Not so much the relaxation of regs, but the stupidity of how people interpreted them. Anyone could have predicted correctly that the R number in London would rise within 2-3 weeks of those idiots marching through London during a pandemic. Hope it’s them that suffer rather than innocent friends and family members...but of course that is rarely how it works out.
It's also way, way worse if you eliminate the northeast portion of the country that got hit the hardest early on. A lot of what looked like recovery was simply that wave ending; the South and West declared victory when it was really just New York/Connecticut/New Jersey/Massachusetts that were recovering. And now there's no political will to do anything significant.
Face masks are now compulsory out in the street here Spain. Almost 100% compliance as far as I can see. And you don't want to mess around with Spanish police either.
The Spanish police have never failed to make me feel grateful for the often incompetent, sometimes infuriating, but seldom openly dishonest or brutal British Bobby.
Many years ago a friend of mine who lives in Andalusia was scoring some dope in a back street in Algeçiras when the dealer said “walk away now!” as a Guardia Civil paramilitary came round the corner. My friend’s heart nearly stopped, but it turned out the dealer knew the policeman didn’t want a witness to him buying drugs.
Here there is a respect, perhaps fear of the police, stemming from the Franco years. Spain is a democracy but some of its institutions have their setup based from the Franco regime. The police, the military and a bulky civil service at national and regional level.
MRS J went shopping in our local sainsburys today . She will start wearing a face mask of course , but she said anyone pushing and barging had a face mask on like it makes them invincible
Haven’t had outright rudeness (because we are lovely on the Isle of Wight) but I have noticed that masks tend to make wearers fell that they would like to share your personal space...perhaps even your shoes. I will miss that 2 metre gap
The advice coming from above, in Spain, from what I have been seeing has always been clear and concise, and doesn’t leave loopholes to be exploited. The way they managed exercise by age groups, to safeguard the elderly and vulnerable, was simple but inspired. The way they have had information by area and allowed areas to ease lockdown by how prepared they were and not as a blanket easing, was common sense. The way they enforced the rules reduced the desire for the public to break them. Each easing of lockdown came with precise lists of what you could and couldn’t do, so when you went from one phase to another you knew what to do. Comparing the Spanish government to the UK government is like comparing chalk and cheese, in this matter and I know where I would feel safest.
I doubt he had to pay for them. In the 80s, bumming around Southern Spain, I was routinely stopped and searched by the Guardia Civil. They were mostly looking for “chocolate” - hashish - which they quite clearly intended to confiscate for their own use. I’ve got loads of stories about the Guardia Civil, and the Policia National. I got an on-the-spot fine once for not wearing a helmet on a moped. While the officer was emptying my wallet - sorry, checking my ID and extracting the fine - at least a dozen motorcyclists passed us without helmets. He didn’t seem to notice them. Still, if he wanted to call a bribe a fine, who was I to argue?
that’s absolutely been my experience at work on the Railway; people wearing masks and gloves are invariably the ones who come right up to you pushing their phones into your grill, when asking for information.
Similar here in The Hague, I use the shopping trolley as a battering ram. If a polite request repeated a little more firmly to give me space is ignored then a multi linguistic stream of invective does the trick.
Looks like the US are making progress on a covid 19 vaccine.........good news could be round the corner. https://apnews.com/e4d5259bfc6c74fcb090d885737c55a6
Availability and price if it's effective given the Trump attempts at buying medicines in the past is a concern.
I believe our 2 vaccines trials are going well, so there’s every chance we will have our own. But if the US win the race then they will charge an arm and a leg for it.