Coronavirus

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Our next door neighbour died from COVID a couple of weeks ago. She had contracted Motor Neurone Disease about 10 years ago and had been bed-ridden at home for the past 5 with 24/7 care. Nevertheless mentally she was all there. We would exchange e-mail correspondence about neighbourly matters and she still ran a tight household. Her husband left her about 5 years ago for another woman, but she kept her boys at home with her. They are now about 17 and 20 and are still living in the big family house. It seems that one of her carers brought COVID into the house, which was always the risk. Sad that she bravely held off MND for so many years and yet it was the bloody COVID that killed her off.

[Barrykearley]

We went out in Worcester as a family last night for a meal at Miller & Carter. It’s normally a busy venue - while we were there for over 2 hours - we counted 3 other tables being used. Normally it’s heaving - looks like folks are scared. I can’t imagine how much of a hit the high street is gonna take over all of this. 
 

The big question is which chains will collapse when the rents due in Jan?

[ChrisJ]

 

[windymiller]

seemingly data released at 4pm today will dictate the next measures if needed 🙄

[Barrykearley]

I’m not expecting any change - my bets is Boris is allowing the devolved administrations to hang themselves in lockdowns whilst sitting back and doing nothing but citing the clear data which is showing vaccines having an impact on numbers reducing. Trouble at Celtic yesterday.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

We did the annual panto visit today. Despite clear signage and verbal requests from the staff, the two big entitled families spread across the centre of the front row did not wear any masks. I made our family shift up a couple of seats to put some social distance between us.

[windymiller]

no new restrictions pre new year !!

[Barrykearley]

26 minutes ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

We did the annual panto visit today. Despite clear signage and verbal requests from the staff, the two big entitled families spread across the centre of the front row did not wear any masks. I made our family shift up a couple of seats to put some social distance between us.

you have no idea if they have been fully vaccinated, tested clear, are exempt etc. The only requirement to wear a mask also falls down to if they weren’t eating or drinking as that’s also allowed

to be expressly clear if you were that worried - you should have not gone - as frankly any exposure for over 20minutes inside is where the big risk “apparently” comes from.

I do hope you enjoyed the panto - we loved ours - don’t allow the scaremongering to strip you of your humanity 👍

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Pretty sure they were supposed to wear them. They weren’t eating or drinking and were chatting away for 20 minutes before it started. They whispered to each other and rummaged around awkwardly every time an usher passed, as if looking for a mask, but didn’t actually wear any. There were 5 adults in the group plus about 4 kids. Everyone else in the theatre was wearing a mask, so it would be quite a coincidence if the only 5 exemptions present all came from the same two or three families. I just thought it was pretty selfish to be honest. The staff and other visitors all made an effort. Of course we exposed ourselves to more risk by attending than staying at home, but families like that increase the risk for others unnecessarily.

[C8RKH]

On 23/12/2021 at 16:31, exeterjeep said:

Wife used to work for NHS, son still does, the amount wasted on IT is incredible. Projects started to computerise records etc, started, scrapped and again.....A bit like most government IT projects always under estimated, cost loads more and takes much longer. And may never work as intended.

The irony is that a lot of those projects are run by "clinicians" as "vanity" projects. You know, an IT person would never tell a clinician how to treat a patient, but I know, from personal experience of working with the NHS for 4 years as an IT supplier of critical systems, that there are many clinicians who "think" that because they have a medical degree they know how to specify an IT application. Complete and utter bonkers, and a lot of the time it's about the clinicians vanity more than anything.

On 22/12/2021 at 09:34, Bibs said:

After 50m dead people, that's quite a cost! This time around we do have a 100 year technical advantage thankfully!

Yup, but the majority of the population are more stupid, dense, woke and entitled than a 100 years ago so they will put themselves in danger, die, and their families will blame someone else.

[C8RKH]

9 hours ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

Sad that she bravely held off MND for so many years and yet it was the bloody COVID that killed her off.

More sad that her husband didn't stick around (from the limited info in your post) and support her and THEIR boys. Scrote!

Yes, sad it was COVID, but then I guess it could have been influenza, pneumonia or anyone of 10 or 20 other things that could have been the culprit. The key question is was the carer fully vaccinated and boosted?

8 hours ago, Barrykearley said:

Miller & Carter

Overpriced and usually over cooked. Forget the chains and support your locally owned businesses instead. Real people. Employing real people. Locally.

1 hour ago, Barrykearley said:

to be expressly clear if you were that worried - you should have not gone - as frankly any exposure for over 20minutes inside is where the big risk “apparently” comes from

Have to agree. No point whinging about it AFTER the event. If you don't want to take the risk, and you know you can't avoid entitled people, then stay away, and stay safe.

[C8RKH]

An interesting piece from here here in Scotland, relevant re COVID, but also, the Scottish Independence question.

It appeared in The Scotsman and its author is Brian Monteith, who at points in his life served the Conservative Party in European and Scottish parliaments and is a Brexit supporter (trying to ensure full disclosure here).

 I was astonished by the statement that "the reports came through that Omicron did indeed lead to 20-70 per cent fewer hospitalisations" and also "All the available evidence had pointed consistently to Omicron being a weaker strain of Covid. The clinician who identified it herself expressed surprise at the alarm it was creating in Britain"

You certainly would not think that was a "weaker strain" or led to 20-70% fewer hospitalisations listening to some of the hysteria being whipped up.

 

Why Nicola Sturgeon's irritation, impatience and indifference suggests she knows she is beat - Brian Monteith

The First Minister has misread the room and not for the first time.

Indeed it is becoming more common – or maybe it is just that over time more and more people are beginning to join the dots differently and are asking themselves if they have been played for mugs in the past?

Three examples inform us of Nicola Sturgeon’s shortening fuse and growing aloofness. The first involving attitudes towards mere media hacks doing their jobs of asking questions, the second being the rush to introduce tighter regulations concerning public gatherings after Boxing day, and the third is the lack of care towards the economy.

I read of regular criticism on social media of journalists for not asking probing follow-up questions of the First Minister after she has given her justifications for divisive policy decisions or Covid-related restrictions.

Such an accusation could not be made of the Scottish Daily Mail’s Michael Blackley when he asked Sturgeon, with respect and politeness, a perfectly reasonable question about her Government providing financial support for Scottish businesses.

Individual owners and trade representatives had complained of a likely a collapse in Christmas demand, especially in hospitality, caused – in part – by her own warnings of a “tsunami” of Omicron Covid cases.

In response, the First Minister became aggressively acidic, turning milk sour and wine to vinegar as she remonstrated in a morally superior tone that as her administration’s Budget had been announced, where did he propose she now found savings to fund such generosity? Which cuts should she make, in the NHS for instance?

Sturgeon’s belligerent tone did not create the impression of a political leader seeking to show compassion for a key community suffering huge economic distress as a result of her choices, however reluctantly they were taken.

No, she came over as uncaring, irritated and dismissive – as if to say, “what’s it got to do with me?” rather than “we are doing everything we can to help and hope to be able to find the means to assist genuine cases of hardship”.

Then, lo and behold, proof there is a Father Christmas emerged when the First Misanthrope conjured up some £100 million from within existing budgets by taking some (unspecified) “tough” decisions.

Was the money stuffed down the back of the sofa or were a number of faux embassies to be closed? The truth has still to be revealed.

 

Still, the lesson of how one might be publicly defenestrated by asking the sort of questions that are normally the everyday stock-in-trade of journalists will not be lost on other scribes. That is the state of public discourse in Sturgeon’s Scotland, going into 2022.

Then there was the unnecessary race by the devolved administrations to announce their restrictions to deal with the spread of Omicron. But why?

All the available evidence had pointed consistently to Omicron being a weaker strain of Covid. The clinician who identified it herself expressed surprise at the alarm it was creating in Britain.

Would it not have made sense to learn more about its likely impact? (I say this without benefit of hindsight as I had argued for a liberal approach from the start).

Boris Johnson’s Government, which in the case of its responsibilities means essentially only regulations in England, was still evaluating the data when Sturgeon unveiled new restrictions that took a demolition ball to festive events – but only from Boxing Day. Christmas was saved, but Hogmanay was wrecked.

The obvious question was that if Omicron was really so fearfully threatening, why wait? Surely if it is a matter of life and death the semi-lockdown of events should happen immediately?

Then there were the obvious inconsistencies of restricting gatherings at – primarily – football matches to no more than 500 spectators, but allowing 100 people standing in pubs or 200 seated.

It only takes half-a-dozen hostelries for the numbers of people rubbing-up inside a pub to become higher than what could be in an open-air stadium. The unconfirmed “problem” was simply displacing the same people to a potentially worse location.

Likewise, spectators might just gather indoor in houses to watch the footy on TV in a way they would not have before. Any Scots visiting friends or relatives in England for Christmas could go to a football match there, but not in Scotland – and some will. What advantage was being gained?

A number of football teams asked another unwelcome question; why not immediately bring forward the Scottish winter closure for the Premier League, which would also allow punters to attend the smaller clubs who rarely break 500 through the turnstiles?

My question is did the SNP Government not think to speak to the football authorities to explore what might be done to help clubs to retain revenues in the future rather than lose them never to be recovered?

Then the reports came through that Omicron did indeed lead to 20-70 per cent fewer hospitalisations and the First Minister is left looking to have over-reacted without thought for the economic damage being done – and without necessarily helping the NHS. It’s as if the SNP leadership doesn’t understand business or simple economics.

And maybe they don’t? Finance secretary Kate Forbes is proposing SNP austerity for local government by making cuts of £370 million, as claimed by Cosla, that must inevitably lead to higher council taxes, which in turn will mean less disposable income circulating in the economy that might keep private businesses afloat. All while the Budget provided by Westminster is the largest known at Holyrood.

 

[Barrykearley]

@C8RKH Boris has allowed the fools of the devolved administrations to hang themselves 👍

[Barrykearley]

And already in the news is Israel and their trial of a 4th jab - who’d have thought 🙄

looks like someone gonna be making a packet out of this.

[C8RKH]

29 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

@C8RKH Boris has allowed the fools of the devolved administrations to hang themselves 👍

I do believe that time will tell that Boris played a master stroke. Whether he did it consciously, or has just benefitted from the devolved governments naivety, I guess only time will tell.

[Barrykearley]

https://fb.watch/a9WD4CLAPF/

All the way through December and in the run upto xmas - Boris has been banging on about as normal - leaving no doubt in some like sturgeons mind that he is a deranged madman whom will kill millions because of his wreck less behaviour. I’ve no doubt he knew exactly what he was doing - just sit back and watch the backlash over coming weeks.

[comem47]

 The URL seen in the top of the video impiies "comedy"  FWIW   🤔

[C8RKH]

One man's comedy is another mans angst. One man's satire is seen as an affront to something by another. One man's joke is often taken as an offence by another. I guess it's why comedy and comedians come in all different flavours, shapes and sizes 

[windymiller]

14 hours ago, Barrykearley said:

And already in the news is Israel and their trial of a 4th jab - who’d have thought 🙄

looks like someone gonna be making a packet out of this.

seen an article that a 4th jab is already booked in here too

[Barrykearley]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

One man's comedy is another mans angst. One man's satire is seen as an affront to something by another. One man's joke is often taken as an offence by another. I guess it's why comedy and comedians come in all different flavours, shapes and sizes 

Not for much longer. Comedy and satire is to be cancelled due to fear of offending. No doubt it’ll be deemed a hate crime in a few years.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Well they can start by cancelling “Mrs Brown’s Boys”. My sense of humour finds that very offensive! 🙃

[gregs24]

16 hours ago, Barrykearley said:

And already in the news is Israel and their trial of a 4th jab - who’d have thought 🙄

looks like someone gonna be making a packet out of this.

They started their 3rd dose much earlier than the UK so by the time they get to February some people will be over 6 months since booster. That is why they are using a 4th dose.

Why should this be a surprise? Annual flu vaccination is well established before the time of risk each winter, why should COVID be any different ?

Edited December 28, 2021 by gregs24

[C8RKH]

49 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

Not for much longer. Comedy and satire is to be cancelled due to fear of offending. No doubt it’ll be deemed a hate crime in a few years.

A lot of it already has and a lot of comedians have had to totally change their "acts" for fear of being blacklisted and therefore losing bookings and income if someone complains.

For a nation that is well known to deal with adversity and problems through dark/gallows humour I fear that this part of our national identity, and history is being eroded by people who come here and just do not understand that is our way, and by many who are British by birth who just feel the woke need to apologise for anything and everything british!

It's like with COVID, you get battered for "making fun" of the situation and not taking it seriously, whilst the entitled "woke brigade" walk around in large family groups without masks etc "tutting" at the people who follow the rules but take the piss.

28 minutes ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

Well they can start by cancelling “Mrs Brown’s Boys”. My sense of humour finds that very offensive! 🙃

It's too "woke" for me. I mean it even has an Irish bloke dressed in drag playing an old woman who splits her time between the kitchen and the pub. Talk about ticking all the right boxes........

 

[Colin P]

21 hours ago, C8RKH said:know, from personal experience of working with the NHS for 4 years as an IT supplier of critical systems, that there are many clinicians who "think" that because they have a medical degree they know how to specify an IT application. Complete and utter bonkers, and a lot of the time it's about the clinicians vanity more than anything.

And for balance I know of a lot of IT professionals that won’t listen to the users and as such deliver something that completely missed the point. 

[C8RKH]

Yup. I know them too! But then, they did not spend on average 7 years plus training to heal people only to discover that for many of them, they don't like people. At least IT professionals know they don't like their users!