Author: THE HOBBLEDEHOY

Michael Stevenson, aka Dai Bando, Johnny Foreigner, Monsieur Pas De Merde, is a blogger of French and British culture. His blogs "Pas De Merde" and "The Hobbledehoy" have been called "marvelous" by some, and "meh" by others.

Fine French wine auctioned to help Covid-19 care staff

High-end fine French wines are being sold at auction to raise money in support of healthcare staff working on the frontline against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The specialist website iDealwine has been running the auction since April 27. It will last until May 7. It had been aiming to raise €100,000 overall; but managed to raise €60,000 in just a few days, so may yet exceed its target.

All the money raised will go to medical charity “Protège Ton Soignant” (Protect Your Carer), which helps healthcare personnel.

The auction catalogue features almost 1,000 bottles, including prestigious wines from Bordeaux, Alsace, Bourgogne, and Champagne. The list also includes a number of Italian and Portuguese wines, as well as varieties of Scottish whisky.

Continue reading “Fine French wine auctioned to help Covid-19 care staff” →

Coronavirus: Why so many people are dying in Belgium

Belgium believes its high Covid-19 mortality rate is down to more rigorous counting of cases.

That rate, unlike the total number of fatalities, is a measure of the number of deaths in relation to the size of population.

President Donald Trump pointed to a graph recently, displaying Belgium at the top and the US in seventh place, as a result of the number of deaths relative to population size.

President Donald Trump listens beside a chart showing daily mortality cases during the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 18, 2020

He was suggesting the US was handling the pandemic more effectively.

Belgium has a population of 11.5 million. That means 66 people in every 100,000 have died from Covid-19. In the US, with a population of around 330 million, it’s 19 in every 100,000, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

But those figures are “faulty comparisons” that have been “abused”, argues Prof Steven Van Gucht, a Belgian virologist and government spokesman.

“That’s the difference between public health science and political motivation,” he explains. “That’s purely inspired by showing how good you are doing, and it’s wrong. We are actually reporting in a more correct way.”

What’s different about Belgium?

Belgian officials say they are counting in a way that no other country in the world is currently doing: counting deaths in hospitals and care homes, but including deaths in care homes that are suspected, not confirmed, as Covid-19 cases. Continue reading “Coronavirus: Why so many people are dying in Belgium” →