Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Raithie]

Yesterday was the closest to normality I've felt in a long time, especially football wise. Good few hundred Rovers fans at Central Park for our cup game against Cowdenbeath. No entry time slots, no social distancing on the terrace, no masks, pie stalls open, no restrictions on how many folk could go for a slash. Was braw. 

[Steven W]

45 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

 

As of right now, there hasn't been any indication from the Scottish government that their original planning of lifting social distancing requirements on 9th August will change.

 

You're living in a fantasy land.

[craigkillie]

4 minutes ago, Steven W said:

You're living in a fantasy land.

You have been one of the most miserable individuals on this thread since day one, so at least you're staying on brand.

[s_dog]

4 hours ago, Bairnardo said:

I know, but they are getting off the hook on making changes that would make a real difference. For me, number one on the list is sick pay policy. It would make a colossal difference, but instead we have a society full of folk who face the choice of going in ill, or not getting paid, and being branded as a chancer. 

Public health measures and interventions can continue without harmful shite like social distancing

I agree with you (to an extent), its the possible complete lack of public health measures that's worrying. The disinterest in improving ventilation in schools & colleges, not bothering too much about tracking & tracing people who test positive and instead talking about making the app less sensitive, not paying people to self-isolate in case some try to game the system, plus the pathetic mixed messages on removing most restrictions with freedom day. Yes we need to live with Covid-19, but it doesn't mean treating it like it no longer exists at the end of the month.

[Michael W]

Oh look, a possible new variant! 

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/new-covid-19-variant-may-have-emerged-in-north-east-surge-1094420

[SANTAN]

5 minutes ago, Snafu said:

More shambles -

Not so sure about this claim about hiring inexperienced staff. I would guess that most of the staff were attached to agencies to begin with and could very well if they were available many would be back doing this job again, most would know their way around a call center. I don't know why they don't say hiring 7,000 temporary staff to cope with the current situation, they will be aware they are on short contracts. I suppose it makes it more dramatic all this hiring and firing and then hiring again.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/test-trace-coronavirus-jobs-nhs-b1878826.html

‘Panic’ as Test and Trace recruits thousands ahead of summer wave just months after axing contact tracers

Exclusive: Private companies hiring thousands of cheaper non-clinical staff to carry out contact tracing as Covid cases surge

The government’s test and trace service is “panicking” in a rush to fill thousands of vacant contact tracing positions – just months after making thousands of clinical staff redundant – amid fears a summer wave of coronavirus will see a 100,000 infections a day.

The Independent understands the private companies running the service, Serco and Sitel, have been asked to recruit up to 7,000 new call-centre staff to speak to patients who have tested positive for Covid-19.

Under the plans, the new recruits will have no clinical training and be paid at substantially cheaper rates than the nurses and other clinical staff who were made redundant en masse in May as test and trace bosses said demand on the service had reduced.

Another 8,000 contact tracing staff were let go with just one week’s notice in March, as the service cut its workforce from 22,000 to 14,000 after the January surge had passed.The Department of Health and Social Care confirmed it was now recruiting staff again to meet the increase in infections being seen across the country.

Under changes to the system, people who test positive will have four hours to enter their details online, including people they have been in contact with, before the cases are passed to the national service or in some cases to local public health teams.

 

Removing clinicians from contact tracing will save Serco and Sitel substantial amounts of money. Clinical contact tracers earn £17 an hour for a four-hour shift during the week and can earn up to £27 at weekends. This compares to between £6.56 and £9.99 for non-clinical staff, based on adverts posted online.

Jamey Johnson, director of operations for NHS Test and Trace, told a webinar of local authority tracing teams that modelling for the Department of Health and Social Care suggested case rates could hit 60,000 by the end of July, rising further to 100,000 later this summer.

Health secretary Sajid Javid confirmed the numbers this week and said the government was braced for more infections and deaths. But he argued the key indicators now were hospitalisations and deaths, which were lower as a proportion of infections, thanks to the vaccine rollout.

Can confirm I've had no PTO for 2 months because our contract was due to end and they moved everyone away from T&T leaving barely any staff and then the contract got renewed and they were left trying to rehire staff. So if this monumental billion pound f**k up of a system brings any glimmer of hope for the pie and bovril masses is that I'm working today til 8pm as a consequence of this latest f**k up. 

They also forced people to take left over PTO during May when it was raining and everything was shut down and now everything is opening and it's summer we've all been working with no chance of paid time off.

Edited July 11, 2021 by SANTAN

[Left Back]

6 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

Has there ever been a single example of this strategy turning out to be a success?

At any time in the history of mankind?

Proponents of QE would argue that it isn’t the same as printing money and QE in this form is a relatively recent invention.  Invented by the Japanese not that long ago.

I’m not disagreeing with you btw.

[SoapMactavish]

25 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

 

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33550400/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33571176/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33642918/

 

3 published articles just from this year showing the effectiveness of masks in reducing clinical Covid infections. 
 

Show me your working that masks aren’t effective please. 

Spoiler

 Oh wait.

 

 

[Sergeant Wilson]

47 minutes ago, Raithie said:

Yesterday was the closest to normality I've felt in a long time, especially football wise. Good few hundred Rovers fans at Central Park for our cup game against Cowdenbeath. No entry time slots, no social distancing on the terrace, no masks, pie stalls open, no restrictions on how many folk could go for a slash. Was braw. 

It was still Cowdenbeath though.

[Ron Aldo]

23 minutes ago, Michael W said:

Oh look, a possible new variant! 

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/new-covid-19-variant-may-have-emerged-in-north-east-surge-1094420

With a week to go until "freedom day"? 

[SoapMactavish]

13 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

I've already explained to you that publishing research doesn't make it either correct or accepted by the wider scientific community. That is absolutely NOT how science works. Why on earth am I having to explain this to you for a second time?

There are countless examples of very distinguished scientists who disagree on the issues of masking in particular and social distancing and lockdown in general. Scientists disagree. It's how the system works.

You have your beliefs and I have mine.

As far as evidence? I have already provided it to you.

You clearly couldn't be bothered reading it, which is your choice.

So there is lots of published research telling you that masks work to reduce the risk of Covid. 

There is little to no published evidence that masks don’t work to reduce the risks of Covid. 

To say science is a matter of opinion just shows exactly how little you know. Science is proven fact. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it isnt. 
 

You think the virus spreads through water particles, it probably does however again the majority of spread is through droplets not particles which will be caught by any kind of face covering. 
 

At the end of the day however I know I’m arguing with a brick wall with the scientific knowledge of an overripe grapefruit. 
 

They truly do live among us. 

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by SoapMactavish

[101]

30 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

Remove all restrictions and there will BE no further disruption to these businesses.

Makes you wonder why the hell we even bothered with vaccinating our vulnerable people.

Didn't realise we controlled other countries borders...

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Now that the wave is clearly beyond the peak, I look forward to NS confirming the intention to bin social distancing and gathering limits from 9th August in parliament next week.
There can be no justification for delaying this date.

Any announcement on that will be on 2 August not next week.

[welshbairn]

26 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

I've already explained to you that publishing research doesn't make it either correct or accepted by the wider scientific community. That is absolutely NOT how science works. Why on earth am I having to explain this to you for a second time?

There are countless examples of very distinguished scientists who disagree on the issues of masking in particular and social distancing and lockdown in general. Scientists disagree. It's how the system works.

You have your beliefs and I have mine.

As far as evidence? I have already provided it to you.

You clearly couldn't be bothered reading it, which is your choice.

In summary..

[BlueBear]

1 hour ago, oaksoft said:

At limiting the spread of the virus?

Yes I'm persuaded that both lockdown and social distancing have helped there.

But we have vaccines now so it's time to remove those restrictions.

The only restriction I have ever said was useless is masks and the claim that they work in themselves.

 

The new cases include those who have been vaxxed, so they are also catching it and spreading it. 

Vaxxing is NOT the panacea as the so called experts are telling us and many obviously not listening. 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

6 minutes ago, BlueBear said:

The new cases include those who have been vaxxed, so they are also catching it and spreading it. 

Vaxxing is NOT the panacea as the so called experts are telling us and many obviously not listening. 

[welshbairn]

Heard about a guy who was badly injured in a car accident the other day, and he was wearing a seatbelt! I mean what's the fucking point, they're useless. 

Edited July 11, 2021 by welshbairn

[PedroMoutinho]

I see Scot Gov seem to be doubling down on social distancing ‘continuing to be an important tool in keeping transmission down’ and ‘part of the collective civic duty we owe each other’.

Are we going to see an artificial reopening in August where places like football stadiums are technically allowed unlimited numbers but are in fact heavily restricted by social distancing requirements?

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dont-hold-us-back-hospitality-firms-tell-sturgeon-rf76m26kb

[BlueBear]

2 hours ago, Left Back said:

Do we have negative interest rates at the moment?  (If we do I’ve missed it).  What happens when interest rates go up and to government has to roll the debt over?  It becomes more expensive and reduces the amount available for public sector spending.  Inflation will erode the value of the debt over time but with an inflation target of 2% that means an extremely long time.  The government wants to open up the economy not just to prevent it having to borrow extreme sums of money but also to increase tax income so it can decrease the debt.  If it doesn’t it’s future generations that pay the bill of reduced public services, higher taxes etc.

It’s naive to think there isn’t a bill for all this.  It might not be in 5 years or 10 years (how household finances operate) but there is a bill.  They can’t keep borrowing eye-watering sums of money indefinitely.

With every crises, comes an opportunity. 

Western economies already on the downward pre Covid due to failed government policies and QE the order of the day. 

Covid a good cover of shifting blame and YES Joe public WILL pay the price. 

A surge in unemployment when furlough ends and getting rid of the dead wood hiding in WFH. Big opportunity for employers too in shaving their overhead. 

Then watch interest rates soar through next year. The Fed have ran out of paper they've printed that much. Dollar on the way out and the next crash on the way in, but no worries the big Yank PEI's will save (rape) us. NHS England looking ripe for a scalping. Just as well wee Nicola is in charge up here. 

[strichener]

3 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Heard about a guy who was badly injured in a car accident the other day, and he was wearing a seatbelt! I mean what's the fucking point, they're useless. 

Yet you aren't campaigning to remove cars from the roads?  Shameful.