Coronavirus

[BeccaH]

I work in community pharmacy and I'm so scared about where we go from here. I'll still be going to work and I'm grateful for it for the sake of my mental health, but from reports I've seen non-essential retail will be staying open this time as well so I don't know how effective this second lockdown will be.

 

[Jonathan]

but from reports I've seen non-essential retail will be staying open this time as well so I don't know how effective this second lockdown will be.

...Potentially not very effective? I really don't want to be too much of a pessimist, but when the Independent SAGE group recommended a national lockdown six weeks ago (which was ignored) and Kier Starmer recommended it a couple of weeks ago (which was also seemingly ignored), it really makes me question whether or not the government is truly 'guided by the science'.

 

[MaxPower]

I think people are becoming increasingly less likely to follow lockdown rules as this pandemic goes on anyway, especially when it is only advised and not a legal requirement.

It seems pretty pointless to go into another lockdown if they're leaving schools and universities open anyway IMO.

 

[Benjsh]

What are they actually locking down?

You can still go to school, college or Uni. You can go to work. You can go to the shops. How is that a lockdown? It's anything but.

Absolute joke this government. The mixed messages are pathetic. Pick a strategy and stick to it. All this tier 1 2 n 3 nonsense is already looking like a total failure. Their failure.

 

[MaxPower]

Too slow to lockdown, too quick to open back up again.

Unfortunately we're being led by dunces.

 

[rob666]

Guided by science, but led by economists is a more honest way of describing it.
If we were just following scientific advice, we would all die of starvation by spring, the economy would collapse, power cuts and empty shelves in weeks, there has to be a balance.
And the people in power hate all the leaks...but that is the joy of fast modern communication systems, you just cant keep things secret these days!

 

[Islander]

...and Kier Starmer recommended it a couple of weeks ago (which was also seemingly ignored)

This made me laugh. Why are you putting the advice of the leader of the opposition on a level with the scientific community?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Benjsh]

This made me laugh. Why are you putting the advice of the leader of the opposition on a level with the scientific community?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Boris laughed at him when he suggested it 2 weeks ago. He said it would be a disaster. Now he's doing it anyway.

Boris will be remembered as the biggest disaster in UK political history. If you elect a clown then you can expect a circus.

 

[Rojo]

I get the idea behind local restrictions but I do not think they are going to have any significant impact on changing the course of what is happening in this country. It just seems very disjointed and the strictest restrictions will not bring the R rate below 1.

I don't really get what has been happening in my local authority area, Charnwood. We are currently the 35th worst area of the country when looking at infection rates per 100,000 people yet we are still in tier 1 for now (sounds like it could be changing on Friday). Even when the infection rates in neighbouring Leicester were high in July/August, it never really spread in to Charnwood. Then as soon as the students went off to uni the infection rate in parts of Loughborough started to climb rapidly whist in the rest of the area rates stayed at or below the national average. But due to a complete lack of action rates across the whole area have increased, including in the over-60s. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to be honest!

It would not surprise me if the vast majority of the country was in at least tier 2 in a few weeks time. And seeing as none of the tiers are likely to bring the R below 1, it is difficult to see what the exit strategy is going to be.

Maybe a national circuit breaker in early September whilst rates were still relatively low for 2 or 3 weeks would have been a good idea for a reset. I'll be interested to see what it does for Wales. But to be honest I have no idea what the right or wrong approach is now!

@Rob you said you were interested in how it works next for Wales? This article/announcement from Drakeford says Wales will have a single system for the whole country and he's has asked people to end the mentality of looking for loopholes! http://www.wrexham.com/news/end-of-...onal-measures-when-firebreak-ends-195380.html

As some who lives in an English border town but works in Wales. I've made a few Essential trips into the office and let me tell you since Wrexham went into lockdown and then into Firebreak. It has been no less busy from August to now and enforced in no visible way at the border.

It now looks like England could be in Lockdown yet Drakeford's language in the announcement is that Wales will have to "live with the virus". That particular phrase has been bandied about by other ministers in the Senedd as well. If this happens then you'll have the stupid scenario now where the border towns/cities will realize they can cross in and out with penalty. As pointed out by others compliance is at an all time low, so it's going to have to be enforced or there's little point. (Of course we could go into a UK lockdown if the government wishes)

In slightly bizarre yet almost funny news. Storyhouse tried to host a drive in cinema at Chester FC's ground but the event had to be scrapped at the last minute due the Welsh Firebreak announcement. This is because the toilets for the ground are actually over the border in Flintshire

 

[pluk]

Whatever measures are put in place they are only ever to delay, not eradicate, the virus. It seems absolutely obvious to me that the tier system was trying to do just that; the virus will spread, people will get it, people will die from it, but by putting measures in place to slow it it stops services being overwhelmed locally. The disproportionate financial repercussions of the 'full' lockdown seen earlier this year, when ultimately that too is only a delay tactic, means that really should be a last resort when services look likely to not be able to cope. At the moment they seem to be coping just fine, if the worst if the predictions come true that'll obviously not be the case forever.

It's not nice, but viruses are natural things, death is a natural thing. Noone ever saves a life, you only delay a death.

 

[Benzin]

And the people in power hate all the leaks...but that is the joy of fast modern communication systems, you just cant keep things secret these days!

Nah, the leaks are quite obviously direct from Cummings (or other senior cabinet members) done as a way to judge public opinion before deciding whether to implement it or not.

Hence why it's always unnamed government sources submitting this information. Or Laura Toryburg from the BBC.

 

[BarryZola]

Oh yay, another lockdown that's not even as strict as the last non-lockdown. That'll sort it...

 

[Benjsh]

The virus can't survive for longer than 2 weeks on an object can it? So if a railing or banister for example has covid on it and it's not touched for 2 weeks then it's back to being okay. Is that right? I think it is as the virus can't survive longer than that unless it's transmitted to somebody else in the meantime.

So locking down definitely would help stop the spread. But if you continue to let people go to school, work and the shops etc and go on public transport you're not stopping anything. So what's the bleeding point?

We have to get on with it I think and just accept that what's coming isn't going to be pleasant. We can't afford to keep doing lockdowns forever and they only work if they are proper ones anyway which we won't be doing.

 

[DistortAMG]

We can think of them along the same lines as all of those who were totally 100% certain the theme parks etc. would not open at all for 2020

Nice response, although in regards to the second spike we did have the benefit if history and hindsight on our side.

 

[Jonathan]

The virus can't survive for longer than 2 weeks on an object can it? So if a railing or banister for example has covid on it and it's not touched for 2 weeks then it's back to being okay. Is that right? I think it is as the virus can't survive longer than that unless it's transmitted to somebody else in the meantime.

So locking down definitely would help stop the spread. But if you continue to let people go to school, work and the shops etc and go on public transport you're not stopping anything. So what's the bleeding point?

We have to get on with it I think and just accept that what's coming isn't going to be pleasant. We can't afford to keep doing lockdowns forever and they only work if they are proper ones anyway which we won't be doing.

I think it can be 28 days on things like banknotes, so WHY so many people are continuing to pay for stuff in cash is beyond me. I get that some can only pay in cash, which is fine, but those who wilfully don’t are putting others at risk. With the amount of hand sanitizer I’m using at work, it’s a flipping miracle that I’ve got any skin left!

 

[Craig]

Surface transmission isn't the big deal it once was, mainly thanks to it being easily mitigated by not touching your face, hand washing and sanitiser. Aerosol transmission is the issue, hence why we have social distancing and mask wearing and also why we're in the position of another lockdown.

 

[Jonathan]

Oh, I don’t disagree, Craig. It just doesn’t help much that getting the most up-to-date info can be a bit tricky sometimes, especially when it seems to change so quickly and more often than I can keep up with!

 

[jon81uk]

I work in community pharmacy and I'm so scared about where we go from here. I'll still be going to work and I'm grateful for it for the sake of my mental health, but from reports I've seen non-essential retail will be staying open this time as well so I don't know how effective this second lockdown will be.

I don’t think retail is a major source of transmission between customers or customers and staff. You are normally only in a store for under half an hour, distancing is pretty easy and most people wear masks. Staff to staff transmission is an issue, same as any other workplace as you spend 8 hours with those people.

biggest non-workplace issue at the moment is private homes. People thinking “I’m just going to a mates for a couple of drinks” then spending five hours in a badly ventilated space close to someone taking loudly without a mask.

 

[jon81uk]

The virus can't survive for longer than 2 weeks on an object can it? So if a railing or banister for example has covid on it and it's not touched for 2 weeks then it's back to being okay. Is that right? I think it is as the virus can't survive longer than that unless it's transmitted to somebody else in the meantime.

No one has caught Covid from surfaces. Aerosol transmission is a much bigger issue. Particularly when spending hours and hours in poorly ventilated spaces with the same people.

this is a great explanation
https://english.elpais.com/society/...he-coronavirus-is-spread-through-the-air.html

personally I think better test and trace and policing of large gatherings along with proper distancing even in private homes will do more good.
Lockdown delays the issue. Test and trace and fines for non-compliance solve more.

 

[rob666]

I get paid mainly in cash, and avoid town so banking it is tricky.
Bleaching modern notes is easy, who thought we would be using plague dishes for coins!