Off Topic Coronavirus - 606 tales from the Inquiry

Just a question regarding the Dpain UK wrangle. We have had 11 covid deaths here in the last week. The UK posted 119 deaths yesterday. The situation here in Catalunya is very worrying, and we could be back in lock down next week. But the UK hasn't really got on top of the situation yet and the travel ban, while we'll intentioned on the surface, is equally applicable for most countries who have tourists visiting the UK. Sounds a bit like Boris doing his best Trump impersonation and saying 'look what a good job I'm hoping.

 

It's just Boris trying to persuade people to take their holidays within the UK, and make Europe look bad with lurid tales of a second wave.

Except at the weekends (we have Monday-to-Friday Covid19 over here) more people are dying every 24 hours in England than in the rest of Western Europe put together. Our ratio of fatalities from total infected must be far and away the highest in Europe by now.

 

Dork of the Day ... (also Norks of the day) ... 29th July

Madonna

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53579039

More nonsense from the 80's pop poppet about Coronavirus.
Did you know there's already a vaccine, but the rich are keeping it all for themselves?
And she's backing Trump's lies about that failed US drug, which they insist is a cure, or whatever

 

Some worrying news for my workmates and me today.

One of the staff at our little factory has a household member who's tested positive for Coronavirus.
That person is now self-isolating with their family. But the rest of us are now wondering if we have been infected.
We keep our distance, wash hands, don't share tools or workstations etc. But the worry is still there.

This is as close as the virus has ever got to me (that I'm aware of).

 

I’m sure you can go for one of the drive through tests mate , just to reassure yourself

 

I looked into that.

Not sure, but it seems to say on the NHS website that I can't go for a drive-through test unless I am already feeling symptoms, or I am due to have a scheduled operation soon, or I am a key worker.

But I'll admit the wording is a bit vague.

 

Household gatherings banned in the North of England by Government edict today;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53602362

House parties etc. now illegal (to be honest I thought they were anyway).

It is a telling thing that rather than people rallying round and accepting the sacrifice involved, there is an immediate backlash of people picking holes in this measure and pointing out inconsistencies.

The Government's response is apparently to say
"Look folks, this is really in essence the return of lockdown.
Don't be like Dominic Cummings and look for loopholes or ways to bend the rules.
Just behave yourselves.
Don't do anything you knew you were told not do back in March & April, even if these new rules do not specifically say so".

Breathtaking hypocrisy.

 

New Coronavirus lockdown rules:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53609467

Face coverings must now be used by everybody going into

• Cinemas
• Places of worship
• Art galleries
• Museums

as well as in all shops and on public transport.
Plans are underway for requiring some school children to wear face coverings for some activities (NOT continuously) when schools re-open in September.

I have heard that plans to reintroduce some fans into football and other sports grounds have now been halted as well.

 

2nd August update;

July infections/fatalities table now complete.

Infection rates are on the rise almost right across Europe, though much faster in some countries than others.
Fatality rates are not rising, probably for a couple of reasons;

1) It seems to be younger people spreading this second wave of infections. Death rates for younger people are a tiny fraction of those suffered by older folk.

2) Treatment for serious cases has doubtless improved greatly with experience. We're a lot better at saving the lives of even the very ill.

 

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/m25-border-shielding-second-lockdown-a4514461.html

 

According to The Sun this morning, couples not from the same household in the Manchester area have been banned from having it off, even in their own homes. Apparently the rules say they can only enjoy nookie if they rent a hotel room.

For pity's sake

This isn't China or North Korea.
The Government cannot ban consenting adults from enjoying a bit of the other as long as they aren't doing it in public.
Boris, if this came from your brains trust tell them to get a grip.
Maybe it's another idea from that eccentric genius Dominic Cummings

People are laughing at your Government now.
Very soon you'll have zero credibility left when it comes to the pandemic, if you carry on producing these stupid edicts.

 

This report on the BBC news site is truly disgusting...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-53617762

Could put you off your supper, and off McDonalds for a long time

 

Face coverings - where they must be worn in England...



The list gets ever longer.

Personally, I only wear one when going to the supermarket or the chemist for my repeat prescriptions.
All the other places on this list are no longer part of my life.

I wonder how long it will be before this list suddenly gets much shorter though;

• Everywhere, other than in your own home.

 

9th August update;

A new table has been added in the first post:
The 6th monthly table since the pandemic began.

Spain is now suffering very high infection rates - sometimes over 4,000 per day.
Definitely a second wave in that country. It has been rising sharply for nearly a month.
Mercifully, their death rate is still minute. But can it stay that way?

Spain, France, the UK and now Germany are all countries where infections are on the rise.

In the UK we are still suffering more Coronavirus fatalities per day (on average) than the other 7 countries listed put together.
Our death rate is creeping down horribly slowly.

 

Institutional Class discrimination against Scottish students.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-53719477

(I had to go searching for this link - for some reason the BBC doesn't consider it very important)

Students having their teacher-assessed exam results downgraded TWICE AS MUCH if their schools are in working class ('deprived') areas rather than affluent ones. Absolutely shameful.

Credit to Nicola Sturgeon for eventually giving up defending this, and admitting the Scottish Government has got it wrong.
I would not have expected a scandal like this under a left-wing administration that claims to represent all the Scottish people.

 

Dorks of the Day ... 11th August

The Terrence Higgins Trust;
Their advice on 'safe sex' for swingers during the pandemic

1. Choose intercourse positions that are not face-to-face
2. Wear face masks during sex

And they say romance is dead

 

16th August update;

Tables updated with 6 more days of information.

NOTE:

The UK fatalities number has been adjusted because the criteria for counting a death as being from Coronavirus has been changed in England, to bring it in line with the way Coronavirus fatalities are counted in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Under the old way of counting in England
If you died, and you had ever been diagnosed with Coronavirus (regardless of how long ago) you were counted as a Coronavirus fatality.
So if you caught Coronavirus in March, recovered, then got hit by a bus in July, you WERE counted as a Coronavirus fatality.

Under the new way of counting in England
There is a 28 day cut-off time after the date of diagnosis.
So if you are diagnosed with Coronavirus, fall seriouisly ill with it, end up in hospital and then (because of the valiant efforts of doctors and nurses to keep you alive) you eventually die after 29 days rather than 26 or 27 days, your death will NOT be counted as a Coronavirus fatality.

Plainly, neither of these methods of counting is accurate.
But under the retrospective application of the new way of counting, the official Coronavirus death toll in the UK has been revised down by over 5,000.

 

Dork of the day ... 20th August

Adrian Chiles

Granted, this bloke is a Dork 365 days of the year.
But I read an article he wrote in The Sun the other day where he basically said lack of fans (there in person) has not hurt sport at all.
It's still just as dramatic and wonderful as ever in his privileged opinion.

What a wazzock.

 

Spain spiralling out of control now. Sadly it's the youngsters inability to behave that seems to be the straw that is spiking the camels back.
An odd point here. The pubs, bars and discos all opened, despite being enclosed spaces, and in some cases full of drunks! Bullfighting came back in the places its allowed with half full bull rings. But football is still going to be behind closed doors. Can they not open a football stadium and allow 30% capacity if the bull killers can do it?

 

Doesn’t appear to be any continuity in rules and guidelines through out the planet ffs