This is the biggest problem with a regional approach. Regions will get angry, considering themselves to be victims of unfair treatment. Inadequate safeguards for small businesses and wages of low paid workers just makes the feelings of inequality and injustice worse. And public trust & compliance with COVID regulations disintegrates still further. We are no longer all in this together, and have not been for several months.
This is a world wide Pandemic, but we have not been together from the start because we adopt isolatery thoughts and ideas because of the country we live in. The entire world would have had to unite to control this. A few regional variations in the UK will make no difference long term.
Regional variations may not affect the progress of the virus much, but they will affect some people's jobs and quality of life - and not others. Folk are generally much more willing to accept restrictions and hardship if everyone is being treated equally. Once some regions or cities are locked down while others are not, the sense of unity is lost. We are ever more divided. And that never ends well.
I hear the sentiment, but logic denies all courses of action. Leominster is 95% houses, most with gardens. There are housing estates in cities that are 95% flats. If Leominster had an "R" number of 5, but all council flat dwellings had an "R" rate of 0.4 why should the council tenants lockdown and ruin their lives, just to give a boost to the people of Leominster that don't have to live in tower blocks. We live with millions of differences, that is why people cannot be treated equally. If we really believed in equality, we'd worry about the starving millions instead of hissy fitting when CAFC don't sign the player we wanted. Knowledge makes us selfish...ask a snail.
The 'Leominster' scenario is unlikely to ever be the case though. The heart of the inequality problem is that it's the other way round. The urban flats are much more likely to have the higher 'R' rate. And the population of estates like that probably outnumber the residents of leafy Leominster by 50 to 1. But if the relatively well-off people of Leominster are allowed to go about their pleasant daily lives with very few restrictions, while the millions who live on estates are ordered not to go to pubs or cafes or even visit relatives, people are going to say that Coronavirus is only hurting the poorer classes. The pandemic then becomes a class-divide issue. City estates vs rural picture-postcard. Rich vs poor. North vs South. Village & market town folk can live in relatively pleasant rural surroundings and still have access to all modern facilities largely because millions of people who don't have access to that lifestyle work and pay their taxes. I don't think it's too much to ask of people in those scenic provinces to make a sacrifice in the spirit of national unity. Because if they don't, huge numbers of the less well-off are going to say "f**k this for a game of soldiers, we're being shat on again by the wealthy and privileged ruling classes.." and they won't follow the COVID clamp-down rules. We should be coping with this pandemic together as a nation. We can all see what's happening now (yet again) the haves are getting of lightly, while the have-nots are losing their jobs and being told they cannot even do the simplest little things in life like visit family or go to funerals.
We can all see what's happening now (yet again) the haves are getting of lightly, while the have-nots are losing their jobs and being told they cannot even do the simplest little things in life like visit family or go to funerals. Umm? where is your proof of this Lardi? ..... I am not saying you are wrong but I can not remember seeing a study saying that there is a socio economic factor to Covid? Yes, certain jobs are more prone to catching Covid and these jobs tend to be in the lower paid hospitality/retail sectors where public interaction is more prevalent but are you saying that anybody who catches Covid is a have-not purely because of the job they do? Surely it is up to the rest of us to protect people who do these jobs and not act like the people of Liverpool and interact with people we do not know .... seemingly just to spite the Government and disobey what they are trying to do to protect our people and Country?
Coronavirus spreads faster in working class communities, for many reasons. That is a self-evident fact. Low income and social deprivation of all kinds lead to circumstances where infection is more likely. And because poor people already have worse health generally than those who can afford to look after themselves better, the virus hits the poor harder. If there is not going to be a united National approach, let's not even pretend there is any fairness connected to containing Coronavirus. The masses must go to work (and go back to work on public transport, whether or not it is safe). Children must return to school - not to protect their education, but so their parents can return to work. But visiting family or going to funerals doesn't help the economy, so those things are banned. More and more working class/poor people are ignoring the rules because they see the rules only apply to them. Not to residents of leafy suburbs or chocolate box villages. Not to politicians or Government advisors. Not to the better off. People (especially people outside London & the South East) are sick to death of getting all the stick and none of the carrot from this Government. For all its lofty words about leveling up, no different from any previous Tory Government.
A few generalisations there @lardiman The virus has spread most rapidly in areas where multi generational Asian families live (through their own choice) under the same roof - Leicester Lancashire Mill Towns Ealing All have very large Asian populations. This has nothing to do with Govt policy, but with wider societal issues.
The spread of the virus is nothing to do with Government policy. Growing public disillusionment and disinterest in following the anti-Corinavirus rules has everything to do with Government policy.
If we had an effective Track n Trace in place we could have avoided a lot of these problems, especially if it was world-beating. I signed up to the Kings College tracing app right away, which is not as effective as the type used in S Korea, but is at least something. Mrs FHB has had 2 home tests (negative) right away, when she had cold symptoms. You have to report every day, and do a questionnaire once a week. I thought I had signed up to the government's T&T last week, but haven't heard anything from them, and I don't know if it is working or not.
and they get pilloried for it!.... the problems in Liverpool can be directly linked to the Prem League win celebrations
In the same way as there was a spike after their game against Athletico Madrid, and also after The Cheltenham Festival.
remember when the Massive Club had an open top bus parade to celebrate coming second in the league to SCP's team
The Times leads on an interesting story, The anti-vacc brigade are being driven on by a campaign of online disinformation from Russia. Anyone who has kept up with Putin's meddling in various foreign affairs will not be surprised by this, but the fact that it's the lead story in a national newspaper should be of interest to people like Lyle Taylor who have been duped by these lies. I hope that Murdoch finds space in The Sun to print the same story.
Why such venom against people who have worked hard and retired to somewhere scenic? There is always someone better off or worse off than you, that's the way of the world. Our common cause on the various forums is Charlton, but do we support each other? No, hatred and division abounds on all. It's the way of the world, and the only way off is death. Thinking about differences 24/7 is a dangerous and never ending spiral of thought that damages us spiritually, mentally and physically.
To find the Anti-vacc movement being fed by Russian disinformation is worrying, but (as you say) no surprise. Putin is better at this kind of sinister game than the US President though. I laughed out loud when I read a report a few days ago that Twatter had removed a number of fake accounts which all had the same word-for-word messages on them; I'M BLACK AND I'M VOTING FOR TRUMP! Subtle Donald. Very subtle.
