Coronavirus

[danhibees1875]

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10th July.

Thanks for all your updates.

[Sir David Gray]

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Thanks for all your updates.

No problem.

[Pretty Boy]

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Boots announced last year they were planning on closing 200 stores in the UK this year. This was always going to happen regardless of Covid.

If Boots was an isolated event I'd probably accept that and say it was a company using the situation to their advantage to cover previous failings.

The unemployment rate creeps ever higher though and there are daily announcements of job losses. I've seen yesterday's announcments described as 'radical' but they are anything but. There is limited help for retail and no help for wet led hospitality. The imminent winding down and ending of the furlough scheme is forcing companies still working under restrictions to make big decisions and the government have kicked the can down the road when it comes to offering meaningful support.

[G B Young]

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Boots announced last year they were planning on closing 200 stores in the UK this year. This was always going to happen regardless of Covid.

Similar with John Lewis, who actually announced the store closure plans in February:

https://www.theguardian.com/business...res-job-losses

As you say, this has next to nothing to do with the pandemic but it's convenient news with which to find fault with the government, whose quick actions to protect jobs at the start of lockdown were something they actually deserve some credit for.

Personally (and I stress personally because I'll be in the minority on here) I've been impressed with Sunak, especially as he'd barely stepped into the role before Covid-19 hit. As a self-employed worker I lost my job in March but the self-employment support scheme has (in my experience) been well run and a big help to me.

Boots and John Lewis aside, the bigger picture is that we're heading towards an almighty recession and as Sunak says, no government could pledge to save every job.

[marinello59]

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If Boots was an isolated event I'd probably accept that and say it was a company using the situation to their advantage to cover previous failings.

The unemployment rate creeps ever higher though and there are daily announcements of job losses. I've seen yesterday's announcments described as 'radical' but they are anything but. There is limited help for retail and no help for wet led hospitality. The imminent winding down and ending of the furlough scheme is forcing companies still working under restrictions to make big decisions and the government have kicked the can down the road when it comes to offering meaningful support.

On the face of it the £1000 payment to companies for every furloughed worker they keep on their books until January looks like a good idea. Until you realise many of those workers would have been kept on anyway so the money is just getting spread thinly round everybody rather than being targeted at the areas that most need the support.

[G B Young]

Sensible move at Kelvingrove Park. I've got relatives who live not far from the park who say the debris left by big gatherings of drinkers has been appalling:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotla...-west-53347685

[Since90+2]

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Sensible move at Kelvingrove Park. I've got relatives who live not far from the park who say the debris left by big gatherings of drinkers has been appalling:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotla...-west-53347685

I'm not sure it's that sensible a move when it's though that the risk of transmitting the virus is 20 times less outside than indoors.

Young people are not going to stop drinking/partying during the summer , if parks are closed they'll be doing it inside people's houses and flats.

[Bristolhibby]

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I can’t get my head around the fact that we will be able to go to the cinema, church, hairdressers etc, but we can’t go to a football match. You could easily get around 3000 fans into Easter Road and still have 2 meter distancing. If they made masks compulsory surely thats possible as a starting point.

You don’t shout and sing at the cinema though. I think that’s part of the issue.

J

[Moulin Yarns]

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Does anyone know when workies will be able to do planned work in houses? Was due to have some works down the week of lockdown and that was obviously cancelled, had a good look at Gov.scot at all the phases and can see no mention of that, wife is desperate to get the work done TIA

Can do it now. I got openreach man install full fibre to home kit a couple of weeks ago. I've got Plumber scheduled for a few jobs.

[lapsedhibee]

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Personally (and I stress personally because I'll be in the minority on here) I've been impressed with Sunak, especially as he'd barely stepped into the role before Covid-19 hit.

Obvious in the manner of his taking over from The Saj that he was prepared to do whatever Cummings wanted, so it might well be that he is being groomed for the big job as Cummings's next No 2.

[ACLeith]

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On the face of it the £1000 payment to companies for every furloughed worker they keep on their books until January looks like a good idea. Until you realise many of those workers would have been kept on anyway so the money is just getting spread thinly round everybody rather than being targeted at the areas that most need the support.

Read today that the £1,000 is conditional on a minimum monthly wage of £520. So for those on or close to minimum wage who are not working long hours it won’t apply. No incentive for an employer to keep them on.

Or major redundancies in February on the cards ?

[Sir David Gray]

85 deaths registered across the UK today.

[Smartie]

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Read today that the £1,000 is conditional on a minimum monthly wage of £520. So for those on or close to minimum wage who are not working long hours it won’t apply. No incentive for an employer to keep them on.

Or major redundancies in February on the cards ?

If you really need to make redundancies, £1k in February is unlikely to make much of a difference.

It’s a welcome boost for me tbh, and should see an unexpected £7k arrive in February.

The furlough scheme was welcome, as was the CBILS scheme. I had to borrow a six figure sum, and I’ve just had to watch it disappear over the past few months. It’s the price I had to pay to keep my business and keep my staff. It was a bit of a gamble based on people wanting - and being able to afford - what I offer when we get back to normal.

In the grand scheme of things this is a wee bonus that doesn’t make me do anything differently, and I’d be amazed if it affected any other sort of business differently.

[PaulSmith]

Some really progressive and sensible reopening of more businesses and facilities in England announced.

I think they are now understanding the science and the risks.


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[Rocky]

Interesting development on testing data yesterday as it turns out that previously data on some Scottish tests undertaken through the UK Government scheme was not being provided to the Scottish Government. Adding these tests in now shows that Scotland has a higher rate of testing per capita than the UK overall (8.71% vs 8.57%) under Pillar 1 (NHS testing) and Pillar 2 (privatised testing through UK government scheme) combined. It also shows that Scotland's reliance on the privatised testing is lower than the UK overall (36% in Scotland, 43% in UK).

Pillars 3 and 4 aren't reported for Scotland, not sure if that's because we don't do them or because the numbers can't be split out. Pillar 3 is serology testing (i.e. testing for antibodies to show if people have had the virus previously but now recovered), Pillar 4 is academic research type testing for national surveillance. The UK government includes both of those categories in their headline testing figures, but as I've mentioned previously, the main value of Pillar 3 seems to be if you're chasing a herd immunity strategy.

[Rocky]

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Some really progressive and sensible reopening of more businesses and facilities in England announced.

I think they are now understanding the science and the risks.


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Do you think they understand the reasons for England having ten times the prevalence of the virus that Scotland has?

[grunt]

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https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/...mpression=true

From the Pet Peeves thread ...

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Folk who post links with no context or comment. There must be a reason why you've chosen to share it with others in a public forum, would it kill you to give us a sentence or two so we can decide if it's worth clicking on?

[grunt]

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Some really progressive and sensible reopening of more businesses and facilities in England announced.

I think they are now understanding the science and the risks.

Who is "they" in this context?

[grunt]

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Interesting development on testing data yesterday ...

I have very strong reservations about the accuracy of the test data reported by the UK Government. They haven't been providing full information for some weeks now, and the cumulative reported numbers of tests seems to change on a daily basis.

[Santa Cruz]

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Some really progressive and sensible reopening of more businesses and facilities in England announced.

I think they are now understanding the science and the risks.


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I can't say I share your view.

[hibsbollah]

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Some really progressive and sensible reopening of more businesses and facilities in England announced.

I think they are now understanding the science and the risks.


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...Gyms?
Are you serious?
Show me a reputable scientist who thinks weighing the science and the risks together leads to the conclusion that you should open gyms up again, and you win a coconut and a bag of those magic beans.

[PaulSmith]

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...Gyms?
Are you serious?
Show me a reputable scientist who thinks weighing the science and the risks together leads to the conclusion that you should open gyms up again, and you win a coconut and a bag of those magic beans.

I’ll pop back again in another four weeks and by then it will no doubt be something else that will cause an material increase in hospital admissions and deaths.

I mean if you go back on this thread it was:

People going back to work in London
The first heatwave and beaches
Non wearing of masks
Protests
The second heatwave and beaches packed
Reopening of pubs
Reopening of non essential shops


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[Rocky]

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I’ll pop back again in another four weeks and by then it will no doubt be something else that will cause an material increase in hospital admissions and deaths.

I mean if you go back on this thread it was:

People going back to work in London
The first heatwave and beaches
Non wearing of masks
Protests
The second heatwave and beaches packed
Reopening of pubs
Reopening of non essential shops


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Are you saying those are the things that are causing England to have ten times the cases Scotland has?

[Barney McGrew]

I missed this one over the weekend, but it’s an interesting take on where it all originated from

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...-emerged-asia/

[Santa Cruz]

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I’ll pop back again in another four weeks and by then it will no doubt be something else that will cause an material increase in hospital admissions and deaths.

I mean if you go back on this thread it was:

People going back to work in London
The first heatwave and beaches
Non wearing of masks
Protests
The second heatwave and beaches packed
Reopening of pubs
Reopening of non essential shops


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Just had this same discussion with Mr Cruz. I gave him my theory. All those examples you listed have involved in the main, younger people. Therefore, unlikely to become seriously ill, require hospitalisation or perhaps even request a test. They're also less likely at this stage to be mixing in a normal fashion with older or vulnerable people who will understandably be more cautious just now. The reason over 3,000 people are still testing positive daily in England is down to the list you have provided imo.

[Santa Cruz]

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I missed this one over the weekend, but it’s an interesting take on where it all originated from

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...-emerged-asia/

I doubt we'll ever know. As my auld Dad said today, "there's way to many experts oot there wae far too many contradictory theories, you wouldnae ken who to believe".

[Sir David Gray]

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Just had this same discussion with Mr Cruz. I gave him my theory. All those examples you listed have involved in the main, younger people. Therefore, unlikely to become seriously ill, require hospitalisation or perhaps even request a test. They're also less likely at this stage to be mixing in a normal fashion with older or vulnerable people who will understandably be more cautious just now. The reason over 3,000 people are still testing positive daily in England is down to the list you have provided imo.

I'd say England's numbers are still high but it's nothing like 3,000 per day testing positive.

[Santa Cruz]

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I'd say England's numbers are still high but it's nothing like 3,000 per day testing positive.

Apologies, your right, that figure is there estimate of how many they reckon are currently infected each day. Read it earlier, but can't remember if it was the BBC website or not.

[G B Young]

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I'm not sure it's that sensible a move when it's though that the risk of transmitting the virus is 20 times less outside than indoors.

Young people are not going to stop drinking/partying during the summer , if parks are closed they'll be doing it inside people's houses and flats.

It's the "anti-social behaviour and disorder, attacks on police officers and staggering amounts of discarded litter" that seems to be more of a concern than social distancing.

It may not have been possible for young folk to gather in pubs, clubs, flats etc in recent months but it doesn't make thoughtless behaviour like this OK when the park is for public use.

[PaulSmith]

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Are you saying those are the things that are causing England to have ten times the cases Scotland has?

England has a 0.03% community infection rate as at July 5th.

It was 0.25% back in May 21st.


Scotland’s is something like 0.009%.

That hopefully gives some people on here some context rather than a headline figure of “ten times the number of cases”.


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