Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion
- Thread starter Sasaferrato
- Start date
elbows
Well-Known Member
A lot of the local 'dont need symptoms' test facilities were stuff they were going on about setting up in a previous phase and were hoping to use as an alternative to actually doing the right thing and locking down. Events got ahead of them on that but meanwhile the centres have popped up in various places.
This is the sort of local messaging we get about that here.
Supine
Newt Member
it's worth doing a bit of research. The place i went to still has a website saying symptoms only but it is out of date. I only knew because my job directed me there.
Wilf
Slouching towards Billingham
I've wondered similarly and had a quick look at the legislation (wiki). In short, government departments are included, but none have been convicted so far.
The definition of the offence looks like exactly what is going on in common sense terms but equally, the sort of thing that would never ever become a prosecution:
Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 - Wikipedia
chilango
Hypothetical Wanker
Who would have the authority to bring such a case?
I'm guessing a Peter Tatchell citizen's arrest wouldn't cut it.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
There's one near me that was advertised (as in if you happened to see something on social media) as being available for those with no symptoms (and I think you are supposed to book but I haven't tried).
There's another one that I only know exists because I happened to walk past it at the weekend (and I don't know if it's for symptoms/no symptoms/book/walk-in).
And also walked past another centre a bit further away, at the weekend.
All of them have been deserted when I pass - no queues, no sign of much going on. And no real information outside about what they are, what you can use them for, how to book, what website to look at, etc.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Just tried that for my local area - it shows the "walk-through" ones, which it seems are the ones you need a booking for, and are for if you have symptoms. It doesn't show either of the no-symptom test places nearby.Google Maps shows results for Covid Testing centres in the uk
Supine
Newt Member
Mine was a walkthrough and like i said their website was out of date. Ask if they do asymptomatic, the answer might be yes.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Far past even 120 I suspect
One in eight 'recovered' Covid patients 'die within 140 days'
A third of people were back in hospital within five months of first being diagnosed.
metro.co.uk
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
I might get one of my team to go and give them a shout tomorrow (it's all of 400m away) to try and find out.
tbh I have such a good gag reflex I don't want anything stuck down my throat - Dr had trouble with using a tongue depressor during a medical a couple of years ago ! I wonder if I can get one of the saliva tests instead ?
Mation
real life adventure worth more than pieces of gold
How many test centres are there, relatively locally? Are more people able to get tests at work?
Mation
real life adventure worth more than pieces of gold
Do they not want people to come? Who chose those colours? That's really, genuinely, hard to look at.
If so for me, then for others, too.
Why is everything always so rubbish?
I just wrote and deleted something about the underlined (not so much about targets and coming out of lockdown, but more generally). There's always a feel that the government are having a one way conversation with us as individuals/consumers/work units. If we could rewind to last May, what an opportunity there was to mobilise all kinds of aspects of community or 'civil society' (hate that term). I never feel 'part of' the response as things stand and the whole thing rolls on, exacerbating existing inequalities and isolation. Government couldn't even convince of putting part of the strategy in the hands of communities, but to be honest, neither have 'we'. Wouldn't have been easy to generate the links and actions needed for a new community response, but it might have been the start of a new politics.
Yeah wouldn't it be great if unions, community organisations, key workers, tenant groups, NHS staff etc were all having local zoom meetings discussing how to challenge workplaces that are dangerous and taking the piss, working out who needs help and how to get it to them, discussing ways to make shops/transport/resources safer and even how we can try and wring some quality of life out of this situation. I think a bottom up response could have worked, would have been better in terms of keeping infection under control and created a lasting legacy. Which is not to undermine some of the great work that the mutual aid groups have done, just that we weren't organised enough or ambitious enough or perhaps even connected and confident enough pre-pandemic to have the initiative to take it to the next level at the speed that was required. I think a lot of us, myself included, were a bit like rabbits staring at the headlights when this all kicked off.
Oh well, there'll always be another pandemic I guess. Maybe next time.
Cid
Proper break this time
Corporate manslaughter within a government department would be more like a fatal accident at work caused by something grossly negligent. I.e it's within a specific area of operation... The key bit is that 'duty of care' element. These only apply in limited circumstances, employer-employee is one of those, and a government department is an employer. That duty of care then has to be breached, and it has to be a gross breach, i.e well below the standard of a normal relationship of that type, in the circumstances. And every word there is important 'in the circumstances' is going to be different in a national emergency.
A government doesn't have a duty of care in that sense... It has responsibilities, and actions in office can be challenged via judicial review. I am far too rusty on that to know how it might apply... I assume if it were a possibility, Jolyon Maughan QC, tiger of the EU, would have brought some kind of action by now.
The real problem is that our constitution is set up (or has evolved) in a way that is meant to give government a great degree of latitude in how it operates, assuming consent of parliament. In itself, that isn't necessarily a bad thing (e.g see how stagnant areas of US policy can get), but in the current context of an utterly cowed opposition and a lickspittle press, is showing its flaws. The theory behind it is pretty clear; if a government is incompetent, parliament should kick them out. It just doesn't always work... It's an interesting subject I think. There are many features of government that work in theory, and yet are fucked on contact with the real world. Lessons there.
Anyway, bit too much a tangent for this thread... And too much of a tangent on the specifics too, do not be tempted by the rabbit-hole of judicial review, it leads to caves.
2hats
Dust.
Perhaps one contributory factor.Far past even 120 I suspect
One in eight 'recovered' Covid patients 'die within 140 days'
A third of people were back in hospital within five months of first being diagnosed.
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
It‘s hard to get my head round how horrible this is day after day at the moment. 1600 coffins stacked up, 1600 families in bits.
None of it needed to happen on this scale, it’s been a choice. Malignant cunts with the ear of the government pushing ‘we’ve got to keep the economy going’, yet with every extra month this thing is dragged out by weak action and enforcement their precious economy goes further down the toilet. Stupid fucks.
andysays
Love and solidarity
I was informed about it through work (I work for Hackney Council), but the test centre I've been to is open to the public.
I'm aware of two test centres in Hackney doing asymptomatic testing, as well as a number doing symptomatic tests.
I think they're run by local health authorities (in this case City and Hackney) so provision may be variable depending where you are.
I would suggest that the best place to find out about testing in your (anyone's) local area is to look on your local council website.
Mation
real life adventure worth more than pieces of gold
I get tested weekly via work, but good advice generally. I was just trying to think of additional reasons why test centres might be looking empty
andysays
Love and solidarity
Just followed my own advice and looked at the Haringey (where I live) website.
The info isn't that easy to find, but apparently there are two, soon to be three, rapid test centres in Haringey. It gives their addresses and opening hours, and seems to suggest booking isn't necessary.
There's also a link to a map showing all the test sites in London.
The info isn't that easy to find, but apparently there are two, soon to be three, rapid test centres in Haringey. It gives their addresses and opening hours, and seems to suggest booking isn't necessary.
There's also a link to a map showing all the test sites in London.
bimble
floofy
Just watched a clip of Johnson's performative grief yesterday and found new reserves of disgust for the man. With a thin gloss of attempted gravitas all he had to offer was an attempt to deny of any kind of responsibility or failure at all. "We have done everything we could to keep deaths to minimum" is an obvious lie and an insult to everyones intelligence. More of the same we have come to expect from him but in this context just painful.
I aim to avoid that clip 
cupid_stunt
Chief seagull hater & farmerbarleymow's nemesis.
AstraZeneca has confirmed there's no way they are going to divert vaccine supplies manufactured in the UK, and intended for use in the UK, to the EU, pointing out that it was developed by Oxford University and backed by the UK government from the start, on the understanding UK manufactured supplies would be supplied to the UK in line with the contract, before any would be exported.
A month after the UK invested, AZ reached an agreement with a group known as the 'Inclusive Vaccine Alliance' (Germany, Holland, France and Italy) based on the UK agreement, but the EU stepped in and insisted they could not formalise the deal, and took over negotiations resulting in another 2 months of talks, meaning the EU signed a deal 3 months after the UK. Plus the UK was the first to approve its use, whereas the EU still hasn't, although is expected to soon.
This gave AZ an extra three months to sort out manufacturing and supply problems associated with the UK contract, so the EU will have to wait until they have done the same at their Belgium site, the main base for supplying the EU, and where the problem is. Another manufacture in Germany is now going to produce the AZ vaccine too, which is good news for the EU, but it'll take time to get it up and running.
On this basis, Pascal Soriot, the head of AZ, also said he believes the target of 15 million people vaccinated with their first dose by mid-Feb. will be hit, and that all 50's could have their first dose by the end of March, whilst backing the decision to wait up to 12 weeks between doses.
If we get there by mid-July, that will be amazing, as IIRC the government target is by the end of Sept.
www.theguardian.com
A month after the UK invested, AZ reached an agreement with a group known as the 'Inclusive Vaccine Alliance' (Germany, Holland, France and Italy) based on the UK agreement, but the EU stepped in and insisted they could not formalise the deal, and took over negotiations resulting in another 2 months of talks, meaning the EU signed a deal 3 months after the UK. Plus the UK was the first to approve its use, whereas the EU still hasn't, although is expected to soon.
This gave AZ an extra three months to sort out manufacturing and supply problems associated with the UK contract, so the EU will have to wait until they have done the same at their Belgium site, the main base for supplying the EU, and where the problem is. Another manufacture in Germany is now going to produce the AZ vaccine too, which is good news for the EU, but it'll take time to get it up and running.
On this basis, Pascal Soriot, the head of AZ, also said he believes the target of 15 million people vaccinated with their first dose by mid-Feb. will be hit, and that all 50's could have their first dose by the end of March, whilst backing the decision to wait up to 12 weeks between doses.
If we get there by mid-July, that will be amazing, as IIRC the government target is by the end of Sept.
Head of AstraZeneca rejects calls for UK vaccine to be diverted to EU
Chief executive of pharmaceutical giant says the firm will honour UK’s earlier contract despite EU anger over shortfall
Buddy Bradley
Pantheistic solipsist
The change of tone from the BBC this morning was quite dramatic - lots of interviews with people saying how much was avoidable and due to poor decisions by the government, which is not something they've ever really countenanced as a narrative before.
Covid-19: 'Poor decisions' to blame for UK death toll, scientists say
A "legacy of poor decisions" in 2020 and before the pandemic led to 100,000 deaths, scientists say.
www.bbc.co.uk
cupid_stunt
Chief seagull hater & farmerbarleymow's nemesis.
The change of tone from the BBC this morning was quite dramatic - lots of interviews with people saying how much was avoidable and due to poor decisions by the government, which is not something they've ever really countenanced as a narrative before.
Covid-19: 'Poor decisions' to blame for UK death toll, scientists say
A "legacy of poor decisions" in 2020 and before the pandemic led to 100,000 deaths, scientists say.www.bbc.co.uk
I noticed that too, I saw the housing secretary Jenrick interviews on both the BBC & Sky, they both were uncomfortable for him, although Sky went after him a lot harder than the BBC did.
MrSki
Who am I to say you're wrong
Started yesterday with the question from LK
Jenrick got a harder time on GMB but was thanked for facing the music today when it should have been Hancock.
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Numbers
an ting!
I thought Morgan would have been tougher.
The tribute to some of those who have died by Morgan and Susanna was very touching, very sad.
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