COVID-19: Racist Virus.

It seems the government is likely to fund a report into why BAME people are among the worst affected people when it comes to COVID-19 infection.

Minorities seem to be disproportionately represented in the number of people suffering acute symptoms and requiring intensive care.

"But why?" the intersectionalists shout. Well, obviously the answer is racism.. How else could it be explained?

Oh, it's the government's fault is it? Well, not people to miss an opportunity to push minorities to the front of the queue, the leftists are saying it's poverty, lack of opportunity, government's need to do more... yadda yadda, the same old shpiel.

You can't blame poverty, because that will affect both white and ethnic minorities alike. Poverty in all races affects living standards, diet, underlying health conditions, etc. all of which affect outcomes when it comes to surviving COVID-19 or not. But I'm sure the intersectionalists will quietly ignore that fact. Or maybe the intersectional agenda is poverty is a factor, but it affects the BAME community (ever so slightly) worse (just like it affects poor white people ever so slightly worse than middle class white people). They've done it before when it conflicts with their agenda. Nothing like ignoring science when it suits them. After all these are the sort of people that say the concept of time is racist.

But what if the BAME people themselves are to blame? That would be an interesting outcome eh?

Maybe it's just genetics? Maybe it's physiology. Maybe it's social reasons?

This is where the intersectional types implode, trying to push the narrative that the BAME community are just like everyone else and it's all the fault of institutional racism, whilst ignoring biology and social differences.

Dark skinned people produce less vitamin D when in the Sun. It's a fact that most carry some level of vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D has a role in the immune system response, so higher levels of vitamin D may help fight the virus.  That's biology, it's not racist. Unless you're saying science or biology in particular is racist (see the comment about time above).

BAME communities tend to have households containing several generations. It's not poverty forcing them to do this, it's just it's more socially acceptable in BAME communities. We saw in Italy how this helps spread the virus to the older members of the community more quickly. Even middle class BAME families have lost older family members because three generations are in the same household.

So with increased risk from Age, increased risk of exposure due to societal norms and a deficiency of vitamin D to help fight the virus, it's no wonder BAME communities are hit harder. Interestingly though, they are factors they have control of.

Factors they could change for better outcomes if they were made aware of and the cause wasn't just a straight blame-the-government-game or some spurious claim of institutional racism.

The sad fact is that outcomes could be improved for the BAME community if only the facts were made available to them. Their COVID-19 outcomes could be improved by a significant factor.

But hey, it's not the first time the intersectional types have ignored science, or failed the communities they are supposed to represent. A few deaths to prove their (inaccurate) thesis are just collateral damage on the way to pushing their ideological agenda. Blaming everything on racism is just sloppy and does not serve the BAME community in any positive way.

COVID-19: New Manufacturing Strategy Required.

It's become quite apparent that relying on China to produce EVERYTHING is a mistake when it comes top strategic supplies.

The fact that the Chinese government requisitioned western-owned PPE factories for their own ends shows that the Chinese cannot be relied on to produce the goods (literally) in a crisis.

The supply chain for PPE to the NHS needs to be reviewed and some form of production needs to be encouraged within the UK's borders. Security of supply needs to be written into procurement contracts.

The same goes for drugs. Most of the world's drugs are made in China or India and not within the UK's borders. Again this needs looking at and contractual obligations for supply need to be reinforced.

The pandemic has show the fatal flaw in the globalist ideology. When it comes to the crunch, global supply chains cannot guarantee supply. No matter how much capacity there is, centralisation in cheap labour markets only reduces security of supply.

Next time it might not be a pandemic. An asteroid could drop on China or India and a huge chunk of manufacturing capability would be removed from the world.

Governments need to learn that leaving things up to market forces is not the best policy when it comes to strategic supplies. Yes you can have stockpiles of PPE for the NHS, but to ensure continuity of supply in times of crisis, you'd have to keep a huge amount of kit.

The problem then is one of shelf life and expiry dates. The NHS normally doesn't use enough kit to refresh stocks quickly enough to use a mountain of equipment within the expiry dates. We've already seen that with equipment sent out to NHS trusts with original expiry dates expired.

But the issue is not restricted to PPE. International shipping across the world has been impacted by the virus and it's proving difficult to get parts shipped from one side of the world to the other as countries close borders.

Even for us, posting or couriering parts out to customers around the world is proving difficult as the number of flights that could carry the packages have been reduced by 80%. Only courier companies Like DHL and FedEx that have their own aircraft are able to keep close to a normal timetable.

Hopefully this will be another nail in the coffin for globalism. Paying a small premium for a product to ensure continuity of supply is a price worth paying. Global corporations need to understand this. Governments across the world need to take this message on board and adjust procurement strategies accordingly, favouring local supply where possible.

It's not just about jobs, or xenophobia as the globalists would have chanted before the pandemic. There is some sense in keeping jobs and production within our own borders.

Hopefully it's a lesson learned.

COVID-19: False Glory

It seems Labour and the far-left loonies in particular are saying that Boris has gone even further left than them and has introduced Universal Basic Income.

Talk about covering yourself in false glory.

The stimulus package (if I can call all the various individual packages rolled into one that), is just a temporary measure. It is there to ensure people have jobs and companies are kept going whilst the temporary effects of the pandemic are weathered.

UBI is a permanent, regular payment made to everyone.

To claim that Boris is copying Labour policies is ludicrous.

We haven't heard how the stimulus package is going to be paid for yet because no-one likes to be the bearer of bad news. But it will have to be paid for.

Luckily those companies and jobs the package has saved will be able to pay it all back in taxation. Possibly a little more taxation than the government would have planned for prior to the pandemic. But it will be paid for.

Hopefully the Leftie luvvies will be called out on the media for their false glory, but I doubt it.