I haven't been paying much attention to the different levels of restrictions over there. Today while watching BBC, they said even in level 3 restrictions, shops, gyms and hairdressers stay open. I must say that shocked me. Over here we have 5 different levels of restrictions and I think all non essential shops and hairdressers and gyms all close in level 4. Wet pubs (pubs that don't sell food) have all been closed since March. I am not surprised at your infection and death rates considering shops, hairdressers and gyms remain open at the highest level. Somebody somewhere is not taking people's health seriously. An outsider's view looking in.
. Still difficult to get tested on a whim round here. And that only tells you that you might be negative at that moment in time...You could pick it up on the way back from the test centre... And every one getting tested on 23 rd before they go home ??? Who is going to do and process ALL those tests on Christmas Eve before everyone goes home? This Christmas "break" has been we thought out
In more positive news... https://www.newstatesman.com/scienc...vaccines-could-rapidly-reduce-uk-s-death-rate New Statesman are hardly a scientific publication, so no idea how far to trust their extrapolations. Doesn't look too wild though. Means we may all get to enjoy watching relegation together at HQ.
I think a good indicator of how stupid the 5 day 'break' is comes from the USA where the Thanksgiving Holiday has resulted in a massive surge in cases. Even if everyone was careful there would still be an inevitable rise associated with the mixing. Factor in the 'No mask' and 'Anti-vax' selfish idiots and it's a recipe for disaster. All this so Boris can boast he's saved Christmas the moronic c*nt...
Different rules up here - Glasgow and ten other authority areas have just been let out of Level 4 restrictions, which they were in for nearly a month, and pubs, gyms etc were all shut. The infection rate has dropped off up here, where I live we've dropped down to Level 2 so can even get a drink in a pub if we desire. Sturgeon is now backtracking on the Christmas plans, saying people in Scotland should "think really carefully" about gathering indoors, adding that the "best Christmas gift we can give family and friends" is to "keep our distance and keep them safe".....but still not completely shutting the country down. We won't be going anywhere, or meeting anyone
Don’t get your hopes up. Mother in law was due to get the jab at her GP surgery on Thursday, but just got a call saying ‘we’ve run out of vaccine’. Brilliant. Another triumph that Matt Handjob won’t be mentioning.
I did have my hopes up and still do! As long as they're running out because they are vaccinating so many people, we're hopefully still on the right path...
Our 5 levels of restrictions appear to be similar to Scotland. We had a hard 6 week level 5 lockdown which ended 1st December. We did that so we could have a relatively normal family Christmas. The result of the lockdown is we have the lowest 14 day incident rate in the EU. We got down to 78 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Currently it is at 83 which is still the lowest in the EU. Mainland Spain is allowing Irish citizens to travel there without a negative covid test. The authorities here will not allow wet pubs to reopen as the perception is that alcohol and social distancing do not mix. Wet pubs are not expected to reopen till Spring as the vaccinations rollout takes effect. From 18th December people here are allowed travel throughout the country for Christmas until early January. The expectation is that this will lead to an increase in cases and a further lockdown in January. I have Friends in the States who have both tested positive for covid in the past week. Their daughter brought it home from college in Iowa when she went home to her parents for Thanksgiving. Family gatherings are not good.
Don’t be daft. They are running out because they can’t manage the supply chain. The surgery would have been told how many doses they would receive, alerted the top priority patients in order according to the amount of vaccine they were told they were going to get, and then the supply doesn’t materialise. It’s a cock up somewhere. Not sure where the issue is though - the promised deliveries from Pfizer haven’t turned up, or that distribution in this country has been poorly organised, or simply that the communication have been ****ed up, yet again. If this happens when people are due to get their second dose it could be really serious. GPs will be hopping mad though, as they are getting nearly £25 per patient for giving two doses. Nice little pre Christmas earner at risk!
I know, I know. Thanks for killing all of my optimism I'm sure we'd have heard about it if Pfizer hadn't met their contractual obligations. Comms, failing NHS IT, someone forgetting to turn the freezer on - take your pick.
Sorry. I got immensely pissed off knowing that this elderly and fragile lady had been pinning her hopes on this being the first glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, only to have it put back yet again. If the same thing happens to my Mum (jab due Friday) I’ll be livid. I do think we are on the right track at last though. Odd that we are still waiting for a verdict on the AZ vaccine, hope it’s just the bizarre way they cut the data which is slowing things up.
I actually think that they were damned if they did and damned if they didn't on this. Just about every person interviewed and every person phoning in on the radio were saying "**** you" to the government, "we're doing whatever we want to at Xmas". Even if they cancel the 5 day window, I reckon those same people will still have zillions round for Xmas. I do think that they should carry on with whatever restrictions apply to each area throughout the holiday period and do away with the 5 day window.
Here's our rates published today, per council authority - Inverclyde, where I live, is down to 60/100k. Population is about 70k, so I'd estimate just over 40 cases in the area a week.... "The number of positive cases in each local authority is published daily by Public Health Scotland. The most recent data often underestimates the number of positive tests as there are sometimes delays before results are recorded, so this chart uses figures from a few days ago." Be curious to see if there's equivalent data available for England, and what the rates are there.
I need to look up what the five day window is. I thought it was just when you could meet up with a maximum of three permitted households in a home across the period - no mixing and matching households on different days. All the other restrictions stay in place don’t they, surely they aren’t opening the pubs and restaurants for a few days? I presumed it was so you could have Christmas dinner at someone’s house with two other bits of your family, and they could stay overnight, as drink driving is an even greater risk than covid...... It all depends on how people interpret this. My kids have been great. They are avoiding meeting up with their mates anywhere other than outside and not doing much of that, so their grandma can have a relaxed time over Christmas. After Christmas things might get a bit messier, but I reckon we’ll be back in full lockdown pretty sharpish. Still waiting for the New Years Eve guidance........given some of the moronic behaviour it’s better that the government is explicit - no YOU CAN’T HAVE A ****ING PARTY.
Starmer and Khan have both now said that they should have a rethink, so they almost certainly won't do away with it altogether. I predict a fudge.
