SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

Tomorrow, Boris is going to confirm that lockdown will end on 02/12/20, going into a tougher Tier system.

However it's bieng said that non-essential retail will be allowed to open up at all levels...so I'm not sure what he can do to toughen up the Tiers then?

We won’t be allowed into other peoples houses or have guests around I’m guessing.
 
Tomorrow, Boris is going to confirm that lockdown will end on 02/12/20, going into a tougher Tier system.

However it's bieng said that non-essential retail will be allowed to open up at all levels...so I'm not sure what he can do to toughen up the Tiers then?
It'll probably focus on household mixing - aka, you can bring it home as long as you're paying for it. But no freebies.
 
The bit I read on the BBC was that tougher rules meant pubs didn't need to be shut by 10, but rather call last orders by 10 and then have lights out by 11. Quite how that is tougher is anyone's guess?!

It’s such a clusterfeck.

Had they said at the outset;

“Pubs will be closed at 9:30pm going forward from December 3rd, but open outside until 11:30, with last orders at 11” - Coupled with sunset-clause relaxed rules for 3 months on outdoor drinking rules.

Pubs could have spent four weeks getting ready. Buy some tape, a patio heater or two.

Give businesses the ability and time to do the right thing and they will. Patrons would have drifted home across a two hour window.

It’s not perfect. I’m not a publican. Their input would have been needed. Not the Whetherspoons Cnut but real local voices. But better answers are available.
 
93% isn't great to be honest. Have you tried a different finger? Are you wearing black nail varnish - apparently that can stop it working? Have you tried it on someone else? 95+ is usually considered normal.

Basically, if the gadget is working you need to talk to your doctor.

Just tried it now and it was between 95 and 96. Not sure what to think because I'm feeling better.
 
Just tried it now and it was between 95 and 96. Not sure what to think because I'm feeling better.
Sounds like you're heading in the right direction at least. Don't overdo it now you're starting to feel a bit better and keep an eye on those numbers/symptoms.
 
day 12 of symptoms and im starting to feel better. still have a bad cough and some nausea but most other symptoms are gone. i just got a pulse oximeter and im steady at 93%. does this mean im going out like stan chera?
I was in the low 80's when i had a chest infection once, the doc was so shocked he tested himself in case the gadget was faulty
 
I’d just think of it as preferable to be exposed to a vaccine with solid pre-clinical and early phase evidence of only very minor adverse events than a virus with a mortality rate approaching 1% and horrible systemic pathology, that has an equivalent lack of evidence on long term sequelae.

You know? that made the trick for me thanks
 
It'll probably focus on household mixing - aka, you can bring it home as long as you're paying for it. But no freebies.

Honestly, the next 8 weeks give me a sense of unease. Boris being his usual shit self, vaccine news/end is near, and the fatigue of the public, along with increasing numbers who are ignoring the rules....put that with 3 weeks of frantic shopping for Xmas, schools open, hospitality opened up, and then the Xmas relaxation.

Hopefully I'm wrong
 
Just seen a headline where it says Michael gove saved Christmas by doing a deal that 4 households are allowed to mix.


Which ducking deal? Who did he negotiation with? Covid particles? Get outta here.
 
Just seen a headline where it says Michael gove saved Christmas by doing a deal that 4 households are allowed to mix.
Which ducking deal? Who did he negotiation with? Covid particles? Get outta here.
I also dont get it at all. Has covid agreed it won't attack houses that only have three households in it for 5 days of Christmas?
 
NSW - Victoria border opened fully for the first time in forever after NSW went more than the 14 incubation period for the virus without a case of community transmission - Victoria is at 21 days. Really good to see the police checkpoints being dismantled. SA seems to have their outbreak under control so it is at least possible that Australia can be covid free and fully open internally for Christmas.
 
NSW - Victoria border opened fully for the first time in forever after NSW went more than the 14 incubation period for the virus without a case of community transmission - Victoria is at 21 days. Really good to see the police checkpoints being dismantled. SA seems to have their outbreak under control so it is at least possible that Australia can be covid free and fully open internally for Christmas.
How are your lock downs policed? Ours are not.
 
How are your lock downs policed? Ours are not.
The Melbourne lockdown was enforced through large fines that were actually handed out to people. Although not always the people that broke the rules in ways that spread the virus, these people sometimes escaped punishment because their cooperation with contact tracing was deemed more important than administering the fine. It wasn’t always a popular policy, as seemed the worst offenders were getting away with it. I’d say there was also a large amount community buy in to the lockdown although this was definitely stretched to breaking point by the end. Masks were pretty universally worn, under threat of a fine. Today is the first day I’m able to legally go outside without a mask in months.
 
I also dont get it at all. Has covid agreed it won't attack houses that only have three households in it for 5 days of Christmas?

We’ll be back in a full lockdown in January to make up for the relaxations of the rules imo.

It’s a calculated risk by the government. They know that infection rates will massively increase over Christmas regardless of the restrictions. They are dangling the carrot to try and minimise illegal get togethers.
 
How are your lock downs policed? Ours are not.

The police mainly.

And we haven't been locked down in NSW for ages although we do have restrictions. For example, our local makes you login to an online register, takes your temperature before you enter, Half the tables are removed and you can't stand at the bar. They put a laminate notice on your table that you turn face down when you arrive and they turn face up again after you have left and the table has been disinfected. Stay for the evening and you will see at least 2 visits by the cops.

In Victoria they were handing fines out like confetti and arrested almost everyone at a small anti-lockdown protest. One man who escaped from a quarantine hotel was given a prison sentence. So we are taking enforcement quite seriously. International and domestic border lockdowns have been a major weapon in that you can almost stop new cases being imported (and where they occur they are already in quarantine) and once you have eliminated within a state you can then keep it that way most of the time and work on getting the other states to zero as well. At the beginning of the Victoria outbreak they had over 700 cases in a day, more or less the same as the UK. They have now not had a case for 21 days. Heroic effort from the people of Victoria imo.
 
Today is the first day I’m able to legally go outside without a mask in months.

I still never figured out which one you were

masked-singer-masterlist.jpg
 
I think it is worth noting that the username of the person who started this thread is @Don't Kill Bill

Make of that what you will ;)
 
We’ll be back in a full lockdown in January to make up for the relaxations of the rules imo.

It’s a calculated risk by the government. They know that infection rates will massively increase over Christmas regardless of the restrictions. They are dangling the carrot to try and minimise illegal get togethers.
I agree - and it's not as if they won't have other problems to deal with from 1 January, like massive queues of lorries on the motorways because of the end of the Brexit transition period. It'll be dire.
 
Can’t believe they are gonna cave in and change their tactics yet again just because of media pressure around Christmas. Weak government
 
The government just don't seem to be learning anything, its been the same all year. In many ways they'd be better off not relaxing it over christmas, enough people would have broken the rules anyway for it to have an impact, to actually loosen them? It's just going to be mad. Dreading it really, it's all so predictable.
 
There are super rich corporations that do not pay even 5% tax on their total income. Amazon is a prime example, excuse the pun.

If you don't want society to become more unequal, surely any increase in tax should target those in the top percentiles of income first, rather than Joe Bloggs doing call centre work from home?

Why is it an either/or situation?

I'd want big corporations to pay far more tax and I'd also be more than willing to raise taxes on the higher earners as well. I'd certainly be willing to pay more tax in the upcoming years and have been willing to pay more tax anyway in the last few years to improve public services.
 
The government just don't seem to be learning anything, its been the same all year. In many ways they'd be better off not relaxing it over christmas, enough people would have broken the rules anyway for it to have an impact, to actually loosen them? It's just going to be mad. Dreading it really, it's all so predictable.

Here's hoping that when it comes to the elderly and vulnerable, people continue to take an abundance of caution.
 
We won’t be allowed into other peoples houses or have guests around I’m guessing.
How exactly are they going to upheld that? The only way I see that working is of neighbours tattle on them, but I'm sure 99% (including myself) wouldn't bother with that.

What's stopping me if I want to bring home 2 or 3 people from another household?

As always with this government, it's all talk about taking actions, without every achieving anything.

I worry that we'll get a massive surge right before Christmas day, although it may incubate until just after. Either way, I think Boris is planning to rake it all in for the economy in December, and lockdown again for January. Who really thinks that they want the best for people's health?
 
The government just don't seem to be learning anything, its been the same all year. In many ways they'd be better off not relaxing it over christmas, enough people would have broken the rules anyway for it to have an impact, to actually loosen them? It's just going to be mad. Dreading it really, it's all so predictable.
I think they are just trying to save face, and Boris is thinking he can win over voters who are bored of isolating for the good of the world.

They probably realise that if they try and continue to upheld the restrictions till Christmas, people will flout them regardless and undermine the government, so in their eyes they look stronger doing this? Again, I don't think any care of peoples health is in mind here. It's all about Boris coming out as a hero for the people by giving them freedom...
 
I read the article just fine thanks. The article only mentions employers that won’t provide a desk. Where is the idea that people working from home aren’t also struggling financially?

I don't believe I quoted or referenced you at any point in any of my posts so you jumping to conclusions about whether I thought you'd read the article properly or not is a little bit strange.

The idea (as a general statement, as opposed to a universal rule) comes from a mixture of personal anecdotal evidence, anecdotal evidence from on here and actual empirical evidence which shows that lockdown exacerbated already present inequalities, between low income workers, many of whom were travelling into work still (and having to dip into savings and taking out loans) or being put on furlough/ losing their jobs and people on higher incomes, who are far more able to work from home and who suddenly found a large portion of outgoings per month (travel/eating out/leisure activities) were no longer happening.

Though its important to point out that I didn't say some people who work from home aren't also struggling right now. What I said is that even though I can't really work from home, I am very happy to pay increased tax to help support those who are struggling more in this pandemic.

Nobody is saying that there aren't some people working from home who are still struggling or that everyone working from home is living a dream.

 
Oxford Vaccine is 70% effective, but researchers say with a dosage tweak, this could go up to 90%.

Good news as this vaccine is easier to store and transport - and cheaper
 
Oxford Vaccine is 70% effective, but researchers say with a dosage tweak, this could go up to 90%.

Good news as this vaccine is easier to store and transport - and cheaper

Interesting to hear the potential increase with dosage. I wonder if all research from the potential vaccines have been undertaken with varying dosage levels, and if so, were the results posted by the likes of Pfizer in reference to the highest dosage levels?

On a more cynical note, I wonder if a more conservative estimate in efficacy is made to cover the tracks of any potential hiccups down the line, especially given the speed at which these vaccines have been trialled.

Nonetheless, this is all positive news.
 
Thats why Boris is announcing relaxed restrictions now imo. Im expecting a major roll out before Christmas day
Or its because he's succumbed to pressure from the right wing media to 'sAve oUr ChRiStmAs'. I wouldn't associate this government's decision making with any form of rational reasoning. If that were the case they'd have locked down earlier (twice), or not lifted the current lockdown until the new year to avoid a January spike.
 
Thats why Boris is announcing relaxed restrictions now imo. Im expecting a major roll out before Christmas day
No chance they're getting to the general public before March/April.

December might be rolled out to the NHS frontline workers, then January to old people in care homes etc. But wouldn't expect much more than that.

Think us younger, healthier individuals will get it closer to end of 2021.