Coronavirus: General discussion (see opening post for rules)

[jthompson]

Silly season kicks off a little early with this contribution:

 

Link: https://twitter.com/GillianMcKeith/status/1417883955462823944 [Gillian McKeith Text Tweet]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]62660[/ATTACH]

 

 

There was me thinking that COVID-19 being widely known as an acronym for 'coronavirus disease 2019' was perfectly plausible. Gillian McKeith has shown us all how thick we can be! I'm totally going to pay way more attention to my poo than I normally do now.

[Boredguy]

So the caretaker is back at work today, I wasn't expecting him until tomorrow because his household's isolation shouldn't end until tonight.

I showed him the calendar and counted the days out.

 

The worrying thing is that his wife has been out of isolation since the weekend because the app told her to. I had to explain that the need for a household to isolate for 10 days overrides whatever the app is telling you...

He's going back home to isolate now, in case Test and Trace ring to see if he's still isolating. He said they haven't been in contact at all, no text messages or phone calls.

 

It's no wonder the rate of infection is what it is... First you've got people who don't understand the rules and then Test and Trace aren't actually making sure people are isolating when they should be. The whole thing is a mess.

It does not also help that the information from the app is purely a recommendation, and not a legal requirement, which adds additional confusion

[Garacesh]

It's no wonder the rate of infection is what it is... First you've got people who don't understand the rules and then Test and Trace aren't actually making sure people are isolating when they should be. The whole thing is a mess.

I had to fill out a form that said where I'd be staying etc after coming back from Denmark last year. I know people who said they did have bobbies knocking on the door to check they were in, but I had nowt. I could've been swanning around town or whatever for all they knew, nobody checked on me at all.

Anecdotal, but still.. Underfunded, over-stretched police and all that.

[paulkerton]

Anecdotal, but still.. Underfunded, over-stretched police and all that.

But if we funded public services properly, how would Capita, Accenture, Serco, G4S and Interserve make huge profits and dividends for their private shareholders? What would the point of becoming close friends with cabinet ministers if you can't get contracts without scrutiny?

[elsiegee40]

Walk in clinic in Balham for 1st and 2nd dose Pfizer today. Qualification for 2nd is 6weeks. Daughter is on her way for second dose.

[tg12]

I believe my local centre is also allowing walk-ins (not sure on exact details), Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre for anyone in Hounslow!

[6Foot2]

Link: BBC pulls local morning TV bulletins as ‘pingdemic’ leads to staff shortages | BBC | The Guardian

 

The BBC has taken the unusual decision to stop making some of its local news programmes for an extended period because of staff shortages blamed on the coronavirus self-isolation “pingdemic”.

 

From Monday, BBC One’s Breakfast programme will no longer have local news bulletins covering English regions, while further regional programmes might be at risk if staff need to self-isolate amid rising cases of Covid-19.

 

The broadcaster said it hoped to be able to restart morning local news bulletins from September.

 

Although the immediate cause of the staffing crisis is the level of self-isolation alerts coming from the NHS Covid-19 app, many BBC staff said the situation highlighted the impact of deep cuts to staffing levels at the broadcaster over the last 10 years.

 

The crisis has left managers feeling that they had to sacrifice some of the BBC’s local television news output to allow staff to focus on the early evening news bulletins for their region. These programmes are consistently among the most watched shows on television, and opinion within the corporation was that they should not be allowed to fall off air.

 

Despite this, viewers in some areas could still find their main evening BBC news bulletin replaced by one produced by a neighbouring region, while some particularly local television schedules – with regional services differing from the main schedule – could vanish over the summer.

 

The BBC confirmed that it hoped to bring back the morning regional news updates in the autumn. A spokesperson said: “Like employers in every area of the economy, we’re experiencing unprecedented staffing shortages caused by Covid. Apart from a few exceptions, we have maintained a normal service so far. Our priority is to protect the most popular news programme on TV; the regional news at 6:30pm on BBC One. To do this, we are implementing some short-term measures to ease pressure on our teams.”

 

Employees working for multiple regional programmes said that the deep cuts to regional shows implemented in 2020 had left newsrooms unable to keep making programmes during periods of widespread staff absences, although the BBC also reduced parts of its news output last year before the cuts were implemented.

 

About one in six regional staff were made redundant across England, with many prominent presenters and reporters affected.

 

Remaining staff say they have faced heavier workloads, while the decision to only keep one host in each region means there are fewer back-up options in case a presenter is infected with Covid or told to self-isolate.

 

Some BBC local news programmes have already been shared across newsrooms because of staff shortages, with viewers in Cambridge and Norwich being shown the same half-hour evening news bulletin this week.

 

Although the regular English regional updates will be cut from the BBC Breakfast show, viewers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will continue to see bulletins for their regions.

 

Despite trumpeting the healthy viewing figures and high levels of viewer trust in its regional news output, the corporation has struggled to work out how to replace regional programmes such as Inside Out as part of its cost-saving plan. Any changes the broadcaster makes to local news are often fiercely opposed by politicians, especially MPs who fear losing a key route to broadcast to their constituents.

[mavhc]

What were they doing all of 2020? Don't they know how to work from home now?

[Garacesh]

What were they doing all of 2020? Don't they know how to work from home now?

 

Call me pessimistic, but I'm not fully convinced your standard residential home has space for all the stuff they need in a recording studio

[Rob_D]

I have to agree, why is it so much worse now than when we had strict lockdowns last year, or in the winter when the case rate was through the roof.

[E_G_R2]

lock down fatigue? Economic factors?

[LeMarchand]

I have to agree, why is it so much worse now than when we had strict lockdowns last year, or in the winter when the case rate was through the roof.

 

Because it was "Freedom Day" on Monday?

[smurfomatic]

I have to agree, why is it so much worse now than when we had strict lockdowns last year, or in the winter when the case rate was through the roof.

 

There was a period during 2020 when the "local news" section on Breakfast was removed for quite some time, probably for the same reason.

[mavhc]

Call me pessimistic, but I'm not fully convinced your standard residential home has space for all the stuff they need in a recording studio

 

What, a laptop and access to Twitter?

[Davit2005]

What, a laptop and access to Twitter?

 

I'm not sure I'd trust them with either TBH

[stevejp]

What were they doing all of 2020? Don't they know how to work from home now?

 

I believe you may be confusing TV broadcasts with radio news bulletins…

[6Foot2]

Link: Travel Restrictions Map [british Airways Coronavirus Restrictions Interactive Map]

 

[Roberto]

We’re quite worried at work I think. Been asked to be extra careful, take a test at least twice a week when going into the office, and I’ve been asked to avoid the tube and instead take a taxi to/from the train station.

[mikeprice]

Mrs mikeprice wanted chips fro tea - proper ones from the chippie with gravy

 

So I went to get them

 

busier than normal - recently they have been mad busy with deliveries - mostly Chinese type stuff - but not many pickups and walk-ins

 

yesterday was different - 6 people waiting plus the normal 6-8 behind the counter serving and cooking

 

mine was the only mask!!!

 

This idea of asking people to take personal responsibility without any threat of punishment 'might' not work as well as some people seem to expect

[LeMarchand]

This idea of asking people to take personal responsibility without any threat of punishment 'might' not work as well as some people seem to expect

 

Or maybe it will. It's one way to cut the state benefits and pensions bill...

[Ditto]

Looking weekly, day by day, the case rate has dropped for 3 days on the trot. Too early to say the latest wave is turning, but I don't think anyone suggested the turning point would be in July? I know some commentators still expect a further uplift, but we'll have to wait and see. 1st jab rates continue to decline, but 2nd vaccination dose rate holding steady. Hospital numbers and deaths still increasing, but reflects expectations based on earlier cases.

[Steve21]

Looking weekly, day by day, the case rate has dropped for 3 days on the trot. Too early to say the latest wave is turning, but I don't think anyone suggested the turning point would be in July? I know some commentators still expect a further uplift, but we'll have to wait and see. 1st jab rates continue to decline, but 2nd vaccination dose rate holding steady. Hospital numbers and deaths still increasing, but reflects expectations based on earlier cases.

 

Call me pessimistic, but seeing the football wouldn't have even been 3 weeks ago yet, I have the feeling it's more likely people just not getting tests before holidays/events, or turning off the apps so some who would have got tested aren't now etc, rather than cases going down yet. Seems too early as you say

 

Steve

[Ditto]

With football, I expect the next week or so will be key. We also had Wimbledon of course. Testing has been relatively stable throughout July at about a million a day. Turning the app off is a concern and could have an impact - it would be useful to know latest usage figures. There was an article in the Sunday Times a couple of weeks ago that indicated usage was at an all time high, but school holidays have started everywhere now AFAIK, so maybe that's changed? I wouldn't call you pessimistic though, just wisely cautious !

[Ditto]

Suggestion that Scotland's early exit led to the figures dropping https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/19468102.covid-scotlands-early-euro-2020-exit-behind-new-drop-cases-expert-claims/ - I suspect it's just an English way of having a dig!

[Theblacksheep]

2nd infections not counting towards numbers + school children no longer mixing will have a huge impact on daily numbers.