Lots of man love ❤️ for Boris, for his roadmap and for his luxuriant hair on PB this afternoon. Some positive swooning. Bless.
And bloody well deserved too. We can all quibble over the exact speed of the unlocking, but we're now in a position to escape this thing faster than almost all countries that are not led by a certain Boris Johnson.
Before quibbling over the exact speed of the unlocking, you ought to take off your hat and bow your head for the tens of thousands killed by Boris Johnson's negligence to date.
Post of the day. A shard of ice in the cup of frothing adulation.
More like a dollop of pigeon shit in your morning coffee.
Why do you get so animated when posters critique Johnson.
Is he your dad?
There's a non-negligible chance of that for all of us under a certain age!
Primary 1-3 were back at the school behind my house today. Lots of happy laughter, if not from the teachers.
It really seems to me that those spending so long in close proximity with children too young to understand social distancing ought to have been vaccinated before the schools went back.
Two issues with that: 1. as far as I understand, there is very little evident that children spread it significantly, and 2. any vaccination of a teacher in her 20s who is unlikely to suffer seriously with it pushes someone in his 60s who may become seriously ill or die back in the queue.
The argument isn't cut and dried either way, as far as I'm concerned. I'm just pointing out why the alternative approach might have a case too.
I think that that was certainly true of the original virus but I have read a number of reports linked to on here suggesting that the Kent variant is much more likely to infect children who are capable of transmitting it to others. Given that one of the concerns about opening schools (which I fervently support for educational reasons) is onward transmission it does not seem an unreasonable precaution to vaccinate the staff who will be exposed.
I think this is less interesting than it first appears.
Secondary school pupils will need negative covid tests to return to school. The sheer logistical impossibility of doing 1000+ tests in a day for schools will mean they can't all have them on the same day.
Primary 1-3 were back at the school behind my house today. Lots of happy laughter, if not from the teachers.
It really seems to me that those spending so long in close proximity with children too young to understand social distancing ought to have been vaccinated before the schools went back.
I just don't understand why they haven't been vaccinated. Apparently there's 50,000 teachers in Scotland across early learning, primary, and secondary, so that would have been one day's worth of vaccines when going at full tilt.
500,000 teachers in the UK. That would have taken a day.
Primary 1-3 were back at the school behind my house today. Lots of happy laughter, if not from the teachers.
It really seems to me that those spending so long in close proximity with children too young to understand social distancing ought to have been vaccinated before the schools went back.
Two issues with that: 1. as far as I understand, there is very little evident that children spread it significantly, and 2. any vaccination of a teacher in her 20s who is unlikely to suffer seriously with it pushes someone in his 60s who may become seriously ill or die back in the queue.
The argument isn't cut and dried either way, as far as I'm concerned. I'm just pointing out why the alternative approach might have a case too.
I’m more concerned, re. Vaccines, with this idea you need to continue to be careful while building immunity, which isn’t possible in a school.
Equally, I’m not seeing surges in deaths among medical staff who have been vaccinated (having looked) which I’ll take as a hopeful sign.
I think this is less interesting than it first appears.
Secondary school pupils will need negative covid tests to return to school. The sheer logistical impossibility of doing 1000+ tests in a day for schools will mean they can't all have them on the same day.
So they’re lying when they say all schools will be open to all pupils from 8th March? Because they cannot both be true.
I think it's safe to say Boris seems to have made a a fuller recovery from his Covid symptoms now. He couldn't do beyond half an hour in the Chamber last year, now he's coming up to two hours and still going strong.
It does set the government a good target of getting every adult a first jab by May 31st, if June 21st is the full reopening. It's a really good target date to have in mind as well given the new supply of Moderna and Novavax we're getting in April.
Honestly I think the government has effectively set the 31st of May as an unofficial deadline to get all adults their first doses. We've brought the other target forwards by two weeks so it means there are 6 weeks, effectively, to get all under 50s their first doses. That's around 4m first doses per week, it is 100% possible to do that.
What are you thoughts on the lamentable vaccination stats today? The expected supply bottleneck (anticipated a few days ago) or something more sinister?
I expect Pfizer doses are being held back right now to build a buffer, maybe around 100k per day for two weeks or so.
As I said this morning, my hospital has now stopped new Pfizer jabs and is holding supply for the second jabs.
Primary 1-3 were back at the school behind my house today. Lots of happy laughter, if not from the teachers.
It really seems to me that those spending so long in close proximity with children too young to understand social distancing ought to have been vaccinated before the schools went back.
Two issues with that: 1. as far as I understand, there is very little evident that children spread it significantly, and 2. any vaccination of a teacher in her 20s who is unlikely to suffer seriously with it pushes someone in his 60s who may become seriously ill or die back in the queue.
The argument isn't cut and dried either way, as far as I'm concerned. I'm just pointing out why the alternative approach might have a case too.
Recent ONS data shows children at similar infection levels as adults, and Kent Covid is suspected of gaining its transmission advantage from being better at spreading through children (albeit still with very low likelihood of serious illness).
Primary 1-3 were back at the school behind my house today. Lots of happy laughter, if not from the teachers.
It really seems to me that those spending so long in close proximity with children too young to understand social distancing ought to have been vaccinated before the schools went back.
I just don't understand why they haven't been vaccinated. Apparently there's 50,000 teachers in Scotland across early learning, primary, and secondary, so that would have been one day's worth of vaccines when going at full tilt.
Maybe twice that if you include class room assistants and school staff but yes, the numbers are not particularly challenging and they would be easily organised for rapid vaccination.
Mark Harper asks why the need for any further restrictions at all when at end April all vaccination groups 1-9 will be done and these groups account for 99% of Covid deaths and 80% of Covid hospitalisations.
An excellent question because it strikes at the very legality of all this and Johnson's bumbling response - that not all will be vaccinated (i.e. younger people and vaccine-decliners) and some of those that have been jabbed will have insufficient protection - is simply not good enough in my opinion.
Because bringing forward dates of relaxations in response to data, is going to be one hell of a lot easier than pushing them back.
That`s not what Johnson said. Wish he had said that.
I’m pretty sure that’s what they’re thinking in government, they don’t want to have to push any commitments so they’re being slightly pessimistic at the moment, while hoping to see cases fall sharply in the coming weeks.
I stand by my prediction that the medical situation will improve much faster, and the government will come under huge pressure to advance the timescale. It’s possible they already have in mind the possibility of skipping forward, but also possible that they end up trying to defend their timetable beyond the point that would be sensible.
Primary 1-3 were back at the school behind my house today. Lots of happy laughter, if not from the teachers.
It really seems to me that those spending so long in close proximity with children too young to understand social distancing ought to have been vaccinated before the schools went back.
I just don't understand why they haven't been vaccinated. Apparently there's 50,000 teachers in Scotland across early learning, primary, and secondary, so that would have been one day's worth of vaccines when going at full tilt.
500,000 teachers in the UK. That would have taken a day.
And the bus drivers, the catering staff, cleaners and groundsmen?
Everyone will want to make exceptions, the easiest response is to get the rollout going as quickly as we can have the vaccines delivered.
If the case doesn't suprise me, having 100,000 of plague spreaders moving around the country.
It looks that way...
But I know quite a few students who have moved back to their student houses in Newcastle in recent weeks. The way they see it, they're paying for them so they'd rather spend some time with their friends as a "household".
If the case doesn't suprise me, having 100,000 of plague spreaders moving around the country.
Practical courses that need to be done to complete degree will be back so def final years in chem, phys, bio, prob engineering etc. I know we have been planning lab classes for pharmacologists.
If the case doesn't suprise me, having 100,000 of plague spreaders moving around the country.
Practical courses that need to be done to complete degree will be back so def final years in chem, phys, bio, prob engineering etc. I know we have been planning lab classes for pharmacologists.
Mark Harper asks why the need for any further restrictions at all when at end April all vaccination groups 1-9 will be done and these groups account for 99% of Covid deaths and 80% of Covid hospitalisations.
An excellent question because it strikes at the very legality of all this and Johnson's bumbling response - that not all will be vaccinated (i.e. younger people and vaccine-decliners) and some of those that have been jabbed will have insufficient protection - is simply not good enough in my opinion.
Because bringing forward dates of relaxations in response to data, is going to be one hell of a lot easier than pushing them back.
That`s not what Johnson said. Wish he had said that.
I’m pretty sure that’s what they’re thinking in government, they don’t want to have to push any commitments so they’re being slightly pessimistic at the moment, while hoping to see cases fall sharply in the coming weeks.
I stand by my prediction that the medical situation will improve much faster, and the government will come under huge pressure to advance the timescale. It’s possible they already have in mind the possibility of skipping forward, but also possible that they end up trying to defend their timetable beyond the point that would be sensible.
Certainly hope this happens. It will be odd if admissions fall to double figures or lower, and hospitals return to having few covid patients, but there is no possibility of advancing the release.
Mark Harper asks why the need for any further restrictions at all when at end April all vaccination groups 1-9 will be done and these groups account for 99% of Covid deaths and 80% of Covid hospitalisations.
An excellent question because it strikes at the very legality of all this and Johnson's bumbling response - that not all will be vaccinated (i.e. younger people and vaccine-decliners) and some of those that have been jabbed will have insufficient protection - is simply not good enough in my opinion.
Because bringing forward dates of relaxations in response to data, is going to be one hell of a lot easier than pushing them back.
That`s not what Johnson said. Wish he had said that.
I’m pretty sure that’s what they’re thinking in government, they don’t want to have to push any commitments so they’re being slightly pessimistic at the moment, while hoping to see cases fall sharply in the coming weeks.
I stand by my prediction that the medical situation will improve much faster, and the government will come under huge pressure to advance the timescale. It’s possible they already have in mind the possibility of skipping forward, but also possible that they end up trying to defend their timetable beyond the point that would be sensible.
We will see more in the Budget in a couple of weeks’ time, but the Chancellor definitely wants the country back to something approaching normality as soon as possible.
There’s several billion a week being lost to the Treasury by keeping things closed, if cases subside sufficiently they’ll bring things forward - even if only by a few days.
I think it's all too slow, because of the impact on mental health and the economy. Boris was obviously scarred by his experience last year, so he's making the obvious mistake this year. I'd have three weeks not five between each phase, and merge phases 2 and 3 and 4 and 5. Still, at least critics in the party have something to shoot at now.
I imagine the government will implement Phase 1 and maybe 2 as planned, but I think after that, unless of course there's a massive spike in cases, the pressure to open up will grow and they'll have to revise the remainder of the timetable.
Also, as others have noticed, people are more and more ignoring the restrictions they don't like anyway. And as the weather gets better, that'll only increase.
Primary 1-3 were back at the school behind my house today. Lots of happy laughter, if not from the teachers.
It really seems to me that those spending so long in close proximity with children too young to understand social distancing ought to have been vaccinated before the schools went back.
I just don't understand why they haven't been vaccinated. Apparently there's 50,000 teachers in Scotland across early learning, primary, and secondary, so that would have been one day's worth of vaccines when going at full tilt.
500,000 teachers in the UK. That would have taken a day.
And the bus drivers, the catering staff, cleaners and groundsmen?
Everyone will want to make exceptions, the easiest response is to get the rollout going as quickly as we can have the vaccines delivered.
Yup, just do it faster. I'm confident that these milestones line up to the vaccination programme expectations. By May 31st we should be in a place where all adults should have received their first dose.
I would like to get excited about the announcement but I've lost a bit of confidence we won't go backwards again, and it's still too far off for me to be thrilled, so for now I'll just try and be positive that my friends and neighbours can get their kids properly educated in a fortnight and leave it at that.
I think it's all too slow, because of the impact on mental health and the economy. Boris was obviously scarred by his experience last year, so he's making the obvious mistake this year. I'd have three weeks not five between each phase, and merge phases 2 and 3 and 4 and 5. Still, at least critics in the party have something to shoot at now.
I imagine the government will implement Phase 1 and maybe 2 as planned, but I think after that, unless of course there's a massive spike in cases, the pressure to open up will grow and they'll have to revise the remainder of the timetable.
Also, as others have noticed, people are more and more ignoring the restrictions they don't like anyway. And as the weather gets better, that'll only increase.
Yes, I think phases 3-5 might actually come sooner if the vaccine programme is going well and COVID hospitalisations have reached double figures per day.
I would like to get excited about the announcement but I've lost a bit of confidence we won't go backwards again, and it's still too far off for me to be thrilled, so for now I'll just try and be positive that my friends and neighbours can get their kids properly educated in a fortnight and leave it at that.
I think it's all too slow, because of the impact on mental health and the economy. Boris was obviously scarred by his experience last year, so he's making the obvious mistake this year. I'd have three weeks not five between each phase, and merge phases 2 and 3 and 4 and 5. Still, at least critics in the party have something to shoot at now.
I imagine the government will implement Phase 1 and maybe 2 as planned, but I think after that, unless of course there's a massive spike in cases, the pressure to open up will grow and they'll have to revise the remainder of the timetable.
Also, as others have noticed, people are more and more ignoring the restrictions they don't like anyway. And as the weather gets better, that'll only increase.
We will be opening up slower than the EU despite the vaccinations!
If the case doesn't suprise me, having 100,000 of plague spreaders moving around the country.
Practical courses that need to be done to complete degree will be back so def final years in chem, phys, bio, prob engineering etc. I know we have been planning lab classes for pharmacologists.
Yup, pages 31 and 32 of the document.
Almost celebrating here, tbf.
None of the dentists are being allowed to graduate in Dundee this year and I believe other dental schools are the same. Their final year is almost exclusively practical work on patients and they have not been able to do nearly enough. This is having knock on consequences as you can imagine. The dental schools are planning to send out half the number of offers they normally do this year and next to try and deal with the bulge.
A couple of my son's friends are applying for dentistry. Its never easy but this is brutal.
If the case doesn't suprise me, having 100,000 of plague spreaders moving around the country.
Practical courses that need to be done to complete degree will be back so def final years in chem, phys, bio, prob engineering etc. I know we have been planning lab classes for pharmacologists.
Yup, pages 31 and 32 of the document.
Almost celebrating here, tbf.
None of the dentists are being allowed to graduate in Dundee this year and I believe other dental schools are the same. Their final year is almost exclusively practical work on patients and they have not been able to do nearly enough. This is having knock on consequences as you can imagine. The dental schools are planning to send out half the number of offers they normally do this year and next to try and deal with the bulge.
A couple of my son's friends are applying for dentistry. Its never easy but this is brutal.
Does that mean non-scots at Dundee University are going to have to pay for another year of teaching? Brutal.
Can someone link me to Sturgeon's Zero-Covid strategy?
I see a lot of people saying she has one but no one linking to it. And my googling has only turned up a 4 day old news story saying some scientists have urged her to adopt a. Zero - covid strategy. Which suggests she hasn't.
If the case doesn't suprise me, having 100,000 of plague spreaders moving around the country.
Practical courses that need to be done to complete degree will be back so def final years in chem, phys, bio, prob engineering etc. I know we have been planning lab classes for pharmacologists.
Yup, pages 31 and 32 of the document.
Almost celebrating here, tbf.
None of the dentists are being allowed to graduate in Dundee this year and I believe other dental schools are the same. Their final year is almost exclusively practical work on patients and they have not been able to do nearly enough. This is having knock on consequences as you can imagine. The dental schools are planning to send out half the number of offers they normally do this year and next to try and deal with the bulge.
A couple of my son's friends are applying for dentistry. Its never easy but this is brutal.
Does that mean non-scots at Dundee University are going to have to pay for another year of teaching? Brutal.
Hadn't thought of that but Scots actually form a minority of the students at Dundee for dentistry because of the restrictions on places funded by the Scottish government. I would very much hope not on the basis that this year they have paid for something they didn't get but I honestly don't know.
I am just catching up with the news, after having been at work and then out shopping.
The news is better than I was expecting, because dates have been pencilled in for the latter stages of the plan. And yes, I know they're couched round with cautious language, but it's hugely important nonetheless. If the Government says that we're going to be rid of all this crap no earlier than June 21st, it gives them wriggle room to put it off until July, but if social distancing isn't in the dustbin by August then there'll be serious ructions. It gives us a standard to judge the Government's performance again. And a bloody good thing too.
Step 3 (17 May at the earliest) includes overnight stays, so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about going up to stay with Mum in June. One now has a degree of confidence that, if the Government can keep up the pace on vaccinations, we are going to get to these unlocking stages at approximately the right times.
Now, fingers crossed, if we can get to Easter without this big bang opening of the schools not sending things to pot, then I think we'll be on the run-in to the end of this. It's all quite encouraging.
Today we went over 140k nameable individuals dead. (133,077 death certificate by date to 5/2, 7,000 exactly hospital deaths by date since then).
There was one key, killer failure that made the UKs second wave so bad - in the last week of November, the failure to appreciate quite what was going on in Kent - the numbers were there to be seen - and the failure to moderate the lockdown release accordingly. The over generous initial Christmas offer, didn't help and limited how much could be scaled back, but that was secondary, the damage was already done in early December with Kent in tier 3 and Essex and London in tier 2, by waiting for the confirmation of the new strain before acting, rather than acting on the 'something' in the numbers.
Unfortunately, rapid vaccination compared with Europe and our likely faster downswing, although welcome and a psychological boon, will be a lesser influence in overall assessment than people believe. We will save lives here, but Europe will, is, downswinging and will have the summer to play catch up on that downswing.
I think it's safe to say Boris seems to have made a a fuller recovery from his Covid symptoms now. He couldn't do beyond half an hour in the Chamber last year, now he's coming up to two hours and still going strong.
Great big powerful man, isn't he?
He's surprisingly small, in person. Sort of like a cuddly teddy bear (insert obvious Winne the Pooh quote here).
But then, isn't SKS also surprisingly diminutive, from memory?
Lots of man love ❤️ for Boris, for his roadmap and for his luxuriant hair on PB this afternoon. Some positive swooning. Bless.
And bloody well deserved too. We can all quibble over the exact speed of the unlocking, but we're now in a position to escape this thing faster than almost all countries that are not led by a certain Boris Johnson.
Before quibbling over the exact speed of the unlocking, you ought to take off your hat and bow your head for the tens of thousands killed by Boris Johnson's negligence to date.
Give it a rest.
Useful to have a list of all the pbers who have a vacuum where their souls should be. Tens of thousands died because Boris Johnson was asleep at the wheel - not once, but over and over.
And you want to forget that. Well, it will not be forgotten by anyone with a conscience.
Can someone link me to Sturgeon's Zero-Covid strategy?
I see a lot of people saying she has one but no one linking to it. And my googling has only turned up a r day old news story saying some scientists have urged her to adopt a. Zero - covid strategy. Which suggests she hasn't.
From the Grauniad:
"At the Scottish government’s daily briefing on Thursday, the first minister said she had always favoured an elimination strategy when dealing with Covid-19 – “by which I mean suppress to as low as possible a level and then try to keep it there”"
So her elimination strategy is not a Zero-Covid strategy, despite the word elimination
I would like to get excited about the announcement but I've lost a bit of confidence we won't go backwards again, and it's still too far off for me to be thrilled, so for now I'll just try and be positive that my friends and neighbours can get their kids properly educated in a fortnight and leave it at that.
I would like to get excited about the announcement but I've lost a bit of confidence we won't go backwards again, and it's still too far off for me to be thrilled, so for now I'll just try and be positive that my friends and neighbours can get their kids properly educated in a fortnight and leave it at that.
Lots of man love ❤️ for Boris, for his roadmap and for his luxuriant hair on PB this afternoon. Some positive swooning. Bless.
And bloody well deserved too. We can all quibble over the exact speed of the unlocking, but we're now in a position to escape this thing faster than almost all countries that are not led by a certain Boris Johnson.
Before quibbling over the exact speed of the unlocking, you ought to take off your hat and bow your head for the tens of thousands killed by Boris Johnson's negligence to date.
Give it a rest.
Useful to have a list of all the pbers who have a vacuum where their souls should be. Tens of thousands died because Boris Johnson was asleep at the wheel - not once, but over and over.
And you want to forget that. Well, it will not be forgotten by anyone with a conscience.
It must be difficult to sleep at night maintaining such high levels of sanctimony.
Can someone link me to Sturgeon's Zero-Covid strategy?
I see a lot of people saying she has one but no one linking to it. And my googling has only turned up a r day old news story saying some scientists have urged her to adopt a. Zero - covid strategy. Which suggests she hasn't.
AFAIK that's true, and Jacinda Ardern has never proposed zero Covid either. Because it's an idea that's both desirable and achievable in theory, but is the opposite in practice. I think some of these over-zealous scientists only deal in theory, and don't think about the practicalities of their proposals. Politicians can't get away with that.
I am just catching up with the news, after having been at work and then out shopping.
The news is better than I was expecting, because dates have been pencilled in for the latter stages of the plan. And yes, I know they're couched round with cautious language, but it's hugely important nonetheless. If the Government says that we're going to be rid of all this crap no earlier than June 21st, it gives them wriggle room to put it off until July, but if social distancing isn't in the dustbin by August then there'll be serious ructions. It gives us a standard to judge the Government's performance again. And a bloody good thing too.
Step 3 (17 May at the earliest) includes overnight stays, so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about going up to stay with Mum in June. One now has a degree of confidence that, if the Government can keep up the pace on vaccinations, we are going to get to these unlocking stages at approximately the right times.
Now, fingers crossed, if we can get to Easter without this big bang opening of the schools not sending things to pot, then I think we'll be on the run-in to the end of this. It's all quite encouraging.
I think 29 March to visit your mum is OK assuming you are in a bubble with her.
Mark Harper asks why the need for any further restrictions at all when at end April all vaccination groups 1-9 will be done and these groups account for 99% of Covid deaths and 80% of Covid hospitalisations.
An excellent question because it strikes at the very legality of all this and Johnson's bumbling response - that not all will be vaccinated (i.e. younger people and vaccine-decliners) and some of those that have been jabbed will have insufficient protection - is simply not good enough in my opinion.
Because bringing forward dates of relaxations in response to data, is going to be one hell of a lot easier than pushing them back.
That`s not what Johnson said. Wish he had said that.
I’m pretty sure that’s what they’re thinking in government, they don’t want to have to push any commitments so they’re being slightly pessimistic at the moment, while hoping to see cases fall sharply in the coming weeks.
I stand by my prediction that the medical situation will improve much faster, and the government will come under huge pressure to advance the timescale. It’s possible they already have in mind the possibility of skipping forward, but also possible that they end up trying to defend their timetable beyond the point that would be sensible.
Certainly hope this happens. It will be odd if admissions fall to double figures or lower, and hospitals return to having few covid patients, but there is no possibility of advancing the release.
They know it’s a real possibility - how else to explain the “no earlier than” plastered all over the announcements?
It you're asking if UK regulators might do the same thing, I think the answer is likely yes.
AFAIK, we're more open to approving the annual updates to the flu vaccine without too much rigmarole than is the FDA. @Charles is probably more knowledgeable about such matters.
I am just catching up with the news, after having been at work and then out shopping.
The news is better than I was expecting, because dates have been pencilled in for the latter stages of the plan. And yes, I know they're couched round with cautious language, but it's hugely important nonetheless. If the Government says that we're going to be rid of all this crap no earlier than June 21st, it gives them wriggle room to put it off until July, but if social distancing isn't in the dustbin by August then there'll be serious ructions. It gives us a standard to judge the Government's performance again. And a bloody good thing too.
Step 3 (17 May at the earliest) includes overnight stays, so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about going up to stay with Mum in June. One now has a degree of confidence that, if the Government can keep up the pace on vaccinations, we are going to get to these unlocking stages at approximately the right times.
Now, fingers crossed, if we can get to Easter without this big bang opening of the schools not sending things to pot, then I think we'll be on the run-in to the end of this. It's all quite encouraging.
I think 29 March to visit your mum is OK assuming you are in a bubble with her.
You can travel to visit people in your bubble now I thought?
Can someone link me to Sturgeon's Zero-Covid strategy?
I see a lot of people saying she has one but no one linking to it. And my googling has only turned up a 4 day old news story saying some scientists have urged her to adopt a. Zero - covid strategy. Which suggests she hasn't.
BMJ do you?
Scotland’s leader has proposed that the four UK nations align around a covid-19 elimination strategy similar to New Zealand’s, but is it feasible? Ingrid Torjesen investigates
Scotland is urging England and Wales to join Scotland and Northern Ireland in a four nation covid-19 elimination strategy.
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told a press briefing on 28 July that she had suggested that all four UK nations align “around a strategy that is effectively about trying to eliminate the virus.”
Today we went over 140k nameable individuals dead. (133,077 death certificate by date to 5/2, 7,000 exactly hospital deaths by date since then).
There was one key, killer failure that made the UKs second wave so bad - in the last week of November, the failure to appreciate quite what was going on in Kent - the numbers were there to be seen - and the failure to moderate the lockdown release accordingly. The over generous initial Christmas offer, didn't help and limited how much could be scaled back, but that was secondary, the damage was already done in early December with Kent in tier 3 and Essex and London in tier 2, by waiting for the confirmation of the new strain before acting, rather than acting on the 'something' in the numbers.
Unfortunately, rapid vaccination compared with Europe and our likely faster downswing, although welcome and a psychological boon, will be a lesser influence in overall assessment than people believe. We will save lives here, but Europe will, is, downswinging and will have the summer to play catch up on that downswing.
Yes, people still don't grasp how absolutely appalling the second wave has been. The absolute botching of the response to case and death rises in SEPTEMBER, never mind November is a key topic for the Truth and Reconciliation comission.
Can someone link me to Sturgeon's Zero-Covid strategy?
I see a lot of people saying she has one but no one linking to it. And my googling has only turned up a r day old news story saying some scientists have urged her to adopt a. Zero - covid strategy. Which suggests she hasn't.
AFAIK that's true, and Jacinda Ardern has never proposed zero Covid either. Because it's an idea that's both desirable and achievable in theory, but is the opposite in practice. I think some of these over-zealous scientists only deal in theory, and don't think about the practicalities of their proposals. Politicians can't get away with that.
My big concern was that cases thrown up by Britain's enormous case finding industry might be used to justify eternal lock down.
Johnson signaled he doesn;t mind covid cases so long as very few are getting very ill or dying. That we have to live with this.
That was a huge relief. Lets hope he sticks at it.
Can someone link me to Sturgeon's Zero-Covid strategy?
I see a lot of people saying she has one but no one linking to it. And my googling has only turned up a 4 day old news story saying some scientists have urged her to adopt a. Zero - covid strategy. Which suggests she hasn't.
BMJ do you?
Scotland’s leader has proposed that the four UK nations align around a covid-19 elimination strategy similar to New Zealand’s, but is it feasible? Ingrid Torjesen investigates
Scotland is urging England and Wales to join Scotland and Northern Ireland in a four nation covid-19 elimination strategy.
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told a press briefing on 28 July that she had suggested that all four UK nations align “around a strategy that is effectively about trying to eliminate the virus.”
Lots of man love ❤️ for Boris, for his roadmap and for his luxuriant hair on PB this afternoon. Some positive swooning. Bless.
And bloody well deserved too. We can all quibble over the exact speed of the unlocking, but we're now in a position to escape this thing faster than almost all countries that are not led by a certain Boris Johnson.
Before quibbling over the exact speed of the unlocking, you ought to take off your hat and bow your head for the tens of thousands killed by Boris Johnson's negligence to date.
Give it a rest.
Useful to have a list of all the pbers who have a vacuum where their souls should be. Tens of thousands died because Boris Johnson was asleep at the wheel - not once, but over and over.
And you want to forget that. Well, it will not be forgotten by anyone with a conscience.
It must be difficult to sleep at night maintaining such high levels of sanctimony.
The useful thing abut being sanctimonious is it provides people the opportunity to be sanctimonious in response, so everybody wins.
I am just catching up with the news, after having been at work and then out shopping.
The news is better than I was expecting, because dates have been pencilled in for the latter stages of the plan. And yes, I know they're couched round with cautious language, but it's hugely important nonetheless. If the Government says that we're going to be rid of all this crap no earlier than June 21st, it gives them wriggle room to put it off until July, but if social distancing isn't in the dustbin by August then there'll be serious ructions. It gives us a standard to judge the Government's performance again. And a bloody good thing too.
Step 3 (17 May at the earliest) includes overnight stays, so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about going up to stay with Mum in June. One now has a degree of confidence that, if the Government can keep up the pace on vaccinations, we are going to get to these unlocking stages at approximately the right times.
Now, fingers crossed, if we can get to Easter without this big bang opening of the schools not sending things to pot, then I think we'll be on the run-in to the end of this. It's all quite encouraging.
I think 29 March to visit your mum is OK assuming you are in a bubble with her.
You can travel to visit people in your bubble now I thought?
Primary 1-3 were back at the school behind my house today. Lots of happy laughter, if not from the teachers.
It really seems to me that those spending so long in close proximity with children too young to understand social distancing ought to have been vaccinated before the schools went back.
Two issues with that: 1. as far as I understand, there is very little evident that children spread it significantly, and 2. any vaccination of a teacher in her 20s who is unlikely to suffer seriously with it pushes someone in his 60s who may become seriously ill or die back in the queue.
The argument isn't cut and dried either way, as far as I'm concerned. I'm just pointing out why the alternative approach might have a case too.
I’m more concerned, re. Vaccines, with this idea you need to continue to be careful while building immunity, which isn’t possible in a school.
Equally, I’m not seeing surges in deaths among medical staff who have been vaccinated (having looked) which I’ll take as a hopeful sign.
Yes, I don't think there's any evidence that vaccines might increase your susceptibility to the virus in the short time it takes to develop an immune response. Though there's some likelihood that some of those vaccinated became less cautious immediately after getting vaccinated.
I am just catching up with the news, after having been at work and then out shopping.
The news is better than I was expecting, because dates have been pencilled in for the latter stages of the plan. And yes, I know they're couched round with cautious language, but it's hugely important nonetheless. If the Government says that we're going to be rid of all this crap no earlier than June 21st, it gives them wriggle room to put it off until July, but if social distancing isn't in the dustbin by August then there'll be serious ructions. It gives us a standard to judge the Government's performance again. And a bloody good thing too.
Step 3 (17 May at the earliest) includes overnight stays, so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about going up to stay with Mum in June. One now has a degree of confidence that, if the Government can keep up the pace on vaccinations, we are going to get to these unlocking stages at approximately the right times.
Now, fingers crossed, if we can get to Easter without this big bang opening of the schools not sending things to pot, then I think we'll be on the run-in to the end of this. It's all quite encouraging.
I think 29 March to visit your mum is OK assuming you are in a bubble with her.
I'm not, so I don't think that would be strictly permissible. Besides, I'm intending on leaving it until she's had jab 2 and I've had jab 1. I'm a fortysomething so am hoping I won't be waiting an eternity after the over 50s target in mid-April.
I would like to get excited about the announcement but I've lost a bit of confidence we won't go backwards again, and it's still too far off for me to be thrilled, so for now I'll just try and be positive that my friends and neighbours can get their kids properly educated in a fortnight and leave it at that.
I think there's been too many missteps to be super confident we are on a path to release which will not deviate, so a level of wariness is appropriate even if things are definitely more optimistic now.
Today we went over 140k nameable individuals dead. (133,077 death certificate by date to 5/2, 7,000 exactly hospital deaths by date since then).
There was one key, killer failure that made the UKs second wave so bad - in the last week of November, the failure to appreciate quite what was going on in Kent - the numbers were there to be seen - and the failure to moderate the lockdown release accordingly. The over generous initial Christmas offer, didn't help and limited how much could be scaled back, but that was secondary, the damage was already done in early December with Kent in tier 3 and Essex and London in tier 2, by waiting for the confirmation of the new strain before acting, rather than acting on the 'something' in the numbers.
Unfortunately, rapid vaccination compared with Europe and our likely faster downswing, although welcome and a psychological boon, will be a lesser influence in overall assessment than people believe. We will save lives here, but Europe will, is, downswinging and will have the summer to play catch up on that downswing.
Yes, people still don't grasp how absolutely appalling the second wave has been..
Yes, it has been pretty remarkable, as though a combination of numbness after so much time and the arrival of genuinely good news about future prospects has really undercut just how truly terrible this last wave has been. January was an absolute horror show.
A few people in Group 2 reporting booking jab, turning up with required membership of professional body ID, only for the receptionist to ask who their employer is. On being told self employed then being turned away. It seems that self employed in the medical and care sector does not compute for some.
Sports media on BBC and Sky Sports News has gone a bit bonkers this afternoon, lots of interviews about how great it is that clubs can have fans back from May 17. Yet the Football League season ends on May 16, FA Cup final is May 15, so its basically one round of Prem fixtures, where the clubs will have to work out special arrangements just for that one game.
England Scotland at Wembley in the Euros limited to 10k max crowd whereas three days later they would be allowed a full crowd.....
Today we went over 140k nameable individuals dead. (133,077 death certificate by date to 5/2, 7,000 exactly hospital deaths by date since then).
There was one key, killer failure that made the UKs second wave so bad - in the last week of November, the failure to appreciate quite what was going on in Kent - the numbers were there to be seen - and the failure to moderate the lockdown release accordingly. The over generous initial Christmas offer, didn't help and limited how much could be scaled back, but that was secondary, the damage was already done in early December with Kent in tier 3 and Essex and London in tier 2, by waiting for the confirmation of the new strain before acting, rather than acting on the 'something' in the numbers.
Unfortunately, rapid vaccination compared with Europe and our likely faster downswing, although welcome and a psychological boon, will be a lesser influence in overall assessment than people believe. We will save lives here, but Europe will, is, downswinging and will have the summer to play catch up on that downswing.
Yes, people still don't grasp how absolutely appalling the second wave has been. The absolute botching of the response to case and death rises in SEPTEMBER, never mind November is a key topic for the Truth and Reconciliation comission.
Which country will the T&R commission be holding up as best practice? that'll be an interesting one.
By the end of September weekly deaths had doubled twice over the month. It took till the end of October where weekly deaths had doubled twice again before action was taken.
Lots of man love ❤️ for Boris, for his roadmap and for his luxuriant hair on PB this afternoon. Some positive swooning. Bless.
And bloody well deserved too. We can all quibble over the exact speed of the unlocking, but we're now in a position to escape this thing faster than almost all countries that are not led by a certain Boris Johnson.
Before quibbling over the exact speed of the unlocking, you ought to take off your hat and bow your head for the tens of thousands killed by Boris Johnson's negligence to date.
Post of the day. A shard of ice in the cup of frothing adulation.
More like a dollop of pigeon shit in your morning coffee.
Why do you get so animated when posters critique Johnson.
Today we went over 140k nameable individuals dead. (133,077 death certificate by date to 5/2, 7,000 exactly hospital deaths by date since then).
There was one key, killer failure that made the UKs second wave so bad - in the last week of November, the failure to appreciate quite what was going on in Kent - the numbers were there to be seen - and the failure to moderate the lockdown release accordingly. The over generous initial Christmas offer, didn't help and limited how much could be scaled back, but that was secondary, the damage was already done in early December with Kent in tier 3 and Essex and London in tier 2, by waiting for the confirmation of the new strain before acting, rather than acting on the 'something' in the numbers.
Unfortunately, rapid vaccination compared with Europe and our likely faster downswing, although welcome and a psychological boon, will be a lesser influence in overall assessment than people believe. We will save lives here, but Europe will, is, downswinging and will have the summer to play catch up on that downswing.
Yes, people still don't grasp how absolutely appalling the second wave has been..
Yes, it has been pretty remarkable, as though a combination of numbness after so much time and the arrival of genuinely good news about future prospects has really undercut just how truly terrible this last wave has been. January was an absolute horror show.
It absolutely was. Imagine if we had had that and no vaccines. Would our economy have survived? I fear we would have had to simply accept 1-2% were going to die and get on with it. We've dodged a bullet. This time.
I am just catching up with the news, after having been at work and then out shopping.
The news is better than I was expecting, because dates have been pencilled in for the latter stages of the plan. And yes, I know they're couched round with cautious language, but it's hugely important nonetheless. If the Government says that we're going to be rid of all this crap no earlier than June 21st, it gives them wriggle room to put it off until July, but if social distancing isn't in the dustbin by August then there'll be serious ructions. It gives us a standard to judge the Government's performance again. And a bloody good thing too.
Step 3 (17 May at the earliest) includes overnight stays, so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about going up to stay with Mum in June. One now has a degree of confidence that, if the Government can keep up the pace on vaccinations, we are going to get to these unlocking stages at approximately the right times.
Now, fingers crossed, if we can get to Easter without this big bang opening of the schools not sending things to pot, then I think we'll be on the run-in to the end of this. It's all quite encouraging.
I think 29 March to visit your mum is OK assuming you are in a bubble with her.
You can travel to visit people in your bubble now I thought?
Of course you can, that is the whole point of a bubble!
Can someone link me to Sturgeon's Zero-Covid strategy?
I see a lot of people saying she has one but no one linking to it. And my googling has only turned up a 4 day old news story saying some scientists have urged her to adopt a. Zero - covid strategy. Which suggests she hasn't.
BMJ do you?
Scotland’s leader has proposed that the four UK nations align around a covid-19 elimination strategy similar to New Zealand’s, but is it feasible? Ingrid Torjesen investigates
Scotland is urging England and Wales to join Scotland and Northern Ireland in a four nation covid-19 elimination strategy.
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told a press briefing on 28 July that she had suggested that all four UK nations align “around a strategy that is effectively about trying to eliminate the virus.”
Today we went over 140k nameable individuals dead. (133,077 death certificate by date to 5/2, 7,000 exactly hospital deaths by date since then).
There was one key, killer failure that made the UKs second wave so bad - in the last week of November, the failure to appreciate quite what was going on in Kent - the numbers were there to be seen - and the failure to moderate the lockdown release accordingly. The over generous initial Christmas offer, didn't help and limited how much could be scaled back, but that was secondary, the damage was already done in early December with Kent in tier 3 and Essex and London in tier 2, by waiting for the confirmation of the new strain before acting, rather than acting on the 'something' in the numbers.
Unfortunately, rapid vaccination compared with Europe and our likely faster downswing, although welcome and a psychological boon, will be a lesser influence in overall assessment than people believe. We will save lives here, but Europe will, is, downswinging and will have the summer to play catch up on that downswing.
Yes, people still don't grasp how absolutely appalling the second wave has been..
Yes, it has been pretty remarkable, as though a combination of numbness after so much time and the arrival of genuinely good news about future prospects has really undercut just how truly terrible this last wave has been. January was an absolute horror show.
Wasn;t it everywhere?
And hasn;t the disease waned in the world in February, pretty much everywhere?
Today we went over 140k nameable individuals dead. (133,077 death certificate by date to 5/2, 7,000 exactly hospital deaths by date since then).
There was one key, killer failure that made the UKs second wave so bad - in the last week of November, the failure to appreciate quite what was going on in Kent - the numbers were there to be seen - and the failure to moderate the lockdown release accordingly. The over generous initial Christmas offer, didn't help and limited how much could be scaled back, but that was secondary, the damage was already done in early December with Kent in tier 3 and Essex and London in tier 2, by waiting for the confirmation of the new strain before acting, rather than acting on the 'something' in the numbers.
Unfortunately, rapid vaccination compared with Europe and our likely faster downswing, although welcome and a psychological boon, will be a lesser influence in overall assessment than people believe. We will save lives here, but Europe will, is, downswinging and will have the summer to play catch up on that downswing.
Yes, people still don't grasp how absolutely appalling the second wave has been..
Yes, it has been pretty remarkable, as though a combination of numbness after so much time and the arrival of genuinely good news about future prospects has really undercut just how truly terrible this last wave has been. January was an absolute horror show.
Wasn;t it everywhere?
And hasn;t the disease waned in the world in February, pretty much everywhere?
There were waves in a lot of places, true. But it was a really bad one, and it just feels surprising how unpanicked people have seemed, for better and worse, about that.
Today we went over 140k nameable individuals dead. (133,077 death certificate by date to 5/2, 7,000 exactly hospital deaths by date since then).
There was one key, killer failure that made the UKs second wave so bad - in the last week of November, the failure to appreciate quite what was going on in Kent - the numbers were there to be seen - and the failure to moderate the lockdown release accordingly. The over generous initial Christmas offer, didn't help and limited how much could be scaled back, but that was secondary, the damage was already done in early December with Kent in tier 3 and Essex and London in tier 2, by waiting for the confirmation of the new strain before acting, rather than acting on the 'something' in the numbers.
Unfortunately, rapid vaccination compared with Europe and our likely faster downswing, although welcome and a psychological boon, will be a lesser influence in overall assessment than people believe. We will save lives here, but Europe will, is, downswinging and will have the summer to play catch up on that downswing.
Yes, people still don't grasp how absolutely appalling the second wave has been. The absolute botching of the response to case and death rises in SEPTEMBER, never mind November is a key topic for the Truth and Reconciliation comission.
Which country will the T&R commission be holding up as best practice? that'll be an interesting one.
That's not the point of a t&r commission. The point is to find out what decisions were made, when they were made and more importantly why they were made so that the next time there is a pandemic the same mistakes are not repeated.
It is not a dick measuring contest. Nor a sop to make people feel better because other countries did badly.
Tell Ryanair in mid April they can resume flights mid May there's not a snowballs chance in hell they won't be flying before July. If you believe that you'll believe anything!
Today we went over 140k nameable individuals dead. (133,077 death certificate by date to 5/2, 7,000 exactly hospital deaths by date since then).
There was one key, killer failure that made the UKs second wave so bad - in the last week of November, the failure to appreciate quite what was going on in Kent - the numbers were there to be seen - and the failure to moderate the lockdown release accordingly. The over generous initial Christmas offer, didn't help and limited how much could be scaled back, but that was secondary, the damage was already done in early December with Kent in tier 3 and Essex and London in tier 2, by waiting for the confirmation of the new strain before acting, rather than acting on the 'something' in the numbers.
Unfortunately, rapid vaccination compared with Europe and our likely faster downswing, although welcome and a psychological boon, will be a lesser influence in overall assessment than people believe. We will save lives here, but Europe will, is, downswinging and will have the summer to play catch up on that downswing.
Yes, people still don't grasp how absolutely appalling the second wave has been. The absolute botching of the response to case and death rises in SEPTEMBER, never mind November is a key topic for the Truth and Reconciliation comission.
Which country will the T&R commission be holding up as best practice? that'll be an interesting one.
That's not the point of a t&r commission. The point is to find out what decisions were made, when they were made and more importantly why they were made so that the next time there is a pandemic the same mistakes are not repeated.
It is not a dick measuring contest. Nor a sop to make people feel better because other countries did badly.
It is an internal process.
That's what it should be. I think the chances of us getting something like that are about zero.
I am just catching up with the news, after having been at work and then out shopping.
The news is better than I was expecting, because dates have been pencilled in for the latter stages of the plan. And yes, I know they're couched round with cautious language, but it's hugely important nonetheless. If the Government says that we're going to be rid of all this crap no earlier than June 21st, it gives them wriggle room to put it off until July, but if social distancing isn't in the dustbin by August then there'll be serious ructions. It gives us a standard to judge the Government's performance again. And a bloody good thing too.
Step 3 (17 May at the earliest) includes overnight stays, so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about going up to stay with Mum in June. One now has a degree of confidence that, if the Government can keep up the pace on vaccinations, we are going to get to these unlocking stages at approximately the right times.
Now, fingers crossed, if we can get to Easter without this big bang opening of the schools not sending things to pot, then I think we'll be on the run-in to the end of this. It's all quite encouraging.
I think 29 March to visit your mum is OK assuming you are in a bubble with her.
You can travel to visit people in your bubble now I thought?
Of course you can, that is the whole point of a bubble!
I am just catching up with the news, after having been at work and then out shopping.
The news is better than I was expecting, because dates have been pencilled in for the latter stages of the plan. And yes, I know they're couched round with cautious language, but it's hugely important nonetheless. If the Government says that we're going to be rid of all this crap no earlier than June 21st, it gives them wriggle room to put it off until July, but if social distancing isn't in the dustbin by August then there'll be serious ructions. It gives us a standard to judge the Government's performance again. And a bloody good thing too.
Step 3 (17 May at the earliest) includes overnight stays, so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about going up to stay with Mum in June. One now has a degree of confidence that, if the Government can keep up the pace on vaccinations, we are going to get to these unlocking stages at approximately the right times.
Now, fingers crossed, if we can get to Easter without this big bang opening of the schools not sending things to pot, then I think we'll be on the run-in to the end of this. It's all quite encouraging.
I think 29 March to visit your mum is OK assuming you are in a bubble with her.
You can travel to visit people in your bubble now I thought?
Of course you can, that is the whole point of a bubble!
"You are permitted to leave your home to visit your support bubble (and to stay overnight with them). However, if you form a support bubble, it is best if this is with a household who live locally. This will help prevent the virus spreading from an area where more people are infected."
So I would say that legally speaking you can visit someone in a bubble regardless of distance. However, in practice I think you do risk prosecution defending on the copper that catches you because some forces are proceeding on a spirit of the law basis rather than a letter of the law basis. That`s my understanding.
Comments
P.S. You need to virtually shake my hand upon losing our sportsman's bet.
Ooops,
Secondary school pupils will need negative covid tests to return to school. The sheer logistical impossibility of doing 1000+ tests in a day for schools will mean they can't all have them on the same day.
Equally, I’m not seeing surges in deaths among medical staff who have been vaccinated (having looked) which I’ll take as a hopeful sign.
The biggest risk will be opening up schools I'd guess.
You can panic now if you like.
It's all here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/963491/COVID-19_Response_-_Spring_2021.pdf
If the case doesn't suprise me, having 100,000 of plague spreaders moving around the country.
Everyone will want to make exceptions, the easiest response is to get the rollout going as quickly as we can have the vaccines delivered.
But I know quite a few students who have moved back to their student houses in Newcastle in recent weeks. The way they see it, they're paying for them so they'd rather spend some time with their friends as a "household".
https://twitter.com/danwootton/status/1363903112596107276?s=20
Almost celebrating here, tbf.
There’s several billion a week being lost to the Treasury by keeping things closed, if cases subside sufficiently they’ll bring things forward - even if only by a few days.
I imagine the government will implement Phase 1 and maybe 2 as planned, but I think after that, unless of course there's a massive spike in cases, the pressure to open up will grow and they'll have to revise the remainder of the timetable.
Also, as others have noticed, people are more and more ignoring the restrictions they don't like anyway. And as the weather gets better, that'll only increase.
https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1363899291727724544?s=20
https://twitter.com/AlecGaffney/status/1363898453332553729
Not until 17 May at the earliest!
A couple of my son's friends are applying for dentistry. Its never easy but this is brutal.
I see a lot of people saying she has one but no one linking to it. And my googling has only turned up a 4 day old news story saying some scientists have urged her to adopt a. Zero - covid strategy. Which suggests she hasn't.
The news is better than I was expecting, because dates have been pencilled in for the latter stages of the plan. And yes, I know they're couched round with cautious language, but it's hugely important nonetheless. If the Government says that we're going to be rid of all this crap no earlier than June 21st, it gives them wriggle room to put it off until July, but if social distancing isn't in the dustbin by August then there'll be serious ructions. It gives us a standard to judge the Government's performance again. And a bloody good thing too.
Step 3 (17 May at the earliest) includes overnight stays, so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about going up to stay with Mum in June. One now has a degree of confidence that, if the Government can keep up the pace on vaccinations, we are going to get to these unlocking stages at approximately the right times.
Now, fingers crossed, if we can get to Easter without this big bang opening of the schools not sending things to pot, then I think we'll be on the run-in to the end of this. It's all quite encouraging.
There was one key, killer failure that made the UKs second wave so bad - in the last week of November, the failure to appreciate quite what was going on in Kent - the numbers were there to be seen - and the failure to moderate the lockdown release accordingly. The over generous initial Christmas offer, didn't help and limited how much could be scaled back, but that was secondary, the damage was already done in early December with Kent in tier 3 and Essex and London in tier 2, by waiting for the confirmation of the new strain before acting, rather than acting on the 'something' in the numbers.
Unfortunately, rapid vaccination compared with Europe and our likely faster downswing, although welcome and a psychological boon, will be a lesser influence in overall assessment than people believe. We will save lives here, but Europe will, is, downswinging and will have the summer to play catch up on that downswing.
But then, isn't SKS also surprisingly diminutive, from memory?
And you want to forget that. Well, it will not be forgotten by anyone with a conscience.
"At the Scottish government’s daily briefing on Thursday, the first minister said she had always favoured an elimination strategy when dealing with Covid-19 – “by which I mean suppress to as low as possible a level and then try to keep it there”"
So her elimination strategy is not a Zero-Covid strategy, despite the word elimination
https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1363909203082018817?s=20
It you're asking if UK regulators might do the same thing, I think the answer is likely yes.
AFAIK, we're more open to approving the annual updates to the flu vaccine without too much rigmarole than is the FDA. @Charles is probably more knowledgeable about such matters.
Scotland’s leader has proposed that the four UK nations align around a covid-19 elimination strategy similar to New Zealand’s, but is it feasible? Ingrid Torjesen investigates
Scotland is urging England and Wales to join Scotland and Northern Ireland in a four nation covid-19 elimination strategy.
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told a press briefing on 28 July that she had suggested that all four UK nations align “around a strategy that is effectively about trying to eliminate the virus.”
https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3071
Johnson signaled he doesn;t mind covid cases so long as very few are getting very ill or dying. That we have to live with this.
That was a huge relief. Lets hope he sticks at it.
That didn't happen.
I'm fairly certain that opening schools with cases increasing doesn't match a Covid zero strategy.
E.g. Amanda Holden/Devon police:
https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/celebs-tv/amanda-holden-avoids-covid-fine-5004889
She avoided fine in the end but they tried to prosecute.
On being told self employed then being turned away.
It seems that self employed in the medical and care sector does not compute for some.
England Scotland at Wembley in the Euros limited to 10k max crowd whereas three days later they would be allowed a full crowd.....
https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/1363896822029312000
And hasn;t the disease waned in the world in February, pretty much everywhere?
It is not a dick measuring contest. Nor a sop to make people feel better because other countries did badly.
It is an internal process.
Tell Ryanair in mid April they can resume flights mid May there's not a snowballs chance in hell they won't be flying before July. If you believe that you'll believe anything!
Support Bubbles - this is what the rules say:
"You are permitted to leave your home to visit your support bubble (and to stay overnight with them). However, if you form a support bubble, it is best if this is with a household who live locally. This will help prevent the virus spreading from an area where more people are infected."
So I would say that legally speaking you can visit someone in a bubble regardless of distance. However, in practice I think you do risk prosecution defending on the copper that catches you because some forces are proceeding on a spirit of the law basis rather than a letter of the law basis. That`s my understanding.