Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Billy Jean King]

Italy going in the totally opposite direction to us now. Not good !
BBC News - Covid-19 pandemic: Italy to shut shops and schools amid infection spike
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56382608

[Ron Aldo]

The Italians have been very slow with their vaccination programme so far.

It's almost as if vaccines make a difference, eh?

[Steven W]

Just now, Ron Aldo said:

9 minutes ago, Tynierose said:

The Italians have been very slow with their vaccination programme so far.

It's almost as if vaccines make a difference, eh?

Was thinking to myself maybe it's too simplistic, but I really don't think it is - the countries who are steaming on with their vaccinations seem to be faring a whole lot better than those that aren't (in the Western hemisphere)

[Bairnardo]

Just now, Ron Aldo said:

9 minutes ago, Tynierose said:

The Italians have been very slow with their vaccination programme so far.

It's almost as if vaccines make a difference, eh?

That's what we are all hoping for, but there's still so much that we don't yet know

 

Spoiler

We just don't know what record setting, cigar smoking, unprecedented level of protection is going to be next to show up in the data, as the only true unknown so far from the vaccines has been the wild exceedance of expectations

 

[Billy Jean King]

Was thinking to myself maybe it's too simplistic, but I really don't think it is - the countries who are steaming on with their vaccinations seem to be faring a whole lot better than those that aren't (in the Western hemisphere)

Hasn't Spain gone down in line with UK (that was the BBC Scotland take before the briefing yesterday although didn't actually check their info) while vaccinating at a similar rate to Italy. Might be slightly more to it.

[Honest_Man#1]

1 hour ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Whitty, particularly, is a personality vacuum and he knows it. He deals with facts and numbers and can't wait to be out of the limelight. You can see others are simply doing their jobs, some with a bit of panache.

Sridhar and Leitch are trying to project their personalities and agendas with a view to promoting themselves and their philosophies.

 

1 hour ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

Leitch is just a PR man who is enjoying his moment of fame.

It's interesting to listen to him - he never uses "I" but "we" - it's clear he has very little say in the key decisions - one of those people who try to make their role more important than it actually is.

Devi is a different kettle of fish in that she is giving advice to the Scottish Government - but again that needs to be qualified - she won't be the only one giving advice and she won't have the final say. My biggest complaint about her is not the advice she gives but the fact that she is all over Twitter trying to push it - she really does need to shut the f**k up sometimes and leave the decisions to the elected politicians.

These are spot on. Whitty is the complete opposite of Leitch and Devi.

[Steven W]

30 minutes ago, Billy Jean King said:

Hasn't Spain gone down in line with UK (that was the BBC Scotland take before the briefing yesterday although didn't actually check their info) while vaccinating at a similar rate to Italy. Might be slightly more to it.

You might be right there. Saw a map of Europe yesterday (one of those where the darker the colour, the worse you're getting on) and Spain looked reasonable. Not heard any explanation / thinking why that would be though.

[realmadrid]

Other countries will take into account our vaccination levels 

That's France removed the "compelling" reason to enter the country for people from the UK

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210311-covid-19-france-eases-restrictions-on-some-international-travellers

You still have to have a negative test 72 hours before travel and I can see that being the case for a lot of nations this summer, which is perfectly fair

 

[craigkillie]

1 hour ago, Steven W said:

Was thinking to myself maybe it's too simplistic, but I really don't think it is - the countries who are steaming on with their vaccinations seem to be faring a whole lot better than those that aren't (in the Western hemisphere)

It now seems conceivable that the UK could end up being nowhere near the worst "performing" country in Europe and might eventually come out in the middle of the pack when all is said and done, which didn't seem at all likely six or even three months ago.

[Bairnardo]

17 minutes ago, realmadrid said:

Other countries will take into account our vaccination levels 

That's France removed the "compelling" reason to enter the country for people from the UK

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210311-covid-19-france-eases-restrictions-on-some-international-travellers

You still have to have a negative test 72 hours before travel and I can see that being the case for a lot of nations this summer, which is perfectly fair

 

How does one go about procuring a full families worth of PCR tests in a window of 72 hours prior to a holiday? Cant see that happening unless travel agents/airlines are afforded resting allocation. Are folk supposed to lie to get a test?

[Michael W]

18 minutes ago, realmadrid said:

Other countries will take into account our vaccination levels 

That's France removed the "compelling" reason to enter the country for people from the UK

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210311-covid-19-france-eases-restrictions-on-some-international-travellers

You still have to have a negative test 72 hours before travel and I can see that being the case for a lot of nations this summer, which is perfectly fair

 

It was also because the Kent variant is now widespread in France, so there's no point trying to keep it out. 

Welcome news, however. Still need a negative PCR but I suspect it'll be that way for a while yet. 

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

2 hours ago, madwullie said:

Fair enough, that shit would grate. 

As for your last sentence, I genuinely think that's because we have Leitch et al saturating us, while they have these others. 

It's exactly the same patter - love the sound of their own voices, want restrictions to continue because it keeps them in the spotlight, obsessed with keeping people locked up, constantly getting shit wrong but won't admit it etc

Absolutely, they dont live in the real world.

2 hours ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Whitty, particularly, is a personality vacuum and he knows it. He deals with facts and numbers and can't wait to be out of the limelight. You can see others are simply doing their jobs, some with a bit of panache.

Sridhar and Leitch are trying to project their personalities and agendas with a view to promoting themselves and their philosophies.

Whitty just gets on with the job and doesnt seem to try to make himself the absolutely voice of authority or preach the way others do. He seems to have a grasp on reality.

[101]

3 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

How does one go about procuring a full families worth of PCR tests in a window of 72 hours prior to a holiday? Cant see that happening unless travel agents/airlines are afforded resting allocation. Are folk supposed to lie to get a test?

You can buy them, £90 a skull

[Mark Connolly]

Just now, 101 said:

You can buy them, £90 a skull

TBF it probably won't be long before TUI are offering them as part of your holiday package.

[realmadrid]

4 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

How does one go about procuring a full families worth of PCR tests in a window of 72 hours prior to a holiday? Cant see that happening unless travel agents/airlines are afforded resting allocation. Are folk supposed to lie to get a test?

As someone who works in travel id say if you want to go on holiday with your family to France just now thats something you need to sort out yourself.

This however is the first change France has made and we would expect by the summer things will be different . Uptake of vaccination in France is still very low but thats their way. 

[Binos]

5 minutes ago, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:

Absolutely, they dont live in the real world.

Whitty just gets on with the job and doesnt seem to try to make himself the absolutely voice of authority or preach the way others do. He seems to have a grasp on reality.

Or maybe he has no personality to project

[101]

1 minute ago, Mark Connolly said:

TBF it probably won't be long before TUI are offering them as part of your holiday package.

Exactly they are just another holiday expense for the next few months wil be interesting to see if airlines diverge on their requirements and obviously some countries will require them for a while yet

[Jambomo]

2 hours ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Whitty, particularly, is a personality vacuum and he knows it. He deals with facts and numbers and can't wait to be out of the limelight. You can see others are simply doing their jobs, some with a bit of panache.

Sridhar and Leitch are trying to project their personalities and agendas with a view to promoting themselves and their philosophies.

To be fair this is why I like the likes of Whitty and Van Tam. They are factual and to the point, even if I don’t especially like the news they have, they say enough for me to understand why they are recommending a certain action or why things are the way they are at present. 

Though I think it’s unfair to say Whitty is a personality vacuum, he’s just really professional. 

[realmadrid]

3 minutes ago, 101 said:

Exactly they are just another holiday expense for the next few months wil be interesting to see if airlines diverge on their requirements and obviously some countries will require them for a while yet

Not everyone books a bucket and spade package holiday, there are far more place to visit that Spain every year 

Edited March 13, 2021 by realmadrid

[Elixir]

16 minutes ago, realmadrid said:

Other countries will take into account our vaccination levels 

That's France removed the "compelling" reason to enter the country for people from the UK

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210311-covid-19-france-eases-restrictions-on-some-international-travellers

You still have to have a negative test 72 hours before travel and I can see that being the case for a lot of nations this summer, which is perfectly fair

I wonder how they will handle folk who have had one vaccine dose but are still awaiting their second.

2 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

It now seems conceivable that the UK could end up being nowhere near the worst "performing" country in Europe and might eventually come out in the middle of the pack when all is said and done, which didn't seem at all likely six or even three months ago.

Indeed. It's also worth remembering that much of central and eastern Europe escaped having bad epidemics last spring so will have had much lower immunity in the population than places like the UK, so a longer, more painful wave this winter dragging into spring is not unexpected, especicially with the much slower vaccine rollout. The Spanish flu pandemic also typically had a smaller third wave in the spring of 1919.

I was just reading on Twitter that Jan Konvalinka, a biochemist at Charles University in Prague advising the Czech Government, expects the pandemic to be over there by June as ~70% of the population will be immunised and/or previously infected. This will be true for most of Europe.