Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[effeffsee_the2nd]

11 minutes ago, Detournement said:

It's not Devi that will implement it. 

The process here would be the government telling the Times editorial staff (either informally or through the official committee that liaisons with the media on national security) to run pro Vaccine passport stories. Then the Times need to find someone stupid enough to write the article and obviously Devi is the perfect person.

Opinion columns don't just appear out of thin air. There is always an agenda. 

it's called priming, I remember there was much "opinion" in newspaper columns from pro snp writers around 2007 pre emptively supporting an "idea "  The idea was the 2 tier drinking age proposed by the snp when they first came to power (18 for licenced premises' and 21 for off sales)  Ultimately it never made it and the opinion has never been heard from again

[TheScarf]

27 minutes ago, 101 said:

my kind of guy 

 

He looks familiar.  Wonder if he's an ex-footballer?

[Gaz]

7 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Eh?

Courses can comfortably run from August.  They more or less did this year for goodness' sake.  Indeed, in any year, loads of kids in S5 and S6 only join classes at that point due to re-jigging in the wake of exam results.

I don't see next year's exams needing delayed, but if removing a couple of units helps deal with a slightly truncated course, then that can again happen.  

It is going to be very different looking final term from usual, but S1 transition and induction can be accommodated relatively comfortably.  It's not that huge an undertaking.  It'll just be something else that needs squeezed in.  It's a much better idea for features like that to take the hit, than for those seeking qualifications to suffer further.

Courses can't comfortably run from August. I started teaching my classes in May last year, remotely. What you're referring to - pupils changing course in August when their exam results come in - happens every year. We don't start the course again for their benefit. They need to catch up.

Removing a couple of topics can help, but ultimately until the SQA come out and say that's what they're going to do, we can't assume that's what will happen. At present we are assuming the exam diet will start in late April 2022 based on full course content, and so our planning has to be on that assumption.

[tamthebam]

12 hours ago, Arch Stanton said:

"God fearing" Americans...yet the Pope has already advocated getting vaccinated.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/02/new-orleans-archdiocese-catholics-avoid-johnson-johnson-vaccine

in keeping with a theme of this thread:

[vikingTON]

2 hours ago, HibsFan said:

If that's The Times article, it's paywalled to f**k before we get into the crux of what she was saying. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt on that one.

I will not. 

The groundless assertion that vaccines are not going to be taken up by the vast majority of the population without carrots and sticks underlines who the true misanthropes are in this pandemic. Both the UK and Scottish government are stuffed with these paternalistic, knicker-wetting freak shows.

[Elixir]

1 hour ago, 101 said:

Devi seems to be dipping her toe into behavioural science, not sure why the media are entertaining her. If she thinks that the threat of a vaccine passport will be an effective way to get the vaccination numbers up then it should be caveated by 2 things, firstly she's not a an expert in this field and secondly take up so far have been extraordinarily high. 

Let's not be complacent with take up but until the take up is alarmingly low let's not get into a discussion about taking rights away from people who don't wish to get a vaccine instead promote the positive messages about what a vaccine provides people and society more generally.

One of the biggest problems of this whole shit show is that it has been led and implemented through coercion, rather that positive communication and public health messaging.

[Monkey Tennis]

6 minutes ago, Gaz said:

Courses can't comfortably run from August. I started teaching my classes in May last year, remotely. What you're referring to - pupils changing course in August when their exam results come in - happens every year. We don't start the course again for their benefit. They need to catch up.

Removing a couple of topics can help, but ultimately until the SQA come out and say that's what they're going to do, we can't assume that's what will happen. At present we are assuming the exam diet will start in late April 2022 based on full course content, and so our planning has to be on that assumption.

Clearly, that's the prevalent thinking in your area and you've embraced it.

it's nuts though.  

 

We don't have exams in May and the SQA need nothing until 25th June.  To finish in the way we normally do, because we normally do, is genuinely bonkers.

[Gaz]

Just now, Monkey Tennis said:

Clearly, that's the prevalent thinking in your area and you've embraced it.

it's nuts though.  

We don't have exams in May and the SQA need nothing until 25th June.  To finish in the way we normally do, because we normally do, is genuinely bonkers.

We're not finishing the way we normally do "because we normally do", though. We're finishing that way because we're assuming the SQA will start a full course content exam diet next April.

[Detournement]

12 minutes ago, virginton said:

I will not. 

The groundless assertion that vaccines are not going to be taken up by the vast majority of the population without carrots and sticks underlines who the true misanthropes are in this pandemic. Both the UK and Scottish government are stuffed with these paternalistic, knicker-wetting freak shows.

The vast majority isn't enough. They probably need over 90% to make the ID plan workable.

[Monkey Tennis]

12 minutes ago, Gaz said:

We're not finishing the way we normally do "because we normally do", though. We're finishing that way because we're assuming the SQA will start a full course content exam diet next April.

That assumption isn't decisive, however, in that course units etc can be amended en route to the exams.

They should absolutely dilute next year's courses by the tiny amount required to accommodate a loss of three weeks or so.   Seriously, can you not see why that's preferable to making even worse the butchery that this year's courses have endured?

Edited March 3, 2021 by Monkey Tennis

[Elixir]

Into the bin goes the variant mewling.

[Billy Jean King]

She was discussing how vaccine passports are going to be inevitable and then she said youngsters need an “incentive” to get the vaccine. Later on she went on to say 
“You can really create an incentive to people to say if you want to go to a concert, if you want to be active in places where spreading occurs then you have to protect and make sure you’re not spreading it to others” 
Disgusts me in all honesty 
 

That's exactly how Israel are "encouraging" younger cohorts to get vaccinated.

[Gaz]

8 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

That assumption isn't decisive, however, in that course units etc can be amended en route to the exams.

They should absolutely dilute next year's courses by the tiny amount required to accommodate a loss of three weeks or so.   Seriously, can you not see why that's preferable to making even worse the butchery that this year's courses have endured?

I absolutely agree that would be preferable. Hell, I've been advocating for several years for a move away from the traditional, archaic model of exams.

But surely you can see that we can't dilute the course until the SQA have told us we can? Given their track record on decisions, I wouldn't hold my breath.

[101]

22 minutes ago, Elixir said:

One of the biggest problems of this whole shit show is that it has been led and implemented through coercion, rather that positive communication and public health messaging.

I disagree that all the public Comms especially in Scotland has been through coercion. There of course has been some but disagree it was led by that infact I would say once the public messages were, I assume deemed, ineffective then fines were introduced.

[Lyle Lanley]

1 hour ago, Elixir said:

It is actually becoming increasingly clear that the vaccines are going to have a quite considerable impact on transmission, which you would expect with such effective vaccines.

Sridhar and her ilk have a fringe, bias, and warped worldview, and it should not be imposed on western democratic societies.

At least when we're back to normal we won't have to hear from her anymore. 

[Arch Stanton]

Interesting video on the vaccines.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2021/mar/03/whats-in-a-vaccine-and-what-does-it-do-to-your-body

[Monkey Tennis]

12 minutes ago, Gaz said:

I absolutely agree that would be preferable. Hell, I've been advocating for several years for a move away from the traditional, archaic model of exams.

But surely you can see that we can't dilute the course until the SQA have told us we can? Given their track record on decisions, I wouldn't hold my breath.

I'm in favour of exams.  I think that with safety mechanisms, they have more integrity and are less inclined to exacerbate gaps than alternatives.  That's a separate argument though.

I genuinely find it astonishing that anyone at school or authority level thinks it's sensible to cram what must happen into April and May, when most of June should also be available.

I also think you're exaggerating the significance of June when it falls at the start of a traditional course.

[Todd_is_God]

29 minutes ago, Billy Jean King said:

3 hours ago, Thereisalight.. said:

She was discussing how vaccine passports are going to be inevitable and then she said youngsters need an “incentive” to get the vaccine. Later on she went on to say 
“You can really create an incentive to people to say if you want to go to a concert, if you want to be active in places where spreading occurs then you have to protect and make sure you’re not spreading it to others” 
Disgusts me in all honesty 
 

That's exactly how Israel are "encouraging" younger cohorts to get vaccinated.

Oh, that makes it all ok then

[The Moonster]

42 minutes ago, Elixir said:

Into the bin goes the variant mewling.

Even the T-Cells are whipping the cigars out.

[superbigal]

On 02/03/2021 at 14:28, superbigal said:

 

Daily Infections per 100K in 7 days Update:  Another monster 24 hours for the UK in general as cases in the UK & England both drop below 100.  Not too shabby in Scotland  as cases drop 3.89% and the infectivity rate plunges to 3.8%.  We are down to 76.5 cases per 100K.  We are now down 74.66% in 8 weeks.  

The North Inch in the Fair City still remains the most deadly area in Scotland so stick masks on your dugs. Has the boating Pond reopened ?

Well I thought Falkirk would quietly lose their shameful reputation. However I am pleased to report they are still once again easily the bad boys of Scottish Covid. Well Played.

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

Total cases latest 7 days from 22nd  to 28th February are down from  4350 to 4181. The positive test rate goes from 3.9% to 3.8%.  Cases per 100k goes from 79.6 to 76.5 down 3.89%

England 102.9  to 97.1 down 5.64% in last 24 hours.  Wales 65.9 to 62.1 down 5.77%  in last 24 hours , Northern Ireland 96.7 to 94.9 down 1.86% in last 24 hours.   UK Average is now  100.4 to 94.9  down 5.48%  in last 24 hours.

In Europe (Above 2 Million Population) the Czech republic is in freefall at 770 from 700 when last updated, next worst is Serbia at 325.

NHS FIGURES :  Forth Valley 156.9 to 150.0 ,  Lanarkshire 110.1 to 107.1 , Greater Glasgow & Clyde 109.2 to 105.3 ,  Lothian 86.1 to 84.2,  Ayrshire & Arran   73.4 to 64.7,  Tayside 60.8 to 58.0, Fife 58.6 to 57.6, Western Isles  26.2 to 33.7,  D&G 32.9 to 29.6 , Highland 28.9 to 26.1, Grampian 26.5 to 25.1 ,  Borders  16.4 to 19.0 ,  Orkney 0.0 to 0.0 & Shetlands 0.0 to 0.0

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

Falkirk  162.2 to 161.0  Hamlets are on hold as reductions stall and Stirling reduces.

Stirling 161.3 to 146.5  Stirling has had enough of being classed like Falkirk

West Lothian  125.1 to 125.1  Progress stalled.  Odd, then again it is Fauldhoose and Whitburn.  Canny make up minds whether to join EOS or WOS

Clackmannanshire  131.9 to 122.2

Renfrewshire  124.0 to 121.7 

West Dunbartonshire  122.6 to 120.3  

North Lanarkshire  123.9 to 118.1 

Glasgow City  118.5 to 114.0

Bit of a gap to the sub 100 club

East Lothian 99.0 to 99.9 

Midlothian  102.7  to 95.2 

South Lanarkshire 95.2 to 94.8 

East Ayrshire  91.0 to 80.3   Prison free and surging back down charts another 11.75% day.

NOW ALL BELOW SCOTTISH AVERAGE of 76.5

East Renfrewshire  80.6 to 76.4  Drop into the good guys below average club

East Dunbartonshire  78.2 to 70.9  Another great 10% plus day. (Not for the Sons as corrected thank you Moonster)

Dundee City  70.3 to 69.0

City Of Edinburgh 65.3 to 63.6   

North Ayrshire  74.2 to 65.3  Magnificent 12% drop on the day.

Fife  58.6 to 57.6

Perth & Kinross   59.9 to 57.3

Inverclyde  54.0 to 52.7

South Ayrshire  53.3 to 47.1  Brilliant would now get in the new Level 2.  Beers and Cigars

Angus 49.9 to 44.8  Great 10% drop  

Moray 39.7  to 37.6

Western Isles  26.2  to 33.7

Dumfries & Galloway 32.9 to 29.6

Highlands 32.7 to 28.0  Great 10% drop

Aberdeen City  29.7 to 27.6

 Scottish  Borders  16.4 to 19.0 

Argyll & Bute 17.5 to 18.6   

Aberdeenshire 18.8 to 18.4 

Orkney Island   0.0 to 0.0

Shetland Islands   0.0 to 0.0

Edited March 3, 2021 by superbigal