Aphantasia

[Delbow]

3 minutes ago, tinfoilhat said:

How can a mile from home mean different things to different people unless youve got 20 acres of land? In Ireland that's for exercise by the way.

 

 

Jacob Rees-Mogg would probably like the restrictions to be expressed in rods or furlongs.

[apelike]

2 hours ago, Becky B said:

Listening to a medical programme about this earlier, one of the experts said if anything, this lockdown should be stricter than the first because the new variant is 50% more transmissible.

The problem with that is there is no evidence at all to prove that it is 50% more transmissible. The only way to know the numbers is to do a genome test on all to see just how many have the new variant. The rise of cases could just be down to people being lax now vaccines have been created.

Edited January 10 by apelike

[Becky B]

3 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

I have heard quite a few scientists and experts in the papers demanding the lockdown should be much stricter. I would like to hear how exactly these experts realistically think that can happen.

 

The country is already into tier five.  A blanket national lockdown for several weeks. All non-essential retailers, eat in hospitality, hotels, schools, offices.... are all closed with remote working arrangements or no business at all.

There are entire Industries teetering on the brink of collapse with the government desperately trying to the balance enough of our finite taxpayer money for either furlough wage to the staff temporarily or makeup a business loss in other ways through grants or other support schemes.

 

Police are now freely able to stop, question and and punish those who are undertaking unnecessary travel or mixing against the rules.

 

However, it is obvious that some people have to go outside to work to keep things moving and such work cannot be done sat in their pants in their living room.  We still need great numbers of people out there doing those essential things like keeping the lights switched on, telecommunications running, the Health Service operating, broadcast services on the air, policing and emergency response available, public transport operating.... 

 

Then of course there's those Great British Public at home.  They still need supplies and to eat, so at the very very least major supermarkets have to be open (yes whilst places like Poundland, Wilko or take away fast-food etc may be a bit debatable - if they still feed and water people they are generally going to fall within the rules). So. That means all these retail staff have to go out to work..... Those stores don't magically stock themselves and need suppliers and deliveries and warehousing. That means that there are 1000s more people going to work in haulage.....Those hauliers on the road need to eat and sleep and therefore service stations and canteens have to be open and operating.... Hauliers need suppliers and manufacturs so every factory and distributor and producer also has to remain open with staff flowing in and out...

 

Its an endless cycle and these experts and statisticians need to get a grip and realise that humans cannot simply press pause and go into hibernation for 6-months.

 

It's all so easy to go on television or make statements in newspapers about how everything needs to be quicker, faster, stricter,harder. It's all so easy to start finger pointing about behaviour of the general public and failures of the government when they are not the ones who actually have to balance practical reality with idealistic proposals.

 

The world doesn't stop turning.  

It's getting caught between a rock and a hard place, I know.  I guess people with a medical bias are looking at it from a point of view of hospitals being overwhelmed by numbers of people needing admission, whilst trying to balance keeping emergency services and more routine healthcare going.

We've all come to expect healthcare to be available when we want it, but it is a finite resource and if most of the capacity is taken up by Covid-19 cases, where does that leave us?

 

We can't go into hibernation, no (much as I feel I want to, and not just in a pandemic 😆), but we can be careful about the choices we make in this unprecedented situation.  The virus spreads by contacts, the more contacts each person has with numbers of different people, the more likely it is to spread.

1 hour ago, apelike said:

The problem with that is there is no evidence at all to prove that it is 50% more transmissible. The only way to know the numbers is to do a genome test on all to see just how many have the new variant. The rise of cases could just be down to people being lax now vaccines have been created.

I haven't seen the research behind it, I'm getting to the point where I can only take so much information in about it, and manage my mental health.

We thought we were going to get a respite in the later stages of 2020, but things are just as bad as ever (this is just my limited perspective at work,  but being in it day after day is getting a little wearing now).

[Thirsty Relic]

The Government is offering the vaccine to the over 80's, those "shielding" most at risk, and HNS workers first, and that will allow deaths, serious illness and hospital admissions to fall, allowing us to go back to normality.  That makes sense, as the vast majority of deaths/hospital admissions are in those categories.  There are many people who testing has shown have had the virus, produced antibodies and beaten it - often without even knowing they had it.

 

The hope of a return to normal is being held out to businesses and the public, and an optimistic picture is being painted of the speed of the rollout and a return to normality.

 

A problem as I see it is that the Government keeps announcing how many doses of vaccine they have bought, and that keeps rising and rising.  "The Scotsman" last week reported that the UK Government had already acquired 355 million doses of vaccine. 

 

https://www.scotsman.com/health/coronavirus/covid-vaccine-how-many-doses-oxford-and-pfizer-jabs-does-uk-have-and-how-long-will-it-take-vaccinate-everyone-3084941

 

The UK head-count is around 68 million.

 

Unless there is something else they can do with this vaccine lake, or they are planning to donate it to poorer countries, I think we will all be offered, then coerced, or forced to have the jabs, whether we want or need them or not.

 

I appreciate that most of us would accept a jab, but not all of us.  It's a slippery slope if the Government were to force everybody to do something.

 

 

[Westie1889]

10 minutes ago, Thirsty Relic said:

The Government is offering the vaccine to the over 80's, those "shielding" most at risk, and HNS workers first, and that will allow deaths, serious illness and hospital admissions to fall, allowing us to go back to normality.  That makes sense, as the vast majority of deaths/hospital admissions are in those categories.  There are many people who testing has shown have had the virus, produced antibodies and beaten it - often without even knowing they had it.

 

The hope of a return to normal is being held out to businesses and the public, and an optimistic picture is being painted of the speed of the rollout and a return to normality.

 

A problem as I see it is that the Government keeps announcing how many doses of vaccine they have bought, and that keeps rising and rising.  "The Scotsman" last week reported that the UK Government had already acquired 355 million doses of vaccine. 

 

https://www.scotsman.com/health/coronavirus/covid-vaccine-how-many-doses-oxford-and-pfizer-jabs-does-uk-have-and-how-long-will-it-take-vaccinate-everyone-3084941

 

The UK head-count is around 68 million.

 

Unless there is something else they can do with this vaccine lake, or they are planning to donate it to poorer countries, I think we will all be offered, then coerced, or forced to have the jabs, whether we want or need them or not.

 

I appreciate that most of us would accept a jab, but not all of us.  It's a slippery slope if the Government were to force everybody to do something.

 

 

Just a small point but Sheffield is currently vaccinating everyone over 75. My Mum was done last Thursday and is 79 with no pre-existing health conditions.

I’m 46 and fit and healthy having exercised 4-5 times a week for the last 30 years, dying from Covid doesn’t particularly worry me as I know the stats are in my favour. However, long Covid does worry me as I know a few people younger than myself who are suffering from it.

Their symptoms vary from no sense of taste or smell 8 months after the original infection to severe lethargy similar to an ME sufferer.

Until vaccinated I won’t look to return to normal and many friends are of the same view, for the sake of a few months I don’t see the point in risking it.

I don’t think anyone will be forced to be vaccinated but businesses will rightly take precautions as dictated by the science to keep staff and customers safe. For example, I can see a situation where you cannot fly without proof of vaccination, or certain countries may ban travellers for the same reason.

[tinfoilhat]

1 hour ago, Westie1889 said:

Just a small point but Sheffield is currently vaccinating everyone over 75. My Mum was done last Thursday and is 79 with no pre-existing health conditions.

I’m 46 and fit and healthy having exercised 4-5 times a week for the last 30 years, dying from Covid doesn’t particularly worry me as I know the stats are in my favour. However, long Covid does worry me as I know a few people younger than myself who are suffering from it.

Their symptoms vary from no sense of taste or smell 8 months after the original infection to severe lethargy similar to an ME sufferer.

Until vaccinated I won’t look to return to normal and many friends are of the same view, for the sake of a few months I don’t see the point in risking it.

I don’t think anyone will be forced to be vaccinated but businesses will rightly take precautions as dictated by the science to keep staff and customers safe. For example, I can see a situation where you cannot fly without proof of vaccination, or certain countries may ban travellers for the same reason.

They already insist on vaccinations for different diseases.

Edited January 10 by tinfoilhat

[Kidorry]

1 hour ago, Westie1889 said:

Just a small point but Sheffield is currently vaccinating everyone over 75. My Mum was done last Thursday and is 79 with no pre-existing health conditions.

I’m 46 and fit and healthy having exercised 4-5 times a week for the last 30 years, dying from Covid doesn’t particularly worry me as I know the stats are in my favour. However, long Covid does worry me as I know a few people younger than myself who are suffering from it.

Their symptoms vary from no sense of taste or smell 8 months after the original infection to severe lethargy similar to an ME sufferer.

Until vaccinated I won’t look to return to normal and many friends are of the same view, for the sake of a few months I don’t see the point in risking it.

I don’t think anyone will be forced to be vaccinated but businesses will rightly take precautions as dictated by the science to keep staff and customers safe. For example, I can see a situation where you cannot fly without proof of vaccination, or certain countries may ban travellers for the same reason.

No so in Gleadless because my sister and her husband are both over 90 with health problems and they have had no word yet even after phoning their doctor.

[francypants]

A neighbour of mine in his 80s was taken into hospital on new years eve.  He had an operation for gallstones and was recovering from the operation well .......  then whilst in hospital caught coronavirus.    He's still in hospital in isolation  ...........................................

[petemcewan]

Fancypants.

That is sad news. I do hope your neighbour recovers.

Hospitals are doing their best to mitigate hospital transmission of Cov-19.

The link I provide will give you an insight as to what is going on.

I must admit,that the last thing  I want is to be admitted into hospital for anything other than Cov019 treatment.

 

https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-transmission-hospitals/

Edited January 10 by petemcewan

[Baron99]

Watching Look North tonight, they reported that a shisha bar on The Wicker, has been fined for a second time, £4,000 this time round, when  police raided them the other night, following a tip off that a number of people were present on the premises.  This follows a similar raid in November for a similar offence, when they were fined, £2,000.,   I thought the minimum fine for such offences was £10,000?

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-55611023

 

Police also found cannabis plants at the premises.  

 

In another report, York council has had to close one of their main parks to stop people congregating & not practicing social distancing.  York currently has one of the highest infection rates in the country.  Will people never learn?  (Rhetorical question, as apparently not!). 

[Thirsty Relic]

Footage on the news of hundreds of supporters thronging the streets cheering Marine on as they arrived for the FA Cup match with Spurs today.  No reports of anybody fined. Pictures are around various websites:

https://healthyfrog.readsector.com/2021/01/10/police-just-look-on-as-footballer-supporters-ignore-social-distancing/

 

 

 

[redruby]

How to make the locker stricter? Do garden centres really need to be open? Do takeaways really need to be open? These are Just a couple of examples, I’m sure there are many more. From what I’ve seen these are just encouraging people to go out and come into contact with others much more closely and for longer than they would taking exercise.  

Of course that’s tough for businesses and economy. But the trouble is that while ever we carry on to trying to compromise and tread a middle ground, the less effective the lockdown will be. So the lockdown goes on longer, the economy suffers more in the longer term.