Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Elixir]

3 hours ago, Todd_is_God said:

Probably a good reason for that. Likely the same reason that any sportsperson who tests positive spends the full time in self-isolation updating their Instagram etc, before miraculously escaping LoNg CoViD!!1! to return to elite level sports as soon as they are allowed out.

Boy at my work who is an absolute bed wetter was trying to use that laughable 'NFL players getting exploding hearts' paper last year to claim that no-one is safe.

1 hour ago, Michael W said:

Is it really such a bad thing that all of these variants have essentially the same mutations? Seems fairly predictable. 

Yes, it's called convergent evolution, and it's what should eventually stop the mewling about variants and mutations once the vaccines are updated:

 

[Michael W]

Not to labour the point here, but it's already illegal to go on holiday. If you're found out trying to travel without a good reason, you get turned away and will probably also get fined for breaching lockdown measures. 

Do we really need a £5k fine on top of that? It's comical at times. Shameless grandstanding and overcompensating for the disaster last March/April is all this is. 

How many people are currently holidaying? It's not going to make a blind bit of difference. It is however telling of the government and their general attitude. They didn't need to do this but they went and did it anyway. 

Edited March 22, 2021 by Michael W

[tamthebam]

2 hours ago, GiGi said:

Imagine doughnuts were licenced like booze. An extremely overweight person goes up to the counter and told "think you've had enough mate" and refused service while loudly protesting that they only had one in Greggs before that.

"I was over in Northern Ireland last year. A bloke I knew produced a bag of doughnuts made in an illicit oven on a farm. F*cking hell, the jam content just about blinded me .."

[Donathan]

Not to Labour the point here, but it's already illegal to go on holiday. If you're found out trying to travel without a good reason, you get turned away and will probably also get fined for breaching lockdown measures. 
Do we really need a £5k fine on top of that? It's comical at times. Shameless grandstanding and overcompensating for the disaster last March/April is all this is. 
How many people are currently holidaying? It's not going to make a blind bit of difference. It is however telling of the government and their general attitude. They didn't need to do this but they went and did it anyway. 

I follow that human rights lawyer Adam Wagner on twitter and he made the point that there’s no current law that says “you cannot go on holiday” per se.

The lockdown rules prevent you leaving your house at all unless for an explicitly allowed purpose, and going on holiday isn’t one of these purposes, therefore it is banned.

However the stay at home rule is due to end on March 29 in England and a week or so later in Scotland which has a great deal of significance.

When the law says you must stay at home, everything is banned unless otherwise stated (e.g. shopping for necessities, exercise, work if you cannot WFH, visiting your bubble, attending medical appointments and several more). When the stay at home rule is removed, the government has to explicitly ban something for it to remain off the table. That’s why holidays are now being banned.

[Donathan]

Not to Labour the point here, but it's already illegal to go on holiday. If you're found out trying to travel without a good reason, you get turned away and will probably also get fined for breaching lockdown measures. 
Do we really need a £5k fine on top of that? It's comical at times. Shameless grandstanding and overcompensating for the disaster last March/April is all this is. 
How many people are currently holidaying? It's not going to make a blind bit of difference. It is however telling of the government and their general attitude. They didn't need to do this but they went and did it anyway. 

I follow that human rights lawyer Adam Wagner on twitter and he made the point that there’s no current law that says “you cannot go on holiday” per se.

The lockdown rules prevent you leaving your house at all unless for an explicitly allowed purpose, and going on holiday isn’t one of these purposes, therefore it is banned.

However the stay at home rule is due to end on March 29 in England and a week or so later in Scotland which has a great deal of significance.

When the law says you must stay at home, everything is banned unless otherwise stated (e.g. shopping for necessities, exercise, work if you cannot WFH, visiting your bubble, attending medical appointments and several more). When the stay at home rule is removed, the government has to explicitly ban something for it to remain off the table. That’s why holidays are now being banned.

[Elixir]

It truly defies belief what is going on on the continent. Spain now back to only giving it to under 65s, while just across the Pyrenees in France they have said only over 55s should get it. The only explanation that makes sense is that they are deliberately trying to tarnish AstraZeneca and that the regulators making these decisions are somehow embroiled politically, because how they can't see the trust and hesitancy issues this will spark is incomprehensible.

[Baz Chuckle]

Czechia locked hard and early last year - they locked down a week before the UK

They now have the worst death toll in the world 

[Baz Chuckle]

2 hours ago, sparky88 said:

Unlike much of Europe, the UK has been in lockdown since early January, which at this point accounts for the reduction in cases, rather than the vaccine. 

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

Deaths peak and begin to fall at the start of January virtually every year.

Seasonality accounts for the reduction in cases rather than lockdown or the vaccine. 

[Baz Chuckle]

States in the US with no winter lockdown had the lowest death tolls

Edited March 23, 2021 by Baz Chuckle

[Theroadlesstravelled]

What political statement are Norway and Finland making by banning the AZ vaccine?

Macron been on the phone to them? Beelin’ about Brexit are they?

[superbigal]

What political statement are Norway and Finland making by banning the AZ vaccine?
Macron been on the phone to them? Beelin’ about Brexit are they?

As Norway is not in the EU I kind of doubt it.

[Michael W]

4 hours ago, Theroadlesstravelled said:

What political statement are Norway and Finland making by banning the AZ vaccine?

Macron been on the phone to them? Beelin’ about Brexit are they?

Dunno, but great timing when the trial in the US yielded very good results. 

79% efficacy and 100% protection against severe illness and death. 

[EdinburghPar1975]

Seen some of the headlines about the 'need' to keep distancing and masks in place for maybe years...not going to happen. I can completely see a case for public transport, certain shops and occasions where masks may be requested but i can't see it becoming mandatory after the Summer. 

As for social distancing then i would hope that if nothing else folks have learnt just to give people a bit more space - nothing used to wind me up quite like folks standing right at your back in a queue for somewhere. Same with basic hygiene - folks washing hands more and shops cleaning trolleys, self service check outs and surfaces more thoroughly and regularly is bound to help even with 'normal' flu and sickness bugs.

Variants will come and go and they need to be handled more responsibly by the media (no chance of that!). Hopefully travel can be gradually opened to allow holidays further afield over the next year or so as countries get greater vaccination levels - can't see anyway round vaccine passports though.

[Sergeant Wilson]

5 hours ago, Theroadlesstravelled said:

What political statement are Norway and Finland making by banning the AZ vaccine?

Macron been on the phone to them? Beelin’ about Brexit are they?

Who cares, nobody goes there anyway.

[Marshmallo]

Foreign travel is much more than "holidays".

[Marshmallo]

 

[ICTChris]

Regarding the importation of new variants, now that the case numbers are significantly lower then the test and trace process should be a lot easier. We saw with the Brazilian variant cases that were found in England that they were tracked down very quickly.  That will be hugely important for dealing with new variants.

The other part of this is the use of vaccines. If a new variant was found that was highly resistant to the existing vaccines then a new vaccine would have to be designed. The likelihood is that this would be a relatively simple alteration to the vaccines already designed. Therefore vaccine manufacturing facilities are vitally important. The UK Government has invested millions in a vaccine production and research centre but this is still in development, and the volume of funding is, in the real world, tiny. They announced an extra £215m the other day - that’s less than the cost of a single day of the furlough scheme. Some of the vaccines approved are being manufactured in the UK - the Johnson and Johnson one is being made in Livingston.

Of course, this is all based on a hypothetical.

[Paco]

The good news for foreign travel is that you can’t get variants if you’re rich.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/mar/23/covid-travel-rules-will-include-stanley-johnson-loophole-for-second-homes

I for one am absolutely gobsmacked at this two-tier society turn of events. Couldn’t possibly have seen it coming.

[101]

I of course think everyone should get the vaccine but can say I'm particularly happy with it becoming illegal to refuse.

 

And yet again UK government policy hits the telegraph before any official announcement, Boris and his chums leak like a sieve, disgraceful way to run a country.

 

[Ron Aldo]

14 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

 

It's not "new virus" though, is it? It's variants of the same fucking virus. The same virus that we already have a number of effective vaccines for and which, in a worst case scenario, vaccine manufacturers have said they could tweak in a matter of weeks.