☣ Coronavirus ☣

[FlatErik]

Sat here absolutely totally pissed off. Just think, in March 2020 they described where we would be in January 2021 as half as bad as this...I think we'd have all called it a day and drunk Trump's bleach added to five bottles of vodka?? It's never ending, what if the vaccines only work for a few months? The virus works it's way around it and we're back to worse-than-square-one??

I don't know what to think...it's nearly 12 months. Should we get to a point - maybe the beginning of May - where we want the government to say "We've protected the over 70's etc, think we've all had enough now, open everything up as you were, if you get covid under 70 the odds are stacked against you dying, but some will (just like a car accident, cancer, flash of lightening etc - it's a risk we have to take)?

Or do we just carry on with lockdown, gradually opening up (the bars and clubs won't be - of course) and continuing this misery for another 8 - 9 months for the benefit of people not getting ill and flooding the NHS and hopefully by 2022 it will all have been a bad dream?

You are putting your thoughts to words better than I do...but yes I think the balance between Corona and the rest of life should come to that point indeed. A dutch politician said today: Life is not just avoiding death. We need to start to think about other things than just covid.

 

[stivi]

ibiza isn't looking great right now. highest numbers of new infections in the whole pandemic, the last two days we had 233 and 256 new cases respectively, which is a crazy number if you consider that until now the highest we ever had was around 80 a day. also 5 people died in the last 48hrs. ICU nearing its capacity.

if I look at numbers in spain generally, but also in germany, the UK, even in switzerland (which now has gone in lockdown again) I'm really asking myself, was it worth to celebrate christmas? from the start I was of the opinion we should simply cancel the holidays this year and europe is now paying the price for not doing that.

on the good news end of things, my sis in law (nurse over in mallorca) has gotten her first vaccine shot today. things are moving.

 

[2H76]

If younger people have "underlying conditions" such as diabetes for being over-weight, or heavy smoking/drinking - conditions that can be addressed by a change of lifestyle; maybe once the elderly have been vaxxed, could the onus be on everyone else to live a healthier lifestyle so when we get back to "normal" those that have cut down excessive habits are expected to pull through - maybe without the assistance of the NHS? As a by-product healthier people means less normal strain on the NHS, so there's plenty of room for the extreme covid cases (as there would be for flu)?

 

[2H76]

ibiza isn't looking great right now. highest numbers of new infections in the whole pandemic, the last two days we had 233 and 256 new cases respectively, which is a crazy number if you consider that until now the highest we ever had was around 80 a day. also 5 people died in the last 48hrs. ICU nearing its capacity.

if I look at numbers in spain generally, but also in germany, the UK, even in switzerland (which now has gone in lockdown again) I'm really asking myself, was it worth to celebrate christmas? from the start I was of the opinion we should simply cancel the holidays this year and europe is now paying the price for not doing that.

on the good news end of things, my sis in law (nurse over in mallorca) has gotten her first vaccine shot today. things are moving.

At the time I think I said the best thing would be a four week complete Xmas shut-down, schools, workplaces, the lot just leaving the super-essential shops going? But like the weeks surrounding the autumn half-term, that was also a chance missed. So for the sake of a few days extra holiday when most kids are pissing around in school (does work ever get done the last week before Xmas?) they now will miss probably a whole term.

You couldn't make it up.

 

[CraigyB]

ibiza isn't looking great right now. highest numbers of new infections in the whole pandemic, the last two days we had 233 and 256 new cases respectively, which is a crazy number if you consider that until now the highest we ever had was around 80 a day. also 5 people died in the last 48hrs. ICU nearing its capacity.

if I look at numbers in spain generally, but also in germany, the UK, even in switzerland (which now has gone in lockdown again) I'm really asking myself, was it worth to celebrate christmas? from the start I was of the opinion we should simply cancel the holidays this year and europe is now paying the price for not doing that.

on the good news end of things, my sis in law (nurse over in mallorca) has gotten her first vaccine shot today. things are moving.

Agree.

There are families burying Grandparents and elderly relatives just so they could meet at Christmas and a have a meal and a few drinks. Ridiculous.

 

[BenH]

At the time I think I said the best thing would be a four week complete Xmas shut-down, schools, workplaces, the lot just leaving the super-essential shops going? But like the weeks surrounding the autumn half-term, that was also a chance missed. So for the sake of a few days extra holiday when most kids are pissing around in school (does work ever get done the last week before Xmas?) they now will miss probably a whole term.

You couldn't make it up.

And the fact the government didn’t want to miss out on a particularly lucrative time of year for them!

 

[spinksy123]

Haven't read the whole thread.

But one thing I really don't see the logic in........Inbound flights to the UK? Why are they still happening?

Grant Schapps in an interview said quarantine was Law. But only 25% of arrivals are checked. They rely on people playing ball?

If they want the population to pretty much sit at home all day. Then surely banning passenger travel should be a matter of course as well?

Or am I wrong here?

 

[kimajy]

And the fact the government didn’t want to miss out on a particularly lucrative time of year for them!

Most annual retail sales happen in the run up to Christmas and the decision to use Tiers was an attempt to maximize that as far as possible - cumulative impact of 2020 on retail apart from Supermarkets has been horrendous. You can argue that turnover was blood money, but in the end every individual has the option to shield themselves and their family members.

It was undoubtedly a big gamble to allow the Christmas mixing to go ahead, and many people took their own actions to get round the restrictions. We did it ourselves, family member isolated in a rental and had 3 rounds of tests including a final lab test before Christmas and then came round every day until lockdown (none of us went out other places). One day's mixing for all that planning was no way a reasonable or justifiably fair equation ! Zero infections resulted. But the total testing bill was over £500 and that's not feasible for everybody so many just took risks.

Haven't read the whole thread.

But one thing I really don't see the logic in........Inbound flights to the UK? Why are they still happening?

Grant Schapps in an interview said quarantine was Law. But only 25% of arrivals are checked. They rely on people playing ball?

If they want the population to pretty much sit at home all day. Then surely banning passenger travel should be a matter of course as well?

Or am I wrong here?

UK residents are banned from outbound leisure travel under lockdown rules and there are no hotels open for tourists here. These flights must therefore be for "essential" travel, business purposes or bringing Brits home from abroad. Pretty sure there are people using loopholes and made up stories all over the shop. Supervised quarantine on arrival would stop most of that !

 

[kimajy]

Yes, hopefully everyone will take that up. But there's a long time between now and Autumn, and if this varient (or any new ones) spread rapidly, we might not get that window of normality that we got last summer. Will someone be brave enough to allow us to go back to normal before everyone is vaxxed, or does another 6 months slip by? And if so - will they give us some kinda date we can look forward to?

It'll likely feel like last Summer this Summer (no better) and we'll be heading into another Winter before the stage is set for near-normality. I've written off any significant quality of life improvements until Spring of 2022, there might be a chance of a brief window of relief in October before the downward spiral of Winter sets in again ! I figure the best course of action is acceptance of the situation, not fighting against something you have no control over. Lowering your expectations of life means you value what you do get more if it comes ! As far as foreign travel this year is concerned, it'll likely be a shambles whatever happens, scrabbling around red tape and restrictions all over the shop. Unless I stay clinically depressed into the Summer I can't see it being worth the hasstle right now.

 

[2H76]

Haven't read the whole thread.

But one thing I really don't see the logic in........Inbound flights to the UK? Why are they still happening?

Grant Schapps in an interview said quarantine was Law. But only 25% of arrivals are checked. They rely on people playing ball?

If they want the population to pretty much sit at home all day. Then surely banning passenger travel should be a matter of course as well?

Or am I wrong here?

It's basically for essential business and elite sportspeople. The planes should be virtually empty - there is (or should be) no "leisure" tourism at all. Even so, they should all be thoroughly checked and quarantined.

There's quite a discussion in Australia r/e how difficult it is - even for Australians - to enter the country, yet they are allowing 1100 players/coaches/officials in for the tennis. That's just bizarre, especially considering due to covid they have put back the Melbourne F1 back to (our) autumn rather than have it in March.

 

[spinksy123]

If we're going to do this. Then do it properly. No sports travel or business travel. Are you coming to work for the NHS? No? Then you don't fly............

Only exemption should be life saving treatment..........

Anything I'm missing?

 

[2H76]

If we're going to do this. Then do it properly. No sports travel or business travel. Are you coming to work for the NHS? No? Then you don't fly............

Only exemption should be life saving treatment..........

Anything I'm missing?

Anyone bringing the beer?

 

[FlatErik]

Haven't read the whole thread.

But one thing I really don't see the logic in........Inbound flights to the UK? Why are they still happening?

Grant Schapps in an interview said quarantine was Law. But only 25% of arrivals are checked. They rely on people playing ball?

If they want the population to pretty much sit at home all day. Then surely banning passenger travel should be a matter of course as well?

Or am I wrong here?

Isn't outbound from the UK to Europe worse?
Dutch politicians are practically telling the media we should hide in our shelters for the UK variant...they are searching for even heavier measures to not let that variant take over....

Yet they don't seem to think about banning the 20 DAILY inbound flights from the UK.

 

[chez]

If we're going to do this. Then do it properly. No sports travel or business travel. Are you coming to work for the NHS? No? Then you don't fly............

Only exemption should be life saving treatment..........

Anything I'm missing?

agree. especially this close to the vaccines being rolled out.. I understand why they didn't slam the brakes on travel full stop from last March though. a year plus of zero action for the whole sector would of been problematic

 

[spinksy123]

Isn't outbound from the UK to Europe worse?
Dutch politicians are practically telling the media we should hide in our shelters for the UK variant...they are searching for even heavier measures to not let that variant take over....

Yet they don't seem to think about banning the 20 DAILY inbound flights from the UK.

Yes mate.....Both ways. Nothing in and nothing out.......

I'm no lockdown fanatic at all. But if we are going to do it. Then bloody well do it properly and make it the last...........

Hell. I'd even go as far to say a worldwide coordinated plan to ban all air travel. Let each country get on top of their sh!t......

Naturally all employees of airlines would need to be rightly looked after properly while this happened.....

 

[marijn]

Restructuring. Had liquidated a partnership for commercial reasons and Ltd co. had not yet paid out salary in the reference year or since. So none of the qualifying criteria technically applied.

That’s a tough one. What line of business are you in if I may ask? Had a similar experience myself. In the reference year my daughter was born and as a result of that I didn’t work for 5 months.

 

[marijn]

My point is...there are not many other measures left to use in the restriction-toolkit.

Difficult to agree with you. Currently the problem is that people aren’t respecting the set of lockdown-rules in The Netherlands. Something something, me me, I I.

 

[Browny]

Try and stay positive mate.

The outlook for me looks like in the UK at least as...

- over 70's and vulnerable vaccinated by Easter, early Spring,
- over 50's and 60s through the late Spring / Summer.

Lockdown till easter and then into the tiers for April / May with whole of the country being in tier 1 by June as the death and hospitalisation numbers reduce.

Then I think over the summer we will see rate of infection reduce as we did last year and in parallel with vaccinations and be out of this by Sept / October time completely.

I think travel in summer will be possible but clubs wont be open until October time.

sensibly put? i think this is quite optimistic but at the same time quite possible

 

[CraigyB]

sensibly put? i think this is quite optimistic but at the same time quite possible

Yeh more than likely bit optimistic as you say but original Government schedule was probably more aggressive than this all be it loaded with caveats and probably not taking full scale of new variant into account.

 

[Hally]

Some GP practices in Brum vaccinating anyone over 16 ?