Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

[og ogilby]

The pubs I've seen all have shelters/cover things, so even if it rains I don't see why that would stop people.

Problem with that today is that it's freezing in the shade but quite pleasant if you're in the sun.

 

[cupid_stunt]

There is a far more interesting story of what is happening today instead of a few people sat outside a pub as opposed to in their garden or in a park.

To my mind its the return of mass mingling indoors is far more interesting whether that be at non-essential shops, gyms, hairdressers etc. I think it will be interesting from a perspective of how we all react, will we be rushing back to clothes shops or will we be more cautious. How will teh numbers be effected? The return of schools surprised me in some respects and hopefully we can weather this as well.

Hospitality indoors is another 5 weeks away and as we know anything can happen in that time.

I think the schools reopening has surprised a lot people, who were expecting cases to take off again, yet the average cases have dropped by 3,253 per day, from 5,878 to 2,625, since the 8th March.

I think with fairly low levels of infection ATM, plus the numbers vaccinated, we could be lucky and get away with the changes today, it's the next two stages that could possibly be more of a problem, but only time will tell.

Personally I'll not be rushing to any non-essential shops nor the barbers anytime soon, but that's mainly because I don't need to. I will be meeting some friends for outdoor drinks, when it gets a bit warmer, because the risks are so low, but I certainly will not be joining a queue like that lot in Coventry.

 

[William of Walworth]

Problem with that today is that it's freezing in the shade but quite pleasant if you're in the sun.

A few people upthread have just been saying it's raining where they are, which surprises me -- utterly dry and sunny here in Wales, with no signs of any rain in the forecast for well over a week.

Not much signs of any warmth though, with very chilly nights.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

A few people upthread have just been saying it's raining where they are, which surprises me -- utterly dry and sunny here in Wales, with no signs of any rain in the forecast for well over a week.

Forget the rain - it's been snowing in London this morning!

 

[xenon]

Are people really going to be desperate to go and sit outside a pub on a wet/cold Monday night?
The weekend will be busy, especially if the weather improves, but I can't see tonight being a big one.

Walked past my local on Saturday. The landlord and another member of staff were outside doing some work.

They're not having a booking system, just turn up and if there's space order a drink on the app. My mate's gonna have a look after work and text if it's not crowded.

Certainly not desperate but I'd rather go when it might be quieter and I'm curious to see how it's gonna work this time.

 

[Raheem]

Forget the rain - it's been snowing in London this morning!

It's been snowing up here for a few days. Night before last we had a proper blanket of snow. Still, if there have been a few flakes falling on London, expect that will finally knock Phil off the news top spot.

 

[Teaboy]

I think with fairly low levels of infection ATM, plus the numbers vaccinated, we could be lucky and get away with the changes today, it's the next two stages that could possibly be more of a problem, but only time will tell.

I agree about the next two stages. Indoor hospitality does feel like a much bigger step then today as well as the return of larger events both indoors and outdoors. But that is all a long way off and we'll just have to wait and see what happens over the next few weeks.

 

[miss direct]

Wonderful clear blue sky and sunny here in Sheffield.

 

[maomao]

I got snowed on on the way to the doctors this morning which was mildly annoying. Yesterday was glorious though. We had family round and managed four hours in the garden. Only 8 degrees on the thermometer but lots of direct warmth from the sun.

 

[elbows]

Todays press conference appears to be a waste of time unless you want to hear Johnson making a joke in his opening remarks about cautiously and irreversibly lifting a pint to his lips.

Prince Philips corpse stole his pint!

The PM had planned to have a celebratory pint to mark the measures easing, but that has been postponed following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh on Friday.

Covid lockdown eases: Celebrations as pub gardens and shops reopen

Shoppers have been rushing back to the High Street, where queues were seen outside some retailers.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[andysays]

The Primark thing is so baffling.

It's not that baffling.

In my admittedly limited experience of Primark clothes, many of them start to fall apart after a couple of washes, so anything bought there last time they were open will now need replacing.

 

[Orang Utan]

It's not that baffling.

In my (2nd hand) experience of Primark clothes, many of them start to fall apart after a couple of washes, so anything bought there last time they were open will now need replacing.

But of all the shops, it’s not exciting enough to queue overnight just to get some threadbare undercrackers

 

[existentialist]

But of all the shops, it’s not exciting enough to queue overnight just to get some threadbare undercrackers

Some people may be more easily excited about Primark than you

These people deserve our compassion.

 

[Teaboy]

But of all the shops, it’s not exciting enough to queue overnight just to get some threadbare undercrackers

I think its one of the few that doesn't have an on-line offering so if you're a fan you need to get to the shop.

Shopping as a form of entertainment isn't my thing but its clearly a big thing for a lot of people and they would have missed it a lot. A lot of people are sick to the back teeth of lockdowns and restrictions and just want a semblance of normality. Whatever makes you happy I guess (strictly within the rules and regulations where you live of course).

 

[purenarcotic]

It’s cheap and people are skint.

 

[IC3D]

But of all the shops, it’s not exciting enough to queue overnight just to get some threadbare undercrackers

“- Francine: What are they doing? Why do they come here?
- Stephen: Some kind of instinct. Memory of what they used to do. This was an important place in their lives.”

 

[Orang Utan]

It’s cheap and people are skint.

But surely they can wait a few days at least. Queuing overnight in the cold is just crazy

 

[teuchter]

Wanting to go to Primark is not as weird as wanting to go to a pub, sit outside in the cold, and drink a quantity of liquid that costs about 5 times as much as it would from a shop, and will make you feel ill the next day.

 

[andysays]

But surely they can wait a few days at least. Queuing overnight in the cold is just crazy

I'm not convinced that many were queuing overnight in the cold.

That earlier picture with tents was definitely photoshopped

 

[bimble]

But surely they can wait a few days at least. Queuing overnight in the cold is just crazy

Not if you need cheap kids clothes cos you haven't been able to get any for months and months because you don't have credit cards / paypal and need to use cash. Anyway thats what i like to think when i see those pics, else people are just weird.

 

[bimble]

I'm booked in to sit freezing my arse off in a pub garden on Friday, and tbh I think i'd rather go to primark.

 

[Espresso]

Just back from a reconnaissance stroll around town, for the purposes of this thread. These are my observations
1. Lots and lots of people sitting outside in the sunshine at pubs and cafes.
2. Lots of outside tables with "Reserved for Name at whatever time" notices on them.
3. Lots of people queueing at bus and tram stops, presumably going home as they all seemed to have big M&S, Primark and Next bags.
4. All hairdressers shops full.
5. All babershops full inside with queues outside
6. Massive queues outside all of the charity shops

Today would probably be a very good day to go to Sainsburys. There will be no sod in.

 

[elbows]

There is a far more interesting story of what is happening today instead of a few people sat outside a pub as opposed to in their garden or in a park.

To my mind its the return of mass mingling indoors is far more interesting whether that be at non-essential shops, gyms, hairdressers etc. I think it will be interesting from a perspective of how we all react, will we be rushing back to clothes shops or will we be more cautious. How will teh numbers be effected? The return of schools surprised me in some respects and hopefully we can weather this as well.

Hospitality indoors is another 5 weeks away and as we know anything can happen in that time.

Regarding schools, I know we discussed in the past the possibility that the effects of rhinovirus on the immune system may confer some temporary protection for some against Covid-19.

The previous time schools reopened the rhinovirus rates shot up quickly, and I speculated that perhaps that helped delay the Covid-19 impact. Maybe the same thing is happening this time, although I expect there are also other reasons we havent seen a quick and obvious resurgence of Covid-19 yet. In any case, rhinovirus has certainly been on the increase in school age groups again, as we can see via the following chart from the weekly surveillance report. https://assets.publishing.service.g...977003/Weekly_Flu_and_COVID-19_report_w14.pdf

 

[Cloo]

They've just announced restarting rollout of vaccine for over 40s in England so hopefully siblings and I will get ours in next month. My parents have just got their second, after my dad spotted an email invite the other week saying they'd be available today.

 

[Teaboy]

Just back from a reconnaissance stroll around town, for the purposes of this thread. These are my observations
1. Lots and lots of people sitting outside in the sunshine at pubs and cafes.
2. Lots of outside tables with "Reserved for Name at whatever time" notices on them.
3. Lots of people queueing at bus and tram stops, presumably going home as they all seemed to have big M&S, Primark and Next bags.
4. All hairdressers shops full.
5. All babershops full inside with queues outside
6. Massive queues outside all of the charity shops

Today would probably be a very good day to go to Sainsburys. There will be no sod in.

Yes, I've just done the same and also agree it seemed very busy out there. Less so the pubs that had a few people sat around eating but the cafe's with outdoor seating were very busy and in general there just seemed to be a lot more people out and than previous Mondays.

We don't have many clothes shops here but there were the queues outside charity shops and hairdressers etc.

It was really uplifting to see life returning to the town because its been a demoralising and depressing place to walk through at times. Though I suddenly remembered the slight stress from last year of seeing small crowds everywhere and deciding the hassle of getting a coffee or a sandwich is just not worth it.

 

[strung out]

Just back from a reconnaissance stroll around town, for the purposes of this thread. These are my observations
1. Lots and lots of people sitting outside in the sunshine at pubs and cafes.
2. Lots of outside tables with "Reserved for Name at whatever time" notices on them.
3. Lots of people queueing at bus and tram stops, presumably going home as they all seemed to have big M&S, Primark and Next bags.
4. All hairdressers shops full.
5. All babershops full inside with queues outside
6. Massive queues outside all of the charity shops

Today would probably be a very good day to go to Sainsburys. There will be no sod in.

Just back from Sainsburys. Very busy sadly.

 

[Teaboy]

Regarding schools, I know we discussed in the past the possibility that the effects of rhinovirus on the immune system may confer some temporary protection for some against Covid-19.

The previous time schools reopened the rhinovirus rates shot up quickly, and I speculated that perhaps that helped delay the Covid-19 impact. Maybe the same thing is happening this time, although I expect there are also other reasons we havent seen a quick and obvious resurgence of Covid-19 yet. In any case, rhinovirus has certainly been on the increase in school age groups again, as we can see via the following chart from the weekly surveillance report. https://assets.publishing.service.g...977003/Weekly_Flu_and_COVID-19_report_w14.pdf

View attachment 262908

This may be a dumb question but how are they tracking colds in kids? Where does the data come from? Is this something they are picking up in the covid testing / surveillance?

 

[elbows]

This may be a dumb question but how are they tracking colds in kids? Where does the data come from? Is this something they are picking up in the covid testing / surveillance?

Routine surveillance thats been in place for more than a decade. It has quite a lot in common with the sort of sentinel surveillance systems we were reliant on early in this pandemic, before a genuine mass testing system was developed. So basically using a fairly small sample size, not trying to count every case, but still getting enough data to observe trends.

(PDF) A new laboratory-based surveillance system (Respiratory DataMart System) for influenza and other respiratory viruses in England: Results and experience from 2009 to 2012

PDF | During the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic, a new laboratory-based virological sentinel surveillance system, the Respiratory DataMart System... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

www.researchgate.net

During the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic, a new laboratory-based virological sentinel surveillance system, the Respiratory DataMart System (RDMS), was established in a network of 14 Health Protection Agency (now Public Health England (PHE)) and National Health Service (NHS) laboratories in England. Laboratory results (both positive and negative) were systematically collected from all routinely tested clinical respiratory samples for a range of respiratory viruses including influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinovirus, parainfluenza virus, adenovirus and human metapneumovirus (hMPV).

 

[xenon]

Had to go out earlier. Bristol suburb, weather is fine. There were quite a few people around. Including sat at tables outside bars. Mostly older / retired folk from what I could tell at one pub but that's the regular clientell for that one anyway. Was nice and made me feel like stopping for a pint.

 

[teuchter]

One of Brixton's newest gentrification restaurants has quite a big outdoor terrace and it was completely full about an hour ago, on a rather "fresh" Monday lunchtime. Queues outside the phone shops but M&S same as it has been for the past few months. The market just the same as it has been for the past few months (ie not very different from normal). Guy with anti-vaccine song still outside the tube. Traffic in general rather quiet I thought.