Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Michael W]

34 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

The figures are per week, rather than per day

My error. 

Could be misremembering, but wasn't 50 per 100k the previous Tier 1 trigger? 

[Elixir]

 

[Aufc]

I mean, realistically, what would their continued function be in an independent Scotland?
Their entire manifesto since inception has been Scottish independence. I'd argue that currently, a massive amount of voters only stick with them because of this.
A bit of an over-simplification but if you break it down, them hanging about would be like the Brexit party continuing post-brexit.

I have often wondered what the options would be if scotland became independent. I have gone off the snp with this whole shambles but equally i am almost certainly keen for independence. However, i really dont know what the alternative is if it is a yes votw.

[Marshmallo]

1 minute ago, Michael W said:

My error. 

Could be misremembering, but wasn't 50 per 100k the previous Tier 1 trigger? 

One of the triggers yeah.

I'm sure it was

Tier 0 - 20

Tier 1 - 50

Tier 2 - 100

Tier 3 - 200

Tier 4 - 300

We are currently in restrictions nationally which are worse than Tier 4.

Of course cases as a standalone metric aren't as significant as ICU capacity, and become even less important as more and more people are vaccinated meaning their symptoms are less likely to be severe. It makes no sense to use "cases" or "% of positive tests" as metrics as we ramp up vaccination numbers.

[Steven W]

28 minutes ago, super_carson said:

I can only really agree with the sentiments of many on here this morning; I have voted SNP in every election I've been old enough to vote, but if this nonsense comes to fruition then I won't be voting for them come May. 

It will be very interesting if they make any comment about the Oxford findings today.  That data seriously suggests vaccinations are they way out of this, but that involved the government taking a bit of responsibility to get them done as fast as humanly possible.  

I doubt she will. She's a fairly frequent tweeter, but in the last seven days she's not tweeted anything about;

The Novavax vaccine

The J&J vaccine

The Oxford vaccine transmission findings.

 

She has tweeted about;

Managed Quarantine

Extending Lockdown Restrictions

Leanne Chrichton retiring

The cleaners in the Scottish Parliament

[vikingTON]

11 minutes ago, GiGi said:

Are school pupils to be vaccinated before they go back? If not they really should be if the vaccines are effective at stopping transmission to some extent. Might be behind on this but I don't think anyone would grumble about pupils being the next group to be given the vaccines once the vulnerable groups are done.

Given that 'but the weans don't get it bad' has been the star guiding all our policies since July, they can remain at the very back of the queue for protection.

Open up society for over-18s and keep them locked indoors for a change instead. 

[vikingTON]

16 minutes ago, Paco said:

 

This is true, of course, but there’s also a pretty valid argument that for most of the country the tier system simply didn’t work. Cases just rose slowly from just about the day it began. I’m not sure we should be holding it up as some sort of place to return to.

 

That's not true of Scotland at all. Very few LAs ticked steadily upwards and the majority of those who were in the lowest tier category stayed there throughout. Even parts of the Central Belt were lowered into tier 2 based on the objective fall in case rates at the start of December. Two months later, we have the usual suspects gormlessly buying Leitch's pish that the grounds for entering tier 1 are now only enough to get the barbers open if you're lucky. 

The solution to any perceived issue with the tiers is to stop pretending that schools are a special case and close them as well in tiers 3 and 4. It's really that straightforward. 

Edited February 3, 2021 by vikingTON

[Billy Jean King]

Nationally we will not drop below 50/100k with schools open.

We might get there before they go back. P1-3 will have next to no effect on it and Secondary are not realistically going to be back much before Easter. If we dont hit 50 per 100k by then something else will have gone seriously wrong.

I suspect we will be there in about 4-6 weeks which pretty much ties in with what NS said yesterday.

Having said all that I tend to agree that new cases becomes a less meaningful measure the more we vaccinate.

[Elixir]

 

[jamamafegan]

Deary me

[vikingTON]

3 hours ago, Bairnardo said:

Antibodies from infection found to last AT LEAST 6 months. More good news. They are going to have to announce that the next mutation turns your arsehole inside out and dissolves the wee bones in your ear at this rate.

Needless to say that the British media has dropped the 'at least' part from their headlines, to allow people to wet their frilly knickers about 'whit happens at month seven tho!!!111!!!' and demand a 23 hour a day curfew just in case. 

[mizfit]

Deary me

“Millwall was always my dear fathers favourite team, he’ll be glad we’ve received a hospitality box for life to use in his memory.”

[vikingTON]

Meanwhile, I see that the TUC is now pushing for furlough to be maintained for the rest of the fucking year, as part of our new social contract to Not Let Anyone Lose Their Jobs Because of This: except of course for all the ones who already did and weren't eligible for furlough, and those who will be living off Universal Credit and food banks for decades due to the hellscape economy that this furlough junkie attitude is creating. 

That the British left do not see that paying the bill for this largesse is going to make the 2010s austerity look like a teddy bear's picnic is baffling even by their low benchmark for political foresight.

[gav-ffc]

[Marshmallo]

Extending furlough in isolation would make sense to assist industries such as live events or travel which are going to be last to open, but the Scottish Government seem to be taking the approach of "if it's there then we might as well use it".

[Elixir]

10 minutes ago, virginton said:

Needless to say that the British media has dropped the 'at least' part from their headlines, to allow people to wet their frilly knickers about 'whit happens at month seven tho!!!111!!!' and demand a 23 hour a day curfew just in case. 

I mean, it was only a couple of weeks ago a study got published among over 20,000 UK workers in healthcare which showed 80%+ had high levels of antibodies after eight months.

People, of course, who are in settings where they are routinely exposed to the virus.

But let's just sweep all that under the carpet.

[ICTChris]

33 minutes ago, djchapsticks said:

I mean, realistically, what would their continued function be in an independent Scotland?

Their entire manifesto since inception has been Scottish independence. I'd argue that currently, a massive amount of voters only stick with them because of this.

A bit of an over-simplification but if you break it down, them hanging about would be like the Brexit party continuing post-brexit.

The SNP are the absolutely dominant party in Scottish political life.  They are the biggest party in Westminers,  in Holyrood, in local government.  They very likely have more members in Scotland than the Conservative Party have in the whole United Kingdom.  They aren't a single issue party, they have a broad policy platform, they run for all elections on it and they would continue to do so post-independence.  

The idea that they would voluntarily dissolve themselves upon indepedence is a fantasy.  What is more likely is that they would continue and extend their dominance of Scottish poltics for many years.  Perhaps some of the Cherry/Salmond group would peel off and form a new party but they would be very small and insignificant.  Maybe I'm a pessimist by nature but I think the idea that independence would result in a more pluralistic and varied Scottish politics is completely incorrect.  What is very likely is that we'd have the same sort of government we've had since 1999, soft left/centrist approach but more so because the opposition parties would probably implode due to losing the independence debate/vote.

Of course, what could happen is that independence is a complete disaster, causes economic and social chaos and from this new political movements emerge and sweep the SNP aside.  I don't think that's entirely likely but is probably more likely than a bunch of politicians who have complete control over their country deciding to go their own separate ways because they have disagreements about how to manage the Forestry Commision.

It's all speculation though, of course, and I could very likely be completely wrong.  It's also off topic so I'll be quiet about it now.

 

[MP_MFC]

 

UK lagging behind again. Very disappointing.

[effeffsee_the2nd]

9 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

Extending furlough in isolation would make sense to assist industries such as live events or travel which are going to be last to open, but the Scottish Government seem to be taking the approach of "if it's there then we might as well use it".

you can't put a price on being SAFE,

 

10 years later, I can't believe theres no funding for X, Y & Z  HOW DID THEY ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN

 

Also whats happened to us? Remember society, from absolute top to bottom , used to sort of condescendingly nudge those ultra cautious knicker wetter's who were terrified to engage in anything with a hint of risk with a simple phrase " och youd never leave the house if that's your approach to life"  now we don't ever  leave the house and this is somehow seen as a proper sensible approach ? wtf

[NotThePars]

If you think that the SNP will be consigned to the past after independence, I have a bridge to sell you.

No all those people who’ve become the political establishment in the last 14 years are going to give up their cushy role at the exact point that they have over half the voting electorate’s gratitude for delivering a momentous political achievement