Let’s be frank, March 2020 was simply horrible
in so many ways for so many people. And the view from where I am sitting looks
worse for April. How I miss Brexit……but how unimportant and irrelevant does it
now seem.
With each day that passes, the surreal feeling I
hold changes to horror as I hear stories from my sister and her fiancé on the
front line (she is a nurse and he is a paramedic – both in London). They are
super humans in my eyes……and they are not the only ones.
My default position when the news is bleak is
to seek comfort in my security blanket (numbers and statistics) and a little
comedy (The Trump). I accept that my cocktail of pain relief is a little
unique……but it allows me to park the realism of human tragedy for a brief
moment.
Aside from the catastrophic human impact, here
is how I got a little light relief in March 2020……
The Comfort Blanket (Numbers &
Statistics)
I have never known a month quite like March
2020 for numbers and the enormity of some of these is a little difficult to
digest. But here goes:
We had to wait 500 days since we
last had a Budget (remember that!). It contained £750 billion of stimulus
for the next 5 years.
The Budget was followed 3 days later by a
further £330 billion of stimulus. Clearly, austerity is over……for
now.
The most unbelievable Budget we’ve ever
had.....until the next one. To give new Chancellor Rishi Sunak credit where
it’s due, it was a packed Budget after only 1 month in the job.
In total he has pretty much delivered 4 Budgets in 8 days in
total. If ever there was a Prime Minister in waiting, it is he.
And stimulus followed elsewhere…..
The European Central Bank (ECB) launched an
emergency €750 billion stimulus package to ease the impact of the
coronavirus pandemic.
The Trump launched a $1 trillion
stimulus package followed by a further $2 trillion rising to $6
trillion. And for dramatic effect, that’s $6,000,000,000,000. He’s
never one to be outmuscled or ‘out-trumped’ (see what I did there……I’ll get my
coat).
The record-breaking US stimulus package reflects
a US economy put into deep-freeze almost overnight. When times are bad,
financial hardship becomes a roar that drowns out all other concerns.
BoJo sent a letter to 30 million
households expressing concern at the latest situation at an anticipated cost of
£5.8 million as it is clear that the message to many is not getting
through on lockdown.
The pound fell to its lowest level against the
dollar since 1985, falling 5% in a day to $1.15.
Oil has fallen from $75 down to $21 a
barrel……its lowest level since (insert your own date as the record keepers have
given up).
Interest rates in the UK fell to 0.1%,
the lowest level in history since the Bank of England formed 326 years
ago. Interest rates are pretty much 0% across the majority of the world.
The Bank of England also began Quantitative
Easing again with £200 billion of bond buy backs.
The US stock market had its 5 worst days
in its history……and also its 5 best days in history during March.
87% of the world's students do not currently
attend schooling due to their closure as a result of the coronavirus.
¼ of the world is currently on lockdown……around
2 billion people.
Comedy (The Trump)
When the biggest economy in the world appoints
a reality TV presenter as the most powerful man in the world, things are always
going to be ‘interesting’. The viewing is compelling and rarely for the right
reasons. He’s the ring master of a chaotic circus……and March 2020 saw The Trump
at his flaky best.
My favourite viewing of the month was The Trump
signing the financial bailout package.
Firstly, his opening line of “I’ve never signed
anything with a ‘T’ on it’…..he clearly forgot how he spelt ‘Trump’.
Secondly, having pleaded with American’s
repeatedly for 10 days to respect social distancing of 6 feet apart, he crammed
leading political figures into the Oval Office (shoulder to shoulder) and then
gave them all a pen like they had just visited a zoo for the day.
See for yourself……it is priceless stuff and
well worth an investment of 2 minutes of your day.
The Trump has spent way too much time defending
his handling of the coronavirus outbreak as the epicentre moves to the US. As
usual, his claims are a mixtures of lies, confusion and political spin.
Claim 1: "I think the 3.4% death
rate is really a false number. Personally, I think the number is way under
1%."
In a telephone interview on Fox News, The Trump
said a World Health Organisation (WHO) figure of 3.4% for the coronavirus death
rate was "false". The WHO reported this figure on 3 March and said it
was based on all the confirmed coronavirus cases that had resulted in death.
The Trump said he thought the true death rate,
based on "my hunch", was "way under 1%". Science at its
best.
Claim 2: "Last year 37,000
Americans died from the common flu. Nothing is shut down, life and the economy
go on... Think about that."
Nobody knows exactly how many American deaths
have been linked to flu. Estimates from the US Centres for Disease Control
(CDC) give a range between 26,339 and 52,664 flu deaths last winter (between
October 2019 and February 2020), with a best estimate of 34,157. Clearly, The
Trump knows more!
Claim 3: "The United States has
done far more 'testing' than any other nation, by far!"
The Trump said this on 25 March 2020, when the official
data showed that a total of 418,810 people had been tested in the US. Figures
from South Korea for that date show a total of 357,896 tests. Before that,
South Korea had conducted more tests than anyone else.
So the US had carried out more tests in total,
but significantly, South Korea has a population of about 51 million, compared
with the US which has about 328 million.
Claim 4: "Very soon, we're going to
come up with a vaccine."
Currently there is no vaccine for this new
coronavirus, although scientists in many countries are working hard to develop
one. Scientists say realistically, one won't be ready until at least the middle
of next year. Testing of vaccines on animals has already started. There's also
been a test on human volunteers of a vaccine against coronavirus, but it will
take many months before we know if this works.
Perhaps The Trump has a different definition of
‘very soon’!
Claim 5: "We've taken the most
aggressive actions to confront the coronavirus. They are the most aggressive
taken by any country."
The US has now imposed sweeping restrictions
and some quarantine measures. But other countries have also taken aggressive
measures to counter the virus - in some instances, more than the US. China and
Italy, for example, introduced widespread quarantining, affecting millions of
people. The EU has closed its external borders for at least 30 days, with some
European states closing their borders to any non-nationals, as well as
introducing severe restrictions on movement. Clearly The Trump won’t let the
truth get in the way of his own message.
Claim 6: The Population of Seoul
The Trump was asked by a reporter why the US
wasn't testing as much as South Korea. The Trump responded by saying, "I
know South Korea better than anybody", only to then ask the reporter
whether they knew how big the capital Seoul was. He swiftly gave the answer
himself: "38 million people - that's bigger than anything we have."
In fact, South Korea's capital only has 9.7
million people, the Seoul Capital Area just over 25 million, and the entire
country around 51 million.
So where did 38 million come from then? It seems
The Trump had a somewhat hasty look at Wikipedia. Right above the population
details, the entry lists the city’s elevation above sea level.
And this elevation is given as... 38m.
Quote of The Month……
When everything is uncertain, everything that
is important becomes clear.
And Finally……
We are being asked to wake up.
To rise beyond our personal hopes and fears.
To change.
To transform.
To embrace our responsibility for others.
Together we are stronger.
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