Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Aladdin]

Out of interest, I took a look to see how many care home residents and staff there are in Scotland.  The most recent data I could find (from a 5 minute search) was from 2017 and suggested there were 35,989 residents, 52,470 staff and a further 4,500 nurses who work within homes.

Wasn't as many as I was expecting - surely we must have got round almost all of them by now with the first dose?

[Bairnardo]

BBC news telling us that we are "starting to see SOME signs that cases MAY be stabilising"

f**k off

[WhiteRoseKillie]

1 hour ago, Todd_is_God said:

11k

Again, why is this funny?

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

Pretty good question from one of the Bauer media reporters today following on from revelations that g4s security guards are being vaccinated along with coast guard and shop staff in opticians yet Scot gov refuses to vaccinate front line police officers who are going from mass gatherings and then onto calls in hospitals and care homes etc. FM to her shame refused to even really answer the question.

[Steven W]

14 minutes ago, Paco said:

The Scottish Government are not going to loosen restrictions while there are record numbers of Covid patients in hospitals.

The objective of lockdown is not to get case rates down per se, it’s about hospital capacity. They are of course linked but low case numbers simply means hospitals will improve over time - it doesn’t mean they improve right now.

I don’t see anything more than maybe primary schools opening before the start of March. If you’re expecting more I think you’re setting yourself up for a disappointment.

The return of schools is to be phased, starting with the youngest (and maybe the oldest?).

Schools are the number one priority. So you could potentially see the younger ones starting back after the mid Feb break. There is to be two weeks notice as well so there must be a chance of an announcement on 2nd Feb.

If they don't begin to go back then, I fear it'll be Easter as there seems to be a mindset of kids can only return after a term has finished (ie not the middle of March)

[Father Ted]

I think a bit of positivity and incentive are required now from SG.

We have vaccines and say if we can get figures down to a certain level regards infection and vaccinations to a certain point, by X date. Then we can do a, b and c, to give people hope and something to aim for.

This relentless negativity and never ending lockdowns are doing no one's mental health or general state any good, whatsoever.

I'm well aware that caution/negativity is easier to do but it's grinding people down and is the lazy route through this second lockdown.

As for "class" being an issue. Society has a price and successive government's have not been paying it, and covid has highlighted this, ten fold. 

I prefer not to buy into "class" as its another division foisted upon us by government, who wish to divide us, so we don't stand against them. 

They say you judge a country/government on how it treats its poor, sick and disabled and looking at that from a UK point of view, even before covid, it was appalling.

 

[Michael W]

53 minutes ago, Jambomo said:

I guess it’s because level of infection or hospital bed occupancy isn’t a stable measure. It may go down to a set figure but fluctuates too easily and could rise again - do you then shut everything down again?

They won’t tie themselves to a fixed point because when they get there, they will want to see if the downward trend looks to continue. If they make it a public target then people will expect everything to open and stay open regardless of what the virus is actually doing at that point.

Fair point. 

I do think it sets us some level of acceptable risk, though. More tangible than just the current 'no' with no exit plan in sight. It would be very poor to have a lot of vaccinations conducted and then just leave people hanging - that's the point where I think the government will finally lose the support of the majority. 

We know restrictions won't be reduced at the moment as whilst the cases are going down, hospital numbers seem to have plateaued - there are up/down days but the upwards trend has thankfully been broken. It will be a while before these come down enough relieve pressure on hospitals significantly. But I'd like to see at least something. 

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Michael W

[Michael W]

6 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

BBC news telling us that we are "starting to see SOME signs that cases MAY be stabilising"

f**k off

Good grief. They've been on a continual downward trend for the last 10 days at least. 

[Rob1885]

Personally I believe the biggest problem is that everything is all half hearted as usual, if we're being serious about this virus and the restrictions then we should really be throwing the book at people for blatant and repeated breaches.
Fining a junkie or the son of a Billionaire £200 is really not going to do it (for differing reasons) and it's really no deterrent at all, we really need to start making an example of people and if that means jail time then so be it, otherwise arseholes from all social and economic groups will continue to take the piss and do as they please.

Hahahaha jail time very good. Have a lie down mate.

[Lofarl]

I’ve delivered about 100 of those vaccination letters today.  Oddly enough some are going to people under 70.  I assume it’s because of job or underlying conditions.

[Lurkst]

Some good news...

https://finance.yahoo.com/finance/news/uk-worst-covid-death-rate-world-coronavirus-134410395.html

 

 

[GiGi]

2 minutes ago, Lofarl said:

I’ve delivered about 100 of those vaccination letters today.  Oddly enough some are going to people under 70.  I assume it’s because of job or underlying conditions.

It'll be both. My aunt is under 70 but is in the vulnerable/shielding group and got her letter last week. My mum works for the council and has already been vaccinated because she comes into contact with carers etc.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

3 minutes ago, Lofarl said:

I’ve delivered about 100 of those vaccination letters today.  Oddly enough some are going to people under 70.  I assume it’s because of job or underlying conditions.

Any £10 notes in them?  I assume you checked. 

[Have some faith in Magic]

21 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

BBC news telling us that we are "starting to see SOME signs that cases MAY be stabilising"

f**k off

I wasn't paying full attention at lunchtime but did Sturgeon not say hospital numbers were stabilising. 

BBC not making the distinction between cases and hospital numbers is shoddy at best. 

[Newbornbairn]

4 minutes ago, Lofarl said:

I’ve delivered about 100 of those vaccination letters today.  Oddly enough some are going to people under 70.  I assume it’s because of job or underlying conditions.

Aye, my wife is under 70 but in the clinically extremely vulnerable group. 

[WhiteRoseKillie]

22 minutes ago, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:

Pretty good question from one of the Bauer media reporters today following on from revelations that g4s security guards are being vaccinated along with coast guard and shop staff in opticians yet Scot gov refuses to vaccinate front line police officers who are going from mass gatherings and then onto calls in hospitals and care homes etc. FM to her shame refused to even really answer the question.

When I got a look at the priority list a couple of months ago, "Security" was number 4 in the occupation list. Prison Staff were at number 15.

[Steven W]

Beginning to feel like its a battleground between Good news and Bad News.

Here's one for Team Good News

[coprolite]

11k vaccines on a Sunday is a disgrace. We have angered God. No wonder he's given us the worst type of covid. 

[realmadrid]

 

[101]

1 minute ago, coprolite said:

11k vaccines on a Sunday is a disgrace. We have angered God. No wonder he's given us the worst type of covid. 

6k vaccines delivered outwith the Louisa Jordan clearly isn't enough but in 6 days Fifes mass centers come on stream and that number in the first week of Feb should rocket.