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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » WH2020: Intriguing new poll question from Fox New – how do you

SystemSystem Posts: 12,169
edited August 2020 in General
imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » WH2020: Intriguing new poll question from Fox New – how do you think your neighbours will vote?

Latest Fox News poll finds Biden with 7% lead – but when same sample was asked how they thought neighbours would vote Trump has 5% lead. https://t.co/VlScI7jopR pic.twitter.com/0oRYX1PB36

Read the full story here

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Comments

  • OGH and TSE are both going away simultaneously?

    Well at least history suggests nothing interesting or major will happen then in the mean time . . . enjoy your breaks!
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,675
    edited August 2020
    Isn't this just the ICM wisdom index poll which proved to be very hit and miss?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766

    OGH and TSE are both going away simultaneously?

    Well at least history suggests nothing interesting or major will happen then in the mean time . . . enjoy your breaks!

    :lol: We are in for a huge August surprise by sound of things.
  • Have a great holiday
  • OGH and TSE are both going away simultaneously?

    Well at least history suggests nothing interesting or major will happen then in the mean time . . . enjoy your breaks!

    I'm just away this weekend, so I fully expect Chris Grayling to launch a coup against Boris Johnson this weekend and ends up making Boris Johnson the successor to the Queen.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    edited August 2020

    OGH and TSE are both going away simultaneously?

    Well at least history suggests nothing interesting or major will happen then in the mean time . . . enjoy your breaks!

    I'm just away this weekend, so I fully expect Chris Grayling to launch a coup against Boris Johnson this weekend and ends up making Boris Johnson the successor to the Queen.
    Someone should find a way to make Chris Grayling's unique "talents" productive.

    Maybe he should be tasked with finding a way to turn COVID19 into a chemical weapon to be used against our enemies . . . he'd find a vaccine quicker than Oxford then.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,002
    Apparently there are calls for a judicial review of the exams fiasco.

    Good job BoZo and chums want to stamp out that sort if thing.
  • Given that not only have we had the highest A level grades ever and that teachers think that 40% of them should be even higher doesn't that make the education reforms of Gove and Cummings an incredible success ?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,247
    >Also in bringing in the new server our media library has been wiped out.

    That's sad news. Hope that some of it can be recovered in time.
  • Scott_xP said:

    Apparently there are calls for a judicial review of the exams fiasco.

    Good job BoZo and chums want to stamp out that sort if thing.

    A judicial review of teachers grade predictions would certainly be interesting.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,675
    edited August 2020
    MattW said:

    >Also in bringing in the new server our media library has been wiped out.

    That's sad news. Hope that some of it can be recovered in time.

    I'll rebuild the media library, I did a lot of uploads in the past.

    Until I started editing PB I never knew choosing the picture for a thread header could be so much fun.

    *Off to find the Corbyn and the Bentley photograph*
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,751
    PB is such an odd target for a hack of that sort. Have we been too unkind to Xi or Putin? Or is there someone who regrets making certain posts that wants them scrubbed?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766
    Scott_xP said:
    If they are going to lose pay or get into trouble at work, I suspect they just wont do it. But then will their work colleagues grass them in?
  • Scott_xP said:
    Its clearly designed to stop people from going to France from now onwards.

    And it will be employers who do the enforcing by not allowing people to return to work during the quarantine period.

    That has already happened where I work to people who were in Spain.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,002
    France are threatening reciprocal quarantine measures.

    Presumably that means if you go to France on holiday for 2 weeks, you need to spend them in quarantine, before returning home for another 2 weeks isolation.
  • Scott_xP said:
    But it is.

    If there hadn't been so much over-predicting of grades then the predictions could have been accepted.

    Teachers grade predictions turned out to be as reliable as an estate agent's valuation.
  • To be honest we should have quarantined France centuries ago.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,695

    MattW said:

    >Also in bringing in the new server our media library has been wiped out.

    That's sad news. Hope that some of it can be recovered in time.

    I'll rebuild the media library, I did a lot of uploads in the past.

    Until I started editing PB I never knew choosing the picture for a thread header could be so much fun.

    *Off to find the Corbyn and the Bentley photograph*
    This is the only image you'll need this year:

    image
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,481
    Fpt
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    I very much applaud the idea that where Unionism has been going wrong is not displaying enough Union flags.

    https://twitter.com/markdiffley1/status/1294015753969172480?s=20

    I don"t see why they wouldn't be? Protects funded by the EU and the Scottish Government are.
    Which made such an impact in the EU referendum...
    In Scotland?

    Projects invariably include a plaque or similar detailing their funding, and this invariably includes the flag or emblem of those organisations. When the UK was in the EU, our subs (correct me if I'm wrong) came from the UK Govt., and then the EU kindly gave us some of or money back with projects emblazoned with their flag - quite a few in Scotland. That situation was a convenient one for the SNP. Not suggesting it won them elections, but it was a nice arrangement. Do they now expect the UK Government to disguise it's involvement in funding projects because...reasons?
    Because the arses are just using our money , and trying to make out it is largesse and that we are paupers. They can stick their UK union plaques and projects up their arses.
    Well yes, but that's the case with the Scottish Government, and all the quangos like HIE. Spending our money and expecting to be thanked for it is pretty much what Governments do.
    Well I doubt they get that many thanks, more brickbats. This will backfire big time on Bozo the clown , he is hated already and thinking he can pretend that he can take credit for spending our money will make us want to stay a colony is barking. He can F*** right off, the plaques will go in the bin.
    It's non news Malc. All those projects carry the same type of plaques. There's absolutely no reason why the UK Government should deliberately hide its involvement, other than for the SNP's political convenience
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,836
    edited August 2020

    Scott_xP said:
    If they are going to lose pay or get into trouble at work, I suspect they just wont do it. But then will their work colleagues grass them in?
    If they wanted to enforce it at a low level of admin cost then what should happen is on return to the UK from a "problem" country, you fill in an arrivals form stating where you work or where you are at school/uni. Obviously fine to say not working or in education if true but make it an offence to lie. Then immigration just contact workplace or school with a date the person can return - given the far lower numbers of people travelling, immigration should have time to do so, if not there are plenty of people looking for work and will be subsidised by the govt anyway, so could employ some of those.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    FPT:
    Given that the uptick in new cases reported from Spain, France and the rest is relatively recent, it is a little too early to draw definitive conclusions; ICU stats would lag at least two weeks and deaths by three to four weeks.

    However the argument that a slice of the "new" cases being detected by current testing may actually be people who had the virus weeks back with few or no symptoms, and simply have the virus still hanging around in their system, is a persuasive one.

    The argument in the video does however require that levels of immunity are significantly higher than the community antibody rates currently being found, in order to 'explain' why the original epidemic has subsided. As regulars will know, I have argued this possibility for some months now, but there remains little evidence for it, other than some hypotheses based on possible T-cell-based immunity (or resistance). There is also the difference between Europe and the US to explain - if the significant declines in Europe were due to community immunity being much higher than currently believed, why hasn't the same happened in the US? There the later surge in case rates has been matched by hospital statistics in states like California (which had an earlier wave that subsided), Florida and Texas.

  • IanB2 said:

    FPT:

    Given that the uptick in new cases reported from Spain, France and the rest is relatively recent, it is a little too early to draw definitive conclusions; ICU stats would lag at least two weeks and deaths by three to four weeks.

    However the argument that a slice of the "new" cases being detected by current testing may actually be people who had the virus weeks back with few or no symptoms, and simply have the virus still hanging around in their system, is a persuasive one.

    The argument in the video does however require that levels of immunity are significantly higher than the community antibody rates currently being found, in order to 'explain' why the original epidemic has subsided. As regulars will know, I have argued this possibility for some months now, but there remains little evidence for it, other than some hypotheses based on possible T-cell-based immunity (or resistance). There is also the difference between Europe and the US to explain - if the significant declines in Europe were due to community immunity being much higher than currently believed, why hasn't the same happened in the US? There the later surge in case rates has been matched by hospital statistics in states like California (which had an earlier wave that subsided), Florida and Texas.

    It also doesn't explain why Spain, Portugal, France etc are all seeing signs of a second wave now. There is no reason to believe that we are exceptional and can't have one like they are doing.
  • Scott_xP said:

    Apparently there are calls for a judicial review of the exams fiasco.

    Good job BoZo and chums want to stamp out that sort if thing.

    A judicial review of teachers grade predictions would certainly be interesting.
    One aspect which is curious by its absence is the criticism by those teachers who do predict grades honestly of those who don't.

    After all its the pupils of the teacher who predict grades honestly who would lose out.

    Do teachers take a vow of omerta or something ?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,717
    edited August 2020

    Scott_xP said:
    Its clearly designed to stop people from going to France from now onwards.

    And it will be employers who do the enforcing by not allowing people to return to work during the quarantine period.

    That has already happened where I work to people who were in Spain.
    One of my colleagues will be slipping in under the wire (fingers crossed) booked on the chunnel at 0130 on Saturday.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    edited August 2020

    IanB2 said:

    FPT:

    Given that the uptick in new cases reported from Spain, France and the rest is relatively recent, it is a little too early to draw definitive conclusions; ICU stats would lag at least two weeks and deaths by three to four weeks.

    However the argument that a slice of the "new" cases being detected by current testing may actually be people who had the virus weeks back with few or no symptoms, and simply have the virus still hanging around in their system, is a persuasive one.

    The argument in the video does however require that levels of immunity are significantly higher than the community antibody rates currently being found, in order to 'explain' why the original epidemic has subsided. As regulars will know, I have argued this possibility for some months now, but there remains little evidence for it, other than some hypotheses based on possible T-cell-based immunity (or resistance). There is also the difference between Europe and the US to explain - if the significant declines in Europe were due to community immunity being much higher than currently believed, why hasn't the same happened in the US? There the later surge in case rates has been matched by hospital statistics in states like California (which had an earlier wave that subsided), Florida and Texas.

    It also doesn't explain why Spain, Portugal, France etc are all seeing signs of a second wave now. There is no reason to believe that we are exceptional and can't have one like they are doing.
    But the video's argument is that those 'signs' are reported new cases, rather than hospital admissions or deaths. It is at least possible that a lot of these arent "new" infections at all.

    I suspect the truth lies in between, and another reason why the uptick in case rates isn't being matched by more ICU admissions and deaths is that the so-called second wave is being spread by younger people out 'on the town' tired by the restrictions of lockdown, and as we know the propensity of the young to get seriously ill from Covid is dramatically low. The risk of back transmission to older folk in their families is then the issue.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    Scott_xP said:

    France are threatening reciprocal quarantine measures.

    Presumably that means if you go to France on holiday for 2 weeks, you need to spend them in quarantine, before returning home for another 2 weeks isolation.

    This quarantine tennis is going to go on all year as each country sees a resurgence of infections as a result of easing their lockdowns.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766
    Scott_xP said:

    France are threatening reciprocal quarantine measures.

    Presumably that means if you go to France on holiday for 2 weeks, you need to spend them in quarantine, before returning home for another 2 weeks isolation.

    So if you are already in France and they announce a quarantine from say midnight tonight, then you have to stay two more full weeks before returning home to stay two weeks at home.

  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,751
    On the previous thread there was some argument about what a disaster Trump has been for the world and how it’s unthinkable he can continue. Talking about his deeds rather than words, is it not fair to say his administration has been the least interventionist and warlike President since Carter, and to wear my devils advocate hat, arguably one of the most effective in the foreign policy sphere of recent times?

    Moving along the process of normalising relations with North Korea. And now “brokering” the implementation of diplomatic relations between Israel and UAE.

    Has his policy in Syria led to an objectively worse outcome than under Obama?

    As for his China policy, most sensible people in Asia would consider Trumpism to be a much needed correction from the many years of US negligence and blundering, having failed to realise it was engaged in a Cold War against a ruthless and single minded protagonist.

    Black mark for his antagonistic stance on climate change but to be honest I’ve long given up hope that governments will meaningfully move the dial, it’s going to be technology and economics that drive the transition.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483

    Scott_xP said:
    Its clearly designed to stop people from going to France from now onwards.

    And it will be employers who do the enforcing by not allowing people to return to work during the quarantine period.

    That has already happened where I work to people who were in Spain.
    Lots of people think they can go and stay with their children/relatives for the two weeks not realizing that the children/relatives would also have to the go into quarantine. But then who sticks to the rules anymore?
  • Betting related post.

    Regarding the 20/21 Champions and Europa Leagues betting, in light of the quarantine tennis that is likely to happen.

    How will European football be different?

    All qualifying ties for the Champions League and Europa League will be single-leg matches. However, home and away matches will return for the Champions League play-off round, due to be played at the end of September.

    Both tournaments are likely to be dramatically altered if the COVID-19 pandemic worsens.

    UEFA has announced that if a member country enforces travel restrictions which prevent a tie from taking place, the host team must forfeit the match. If both teams’ governments ban travel, UEFA can disqualify both clubs from the tournament.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    Scott_xP said:

    France are threatening reciprocal quarantine measures.

    Presumably that means if you go to France on holiday for 2 weeks, you need to spend them in quarantine, before returning home for another 2 weeks isolation.

    That depends.

    Firstly, on whether its a genuine threat. France gains from foreign tourism whereas we lose (in that our tourists spend more abroad than overseas tourists spend here). It's in our economic interest to keep our tourists at home, but not in France's to keep them away.

    Otherwise it depends on the trips people were planning. My September plan is to transit through France en route for Germany and Italy. If France reciprocates, I guess on the way out I will have to stay in my hotel room on the first night, or worst case vary my route and drive directly to Germany. On the return, I will be arriving into France from Switzerland and already have been away from the UK for a fortnight. So far, so good. If I have to spend a fortnight doing DIY and gardening when I return, so be it. According to Shapps the only checking likely to happen is that someone phones to see if you are at home.
  • IanB2 said:

    FPT:

    Given that the uptick in new cases reported from Spain, France and the rest is relatively recent, it is a little too early to draw definitive conclusions; ICU stats would lag at least two weeks and deaths by three to four weeks.

    However the argument that a slice of the "new" cases being detected by current testing may actually be people who had the virus weeks back with few or no symptoms, and simply have the virus still hanging around in their system, is a persuasive one.

    The argument in the video does however require that levels of immunity are significantly higher than the community antibody rates currently being found, in order to 'explain' why the original epidemic has subsided. As regulars will know, I have argued this possibility for some months now, but there remains little evidence for it, other than some hypotheses based on possible T-cell-based immunity (or resistance). There is also the difference between Europe and the US to explain - if the significant declines in Europe were due to community immunity being much higher than currently believed, why hasn't the same happened in the US? There the later surge in case rates has been matched by hospital statistics in states like California (which had an earlier wave that subsided), Florida and Texas.

    California, Florida and Texas are big, its possible that the places/people which were heavily infected in spring were different to those infected in summer.

    20% seems to be the level of infection where it fades out.
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518
    I think there are two different issues with "enforcement" of quarantine.

    1) People who break it on a massive scale by going to work/school etc. Would expect employers/schools to send them home if they know about it. And good luck keeping a young child quiet about where they were on holiday a week ago

    2) People who break it, period. The actual rules on quarantine are ludicrously strict. You CANNOT leave the house for any virtually any reason, even a walk in the immediate vicinity (except to shops where absolutely essential).

    This is absurd to the point of ridiculousness on a relative risk basis compared to what is going on elsewhere in the country. It was designed for people much earlier in the crisis having come into probable proven contact with an infected individual, not a country with allegedly relatively high infection rates. What is even more absurd is that the quarantine doesn't apply to people who live in your house but who weren't on holiday with you. So a person living on their own, coming into contact with nobody, probably uninfected isn't even allowed to go for a walk around the block. A person living with somebody else can however pass it on to somebody they live with, who is free to do whatever they want, spreading it to whoever they wish.

    Who designs these rules???
  • moonshine said:

    On the previous thread there was some argument about what a disaster Trump has been for the world and how it’s unthinkable he can continue. Talking about his deeds rather than words, is it not fair to say his administration has been the least interventionist and warlike President since Carter, and to wear my devils advocate hat, arguably one of the most effective in the foreign policy sphere of recent times?

    Moving along the process of normalising relations with North Korea. And now “brokering” the implementation of diplomatic relations between Israel and UAE.

    Has his policy in Syria led to an objectively worse outcome than under Obama?

    As for his China policy, most sensible people in Asia would consider Trumpism to be a much needed correction from the many years of US negligence and blundering, having failed to realise it was engaged in a Cold War against a ruthless and single minded protagonist.

    Black mark for his antagonistic stance on climate change but to be honest I’ve long given up hope that governments will meaningfully move the dial, it’s going to be technology and economics that drive the transition.

    Be careful Moonshine, you will be accused of being a Trumpster...

    In seriousness, that is an excellent post. When you look at the man's actions in foreign affairs, he has been more successful than Obama but, because it's Trump, its gets ignored. I noticed the Guardian online site has devoted more time on its front page to a reporter calling out Trump over his lies than the UAE deal - if Obama had done it, we would have had gushing columns for days.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    FPT:

    Given that the uptick in new cases reported from Spain, France and the rest is relatively recent, it is a little too early to draw definitive conclusions; ICU stats would lag at least two weeks and deaths by three to four weeks.

    However the argument that a slice of the "new" cases being detected by current testing may actually be people who had the virus weeks back with few or no symptoms, and simply have the virus still hanging around in their system, is a persuasive one.

    The argument in the video does however require that levels of immunity are significantly higher than the community antibody rates currently being found, in order to 'explain' why the original epidemic has subsided. As regulars will know, I have argued this possibility for some months now, but there remains little evidence for it, other than some hypotheses based on possible T-cell-based immunity (or resistance). There is also the difference between Europe and the US to explain - if the significant declines in Europe were due to community immunity being much higher than currently believed, why hasn't the same happened in the US? There the later surge in case rates has been matched by hospital statistics in states like California (which had an earlier wave that subsided), Florida and Texas.

    It also doesn't explain why Spain, Portugal, France etc are all seeing signs of a second wave now. There is no reason to believe that we are exceptional and can't have one like they are doing.
    But the video's argument is that those 'signs' are reported new cases, rather than hospital admissions or deaths. It is at least possible that a lot of these arent "new" infections at all.

    I suspect the truth lies in between, and another reason why the uptick in case rates isn't being matched by more ICU admissions and deaths is that the so-called second wave is being spread by younger people out 'on the town' tired by the restrictions of lockdown, and as we know the propensity of the young to get seriously ill from Covid is dramatically low. The risk of back transmission to older folk in their families is then the issue.
    I would put the resurgence in Spain and other Mediterranean countries down to mass movements of people for the holiday season, holiday behavior and family/friends reunions. The one really sensible move in the UK is to keep the night clubs shut although that probably only moves the problem to the pubs.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,002

    If there hadn't been so much over-predicting of grades then the predictions could have been accepted.

    Teachers grade predictions turned out to be as reliable as an estate agent's valuation.

    You mean the education reforms championed by "Superforecaster" Dom Cummings turn out to have been just as shit as all his other schemes?

    Shocker...
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    moonshine said:

    On the previous thread there was some argument about what a disaster Trump has been for the world and how it’s unthinkable he can continue. Talking about his deeds rather than words, is it not fair to say his administration has been the least interventionist and warlike President since Carter, and to wear my devils advocate hat, arguably one of the most effective in the foreign policy sphere of recent times?

    Moving along the process of normalising relations with North Korea. And now “brokering” the implementation of diplomatic relations between Israel and UAE.

    Has his policy in Syria led to an objectively worse outcome than under Obama?

    As for his China policy, most sensible people in Asia would consider Trumpism to be a much needed correction from the many years of US negligence and blundering, having failed to realise it was engaged in a Cold War against a ruthless and single minded protagonist.

    Black mark for his antagonistic stance on climate change but to be honest I’ve long given up hope that governments will meaningfully move the dial, it’s going to be technology and economics that drive the transition.

    Krastev & Holmes argue that one (rare) common thread running through the Obama and Trump administrations is the US's disengagement from its international obligations (or entanglements, according to view). Indeed they attribute the groundswell that led to Trump's election in part to this longer running thread in US political opinion.
  • NerysHughesNerysHughes Posts: 3,375
    I see there has been an massive outbreak at a Northampton Sandwich factory where everyone wears masks.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/13/nearly-300-workers-test-positive-at-ms-sandwich-factory-in-northampton
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,999

    Scott_xP said:

    Apparently there are calls for a judicial review of the exams fiasco.

    Good job BoZo and chums want to stamp out that sort if thing.

    A judicial review of teachers grade predictions would certainly be interesting.
    One aspect which is curious by its absence is the criticism by those teachers who do predict grades honestly of those who don't.

    After all its the pupils of the teacher who predict grades honestly who would lose out.

    Do teachers take a vow of omerta or something ?
    Are you saying that there are teachers who knowingly produce dishonest grades? That's quite a proposition in the first place, virtually impossible to prove. Expecting teachers to run with it is for the faeries.

    I'm sure that there are members of the BJ kakocracy who might give it a go though.
  • Scott_xP said:

    France are threatening reciprocal quarantine measures.

    Presumably that means if you go to France on holiday for 2 weeks, you need to spend them in quarantine, before returning home for another 2 weeks isolation.

    Why would anyone go to France especially now the French have declared Paris and Marseilles red zones for covid
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518
    nichomar said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Its clearly designed to stop people from going to France from now onwards.

    And it will be employers who do the enforcing by not allowing people to return to work during the quarantine period.

    That has already happened where I work to people who were in Spain.
    Lots of people think they can go and stay with their children/relatives for the two weeks not realizing that the children/relatives would also have to the go into quarantine. But then who sticks to the rules anymore?
    No, that's not the quarantine rules. The ONLY people who have to quarantine are those who were abroad. Not those they subsequently return to stay with. Hence Schapps quarantine has ended, whilst his family go on.
  • On topic, it was found that the neighbour question was a more accurate predictor of the vote in 2016. This article worth reading.

    https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/donald-trump-2016-polls-upset-214461

    In particular, note the response of one of the pollsters who called Trump's victory

    "I grew up in the South and everybody is very polite down here, and if you want to find out the truth on a hot topic, you can’t just ask the question directly. So, the neighbor is part of the mechanism to get that real answer. In the 11 battle ground states, and 3 non-battleground, there was a significant drop-off between the ballot test question [which candidate you support] and the neighbors’ question [which candidate you believe most of your neighbors support]. The neighbors question result showed a similar result in each state: Hillary dropped [relative to the ballot test question] and Trump comes up across every demographic, every geography. Hillary's drop was between 3 and 11 percent while Trump's increase was between 3 and 7 percent. This pattern existed everywhere from Pennsylvania to Nevada to Utah to Georgia, and it was a constant."
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,717

    Betting related post.

    Regarding the 20/21 Champions and Europa Leagues betting, in light of the quarantine tennis that is likely to happen.

    How will European football be different?

    All qualifying ties for the Champions League and Europa League will be single-leg matches. However, home and away matches will return for the Champions League play-off round, due to be played at the end of September.

    Both tournaments are likely to be dramatically altered if the COVID-19 pandemic worsens.

    UEFA has announced that if a member country enforces travel restrictions which prevent a tie from taking place, the host team must forfeit the match. If both teams’ governments ban travel, UEFA can disqualify both clubs from the tournament.

    Has UEFA decided to outsource to OFQAL, with Grayling as the new CEO?
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    edited August 2020
    nichomar said:

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    FPT:

    Given that the uptick in new cases reported from Spain, France and the rest is relatively recent, it is a little too early to draw definitive conclusions; ICU stats would lag at least two weeks and deaths by three to four weeks.

    However the argument that a slice of the "new" cases being detected by current testing may actually be people who had the virus weeks back with few or no symptoms, and simply have the virus still hanging around in their system, is a persuasive one.

    The argument in the video does however require that levels of immunity are significantly higher than the community antibody rates currently being found, in order to 'explain' why the original epidemic has subsided. As regulars will know, I have argued this possibility for some months now, but there remains little evidence for it, other than some hypotheses based on possible T-cell-based immunity (or resistance). There is also the difference between Europe and the US to explain - if the significant declines in Europe were due to community immunity being much higher than currently believed, why hasn't the same happened in the US? There the later surge in case rates has been matched by hospital statistics in states like California (which had an earlier wave that subsided), Florida and Texas.

    It also doesn't explain why Spain, Portugal, France etc are all seeing signs of a second wave now. There is no reason to believe that we are exceptional and can't have one like they are doing.
    But the video's argument is that those 'signs' are reported new cases, rather than hospital admissions or deaths. It is at least possible that a lot of these arent "new" infections at all.

    I suspect the truth lies in between, and another reason why the uptick in case rates isn't being matched by more ICU admissions and deaths is that the so-called second wave is being spread by younger people out 'on the town' tired by the restrictions of lockdown, and as we know the propensity of the young to get seriously ill from Covid is dramatically low. The risk of back transmission to older folk in their families is then the issue.
    I would put the resurgence in Spain and other Mediterranean countries down to mass movements of people for the holiday season, holiday behavior and family/friends reunions. The one really sensible move in the UK is to keep the night clubs shut although that probably only moves the problem to the pubs.
    Yes - and if you look at say Italy and Spain, now on different trajectories having had not dissimilar initial outbreaks, a difference appears to be the greater continuing restrictions on indoor and particularly nighttime social activity in Italy, plus possibly some differences in the nature/balance of their incoming tourism.
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518

    Scott_xP said:

    France are threatening reciprocal quarantine measures.

    Presumably that means if you go to France on holiday for 2 weeks, you need to spend them in quarantine, before returning home for another 2 weeks isolation.

    Why would anyone go to France especially now the French have declared Paris and Marseilles red zones for covid
    What difference does that make if you're spending two weeks in a villa?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,247

    Fpt

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    I very much applaud the idea that where Unionism has been going wrong is not displaying enough Union flags.

    https://twitter.com/markdiffley1/status/1294015753969172480?s=20

    I don"t see why they wouldn't be? Protects funded by the EU and the Scottish Government are.
    Which made such an impact in the EU referendum...
    In Scotland?

    Projects invariably include a plaque or similar detailing their funding, and this invariably includes the flag or emblem of those organisations. When the UK was in the EU, our subs (correct me if I'm wrong) came from the UK Govt., and then the EU kindly gave us some of or money back with projects emblazoned with their flag - quite a few in Scotland. That situation was a convenient one for the SNP. Not suggesting it won them elections, but it was a nice arrangement. Do they now expect the UK Government to disguise it's involvement in funding projects because...reasons?
    Because the arses are just using our money , and trying to make out it is largesse and that we are paupers. They can stick their UK union plaques and projects up their arses.
    Well yes, but that's the case with the Scottish Government, and all the quangos like HIE. Spending our money and expecting to be thanked for it is pretty much what Governments do.
    Well I doubt they get that many thanks, more brickbats. This will backfire big time on Bozo the clown , he is hated already and thinking he can pretend that he can take credit for spending our money will make us want to stay a colony is barking. He can F*** right off, the plaques will go in the bin.
    It's non news Malc. All those projects carry the same type of plaques. There's absolutely no reason why the UK Government should deliberately hide its involvement, other than for the SNP's political convenience
    If anyone cares to send me their bank balance, I'll happily return 80% of it and a "Donation Courtesy of Matt W" plaque for your mantelpiece so you can acknowledge my beneficence.

  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    alex_ said:

    nichomar said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Its clearly designed to stop people from going to France from now onwards.

    And it will be employers who do the enforcing by not allowing people to return to work during the quarantine period.

    That has already happened where I work to people who were in Spain.
    Lots of people think they can go and stay with their children/relatives for the two weeks not realizing that the children/relatives would also have to the go into quarantine. But then who sticks to the rules anymore?
    No, that's not the quarantine rules. The ONLY people who have to quarantine are those who were abroad. Not those they subsequently return to stay with. Hence Schapps quarantine has ended, whilst his family go on.
    Just seen that so quarantine is bollocks and pointless.
  • Scott_xP said:

    If there hadn't been so much over-predicting of grades then the predictions could have been accepted.

    Teachers grade predictions turned out to be as reliable as an estate agent's valuation.

    You mean the education reforms championed by "Superforecaster" Dom Cummings turn out to have been just as shit as all his other schemes?

    Shocker...
    The reforms which have led to the highest ever A level grades ?

    With teachers thinking that 40% of grades should be even higher.

    They seem to have been an incredible success.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868

    Scott_xP said:

    France are threatening reciprocal quarantine measures.

    Presumably that means if you go to France on holiday for 2 weeks, you need to spend them in quarantine, before returning home for another 2 weeks isolation.

    Why would anyone go to France especially now the French have declared Paris and Marseilles red zones for covid
    What a silly question.

    Why would anyone go on a walking holiday in Wales when the UK has Covid hotspots in Leicester, Bradford and Oldham?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766

    On topic, it was found that the neighbour question was a more accurate predictor of the vote in 2016. This article worth reading.

    https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/donald-trump-2016-polls-upset-214461

    In particular, note the response of one of the pollsters who called Trump's victory

    "I grew up in the South and everybody is very polite down here, and if you want to find out the truth on a hot topic, you can’t just ask the question directly. So, the neighbor is part of the mechanism to get that real answer. In the 11 battle ground states, and 3 non-battleground, there was a significant drop-off between the ballot test question [which candidate you support] and the neighbors’ question [which candidate you believe most of your neighbors support]. The neighbors question result showed a similar result in each state: Hillary dropped [relative to the ballot test question] and Trump comes up across every demographic, every geography. Hillary's drop was between 3 and 11 percent while Trump's increase was between 3 and 7 percent. This pattern existed everywhere from Pennsylvania to Nevada to Utah to Georgia, and it was a constant."

    Thanks is why the Dems cannot afford to relax or take comfort from the polls. Trump can still steal this from under their noses.
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518

    Scott_xP said:

    Apparently there are calls for a judicial review of the exams fiasco.

    Good job BoZo and chums want to stamp out that sort if thing.

    A judicial review of teachers grade predictions would certainly be interesting.
    One aspect which is curious by its absence is the criticism by those teachers who do predict grades honestly of those who don't.

    After all its the pupils of the teacher who predict grades honestly who would lose out.

    Do teachers take a vow of omerta or something ?
    Are you saying that there are teachers who knowingly produce dishonest grades? That's quite a proposition in the first place, virtually impossible to prove. Expecting teachers to run with it is for the faeries.

    I'm sure that there are members of the BJ kakocracy who might give it a go though.
    As was pointed out, if a teacher has, say, 10 pupils of equal ability and work ethic they will logically predict them the same grades. How could they do any different? They will also know that events on the day and with specific papers will cause a variation for a few candidates. So if expecting and predicting, say, 10Bs, they might very well expect in reality 1A, 6Bs, 2Cs and and (something going ridiculous wrong) one E. But they won't know which ones. But it will look under the "formula" as if they have predicted very favorably when they had no other option.
  • Betting related post.

    Regarding the 20/21 Champions and Europa Leagues betting, in light of the quarantine tennis that is likely to happen.

    How will European football be different?

    All qualifying ties for the Champions League and Europa League will be single-leg matches. However, home and away matches will return for the Champions League play-off round, due to be played at the end of September.

    Both tournaments are likely to be dramatically altered if the COVID-19 pandemic worsens.

    UEFA has announced that if a member country enforces travel restrictions which prevent a tie from taking place, the host team must forfeit the match. If both teams’ governments ban travel, UEFA can disqualify both clubs from the tournament.

    That's utterly insane. So if a country has the virus go wild their clubs can go through because the nation's with the virus under control can't quarantine those out of control? What madness is this?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,766
    alex_ said:

    I think there are two different issues with "enforcement" of quarantine.

    1) People who break it on a massive scale by going to work/school etc. Would expect employers/schools to send them home if they know about it. And good luck keeping a young child quiet about where they were on holiday a week ago

    2) People who break it, period. The actual rules on quarantine are ludicrously strict. You CANNOT leave the house for any virtually any reason, even a walk in the immediate vicinity (except to shops where absolutely essential).

    This is absurd to the point of ridiculousness on a relative risk basis compared to what is going on elsewhere in the country. It was designed for people much earlier in the crisis having come into probable proven contact with an infected individual, not a country with allegedly relatively high infection rates. What is even more absurd is that the quarantine doesn't apply to people who live in your house but who weren't on holiday with you. So a person living on their own, coming into contact with nobody, probably uninfected isn't even allowed to go for a walk around the block. A person living with somebody else can however pass it on to somebody they live with, who is free to do whatever they want, spreading it to whoever they wish.

    Who designs these rules???

    Probably the same modellers who built a model that predicted 500k dead in UK alone.
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 5,288
    This has actually always been the case. The leaflet sent out by government back in April had someone in the household going down with COVID on day 10 and isolating until day 17, whilst a sibling who never developed symptoms was shown finishing isolation on day 14. I queried it, and indeed set my profile picture with the leaflet, at the time.

    Give me one minute.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,717

    Scott_xP said:

    If there hadn't been so much over-predicting of grades then the predictions could have been accepted.

    Teachers grade predictions turned out to be as reliable as an estate agent's valuation.

    You mean the education reforms championed by "Superforecaster" Dom Cummings turn out to have been just as shit as all his other schemes?

    Shocker...
    The reforms which have led to the highest ever A level grades ?

    With teachers thinking that 40% of grades should be even higher.

    They seem to have been an incredible success.
    Quite obviously so. I am sure they will make the same success over Brexit.
  • I see there has been an massive outbreak at a Northampton Sandwich factory where everyone wears masks.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/13/nearly-300-workers-test-positive-at-ms-sandwich-factory-in-northampton

    I think the business was blaming the infections on activities outside of work - car sharing and living arrangements etc.

    I suspect that's part of the explanation but only a part.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357
    moonshine said:

    PB is such an odd target for a hack of that sort. Have we been too unkind to Xi or Putin? Or is there someone who regrets making certain posts that wants them scrubbed?

    closer to home more likely, did they leave a union flag plaque on the server.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    edited August 2020

    alex_ said:

    I think there are two different issues with "enforcement" of quarantine.

    1) People who break it on a massive scale by going to work/school etc. Would expect employers/schools to send them home if they know about it. And good luck keeping a young child quiet about where they were on holiday a week ago

    2) People who break it, period. The actual rules on quarantine are ludicrously strict. You CANNOT leave the house for any virtually any reason, even a walk in the immediate vicinity (except to shops where absolutely essential).

    This is absurd to the point of ridiculousness on a relative risk basis compared to what is going on elsewhere in the country. It was designed for people much earlier in the crisis having come into probable proven contact with an infected individual, not a country with allegedly relatively high infection rates. What is even more absurd is that the quarantine doesn't apply to people who live in your house but who weren't on holiday with you. So a person living on their own, coming into contact with nobody, probably uninfected isn't even allowed to go for a walk around the block. A person living with somebody else can however pass it on to somebody they live with, who is free to do whatever they want, spreading it to whoever they wish.

    Who designs these rules???

    Probably the same modellers who built a model that predicted 500k dead in UK alone.
    Eadric's hyperbolic premonitions (or, in his words, "reasonable worst case scenario") of two million dead Brits piling up on street corners are now just a fading memory...
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,717

    I see there has been an massive outbreak at a Northampton Sandwich factory where everyone wears masks.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/13/nearly-300-workers-test-positive-at-ms-sandwich-factory-in-northampton

    I think the business was blaming the infections on activities outside of work - car sharing and living arrangements etc.

    I suspect that's part of the explanation but only a part.
    The workers are nearly all Hungarian as I recall. Possibly shared housing and cars.

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/10/sandwich-firm-fill-vacancies-factory-east-european-workers
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357
    MattW said:

    Fpt

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    I very much applaud the idea that where Unionism has been going wrong is not displaying enough Union flags.

    https://twitter.com/markdiffley1/status/1294015753969172480?s=20

    I don"t see why they wouldn't be? Protects funded by the EU and the Scottish Government are.
    Which made such an impact in the EU referendum...
    In Scotland?

    Projects invariably include a plaque or similar detailing their funding, and this invariably includes the flag or emblem of those organisations. When the UK was in the EU, our subs (correct me if I'm wrong) came from the UK Govt., and then the EU kindly gave us some of or money back with projects emblazoned with their flag - quite a few in Scotland. That situation was a convenient one for the SNP. Not suggesting it won them elections, but it was a nice arrangement. Do they now expect the UK Government to disguise it's involvement in funding projects because...reasons?
    Because the arses are just using our money , and trying to make out it is largesse and that we are paupers. They can stick their UK union plaques and projects up their arses.
    Well yes, but that's the case with the Scottish Government, and all the quangos like HIE. Spending our money and expecting to be thanked for it is pretty much what Governments do.
    Well I doubt they get that many thanks, more brickbats. This will backfire big time on Bozo the clown , he is hated already and thinking he can pretend that he can take credit for spending our money will make us want to stay a colony is barking. He can F*** right off, the plaques will go in the bin.
    It's non news Malc. All those projects carry the same type of plaques. There's absolutely no reason why the UK Government should deliberately hide its involvement, other than for the SNP's political convenience
    If anyone cares to send me their bank balance, I'll happily return 80% of it and a "Donation Courtesy of Matt W" plaque for your mantelpiece so you can acknowledge my beneficence.

    Matt, you pay out much more than UK government does when returning cash.
  • IanB2 said:

    alex_ said:

    I think there are two different issues with "enforcement" of quarantine.

    1) People who break it on a massive scale by going to work/school etc. Would expect employers/schools to send them home if they know about it. And good luck keeping a young child quiet about where they were on holiday a week ago

    2) People who break it, period. The actual rules on quarantine are ludicrously strict. You CANNOT leave the house for any virtually any reason, even a walk in the immediate vicinity (except to shops where absolutely essential).

    This is absurd to the point of ridiculousness on a relative risk basis compared to what is going on elsewhere in the country. It was designed for people much earlier in the crisis having come into probable proven contact with an infected individual, not a country with allegedly relatively high infection rates. What is even more absurd is that the quarantine doesn't apply to people who live in your house but who weren't on holiday with you. So a person living on their own, coming into contact with nobody, probably uninfected isn't even allowed to go for a walk around the block. A person living with somebody else can however pass it on to somebody they live with, who is free to do whatever they want, spreading it to whoever they wish.

    Who designs these rules???

    Probably the same modellers who built a model that predicted 500k dead in UK alone.
    Eadric's hyperbolic premonitions (or, in his words, "reasonable worst case scenario") of two million dead Brits piling up on street corners are now just a fading memory...
    I found his numerous anecdotes about healthy blokes who were infected, recovered and then dropped dead a few weeks later more concerning.
  • Foxy said:

    Scott_xP said:

    If there hadn't been so much over-predicting of grades then the predictions could have been accepted.

    Teachers grade predictions turned out to be as reliable as an estate agent's valuation.

    You mean the education reforms championed by "Superforecaster" Dom Cummings turn out to have been just as shit as all his other schemes?

    Shocker...
    The reforms which have led to the highest ever A level grades ?

    With teachers thinking that 40% of grades should be even higher.

    They seem to have been an incredible success.
    Quite obviously so. I am sure they will make the same success over Brexit.
    I'm sure it will lead to the highest something or other :wink:
  • pm215pm215 Posts: 1,138
    moonshine said:

    PB is such an odd target for a hack of that sort. Have we been too unkind to Xi or Putin? Or is there someone who regrets making certain posts that wants them scrubbed?

    PB runs on Wordpress, which is a very popular bit of blogging software. So popular that it is worth spammers' while to put together automated exploits of known bugs in Wordpress (or in third-party 'plugins' a website might use with Wordpress) that they then run against any Wordpress site they find, just to turn it into a link farm to whatever they're spamming for. Like email spam, it's not hugely effective, but because it's automated it's low cost for them. Obviously nation-state actors also can do this kind of thing (and unlike more sophisticated hacks they would have a ton of plausible deniability), but this is one of those hoofbeats-mean-horses situations...
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868

    IanB2 said:

    alex_ said:

    I think there are two different issues with "enforcement" of quarantine.

    1) People who break it on a massive scale by going to work/school etc. Would expect employers/schools to send them home if they know about it. And good luck keeping a young child quiet about where they were on holiday a week ago

    2) People who break it, period. The actual rules on quarantine are ludicrously strict. You CANNOT leave the house for any virtually any reason, even a walk in the immediate vicinity (except to shops where absolutely essential).

    This is absurd to the point of ridiculousness on a relative risk basis compared to what is going on elsewhere in the country. It was designed for people much earlier in the crisis having come into probable proven contact with an infected individual, not a country with allegedly relatively high infection rates. What is even more absurd is that the quarantine doesn't apply to people who live in your house but who weren't on holiday with you. So a person living on their own, coming into contact with nobody, probably uninfected isn't even allowed to go for a walk around the block. A person living with somebody else can however pass it on to somebody they live with, who is free to do whatever they want, spreading it to whoever they wish.

    Who designs these rules???

    Probably the same modellers who built a model that predicted 500k dead in UK alone.
    Eadric's hyperbolic premonitions (or, in his words, "reasonable worst case scenario") of two million dead Brits piling up on street corners are now just a fading memory...
    I found his numerous anecdotes about healthy blokes who were infected, recovered and then dropped dead a few weeks later more concerning.
    Well there was a succession of accounts who each described how they *might* have had the virus pretty much before anyone else in the UK, that later simply disappeared. Should we fear the worst?
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 3,883

    Scott_xP said:

    Apparently there are calls for a judicial review of the exams fiasco.

    Good job BoZo and chums want to stamp out that sort if thing.

    A judicial review of teachers grade predictions would certainly be interesting.
    One aspect which is curious by its absence is the criticism by those teachers who do predict grades honestly of those who don't.

    After all its the pupils of the teacher who predict grades honestly who would lose out.

    Do teachers take a vow of omerta or something ?
    As a retired physics teacher and department head I was always under pressure from parents and SMT* about being generous with UCAS predictions. As mainly because students wouldn't even get an offer if their predictions are too low. Also I knew who paid my wages, the school and not the exam boards or the Daily Mail..:)

    btw SMT means senior management team, I prefer "shirkers, Malingerers and timewasters" though.
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 5,065
    edited August 2020
    MattW said:

    I very much applaud the idea that where Unionism has been going wrong is not displaying enough Union flags.

    https://twitter.com/markdiffley1/status/1294015753969172480?s=20

    I don"t see why they wouldn't be? Protects funded by the EU and the Scottish Government are.
    Which made such an impact in the EU referendum...
    In Scotland?

    Projects invariably include a plaque or similar detailing their funding, and this invariably includes the flag or emblem of those organisations. When the UK was in the EU, our subs (correct me if I'm wrong) came from the UK Govt., and then the EU kindly gave us some of or money back with projects emblazoned with their flag - quite a few in Scotland. That situation was a convenient one for the SNP. Not suggesting it won them elections, but it was a nice arrangement. Do they now expect the UK Government to disguise it's involvement in funding projects because...reasons?
    If anyone cares to send me their bank balance, I'll happily return 80% of it and a "Donation Courtesy of Matt W" plaque for your mantelpiece.
    Great, I have a 2000 pound overdraft, you owe me 400 pounds and a plaque!
  • alex_ said:

    I think there are two different issues with "enforcement" of quarantine.

    1) People who break it on a massive scale by going to work/school etc. Would expect employers/schools to send them home if they know about it. And good luck keeping a young child quiet about where they were on holiday a week ago

    2) People who break it, period. The actual rules on quarantine are ludicrously strict. You CANNOT leave the house for any virtually any reason, even a walk in the immediate vicinity (except to shops where absolutely essential).

    This is absurd to the point of ridiculousness on a relative risk basis compared to what is going on elsewhere in the country. It was designed for people much earlier in the crisis having come into probable proven contact with an infected individual, not a country with allegedly relatively high infection rates. What is even more absurd is that the quarantine doesn't apply to people who live in your house but who weren't on holiday with you. So a person living on their own, coming into contact with nobody, probably uninfected isn't even allowed to go for a walk around the block. A person living with somebody else can however pass it on to somebody they live with, who is free to do whatever they want, spreading it to whoever they wish.

    Who designs these rules???

    Probably the same modellers who built a model that predicted 500k dead in UK alone.
    As a worst case with no action taken to stop the spread.

    Considering we have had about 50k deaths with about 7% of the country infected and the NHS never overwhelmed it seems quite plausible that if we had seen the worst case of the NHS overwhelmed and 50% infected then 500k deaths would be quite plausible as a worst case.

    What's ridiculous about that?
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357

    Fpt

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    I very much applaud the idea that where Unionism has been going wrong is not displaying enough Union flags.

    https://twitter.com/markdiffley1/status/1294015753969172480?s=20

    I don"t see why they wouldn't be? Protects funded by the EU and the Scottish Government are.
    Which made such an impact in the EU referendum...
    In Scotland?

    Projects invariably include a plaque or similar detailing their funding, and this invariably includes the flag or emblem of those organisations. When the UK was in the EU, our subs (correct me if I'm wrong) came from the UK Govt., and then the EU kindly gave us some of or money back with projects emblazoned with their flag - quite a few in Scotland. That situation was a convenient one for the SNP. Not suggesting it won them elections, but it was a nice arrangement. Do they now expect the UK Government to disguise it's involvement in funding projects because...reasons?
    Because the arses are just using our money , and trying to make out it is largesse and that we are paupers. They can stick their UK union plaques and projects up their arses.
    Well yes, but that's the case with the Scottish Government, and all the quangos like HIE. Spending our money and expecting to be thanked for it is pretty much what Governments do.
    Well I doubt they get that many thanks, more brickbats. This will backfire big time on Bozo the clown , he is hated already and thinking he can pretend that he can take credit for spending our money will make us want to stay a colony is barking. He can F*** right off, the plaques will go in the bin.
    It's non news Malc. All those projects carry the same type of plaques. There's absolutely no reason why the UK Government should deliberately hide its involvement, other than for the SNP's political convenience
    Lucky, it will go down like a bucket of sick. Uptick in Yes support guaranteed. These thick goons just don't get that rubbing people's noses in it does not win friends.
  • MikeSmithsonMikeSmithson Posts: 7,382

    Betting related post.

    Regarding the 20/21 Champions and Europa Leagues betting, in light of the quarantine tennis that is likely to happen.

    How will European football be different?

    All qualifying ties for the Champions League and Europa League will be single-leg matches. However, home and away matches will return for the Champions League play-off round, due to be played at the end of September.

    Both tournaments are likely to be dramatically altered if the COVID-19 pandemic worsens.

    UEFA has announced that if a member country enforces travel restrictions which prevent a tie from taking place, the host team must forfeit the match. If both teams’ governments ban travel, UEFA can disqualify both clubs from the tournament.

    This could be an added pressure on government not to bring in lockdowns.
  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 8,298
    Glad to have site back. If the next lot of hackers could wipe out some of my past incorrect predictions and general daft comments that would be lovely.
  • Foxy said:

    I see there has been an massive outbreak at a Northampton Sandwich factory where everyone wears masks.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/13/nearly-300-workers-test-positive-at-ms-sandwich-factory-in-northampton

    I think the business was blaming the infections on activities outside of work - car sharing and living arrangements etc.

    I suspect that's part of the explanation but only a part.
    The workers are nearly all Hungarian as I recall. Possibly shared housing and cars.

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/10/sandwich-firm-fill-vacancies-factory-east-european-workers
    An example of the family working is in the BBC report:

    One of those to test positive was Bakers' Union's branch secretary for the factory, Nicolae Macari.

    He said he tested positive on 4 August, along with his mother and father - who also work at Greencore - and his wife.

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,717
    edited August 2020

    Foxy said:

    Scott_xP said:

    If there hadn't been so much over-predicting of grades then the predictions could have been accepted.

    Teachers grade predictions turned out to be as reliable as an estate agent's valuation.

    You mean the education reforms championed by "Superforecaster" Dom Cummings turn out to have been just as shit as all his other schemes?

    Shocker...
    The reforms which have led to the highest ever A level grades ?

    With teachers thinking that 40% of grades should be even higher.

    They seem to have been an incredible success.
    Quite obviously so. I am sure they will make the same success over Brexit.
    I'm sure it will lead to the highest something or other :wink:
    Wasn't the specific purpose of Cummings/Gove reforms to restore academic rigour and reverse grade inflation?

    o:)
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868

    alex_ said:

    I think there are two different issues with "enforcement" of quarantine.

    1) People who break it on a massive scale by going to work/school etc. Would expect employers/schools to send them home if they know about it. And good luck keeping a young child quiet about where they were on holiday a week ago

    2) People who break it, period. The actual rules on quarantine are ludicrously strict. You CANNOT leave the house for any virtually any reason, even a walk in the immediate vicinity (except to shops where absolutely essential).

    This is absurd to the point of ridiculousness on a relative risk basis compared to what is going on elsewhere in the country. It was designed for people much earlier in the crisis having come into probable proven contact with an infected individual, not a country with allegedly relatively high infection rates. What is even more absurd is that the quarantine doesn't apply to people who live in your house but who weren't on holiday with you. So a person living on their own, coming into contact with nobody, probably uninfected isn't even allowed to go for a walk around the block. A person living with somebody else can however pass it on to somebody they live with, who is free to do whatever they want, spreading it to whoever they wish.

    Who designs these rules???

    Probably the same modellers who built a model that predicted 500k dead in UK alone.
    As a worst case with no action taken to stop the spread.

    Considering we have had about 50k deaths with about 7% of the country infected and the NHS never overwhelmed it seems quite plausible that if we had seen the worst case of the NHS overwhelmed and 50% infected then 500k deaths would be quite plausible as a worst case.

    What's ridiculous about that?
    40k deaths, and no-one really knows how many have been infected. The counter to your challenge is that nothing like it (in terms of death rate) has happened anywhere in the world.

    I dont believe there is any possibility that, even had we done nothing at all, we'd be looking at death rates of half to two million.
  • He was in Stonehaven yesterday
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821
    edited August 2020
    IanB2 said:


    But the video's argument is that those 'signs' are reported new cases, rather than hospital admissions or deaths. It is at least possible that a lot of these arent "new" infections at all.

    I suspect the truth lies in between, and another reason why the uptick in case rates isn't being matched by more ICU admissions and deaths is that the so-called second wave is being spread by younger people out 'on the town' tired by the restrictions of lockdown, and as we know the propensity of the young to get seriously ill from Covid is dramatically low. The risk of back transmission to older folk in their families is then the issue.

    Another possible explanation would be that, in various countries, much more care is being taken to try to protect people in care homes and other high-risk categories. It wasn't just the UK which was poor on this to start with. I expect there's more PPE available, better testing, and a much better understanding of the dangers in these high-risk settings.
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 5,288
    Pro_Rata said:

    This has actually always been the case. The leaflet sent out by government back in April had someone in the household going down with COVID on day 10 and isolating until day 17, whilst a sibling who never developed symptoms was shown finishing isolation on day 14. I queried it, and indeed set my profile picture with the leaflet, at the time.

    Give me one minute.
    It's also the case if you are picked up by contact tracing domestically, you would isolate, but your family wouldn't need to unless and until you developed symptoms then came back positive on a test.

    There's lots and lots of strange stuff and apparent loopholes in the rules, and it makes more sense to think the government are playing a percentage game with R rather than going for absolute suppression in every instance.
  • Betting related post.

    Regarding the 20/21 Champions and Europa Leagues betting, in light of the quarantine tennis that is likely to happen.

    How will European football be different?

    All qualifying ties for the Champions League and Europa League will be single-leg matches. However, home and away matches will return for the Champions League play-off round, due to be played at the end of September.

    Both tournaments are likely to be dramatically altered if the COVID-19 pandemic worsens.

    UEFA has announced that if a member country enforces travel restrictions which prevent a tie from taking place, the host team must forfeit the match. If both teams’ governments ban travel, UEFA can disqualify both clubs from the tournament.

    Why do we not just disqualify UEFA

    It is more than likely that international football will not be viable for many months
  • IanB2 said:

    alex_ said:

    I think there are two different issues with "enforcement" of quarantine.

    1) People who break it on a massive scale by going to work/school etc. Would expect employers/schools to send them home if they know about it. And good luck keeping a young child quiet about where they were on holiday a week ago

    2) People who break it, period. The actual rules on quarantine are ludicrously strict. You CANNOT leave the house for any virtually any reason, even a walk in the immediate vicinity (except to shops where absolutely essential).

    This is absurd to the point of ridiculousness on a relative risk basis compared to what is going on elsewhere in the country. It was designed for people much earlier in the crisis having come into probable proven contact with an infected individual, not a country with allegedly relatively high infection rates. What is even more absurd is that the quarantine doesn't apply to people who live in your house but who weren't on holiday with you. So a person living on their own, coming into contact with nobody, probably uninfected isn't even allowed to go for a walk around the block. A person living with somebody else can however pass it on to somebody they live with, who is free to do whatever they want, spreading it to whoever they wish.

    Who designs these rules???

    Probably the same modellers who built a model that predicted 500k dead in UK alone.
    As a worst case with no action taken to stop the spread.

    Considering we have had about 50k deaths with about 7% of the country infected and the NHS never overwhelmed it seems quite plausible that if we had seen the worst case of the NHS overwhelmed and 50% infected then 500k deaths would be quite plausible as a worst case.

    What's ridiculous about that?
    40k deaths, and no-one really knows how many have been infected. The counter to your challenge is that nothing like it (in terms of death rate) has happened anywhere in the world.

    I dont believe there is any possibility that, even had we done nothing at all, we'd be looking at death rates of half to two million.
    That's because the worst case scenario is with inaction and there was never going to be inaction. It's like saying if you're driving at 70mph and see a stopped car ahead of you that if you don't break or change lanes the worst case scenario is you hit that car at 70mph and die. If you break then you don't say I avoided an accident so I clearly didn't need to break.
  • On topic, I am pretty sceptical about the value of this poll.

    A lot of people, myself included, got a lot of egg on their face predicting Clinton would win (and reasonably well) in 2016. One can fully see why people don't want to do so again, and indeed social media is chock-full of centre-left people saying "mark my words, Trump will do it again".

    But that does seem to me to be an over-correction and slight misremembering of 2016. At times, Clinton's lead in the poll averages was as high as Biden's is now, but Trump also led at times (albeit much less often), and polls ranged fairly widely (as there was no incumbent and views are always a little less settled in such cases). By election day, the lead was low single figures, very much in line with the actual result. Conventional wisdom assumed the "pussy grabbing" tape would harm Trump more than it did, and that Clinton would get a late swing - but the polls didn't say that and it didn't happen.

    My conclusion is there isn't too much wrong with conventional US polls. Regardless of what this index says, if Biden maintains an average lead of 7 or 8% (which is around where we are depending on the tracker), he will win the popular vote by probably in the range 6-9% and that will win the election for him - it's just not close enough to realistically be susceptible to the vagaries of the electoral college.

    He might not maintain that polling lead, of course - it could shrink or could grow. But I see "I'm voting Biden but expect Trump to win" as a reaction to 2016, nothing more (and indeed the twin brother is the overconfident MAGA-fan "I'm voting Trump and expect him to win as the polls were fake news last time too!")
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,751

    moonshine said:

    On the previous thread there was some argument about what a disaster Trump has been for the world and how it’s unthinkable he can continue. Talking about his deeds rather than words, is it not fair to say his administration has been the least interventionist and warlike President since Carter, and to wear my devils advocate hat, arguably one of the most effective in the foreign policy sphere of recent times?

    Moving along the process of normalising relations with North Korea. And now “brokering” the implementation of diplomatic relations between Israel and UAE.

    Has his policy in Syria led to an objectively worse outcome than under Obama?

    As for his China policy, most sensible people in Asia would consider Trumpism to be a much needed correction from the many years of US negligence and blundering, having failed to realise it was engaged in a Cold War against a ruthless and single minded protagonist.

    Black mark for his antagonistic stance on climate change but to be honest I’ve long given up hope that governments will meaningfully move the dial, it’s going to be technology and economics that drive the transition.

    Be careful Moonshine, you will be accused of being a Trumpster...

    In seriousness, that is an excellent post. When you look at the man's actions in foreign affairs, he has been more successful than Obama but, because it's Trump, its gets ignored. I noticed the Guardian online site has devoted more time on its front page to a reporter calling out Trump over his lies than the UAE deal - if Obama had done it, we would have had gushing columns for days.
    Your post is potentially quite a telling one for the sake of the election though isn’t it. It’s become such a social stigma to say anything even vaguely supportive of Trump that the shy voter element might be quite unprecedented. But the truth is that in terms of outcome, the Trump years have for a lot of people been pretty good. Say what you want about the death of fundamental analysis but the stock market will make a lot of people pretty happy.

    I still think it’s more likely than not that Biden wins at a canter but I thought the same about Clinton. Hindsight’s jury seems to now say it was always obvious Trump would win because despite the polls, Clinton was such an uncompelling candidate. Hmmm...
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,421

    IanB2 said:

    alex_ said:

    I think there are two different issues with "enforcement" of quarantine.

    1) People who break it on a massive scale by going to work/school etc. Would expect employers/schools to send them home if they know about it. And good luck keeping a young child quiet about where they were on holiday a week ago

    2) People who break it, period. The actual rules on quarantine are ludicrously strict. You CANNOT leave the house for any virtually any reason, even a walk in the immediate vicinity (except to shops where absolutely essential).

    This is absurd to the point of ridiculousness on a relative risk basis compared to what is going on elsewhere in the country. It was designed for people much earlier in the crisis having come into probable proven contact with an infected individual, not a country with allegedly relatively high infection rates. What is even more absurd is that the quarantine doesn't apply to people who live in your house but who weren't on holiday with you. So a person living on their own, coming into contact with nobody, probably uninfected isn't even allowed to go for a walk around the block. A person living with somebody else can however pass it on to somebody they live with, who is free to do whatever they want, spreading it to whoever they wish.

    Who designs these rules???

    Probably the same modellers who built a model that predicted 500k dead in UK alone.
    As a worst case with no action taken to stop the spread.

    Considering we have had about 50k deaths with about 7% of the country infected and the NHS never overwhelmed it seems quite plausible that if we had seen the worst case of the NHS overwhelmed and 50% infected then 500k deaths would be quite plausible as a worst case.

    What's ridiculous about that?
    40k deaths, and no-one really knows how many have been infected. The counter to your challenge is that nothing like it (in terms of death rate) has happened anywhere in the world.

    I dont believe there is any possibility that, even had we done nothing at all, we'd be looking at death rates of half to two million.
    That's because the worst case scenario is with inaction and there was never going to be inaction. It's like saying if you're driving at 70mph and see a stopped car ahead of you that if you don't break or change lanes the worst case scenario is you hit that car at 70mph and die. If you break then you don't say I avoided an accident so I clearly didn't need to break.
    Yes.

    One of the problems with a lockdown was that if it worked, people would complain it wasn’t necessary.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    edited August 2020

    IanB2 said:

    alex_ said:

    I think there are two different issues with "enforcement" of quarantine.

    1) People who break it on a massive scale by going to work/school etc. Would expect employers/schools to send them home if they know about it. And good luck keeping a young child quiet about where they were on holiday a week ago

    2) People who break it, period. The actual rules on quarantine are ludicrously strict. You CANNOT leave the house for any virtually any reason, even a walk in the immediate vicinity (except to shops where absolutely essential).

    This is absurd to the point of ridiculousness on a relative risk basis compared to what is going on elsewhere in the country. It was designed for people much earlier in the crisis having come into probable proven contact with an infected individual, not a country with allegedly relatively high infection rates. What is even more absurd is that the quarantine doesn't apply to people who live in your house but who weren't on holiday with you. So a person living on their own, coming into contact with nobody, probably uninfected isn't even allowed to go for a walk around the block. A person living with somebody else can however pass it on to somebody they live with, who is free to do whatever they want, spreading it to whoever they wish.

    Who designs these rules???

    Probably the same modellers who built a model that predicted 500k dead in UK alone.
    As a worst case with no action taken to stop the spread.

    Considering we have had about 50k deaths with about 7% of the country infected and the NHS never overwhelmed it seems quite plausible that if we had seen the worst case of the NHS overwhelmed and 50% infected then 500k deaths would be quite plausible as a worst case.

    What's ridiculous about that?
    40k deaths, and no-one really knows how many have been infected. The counter to your challenge is that nothing like it (in terms of death rate) has happened anywhere in the world.

    I dont believe there is any possibility that, even had we done nothing at all, we'd be looking at death rates of half to two million.
    That's because the worst case scenario is with inaction and there was never going to be inaction. It's like saying if you're driving at 70mph and see a stopped car ahead of you that if you don't break or change lanes the worst case scenario is you hit that car at 70mph and die. If you break then you don't say I avoided an accident so I clearly didn't need to break.
    That's an analogy fail along the lines of many such similar offered up during Brexit.

    Italy did next to nothing in the early weeks when the virus was spreading through Lombardy - they had a terrible regional crisis with overflowing hospitals, but no sign of a death rate approaching anywhere near those sorts of levels. Similarly in Iran - one of the earliest outbreaks - where the 'action' they were taking included going out and licking shrines and the like. I well remember Eadric linking to Twitter videos of people dropping dead in the street and suggesting Iran may be hiding deaths on a truly epic scale - yet nothing along those lines has emerged since then.
  • Scott_xP said:
    IanB2 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    France are threatening reciprocal quarantine measures.

    Presumably that means if you go to France on holiday for 2 weeks, you need to spend them in quarantine, before returning home for another 2 weeks isolation.

    Why would anyone go to France especially now the French have declared Paris and Marseilles red zones for covid
    What a silly question.

    Why would anyone go on a walking holiday in Wales when the UK has Covid hotspots in Leicester, Bradford and Oldham?
    Amazing how you seem to think travelling to France against foreign office advice is the similar to Brits holidaying in Wales

  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821

    On topic, I am pretty sceptical about the value of this poll.

    A lot of people, myself included, got a lot of egg on their face predicting Clinton would win (and reasonably well) in 2016. One can fully see why people don't want to do so again, and indeed social media is chock-full of centre-left people saying "mark my words, Trump will do it again".

    But that does seem to me to be an over-correction and slight misremembering of 2016. At times, Clinton's lead in the poll averages was as high as Biden's is now, but Trump also led at times (albeit much less often), and polls ranged fairly widely (as there was no incumbent and views are always a little less settled in such cases). By election day, the lead was low single figures, very much in line with the actual result. Conventional wisdom assumed the "pussy grabbing" tape would harm Trump more than it did, and that Clinton would get a late swing - but the polls didn't say that and it didn't happen.

    My conclusion is there isn't too much wrong with conventional US polls. Regardless of what this index says, if Biden maintains an average lead of 7 or 8% (which is around where we are depending on the tracker), he will win the popular vote by probably in the range 6-9% and that will win the election for him - it's just not close enough to realistically be susceptible to the vagaries of the electoral college.

    He might not maintain that polling lead, of course - it could shrink or could grow. But I see "I'm voting Biden but expect Trump to win" as a reaction to 2016, nothing more (and indeed the twin brother is the overconfident MAGA-fan "I'm voting Trump and expect him to win as the polls were fake news last time too!")

    Yes, I think that's a sensible analysis.
  • On topic, I am pretty sceptical about the value of this poll.

    A lot of people, myself included, got a lot of egg on their face predicting Clinton would win (and reasonably well) in 2016. One can fully see why people don't want to do so again, and indeed social media is chock-full of centre-left people saying "mark my words, Trump will do it again".

    But that does seem to me to be an over-correction and slight misremembering of 2016. At times, Clinton's lead in the poll averages was as high as Biden's is now, but Trump also led at times (albeit much less often), and polls ranged fairly widely (as there was no incumbent and views are always a little less settled in such cases). By election day, the lead was low single figures, very much in line with the actual result. Conventional wisdom assumed the "pussy grabbing" tape would harm Trump more than it did, and that Clinton would get a late swing - but the polls didn't say that and it didn't happen.

    My conclusion is there isn't too much wrong with conventional US polls. Regardless of what this index says, if Biden maintains an average lead of 7 or 8% (which is around where we are depending on the tracker), he will win the popular vote by probably in the range 6-9% and that will win the election for him - it's just not close enough to realistically be susceptible to the vagaries of the electoral college.

    He might not maintain that polling lead, of course - it could shrink or could grow. But I see "I'm voting Biden but expect Trump to win" as a reaction to 2016, nothing more (and indeed the twin brother is the overconfident MAGA-fan "I'm voting Trump and expect him to win as the polls were fake news last time too!")

    It's similar to 2019 and Trump and Corbyn are very similar in general. Trump is the American Corbyn and in 2019 people were more sceptical about the polls because of 2017. But the polls were right the second time around.
  • alex_ said:

    Scott_xP said:

    France are threatening reciprocal quarantine measures.

    Presumably that means if you go to France on holiday for 2 weeks, you need to spend them in quarantine, before returning home for another 2 weeks isolation.

    Why would anyone go to France especially now the French have declared Paris and Marseilles red zones for covid
    What difference does that make if you're spending two weeks in a villa?
    Travel against foreign office advise is irresponsible and just because you are in a villa that does not provide protection in high risk areas
  • Scott_xP said:

    France are threatening reciprocal quarantine measures.

    Presumably that means if you go to France on holiday for 2 weeks, you need to spend them in quarantine, before returning home for another 2 weeks isolation.

    Why would anyone go to France especially now the French have declared Paris and Marseilles red zones for covid
    Because there are some places in France other than Paris and Marseilles?

    If someone is going to a holiday cottage in Brittany, why do they give a stuff if Paris and Marseilles have problems?

    Are people in Tunbridge Wells that fussed about Leicester and Manchester (beyond general interest in how the whole thing is being handled)?
  • On topic, it was found that the neighbour question was a more accurate predictor of the vote in 2016. This article worth reading.

    https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/donald-trump-2016-polls-upset-214461

    In particular, note the response of one of the pollsters who called Trump's victory

    "I grew up in the South and everybody is very polite down here, and if you want to find out the truth on a hot topic, you can’t just ask the question directly. So, the neighbor is part of the mechanism to get that real answer. In the 11 battle ground states, and 3 non-battleground, there was a significant drop-off between the ballot test question [which candidate you support] and the neighbors’ question [which candidate you believe most of your neighbors support]. The neighbors question result showed a similar result in each state: Hillary dropped [relative to the ballot test question] and Trump comes up across every demographic, every geography. Hillary's drop was between 3 and 11 percent while Trump's increase was between 3 and 7 percent. This pattern existed everywhere from Pennsylvania to Nevada to Utah to Georgia, and it was a constant."

    Thanks is why the Dems cannot afford to relax or take comfort from the polls. Trump can still steal this from under their noses.
    The deal with Israel and the UAE is a big moment and Trump will milk it for all he can
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163

    Scott_xP said:
    IanB2 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    France are threatening reciprocal quarantine measures.

    Presumably that means if you go to France on holiday for 2 weeks, you need to spend them in quarantine, before returning home for another 2 weeks isolation.

    Why would anyone go to France especially now the French have declared Paris and Marseilles red zones for covid
    What a silly question.

    Why would anyone go on a walking holiday in Wales when the UK has Covid hotspots in Leicester, Bradford and Oldham?
    Amazing how you seem to think travelling to France against foreign office advice is the similar to Brits holidaying in Wales

    At least the French let you in and do not turn you back 5 miles from the border :D
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 5,065

    On topic, it was found that the neighbour question was a more accurate predictor of the vote in 2016. This article worth reading.

    https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/donald-trump-2016-polls-upset-214461

    In particular, note the response of one of the pollsters who called Trump's victory

    "I grew up in the South and everybody is very polite down here, and if you want to find out the truth on a hot topic, you can’t just ask the question directly. So, the neighbor is part of the mechanism to get that real answer. In the 11 battle ground states, and 3 non-battleground, there was a significant drop-off between the ballot test question [which candidate you support] and the neighbors’ question [which candidate you believe most of your neighbors support]. The neighbors question result showed a similar result in each state: Hillary dropped [relative to the ballot test question] and Trump comes up across every demographic, every geography. Hillary's drop was between 3 and 11 percent while Trump's increase was between 3 and 7 percent. This pattern existed everywhere from Pennsylvania to Nevada to Utah to Georgia, and it was a constant."

    This is really interesting. It relies on the principle that neighbours on average are quite similar to each other. This will though have certain biasses. I am sure that urban areas have a much larger mix of people living close to one another, than in suburban or rural areas. I also wonder if people have a natural instinct to give a different answer to the "what would your neighbour ...?" question, than the answer you just gave about yourself. After all most people would be indignant at the sugesstion , that they are just like their neighbour.

    I reckon this could be a useful tool, but calibrating it to overcome these biasses is not easy.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,205
    First up this essentially assumes 100% turnout, many neighbours won't vote - nevertheless the question begs an answer, is your neighbour a Trumper or a Bidenite….

    Given in the US a random pair of neighbours are more likely than not to vote the same way given urban-rural polarisation of the vote and so forth, this is either

    i. Projection

    or

    ii. People disliking/not knowing their neighbours.

    Was a similar question ever asked in the midterms, or in 2016 ?
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 5,065

    Scott_xP said:

    France are threatening reciprocal quarantine measures.

    Presumably that means if you go to France on holiday for 2 weeks, you need to spend them in quarantine, before returning home for another 2 weeks isolation.

    Why would anyone go to France especially now the French have declared Paris and Marseilles red zones for covid

    Some people would go to France because they live there.
  • IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    alex_ said:

    I think there are two different issues with "enforcement" of quarantine.

    1) People who break it on a massive scale by going to work/school etc. Would expect employers/schools to send them home if they know about it. And good luck keeping a young child quiet about where they were on holiday a week ago

    2) People who break it, period. The actual rules on quarantine are ludicrously strict. You CANNOT leave the house for any virtually any reason, even a walk in the immediate vicinity (except to shops where absolutely essential).

    This is absurd to the point of ridiculousness on a relative risk basis compared to what is going on elsewhere in the country. It was designed for people much earlier in the crisis having come into probable proven contact with an infected individual, not a country with allegedly relatively high infection rates. What is even more absurd is that the quarantine doesn't apply to people who live in your house but who weren't on holiday with you. So a person living on their own, coming into contact with nobody, probably uninfected isn't even allowed to go for a walk around the block. A person living with somebody else can however pass it on to somebody they live with, who is free to do whatever they want, spreading it to whoever they wish.

    Who designs these rules???

    Probably the same modellers who built a model that predicted 500k dead in UK alone.
    As a worst case with no action taken to stop the spread.

    Considering we have had about 50k deaths with about 7% of the country infected and the NHS never overwhelmed it seems quite plausible that if we had seen the worst case of the NHS overwhelmed and 50% infected then 500k deaths would be quite plausible as a worst case.

    What's ridiculous about that?
    40k deaths, and no-one really knows how many have been infected. The counter to your challenge is that nothing like it (in terms of death rate) has happened anywhere in the world.

    I dont believe there is any possibility that, even had we done nothing at all, we'd be looking at death rates of half to two million.
    That's because the worst case scenario is with inaction and there was never going to be inaction. It's like saying if you're driving at 70mph and see a stopped car ahead of you that if you don't break or change lanes the worst case scenario is you hit that car at 70mph and die. If you break then you don't say I avoided an accident so I clearly didn't need to break.
    That's an analogy fail along the lines of many such similar offered up during Brexit.

    Italy did next to nothing in the early weeks when the virus was spreading through Lombardy - they had a terrible regional crisis with overflowing hospitals, but no sign of a death rate approaching anywhere near those sorts of levels. Similarly in Iran - one of the earliest outbreaks - where the 'action' they were taking included going out and licking shrines and the like. I well remember Eadric linking to Twitter videos of people dropping dead in the street and suggesting Iran may be hiding deaths on a truly epic scale - yet nothing along those lines has emerged since then.
    Italy did nothing? It had a full lockdown of Lombardy and the rest of the country that was far harsher than our lockdown.

    As for Eadric he's full of nonsense. Ignore.

    Iran isn't the UK. One reason the death tolls are higher in the West is that the virus is terrible for the elderly of whom we have a lot. In countries with poorer healthcare the elderly have largely already died so aren't there to be vulnerable to it. In Iran only 6% of the population is over 65, the figure in the UK is over 18%
This discussion has been closed.