☣ Coronavirus ☣

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kimajy said:
If only it were a more appealing place to visit, and didn't look so much like Britain-by-the-Sea, I'd probably have booked a flight by now !
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Depends what you mean by Britain by the sea? It's not Bognor, and a lot of it is certainly Spanish, note the Cepsa petrol station and Eroski! I find the place fascinating and in the last few years has gone upmarket, cheap rooms are hard to find.. think more Monaco than Margate.
Johnny Vodka said:
So you think if (for example) the UK hadn't locked down the death rate wouldn't have been any higher? (You'll have to excuse me if someone has asked you this before.)
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If the UK had stricter, quicker but shorter lockdowns, mixed with more almost normal inbetween I wonder if the death toll would have been lower, and mental health better as there was more normal? We didn't act soon enough to keep out the new variants and if we had - the tightening up of visitors from overseas - we could have had a severe but short second lockdown and be normal in the NY?
The tiers was farcical and only prolonged lockdown.
Also closing hospitality which was covid secure was hitting the wrong target, that industry should have been open when non essential shops were.
 
2H76 said:
Depends what you mean by Britain by the sea? It's not Bognor, and a lot of it is certainly Spanish, note the Cepsa petrol station and Eroski! I find the place fascinating and in the last few years has gone upmarket, cheap rooms are hard to find.. think more Monaco than Margate.

If the UK had stricter, quicker but shorter lockdowns, mixed with more almost normal inbetween I wonder if the death toll would have been lower, and mental health better as there was more normal? We didn't act soon enough to keep out the new variants and if we had - the tightening up of visitors from overseas - we could have had a severe but short second lockdown and be normal in the NY?
The tiers was farcical and only prolonged lockdown.
Also closing hospitality which was covid secure was hitting the wrong target, that industry should have been open when non essential shops were.
Click to expand...

I guess lots of Spain (like Costa del Sol, Benidorm and even San An Bay) have Brit-centric aspects, but I tend not to spend much time there. I don't like Monaco much and Gib is just too built-up for me, all very claustrophobic - and the four-legged friends up the Rock don't help with the appeal factor. There's nothing much apart from the sun that appeals sadly, lots of places in the world where if I was offered a free holiday I wouldn't bother to go, and Gib has unfortunately always been one of them. It would have to be something extra special to tempt me to travel with all the risks that involves this year.

I don't go to bars, pubs or restaurants in the UK apart from maybe once or twice a year, so the hospitality closures make zero difference to me. As soon as they stop interfering with where I go to outdoors I'm happy. The tiers were 100% the right thing - living in South Devon (and having next to no Covid for the last 6 weeks down here) it's farcical to have the same rules for us. Keeping people from other areas out has been a godsend though. My local area actually has the lowest death toll of any area in England according to BBC last night. Lots of elderly people round here and droves of them self-isolated for most of 2020 voluntarily, especially when the tourists arrived, whatever the rules said.

I pretty much did too apart from outdoor trips to remote areas all last Summer due to living with someone vulnerable. All I want to feel able to do without feeling I'm taking unnecessary risks is do sport with other people once in a while, and access my personal stuff up in Gloucestershire that I haven't seen since December 2019 at some point this year. It's not a lot I'm aspiring to, but even this I haven't felt able to consider for over a year. It's going to take quite a while to even feel comfortable sitting in a coffee shop, having fully mentally adjusted to recent limitations just to get through all this.

It's all very well to say things should have been more open last year but when people are too nervous to go out because they're not fully vaccinated or live with someone at risk who isn't (wasn't an option then) it would have only made things scarier for them even to go to get food. On the plus, I am not aware of a single person in the village who has been infected with Covid. That is the result of a hardline voluntary behavioural approach, small family units and relative affluence. There are lots of people still alive round here who are high risk of being wiped out by Covid, and I sincerely hope things pan out to give them all a decent payback for all the sacrifices they have made.
 
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2H76 said:
If the UK had stricter, quicker but shorter lockdowns, mixed with more almost normal inbetween I wonder if the death toll would have been lower, and mental health better as there was more normal? We didn't act soon enough to keep out the new variants and if we had - the tightening up of visitors from overseas - we could have had a severe but short second lockdown and be normal in the NY?
The tiers was farcical and only prolonged lockdown.
Also closing hospitality which was covid secure was hitting the wrong target, that industry should have been open when non essential shops were.
Click to expand...

Governments were dealing with something that none of us had experienced in our lifetime - I think a cautious and experimental approach is the right one. I'm not sure anyone knew exactly the most effective methods of transmission of the virus, then add in new variants, them wanting to keep schools open above all else, etc.

More from this utter womble today -

Brazil Covid crisis: fury after Bolsonaro says people will soon lead 'normal lives' | Brazil | The Guardian
 
FlatErik said:
Do you feel the measures throughout Europe being extended every two-three weeks are "teaching the virus a lesson"?

A real public uprising is imminent here if this continues. Lockdowns DO NOT work, death rate has been declining steadily and the highest risks groups are being vaccinated. Variants is a media thing and infection numbers only matter if they are the risk group.
This madness should stop asap.
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What does "do not work" actually mean?

Of course they do not eradicate the virus, that has never been the intention. They do however reduce spread and cases and therefore has the knock on effect of saving life's.

Only the vaccination program will eradicate the virus over a longer period of time.
 
There is positive news everyday. It actually depends on what you choose to focus on and what you extract from it.

This is massively positive for UK -

Period of 'excess deaths' from second wave has come to an end - ONS figures​

The number of deaths registered in England and Wales has fallen below the five-year average for the first time in six months.

news.sky.com

COVID-19: Period of 'excess deaths' from second wave has come to an end - ONS figures

The number of deaths registered in England and Wales has fallen below the five-year average for the first time in six months.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
 
CraigyB said:
There is positive news everyday. It actually depends on what you choose to focus on and what you extract from it.

This is massively positive for UK -

Period of 'excess deaths' from second wave has come to an end - ONS figures​

The number of deaths registered in England and Wales has fallen below the five-year average for the first time in six months.

news.sky.com

COVID-19: Period of 'excess deaths' from second wave has come to an end - ONS figures

The number of deaths registered in England and Wales has fallen below the five-year average for the first time in six months.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
Click to expand...

Without being too morbid, you’d have thought deaths will be generally lower over the next few years as many were brought forward. Horrible to write that, but factually correct I’d assume.
 
Johnny Vodka said:
Governments were dealing with something that none of us had experienced in our lifetime - I think a cautious and experimental approach is the right one. I'm not sure anyone knew exactly the most effective methods of transmission of the virus, then add in new variants, them wanting to keep schools open above all else, etc.

More from this utter womble today -

Brazil Covid crisis: fury after Bolsonaro says people will soon lead 'normal lives' | Brazil | The Guardian
Click to expand...
Brazil; deaths per million; 1405
UK deaths per million; 1863.
ie - statistics can prove what you like.
However; Brazil's death toll is still rising and will probably overtake the UK's and some, ours is getting close to zero so won't be adding to the cumulative total.
Also shows Johnson is a cockwomble too!
ourworldindata.org

Brazil: Coronavirus Pandemic Country Profile

Brazil: What has been the impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)?
ourworldindata.org ourworldindata.org
Canada has under half the deaths of the USA - there's another bloke to add to the CW list (happily long gone now)
 
kimajy said:
I guess lots of Spain (like Costa del Sol, Benidorm and even San An Bay) have Brit-centric aspects, but I tend not to spend much time there. I don't like Monaco much and Gib is just too built-up for me, all very claustrophobic - and the four-legged friends up the Rock don't help with the appeal factor. There's nothing much apart from the sun that appeals sadly, lots of places in the world where if I was offered a free holiday I wouldn't bother to go, and Gib has unfortunately always been one of them. It would have to be something extra special to tempt me to travel with all the risks that involves this year.

I don't go to bars, pubs or restaurants in the UK apart from maybe once or twice a year, so the hospitality closures make zero difference to me. As soon as they stop interfering with where I go to outdoors I'm happy. The tiers were 100% the right thing - living in South Devon (and having next to no Covid for the last 6 weeks down here) it's farcical to have the same rules for us. Keeping people from other areas out has been a godsend though. My local area actually has the lowest death toll of any area in England according to BBC last night. Lots of elderly people round here and droves of them self-isolated for most of 2020 voluntarily, especially when the tourists arrived, whatever the rules said.

I pretty much did too apart from outdoor trips to remote areas all last Summer due to living with someone vulnerable. All I want to feel able to do without feeling I'm taking unnecessary risks is do sport with other people once in a while, and access my personal stuff up in Gloucestershire that I haven't seen since December 2019 at some point this year. It's not a lot I'm aspiring to, but even this I haven't felt able to consider for over a year. It's going to take quite a while to even feel comfortable sitting in a coffee shop, having fully mentally adjusted to recent limitations just to get through all this.

It's all very well to say things should have been more open last year but when people are too nervous to go out because they're not fully vaccinated or live with someone at risk who isn't (wasn't an option then) it would have only made things scarier for them even to go to get food. On the plus, I am not aware of a single person in the village who has been infected with Covid. That is the result of a hardline voluntary behavioural approach, small family units and relative affluence. There are lots of people still alive round here who are high risk of being wiped out by Covid, and I sincerely hope things pan out to give them all a decent payback for all the sacrifices they have made.
Click to expand...
I think macaques have only the 2 legs. Just waiting for Elrow to disagree.

Dealing with the big issues
 
At least it delivered ' something ' - through my work I have been involved in government contracts worth Billions where nothing was ever actually delivered !
 
Am I reading this right from another site - Germans can't travel around their own country (?) BUT they can travel overseas for holidays, such as Mallorca?
english.elpais.com

Spain to welcome German visitors over Easter break despite restrictions on national tourism

While the regions are under a perimetral lockdown in a bid to curve coronavirus contagions, the country remains open to European travelers, many of whom have already booked vacations in the Balearic Islands
english.elpais.com english.elpais.com
www.dw.com

German travel sector disappointed by the sustained lockdown – DW – 03/23/2021

While flights to the popular holiday island of Mallorca are still possible, domestic tourism is to be put on hold. The industry has reacted with incomprehension. Many are facing bankruptcy.
www.dw.com www.dw.com
www.theguardian.com

Mallorca braces for influx of German tourists after removal from risk list

Germans warned that Covid restrictions still apply as locals express frustration at Berlin’s move
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
I know Spain wants tourists, and now, but if they import covid while the vast majority aren't vaxxes, then won't that simply mean a rise in cases, and the tourist industry will be shut again for most of the summer, so having tourists now is actually counter-productive??
 
2H76 said:
Am I reading this right from another site - Germans can't travel around their own country (?) BUT they can travel overseas for holidays, such as Mallorca?
english.elpais.com

Spain to welcome German visitors over Easter break despite restrictions on national tourism

While the regions are under a perimetral lockdown in a bid to curve coronavirus contagions, the country remains open to European travelers, many of whom have already booked vacations in the Balearic Islands
english.elpais.com english.elpais.com
www.dw.com

German travel sector disappointed by the sustained lockdown – DW – 03/23/2021

While flights to the popular holiday island of Mallorca are still possible, domestic tourism is to be put on hold. The industry has reacted with incomprehension. Many are facing bankruptcy.
www.dw.com www.dw.com
www.theguardian.com

Mallorca braces for influx of German tourists after removal from risk list

Germans warned that Covid restrictions still apply as locals express frustration at Berlin’s move
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
I know Spain wants tourists, and now, but if they import covid while the vast majority aren't vaxxes, then won't that simply mean a rise in cases, and the tourist industry will be shut again for most of the summer, so having tourists now is actually counter-productive??
Click to expand...

It's complete insanity tbh ... can only imagine it's political - remember when Germans took legal action against Spain for stopping them visiting second homes last year ? I suppose it's a mini-test case as to real life impact of allowing tourists in under a testing regime in advance of Summer but given the faltering vaccine rollout in the Balearics you have to question whether the policy makers really do have a screw loose.
 
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