Covid-19 Virus

It's a 5 day window to allow up to 3 households to meet in that time, it seems fair enough as it states that if you do meet again in that time if has to be the same 3 households not 2 extra ones with you. As you say the sensible will keep sensible, whether it's the rule or if a family member is coughing to not mix. It will be the idiots who wilfully ignore the rules that drag this on longer.

 

The Canadian experience with Thanksgiving isn't encouraging...

 

A big problem is the tendency of the mucky press to simply shout BORIS SAYS MERRY XMAS! HOORAY IT’S SAVED! with Richi Sunk pictured with an elf hat on. The nuances are lost.

 

Whatever one feels about the government's performance this year, the underlying message that people should be sensible by washing hands, keeping distance, not mixing etc., I can't but help blame the media for making life a lot harder for the government.

 

The Government’s message was cautious, but overall the message across the piece, given that the papers are briefed by the Govt directly, is too mixed.

 

I don't really buy this. Do headlines in the Mail, Express etc, or inteviews on the Beeb really make any difference to those who are detemined not to stick to the rules? I doubt those people are even aware of them.

Fake news and conspiracy stories on social media are much more of a problem, imo.

 

You’d have to then ask the question why their proprietors spend so much money and coordinate so keenly with political parties if it has no effect. Throughout the pandemic we have seen choreographed headlines across the Tory supporting press.

And don’t forget those papers, esp the Mail are huge online platforms linked to spreading junk. You follow the Mail on Facebook you will get nutcases on your timeline.

 

I disagree, I think the main news channels like the BBC (particularly)/ITN/Sky and current affairs/magazine type like breakfast TV and QT have more effect on the general population than social media, but on the young, less so.

Unfortunately, Piers Morgan saying on GMB this morning that the "governments statement is encouraging everyone to mix this Christmas, and provides everyone with an excuse to party" does more harm than his tweets, in my view.

 

It has an effect on a particular demographic but in my view those are the people least likely to flout the rules in this particular context.

I take your point about the online dimension but are those 'nutcases' the fault of the media?

In general I think those of us of more, ahem, advanced age tend to overemphasise the importance of the 'traditional' media to those younger than us.

 

Genuine, sort of, question here, all this hype is being made about being allowed to mix for Xmas and the danger it could cause etc. Obviously cases are up and deaths are up and it’s winter, however in the summer everything was relaxed with the obvious consequence of us ending up where we are now.

So why the big deal about a few days over Xmas now? Sure, it will inevitably lead to what would ultimately me a relatively small spike (it’s only a few days with limited households mixing) and deaths, but relaxing over summer clearly lead to a whole lot more.

If Xmas didn’t occur were we just going to stay in a state of perpetual lockdown until a vaccine? And if so why didn’t we do so over the summer? Wasn’t the plan always, from the start to have constant tightening and relaxation anyway? So what is the big deal?

 

I would say that is broadly true but there are three issues:

1. The level of infection across the country is (much) higher now than it was in the summer.
2. The NHS is under more seasonal pressure now than it was in the summer.
3. Relaxation in the summer didn't necessarily equate to having your vulnerable grandparents round for lunch. Plus uni students will have returned from elsewhere.

 

People pass newsagents or petrol stations and see the headlines of papers they may not read but it will register:

Take the headlines from these two papers:



and



Although both reports probably say essentially the same thing, but anyone glancing the Mirror headline as they walk past implies more than what the DM is implying. Headlines are designed to catch the eye.

 

I don''t disagree that these play some part. It's just my hunch that social media is the more influential factor on those who are likely to pay less attention to the guidelines, I can't prove it though - I daresay someone will research it in due course...

 

I'm not saying you're wrong. I get notifications on my phone for a lot of things, and those 'headlines' probably do also cause greater confusion, particularly fake news. As Moog's post yesterday showed, I wonder how many people really did snip through their cars' tyre valves? I reckon enough idiots are out there and did at least one and then genuinely thought that the Illuminati are now preventing them from driving by punishing them for deactivating the transmitter!

 

Fortunately I don't drive so they can't get me...!

 

I agree those are all valid points, especially the last part. I just find the overall rhetoric very mixed.

When the virus first broke (perhaps understandably) it was essentially intolerable for people to risk getting it. Football was shut down at the first sign of anyone getting it, offices were shut even before the government advised it.

Then when lockdown eased the rhetoric changed, it was essentially a case of live life at your own risk, it’s your responsibility to stay safe etc.

Now footballers, politicians get it routinely every week without even a shrug of the shoulders.

Yet somehow Xmas is being described by some as some potentially genocidal event. Lockdown is being eased on 2nd December, why if xmas is so dangerous, why not do it nearer? Obviously it’s to help the hospitality industry, but that carries the same if not greater risk as Xmas. I appreciate its to help that industry avoid collapse, but the end result is the same, increased cases, deaths etc.

It all seems a bit mixed up to me, like we’ve taken a step back from accepting there is a virus circulating that is potentially dangerous, but having to balance that between normal life and personal risk, to OMG if we have xmas people will DIE!

 

Who is putting out those signals? I can't say I have especially seen that myself. Some of the scientists are worried, but then I think they have been worried throughout.

It could, also, be strategic - to frighten people away from actually taking advantage of the relaxations.

 

I have long believed that the country is divided into those for whom Christmas is the biggest event of the year and look forward to it for months and those who don't see what all the fuss is about and just enjoy it for a day or two when it arrives. I also believe the latter group is way bigger than the former and the people in it are generally irritated by the Christmas 'publicity' inflicted on them each year. Those are the people who will quite happily accept a less than 'normal' Christmas for the good of all.

 

Xmas is a particular risk to the old fogies, generally ending a tight lockdown isn't. At Xmas grannies and grandads will not be able to resist creeping out from behind the sofa to see 2-3 generations of their families who may be asymptomatic or presymptomatic. Some will die. A risk worth taking ? Would it have been their last Xmas anyway ? The NHS in Jan is always on it's knees even before CV19. This coming January IT WILL fall over completely. There is a limit to the number of staff and beds.

 

They can’t resist it. If an old geezer is hiding behind the sofa you simply have to shake some Werther’s originals or offer a cup of tea and a minty biscuit. They’ll come crawling out soon enough.

 

Interesting how people have fallen for the marketing of Werther's Originals as though they were the archetypal old-fashioned sweet beloved by the aged. They were only given that name when they expanded into the international market (including here) in the early 1990s.

 

Can't chew, have to suck, (oo err) so deliberately targetting the old and toothless....
Your average pensioner is not going to get far with a curly wurly are they ?

 

Triv quiz. Name a song featuring ‘curly wurly’.

 

Is it the Hallelujah Chorus?

 

Terry went to WBGS and came back to do an afternoon talk. Someone left a CW wrapper on his chair to much amusement.

 

Reasons to be Cheerful (Part 3).

 

No.

 

Wouldn’t life be different if it was?

 

Ah, I've got it. Blinded by the Light?

"Little Early-Pearly came by in his curly-wurly and asked me if I needed a ride".

I suspect this is the only song to use the word 'calliope', as well.

I favour the Manfred Mann version over the original.

 

In England the only tier 1 areas are Cornwall, Scilly Isles and the Isle of Wight. There's quite a list of cities in tier 3 but Hertfordshire is tier 2.