Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Billy Jean King]

So levels to be "recast " and there will be no blanket level 3 as appeared to be the case yesterday, some areas will go straight to the new recast level 2.

[EdinburghPar1975]

1 minute ago, WhiteRoseKillie said:

I can't help but notice that, since Johnson and Sturgeon's messages, the Main Players and, dare I say it, even the Lone Beholder, don't seem to be over concerned about the situation in schools. As I said before, I'm no expert, but as the first step in both plans, is the potential for things to go wrong at the start of the roadmap, not a bit concerning?

If i understood Jonathan Van Tam correctly this morning on this bit he said they expect that the school return will have an impact on the 'R' number but the overall expectation is that the vaccinations and other ongoing restriction would help negate that. I think the all back in one go approach down South is a much bigger risk than that of the Scottish Government - hopefully we won't see any problems

[super_carson]

Just now, Billy Jean King said:

So levels to be "recast " and there will be no blanket level 3 as appeared to be the case yesterday, some areas will go straight to the new recast level 2.

And also look at adapting level 3 so that it makes trading easier for some businesses.  

[Steven W]

Bit disingenous of NS there to talk up yesterday's plan by highlighting "young people returning to sport". The specifics of it are "outdoor non-contact" sport which is very limited indeed.

That said she seemed (finally) to be a bit more upbeat today. I personally I'm going to buy into her plan and watch the numbers decline (hopefully) over the next two months. Its shite but its the same for everyone - and come the end of April hopefully we'll be in a far better place. We surely will too?

[Billy Jean King]

And also look at adapting level 3 so that it makes trading easier for some businesses.  

I assume the recast will cover all levels so yes sounds a bit more promising for a wider reopening of hospitality come April

[Billy Jean King]

Ffs Q2 already answered by Q1 !!!

[The Moonster]

9 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

Copied from Twitter, but encouraging numbers again today. Hopefully see the number in hospital drop below 1000 tomorrow.

798 cases (3.9% of tests positive)

1,018 in hospital (down 58)
93 in ICU (no change)

47 deaths

29,754 vaccinated in last 24 hours 

Care home deaths have fallen 69% in past 4 weeks

 

1 minute ago, cameron2000 said:

Nicola sounding much more positive today good hear her mention again a solid chance of things being sped up and also talking about moving through tiers relatively swiftly in May and June. Also a good explanation of why no end date can be promised.

The rate these figures keep dropping is going to force the positive noises. You can't keep telling folk to be cautious when the evidence shows the vaccine is absolutely obliterating the virus. ICU in no danger of being overwhelmed , deaths dropping, hospitalisations dropping, vaccines increasing. I really do have hopes we'll see things accelerated as more of this info comes in. 

[WhiteRoseKillie]

If i understood Jonathan Van Tam correctly this morning on this bit he said they expect that the school return will have an impact on the 'R' number but the overall expectation is that the vaccinations and other ongoing restriction would help negate that. I think the all back in one go approach down South is a much bigger risk than that of the Scottish Government - hopefully we won't see any problems

Yeah,I just don't understand why there isn't a specific effort being mounted to vaccinate all school employees in the time between now and reopening. I know some on here raised the possibility of other occupations demanding special queue jumping permission, but if schools have been "infection factories" all this time, surely we should be starting this road to normality with as many protections as possible?

[The Moonster]

6 minutes ago, Steven W said:

Bit disingenous of NS there to talk up yesterday's plan by highlighting "young people returning to sport". The specifics of it are "outdoor non-contact" sport which is very limited indeed.

This allows football teams to start training at that age group, socially distanced, as they were doing for much of last summer. I don't think it's that limiting. Outdoor non-contact sports like tennis and golf have already been available for people. 

[Caledonian1]

I have a question regarding movement from one Local Authority to another - when many areas were under Level 3 could you move from one Level 3 authority to another adjacent Level 3 authority?

Also, is this superceded by the removal of "stay at home" message likely to be binned on 15th March

[Caledonian1]

5 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

 

The rate these figures keep dropping is going to force the positive noises. You can't keep telling folk to be cautious when the evidence shows the vaccine is absolutely obliterating the virus. ICU in no danger of being overwhelmed , deaths dropping, hospitalisations dropping, vaccines increasing. I really do have hopes we'll see things accelerated as more of this info comes in. 

At least Nicola has said that we could open up earlier than announced yesterday.  Boris kept referring to his "earliest possible dates"

[cameron2000]

I have a question regarding movement from one Local Authority to another - when many areas were under Level 3 could you move from one Level 3 authority to another adjacent Level 3 authority?
Also, is this superceded by the removal of "stay at home" message likely to be binned on 15th March

I think it was all Level 2 and below areas could move freely between other areas in these regions but Level 3 areas were confined to not leaving this area unless for essential purposes.

Edit: the tiers are going to be slightly different when they return so it is possible this guidance will be different.

[Lyle Lanley]

4 minutes ago, Caledonian1 said:

I have a question regarding movement from one Local Authority to another - when many areas were under Level 3 could you move from one Level 3 authority to another adjacent Level 3 authority?

Also, is this superceded by the removal of "stay at home" message likely to be binned on 15th March

Wondered the same. Hopefully after the 15th march we can travel outside of our areas. 

[Scary Bear]

I got my vaccination today. The army were helping out. There were no queues and everything went swimmingly. It was the Pfizer vaccine they were using. The army guy said the next vaccination should be within 12 weeks and they can’t guarantee which manufacturers vaccine I’ll get next time but that it’s okay if it’s a different vaccine. 

[Billy Jean King]

I have a question regarding movement from one Local Authority to another - when many areas were under Level 3 could you move from one Level 3 authority to another adjacent Level 3 authority?
Also, is this superceded by the removal of "stay at home" message likely to be binned on 15th March

Stay at home is simply the message that you were to remain at home bar essential exercise, shopping and work. It wasn't connected to the LA travel restrictions which are applicable in the levels we still be in come 15 March

[David W]

2 minutes ago, cameron2000 said:

I think it was all Level 2 and below areas could move freely between other areas in these regions but Level 3 areas were confined to not leaving this area unless for essential purposes.

 

It was, and people in their masses quite rightly ignored that guidance, due to it being complete nonsense.

[Todd_is_God]

Just now, Billy Jean King said:

7 minutes ago, Caledonian1 said:

I have a question regarding movement from one Local Authority to another - when many areas were under Level 3 could you move from one Level 3 authority to another adjacent Level 3 authority?
Also, is this superceded by the removal of "stay at home" message likely to be binned on 15th March

Stay at home is simply the message that you were to remain at home bar essential exercise, shopping and work. It wasn't connected to the LA travel restrictions which are applicable in the levels we still be in come 15 March

"Stay at home" is in place until the week of the 5th April anyway, not 15th March.

[HibsFan]

4 hours ago, Paco said:

It could mean social distancing forever more. It could mean perma-lockdown. More likely though it’s leaving open the possibility of masks staying in the short-term - already said by Vallance/Whitty - and for measures to come back in winter if necessary - already said by Whitty. Minimum pricing on alcohol is a public health measure. The smoking ban in public spaces is a public health measure. Vaccine passports and lateral-flow tests would be a public health measure.

That's bad. You surely understand how that's bad, right?

If the SG's typical unlocking hesitance shows itself again, we could be staring at a repeat of last year's restrictions and tiers despite having multiple vaccines on the go and almost the entire population vaccinated by August.

I don't think this is an unrealistic situation that I can see unfolding in Scotland:

• Despite the seasonally warmer weather, which last year helped to drive the virus down to very low levels, the SG are still far too cautious and slow in removing restrictions
   
• And make no mistake, geographical tiers are still restrictions. What was 'tier 0' last year is still restrictions. This new normal shite will not wash
   
• Scotland therefore spends a summer under "a greater degree of normality", where the population are stuck about halfway between actual normal life and full lockdown, not just "no foreign holidays", but a bunch of hoops to jump through if you want to do things like go to a pub, or a gig, or see more than six of your mates at once
   
• Maybe towards the end of the summer, with overwhelming evidence that there's no harm, most - but not all - restrictions are binned
   
• Then autumn approaches and, despite the population being vaccinated, the "unknown" of the upcoming winter means that they bring many restrictions (and possibly tiers) back
   
• So we end up spending winter probably not in a full-on lockdown (unless some monster Botswanan variant appears), but with enough restrictions to impact our daily lives and stop us doing the things we all agree that we miss, because "we just don't know!!"
   
• Maybe if we're lucky they finally get a bit more aggressive with unlocking in spring 2022 and (with a significant % of the world hopefully vaccinated by this point) normality is re-established again by summer 2022

[Todd_is_God]

"Happy New Year" on the 24th of February

[The Stig]

5 minutes ago, WhiteRoseKillie said:

13 minutes ago, EdinburghPar1975 said:

If i understood Jonathan Van Tam correctly this morning on this bit he said they expect that the school return will have an impact on the 'R' number but the overall expectation is that the vaccinations and other ongoing restriction would help negate that. I think the all back in one go approach down South is a much bigger risk than that of the Scottish Government - hopefully we won't see any problems

Yeah,I just don't understand why there isn't a specific effort being mounted to vaccinate all school employees in the time between now and reopening. I know some on here raised the possibility of other occupations demanding special queue jumping permission, but if schools have been "infection factories" all this time, surely we should be starting this road to normality with as many protections as possible?

As much as one poster states that the schools are "infection factories" it is clearly untrue, the graph below shows the period between the October holidays and Christmas where the schools were back full time but the tier system was in place with some area in a lockdown lite.  it shows the infection rate falling for the whole period up til around the 21 December when the roughly broke off for Christmas

So while schools may contribute a small part to the overall level of infection you could say that it is obviously not the only factor that drives infections.  Given the graphs it is therefore possible to have the schools open and control the infection spread with other measures and given now with vaccines available, we would hope, there is less pressure on hospitals.