Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

[elbows]

Yep. England dithered and dithered until a longer, more damaging lockdown became inevitable.

And its true. The only thing it needs to be balanced against is whether the shorter thing Wales did is actually going to be enough that they can stick to the sort of 'no more action needed for a bit' timetable that their leaders are currently promoting. And I'll just have to wait and see on that one.

 

[gentlegreen]

i don't think one oddball observing whether people are wearing masks in one shop can extract anything meaningful about demographics

They were within aerosol range of this 60 year old oddball's face and I'm pretty sure the late-teens sneezer took off her mask to do it.

 

[nogojones]

The English government really are a fucking shower of useless cunts

Welsh Government: Wales will not take part in national lockdown

The news comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering new national lockdown measures for England

www.walesonline.co.uk

That article also screams out to me that mark drayford is also a huge useless cunt

 

[Orang Utan]

They were within aerosol range of this 60 year old oddball's face and I'm pretty sure the late-teens sneezer took off her mask to do it.

and that has what to do with demographics?

 

[souljacker]

I bumped into an old school mate at the weekend and he wasn't wearing a mask and was very proud of himself. He pointed out that he was not a conformist. I told him he was a selfish cunt.

He was thick as pigshit at school though so I'm not surprised.

 

[editor]

And its true. The only thing it needs to be balanced against is whether the shorter thing Wales did is actually going to be enough that they can stick to the sort of 'no more action needed for a bit' timetable that their leaders are currently promoting. And I'll just have to wait and see on that one.

I know it's a gamble and I know Wales has made some shit decisions in the past, but something they got absolutely right in the first lockdown, like limiting travel and reopening pubs on a gardens-only basis on Monday, rather then England's idiotic SOOOOPER SATURDAY reopening two weeks before.

This month is going to be a real test for some people suffering with their mental health, especially those living alone*

*raises hand

 

[maomao]

I have a classmate who claims an exemption from wearing masks on the basis that he has already had Covid (and possibly other reasons that he has told uni but not us) but makes regular contributions to our class Whatsapp group about 'unnecessary lockdowns' and the 'so-called virus'. I really want to kick off (and did politely the first time he did it) but don't want to be the dick in the group. And he's a personable enough fellow otherwise. It really fucking bugs me though. Thankfully no more on site lectures for the time being.

 

[Supine]

and that has what to do with demographics?

Hey, he's getting better. Last time his observation was also racist against eastern Europeans.

 

[elbows]

This month is going to be a real test for some people suffering with their mental health, especially those living alone*

*raises hand

Yes its grim. I have to hold back on my judgements about other peoples attitudes towards aspects of lockdown and various quibbling that goes on around those themes, at least as much as I can, because I am aware that there are mental health aspects to that and the quibbling itself is one possible coping strategy.

I find it difficult to get the balance right though because my mind continually wanders to subjects like the physical and mental health of NHS workers, who are on the front lines and mentally drained far beyond the periods of acute lockdown.

 

[editor]

Yes its grim. I have to hold back on my judgements about other peoples attitudes towards aspects of lockdown and various quibbling that goes on around those themes, at least as much as I can, because I am aware that there are mental health aspects to that and the quibbling itself is one possible coping strategy.

I find it difficult to get the balance right though because my mind continually wanders to subjects like the physical and mental health of NHS workers, who are on the front lines and mentally drained far beyond the periods of acute lockdown.

It must be incredibly tough - a paramedic friend who lives in my block got Covid back in May and said it was a horrific experience. but tough though the work is it must be very satisfying to be doing something useful and being busy while literally saving lives.

The other side of the coin is people like me who border on workaholic now being left with absolutely nothing to do, no income, and no immediate prospect of getting back to the thing they like doing. I'm going to struggle this time around and I normally pride myself on being a real chirpy optimistic kind of fella.

 

[elbows]

Its probably impossible for me to offer advice on that without just ending up patronising and useless, but I suppose I'll try anyway.

You need a new vehicle for your optimism and drive. Something that can be done within the confines of the home with much less direct social contact. Far from ideal, but perhaps still possible to come up with something. Figure out what some of the raw underlying ingredients of the things you thrive on in normal times are, and try to find new ways to channel them. Either that or explore some areas inside your mind that never really got a look in during normal times, and whether this nightmare can be turned into an opportunity to do something in those other realms.

A sense of purpose and doing your bit in the pandemic is certainly something, I think there are ways to frame our current plight within such things and to turn the period of sacrifice into a sense of doing our bit. I think its doable even for those of us who are not on the front lines ourselves.

Hmmm, I dont think I will be writing any self-help books anytime soon!

I think I heard that many health workers are struggling especially this time. Because of ongoing fatigue from the first wave but also because the sheer pace of events the first time, and the fact it was all new, put them into a sort of emergency response mode with a strong emphasis on the team getting through it, and not having too much spare time to dwell on all the hideous details. The feelings wont be quite the same this time round, even in places where the 'slow motion resurgence' aspect has given way to giddy levels of admissions etc.

 

[elbows]

AKA Find a project, or find a mindset. Speaking of which, I plan to post less about the pandemic this month, in order to spend more time with my synthesisers.

 

[andysays]

I have a classmate who claims an exemption from wearing masks on the basis that he has already had Covid (and possibly other reasons that he has told uni but not us) but makes regular contributions to our class Whatsapp group about 'unnecessary lockdowns' and the 'so-called virus'. I really want to kick off (and did politely the first time he did it) but don't want to be the dick in the group. And he's a personable enough fellow otherwise. It really fucking bugs me though. Thankfully no more on site lectures for the time being.

Sounds like he's already established himself as the number one dick in the group.

It's worth remembering that it's now been demonstrated that it's definitely possible to catch it a second time, though whether it's worth pointing this out is for you to judge.

 

[Numbers]

AKA Find a project, or find a mindset. Speaking of which, I plan to post less about the pandemic this month, in order to spend more time with my synthesisers.

elbows avoiding Urbs and the Pandemic this month.

 

[andysays]

It must be incredibly tough - a paramedic friend who lives in my block got Covid back in May and said it was a horrific experience. but tough though the work is it must be very satisfying to be doing something useful and being busy while literally saving lives.

The other side of the coin is people like me who border on workaholic now being left with absolutely nothing to do, no income, and no immediate prospect of getting back to the thing they like doing. I'm going to struggle this time around and I normally pride myself on being a real chirpy optimistic kind of fella.

I'd second elbows suggestion of finding something that you can do, but wonder if there's something you can volunteer for where you feel you are contributing in some way to a collective help against covid project.

I've moaned before (half joking, half seriously) about having to continue working through the last lockdown when it sometimes felt as though many others were having an extended holiday, but carrying on working, with all the issues and challenges it threw up, has actually been better for my long term mental health than having nothing much to do for six months.

 

[Steel Icarus]

Kieth Starmer, just now: "We all agree schools must stay open..."

Er, no, you robot cunt

 

[Steel Icarus]

Johnson: "I wish (Starmer) would stop knocking the NHS trust and trace system"

 

[elbows]

On the closure of schools during the lockdown – something demanded by education unions – professor Hayward said it was clear there was “substantial transmission” within secondary schools, but said children infected are “very unlikely” to have severe consequences.

He added: “But I think one of the consequences of not closing secondary schools would be we may need to be in lockdown for longer than we might otherwise have to be. So it’s really a trade-off between education and other parts of the economy and to a certain extent the number of deaths we’re prepared to see.”

From an article with the main point that:

A circuit breaker lockdown weeks ago would “definitely have saved thousands of lives” and inflicted substantially less damage on the economy, a government scientific adviser has claimed.

Professor Andrew Hayward, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Body for Emergencies (Sage), said the threat of Covid-19 had been “repeatedly underestimated” and waiting to see if less intense measures would work was a “dangerous” strategy.

Covid circuit breaker weeks ago would ‘definitely have saved thousands of lives,’ Sage member says

‘I think we’ve repeatedly underestimated Covid and done too little, too late really to control the virus and save both lives and livelihoods’

www.independent.co.uk

 

[A380]

No idea if this is genome or not. I think I probably tend slightly towards the not. What say you Hive Mind.

 

[frogwoman]

Herd immunity? That's not reassuring. And wtf is 'national inside month'?

 

[Steel Icarus]

Looks like spoof to me

 

[frogwoman]

Probably not but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it was genuine

 

[maomao]

Advent extra. That's the one that just couldn't be real.

 

[A380]

Herd immunity? That's not reassuring. And wtf is 'national inside month'?

It was the Advent Extra that tipped it over for me.

 

[planetgeli]

It was the Advent Extra that tipped it over for me.

That, plus Lock-Up (LOL) plus the fact Johnson was the first to use "Circuit Breaker" which he nicked from Singapore anyway.

 

[miss direct]

"lock up" was the giveaway for me.

 

[miss direct]

In a way though, I agree. I detest the term "lockdown", it's meaningless.

 

[Pickman's model]

reckon it's fake as the signature's precisely the same as in online images eg

 

[not-bono-ever]

It strikes me that as much as this lockdown should have come at least two if not four weeks earlier, it couldn’t have. It would have fallen into the classic trap — if it had worked, people would have complained that it was unnecessary because there were never many cases anyway. A panic whipped up for nothing. The problem with timely and effective risk mitigation is that because it works, hindsight makes it look like it was pointless.

And that’s if the lockdown had been followed and therefore had worked. When we were still at <50 deaths a day, I’m not convinced that compliance for following a lockdown would have been very high anyway. If people are not wanting to follow it even now, where we are on the brink of disaster, it doesn’t speak well for compliance at an earlier stage.

This government is not up for imposing big costly things that people then blame them for when they work or get irate about when they don’t.

Agreed - it’s always difficult to justify possibly expensive risk mitigation strategy until it is needed, then it’s probably too late and the fingers start pointing afterwards.

 

[sheothebudworths]

26m ago16:59

Richard Thomson (SNP) asks about this Sunday Times story about the head of the vaccine taskforce showing confidential government data to American investors.

Johnson says he thanks people who are working for the government pro bono. He does not address the substance of the story.