I mentioned this earlier. We are a one party state now with Labour an irrelevance. The plebs love him and I still don't quite get why. 

BoE cuts interest rates to 0.1% and announces another £200 billion QE.

Every cloud!

Cheltenham racegoers claim they've been struck down by coronavirus symptoms https://t.co/npCHtvO1tH pic.twitter.com/iqgGykSFF0

— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) March 18, 2020

Let the good times roll! No wonder King Boris is so popular

There's a tidal wave of economic catastrophe coming in 3-6 months.

Yes....and at the moment the opposition are rudderless under a dead duck leader

Here's an email from the head teacher - nice to see the government's been keeping everyone up to date with school info today.

It looks like very little change TBH on Monday, everyone's to be in (except those of us self-isolating!)

I would also expect a couple to a few hundred children to be in, as well as most of the 200 or so staff!

You will have all seen on the news that schools in England are closed to most pupils from next week.  You will have also seen that this doesn't apply to LACs, children with EHCP plans and children of 'key workers'.  The government have yet to define what a key worker is.  With this in mind, we need ALL staff to be at work on Monday, at the normal time, ready to help us support these children.  We will review our plans once we know more about how many children attend.

If you are self-isolating, you will need to follow the normal procedures (contacting me between 6.45 and 7.30) unless you have already told us.  This also applies to staff who have childcare problems.

So, all staff should definitely be here on Monday and should prepare to probably be here for a few days after that.

The number sky are reporting are for England but usuallly they say UK. Is that the UK figure 

UK figure

It was 103 yesterday. 128 today.

Is that based on 3pm yesterday? not that it matters of course. Increase in Spain sadly looking at https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Whilst NHS England have since said 29 new deaths in England.

Confusing

Sky News is saying 29. (17 in London)

I do wonder how mortality rates are defined and whether every country is doing it the same.  Do they record only those who die after being diagnosed, or those who die and then they test post mortem?

Was thinking about the post someone made this morning about someone who was already ill to the end of life extent, then contracted the virus and was counted.  This could make a fair difference to mortality rates if every country accounts for them differently. 

Any ideas why this is mainly Southern based ?

Midlands South?

I think it is 29 in England of which 17 were in London. IIRC there have been 3 in Scotland. 1 in NI and 1 in Wales. Therefore a total of 34.

Edit: UK mortality rate looks quite high to me at this stage.

Daily global case count Vs mortality rate as of 8am this morning:

Coronavirus hope! No Wuhan cases, 'game-changer' drug and social lives 'back by summer'

Quote

A test to reveal who has already had Covid-19 is "progressing very fast", while an experimental drug has 'cured' its first patient and Brits could have their social lives back by the summer. Despite the doom and gloom surrounding the deadly pandemic, with London said to be on the verge of going into complete lockdown, there are some good news stories emerging to give people hope. The "game-changer" new antibody test to see who has already contracted and recovered from coronavirus but not shown symptoms is not far away, according to Boris Johnson. The PM said someone who has already had the virus will feel confident - thanks to the test - they are "most unlikely to get it again" and can return to work.

Hopes that the experimental drug remdesivir could cure patients have been raised after a 79-year-old Italian man who had tested positive was given the all-clear following treatment.

The broad-spectrum antiviral is being tested in five Covid-19 clinical trials including by the US National Institutes of Health on 13 patients admitted to hospital after contracting coronavirus on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. China, meanwhile, has recorded no new cases in Wuhan, where the virus first originated last year, or in the surrounding Hubei province. It has been 13 days, meanwhile, since the province itself reported any new cases - giving millions hope that the deadly virus is starting to be brought under control

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/coronavirus-hope-no-wuhan-cases-21717544?fbclid=IwAR22wTG1Iej4xua5VoNx2aVnOYc9kOVtCLytxDYxzHvpPXw0FRkUN5vHkiU

How are they going to stop parents taking the p1ss? I.e claiming they are key workers?

Don't underestimate how many parents would do anything to get their kids out for the day.

Classic:

Mr Maclean told Mirror Online: "I'm pretty certain we all have coronavirus in this house. I've never had anything like it before. 

"It's the worst I have ever felt. My chest is really tight. The fever is horrendous."

The housemates sought medical advice and were told that they wouldn't be tested and to self-isolate for two weeks.

Mr Maclean added: "By the second day of the festival we had symptoms. We had the dry cough."

He and Mr Saunders didn't suspect that they had coronavirus.

Mr Maclean said: "The Jockey Club said that it could just be a common cold so not to worry, so we took their advice and came back in."

They said they were told to take the third day of the festival off as a precaution and come back on the fourth and final day, the Friday, if they felt better.

Both felt fine on Friday and returned to work, but their conditions deteriorated later and they put themselves into self-quarantine.

But by that point they had exposed others to their infection.

Mr Saunders said: "There were over 250,000 people there over the four days of the festival.

"They were adamant that the precautions they put in place would protect us.

"I've spoken to others who worked at the festival and they have symptoms." He added: "The tightness in the lungs makes it harder to breathe. It feels like your chest and your lungs are being put in a vice."