Coronavirus precautions: Has the world gone mad?

[Mag_seven]

The problem was, if you pointed that out, you tended to get something like "well my uncle's brother works on the NHS front line and he says there's people under 50 dying of this STAY AT HOME EVERYONE FFS WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE".

This type of response is still happening even now. It has to stop.

Unfortunately they seem to dominate radio phone ins which gives the impression that is the opinion of everyone - I can assure you that isn't given the conversations I've had in my circle.

 

[Bikeman78]

The problem was, if you pointed that out, you tended to get something like "well my uncle's brother works on the NHS front line and he says there's people under 50 dying of this STAY AT HOME EVERYONE FFS WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE".

This type of response is still happening even now. It has to stop.

I have a cousin that works in a hospital. I've stopped talking to her about the kids. The response I kept getting was along the lines of "oh you shouldn't let your kids do that. Last week we had a child in with a broken leg." The point is they don't see the thousands of children that do things and don't get hurt.

 

[al78]

The cost of standing 2m away from another person on a pavement where there's space to do so? Zero. The cost of never crossing a road again, ever?...

It is not guarenteed you will never get run over if you never cross a road. People have been killed when a motorist lost control of their vehicle and mounted the pavement.

Motorist killed pedestrian while 'racing another car' and mounting

David Puryer and Oliver Enstone are both charged with causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving after Irene Rodriguez Cabellero (pictured) was killed in a horror Berkshire collision.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Scotrail12]

Just saw on the BBC that there is a 2nd wave in South Korea. Very deadly 2nd wave of approx. 17 cases.

Scotland's leader also retweeted the article.

Since when was 17 cases a 2nd wave?

 

[adc82140]

I have just seen the 'rules' from a local Pick Your Own Strawberry farm posted online. I won't shame the business which, as well as introducing a one-way system, highlight that:



So, who goes to a PYO strawberry farm for essential food retail?

Rule number 6: There will be no toilet or handwash facilities
Rule number 11: Wash your hands after your visit

I think I will give this farm a wide berth for now.

You're over thinking it. They are probably just covering their rear ends from a legislation point of view, so some busybody doesn't accuse them of running a tourist attraction before July 4th.

 

[BJames]

Just saw on the BBC that there is a 2nd wave in South Korea. Very deadly 2nd wave of approx. 17 cases.

Scotland's leader also retweeted the article.

Since when was 17 cases a 2nd wave?

It's not really. I was about to just suggest that it's probably poor reporting, but it's actually South Korea's own health officials who have used the phrase "second wave".

In terms of Scotland, I believe it fits Sturgeon's narrative against Johnson as she continues to fight to prove him wrong. There's no problem with her making her own decisions for her country but I do still think a lot of it is political games.

 

[Journeyman]

In terms of Scotland, I believe it fits Sturgeon's narrative against Johnson as she continues to fight to prove him wrong. There's no problem with her making her own decisions for her country but I do still think a lot of it is political games.

Absolutely damn right it is. I wish I lived in England right now.

 

[Scrotnig]

You're over thinking it. They are probably just covering their rear ends from a legislation point of view, so some busybody doesn't accuse them of running a tourist attraction before July 4th.

This is entirely right. As if they are NOT running an essential food operation, the only thing it can be is a tourist attraction, which shouldn't be open.

As frustrating as it is, I would urge supporting them rather than castigating them. They are kind of stuck at the moment. It will get easier for them from July 4th.

 

[Bletchleyite]

This is entirely right. As if they are NOT running an essential food operation, the only thing it can be is a tourist attraction, which shouldn't be open.

Eh? There is no requirement for food to be essential, just for it to be food. I can now, as I couldn't in March, pop to the shop purely for a choccy bar. I might just do, in fact, this has given me the idea

 

[Scrotnig]

Eh? There is no requirement for food to be essential, just for it to be food. I can now, as I couldn't in March, pop to the shop purely for a choccy bar. I might just do, in fact, this has given me the idea

Yes, sorry, bad wording. Food shops are seen as essential and can open, whereas tourist attractions aren't and can't.

 

[scotrail158713]

There's no problem with her making her own decisions for her country

We’ve got to live with these decisions up here though
As I said on the other thread, hopefully Johnson’s announcement today makes Sturgeon wake up and change her stance a bit.

 

[BJames]

We’ve got to live with these decisions up here though
As I said on the other thread, hopefully Johnson’s announcement today makes Sturgeon wake up and change her stance a bit.

True Hopefully things will start going in a better direction for Scotland soon. Especially if these relaxations in England don't cause too many problems, she won't really have a leg to stand on. And if Wales and Northern Ireland follow England, she'll look like an even worse outlier.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

True Hopefully things will start going in a better direction for Scotland soon. Especially if these relaxations in England don't cause too many problems, she won't really have a leg to stand on. And if Wales and Northern Ireland follow England, she'll look like an even worse outlier.

We won't start seeing the effect of the July 4th changes until mid to late July, remember, so still a good 4 or 5 weeks away until she'll be able to conclude anything based on what's happened down south.

 

[Huntergreed]

We’ve got to live with these decisions up here though
As I said on the other thread, hopefully Johnson’s announcement today makes Sturgeon wake up and change her stance a bit.

I’m starting to feel reassured that things in Scotland are changing for the better.

John Swinney announced today that schools can (hopefully) return full time in August with no distancing, which is very reassuring and welcome news. Sturgeon’s tone in the press conference today seemed to suggest that she was planning to ease lockdown more quickly than she had initially planned.

I imagine what will happen is on 15th July, 1.5 weeks behind England, we’ll move to a similar phase where hospitality can reopen, leisure and tourism can restart, holidays can go ahead (hopefully she’ll let us back on the rails).

Things are starting to look more promising across the board, and for the first time in ages, I’m starting to feel like “normal” isn’t too far away.
In terms of the thread title, the world did absolutely go “mad”, but now, slowly but surely, it seems to be calming down.

 

[underbank]

This is entirely right. As if they are NOT running an essential food operation, the only thing it can be is a tourist attraction, which shouldn't be open.

Food shops never needed to be "essential" to open. They, along with all manner of other shops were never required to close in the first place, as shops selling food were on the "allowed to stay open" list. That was regardless of what "food" they sold. It certainly never had to be "essential" food.

 

[scotrail158713]

John Swinney announced today that schools can (hopefully) return full time in August with no distancing, which is very reassuring and welcome news

I’ve just seen that as well. It’s a big change from his “blended learning is likely until next June” message he was giving last week. Definitely a positive move though.

 

[Starmill]

Food shops never needed to be "essential" to open. They, along with all manner of other shops were never required to close in the first place, as shops selling food were on the "allowed to stay open" list. That was regardless of what "food" they sold. It certainly never had to be "essential" food.

Obviously. But given most people would describe the main appeal of a pick-your-own fruit farm as one of the experience, not the actual fruit, it's clear that they need to do some "repackaging" of the service they are providing as mainly a food retailer and not a tourist attraction. Usually a pick-your-own fruit farm is a tourist attraction, so changing the record makes plenty of sense.

 

[Richard Scott]

Absolutely damn right it is. I wish I lived in England right now.

Ditto!

 

[BJames]

I’m starting to feel reassured that things in Scotland are changing for the better.

John Swinney announced today that schools can (hopefully) return full time in August with no distancing, which is very reassuring and welcome news. Sturgeon’s tone in the press conference today seemed to suggest that she was planning to ease lockdown more quickly than she had initially planned.

I imagine what will happen is on 15th July, 1.5 weeks behind England, we’ll move to a similar phase where hospitality can reopen, leisure and tourism can restart, holidays can go ahead (hopefully she’ll let us back on the rails).

Things are starting to look more promising across the board, and for the first time in ages, I’m starting to feel like “normal” isn’t too far away.
In terms of the thread title, the world did absolutely go “mad”, but now, slowly but surely, it seems to be calming down.

I'm relieved for the Scottish kids. Going into school one day a week next year for months if not the whole year was unacceptable and I'm glad to see this has been shelved. And fully agree with your other comment, it does seem like things are starting to calm down and settle a bit more logically now.

 

[kylemore]

We’ve got to live with these decisions up here though
As I said on the other thread, hopefully Johnson’s announcement today makes Sturgeon wake up and change her stance a bit.

The FM is putting the 2m social distancing rule to a committee - might I be helpful and suggest coming down in 10cm increments, say on a weekly basis or perhaps 5cm increments would be more sensible?

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

The FM is putting the 2m social distancing rule to a committee - might I be helpful and suggest coming down in 10cm increments, say on a weekly basis or perhaps 5cm increments would be more sensible?

That's just stupid and impractical.

 

[kylemore]

That's just stupid and impractical.

You don't say.

 

[Journeyman]

Yeah, the schools climbdown in Scotland is hugely welcome, especially because of the statement that the return will be with no social distancing in place. If it can be axed there, it can be axed everywhere else.

Significant easing of the rules in England will help too. Scotland can't be far away from similar measures, because the consequences of not doing so are too serious. If I owned a tourist business in the Borders, I'd be seriously concerned if businesses a few miles away had significantly more freedom to operate.

 

[Scotrail12]

Agreed with those regarding the schools. Blended learning was an abysmal idea and I'm glad that it didn't survive for long. It wasn't even practical anyway, where would the kids have even gone for the remainder of those hours in the week? It seemed like a knee-jerk decision and when they actually looked through it, they realised it wouldn't work.

The kids deserve an education of the same standard as everyone (if not better than) before them did and they deserve the full social experience. Just hope that there aren't too many over-protective parents refusing to send kids back.

 

[Journeyman]

The EIS are demanding perspex screens and face coverings in schools.

 

[HSTEd]

The EIS are demanding perspex screens and face coverings in schools.

I assume thats the Scottish teachers trade union?
That is not in any way a practical way to teach.

 

[Huntergreed]

The EIS are demanding perspex screens and face coverings in schools.

EIS Statement from General Secretary, Larry Flanagan:

Clearly, if the suppression of the virus continues to be successful, public health guidance may change and this will impact on schools as well as every other aspect of society.

"It would be a grave mistake, however, to believe that the virus has gone away and therefore in the event of schools reopening more fully than currently planned, appropriate mitigations must be in place to protect staff and pupils and prevent flare-ups either in terms of localised resurgence in infection or even a full second wave.

"In terms of schools, this means looking at measures already being used elsewhere such as mandatory face coverings, protective perspex shields, proactive testing of teachers and an appropriate level of physical distancing between pupils and most certainly between pupils and staff, alongside continued protections for vulnerable groups. The EIS would expect these issues to be agreed within CERG before schools could reopen more fully.

"A great deal of work at school level has already gone into planning for a blended learning model from August 11th, so any change to that will require time to adjust plans and conduct revised risk assessments. Again, this will need to be subject to discussion and agreement.

"Everyone wishes to see schools operate as normal, but this should be done in a way which is demonstrably safe for students and staff, which doesn't undermine public health messages, and which is done with the interest of school communities being first and foremost and not political expediency."

The unions aren't helping with this (they're making things harder than it needs to be), hopefully as the virus continues to decline we'll see a less 'fearful' approach taken.

 

[HSTEd]

This is what happens when you stir up the kind of hysteria we had in Britain......

 

[Journeyman]

The unions aren't helping with this (they're making things harder than it needs to be), hopefully as the virus continues to decline we'll see a less 'fearful' approach taken.

I've personally benefited greatly from union membership, but have these idiots got nothing better to do? The number of fresh cases in Scotland is tiny.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Face shields of the type being worn in many settings may be sensible for primary schools where distancing is genuinely difficult. Fixed screens would seem a little pointless.