Your views online
Mystery death surge
On Sunday, we analysed the spike in non-covid-related deaths in Scotland since the outbreak of coronavirus. In the two weeks to April 5, the number of deaths were 27 per cent higher than the five-year average.
“This pandemic has caught the world out and that is why, once it is over, serious questions must be asked and answered about the source, the spread and the lack of preparedness. There must be no just getting back to normal. What was ‘normal’ has let us down.” Andrew Mcmillan, heraldscotland.com
“Bear in mind that death certification distinguishes between the ultimate cause of death, proximate cause and the underlying conditions that resulted in it. Thus, for example, heart failure may be the ultimate COD even though the underlying cause is lung cancer, Covid-19 infection, or a motorbike accident. There will be variations in certification norms across the country.
“Add to that the fact that many elderly patients who die in hospital do not undergo post-mortem. Many more expire prior to the results of tests being known.
“There is perhaps no mystery here, no ‘missed’ cases, simply a reflection of standard practice.”
Joyce Molloy, heraldscotland.com
“Could it possibly be that the virus arrived earlier and was already much more widely spread than we previously thought before we started lockdown? South Korea showed us all the way to do it – by making the test kits in South Korea in the first place so they have never run short.
“Germany has shown us the way to do it – by testing, testing, testing, by retaining the manufacture of ventilators in Germany and having more ICU beds per head of population than anywhere else. Teesside has the worst health profile in the UK.
“Poor people die 12 years earlier than rich people on Teesside. Teessiders on average are older than the rest of the UK even though they die the soonest of any other group in the UK.
Nigel Boddy, heraldscotland.com
“There is no great mystery in all this. When my father-in-law died in a home, we made an appointment with the registrar a few days later and recorded the death probably more than a week later. I don’t suppose it mattered then. I don’t suppose it does now except to the political classes.”
Iain Stewart, heraldscotland.com
MPS’ allowance
More than 140,000 people have signed a petition calling for MPS to be stripped of their £10,000 work-from-home allowance.
“I agree that MPS and politicians in general should manage on their present pay and do not need any further money. In fact the number of politicians should be cut and The House of Lords should be closed down.”
Andrew Mcmillan, heraldscotland.com
“I think public opinion is still influenced by the scandal of MPS’ expense fiddles – and is now causing doubt on the need for this fund even though payments might well be justified in many cases.”
Robert Wakeham, heraldscotland.com
“This is an absolute disgrace. £10,000, when a laptop is £1,000 max and a printer £250 max. Who is kidding who here.”
Alexander Morgan, heraldscotland.com
“My daughter is a maths teacher and she isn’t paid a penny extra for conducting online lessons for all of her pupils and neither does she want to be, so why should MPS be paid any £10k for working from home.
“Are we honestly expected to believe that MPS don’t have the use of Laptops or other IT equipment at home? You can almost guarantee that they have and if it is found that they are falsely claiming that they don’t, then they should suffer the same humiliation as those who were caught fiddling expenses a few years ago. They are now embarrassing themselves by voting for this.”
William Logan, heraldscotland.com