Coronavirus

[Dave Eds]

How does that affect your annual ski trip then @pete

[pete]

Moving to italy

[Sparky]

We'll miss you.

[Chillidoggy]

I won’t.

[pete]

Only for skiing.@chillidoggy thank you for your support,sorry to disappoint you😇

[windymiller]

so with restrictions being brought in again in europe are the storm clouds, as boris put it, heading here again ?? could we see tier's again ? mask wearing etc ??

[pete]

Or scaremongering?🥰

[Chillidoggy]

I see Austria has instigated a lockdown for those who are unvaccinated. 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

My company (not me though) was due to take part in an exhibition in Maastricht, NL at the end of this month. Apparently today that has been cancelled. They certainly seem to be regressing on the continent.

I actually made my first overseas trip for 16 months last week. 2 nights in Germany by plane. It was a right faff. So much extra documentation to fill out and remember. I think you can only get into Germany from the UK for essential purposes, eg. bona-fide business or family connections. You have to fill out and submit an online immigration form and declaration for Germany and upload a photo of your NHS second vaccine dose confirmation, show both at check-in, present to immigration in Germany and provide evidence of your reason for travel. If you can’t do this it’s straight back home or 10 days German quarantine, since the UK is regarded as a country of high CV incidence.
 

In fact there must be loads of passengers who get caught out, especially if they are only travelling with hand luggage and don’t need to check-in / bag-drop at the Terminal. One such Romanian guy on our flight hadn’t done anything, so they just handed him a blank German immigration form at the Gate to fill out on board. He didn’t speak any German but fortunately a kind bilingual German lady helped him out. Even then he had to phone his daughter in Germany from the plane to get her address.

Then you have to book and pay for taking a CV test in the UK no more than 2 days after you return. This also involved downloading an app to report the result.

No sooner had I got to my hotel in Germany, than I was back on my computer completing an on-line passenger locator form for the UK authorities (no more than 48 hours before returning). Only with all this sorted can you board the flight back.

Just to cap it all, back at Stansted, the queues at the UK border were huge, due to all the e-gates being sealed off, so that every single passenger from all nations was squeezed into a non socially distanced queue prior to finally going through the staffed passport control desks. 
 

The whole travel experience was all pretty miserable to be honest.

[Chillidoggy]

I noticed there’s a two-tier thing which has differing entry requirements depending on the location in Germany, but it was in German, so I’ve no idea what it said!

When we returned from France, we needed pre-entry tests, and passenger locator forms, I would agree they were a bit long-winded, and quite detailed even wanting the name of the ferry we were travelling on. That one took a bit of searching, and if we didn’t make the ferry on time, it would have been incorrect. As it was, the French immigration guy was unable to scan the QR codes we gave him for the PCR tests, and we spent a while persuading him we’d had them. Eventually, he let us pass.

[ramjet]

My daughters ex-partner has our grandson for the last week. Monday Logan didn’t go to school complaining of a sore throat. When Alicia found out, she told the ex to get Logan tested. 
The reply?

” It’s just a sore throat. I never had to get tested for a sore throat in the last thirty years. What’s different now?”

 Yep. He is anti-COVID etc.

 Alicia was savage and currently Logan is at the ex’s while he has to take time off work to wait for Logan’s result. 

[MJON]

Just read this BBC news headline.

Dutch police have shot and wounded at least two people after rioting erupted in Rotterdam over new Covid-19 measures.

Uk government takes some heavy criticism for the way COVID handled here but don’t think we’ll be drawing firearms at anytime?
 

 

[Barrykearley]

Frankly the authorities are a disgrace - uk and worldwide.

everyone is loosing sight of the 99.97% survival rate of covid and thinking we have some sort of mad zombie apocalypse Ebola virus going round.

in uk nightclubs folks are up in arms because people are being spiked - yet in Austria - they are mandating compulsory vaccination on citizens.

come the revolution - when the virus will wipe us all out 🙄

Won’t be long and those who have had 4 jabs will be blaming those who’ve only had 3 for not being able to go on holiday. 
 

Governments across nations are pitting folks against each other and causing division.

[RobinB5]

On 15/11/2021 at 11:05, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

The whole travel experience was all pretty miserable to be honest.

I went to Belgium (Leuven) for a meeting last week. First business trip in 2 years. Yep, what a palava. Passenger locator forms (PLF) on entry and another on return. I took a CV test on entry as opposed to showing a -ve test on arrival. Also took a test < 2 days after arrival back in blighty. Expensed all tests of course, same test that you can take for free in the UK but with QR codes where you upload a picture of the test to the testing site you purchased the test from. 

Had to join the 'other passport' queue in Brussels on arrival and had my passport stamped. On return LHR was dead and got through passport control in minutes. New normal. Fine. People tend to overplay waiting times in airports, it's no big deal.

[Jedge]

@gregs24

What do you make of Stefan Oelrich, head of pharmaceuticals at Bayer saying the MRNA vaccines are gene therapy? Is he wrong?

 

 

[gregs24]

33 minutes ago, Jedge said:

@gregs24

What do you make of Stefan Oelrich, head of pharmaceuticals at Bayer saying the MRNA vaccines are gene therapy? Is he wrong?

 

 

I make of it that somebody has used part of a speech out of context to get what they wanted.

 

If you listen to the whole address that is not what he is saying. There is a difference between cell therapy and gene therapy and he was emphasising that Bayer are involved in both. If you take bits out of context and ignore a few other words you can make it say what you want.

As to how the vaccine works - it is always better to check out information from people who understand the subject than seek confirmation bias sources from people who don't.

 

Why mRNA vaccines aren't gene therapies - Genomics Education Programme (hee.nhs.uk)

 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Odd first post on a Lotus forum.

[C8RKH]

2 minutes ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

Odd first post on a Lotus forum.

Not if you like Trolls.

[Sparky]

Waaaay beyond Troll IMO.  Here is an example of the insidious disinformation machine at work.

[C8RKH]

Saw a news report at the weekend, fat middle aged woman (comment only relevant as being over weight makes you more at risk) - was an anti-vaxxer, would not have the jabs, so gets covid, is hospitalised, put in a coma for 2 months, has 8 heart attacks, now she says she wished she had had the vaccine!  No bloody shit Sherlock. Really? So you had to die nearly die 8 times before you thought it might be a good idea?  To be honest, I think we need to bring in  "Darwins" law and if you want to refuse the NHS's help and the jab, then fook you, you're on your own and don't bother calling us if you get COVID. Heartless you may think I am, but I don't give a shit as the anti-vaxxers are not just putting their own lives at risk, but everyone's that they come in to contact with.  A bunch of fookwit muppets if you ask my opinion....

I booked my flu jab and went in Friday night at 1830 to get it (funny, how the only appointments available for two weeks were the prime drinking times starting at 1830 on a Friday!  Whilst I was there, the Doc asked when my Booster was due, i said 2 weeks and the system had not let me book it, so it booked me there and then and I got both done. No side effects, not even a sore arm (I told the nurse I'd give her a prize if she could get the 2nd jab in the hole for the first one!), and have felt great since.  No jean manipulation either, they're still too tight after lockdown!

[Jedge]

6 hours ago, gregs24 said:

I make of it that somebody has used part of a speech out of context to get what they wanted.

 

If you listen to the whole address that is not what he is saying.

I did listen to the whole address and it seems exactly what he is saying.

4 hours ago, C8RKH said:

Not if you like Trolls.

Dont think anyone likes trolls. Just a lurker really. I have only recently put down my Emira deposit since retiring from owning a veterinary surgery here in Austria.

[gregs24]

30 minutes ago, Jedge said:

I did listen to the whole address and it seems exactly what he is saying.

Dont think anyone likes trolls. Just a lurker really. I have only recently put down my Emira deposit since retiring from owning a veterinary surgery here in Austria.

Well as a retired vet you should be able to distinguish between gene therapy and cell therapy. I'm also a retired vet!

He said 'cell and gene therapy' when he should have more clearly said 'cell therapy and gene therapy' regarding the company's work. If you Google it, it has been picked up by antivaxxers and used as 'evidence', but as you will know how an mRNA vaccine works, specifically the ones used for COVID, then you will also know that there is no gene manipulation going on!

 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Yes Austria seems to be struggling with vaccine take-up and is now back in full national lockdown. @Jedge are you fully vaccinated? I’m booked for my 3rd dose on Thursday.

[thebartman]

On 21/11/2021 at 16:12, C8RKH said:

I think we need to bring in  "Darwins" law

Where, Oh! where did the Darwin awards go ? 

Such informative, unbiased factual reporting

Oops! - here they are 😉 

https://darwinawards.com/

[windymiller]

see we have a new variant detected in south africa and five other nations nicknamed the "nu" variant so here we go again 😒