London out of control
Britain suffered its most gruesome day since the pandemic began last year with 1,325 people dying having tested positive for Covid-19.
The number of deaths is now above the peak of last April while the number of those testing positive – 68,053 – is at a record and climbing, particularly in the south-east.
Coronavirus is so rampant in London that Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has declared the situation in the capital a ‘major incident’ and out of control.
More than 7,000 people are now in London hospitals with Covid-19, more than a third up on last April’s peak. On average one in 30 Londoners now has the virus while in some parts of the city the figure may be one in 20.
Calling a ‘major incident’ allows the Mayor to request extra resources from the government to deal with the crisis, and draw on the emergency services to work together to prioritise danger points.
It’s also a warning that services cannot respond at their normal levels, as shown by the London Ambulance Service which is being swamped.
Khan went on to claim that the capital’s ambulance service has been receiving up to 9,000 emergency calls a day compared to 5,500 on a typical busy day. To help out, firefighters from London’s Fire Brigade have been drafted in to help, with more than 100 of them now driving ambulances.
Exacerbating the crisis over the last few weeks is the fact that many essential workers are off work sick with the virus or are having to self-isolate.
Which is why it is heart-breaking to hear of yet more examples of how some police forces are wasting their own time, and the time of those they are needlessly pestering. No wonder reports of crime are said to be soaring.
Here are two of the more ridiculous incidents being reported: youngsters being fined £200 for throwing snowballs in Broseley (Shropshire) between 11 and 11.30pm last night while the Derbyshire police – a van and a car – surrounded two girls out walking on Foremark Reservoir and fined them for being more than five miles from their home. Priti Patel needs to have a quiet word with police chiefs or they will start losing our respect. Or draft them into London to do some proper work.
New hope from the Aztec Gods
Now for brighter news: a third vaccine from Moderna has been approved and should be ready to roll out in March. Even more positive is the confirmation that other well-established drugs are proving to be highly effective in treating Covid patients in intensive care.
The two drugs – Tocilizumab and Sarilumab – can according to the government’s clinical trial researchers reduce the relative risk of death by 24%, when given to patients within 24 hours of entering intensive care. Tocilizumab is used to treat arthritis but researchers have shown that when given with a corticosteroid, such as dexamethasone, it dramatically reduces the time patients spend in intensive care.
They are hardly names that are going to trip off the tongue but how wonderful that drugs already in use – and relatively inexpensive – are so effective. And how amazing, as Tom Holland remarks on Twitter, that these drugs all sound like Aztec Gods. We can only hope they do prove as magical.
Republicans turn on “unhinged” Trump
CNN is reporting that several Republicans are considering voting to impeach President Trump if the articles on impeachment are deemed to be reasonable. They are reported as saying they believe Trump should be removed before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20 because of fears of what he might do next.
At least three House Democrats plan to introduce articles of impeachment on Monday, which would allow for a vote mid-week. Also fearful of what Trump might come up with next, Nancy Pelosi contacted the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff about preventing the president from having access to the nuclear codes. The Speaker is said to have told her Democrat colleagues that, following the president’s role in inciting the protestors who stormed Capitol Hill and caused five deaths, she had discussed “ available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike.”
Are they over-reacting? After all, Trump has promised a peaceful transfer to Biden. It seems not. Once again there have been disturbing rumours resurfacing in military circles of him launching an attack on Iran, his old foe.
It’s not surprising that Pelosi wants to stop him getting anywhere near the codes. She told her caucus that military chiefs had reassured her that there were safeguards in place should Trump want to launch a nuclear attack. Thank goodness for that.
His ego is so big that you couldn’t put anything past him. As Robert Fox points out in a fascinating piece, see below, Trump displays all the hallmarks of a classic narcissist, one who revels in the mythology of his own victimhood. And that’s what still makes him a dangerous loser.
Have a good weekend.
Maggie Pagano,
Executive Editor