute in the piece itself?
I read the part SteveH quoted, then read the linked article and found Ms. Malik’s assessment of the establishment’s purpose in manipulating the narrative accurate as far as it goes.
A small truth that comes too little and too late for the Guardian to expunge past crimes but I don’t think we should dismiss the article as fake news because it’s in a discredited newspaper.
I wonder what de piffle’s take on this would be?
‘That’s typical of the Vichy French…Meekly capitulating to the invisible mugger! This viorus has beelinked to SARS and MERS…Well the ONLY MERS that matters is MERS-el-Kebir; uncle winston taught me that!
And folks, I have to level with you. The ONLY reason they’re copping it is because they nibble on their poxy croissants and a thimble full of coffee for their breakfast, whereas we red-blooded, carnivorous champions devour the full English, with gallons of tea…Or fanta, or something!
Not only does a hearty breakfast prevent coronavirus; it helps you build an empire stretching right across the globe – Not like them – with a paltry few unremarkable third world countries scattered all over the place, like detritus in a wind tunnel!”
“It’s scientifically proven. So here’s our new slogan for the next fortnight:
‘Eat. Full. English. Avoid Croissants. Wash your French.’
time will tell post June1 , you maybe eating your words and swallowing your own propaganda , watch for the CV spike , and of course the Govt will do nothing about it , the experiment will continue
You are right in only one respect, Rob – only time will give the full picture. In the meantime, the picture of a large decline in mortality since early April could only be missed by those too blind to see.
There will, no doubt be further outbreaks of infection, with mild consequences for the majority of the normally healthy population – less severe than most ‘flu epidemics. The problem of protecting the elderly and vulnerable will remain – but the sledgehammer of locking everything up won’t solve that in any sensible way. Meanwhile the consequences of tanking the economy will accumulate.
Don’t be stupidly careless about using the term ‘propaganda’. The real ‘propaganda’ is that which has induced an unreasonable degree of fear within the population – not the presentation of wider data. Anyone sensible of the tools of the MSM should have some appreciation of the biased pap that is being turned out.
Predictable, and tragic, but unfortunately makes little difference to the final death toll. At the beginning the scientists warned of 200,000 dead in the UK. We are well on our way, regardless of what Bozo and Hancock say.
Just a reality check.
Current cumulative deaths *from all causes* are about 32000 above the level for 2018 (the last significant ‘flu season) at this point in the year. They are below the level of deaths in other severe ‘flu seasons.
Given that (a) the 32k contains deaths from a multitude of other causes – and particularly those *caused* by the lock-up policy and (b) that the death rate has been in steep decline since the beginning of April and (c) that the ‘scientists’ on whose projection policy was based have a record of startling inaccuracy, your wildest fears of 200,000 deaths from this virus are nowhere near looking likely.
Check it out.
I’ve just noticed an massively egregious example of Skwawkbox fiction :
“Belgium has considerably fewer deaths per head than UK”
If you can’t tell that 769 per million (Belgium) is actually larger than 495 per million (the UK), you really do need some lessons in counting – let alone more advanced lessons in statistical analysis.
I’m not going to bother looking for the post but assuming you’re correct and Skwawkbox’s number was wrong – to create a false narrative (as you imply his purpose to be) would take many, many more than one “massively egregious fiction.”
You’re the one with an undeclared agenda, fucker.
Good to watch Tony Blair being interviewed on BBC NewsNight last night & his endorsing Sir Keir Starmer & his ‘forensic’ questioning. Now tell me this Sir Keir, why are ‘Care Home & ‘Home Care’ workers treated so appallingly by this gov’t & when will the Labour Party campaign to support them as part of our NHS?
Steve Richards – Keir expressed his support for reforming social care during the leadership campaign. He stated that he supported the motion passed for comprehensive reform of social care at conference rather than the watered down version that was substituted in Labour’s manifesto by the Clause 5 process.
https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/labour-leadership-starmer-backs-calls-for-free-social-care/
You are trying to minimise the fact that the Fraudian is a propaganda outlet for the narrative of the day. In this case the hysteria and hyperbole about an infectious disease which mostly effects a very small percentage of the population. Yet, unprecedented draconian measures, a de facto police state, to deny the freedom to work, the freedom of movement and the freedom of association. Now, the stenographers from the Fraudian are by many many people not trusted, and they know this, hence why they control their comments section like, in the words of Peter Oborne, “ a Soviet Style propaganda outlet” concerning the MSM plus the State Broadcaster.
brianbotou – Perhaps you could point out where I’ve attempted to minimise anything. On the contrary I believe I have highlighted a number of issues by linking to what I think is an excellent article. Do you have any issues with the actual contents of the article, or did you just fancy a quick rant about the Guardian to distract from the contents of the article.
It appears you are deliberately missing the points I made much earlier and repeated again. But being a good socialist, I will repeat them so you might grasp them. The Guardian( better known to many as the Fraudian) has a quite a long history of supporting the official narrative. For example, WMD which was repeated over and over again, remember the 45 minutes to doom etc which resulted in the death and destruction of millions of lives and still ongoing. All repeated by the Fraudian as true.
More recently, the AS fabricated bilge, the torrent of lies, smears and disinformation about Jeremy Corbyn and the democratic socialist Labour Party. Furthermore, the Scott trust is no more, it is now the Scott Trust ltd which has a governing body mostly comprised of bankers, hedge fund employees, corporate lawyers and receives vast sums of revenue from the B&MGF, the Rockefeller Foundation, HSBC and other corporate organisations. John Pilger, Jonathan Cooke and others have all written extensively about the Fraudian toeing almost unquestionably the official narrative line of the day.
Naturally, the Fraudian didn’t want Independent investigative journalists seeking the truth and neither do they want readers questioning their narrative of the day hence why the rigorously censor the comments section as Off -Guardian, Media Lens, Global Research, Counterpunch and many other online magazines have pointed out. Now, if you think the lives of millions of people’s death and destruction plus the continuing undermining of democracy are mere “ rant “. I suggest you look very hard at the reality of what the MSM and the State Broadcaster represent!
brianbotou – But unfortunately you’ve neglected to mention whether you have any issues with the contents of the article that I linked to above.
Well, it appears that you conceding the fact the Fraudian has a very chequered history in reporting the truth. Now, I had a look through some of the columnists previous articles in regards to this infectious disease but I have yet to find any which questions the narrative of the deaths figures from it, ie how many had primary unrelated Corona-19 illnesses or the fact that so many were and are over the age of 60. Moreover, it appears she hasn’t questioned the percentages or put into context with previous years death tolls or the narrative of the lock down itself. However, as the economic writing is on the wall appears ( and so it is for the Fraudian) she seems to have developed a questioning stance. A little but far to late for the economic deep depression the U.K. will experience according to many leading economists. As Upton Sinclair said “ it is difficult to get a man ( or in this case woman) to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
brianbotou – Thanks for your continued interest but I must admit to being a little puzzled by your insistence on distracting from the actual contents of the article I linked to. I don’t think that I have ever endorsed the current editorial stance of the Guardian. I am only recommending the contents of the article I linked to, not the entire bloody back-catalogue.
Hmm, you seem to be avoiding the points that the Fraudian has a track record of being economical with the truth, it also seems you have cited the Fraudian in another recent thread and you don’t seem to have any knowledge of this columnists track record which, therefore, somewhat colours her sudden light of Damascus moment to the sincerity of her articles.
brianbotou – For goodness sake give it a rest with this pointless nonsense. I think I am quite safe in assuming that the vast majority of this blogs readers are more than aware of the Guardian’s faults.
If we all followed your nonsense nobody would ever be able to reference anything in the national newspapers or TV. I have simply recommended the contents of one article that I thought raised some good points nothing more nothing less and if you have a problem with me referencing stuff from the Guardian or any other MSM source then quite frankly that’s your infantile problem, not mine.
” I think ….” The vast majority of people, who are aware of the history of the Fraudian, would not be citing them as a source to quote from. Moreover, as many many members have shown the last place to be looking for integrity is from the MSM, or the State Broadcaster as witnessed by them all singing from the same hymn sheet about AS or the fabricated lies about Jeremy Corbyn. You might as well find an article in the Spectator about JC when we had a socialist democratic Leader and totally disregard the ethos, the ideology of the source. Now, throwing your toys out of your pram does not give your arguments any more credence!