COVID-19 — Coronavirus

[kaz7]

Some 27 districts of Madrid went into new lockdown measures this week, in theory preventing inhabitants from leaving unless they have to go to work or need medical care

Coronavirus: Madrid in lockdown as doctor warns Britons to follow the new rules or pay the price

A Spanish medic warns that unless people follow lockdown rules and wear masks, coronavirus could be 'very, very, very costly'.

news.sky.com

We are six weeks behind according to this so if we clamp down now we can sort it sooner

 

[quiet_riot]

My wife conducted a junior Yr 3 reading assessment yesterday of her Yr 4 class, just to recap and establish where they are.

It's a school in a poor district and the reading levels are way short of where they should be. She was shocked and angry in equal measure that most of them couldn't even manage a page of relative ease.

My wife is a great teacher and my little girl had read all the Harry Potter books by herself by the time she was eight.

Teachers are being hung out to dry here. It's a disgrace.

She says parents at her school see them more as a babysitting service and it clear none of them were arsed what their kids were doing during lockdown.

These kids don't stand a chance - and neither do our teachers.

Careful.

 

[Healdplace]

Btw those who are criticising Nicola Sturgeon (unfairly imo) should note she said she went further than England because the Scottish government science advisers were adamant that a 10 pm curfew on pubs was insifficient to stop the spread.

I suspect she is right.

And she said she would have also helped the hospitality industry through her stricter measures by extending the furlough which she asked Boris Johnson to do or let her do in Scotland with UK support. But he declined.

 

[andyhinch]

Adblong as it’s not in the Scoreboard Paddock!

I think that’s unlikely :-)

 

[BlueAnorak]

I don't know about this viral load argument. It seems plausible, but I really don't know.

What is f***ing obvious however is that you catch this thing by ingesting virus through your nose and mouth, and you get it into your nose and mouth by either inhaling it, or by getting your hands contaminated and touching your nose or mouth.

If everyone wears a face mask then (a) you don't inhale other peoples' coughed up mucus and (b) surfaces have got less virus on them because infected people are not coughing virus onto their hands and spreading it that way. Also, you don't put you hand in your own mouth when you have your own mask on.

So universal mask-wearing, on it's own, makes a HUGE difference. This has always been the case and it's shameful that we never drove this point home right from the beginning. The best thing the government could do would be to rigorously enforce - with the threat of very severe fines or imprisonment - everyone to wear a mask in public, and especially when indoors.

Anyone choosing to wilfully ignore the rules should be punished severely so as to make an example of them. Noel Gallagher - for whom a £10k fine means nothing - should be given 6 months in prison, for example. This is not a game. Other reckless behaviour which endangers the lives of others can result in custodial sentences, and so should this.

Face masks prevent the wearer spreading it to others (70% less infections in enclosed/poorly ventilated spaces) it is only around a 10% benefit to the wearer (20% with good don/doff technique) - though viral load is much reduced.
Totally agree with the fine and punishment schedule mind

 

[Chippy_boy]

Face masks prevent the wearer spreading it to others (70% less infections in enclosed/poorly ventilated spaces) it is only around a 10% benefit to the wearer (20% with good don/doff technique) - though viral load is much reduced.
Totally agree with the fine and punishment schedule mind

Yes, I am fully aware of the minimal benefit to the wearer of wearing one. That's why we're so dependent on the compliance of OTHER people to wear theirs.

 

[cleavers]

Btw those who are criticising Nicola Sturgeon (unfairly imo) should note she said she went further than England because the Scottish government science advisers were adamant that a 10 pm curfew on pubs was insifficient to stop the spread.

I suspect she is right.

And she said she would have also helped the hospitality industry through her stricter measures by extending the furlough which she asked Boris Johnson to do or let her do in Scotland with UK support. But he declined.

I've mentioned her, but not criticised her just pointed out that for all she's done far better, they are in exactly the same boat as the rest of us.

Whether the scottish science advisors are right or not, she doesn't fund it, the UK tax payer does, so furoughing more of Scotland puts a bigger burden on England, so why would Boris agree to that ?

She might not like it, but Boris is the UK's prime minister, and as such he oversees the whole of the UK's finances.

 

[BlueAnorak]

Btw those who are criticising Nicola Sturgeon (unfairly imo) should note she said she went further than England because the Scottish government science advisers were adamant that a 10 pm curfew on pubs was insifficient to stop the spread.

I suspect she is right.

And she said she would have also helped the hospitality industry through her stricter measures by extending the furlough which she asked Boris Johnson to do or let her do in Scotland with UK support. But he declined.

Thats because the furlough scheme is unsustainable. The government is moving towards targeted support for business sectors that are badly effected.There will be more on this in the coming week.
You also fail to note that the reality is the government (and any sensible person who understands science) want our youth to catch it - just not at the explosive infection rates that are currently seeing. This is essential for herd immunity and managing bad virus mutations. For example, we should have been running Covid-19-30 holidays on cruise ships since May.

 

[ayrshire_blue]

I've mentioned her, but not criticised her just pointed out that for all she's done far better, they are in exactly the same boat as the rest of us.

Whether the scottish science advisors are right or not, she doesn't fund it, the UK tax payer does, so furoughing more of Scotland puts a bigger burden on England, so why would Boris agree to that ?

She might not like it, but Boris is the UK's prime minister, and as such he oversees the whole of the UK's finances.

He has plenty of money to go around, it's just that he'd rather use it to back up his billionaire toff chums than spend it in interests of public health. If she wasn't continually asking the question of him, she wouldn't be doing her job.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

As I said yesterday, for all her so called "better" approach, she's in the exactly same place as Boris is, with cases, hospitalisations, ICU, and deaths rising in much the same way, so whatever better approach there's been, it's made no difference over 6 months, as she's having to reintroduce the same measures as England.

No she isn’t.
From today you cannot visit anyone at their home in Scotland.