Mutating Corona Virus

[hightail]

6 hours ago, honeybee13 said:

They've never had enough staff for the Nightingales, have they? I wonder who dreamed that one up without thinking it through.

 

Maybe part of the answer to my own question is that of course a 'bed' in a hospital isn't just the piece of furniture, it needs a team to look after the patient. I truly wonder if some in government haven't grasped this yet.

I'm sure I've read somewhere that the team to take care of a patient is meant to be supplied by the hospital or trust (or whatever) the patient is referred from.  This is maybe why they never were used that much.  What hospital is going to give up staff?

[hightail]

9 hours ago, brassnecked said:

First response of a Police State, impose the Stick before the carrot, plus the Treasury needs the Fine money.  Sorry just being cynical, as how say an 18 year old student can afford a £10,000 fine is beyond me or a family holding a wake .

There comes a point where even the most law abiding, rule following types can't be bothered with it all any more.  I was non-compliant last time round in that I would walk my dog in the morning and go for a 5k run in the afternoon/evening when it was clearly stated I should only go out once.  Never saw another soul on either excursion but suddenly I was a master criminal. 

[hightail]

Does anyone think they are properly using this lockdown to sort out test and trace?  We never seem to get a grip on anything before Boris is touting something else as the magic bullet. Testing everyone in Liverpool multiple times makes not one jot of difference to me at the other end of the country. 

[hightail]

1 hour ago, honeybee13 said:

How are people feeling about Christmas celebrations?

 

Unless things change, I have to agree with Gabriel Scally of Indie Sage who said this on Twitter and GMB.

 

'There is no point having a merry Christmas then burying friends and family in January'

@GabrielScally talks to Good Morning Britain

Unless those friends and family have understood the risks and chosen to take them.  How about if granny is fairly sure this would be her last Christmas anyway and would prefer to barter 6 months of a miserable, lockdown life against a final blowout with family?  My guess is they're going to do it anyway no matter what govt attempts to decree.

 

 

[hightail]

22 minutes ago, brassnecked said:

You are probably correct hightail, people are despairing of ever seeing friends abd family again before they die. Its a sad situation with too many "experts" sticking an oar in.

Governments are picking their experts to suit the chosen narrative.  Most people have realised that now and are sick of it.  There might have been more compliance if the U.K. had acted as one but the games of one-upmanship between the different leaders just made them all look incompetent. 

[hightail]

11 hours ago, tobyjugg2 said:

I see it more as rank incompetence, cronyism and elitism on Johnsons part

 

Oh there’s all that but much as we’re angry about that I don’t believe it’s what drives the every day behaviour of the public with regard to restrictions.

 

 

[hightail]

31 minutes ago, honeybee13 said:

So what drives public behaviour in your opinion, hightail?

Considering this virus?  The elephant in the room which nobody is mentioning - we are not burying children.

[hightail]

24 minutes ago, honeybee13 said:

It's being said online that other religions and communities have had their festivals cancelled this year because of Covid.

Christmas Day will still be Christmas Day whether we play charades with granny or not.  The difference between it and other religious festivals is that Christmas is a nationally recognised holiday.  It isn't religious for most people who 'celebrate' it one way or another, it's just more ingrained in the national psyche than others.

[hightail]

4 minutes ago, tobyjugg2 said:

You can't leave your home except for essential shopping

Or one of the many other acceptable reasons.  I'm having a great time doing a clearout as recycling centres are open this time round and travelling to one is on the list of OK journeys.

[hightail]

On 03/12/2020 at 15:07, honeybee13 said:

What a shame, that nice Mr Martin who's all for Brexit isn't happy about Covid restrictions on pubs.

 

https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news/westminster-news/tim-martin-on-coronavirus-and-pubs-6569000

He does have a right old rant doesn't he.  There are pubs all over the country working round the regulations best they can and he reckons it's impossible.  It's difficult yes.  It's financially risky yes.  And yet they manage if they have the wherewithal to serve food.  Are there wet only Weatherspoons?  If so then they will suffer like all other wet only pubs but as a chain I'd have thought Weatherspoons was more likely than most to survive the storm.

[hightail]

2 hours ago, honeybee13 said:

London, there was a survey in the last week or two that said around 50% of people would rather carry on with restrictions than come out of lockdown for Christmas, potentially lose a lot more people and then have to lock down again after Xmas

I thought it was more than 50%.  They're the ones who choose not to take the risk anyway - it isn't obligatory.  Others will do as they please whether Boris allows it or not.  That's how it was always going to be and it's now only about whether they are criminalized.  I doubt there are many who intend to spend 5 days solid in the company of extended family, doubt there are many who could stomach that even under normal circumstances.  A 5 day window should give everyone the chance for a short visit, a meal, exchange of gifts or whatever even if they're working some part of Christmas.

 

Edited December 18, 2020 by hightail

[hightail]

Is it too cynical of me to think Boris left this so late so people would all crowd to the shops and spend money getting ready for a family Christmas which was never going to happen?

[hightail]

There's an awful lot of unnecessary spending gone on which wouldn't have happened if he'd done it sooner.  The food waste alone is going to be horrendous, it's been bad enough in the pubs with people ordering food which just gets thrown away.

[hightail]

On 20/12/2020 at 19:02, tobyjugg2 said:

South African health minister Zwelini Mkhize reported on Friday, December 18 that a new, more severe variant of Covid-19, known as the 501.V2 Variant, has been detected in younger people and he has notified the World Health Organisation.

There is a worry that the new variant here is infecting children more easily too.

[hightail]

20 hours ago, tobyjugg2 said:

question: How come there are such varied claims on its efficacy

Answer: well there were different tests and they were all done differently so the data we put together to claim certain percentages really cant be put together.

I do think the fog surrounding the efficacy of the Oxford vaccine is playing into the hands of the anti vaxxers.  Even I'm starting to wonder if it's worth the risk of being made to queue in a crowd for ages for a single dose of something when I've no idea of the reward.

[hightail]

5 hours ago, tobyjugg2 said:

It is worthwhile thinking back to the early statements about a vaccine:

That if it had an efficacy of over 50% it would be worth having

Does that mean only 50% of those vaccinated gain some protection or that everyone vaccinated then has the chance of serious disease reduced by 50%.  If it's the former I'm putting myself at risk for maybe no protection at all.  I can completely understand why a government would go with either scenario but currently I have a near 100% chance of not getting covid because I don't go out so why would I put myself at risk? 

[hightail]

13 minutes ago, brassnecked said:

Some Public Sector worker's  are calling for total lockdown on Social media, even to the level of banning delivery drivers from working, its becoming that heated on SM

Public Sector workers get paid no matter what.  It's easy to call for restrictions that only affect others.

The problem is that the level of compliance is nowhere near what it was at the start.  Creating more rules doesn't solve anything if people don't follow them.  Enforcing the ones we already have wouldn't hurt.

[hightail]

Who knows?  Supermarket deliveries, Royal Mail, prescription delivery services, local businesses which have brought in delivery options.  Really smart move to push everyone back to going out to mix instead of getting stuff delivered.

 

[hightail]

2 minutes ago, tobyjugg2 said:

they like shop assistants, are FAR more essential front line workers than any of those 'absent' apart from maybe a brief telephone conversation if you are lucky GP's.

Oh how much do I agree with this.  For those of us who have not had the virus or needed medical help over the last nine months they are the people who kept us all going.  Remember back at the start when retail staff had absolutely no protection but were there all day every day stocking those shelves.  If you didn't go out to shop your only human interaction was a wave from a delivery driver as they stepped back from leaving a package on the doorstep and trust me - it made a difference.

[hightail]

2 minutes ago, brassnecked said:

one suggestion was ration packs like Foodbank style parcel;s picked to what a dietician regarded as appropriate ,  delivered by the Army

Presumably this is only for 'other people', not those suggesting it.  They would continue to have choice.  It starts to get a bit Animal Farm doesn't it.

Edited January 4, 2021 by hightail

[hightail]

2 hours ago, honeybee13 said:

Scotland is going into full national lockdown from midnight until the end of January.

And Boris is due to respond, presumably in kind.  They're like bloody kids trying to outdo each other.

[hightail]

54 minutes ago, tobyjugg2 said:

Boris should have locked down London and Kent as soon as that new strain was identified.

Probably but he didn't and here we are.  I don't much care what decisions he makes any more - just wish he'd make some without moaning about how difficult it is for him, how heavy his heart is, how much he regrets it.  He wanted the bloody job, saw himself as some sort of Churchilian second coming and now won't stop whinging.

[hightail]

19 hours ago, maroondevo52 said:

I've been in Glasgow the past few days and it looks like they don't do lockdowns !!!

According to governments and police the number of people who don't understand what they can and can't do is 'vanishingly small'.  Add me to that number - garden centres can stay open but I can't find out if I'm allowed to visit one. 

[hightail]

12 minutes ago, tobyjugg2 said:

Handcock turned up at a GP practice to promote the distribution of the vaccine today - and they hadn't had the 'expected' delivery had they

You really couldn't make it up.

[hightail]

13 hours ago, tobyjugg2 said:

So they are refusing the vaccine with over 90% efficacy in favour of one with just over 60% efficacy?

I know and they’re being allowed to choose.  I really don’t get it.  We’re using this vaccine first on people who are already corralled and quarantined while the working population are left til last and now we’re giving them the very choice the rest are to be denied.