Coronavirus - will we survive?

We're living in strange times. There was nearly a mass brawl at our local centre last week, when a group of people tried to shop without masks. It all started kicking off, and security got involved. The no maskers were hugely outnumbered, and left the centre, but I can see this happening more frequently as we approach Christmas.

boltonbonce wrote:We're living in strange times. There was nearly a mass brawl at our local centre last week, when a group of people tried to shop without masks. It all started kicking off, and security got involved. The no maskers were hugely outnumbered, and left the centre, but I can see this happening more frequently as we approach Christmas.

At least Dick Turpin wore a mask.

A friend whatsapped to say she’d had to wait 5 days to get her husband and baby’s Covid test results back - and was told it’s because we don’t have the analysis capacity so they are being sent to Germany and Italy for analysis.

#leaverlemmings kept quiet about that didn’t they?

boltonbonce wrote:We're living in strange times. There was nearly a mass brawl at our local centre last week, when a group of people tried to shop without masks. It all started kicking off, and security got involved. The no maskers were hugely outnumbered, and left the centre, but I can see this happening more frequently as we approach Christmas.

 I wen to our local Home Bargains yesterday for the first time in months and was amazed how many people aren't wearing masks still. The staff on the door don't ask if they have an exemption, they just let them in 

Norpig wrote:
 I wen to our local Home Bargains yesterday for the first time in months and was amazed how many people aren't wearing masks still. The staff on the door don't ask if they have an exemption, they just let them in 

You can’t expect retail staff to act as bouncers though.

Latest figures show one in every ten people getting a coronavirus test receive a positive result – four times higher than the positivity rate just two weeks earlier.

Figures published by the UK government show that between August 28 and September 3, 168 tests were carried out per 100,000 people each day – the equivalent of 3,351 tests a week.

From those tests, 347 new cases of covid-19 were confirmed – a positivity rate of 10.4 per cent.

Across England, 11,809 cases were confirmed that week from 951,141 tests – a positivity rate of just 1.2 per cent.

Chris Green, MP for Bolton West, urged people to follow the rules to lower the spread.

He said: "We are seeing an increase in hospital admissions so we can be certain that there is an increase in covid in the area.

"People have to be responsible, I’m hearing that a very significant number of people aren’t following the rules – it’s very important to keep to the guidelines.

"The government also needs to win the confidence of people so they listen to the current message, if the vast majority of people follow the rules then they will be effective."

Testing had increased from the week before, when the testing rate was 105.2 – meaning 2,099 tests were done.

Between August 21 and August 27, 104 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed – a positivity rate of just under five per cent.

The week prior to that, August 14-20, 2,045 tests were taken, recording 54 new cases for a positivity rate of 2.6 per cent.

Daily data is published for the national testing effort, but lower level testing figures are only available for local authorities on the government's watch list, and are published weekly.

Mr Green has pushed for more information to be made available about testing in Bolton.

He said: "I would like the authorities to explain how confident they are about why these case figures are so high.

"You see a small outbreak or spike in an area and massively ramp up testing – there have been reports that these tests are so sensitive that they can pick up fragments of the dead virus in someone's system and give a false positive.

"We need more information about testing, we need to know why these figures are up."

Source

Norpig wrote: I wen to our local Home Bargains yesterday for the first time in months and was amazed how many people aren't wearing masks still. The staff on the door don't ask if they have an exemption, they just let them in 

Once again the government are sitting on the fence, just fooking make it mandatory to wear a mask everywhere outside the home.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Once again the government are sitting on the fence, just fooking make it mandatory to wear a mask everywhere outside the home.

A relative of mine works in Home Bargains, and anyone not wearing a mask isn't getting served.

boltonbonce wrote:
A relative of mine works in Home Bargains, and anyone not wearing a mask isn't getting served.

 Not in my local branch Boncey, Mrs Pig kept telling me off for looking at people and shaking my head 

The Daily Telegraph readers will be ringing 101 on everyone.

Norpig wrote:
 Not in my local branch Boncey, Mrs Pig kept telling me off for looking at people and shaking my head 

It must differ branch to branch. There's been a lot of anger when people have been told they're not getting served, but it's made quite plain, so there are no excuses. Can't see what their problem is.

Visited a very nice Quinta in the Douro today for wine tasting and lunch but before we were allowed into the wine museum we had to walk through a box thing that sprayed us to disinfect our clothes head to toe. Cool in every sense.

While you are there try the port especially the tawny port.

To be fair, according to British tradition, you are supposed to get totally slaughtered, start telling everyone that they are your best mate, and then start a fight involving furniture.

As a Buddhist, I am letting myself down tonight. I cant take things seriously sometimes.

Thornleigh is the latest school in Bolton to close a year class due to a year 9 pupil testing positive for the virus.

I feel it's only a matter of time before my family get it now due to 4 schools in Bolton testing positive for it and god knows how many other schools across the UK testing positive for it also.

I flew back into the UK last night having completed an online form in preparation for quarantine - where I'd been/contact details etc.
Where I'd been is a country with a quarter of the infection rate of the UK - even less than that if you look at the latest figures so I'm being philosophical and viewing quarantine as being for my own safety rather than that of those around me.
Anyhoo, I was absolutely horrified when I arrived at (a largely deserted) Heathrow.

Not a single check.
They didn't discuss the form or give any guidance (as the form said they would)
There was no temperature testing (which happens everywhere in Portugal, even going into a shop)
There were loads of people not masked up.
We saw one official at passport control who simply waved everyone through once we'd done the digi passport machine.
Very few alcohol wash points - not even in the loo.

On the positive side it was the fastest time I have EVER got through Heathrow - 20 minutes from disembarking to outside, via baggage reclaim and passport control.

But it was a f****** joke as far as covid is concerned.

Suppose I should be surprised. I'm not.

Get tested when you land in Rome and results in half an hour.

Dido Harding the Head of Test and Trace today saying: 'No one was expecting to see such a big rise in demand' for testing?!

Anyone left thinking this government is anything other than incompetent?