Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Dons_1988]

I suspect if it’s your business and the technology is there to facilitate remote working but you don’t trust anyone to carry it out, then you’re probably absolutely useless at running your business. 

[Billy Jean King]

And THAT is why masks should not be mandatory. It has nothing to do with vaccines. It has everything to do with the fact that they clearly don't fucking work. A year of evidence and 3 massive waves of cases proves they don't work.
And yet........
We still have to suffer one expert after another trying to assure us that they do.
If I get to be king, any scientist who claims that masks work would be banned for life from all public office and have their funding permanently removed. These people have set back the reputation of the discipline of science for years.

Is anyone arguing they should be mandatory. You sound like your arguing with yourself. They will be requested in certain situations it will then be a personal choice for people to enter a business / public space asking for them to be observed. Millions will still going by the rather surprising public backlash ahead of today's announcement but that's their prerogative

[BlueBear]

18 minutes ago, Detournement said:

You'll end up with workers renting office space as contractors. 

Good business model! 

[coprolite]

23 minutes ago, BlueBear said:

Courtesy my arse. 

There is health and safety law to comply with and protect workers and suitable and sufficient risk assessment to be carried out to protect them and in these times, Covid a hazard for risk assessment, the output of which probably will equal masks to be worn. 

I thought you were just baiting the strident anti maskers so i joined in for a laugh. 

Apologies for not realising you were a moron. 

[Left Back]

1 minute ago, Dons_1988 said:

I suspect if it’s your business and the technology is there to facilitate remote working but you don’t trust anyone to carry it out, then you’re probably absolutely useless at running your business. 

Someone running a project management consultancy that can't actually manage staff seems legit.

[Distant Doonhamer]

2,372 new cases of COVID-19 reported

20,222 new tests for COVID-19 that reported results

12.6% of these were positive

0 new reported death(s) of people who have tested positive (noting that Register Offices are now generally closed at weekends)

30 people were in intensive care yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19 (up from 25)

338 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19 (up from 316)

3,869,223 people have received the first dose of the Covid vaccination and 2,774,136 have received their second dose

[vikingTON]

1 hour ago, Michael W said:

She's raging about Michie's GMB interview as well. 

I think she is best advised to step away from social media for a bit. 

No, she's fine left digging her own grave as a Twitter-level pundit by the end of the day. 

[WhiteRoseKillie]

47 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

Bud, we're done discussing this.

You should go back to emptying bedpans and dealing with drunks at the weekend and leave science to other people.

Why is it that you expect everyone to respect your knowledge on whatever subject you feel the need to expound, yet piss all over anyone's qualified opinion you happen to disagree with?

This particular poster is a Healthcare professional. I am an H&S professional*, and I agree with his post. As do many published reports. FRSMs are far from a magic bullet, but they most certainly are not useless. You, on the other hand..

*working in what most would agree is a frontline environment. 

[TheScarf]

Cases slowing down?

Less tests maybe.

Edited July 5, 2021 by TheScarf

[BlueBear]

10 minutes ago, Michael W said:

I've hated remote work. Mostly situational although now I've moved house I find it a bit better. Still not a fan of doing it full time, so a hybrid model will work well for me in future. 

Others will differ in their view. I've been in the office a fair bit the last couple of weeks as I don't presently have broadband and tethering isn't great - barely anyone has been in. The money saved from commutes in particular is not going to be given up easily if people find they can work just as well from home. 

Employers that go too far one way or another are going to haemorrhage staff if the choice isn't there. 

 

Plenty of migrants to fill the roles, particularly if Nicola has her way. 

I use Ukrainian and Polish subcontractors, as there just isn't enough skilled UK based and they are both top class. 

Had the Ukrainians build my sons new pad on his small holding. 20 weeks beginning to end timber framing. Quality finish. 

[RiG]

Hadn't realised that Gincardine had signed up with a new alias.

[PWL]

16 minutes ago, Rugster said:

Don’t feed the troll. 

Which one.......

[BlueBear]

11 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

I suspect if it’s your business and the technology is there to facilitate remote working but you don’t trust anyone to carry it out, then you’re probably absolutely useless at running your business. 

That old chestnut. 

Now to do with trust all all to do with productictivity, profit and loss, sustainable business, with sustainable employment that has staff working and earning. 

Nothing worse when the Customer phones up complaining and you have to say, Emm, you'll have to wait, because wee Jimmy is working from home and didn't tell me about the problem, as he was too busy skiving at B&M for a bit of fresh air. Customers really appreciate that shite. 

[Left Back]

Scotland moves to the top of the league.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-57712737

[WhiteRoseKillie]

43 minutes ago, coprolite said:

It seems quite clear that some of the workers in these places are anxious about coming into contact with potentially hundreds of customers a day and that wearing masks would help mitigate that. 

I think that mandating anything shouldn't be entered into lightly and that mitigating only perceived risks falls short of the criteria for a mandate. The effect on actual risk will be negligible. 

But i think that people should wear masks as a courtesy and to show consideration for other people's feelings. 

If people have just forgotten to put their mask on or are finding it genuinely uncomfortable then they should be allowed in shops, on buses etc. 

If people choose to be rude and selfish then they are entitled to do so and they shouldn't be outside the law. Being a twat is a legal right. 

I'm with you on this, I think. We've all had our MH affected to some extent over the course of this shitshow - not helped by the various Governmental and Media u-turns. I have a lot of sympathy with supermarket workers - they have faced many, many more members of the public over the pandemic than most NHS workers. The same, I would guess, applies to PT workers. Quite apart from the lack of respect they've been given for doing what is, in reality, an essential job*, they're now going to go from feeling slightly safer due to the restrictions placed on shoppers to feeling absolutely exposed. Logic says they shouldn't feel this way, but the message recently hasn't exactly been logical, has it?

I personally have no problem wearing my mask in shops and on PT (and at work) for a while. If it reassures others, and allows them to ease out of the siege mentality they've felt forced into, then that is a good thing, and it's hardly a massive pain for me. That's not to say I can't wait to see the back of all restrictions, but it could be managed better.  Mrs WRK and her staff are continuing to wear FRSMs when in clients' homes, and will continue to do so if the clients wish when the requirement goes - purely and simply to reassure their (often elderly and not over-healthy) clients. 

 

Plus, I've got four boxes of the fucking things in the car.

 

Your final sentence is correct. But being a decent human being is too. It's a choice we all make. 

 

* Some of the posts on here from supermarket workers (I want to say Gaz, but then it'd be Gav, or v/v.) have described scenes you'd expect to see at my work!

[effeffsee_the2nd]

14 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

Cases slowing down?

Less tests maybe.

possbily but not by that much? 

[superbigal]

Daily Cases Update:  Day 59 of consecutive rises, I think we are peaking now with a small 1.97% rise to 422.7  Infectivity up to 10.8%. An interesting Stat people might not know is that as of today only 5.41% of people in Scotland have actually tested positive for Covid over the 16 months. England 7.57%, Wales 6.98%, NI 6.80%.

I project tomorrow a tiny rise of about 0.20% and then potentially cases start to fall.   Dundee & Midlothian still on another planet & Perth & Kinross appears to be the only other area currently surging. The lack of movement in the charts shows a stabilisation in play.  England and Wales will continue to rise for about 4 days after us and I suspect England will peak at around 250-275 per 100K.

New European figures today.   Scotland 422.7, England 208.0, Portugal 109.3 to 118.0, Northern Ireland 102.0, Russia 97.8 to 100.0, Wales 97.4,  Spain 76.3 to 92.9, at other end we have Poland 1.9 to 1.8, Germany 5.1 to 5.0, Italy 7.4 to 7.5, Czech 9.0 to 8.5, Switzerland 8.4 to 9.0, Sweden 14.2 to 16.0 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1139048/coronavirus-case-rates-in-the-past-7-days-in-europe-by-country/

Scotland previously peaked at 301.9 for figures 29th Dec to 4th Jan, (UK was 642.1)    Cases that day were 16,496 and test positivity rate was 11.9%  

Total Cases 7 days from 26th June to 2nd July  were   22,646 now 23,092  up 1.97%.  Positivity was 10.5% now 10.8%.   Cases per 100k were  414.5 now 422.7

Home Nations Daily update  :  UK Average 198.7 to 214.4 up 7.90%, England  191.3 to 208.0 up 8.73%,  Wales 88.2 to 97.4 up 10.43%, Northern Ireland  91.4 to 102.0 up 11.60%

Council progress in last 24 Hours as follows.

Click cases by neighbourhood to see the spread on the geographical map. 
https://public.tableau.com/profile/phs.covid.19#!/vizhome/COVID-19DailyDashboard_15960160643010/Overview

 LEVEL 2 RED

Dundee City  879.3 to 899.4  Still rising, When is it going to peak. 18.0% positivity.  

Midlothian   719.2 to 756.0  

East Lothian   607.9 to 610.7 LEVEL 1   

City Of Edinburgh 594.7 to 591.9  2 days of small decreases.

Renfrewshire  539.4 to 546.6

Perth & Kinross     496.2 to 531.1  LEVEL 1  Seems to be the most out of control currently. 

West Dunbartonshire  509.4 to 516.1  LEVEL 1 

Angus   497.4 to 499.1  LEVEL 1

East Dunbartonshire   486.0 to 497.1 

East Renfrewshire   499.3 to 486.8 

Glasgow City   482.7 to 494.4

Fife   451.6 to 469.3  LEVEL 1

East Ayrshire  438.5 to 432.8

Aberdeen City   418.5 to 423.3  LEVEL1  

Inverclyde  402.3 to 417.7  LEVEL 1  

West Lothian   380.7 to 394.3   LEVEL1  

North Lanarkshire   369.7 to 375.3

Falkirk  338.1 to 354.9  LEVEL 1

South Lanarkshire  305.7 to 308.6

Stirling     291.9 to 287.7

Scottish  Borders   260.6 to 278.8  LEVEL 1

North Ayrshire  258.3 to 273.1

Clackmannanshire    275.5 to 267.8

Highlands   249.8 to 265.4 LEVEL 1

South Ayrshire    242.4 to 262.9

OFFICIAL  LEVEL 1 BLACK

Aberdeenshire   222.0 to 227.4

Argyll & Bute   220.1 to 217.8

Dumfries & Galloway 140.4 to 133.7

Moray   77.2 to 76.2

OFFICIAL LEVEL 0  Teuchters in Green

Orkney Islands   40.4 to 58.4

 Shetland Islands    61.1 to 43.6 

Western Isles  26.2 to 29.9

Edited July 5, 2021 by superbigal

[BlueBear]

4 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

You have had a year of hard evidence that masks don't work. Almost 100% compliance with wearing them and we're on the 3rd massive wave of cases.

What is it going to take to convince you bloody people that they are making no difference?

Seriously. What will it take?

I've neither had a cold or flu, far less Covid in 18 months and I was out there business as usual all the way through it and the only thing I did different was wear a mask and sanutize, so I'll trust my own judgement. 

I've had only one employee who actually had Covid and he was a young guy. 

Mask wearing etc was rigoursly enforced at HQ and across our sites and many of them were NHS. My business grew exponentially through Covid and also hired several new H&S Advisers to ensure consistency across work faces and to give Customers added assurance. 

Several were sacked for continually Covid rule breaking and all the better without them. 

[Dons_1988]

12 minutes ago, BlueBear said:

That old chestnut. 

Now to do with trust all all to do with productictivity, profit and loss, sustainable business, with sustainable employment that has staff working and earning. 

Nothing worse when the Customer phones up complaining and you have to say, Emm, you'll have to wait, because wee Jimmy is working from home and didn't tell me about the problem, as he was too busy skiving at B&M for a bit of fresh air. Customers really appreciate that shite. 

Thanks for confirming the point. 

[Donathan]

4 minutes ago, superbigal said:

Daily Cases Update:  Day 59 of consecutive rises, I think we are peaking now with a small 1.97% rise to 422.7  Infectivity up to 10.8%. An interesting Stat people might not know is that as of today only 5.41% of people in Scotland have actually tested positive for Covid over the 16 months. England 7.57%, Wales 6.98%, NI 6.80%.

I project tomorrow a tiny rise of about 0.20% and then potentially cases start to fall.   Dundee & Midlothian still on another planet & Perth & Kinross appears to be the only other area currently surging. The lack of movement in the charts shows a stabilisation in play.  England and Wales will continue to rise for about 4 days after us and I suspect England will peak at around 250 per 100K.

New European figures today.   Scotland 422.7, England 208.0, Portugal 109.3 to 118.0, Northern Ireland 102.0, Russia 97.8 to 100.0, Wales 97.4,  Spain 76.3 to 92.9, at other end we have Poland 1.9 to 1.8, Germany 5.1 to 5.0, Italy 7.4 to 7.5, Czech 9.0 to 8.5, Switzerland 8.4 to 9.0, Sweden 14.2 to 16.0 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1139048/coronavirus-case-rates-in-the-past-7-days-in-europe-by-country/

Scotland previously peaked at 301.9 for figures 29th Dec to 4th Jan, (UK was 642.1)    Cases that day were 16,496 and test positivity rate was 11.9%  

Total Cases 7 days from 26th June to 2nd July  were   22,646 now 23,092  up 1.97%.  Positivity was 10.5% now 10.8%.   Cases per 100k were  414.5 now 422.7

Home Nations Daily update  :  UK Average 198.7 to 214.4 up 7.90%, England  191.3 to 208.0 up 8.73%,  Wales 88.2 to 97.4 up 10.43%, Northern Ireland  91.4 to 102.0 up 11.60%

Council progress in last 24 Hours as follows.

Click cases by neighbourhood to see the spread on the geographical map. 
https://public.tableau.com/profile/phs.covid.19#!/vizhome/COVID-19DailyDashboard_15960160643010/Overview

 LEVEL 2 RED

Dundee City  879.3 to 899.4  Still rising, When is it going to peak. 18.0% positivity.  

Midlothian   719.2 to 756.0  

East Lothian   607.9 to 610.7 LEVEL 1   

City Of Edinburgh 594.7 to 591.9  2 days of small decreases.

Renfrewshire  539.4 to 546.6

Perth & Kinross     496.2 to 531.1  LEVEL 1  Seems to be the most out of control currently. 

West Dunbartonshire  509.4 to 516.1  LEVEL 1 

Angus   497.4 to 499.1  LEVEL 1

East Dunbartonshire   486.0 to 497.1 

East Renfrewshire   499.3 to 486.8 

Glasgow City   482.7 to 494.4

Fife   451.6 to 469.3  LEVEL 1

East Ayrshire  438.5 to 432.8

Aberdeen City   418.5 to 423.3  LEVEL1  

Inverclyde  402.3 to 417.7  LEVEL 1  

West Lothian   380.7 to 394.3   LEVEL1  

North Lanarkshire   369.7 to 375.3

Falkirk  338.1 to 354.9  LEVEL 1

South Lanarkshire  305.7 to 308.6

Stirling     291.9 to 287.7

Scottish  Borders   260.6 to 278.8  LEVEL 1

North Ayrshire  258.3 to 273.1

Clackmannanshire    275.5 to 267.8

Highlands   249.8 to 265.4 LEVEL 1

South Ayrshire    242.4 to 262.9

OFFICIAL  LEVEL 1 BLACK

Aberdeenshire   222.0 to 227.4

Argyll & Bute   220.1 to 217.8

Dumfries & Galloway 140.4 to 133.7

Moray   77.2 to 76.2

OFFICIAL LEVEL 0  Teuchters in Green

Orkney Islands   40.4 to 58.4

 Shetland Islands    61.1 to 43.6 

Western Isles  26.2 to 29.9

 

With this weird blend of black and red I think the SG’s policy of having some areas in level 1 and other in level 2 has become increasingly bizarre. They need to just define a set of restrictions that apply to mainland Scotland. I don’t particularly care whether the gathering limit is 6 or 8, whether soft play areas can open and exactly how late the silly pub curfew is, but I do think that there should be a single set of restrictions applied throughout mainland Scotland.