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

What a load of crap. Wife is traveling alone to see her very ill mother abroad (not Covid) on Monday. Had to get the ridiculously expensive fit to fly certificate for nearly £200. The tickets themselves are nearly £800 and strictly non refundable.

Where do we go to get exceptional circumstances permission? It's a shambles. We're just going to turn up at Heathrow airport and hope Qatar Airways let her through.
 
Must be a new strain if it's spreading fast through all those affluent like minded areas with huge homes in the south east.

Quite stark for south and south east to be in Tier 4 to say the least after all nonsense said about the north a month ago.

Seriously though cases have exploded down there and in Wales so rules change quickly to reflect that. Germany the country that did well for a long time have had a week of 700-850 deaths a day and 30k cases.
 
SiRed said:
Because London gets away with far too much and the Northerners have been paying the price so far. Hell, i wouldn't even be surprised if London's figures have been being massaged over the last few months to avoid facing tier 3.
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Do you still think London's numbers are being massaged?
 
Mihajlovic said:
Thanks!

Your dad tested positive but has no symptoms so far? That's strange, isn't it?
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Yeah, he's got a bit of a sore throat today apparently but I don't think that's a listed symptom. The only reason he had the test was because it was a requirement before going into hospital for the operation. Maybe it's a false reading or something I don't know.
 
Some regional data for information:

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Top local authorities, I've never seen any number as high as Thurrock's.

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redshaw said:
Must be a new strain if it's spreading fast through all those affluent like minded areas with huge homes in the south east.

Quite stark for south and south east to be in Tier 4 to say the least after all nonsense said about the north a month ago.

Seriously though cases have exploded down there and in Wales so rules change quickly to reflect that. Germany the country that did well for a long time have had a week of 700-850 deaths a day and 30k cases.
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Damn, totally forgot this gem.
 
Very much mixed feelings. It's a clusterfeck. We should never have been in this mess. There are so many points it could've been avoided by governments across the UK. It's the right decision based on the awful place we find ourselves in right now though.
 
calodo2003 said:
We were all so innocent way back when.
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I was joking on page 1 of this thread because I was sat in a departure lounge ready to fly to Taiwan when this thread was created. Taiwan was a hot spot back then. How times have changed!
I also remember a mate in China asking me to sign a passport application for him after he destroyed his own so he could escape back to the U.K where it was safe.
How times change indeed
 
A friend of mine just sent me a photo from inside the Westfield shopping centre, in London. Throngs of people. Loads without masks. Is that normal in the UK?!

In Ireland you could go days without seeing a single maskless person in an indoor space. I know the benefits of masks are kind of uncertain but to me it’s a marker of general civic spiritedness during the pandemic. If they can’t be bothered wearing a mask in a shopping centre then chances are you’re taking the piss in other ways too.

All very well moaning about Boris and the gang but that photo really shocked me. Looks like the British public need to up their fecking game or reap the consequences.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
A friend of mine just sent me a photo from inside the Westfield shopping centre, in London. Throngs of people. Loads without masks. Is that normal in the UK?!

In Ireland you could go days without seeing a single maskless person in an indoor space. I know the benefits of masks are kind of uncertain but to me it’s a marker of general civic spiritedness during the pandemic. If they can’t be bothered wearing a mask in a shopping centre then chances are you’re taking the piss in other ways too.

All very well moaning about Boris and the gang but that photo really shocked me. Looks like the British public need to up their fecking game or reap the consequences.
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I think it’s safe to say many, many people here do not give a shit. And it explains a lot.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
A friend of mine just sent me a photo from inside the Westfield shopping centre, in London. Throngs of people. Loads without masks. Is that normal in the UK?!

In Ireland you could go days without seeing a single maskless person in an indoor space. I know the benefits of masks are kind of uncertain but to me it’s a marker of general civic spiritedness during the pandemic. If they can’t be bothered wearing a mask in a shopping centre then chances are you’re taking the piss in other ways too.

All very well moaning about Boris and the gang but that photo really shocked me. Looks like the British public need to up their fecking game or reap the consequences.
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There's a reason we have such a ridiculously high death count for a relatively small population. Unfortunately, idiocracy is here and it's global.
 
Dumbstar said:
Thank God for that. Hopefully no one is stopped from entering the airport. How are they going to implement flight controls if people just keep on traveling?
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Don't you think it's not such a good time to visit an airport in a hotspot with a new strain of the virus that spreads more easily? Isn't there a sense of social responsibility not to risk exporting that to another country, and rather postpone it to a slightly less risky moment?
 
Brwned said:
Don't you think it's not such a good time to visit an airport in a hotspot with a new strain of the virus that spreads more easily? Isn't there a sense of social responsibility not to risk exporting that to another country, and rather postpone it to a slightly less risky moment?
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Like I stated my wife's mother is very ill. It's not a holiday. We are avid mask wearers and the wife has already had the Corona so her getting it again is less chance than a first infection. We will be careful at the airport nevertheless. Unlike Pogue's Westfield photo I'm hoping airports will be a lot stricter with non mask wearers or non social distancers.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
All very well moaning about Boris and the gang but that photo really shocked me. Looks like the British public need to up their fecking game or reap the consequences.
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Exactly. People love bashing the government all the time. Just because my government is being idiotic doesn’t mean I have to be. UK residents should be smart enough to see beyond what we’re being told, if we’re being told we can be idiots and relax for one day, let alone 5. We are reaping our own rewards, not just what seeds the government has sown.
 
Vidic_In_Moscow said:
Sounds like you are wasted on here perhaps you should be making those decisions instead, you obviously know a lot better.
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By your criteria, many journalists would also run the country better too. There were alot of them saying the exact same thing on the day these rules were announced. It was obvious to anyone with a modicum of foresight at the time.

You are not one of those inaccurately claiming it is "easy with hindsight", are you?
 
Pogue Mahone said:
A friend of mine just sent me a photo from inside the Westfield shopping centre, in London. Throngs of people. Loads without masks. Is that normal in the UK?!

In Ireland you could go days without seeing a single maskless person in an indoor space. I know the benefits of masks are kind of uncertain but to me it’s a marker of general civic spiritedness during the pandemic. If they can’t be bothered wearing a mask in a shopping centre then chances are you’re taking the piss in other ways too.

All very well moaning about Boris and the gang but that photo really shocked me. Looks like the British public need to up their fecking game or reap the consequences.
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A father turned up at my daughters school mask less yesterday. I wanted to punch the cnut, frankly.
 
Brwned said:
Yes, let's. Let's not just look at the countries that suit your argument. We know about Germany, Italy, and a few others, who really are on a long and difficult arc that they could detect at an earlier stage, so let's balance it out with different countries.
  • Switzerland are allowing people to meet multiple households to meet indoors on the 24th, 25th, 26th, and 31st December, and the cantons can decide themselves whether Ski resorts are open.
  • Spain are allowing gatherings of 10 people on 4 days too, swapping out boxing day for New Year's day, and curfews are being pushed back on Christmas Day and New Year's day to the early hours.
  • France have disregarded the curfew for Christmas eve, and are allowing household mixing in general - 6 adults and any number of children.
  • Portugal have removed the 10 person gathering limit and will allow any numbers on Christmas eve and day, and push the curfew back to 2am.
Multiple other countries are allowing household mixing either specifically over the festive period, or in general in this month. They have taken different approaches given different cultures, epidemiology, etc. but the general principle is not at all abnormal. People want to allow human connection if this time, if they can, for obvious reasons, and many people across many countries have disagreed with the rules on both sides.
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Switzerland: full lockdown from 22nd December which counter balances the Xmas mixing.

France: had full lockdown from October until 15th December. They needed to fill out a form to leave home in some cases! This is their counter balance for Xmas mixing.

Picking those 2 examples, just like Germany which I explained earlier in the thread, the countries have allowed Xmas mixing but have "paid" for that privilege by either locking down both sides of Xmas or like France having a strict lockdown for 2 months prior, which is still quite strict even throughout December.

Anyway, maybe you misunderstood my point. My point is not that the government should not have allowed mixing for Xmas. But that they're needs to be a way to manage the rate of infection either before or after the Xmas mixing.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
A friend of mine just sent me a photo from inside the Westfield shopping centre, in London. Throngs of people. Loads without masks. Is that normal in the UK?!

In Ireland you could go days without seeing a single maskless person in an indoor space. I know the benefits of masks are kind of uncertain but to me it’s a marker of general civic spiritedness during the pandemic. If they can’t be bothered wearing a mask in a shopping centre then chances are you’re taking the piss in other ways too.

All very well moaning about Boris and the gang but that photo really shocked me. Looks like the British public need to up their fecking game or reap the consequences.
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Also makes me wonder about this allegedly highly contagious new strain. Highly contagious for selfish idiots, maybe.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
A friend of mine just sent me a photo from inside the Westfield shopping centre, in London. Throngs of people. Loads without masks. Is that normal in the UK?!

In Ireland you could go days without seeing a single maskless person in an indoor space. I know the benefits of masks are kind of uncertain but to me it’s a marker of general civic spiritedness during the pandemic. If they can’t be bothered wearing a mask in a shopping centre then chances are you’re taking the piss in other ways too.

All very well moaning about Boris and the gang but that photo really shocked me. Looks like the British public need to up their fecking game or reap the consequences.
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In my area of Greater Manchester it's 99-100% mask wearing and has been since July 24th. In 5 shop visits you might see one who probably forgot or is exempt.
 
Fluctuation0161 said:
By your criteria, many journalists would also run the country better too. There were alot of them saying the exact same thing on the day these rules were announced. It was obvious to anyone with a modicum of foresight at the time.

You are not one of those inaccurately claiming it is "easy with hindsight", are you?
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Don't get me started on journalists.
 
Volumiza said:
Exactly. People love bashing the government all the time. Just because my government is being idiotic doesn’t mean I have to be. UK residents should be smart enough to see beyond what we’re being told, if we’re being told we can be idiots and relax for one day, let alone 5. We are reaping our own rewards, not just what seeds the government has sown.
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Of course everyone must use their own assessment of risk. For example, we had 3 households planning to come together for Xmas day after the rules were announced. But we all agree we would self isolate for 7 days beforehand. This seemed the sensible thung to do. We agreed this before the government had even mentioned that isolating might be a good idea. Their message at the time was very lax and lacked caution.

Now the restrictions on overnight stays have kicked in we are not doing this.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
That’s more like it. Kudos to Manchester.
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Well l'm sure it varies across the region.

I've noticed in visiting tameside area it was about 70% a few months ago and now seems almost everyone is wearing a mask

With the damper conditions, people with sniffles and coughs it's probably a lot more important than in the summer.
 
Fluctuation0161 said:
Switzerland: full lockdown from 22nd December which counter balances the Xmas mixing.

France: had full lockdown from October until 15th December. They needed to fill out a form to leave home in some cases! This is their counter balance for Xmas mixing.

Picking those 2 examples, just like Germany which I explained earlier in the thread, the countries have allowed Xmas mixing but have "paid" for that privilege by either locking down both sides of Xmas or like France having a strict lockdown for 2 months prior, which is still quite strict even throughout December.

Anyway, maybe you misunderstood my point. My point is not that the government should not have allowed mixing for Xmas. But that they're needs to be a way to manage the rate of infection either before or after the Xmas mixing.
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So if you're saying it's fine to allow household mixing on the provision that they lockdown after Christmas, then ultimately I suspect you'll be in support of the strategy because I think that's a very likely outcome. NI have led the way on that because the situation is grave enough to make that borderline politically palatable, and they're just going to communicate it differently in the other nations. It was first suggested by the Welsh First minister a good while back. In which case this would be quibbling about communications. If that is the case then yep my apologies, I misunderstood!
 
redshaw said:
In my area of Greater Manchester it's 99-100% mask wearing and has been since July 24th. In 5 shop visits you might see one who probably forgot or is exempt.
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Same in Preston, or the parts that I go in anyway. There are people on the streets without masks, but in supermarkets, shops, buses, it's virtually everyone. Lot's of idiots spouting off on facebook and the like, but they seem to be toeing the line when it comes to it.
 
Fluctuation0161 said:
Funny how you don't want to get started on journalists but St. Boris and his cronies can do no wrong?
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I have faith that they're doing the best they can in the circumstances they find themselves, with as much expertise & support as they need. I also don't believe that anyone else in the same boat would look significantly better right now or be doing a much better job. As I say the fact that we can learn about it so quickly, know the tips and tricks to reduce our risks and even produce a vaccine is a miracle in of itself. People really expect miracles it seems I think from a false sense of security they give themselves that the government is and should be in charge of absolutely everything that happens in the universe.

The biggest shame of all is that all of the experts that know all of the easy and 'obvious' choices that should have been made at every step of the way are trapped behind computer screens or else we'd be fine and dandy now.
 
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