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

Closing schools at such short notice is going to cause a massive headache for frontline medics. They have a habit of marrying other medics so if they can’t find childcare then one of them will have to stay at home. And medical staffing is already at breaking point. Wonder if they’ll be making some exceptions...
 
Closing schools at such short notice is going to cause a massive headache for frontline medics. They have a habit of marrying other medics so if they can’t find childcare then one of them will have to stay at home. And medical staffing is already at breaking point. Wonder if they’ll be making some exceptions...
Schools will still be open for key workers you would think.
 
Closing schools at such short notice is going to cause a massive headache for frontline medics. They have a habit of marrying other medics so if they can’t find childcare then one of them will have to stay at home. And medical staffing is already at breaking point. Wonder if they’ll be making some exceptions...
Would think they will have to have childcare or a lot of people will not be able to work. Presume they will expect people to work in the health sector. You think it could be the same with schools, just vulnerable and key worker kids in.
 
Boris surely won’t last much longer. Brexit is “done”, half the country hates him for not locking down sooner and providing proper social support, the other half hates him for locking down at all. He’s clearly got zero interest in dealing with this properly and giving it the attention it requires.
 
Yeah I know which is why I try not to get too angry at that scenario. It's very much a case of 'it doesn't affect me so who cares -its not my problem'. If these people lost jobs, couldn't see a dying loved one or whatever, I am pretty sure they'd do a full 180.

People keep saying lockdown worked on March etc. I agree. But they should also remember borders remained open then too. UK's problem is they don't do any checks coming in, which is something they should do though I believe

That is still the situation here in Australia. It sucks but is almost universally supported. Only a limited number of Australians are allowed home per week due to quarantine capacity (under police guard in special hotels) and you can only leave by exception with even funerals not always qualifying.

For me it might well mean not seeing my son who is at Uni in the US for almost 2 years, which we hate, but it is the sensible thing to do.
 
If they do lockdown, wonder if people will actually follow it, not many seemed to in November compared to the one they did in March.

They need heavier fines for those that break it, or maybe the hospitals etc need help, get them in cleaning the COVID wards, like community service, maybe that will put a rocket up them into following the rules?!
 
Boris surely won’t last much longer. Brexit is “done”, half the country hates him for not locking down sooner and providing proper social support, the other half hates him for locking down at all. He’s clearly got zero interest in dealing with this properly and giving it the attention it requires.

Completely agree with this, half of the population want lockdown, half don't, the half that don't (me) hates Boris for making what they believe is the wrong choice but those in favor of the lockdown felt he acted too slow constantly and broke promises (Won't be another national lockdown, save xmas etc) I don't see whos in his corner anymore.
 
If they do lockdown, wonder if people will actually follow it, not many seemed to in November compared to the one they did in March.

They need heavier fines for those that break it, or maybe the hospitals etc need help, get them in cleaning the COVID wards, like community service, maybe that will put a rocket up them into following the rules?!

That one never felt like a true lockdown to me, it was seen as a joke by most people. Has to be handled like the original lockdown, not any of this half arsed approach.
 
That one never felt like a true lockdown to me, it was seen as a joke by most people. Has to be handled like the original lockdown, not any of this half arsed approach.
People are fed up of the indecision and don't take it seriously, the first one it was new and there wasn't much of an "Anti" crowd..
 
If they shut schools, after allowing them to all mix for a day before a two week break, I think I might finally snap and go crazy.
 


So kids go to school for one day and then they are shut down again. What was the bloody point in sending them and why was the PM only yesterday saying parents should send then. This Government is incompetent beyond belief.
 
That is still the situation here in Australia. It sucks but is almost universally supported. Only a limited number of Australians are allowed home per week due to quarantine capacity (under police guard in special hotels) and you can only leave by exception with even funerals not always qualifying.

For me it might well mean not seeing my son who is at Uni in the US for almost 2 years, which we hate, but it is the sensible thing to do.

Your son - as an Australian citizen - should be allowed to be back at home, and pass a test at the airport.
 


So kids go to school for one day and then they are shut down again. What was the bloody point in sending them and why was the PM only yesterday saying parents should send then. This Government is incompetent beyond belief.


As I said above, it’s beyond incompetence now. It’s malicious.
 
That is still the situation here in Australia. It sucks but is almost universally supported. Only a limited number of Australians are allowed home per week due to quarantine capacity (under police guard in special hotels) and you can only leave by exception with even funerals not always qualifying.

For me it might well mean not seeing my son who is at Uni in the US for almost 2 years, which we hate, but it is the sensible thing to do.

I do so hope he goes that far. It’s the only way to get on top of the disease. Trouble is he won’t.....understandably so as he would get crucified for doing the right thing. As for me except for key worker children I would shut down all education establishments, including universities until at least June. The Welsh proved that a two week circuit breaker was as much use as a fart in a colander.
 


So kids go to school for one day and then they are shut down again. What was the bloody point in sending them and why was the PM only yesterday saying parents should send then. This Government is incompetent beyond belief.


It takes a certain character to stand up in front of the country one day to tell them something with full certainty, only to do and say the total opposite 24 hours later.

And by character, I mean cnut.
 


So kids go to school for one day and then they are shut down again. What was the bloody point in sending them and why was the PM only yesterday saying parents should send then. This Government is incompetent beyond belief.

Herd immunity?
 
So what do we reckon the excuse will be today?

”We received new data this morning that was troubling, no we couldn’t have delayed school returns until we reviewed it and no you can’t see it”

”There’s an even newer strain which is even more contagious”

”Carrie only gave it the nod earlier today, she’s been busy with Christmas these last few weeks”
 
As ludicrous as it sounds, I can see them prioritising the continuation of Elite Sport, or at least the Premier League, ahead of face to face education. The former is much higher profile globally.
 
Oh, come on! This would be really a ridiculous thing.

Your son - as an Australian citizen - should be allowed to be back at home, and pass a test at the airport, then wait for 2-3 hours as we can see in some European airports for travellers coming from a list of specific countries.

PCR tests aren't 100% reliable enough and even when they do work correctly you can still test positive days later. Even with 14 days quarantine under police guard we have had a few outbreaks. The latest resulting in nearly 200 cases, mainly in NSW which has resulted in state borders being closed and mask wearing being made compulsory.

So there is no chance for international borders opening anywhere near normally until late 2021.

In my son's case he could come home if he was lucky enough to get a flight/place in quarantine and we wanted to afford the flight and quarantine costs - likely about $6000 - but then he might not get out again (at additional cost) and his scholarship depends on him being able to play his sport. We miss him but in the scheme of things it isn't that bad.
 
Tier 5 to be announced tonight according to Sky News sources
 
Closing schools at such short notice is going to cause a massive headache for frontline medics. They have a habit of marrying other medics so if they can’t find childcare then one of them will have to stay at home. And medical staffing is already at breaking point. Wonder if they’ll be making some exceptions...
Don’t worry, schools will remain open for children of key workers, as childcare rather than for education.
 
As ludicrous as it sounds, I can see them prioritising the continuation of Elite Sport, or at least the Premier League, ahead of face to face education. The former is much higher profile globally.

To be fair profile sport involves 10s of thousands of people and has a much smaller effect/dependency on a wider population, it’s very neatly siloed. Schools involve millions of children and have a much higher burden on millions more. Sport is also private, makes a feck tonne for the economy and doesn’t have any dependency on the government to operate safely.
 
As ludicrous as it sounds, I can see them prioritising the continuation of Elite Sport, or at least the Premier League, ahead of face to face education. The former is much higher profile globally.
Would imagine so. Professional sport is continuing in Scotland after the announcement of the new tougher lockdown.
 
As ludicrous as it sounds, I can see them prioritising the continuation of Elite Sport, or at least the Premier League, ahead of face to face education. The former is much higher profile globally.

They've been fairly resolute about allowing people to go out to work if they can't work from home, so I expect that will continue, because you can't have construction projects being delayed.
 
Tier 5 :lol:

Reminds me of Homer as Guy Incognito. Anything to not admit yet another complete balls up resulting in another National Lockdown. I predict this might be their last chance before we start to see pockets of civil unrest.
 
So what do we reckon the excuse will be today?

”We received new data this morning that was troubling, no we couldn’t have delayed school returns until we reviewed it and no you can’t see it”

There’s an even newer strain which is even more contagious”

”Carrie only gave it the nod earlier today, she’s been busy with Christmas these last few weeks”

Hancock was talking about the South African strain this morning. Bet they use that excuse rather than just accepting they fecked up (again)
 
So what do we reckon the excuse will be today?

”We received new data this morning that was troubling, no we couldn’t have delayed school returns until we reviewed it and no you can’t see it”

”There’s an even newer strain which is even more contagious”

”Carrie only gave it the nod earlier today, she’s been busy with Christmas these last few weeks”

"We've got the real stuff such as Brexit sorted so now my whole attention is on this"
 
Tier 5 :lol:

Reminds me of Homer as Guy Incognito. Anything to not admit yet another complete balls up resulting in another National Lockdown. I predict this might be their last chance before we start to see pockets of civil unrest.
Hopefully including dragging them out of westminster by their hair to Trafalgar square, and beating them in front of a worldwide tv audience.
 
Tier 5 :lol:

Reminds me of Homer as Guy Incognito. Anything to not admit yet another complete balls up resulting in another National Lockdown. I predict this might be their last chance before we start to see pockets of civil unrest.

Next week Tier 5 ++
 
To be fair profile sport involves 10s of thousands of people and has a much smaller effect/dependency on a wider population, it’s very neatly siloed. Schools involve millions of children and have a much higher burden on millions more. Sport is also private, makes a feck tonne for the economy and doesn’t have any dependency on the government to operate safely.

Plus watching football is literally the only thing that will stop me completely losing my shit over the next few weeks.
 
Latest in NI:
More than 12,000 cases have been reported in the past seven days, more than double the week before.

The seven-day rate per 100,000 people is now 660 positive cases, compared to 200 per 100,000 two weeks ago.

Medical experts believe that is down to the two-week easing of restrictions over the Christmas period.

"Medical experts believe". What a strange characterisation.

Using the date the tests were conducted (rather than the date reported), we've had over 1,200 cases every day since the 27th. That includes up to yesterday, where we already have 1,368 cases with presumably hundreds more still be reported. Even in our worst period in October we didn't go over 1,200 cases once. And on the 29th and 30th December we had over 2,300 cases, double what we've had in any single day before. And hospitals were already at 100% capacity at the beginning of December.

Even though it was inevitable, I find it bizarre people consciously chose to push the hospitals past the brink for a couple of days.