On this day in 2020...14th April

TUESDAY 14TH APRIL 2020

Facts and figures.

778 deaths in the UK over 24 hours.

40 in Scotland (615 total).

19 Wales (403).

10 N, Ireland (134).

744 England (11,005).

Total deaths so far is 12,107. * Note Anomaly with care home reporting below.

382,650 people have been tested.

93,873 tested positive. (A large rise of 14,982).

1,949,271 cases in the world.

121.902 deaths globally.

Doom and gloom.

The International Monetary Fund says the world is facing the worst recession since the Great Depression. The IMF said that the world economy would shrink by 3% this year (Much more significant than in 2009 at 0.1%).

Also, in the UK, the OBR - Office for Budgetary Responsibility, has reported doom and gloom. It unsurprisingly suggests our country will suffer the deepest slump since 1709, Welfare State to be at its most significant size ever, unemployment could soar by 2 million, possibly 3 million, and borrowing will be at 100% of GDP.

The good news in the forecast is the prediction that next year, in 2021, the recovery globally will be 5.6%.

The Chancellor has tempered this as best he could by saying that this is not a forecast but just one potential scenario. The virus will have significant repercussions on our economy, but this will be temporary.

There will be interventions; we are not going to just stand by and let it happen. The government is supporting and preserving much of the economy. If it had not taken the actions it has with protecting companies and individual jobs through the furlough scheme; it would have been much worse. The Chancellor believes the day-to-day economy will bounce back fairly quickly because of these measures.

The borrowing required to fund this will take a longer time to recover. It was the right decision. The health and safety of the nation must come first.

 Daily news.

Plateau.

Hospital admissions in the UK appear to be plateauing in recent days. It will be interesting to see if this is sustained. Fewer admissions mean fewer ICU admissions, which means fewer deaths.

Trump cautious.

President Trump announces he had put a halt to the World Health Organisation funding because he wants a review into whether they delayed notifying the rest of the world when China was trying to stamp the virus out on the quiet. They took China’s assertions at the time, merely at face value. Mr Trump states that this will have cost thousands of lives.

President Trump is also speaking with G7 leaders at a video conference on Thursday to discuss a co-ordinated response to how they release ‘The Great Lockdown.’ G7 is a group of seven countries that have the largest economies in the world: Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Some old guy called Captain Tom Moore.

A lovely story has emerged of an elderly gentleman, Tom Moore, a 99-year-old veteran of the second world war. He is originally from Keighley in Yorkshire, and during the war rose to the rank of Captain serving in India and Burma. Mr Moore walks with a walking frame's assistance, yet he hopes to raise £1,000 for the NHS by walking 100 lengths of his back yard in Bedfordshire. He aims to complete it before he turns 100 years old on 30th April 2020.

His story gathered momentum on social media and was featured on the television programme Good Morning Britain. Incredibly, as of today, he has raised…wait for it…£5,000,000. (£5m). It is staggering to think that a gentleman with high hopes and a determination to do a small kindness, no doubt at some pain to himself, has raised so much money. What a guy!

 Family life.

Jackie has received news that a friend of hers at work has contacted COVID-19. This is a shock and yet the reality of what is happening around the UK, indeed the world. Her friend has a temperature and breathing difficulties, but no cough has emerged. She dialled 101, and they believe it is COVID-19, and she is to self-isolate and call 999 if her breathing worsens. It must be frightening for her, and we hope she recovers quickly.

Author’s retrospective note. Thankfully she recovered from the episode after a few days. The young lady is only in her twenties.

Naturally, our activities are limited while on lockdown, and so they are quite repetitive. We did have a quiz with Jackie’s children tonight, which was fun and a little raucous in parts.

Toggling.

I have had a generic email from the Royal Voluntary Society explaining that many volunteers have not been given an alert yet, but this may change over the days and weeks ahead.

They originally asked for 250,000 volunteers, yet amazingly 750,000 of us signed up, so I suspect that there is something of a surplus, but that is great as it should mean that everyone is catered for.

I just ‘toggle’ my app to say I am ‘on duty,’ and if something comes through, then, that is all good.

Quote of the day:

‘It doesn’t matter about money; having it, not having it. Or having clothes, or not having them. You’re still left alone with yourself in the end.’ – Billy Idol.

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