The Scottish couple who were the first in the UK to be diagnosed with swine flu have gone home today, covering their faces so as not to spoil their newspaper deal.

The Chief Medical Officer for England says that they won’t be routinely screening people returning from Mexico, even though that’s where the virus is coming from.  This is really quite unacceptable – we’re an island, we can close our borders and isolate ourselves rather than risk letting a virus that we don’t understand take root in the population.  Stopping British Airways from continuing its flights to Mexico City would be a good start.

There are now 8 confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK, 2 of which are no longer infected.  Most people have little or nothing to fear from swine flu, it’s really just the elderly and infirm and the very young that are at risk and there is plenty of medication available to treat it as long as any epidemic remains manageable.  But there is no excuse for sitting back and letting the virus spread whether we’re geared up to cope with it or not.

Technorati Tags: Swine Flu

At first I thought this swine flu thing was just scaremongering by the media but now I realise that it’s serious – probably more serious than even the Daily Mail could imagine.

Check your spam folder for online pharmacy emails and order in as much Tamiflu as you can lay your hands on.  Get down to your local hardware store and buy all their stocks of face masks.

The prime minister has said Britain is “among the best prepared countries in the world” to deal with the outbreak

As if Jonah talking about swine flu wasn’t dangerous enough, this is almost exactly the same thing he said as the recession kicked in and now we’re being told that we’re probably going to be hit the hardest.

We’re doooooooooooooomed.

Being serious for a moment, there are very few cases of swine flu and no deaths outside of Mexico and the British government reckons it has enough flu medication to treat 30m people.  Four UK airlines have stopped flying to Mexico, two are flying holidaymakers out of Mexico but British Airways is still flying to Mexico City 4 times a week.  Banning travel to and from Mexico for a bit might help prevent the spread of swine flu, as would banning anyone who’s recently been to Mexico from coming into the country.  The technology is there at all ports, it is possible to enforce such a ban if one was ordered.

On a number of occassions recently I have speculated that El Gordo would cancel the election next year “in the interests of national security”.  He’s certainly got the ambition to do it, Liebour have passed legislation to allow it, all he needs is an excuse.  The recession and a few carefully engineered riots about rampant unemployment would give him the excuse to declare a state of emergency.  There’s an EU election in June which Liebour may finish as badly as fourth in.  An outbreak of swine flu with an exaggerated statement on the risk of congregating in public places or unnecessary travel from some sock-puppet health quango would give him an excuse to postpone the EU elections in June.

I’m naturally cynical, especially where the one-eyed Scottish idiot is concerned, but is his obsessive lust for power so great that he would allow a highly infectious disease to spread around the country through inaction and criminally stupid policies just to stay in Downing Street?  Is he that insane?  I wouldn’t put it past him.

Technorati Tags: Swine Flu, Jonah