Rupert Pearse @rupert_pearse · 4h Friends working in NHS hospitals across the UK tell me most COVID in-patients are not vaccinated, or have an illness which affects their immune system. But some are young fit (unvaccinated) patients in their 20’s and 30’s. We may be seeing more pregnant patients than before.
We are planning for a peak of hospital admissions around early August.
That’s the biggest risk of this exit wave strategy IMV - I’m not sure I’ve seen data on the impact of COVID on unborn children
Or the jab. My gf is not having the vaccine until the baby is born
The official recommendation is pregnant women don’t get the jab because it hasn’t been tested (usually clinical trials include a statistically meaningful group of pregnant women but we didn’t have time on this one).
Hence why you have the issue with COVID Impact on unborn children
Let's not get too carried away - HOWEVER... looks like she has Cirstea on the ropes, and Cirstea is a very competent professional.
Agreed. But this is a mightily impressive performance, and she looks a player. Long, long time since I’ve seen a British woman player who looks this good.
Let's not get too carried away - HOWEVER... looks like she has Cirstea on the ropes, and Cirstea is a very competent professional.
Agreed. But this is a mightily impressive performance, and she looks a player. Long, long time since I’ve seen a British woman player who looks this good.
Apparently the Matt Hancock story was part of a plot to sabotage the Tories in Batley and Spen so that Keir Starmer would be able to cling on as Labour leader.
@mattzarb The Sun sat on the Hancock affair story, releasing it the weekend before the Batley and Spen byelection. The Tories lost the seat by just over 300 votes and as a result Starmer wasn’t pressured to resign. Labour now ambles along with an extremely unpopular leader and no policies
I don't buy such a claim. It might well work out that way, but losing a winnable seat would surely not be sensibly tossed away based on an assumption of how things might go if the Tories lost.
If nothing else there's no guarantee he would have gone if they'd lost, so all that might have happened was a ramping up of internal party tensions.
I have to admit I can believe that. Now, I am slightly biased because I did make the point in a post yesterday that I thought BJ would be very pleased with the result because not only has it kept SKS in place but that Galloway will undoubtedly see there is an opportunity for the re-emergence of the Respect party off a left-wing, anti-woke agenda targeted at the Muslim community. Oh, and SKS alienated Indian Hindu voters by the leaflet targeting Modi.
Rupert Pearse @rupert_pearse · 4h Friends working in NHS hospitals across the UK tell me most COVID in-patients are not vaccinated, or have an illness which affects their immune system. But some are young fit (unvaccinated) patients in their 20’s and 30’s. We may be seeing more pregnant patients than before.
We are planning for a peak of hospital admissions around early August.
That’s the biggest risk of this exit wave strategy IMV - I’m not sure I’ve seen data on the impact of COVID on unborn children
Or the jab. My gf is not having the vaccine until the baby is born
The official recommendation is pregnant women don’t get the jab because it hasn’t been tested (usually clinical trials include a statistically meaningful group of pregnant women but we didn’t have time on this one).
Hence why you have the issue with COVID Impact on unborn children
If she's as good as she looks, she's going to be a lot more popular than Sir Andy.
She looks pretty good, and is great at tennis too
Little bit of a hiccup, but still just back on serve... Factoid: Serena Williams first won Wimbledon in 2002; Miss Raducanu wasn't born until November of that year.
If she's as good as she looks, she's going to be a lot more popular than Sir Andy.
She looks pretty good, and is great at tennis too
Little bit of a hiccup, but still just back on serve... Factoid: Serena Williams first won Wimbledon in 2002; Miss Raducanu wasn't born until November of that year.
I blame myself - I click over, the commentator talks about how 'everything is going her way' like a dream, and she's barely won a point since.
Rupert Pearse @rupert_pearse · 4h Friends working in NHS hospitals across the UK tell me most COVID in-patients are not vaccinated, or have an illness which affects their immune system. But some are young fit (unvaccinated) patients in their 20’s and 30’s. We may be seeing more pregnant patients than before.
We are planning for a peak of hospital admissions around early August.
That’s the biggest risk of this exit wave strategy IMV - I’m not sure I’ve seen data on the impact of COVID on unborn children
Or the jab. My gf is not having the vaccine until the baby is born
The official recommendation is pregnant women don’t get the jab because it hasn’t been tested (usually clinical trials include a statistically meaningful group of pregnant women but we didn’t have time on this one).
Hence why you have the issue with COVID Impact on unborn children
In Ireland pregnant women are considered a priority group for vaccination, because they've record at least half a dozen cases of what they have called Covid placentitis (still birth associated with Covid infection of the placenta), and they consider the risk from the vaccine to be lower than that from the virus. Although, vaccination is not given until after the first 16 weeks.
If she's as good as she looks, she's going to be a lot more popular than Sir Andy.
She looks pretty good, and is great at tennis too
Little bit of a hiccup, but still just back on serve... Factoid: Serena Williams first won Wimbledon in 2002; Miss Raducanu wasn't born until November of that year.
Choking is always a fear with players this young and inexperienced. But her temperament is good, I think.
If she's as good as she looks, she's going to be a lot more popular than Sir Andy.
She looks pretty good, and is great at tennis too
Little bit of a hiccup, but still just back on serve... Factoid: Serena Williams first won Wimbledon in 2002; Miss Raducanu wasn't born until November of that year.
I blame myself - I click over, the commentator talks about how 'everything is going her way' like a dream, and she's barely won a point since.
Elections are bruising and it takes bravery to stand. Thank you to @Stephenson_Ryan for fighting the campaign on the issues and not pandering to divisions. We may disagree on a lot but he’s a good man and has more to give.
If she's as good as she looks, she's going to be a lot more popular than Sir Andy.
She looks pretty good, and is great at tennis too
Little bit of a hiccup, but still just back on serve... Factoid: Serena Williams first won Wimbledon in 2002; Miss Raducanu wasn't born until November of that year.
Serena Williams has had an astonishing career, being almost continuously in the top 10 ranked players since 1999. 22 years ago!
Elections are bruising and it takes bravery to stand. Thank you to @Stephenson_Ryan for fighting the campaign on the issues and not pandering to divisions. We may disagree on a lot but he’s a good man and has more to give.
Hate to be the cynic, but I see this as a back handed dig at GG
Meanwhile, our regular reminder that "getting back to normal" ain't possible without ditching mass isolation - it's not just the schools...
Bars, pubs and clubs may be forced into a backdoor lockdown beyond 19 July unless the government changes test-and-trace rules, industry bosses have warned.
Businesses across the country from Edinburgh to Chester, Oxford and London are being hit by waves of closures as staff are forced to self-isolate after being alerted by the NHS test and trace app over coming into contact with someone with Covid.
Under the current rules, workers who have come within 2 metres of a person with the virus must stay at home for 10 days even if they are vaccinated and have tested negative.
“The current guidelines are wreaking havoc among hospitality businesses and in essence enacting a further lockdown on large parts of the sector,” said Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of the trade body UKHospitality.
The Government is going to have to exempt the double jabbed from being locked up by test and trace, or else contact tracing and people getting pinged left, right and centre is going to start seriously gumming up the economy.
Tour De France is absolute anarchy today. Field smashed apart and no team with the numbers or incentive to bring it back. Every man for himself, and the proper climbing hasn't even started yet.
Elections are bruising and it takes bravery to stand. Thank you to @Stephenson_Ryan for fighting the campaign on the issues and not pandering to divisions. We may disagree on a lot but he’s a good man and has more to give.
Hate to be the cynic, but I see this as a back handed dig at GG
Should Galloway be treated with generosity and admiration?
Elections are bruising and it takes bravery to stand. Thank you to @Stephenson_Ryan for fighting the campaign on the issues and not pandering to divisions. We may disagree on a lot but he’s a good man and has more to give.
Hate to be the cynic, but I see this as a back handed dig at GG
Rupert Pearse @rupert_pearse · 4h Friends working in NHS hospitals across the UK tell me most COVID in-patients are not vaccinated, or have an illness which affects their immune system. But some are young fit (unvaccinated) patients in their 20’s and 30’s. We may be seeing more pregnant patients than before.
We are planning for a peak of hospital admissions around early August.
That’s the biggest risk of this exit wave strategy IMV - I’m not sure I’ve seen data on the impact of COVID on unborn children
Or the jab. My gf is not having the vaccine until the baby is born
The official recommendation is pregnant women don’t get the jab because it hasn’t been tested (usually clinical trials include a statistically meaningful group of pregnant women but we didn’t have time on this one).
Hence why you have the issue with COVID Impact on unborn children
Elections are bruising and it takes bravery to stand. Thank you to @Stephenson_Ryan for fighting the campaign on the issues and not pandering to divisions. We may disagree on a lot but he’s a good man and has more to give.
Hate to be the cynic, but I see this as a back handed dig at GG
It seemed very genuine when he was interviewed on the TV
Meanwhile, our regular reminder that "getting back to normal" ain't possible without ditching mass isolation - it's not just the schools...
Bars, pubs and clubs may be forced into a backdoor lockdown beyond 19 July unless the government changes test-and-trace rules, industry bosses have warned.
Businesses across the country from Edinburgh to Chester, Oxford and London are being hit by waves of closures as staff are forced to self-isolate after being alerted by the NHS test and trace app over coming into contact with someone with Covid.
Under the current rules, workers who have come within 2 metres of a person with the virus must stay at home for 10 days even if they are vaccinated and have tested negative.
“The current guidelines are wreaking havoc among hospitality businesses and in essence enacting a further lockdown on large parts of the sector,” said Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of the trade body UKHospitality.
The Government is going to have to exempt the double jabbed from being locked up by test and trace, or else contact tracing and people getting pinged left, right and centre is going to start seriously gumming up the economy.
The justification for removing restrictions would be that vaccination means we don't need the restrictions to control the spread of the virus. Given that this is self-evidently not because the vaccines are providing herd immunity, driving virus incidence to zero, then it follows that it would be because we don't need to control the spread of the virus, because we are willing to accept everyone catching it, because vaccination means the consequences of that are not severe enough to justify countermeasures.
So, yes, implication is that we don't need to require people to self-isolate.
Elections are bruising and it takes bravery to stand. Thank you to @Stephenson_Ryan for fighting the campaign on the issues and not pandering to divisions. We may disagree on a lot but he’s a good man and has more to give.
Hate to be the cynic, but I see this as a back handed dig at GG
Even if so, it's good (and too rare) to see some magnanimity across the major political divide.
For a job, I am reading the NY Supreme Court's judgement against Giuliani, suspending his law licence. It is actually compulsive reading, if you can get over the dry and pretentious language common to most legal opinions. It is also hilarious, presumably unintentionally so.
Here is a fairly typical passage:
[Giuliani claimed that ] 65,000 or 66,000 or 165,000 underage voters illegally voted in the Georgia 2020 election.The Georgia Office of the Secretary of State undertook an investigation of this claim. It compared the list of all of the people who voted in Georgia to their full birthdays. The audit revealed that there were zero (0) underage voters in the 2020 election. While a small number of voters (four) had requested a ballot prior to turning 18, they all turned 18 by the time the election was held in November 2020.
[Giuliani] does not expressly deny the truth of this information. Instead [Giuliani] claims that he reasonably reliedon “expert” affidavits, including one by Bryan Geels, in believing the facts he stated were true. None of these affidavits were provided to the Court ... Other than [Giuliani] calling him an “expert,” we do not know Mr.Geels' actual area of expertise or what qualifies him as such. Merely providing names and conclusory assertions that respondent had a basis for what he said, does not raise any disputed issue about whether misconduct has occurred.
Anyway, I'm finding it funny. But, more importantly, I think that, while parts of America's democracy may be under threat, its courts are still independent and robust.
The think I find extraordinary is the gap between the funny, articulate, clever* Giuliani who smashed the Mob in New York and the current version.
*As seen in contemporary interview, film footage etc.
There was always something of the self aggrandising bully about him, alongside what other qualities he possessed. The tendency of power to corrupt seems to have let that push out everything else.
Re Michael Gove. I do not know what he has been up to lately but having read his biography along with those of Boris and David Cameron and others, what is remarkable is what a small and shallow clique governs us. They all knew each other at school or university or first jobs.
Apparently the Matt Hancock story was part of a plot to sabotage the Tories in Batley and Spen so that Keir Starmer would be able to cling on as Labour leader.
@mattzarb The Sun sat on the Hancock affair story, releasing it the weekend before the Batley and Spen byelection. The Tories lost the seat by just over 300 votes and as a result Starmer wasn’t pressured to resign. Labour now ambles along with an extremely unpopular leader and no policies
I don't buy such a claim. It might well work out that way, but losing a winnable seat would surely not be sensibly tossed away based on an assumption of how things might go if the Tories lost.
If nothing else there's no guarantee he would have gone if they'd lost, so all that might have happened was a ramping up of internal party tensions.
I have to admit I can believe that. Now, I am slightly biased because I did make the point in a post yesterday that I thought BJ would be very pleased with the result because not only has it kept SKS in place but that Galloway will undoubtedly see there is an opportunity for the re-emergence of the Respect party off a left-wing, anti-woke agenda targeted at the Muslim community. Oh, and SKS alienated Indian Hindu voters by the leaflet targeting Modi.
Modi isn't popular with all Indian voters in the UK because of his sectarianism. Clearly some Hindus support, but the Sikhs are very anti, as are more secular Indians.
Elections are bruising and it takes bravery to stand. Thank you to @Stephenson_Ryan for fighting the campaign on the issues and not pandering to divisions. We may disagree on a lot but he’s a good man and has more to give.
Hate to be the cynic, but I see this as a back handed dig at GG
Should Galloway be treated with generosity and admiration?
Anyone who says he shouldn’t be doing ten years is treating him with generosity.
Tour De France is absolute anarchy today. Field smashed apart and no team with the numbers or incentive to bring it back. Every man for himself, and the proper climbing hasn't even started yet.
Roglic and Thomas 12 minutes down and out of GC. Cavendish will struggle to make the time cut off for Green. Pogacar under real pressure with only one team mate before the climbing begins.
Meanwhile, our regular reminder that "getting back to normal" ain't possible without ditching mass isolation - it's not just the schools...
Bars, pubs and clubs may be forced into a backdoor lockdown beyond 19 July unless the government changes test-and-trace rules, industry bosses have warned.
Businesses across the country from Edinburgh to Chester, Oxford and London are being hit by waves of closures as staff are forced to self-isolate after being alerted by the NHS test and trace app over coming into contact with someone with Covid.
Under the current rules, workers who have come within 2 metres of a person with the virus must stay at home for 10 days even if they are vaccinated and have tested negative.
“The current guidelines are wreaking havoc among hospitality businesses and in essence enacting a further lockdown on large parts of the sector,” said Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of the trade body UKHospitality.
The Government is going to have to exempt the double jabbed from being locked up by test and trace, or else contact tracing and people getting pinged left, right and centre is going to start seriously gumming up the economy.
What percentage of people are really actually genuinely using the app? I have some friends who say they use it as it is their civic duty but have turned bluetooth off as they don't want to be pinged ( so what is the point then?)
Re Michael Gove. I do not know what he has been up to lately but having read his biography along with those of Boris and David Cameron and others, what is remarkable is what a small and shallow clique governs us. They all knew each other at school or university or first jobs.
Apparently the Matt Hancock story was part of a plot to sabotage the Tories in Batley and Spen so that Keir Starmer would be able to cling on as Labour leader.
@mattzarb The Sun sat on the Hancock affair story, releasing it the weekend before the Batley and Spen byelection. The Tories lost the seat by just over 300 votes and as a result Starmer wasn’t pressured to resign. Labour now ambles along with an extremely unpopular leader and no policies
I don't buy such a claim. It might well work out that way, but losing a winnable seat would surely not be sensibly tossed away based on an assumption of how things might go if the Tories lost.
If nothing else there's no guarantee he would have gone if they'd lost, so all that might have happened was a ramping up of internal party tensions.
I have to admit I can believe that. Now, I am slightly biased because I did make the point in a post yesterday that I thought BJ would be very pleased with the result because not only has it kept SKS in place but that Galloway will undoubtedly see there is an opportunity for the re-emergence of the Respect party off a left-wing, anti-woke agenda targeted at the Muslim community. Oh, and SKS alienated Indian Hindu voters by the leaflet targeting Modi.
Modi isn't popular with all Indian voters in the UK because of his sectarianism. Clearly some Hindus support, but the Sikhs are very anti, as are more secular Indians.
Meanwhile, our regular reminder that "getting back to normal" ain't possible without ditching mass isolation - it's not just the schools...
Bars, pubs and clubs may be forced into a backdoor lockdown beyond 19 July unless the government changes test-and-trace rules, industry bosses have warned.
Businesses across the country from Edinburgh to Chester, Oxford and London are being hit by waves of closures as staff are forced to self-isolate after being alerted by the NHS test and trace app over coming into contact with someone with Covid.
Under the current rules, workers who have come within 2 metres of a person with the virus must stay at home for 10 days even if they are vaccinated and have tested negative.
“The current guidelines are wreaking havoc among hospitality businesses and in essence enacting a further lockdown on large parts of the sector,” said Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of the trade body UKHospitality.
The Government is going to have to exempt the double jabbed from being locked up by test and trace, or else contact tracing and people getting pinged left, right and centre is going to start seriously gumming up the economy.
What percentage of people are really actually genuinely using the app? I have some friends who say they use it as it is their civic duty but have turned bluetooth off as they don't want to be pinged ( so what is the point then?)
What I really want to know is the percentage of people regularly asymptomatically testing themselves voluntarily (i.e. not because they need to for e.g. work etc.) like wot the Government would like everyone to do.
Dr. Foxy, aye. But liking a particular sport or period of history is fundamentally different to claiming you don't belong to either gender in vague and strange ways.
Ironically, perhaps, I strongly agree with you on sexual stereotypes, to the extent that some people now think if a chap's into sewing or a girl's into engineering then they're 'really' the other sex.
I'd support the right of a knowing adult to transition, though once again that's beyond me, but marketing this stuff to kids is deeply disturbing, as is the degradation of women's sport and having rapists sent to women's prison when they choose to identify that way.
A very disturbing judgment yesterday in the High Court about transwomen and prisons, essentially saying, that yes rights for men claiming to be women did harm women but too bad, their rights overrode those of women. So a man claiming to be a woman and convicted of sexual offences against women can demand to be put in a woman's prison even though the court accepted that this made women prisoners feel unsafe and put them at risk of attack.
Lovely.
The case was a judicial review which limits what a court can actually do as the test is whether the prison service has taken into account all the relevant factors in coming to its decision not whether the decision is necessarily right or, indeed, desirable. But the consequence is that once again women's safeguarding is taken less seriously than it should be. Because self-ID is, frankly, a crock of shit. Gender dysphoria is a real thing and people with it are no threat to anyone. But people who claim to have it without more are completely undermining the very real needs of trans people.
Interestingly, as in the Keira Bell case, it appears that the Prison Service has not been collecting data on who in prison is or is not trans and, following this judgment, they will have to do so. Similar to the lack of evidence for some of the medical treatment given to allegedly trans children.
It is alarming when policies with significant consequences for individuals and societies are taken with very little or no data or evidence in support.
The irony about self-ID is that it is fundamentally rooted in old-fashioned stereotypes which feminism has tried hard to overcome. It is also inherently homophobic. After all, if gender is a choice why shouldn't sexuality also be a choice? Which is exactly the argument that a lot of people used against gay people - that homosexuality is a choice and that they had made the wrong choice of an evil lifestyle. Whereas it isn't. And they haven't.
I don't see a clear difference in essence between "Self ID" and a formal diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The latter involves medical professionals but at its heart is the testimony of the individual that they are male having being born female, or vice versa. There's no objective physical test. We're in the realms of feelings. I feel therefore I am.
This doesn't mean it's a choice. Homosexuality is also a matter of feelings and Self-ID but it isn't defined as a choice. The vast vast majority of those who say they have gender dysphoria aren't faking it. There'll be those who are confused and have other issues bleeding into their distress, but so what. That's the nature of these things. The point is, it's real. It isn't a bunch of people posing around trying to make themselves interesting or intent on causing aggravation and menace. They have a condition for which gender transformation is the main redress.
There's nothing new about transgender. Laws and language change but it's been around for ever. Rejecting the theological extremes - gender is fluid and purely optional like choosing what hat to wear today vs gender is fixed irredeemably at birth by your genitals - all we're really talking about is 2 things.
Should the process of transition be made quicker and kinder?
What protections are needed for female only spaces and sport?
To which I say -
Yes to the first. The changes to the GRA (now shelved) weren't some crazy invention of the outre, woke left. They were consensus, supported cross party, by a female Conservative PM (Mrs May), by the medical profession. All been souped up and demonized in the 'culture war' and it's a shame imo that we can't get back to approx that. Self-ID as the basis for the process with some limits and controls TBC. It's about where we should be on a spectrum ranging from transition being 100% Self-ID to being completely outlawed. There are countries in both camps. Where should we be? For me, closer to the first. It will help a group of people and harm nobody.
And re the second. TBC - and needed in certain areas esp (imo) sport and refuges - but for heaven's sake let's arrive at a solution based on reality not on the assumption that there are hordes of men just waiting for the chance to become fake women so that they can terrorize other proper women, or creep them out, or cheat them out of an Olympic medal.
So, like I said, I agree and disagree with you on this. Probably more of the 'd' if we're honest.
There is another issue which is the medical treatment of children.
I would agree with much of your analysis but on your second point you should take account that changing rules can change behaviour or provide new opportunities for abuse. Failure to apply that analysis is why many proposed changes to address an apparent wrong can do more harm than good. Automatically believing everyone reporting a sexual assault or a hate crime are other examples of well meaning but flawed policies.
Supposed to be going to a wedding reception tonight at a brewery. I'm told the football will not be on.
Might pretend I have Covid...
Trying to pretend that something of importance to the guests isn’t happening, usually doesn’t work out. Someone will have an iPad with a data plan, even if it means half the guests end up in the car park watching the screen. Better to embrace the match, and have the formal parts of the day over before it starts.
I was at a friend's boy's bar mitzvah (Jewish coming-of-age celebration) when England beat Germany 5-1. The room with the telly was awfully crowded. The room with the family was not.
Meanwhile, our regular reminder that "getting back to normal" ain't possible without ditching mass isolation - it's not just the schools...
Bars, pubs and clubs may be forced into a backdoor lockdown beyond 19 July unless the government changes test-and-trace rules, industry bosses have warned.
Businesses across the country from Edinburgh to Chester, Oxford and London are being hit by waves of closures as staff are forced to self-isolate after being alerted by the NHS test and trace app over coming into contact with someone with Covid.
Under the current rules, workers who have come within 2 metres of a person with the virus must stay at home for 10 days even if they are vaccinated and have tested negative.
“The current guidelines are wreaking havoc among hospitality businesses and in essence enacting a further lockdown on large parts of the sector,” said Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of the trade body UKHospitality.
The Government is going to have to exempt the double jabbed from being locked up by test and trace, or else contact tracing and people getting pinged left, right and centre is going to start seriously gumming up the economy.
The justification for removing restrictions would be that vaccination means we don't need the restrictions to control the spread of the virus. Given that this is self-evidently not because the vaccines are providing herd immunity, driving virus incidence to zero, then it follows that it would be because we don't need to control the spread of the virus, because we are willing to accept everyone catching it, because vaccination means the consequences of that are not severe enough to justify countermeasures.
So, yes, implication is that we don't need to require people to self-isolate.
The plan is to let it rip.
To an extent, I agree. Either vaccines are effective in which case it is tolerable, albeit rather Darwinian for anti-vaxxers, or they don't, in which case there is no obvious way out. Personally, I shall be remaining cautious around crowds and keeping my distance.
Isolation is causing quite a few absences at work too. Quite a lot of cancellations as it spreads through theatre teams. Waiting lists continue to mushroom.
So PBers are watching tennis, cycling and F1 at the moment. Any other sports on?
Racing. There's the Eclipse at Sandown and the Old Newton Cup and Lancashire Oaks at Haydock. We've already had a major cock-up with a wrong winner being called.
Tour De France is absolute anarchy today. Field smashed apart and no team with the numbers or incentive to bring it back. Every man for himself, and the proper climbing hasn't even started yet.
Cavendish is in the back group, there's a possibility it could be outside the time control. Now they'll probably all be reinstated BUT he'll forfeit all points for green if he is.
Re Michael Gove. I do not know what he has been up to lately but having read his biography along with those of Boris and David Cameron and others, what is remarkable is what a small and shallow clique governs us. They all knew each other at school or university or first jobs.
The justification for removing restrictions would be that vaccination means we don't need the restrictions to control the spread of the virus. Given that this is self-evidently not because the vaccines are providing herd immunity, driving virus incidence to zero, then it follows that it would be because we don't need to control the spread of the virus, because we are willing to accept everyone catching it, because vaccination means the consequences of that are not severe enough to justify countermeasures.
So, yes, implication is that we don't need to require people to self-isolate.
Uncomfortable and unpleasant as it is, I find myself in agreement with @Philip_Thompson and others calling for the end of the lockdown restrictions.
The situation has descended into a spider's web of inconsistencies and misconceptions where 45,000 can fetch up for a tennis match but people still can't attend the grandchild's birthday party,
As I've witnessed both last night and today, the restrictions are ending spontaneously as people decide they can't or won't continue with, for example, mask wearing on public transport or in shops/supermarkets. The issue is enforcement or rather the lack of it. There seems a complete breakdown of any serious attempt to enforce what is in effect the law.
That begs the question - what's the point of the law if no one is going to enforce it? It's not worth all the notices, announcements and veiled threats.
If you wish to wear a mask on public transport or social distance, that's absolutely your right - every individual has the right to be as risk-averse as they wish - but it can no longer be a "requirement". We have the idiocy of doubly-jabbed (and therefore mostly safe) individuals wearing masks while unvaccinated younger people (who may be carrying the virus asymptomatically or not) don't bother.
That's just crossed the Rubicon of Absurdity.
As others have said, we now have to "live" with the virus - continuing efforts to get more people vaccinated, accepting the particular risks for the highly vulnerable such as those with poor immune symptoms, developing better treatments for "long Covid" and improving vaccines.
John/Dixie - Rachel Sylvester made the point many years ago that the dynamics of the Cameron set were more like an episode of Friends than the West Wing.
Meanwhile, our regular reminder that "getting back to normal" ain't possible without ditching mass isolation - it's not just the schools...
Bars, pubs and clubs may be forced into a backdoor lockdown beyond 19 July unless the government changes test-and-trace rules, industry bosses have warned.
Businesses across the country from Edinburgh to Chester, Oxford and London are being hit by waves of closures as staff are forced to self-isolate after being alerted by the NHS test and trace app over coming into contact with someone with Covid.
Under the current rules, workers who have come within 2 metres of a person with the virus must stay at home for 10 days even if they are vaccinated and have tested negative.
“The current guidelines are wreaking havoc among hospitality businesses and in essence enacting a further lockdown on large parts of the sector,” said Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of the trade body UKHospitality.
The Government is going to have to exempt the double jabbed from being locked up by test and trace, or else contact tracing and people getting pinged left, right and centre is going to start seriously gumming up the economy.
What percentage of people are really actually genuinely using the app? I have some friends who say they use it as it is their civic duty but have turned bluetooth off as they don't want to be pinged ( so what is the point then?)
A rapidly declining percentage of my own social group. I used it until recently, but have recently turned off the contact tracing function. I mentioned this to a few friends and every single one has also turned it off (most of them quite recently). Bars and restaurants are also becoming less and less interested in making you sign in.
Apparently the Matt Hancock story was part of a plot to sabotage the Tories in Batley and Spen so that Keir Starmer would be able to cling on as Labour leader.
@mattzarb The Sun sat on the Hancock affair story, releasing it the weekend before the Batley and Spen byelection. The Tories lost the seat by just over 300 votes and as a result Starmer wasn’t pressured to resign. Labour now ambles along with an extremely unpopular leader and no policies
I don't buy such a claim. It might well work out that way, but losing a winnable seat would surely not be sensibly tossed away based on an assumption of how things might go if the Tories lost.
If nothing else there's no guarantee he would have gone if they'd lost, so all that might have happened was a ramping up of internal party tensions.
I have to admit I can believe that. Now, I am slightly biased because I did make the point in a post yesterday that I thought BJ would be very pleased with the result because not only has it kept SKS in place but that Galloway will undoubtedly see there is an opportunity for the re-emergence of the Respect party off a left-wing, anti-woke agenda targeted at the Muslim community. Oh, and SKS alienated Indian Hindu voters by the leaflet targeting Modi.
I know plenty of Indians who think Modi is a turd.
Meanwhile, our regular reminder that "getting back to normal" ain't possible without ditching mass isolation - it's not just the schools...
Bars, pubs and clubs may be forced into a backdoor lockdown beyond 19 July unless the government changes test-and-trace rules, industry bosses have warned.
Businesses across the country from Edinburgh to Chester, Oxford and London are being hit by waves of closures as staff are forced to self-isolate after being alerted by the NHS test and trace app over coming into contact with someone with Covid.
Under the current rules, workers who have come within 2 metres of a person with the virus must stay at home for 10 days even if they are vaccinated and have tested negative.
“The current guidelines are wreaking havoc among hospitality businesses and in essence enacting a further lockdown on large parts of the sector,” said Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of the trade body UKHospitality.
The Government is going to have to exempt the double jabbed from being locked up by test and trace, or else contact tracing and people getting pinged left, right and centre is going to start seriously gumming up the economy.
What percentage of people are really actually genuinely using the app? I have some friends who say they use it as it is their civic duty but have turned bluetooth off as they don't want to be pinged ( so what is the point then?)
A rapidly declining percentage of my own social group. I used it until recently, but have recently turned off the contact tracing function. I mentioned this to a few friends and every single one has also turned it off (most of them quite recently). Bars and restaurants are also becoming less and less interested in making you sign in.
I've recently turned mine off too. Didn't want a ping to ruin my Lake District holiday.
Any pbers younger than 38 had both their jabs without being a priority category? Just wondering how Wales is doing in comparison.
Got my second one today (early 30s), along with my wife (late 20s), but we cheated and got them 3 weeks early by going to a walk in clinic. Among my friends a few have been able to do the same, but most are scheduled for second jabs late this month or early next month.
The justification for removing restrictions would be that vaccination means we don't need the restrictions to control the spread of the virus. Given that this is self-evidently not because the vaccines are providing herd immunity, driving virus incidence to zero, then it follows that it would be because we don't need to control the spread of the virus, because we are willing to accept everyone catching it, because vaccination means the consequences of that are not severe enough to justify countermeasures.
So, yes, implication is that we don't need to require people to self-isolate.
Uncomfortable and unpleasant as it is, I find myself in agreement with @Philip_Thompson and others calling for the end of the lockdown restrictions.
The situation has descended into a spider's web of inconsistencies and misconceptions where 45,000 can fetch up for a tennis match but people still can't attend the grandchild's birthday party,
As I've witnessed both last night and today, the restrictions are ending spontaneously as people decide they can't or won't continue with, for example, mask wearing on public transport or in shops/supermarkets. The issue is enforcement or rather the lack of it. There seems a complete breakdown of any serious attempt to enforce what is in effect the law.
That begs the question - what's the point of the law if no one is going to enforce it? It's not worth all the notices, announcements and veiled threats.
If you wish to wear a mask on public transport or social distance, that's absolutely your right - every individual has the right to be as risk-averse as they wish - but it can no longer be a "requirement". We have the idiocy of doubly-jabbed (and therefore mostly safe) individuals wearing masks while unvaccinated younger people (who may be carrying the virus asymptomatically or not) don't bother.
That's just crossed the Rubicon of Absurdity.
As others have said, we now have to "live" with the virus - continuing efforts to get more people vaccinated, accepting the particular risks for the highly vulnerable such as those with poor immune symptoms, developing better treatments for "long Covid" and improving vaccines.
People are just tired of the rules. They don't take them seriously but pretend to go along with them because they don't want to break the law. It is just a really stupid situation, you have to go one way or the other, not a half freedom that imposes huge costs and has little or no benefit.
Have to say, no signs of any queue today which is depressing. I suspect tomorrow may be busier but I'm getting worried we're now reaching the peak of "first dose" and we may have to reckon with only 60% take up and that's going to be a problem going forward.
The justification for removing restrictions would be that vaccination means we don't need the restrictions to control the spread of the virus. Given that this is self-evidently not because the vaccines are providing herd immunity, driving virus incidence to zero, then it follows that it would be because we don't need to control the spread of the virus, because we are willing to accept everyone catching it, because vaccination means the consequences of that are not severe enough to justify countermeasures.
So, yes, implication is that we don't need to require people to self-isolate.
Uncomfortable and unpleasant as it is, I find myself in agreement with @Philip_Thompson and others calling for the end of the lockdown restrictions.
The situation has descended into a spider's web of inconsistencies and misconceptions where 45,000 can fetch up for a tennis match but people still can't attend the grandchild's birthday party,
As I've witnessed both last night and today, the restrictions are ending spontaneously as people decide they can't or won't continue with, for example, mask wearing on public transport or in shops/supermarkets. The issue is enforcement or rather the lack of it. There seems a complete breakdown of any serious attempt to enforce what is in effect the law.
That begs the question - what's the point of the law if no one is going to enforce it? It's not worth all the notices, announcements and veiled threats.
If you wish to wear a mask on public transport or social distance, that's absolutely your right - every individual has the right to be as risk-averse as they wish - but it can no longer be a "requirement". We have the idiocy of doubly-jabbed (and therefore mostly safe) individuals wearing masks while unvaccinated younger people (who may be carrying the virus asymptomatically or not) don't bother.
That's just crossed the Rubicon of Absurdity.
As others have said, we now have to "live" with the virus - continuing efforts to get more people vaccinated, accepting the particular risks for the highly vulnerable such as those with poor immune symptoms, developing better treatments for "long Covid" and improving vaccines.
The issue around isolation rules is definitely one to address. And not just for the double jabbed, given the long delay there will be in vaccinating schoolchildren (if we ever do).
Blimey that's poor design. I always think that whoever designs and signs off on cycling infrastructure should have to cycle up and down it a few times afterwards, preferably with their children. That would put a quick end to some of the appallingly unsafe designs out there.
She played supreme tennis in that 8 game stretch, but I think having to cope with the Cirstea comeback and losing that 15 minute game showed that she’s also got the grit that great tennis players need.
The justification for removing restrictions would be that vaccination means we don't need the restrictions to control the spread of the virus. Given that this is self-evidently not because the vaccines are providing herd immunity, driving virus incidence to zero, then it follows that it would be because we don't need to control the spread of the virus, because we are willing to accept everyone catching it, because vaccination means the consequences of that are not severe enough to justify countermeasures.
So, yes, implication is that we don't need to require people to self-isolate.
Uncomfortable and unpleasant as it is, I find myself in agreement with @Philip_Thompson and others calling for the end of the lockdown restrictions.
The situation has descended into a spider's web of inconsistencies and misconceptions where 45,000 can fetch up for a tennis match but people still can't attend the grandchild's birthday party,
As I've witnessed both last night and today, the restrictions are ending spontaneously as people decide they can't or won't continue with, for example, mask wearing on public transport or in shops/supermarkets. The issue is enforcement or rather the lack of it. There seems a complete breakdown of any serious attempt to enforce what is in effect the law.
That begs the question - what's the point of the law if no one is going to enforce it? It's not worth all the notices, announcements and veiled threats.
If you wish to wear a mask on public transport or social distance, that's absolutely your right - every individual has the right to be as risk-averse as they wish - but it can no longer be a "requirement". We have the idiocy of doubly-jabbed (and therefore mostly safe) individuals wearing masks while unvaccinated younger people (who may be carrying the virus asymptomatically or not) don't bother.
That's just crossed the Rubicon of Absurdity.
As others have said, we now have to "live" with the virus - continuing efforts to get more people vaccinated, accepting the particular risks for the highly vulnerable such as those with poor immune symptoms, developing better treatments for "long Covid" and improving vaccines.
The issue around isolation rules is definitely one to address. And not just for the double jabbed, given the long delay there will be in vaccinating schoolchildren (if we ever do).
It would be sensible to exempt both the double jabbed and schoolchildren, although that will cover so much of the population by the end of the Summer that mass testing might as well be abandoned at that juncture. Would be more sensible to go back to just monitoring hospitals and care homes.
People are just tired of the rules. They don't take them seriously but pretend to go along with them because they don't want to break the law. It is just a really stupid situation, you have to go one way or the other, not a half freedom that imposes huge costs and has little or no benefit.
The other aspect is the whole "testing" regimen.
I could just about understand the need for Test & Trace last year - now, there's no point, It should be turned off, the App uninstalled etc.
There's also the "testing fanatics" - one organisation with which I'm familiar has "suggested" every member of staff tests twice a week (even if doubly vaccinated).
Now, I understand those with symptoms taking the test (and there's an argument trying to get a statistical handle on the numbers of asymptomatic isn't a bad idea) but the notion we should all be doing lateral flow tests or PCR tests or whatever ad infinitum is just ridiculous.
If I were a bluff old cynic, I'd say it was a ploy to increase the profits of those supplying the tests, none of whom could possibly have any links with the Government or Ministers....
Elections are bruising and it takes bravery to stand. Thank you to @Stephenson_Ryan for fighting the campaign on the issues and not pandering to divisions. We may disagree on a lot but he’s a good man and has more to give.
Hate to be the cynic, but I see this as a back handed dig at GG
Should Galloway be treated with generosity and admiration?
Don’t really care, but it seems to me the praise for the Tory is really a dig at him. Like a girl at a high school prom making a show of saying what a nice dress someone has on in order to make someone else feel bad
Elections are bruising and it takes bravery to stand. Thank you to @Stephenson_Ryan for fighting the campaign on the issues and not pandering to divisions. We may disagree on a lot but he’s a good man and has more to give.
Hate to be the cynic, but I see this as a back handed dig at GG
Should Galloway be treated with generosity and admiration?
Don’t really care, but it seems to me the praise for the Tory is really a dig at him. Like a girl at a high school prom making a show of saying what a nice dress someone has on in order to make someone else feel bad
Whether it is or not it is a refreshing comment to make and it was reciprocated
People are just tired of the rules. They don't take them seriously but pretend to go along with them because they don't want to break the law. It is just a really stupid situation, you have to go one way or the other, not a half freedom that imposes huge costs and has little or no benefit.
The other aspect is the whole "testing" regimen.
I could just about understand the need for Test & Trace last year - now, there's no point, It should be turned off, the App uninstalled etc.
There's also the "testing fanatics" - one organisation with which I'm familiar has "suggested" every member of staff tests twice a week (even if doubly vaccinated).
Now, I understand those with symptoms taking the test (and there's an argument trying to get a statistical handle on the numbers of asymptomatic isn't a bad idea) but the notion we should all be doing lateral flow tests or PCR tests or whatever ad infinitum is just ridiculous.
If I were a bluff old cynic, I'd say it was a ploy to increase the profits of those supplying the tests, none of whom could possibly have any links with the Government or Ministers....
Comments
Hence why you have the issue with COVID
Impact on unborn children
Brendan Cox
@MrBrendanCox
Elections are bruising and it takes bravery to stand. Thank you to @Stephenson_Ryan for fighting the campaign on the issues and not pandering to divisions. We may disagree on a lot but he’s a good man and has more to give.
Bars, pubs and clubs may be forced into a backdoor lockdown beyond 19 July unless the government changes test-and-trace rules, industry bosses have warned.
Businesses across the country from Edinburgh to Chester, Oxford and London are being hit by waves of closures as staff are forced to self-isolate after being alerted by the NHS test and trace app over coming into contact with someone with Covid.
Under the current rules, workers who have come within 2 metres of a person with the virus must stay at home for 10 days even if they are vaccinated and have tested negative.
“The current guidelines are wreaking havoc among hospitality businesses and in essence enacting a further lockdown on large parts of the sector,” said Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of the trade body UKHospitality.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/02/test-and-trace-self-isolation-rules-wreaking-havoc-among-uk-hospitality-sector-industry-bosses-warn
The Government is going to have to exempt the double jabbed from being locked up by test and trace, or else contact tracing and people getting pinged left, right and centre is going to start seriously gumming up the economy.
Field smashed apart and no team with the numbers or incentive to bring it back.
Every man for himself, and the proper climbing hasn't even started yet.
So, yes, implication is that we don't need to require people to self-isolate.
For instance, Boris's deputy chief of staff, Simone Finn, is a friend of Carrie's, was given a peerage by David Cameron, and used to be Michael Gove's girlfriend.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/simone-finn-the-comprehensive-schoolgirl-turned-baroness-whos-the-new-power-at-no-10-6sz2g9z9w (£££)
A thrusting meritocracy it ain't.
Pogacar under real pressure with only one team mate before the climbing begins.
I have some friends who say they use it as it is their civic duty but have turned bluetooth off as they don't want to be pinged ( so what is the point then?)
I would agree with much of your analysis but on your second point you should take account that changing rules can change behaviour or provide new opportunities for abuse. Failure to apply that analysis is why many proposed changes to address an apparent wrong can do more harm than good. Automatically believing everyone reporting a sexual assault or a hate crime are other examples of well meaning but flawed policies.
As long as Starmer stops this nutter getting back into the party leadership then he will have my support
To an extent, I agree. Either vaccines are effective in which case it is tolerable, albeit rather Darwinian for anti-vaxxers, or they don't, in which case there is no obvious way out. Personally, I shall be remaining cautious around crowds and keeping my distance.
Isolation is causing quite a few absences at work too. Quite a lot of cancellations as it spreads through theatre teams. Waiting lists continue to mushroom.
The situation has descended into a spider's web of inconsistencies and misconceptions where 45,000 can fetch up for a tennis match but people still can't attend the grandchild's birthday party,
As I've witnessed both last night and today, the restrictions are ending spontaneously as people decide they can't or won't continue with, for example, mask wearing on public transport or in shops/supermarkets. The issue is enforcement or rather the lack of it. There seems a complete breakdown of any serious attempt to enforce what is in effect the law.
That begs the question - what's the point of the law if no one is going to enforce it? It's not worth all the notices, announcements and veiled threats.
If you wish to wear a mask on public transport or social distance, that's absolutely your right - every individual has the right to be as risk-averse as they wish - but it can no longer be a "requirement". We have the idiocy of doubly-jabbed (and therefore mostly safe) individuals wearing masks while unvaccinated younger people (who may be carrying the virus asymptomatically or not) don't bother.
That's just crossed the Rubicon of Absurdity.
As others have said, we now have to "live" with the virus - continuing efforts to get more people vaccinated, accepting the particular risks for the highly vulnerable such as those with poor immune symptoms, developing better treatments for "long Covid" and improving vaccines.
Very very flavoursome.
A touch less yoghurt required. as the eggs submerged slightly.
Recipe: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/turkish-eggs
God, I'm such an old perv!
Fantastic fabulous 18 year old British tennis star
53.7% of adults with first doses and 32.4% with both compared to 85.5% and 63.1% for the UK.
Even with NIMS over-estimates (which I do question), this is horrendous. As I've said before, there are any number of reasons.
The vaccination centre at the Leisure Centre is open both today and tomorrow but this just isn't publicised enough.
https://www.newham.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19/covid-19-vaccination/12
Have to say, no signs of any queue today which is depressing. I suspect tomorrow may be busier but I'm getting worried we're now reaching the peak of "first dose" and we may have to reckon with only 60% take up and that's going to be a problem going forward.
"I know, let's block the end so people get thrown off their bikes in the dark."
https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/19403197.senior-councillor-calls-new-greenock-cycle-lane-scrapped/
Whisper it, but there is potential for a quarter-final showdown with Ashleigh Barty here...
No, I don’t mean *her*, they protest.
I could just about understand the need for Test & Trace last year - now, there's no point, It should be turned off, the App uninstalled etc.
There's also the "testing fanatics" - one organisation with which I'm familiar has "suggested" every member of staff tests twice a week (even if doubly vaccinated).
Now, I understand those with symptoms taking the test (and there's an argument trying to get a statistical handle on the numbers of asymptomatic isn't a bad idea) but the notion we should all be doing lateral flow tests or PCR tests or whatever ad infinitum is just ridiculous.
If I were a bluff old cynic, I'd say it was a ploy to increase the profits of those supplying the tests, none of whom could possibly have any links with the Government or Ministers....
(C) Sir Humphrey Appleby.