Coronavirus in UK

[sweep_shot]

Covid: Millions more braced for tougher rules in England

Millions more people in England are expected to be placed under tougher coronavirus restrictions amid escalating case numbers.

Government sources have indicated an announcement later will see more areas move into tier four - "stay at home".

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is due to detail the changes - which could be introduced within days - in the House of Commons after 14:30 GMT.

The West Midlands and Hartlepool are among the areas that could be affected.

Infection rates in lower tier areas of England have risen rapidly in the last seven days, according to the latest government data.

Parts of the East Midlands, such as Northamptonshire and Leicestershire, as well as all areas of the West Midlands metropolitan county are other areas which could move into tier four.

And it is thought a handful of areas in Lancashire - Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Pendle and Ribble Valley - could be upgraded from tier three.

There may also be further curbs for areas already in the highest tier amid concerns tier four rules are not enough to stop the fast-spreading new virus variant.

On Tuesday, 53,135 new Covid cases were recorded in the UK - the highest single day rise since mass testing began - as well as 414 more deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55480761.

 

[The Viper]

Covid-19: Twenty million in England added to toughest tier of restrictions

A further 20 million people in England will join the toughest tier of Covid restrictions from Thursday.

The Midlands, North East, parts of the North West and parts of the South West are among those escalated to tier four.

And secondary schools across most of England are to remain closed for an extra two weeks for most pupils.

The public must "redouble" its efforts at this "critical moment", the PM said, before adding he was confident things will be "very much better" by 5 April.

"All of these measures in the end are designed to save lives and protect the NHS," he said at a Downing Street briefing. "For that very reason, I must ask you to follow the rules where you live tomorrow night and see in the new year safely at home."

Earlier, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for use in the UK, with the first doses to be given on Monday.

But Boris Johnson warned that people should not "in any way think that this is over" as "the virus is really surging".

His comments came as a further 50,023 new Covid cases were recorded in the UK on Wednesday, as well as 981 more deaths within 28 days of a positive test - more than double Tuesday's total.

Under tier four rules, non-essential shops, beauty salons and hairdressers must close, and people are limited to meeting in a public outdoor place with their household, or one other person.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs that rising cases across England mean it is "therefore necessary to apply tier three measures more broadly too, including in Liverpool and North Yorkshire".

In tier three areas, household mixing is banned indoors and in private gardens, while the rule of six applies in public spaces. Shops, gyms and personal care services can remain open, but hospitality settings must close except for takeaway.

All of the tier changes will come into effect at 00:01 GMT on Thursday 31 December

Following his colleague in the Commons, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said secondary schools across most of England will remain closed for an extra two weeks for most pupils.

He added that exam-year pupils will return a week earlier than their schoolmates in the week of 11 January, and in a small number of areas with the highest infection rates, primaries will remain closed temporarily.

Commenting on the delay, the prime minister said: "We must face the reality, the sheer pace of the spread of this new variant, requires us now to take even tougher action in some areas, and that does affect schools."

Speaking to the BBC earlier, Mr Johnson said that 60% of UK coronavirus cases were now the new, more transmissible, strain of Covid-19.

Asked by political editor Laura Kuenssberg if the government had been too slow to act, he said: "What we, unfortunately, were not able to budget for was this this new variant."

He added: "It's spreading rapidly from the places where it's started, in the east of London and in Kent. And, alas, it's starting to seed across the country."

The areas joining tier four from Thursday are:

Leicester City

Leicestershire (Oadby and Wigston, Harborough, Hinckley and Bosworth, Blaby, Charnwood, North West Leicestershire, Melton)

Lincolnshire (City of Lincoln, Boston, South Kesteven, West Lindsey, North Kesteven, South Holland, East Lindsey)

Northamptonshire (Corby, Daventry, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, Northampton, South Northamptonshire, Wellingborough)

Derby and Derbyshire (Derby, Amber Valley, South Derbyshire, Bolsover, North East Derbyshire, Chesterfield, Erewash, Derbyshire Dales, High Peak)

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (Gedling, Ashfield, Mansfield, Rushcliffe, Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, Broxtowe)

Birmingham and Black Country (Dudley, Birmingham, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton)
Coventry

Solihull

Warwickshire (Rugby, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwick, North Warwickshire, Stratford-upon-Avon)
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent (East Staffordshire, Stafford, South Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Staffordshire Moorlands, Newcastle under Lyme, Tamworth, Stoke-on-Trent)

Lancashire (Burnley, Pendle, Blackburn with Darwen, Ribble Valley, Blackpool, Preston, Hyndburn, Chorley, Fylde, Lancaster, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Wyre)

Cheshire and Warrington (Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Warrington)

Cumbria (Eden, Carlisle, South Lakeland, Barrow-in-Furness, Copeland, Allerdale)

Greater Manchester (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan)

Tees Valley (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees )

North East (County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside, Sunderland)

Gloucestershire (Gloucester, Forest of Dean, Cotswolds, Tewkesbury, Stroud, Cheltenham)
Somerset Council (Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton, South Somerset)

Swindon

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Isle of Wight

New Forest

The areas joining tier three are:

Rutland

Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin

Worcestershire (Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Redditch, Worcester, Wychavon, Wyre Forest)
Herefordshire

Liverpool City Region (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens)
York & North Yorkshire (Scarborough, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Selby, Craven, Ryedale, Harrogate, City of York)

Bath and North East Somerset

Devon, Plymouth, Torbay (East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, West Devon, Plymouth, Torbay)

Cornwall

Dorset

Wiltshire

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55489932

 

[sweep_shot]

Covid: Essex declares major incident over virus cases

A major incident has been declared in Essex amid fears the number of Covid-19 cases could overwhelm the county's health services.

The Essex Resilience Forum (ERF) said growing demand was putting stress on hospitals and social care settings.

In Parliament, a local MP revealed officials dealing with the outbreak have asked for military support.

Essex remains in tier four and the south of the county has some of the worst-affected districts in England.

ERF board member Anthony McKeever said the move was a "signal for help" being needed from central government.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-55480147.

 

[The Viper]

The UK has recorded 55,892 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours - the highest figure on record

 

[sweep_shot]

Coronavirus: Warning over hospital capacity and ambulance delays

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service has warned of "lengthy delays" in response times for less urgent cases due to a high level of staff absence.

About 160 employees are off due to Covid-19 related absences, a spokesperson said, with about 100 more absent for other reasons.

It comes as NI hospitals are almost at capacity with the latest figures showing only six beds empty.

Services on New Year's Eve are expected to be impacted.

The NI Ambulance Service has about 850 front-line ambulance staff, with nearly 100 call handlers in the control centre.

Meanwhile, a further 1,929 cases and 11 Covid-related deaths, nine of those occurring in the last 24-hours, were reported by the Department of Health on Thursday.

Health Minister Robin Swann said the figures were "a stark reminder that Covid thrives in company".

He said: "If you choose to meet others outside your household this new year you may well be inviting an unexpected guest to the party."

There have been 8,228 positive cases confirmed in the past seven days.

There are currently 467 inpatients who have tested positive for coronavirus and 34 in intensive care units.

Rapid rise in Republic of Ireland
In the Republic of Ireland, 1,620 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours, with 12 further deaths.

There are now 490 patients with Covid-19 in Irish hospitals. The figure has risen rapidly since Christmas Day, when the number was 253.

Ireland's Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan, has written to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly expressing concern that Level 5 lockdown measures introduced on Wednesday may not be enough to curb transmission of the virus.

'One hand tied'
The medical director of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS), Dr Nigel Ruddell, has said between a quarter to a third of front-line staff are currently unavailable.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle, he added: "It's like fighting with one's hand tied behind one's back.

"Our only other option is to try and look to the public to reduce demand on the services at this time.

"What we will see from an ambulance perspective is potential for patients having to wait longer for a 999 call to be answered or indeed for emergency crews to arrive."

Dr Ruddell emphasised ambulance crews would focus on "critical cases" and aim to respond "within a relatively normal time frame of 10 minutes".

"There is a risk that people dial 999 will wait longer for us to pick up the phone and I apologise for that," he added.

He encouraged anyone calling to hold the line, even if prompted that they are in a queue.

The service also said the cover for the Belfast area on New Year's Eve had been halved "as a result of staff unavailability, including Covid-related absence".

Available crews will be complemented by one A&E support crew and three voluntary/private ambulances, will be targeted to less urgent calls.

The ambulance service said that in the Belfast area on New Year's Eve planned cover had been reduced from seven crews to three-and-a-half.

It said emergency cover would be complemented by one NIAS support crew and 10 voluntary/private ambulance service crews.

It added that all available crews from neighbouring stations would also be used.

The health service in Northern Ireland has faced severe pressures in recent weeks, largely due to Covid-19.

On the night of 15/16 December doctors treated patients in ambulances with 17 vehicles outside Antrim Area Hospital at one point.

There were also long waits at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, County Down.

At that point more than 1,000 health staff across Northern Ireland were isolating for Covid-related reasons.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-55496556.

 

[MenInG]

Official figures show the UK has recorded 53,285 new covid-19 cases and 613 further deaths in the latest 24-hour period

 

[MenInG]

All primary schools in London are set to close for the start of the new term after the government bowed to protests and legal pressure from the capital’s local authorities.

The U-turn comes after the government initially named 50 education authorities in the south of England, including many of those in and around London, where primary schools would be closed to most pupils for the first two weeks of term.

 

[sweep_shot]

Police issued 126 Covid fines of £200 each over New Year's Eve house parties across Northern Ireland.

They also served 34 prohibition notices over parties and two businesses were given penalty notices for continuing to operate in breach of regulations.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan said it was "disappointing" people chose to break the regulations.

He also said there were 86 reports of domestic abuse in 24 hours which led to 38 arrests.

He said: "Sadly, we know domestic abuse doesn't only occur at Christmas, that it happens all year round. Historically, however, figures show over the Christmas period incidents of domestic abuse rise.

"We also know that during this pandemic more people have been, and will continue to, spend more time at home than they usually would.

"The combined impact of this pandemic and the festive season will have made it really tough for people experiencing abuse and, in some situations, even worse."

'No choice but to enforce'

Between 20:00 GMT on New Year's Eve and 08:00 GMT on New Year's Day, police received 1,004 calls related to reports of anti-social behaviour, assault, concern for safety, criminal damage, missing persons and road traffic collisions.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-55510666.

 

[sweep_shot]

Hospitals across UK 'must prepare for Covid surge', senior doctor warns

Hospitals across the UK are being told to prepare to face the same Covid pressures as the NHS in London and south-east England.

Senior doctor Prof Andrew Goddard said the virus's highly infectious new variant was spreading nationwide.

Case numbers were "mild" compared with where he expected them to be next week, he said, with doctors "really worried".

It comes as a further 57,725 people have tested positive for Covid - a new daily high.

This is the fifth day in a row new daily cases have been over 50,000 and brings the total number of cases to 2,599,789.

Another 445 deaths, of people who had tested positive within the previous 28 days, were reported on Saturday - bringing the total number of deaths to 74,570, according to government figures.

The UK-wide total for people in hospital with Covid has already passed the spring peak.

Half of the major hospital trusts in England are said to be dealing with more Covid-19 patients than at the worst point of the first wave in April, with the NHS facing its "busiest winter ever".

Prof Goddard, of the Royal College of Physicians, told BBC Breakfast: "There's no doubt that Christmas is going to have a big impact, the new variant is also going to have a big impact, we know that is more infectious, more transmissible, so I think the large numbers that we're seeing in the South East, in London, in south Wales, is now going to be reflected over the next month, two months even, over the rest of the country."

He said: "It seems very likely that we are going to see more and more cases, wherever people work in the UK, and we need to be prepared for that."

Pressure has been so great on hospitals in London and south-east England that some patients have been moved out of the area.

London's weekly rate of coronavirus cases is 858 per 100,000 people, double the UK figure.

Dominic Harrison, director of public health for Blackburn and Darwen, said a decision on a new lockdown had to be decided "in the next week" - instead of waiting for the North to get to the same rates as the capital "and 'call it late' which has been our pattern of response too often".

The most recent UK-wide statistics, from 28 December, showed there were 23,823 people in hospital with Covid. That was already significantly higher than the spring peak, which saw 21,683 in hospital on 12 April.

Only English hospitals have released figures for the final three days of December - and these show that a further 2,302 Covid patients were occupying hospital beds on 31 December.

London's Nightingale emergency hospital is ready to admit patients, the NHS has said, while other sites currently not in use are being readied.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55514363.

 

[MenInG]

Another 54,990 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK - the sixth day in a row that new cases have topped 50,000.

A further 454 people have died with coronavirus, government figures show.

It takes the total number of people who have died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test in the UK to 75,024.

 

[sweep_shot]

Covid: Regional rules 'probably going to get tougher', says Boris Johnson

Regional restrictions in England are "probably about to get tougher" to curb rising Covid infections, the prime minister has warned.

Boris Johnson told the BBC stronger measures may be required in parts of the country in the coming weeks.

He said this included the possibility of keeping schools closed, although this is not "something we want to do".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for new England-wide restrictions within 24 hours.

Sir Keir said coronavirus was "clearly out of control" and it was "inevitable more schools are going to have to close".

It comes as the UK recorded more than 50,000 new confirmed Covid cases for the sixth day in a row, with 54,990 announced on Sunday.

An additional 454 deaths within 28 days of a positive test result have also been reported, meaning the total by this measure is now above 75,000.

Speaking on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Johnson said he stuck by his previous prediction that the situation would be better by the spring, and he hoped "tens of millions" would be vaccinated in the next three months.

But he added: "It may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country. I'm fully, fully reconciled to that."

"And I bet the people of this country are reconciled to that because, until the vaccine really comes on stream in a massive way, we're fighting this virus with the same set of tools."

The PM added that ministers had taken "every reasonable step that we reasonably could" to prepare for winter, but "could not have reasonably predicted" the new, more transmissible variant of the virus that has emerged over the autumn.

Speaking after Mr Johnson's interview, Sir Keir said introducing new nationwide restrictions in England "has to be the first step to controlling the virus".

"There's no good the prime minister hinting that further restrictions are coming into place in a week or two or three," he told reporters on Sunday. "That delay has been the source of so many problems."

"Let's not have the prime minister saying 'I'm going to do it, but not yet'," he added.

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson defended plans for primary schools to reopen in most of England on Monday, amid opposition from teaching unions and some local councils.

It came after Amanda Spielman, the head of Ofsted, England's schools watchdog, said closures should be kept to an "absolute minimum".

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-55521747.

 

[MenInG]

Commons to be recalled on Wednesday

MPs will hear an update from Boris Johnson and will "consider public health regulations", according to a note from the Speaker of the House of Commons.

This means they are likely to vote on any new coronavirus measures expected to be announced this evening.

However, MPs have been urged not to physically come to Westminster "unless absolutely necessary" and should take part virtually.

 

[MenInG]

Boris Johnson to announce tougher coronavirus restrictions for England in TV address at 8pm tonight

A Number 10 spokesman said: "The spread of the new variant of COVID-19 has led to rapidly escalating case numbers across the country.

"The prime minister is clear that further steps must now be taken to arrest this rise and to protect the NHS and save lives.

"He will set those out this evening."

Parliament will be recalled today to sit on Wednesday.

Responding to the announcement of the statement, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: "I hope the Prime Minister has been listening to the clear calls for tough national restrictions."

He told the PA news agency new measures were needed to "get the virus under control, protect the NHS and create the space for the vaccine to be rolled out as quickly as humanly possible".

 

[James]

Another UK-wide lockdown.

 

[KingKhanWC]

UK has bevcome a joke.

The clown Boris and his circus knew of winter coming nearly a year ago but have done nothing.

The excuse is hospitals are overwhelmed, how about spending some money building new ones and bringing in doctors? But no lets spend millions on missiles bombing women and children abroad.

I think its time to consider moving out of this dump.

 

[The Viper]

The UK's chief medical officers have recommended the UK's #COVID19 alert level should move from Level 4 to Level 5, adding that without further action there is "material risk of the NHS in several areas being overwhelmed".

 

[The Viper]

At-a-glance: New rules in England

People cannot leave their homes except for certain reasons, like the first lockdown last March

These include essential medical needs, food shopping, exercise and work for those who cannot do so from home

All schools and colleges will close to most pupils from Tuesday with remote learning until February half term

Early years settings such as nurseries will stay open

End-of-year exams will not take place this summer as normal

Elsewhere, university students should not return to campuses and will be taught online

Restaurants can continue to offer delivery for food, but takeaway alcohol will be banned

Outdoor sports venues - such as golf courses, tennis courts and outside gyms - must close

Amateur team sports are not allowed, but elite sport such as Premier League football can continue

 

[Rajdeep]

Almost a year in and we are back to square one. So all these lockdowns and messing with people's life in 2020 didnt work. Its more than 10 months people are being jailed inside their houses and no freedom in sight.

Lockdowns/masks nothing will work unless everyone gets vaccinated. It wont be free world until every person gets the jab and it would take atleast till the end of 2022 to vaccinate all. We are in for a very long haul.

 

[Robert]

UK has bevcome a joke.

The clown Boris and his circus knew of winter coming nearly a year ago but have done nothing.

The excuse is hospitals are overwhelmed, how about spending some money building new ones and bringing in doctors? But no lets spend millions on missiles bombing women and children abroad.

I think its time to consider moving out of this dump.

They put up the Nightingales.

But they forgot one thing. Even the existing hospitals are understaffed by 30,000 nurses, and even more have gone back to the EU. So the Nightingales stand empty and a load more public money goes to no health gain.

 

[Technics 1210]

They put up the Nightingales.

But they forgot one thing. Even the existing hospitals are understaffed by 30,000 nurses, and even more have gone back to the EU. So the Nightingales stand empty and a load more public money goes to no health gain.

Nightingales was empty when it was setup last year, hardly used.

NHS has been under staffed every year for the past 20 years. I can't upload images, but there's a great collage of newspaper headline from every year around xmas with the same headline year after year. Let's not blame this on Brexit.

Fact is, Boris is a clown. More so his advisers. This country has become a laughing stock.

What we should be asking is, where do our taxes go, and spent on what? I viewed my annual tax statement and I'm left bemused. We are taxed at every corner, from fuel, goods, food, businesses, retail, income, dividends - where's it going?

 

[Gabbar Singh]

/\/\/\

This one perhaps?

 

[Technics 1210]

That's the one, there are a few others too.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Nightingales was empty when it was setup last year, hardly used.

NHS has been under staffed every year for the past 20 years. I can't upload images, but there's a great collage of newspaper headline from every year around xmas with the same headline year after year. Let's not blame this on Brexit.

Fact is, Boris is a clown. More so his advisers. This country has become a laughing stock.

What we should be asking is, where do our taxes go, and spent on what? I viewed my annual tax statement and I'm left bemused. We are taxed at every corner, from fuel, goods, food, businesses, retail, income, dividends - where's it going?

Interest mainly, UK pays around $50 billion a year on the debt interest. This will only increase as now national debt is over £3.1 trillion.

Btw what are your thoughts on the WEF's Great reset?

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...u-will-own-nothing-amp-you-will-be-happy-quot

 

[Technics 1210]

Interest mainly, UK pays around $50 billion a year on the debt interest. This will only increase as now national debt is over £3.1 trillion.

Btw what are your thoughts on the WEF's Great reset?

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...u-will-own-nothing-amp-you-will-be-happy-quot

I haven't read the WEF version, but to me the great reset is the biggest exercise in the transfer of wealth.

Property both residential and commercial are snapped up by large financial institutions; industries such as retail, hospitality, and aviation pummeled so as to destroy competition; in the end only a hand few will own everything outright.

It's Rothchild and the Napoleon move all over again.

 

[KingKhanWC]

I haven't read the WEF version, but to me the great reset is the biggest exercise in the transfer of wealth.

Property both residential and commercial are snapped up by large financial institutions; industries such as retail, hospitality, and aviation pummeled so as to destroy competition; in the end only a hand few will own everything outright.

It's Rothchild and the Napoleon move all over again.

I think we will see a housing market crash in the next 18-24 months. Ive already started planning selling properties and investing in hard assets such as Gold and land abroad. Covid will make most not want to go this way, due to security in a time of insecurity but this fear is their greatest weapon against mankind.

 

[sweep_shot]

Covid in Scotland: 'Stay at home' order comes into force

Tough new lockdown restrictions forbidding people from leaving home for non-essential reasons have come into force across the Scottish mainland.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the clampdown was necessary to contain the spread of the new strain of Covid-19.

People are now required by law to stay in their homes and to work from home.

Outdoor gatherings have been restricted to one-on-one meetups, and schools will not return to face-to-face learning until February at the earliest.

Ms Sturgeon told MSPs on Monday that Scotland faced an "extremely serious" situation, with the new, faster-spreading variant of coronavirus "a massive blow".

A government document revealed there were more than 90 patients in intensive care units in recent days, with new modelling suggesting that figure could more than double by early February.

The modelling sets out different scenarios with the most pessimistic predicting hospitals admissions could soar to more than 8,000 with over 700 patients requiring intensive care.

The document also revealed that Inverclyde - which a few weeks ago had relatively low levels of Covid - now has the highest case rate, almost 550 per 100,000 - while Dumfries and Galloway has seen its rate increase to 475 per 100,000.

Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and the Scottish Borders all now have case rates exceeding 300 per 100,000.

Only limited data has been released in recent days, but a full update later will contain latest figures on deaths, hospital admissions and local infection rates.

The new restrictions came into force at midnight and are, in effect, an enhancement to the level four curbs already in place across the mainland and Skye.

They will run until at least the end of January and could yet be extended both in scope and duration.

Scotland's island communities, with the exception of Skye, are to remain in level three for now, although Ms Sturgeon warned this would also remain under review.

New regulations mean Scots are prohibited from leaving their homes for anything other than "essential" purposes - although the law provides a lengthy list of examples of "reasonable excuses".

These include shopping for food or medical supplies, providing or accessing childcare, exercise, and participation in extended households.

Anyone who can do their job from home must do so, and people in the "shielding" category have been advised not to go out to work at all.

New restrictions have been placed on outdoor gatherings in level four areas, with only two people from separate households now permitted to meet up.

These restrictions do not include children under the age of 12, who are still allowed to gather to play, but everyone else must abide by them or face a fixed penalty notice.

Travel restrictions remain in place between local authority areas and in and out of Scotland, and people have been urged to stay as close to home as possible when going out for exercise.

Schools will now operate on a remote-learning basis for the majority of pupils when the new term starts on 11 January, with only the children of key workers and vulnerable children to receive face-to-face teaching.

This is to run until at least 1 February, with a review on 18 January - with Ms Sturgeon saying her "fundamental priority" was still to get children back in school full time as quickly as possible.

'Vaccine vs virus'
The new measures are a bid to control the spread of the new variant of Covid, which is now thought to be responsible for nearly half of all new cases of the virus in Scotland.

Officials believe Scotland is roughly four weeks behind London - where health services are coming under increasing pressure - and warn that hospitals could hit capacity within the month without major new curbs.

Between 23 and 30 December, the average number of cases per 100,000 people in Scotland increased by 65%, from 136 to 225.

Ms Sturgeon said the battle against Covid-19 was coming down to a race between vaccination programmes and the spread of the virus.

She said: "In one lane we have vaccines - our job is to make sure they run as fast as possible.

"But in the other lane is the virus, which - as a result of this new variant - has just learned to run much faster and has most definitely picked up pace in the last couple of weeks.

"To ensure that the vaccine wins the race, it is essential to speed up vaccination as far as possible. But to give it the time it needs to get ahead, we must also slow the virus down."

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-55531074.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

TalkRadio, one of the few uk media outlets who questioned the government’s lockdown policies, have had their YouTube account suspended.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">YouTube Terminates TalkRADIO Channel Following Lockdown Criticism <a href="https://t.co/RKs7f5Iw1M">https://t.co/RKs7f5Iw1M</a> <a href="https://t.co/lY0s0055Pq">pic.twitter.com/lY0s0055Pq</a></p>— Media Guido (@MediaGuido) <a href="https://twitter.com/MediaGuido/status/1346365871514660864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Technics 1210]

Anyone who believes the West is all about freedom of speech, see above. Censorship in broad daylight.

 

[MenInG]

COVID-19: More than a million have coronavirus in England, says PM - as variant is 'taking off' around UK

 

[KingKhanWC]

TalkRadio, one of the few uk media outlets who questioned the government’s lockdown policies, have had their YouTube account suspended.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">YouTube Terminates TalkRADIO Channel Following Lockdown Criticism <a href="https://t.co/RKs7f5Iw1M">https://t.co/RKs7f5Iw1M</a> <a href="https://t.co/lY0s0055Pq">pic.twitter.com/lY0s0055Pq</a></p>— Media Guido (@MediaGuido) <a href="https://twitter.com/MediaGuido/status/1346365871514660864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What a joke!

Even the WHO said lockdowns dont work. If they did we wouldnt be in a 3rd lockdown now.

 

[IMMY69]

1 in 30 odd here in london..
I know so many people that have tested positive, including very close family members.
So far one friends father sawfly passed away and another friends sister is fighting for her life in coma on a ventilator....

Stay safe

 

[pakistani pride]

Wonder how UK and Europe with all the lockdowns etc still cant control the virus...

 

[Technics 1210]

BBC News - TalkRadio: YouTube reverses decision to ban channel

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55544205

 

[pakistani pride]

Btw for the guys in the UK, what is the impact on your jobs?

 

[sweep_shot]

U.K. hospitals struggle as new coronavirus variant takes heavy toll

England’s National Health Service is accustomed to tough winters — and caring for people on overcrowded wards sometimes means moving patients into the corridor. But this is different. Now some are lucky just to get medical help as they wait in an ambulance in the parking lot.

Pressure on the nation’s hospitals forced the hand of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who plunged the country into its third national lockdown and ordered everyone to stay at home as much as possible for at least the next six weeks. The situation is worsening, said Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst of the King’s Fund think-tank.

“It’s not hyperbole to say that the (National Health Service) is going through probably the toughest time in living memory,” he told The Associated Press. Anandaciva said some emergency rooms have waits of 12 hours.

“I was speaking to an emergency care physician from London last week, and she was saying that half of her shift was spent delivering care in ambulances because they couldn’t get the patients into the emergency department,” he said. “So you put that all together and you paint a picture of the health service that’s under incredible pressure.”

Johnson announced the tough new stay-at-home order for England that takes effect at midnight Tuesday and won’t be reviewed until at least mid-February. Few in England expect any relief until after the traditional late February school break.

“The weeks ahead will be the hardest yet, but I really do believe that we are entering the last phase of the struggle,” Johnson told the nation Monday night. “Because with every jab that goes into our arms, we are tilting the odds against COVID and in favour of the British people.”

Scotland’s leader, Nicola Sturgeon, also imposed a lockdown that began Tuesday. Northern Ireland and Wales had already imposed tough measures, though rules vary.

Johnson and Sturgeon said the restrictions were needed to protect the hard-pressed National Health Service as a new, more contagious variant of coronavirus sweeps across Britain. On Monday, hospitals in England were treating 26,626 COVID-19 patients, 40 per cent more than during the first peak in mid-April.

Many U.K. hospitals have already been forced to cancel elective surgeries and the strain of responding to the pandemic may soon delay cancer surgery and limit intensive care services for patients without COVID-19. Intensive care units are full and spilling over.

Public health officials hope the new lockdown will reduce the strains on the NHS while they roll out a national vaccination program that targets older people, health care workers and those particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Britain has approved vaccine shots from two different manufacturers so far — one from Pfizer-BioNTech and the other from Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

The government hopes to give a first dose of vaccine to everyone in its top four priority groups, or 13 million people, by the middle of February, Johnson said.

While the rollout is complicated, Anandaciva said the structure of the NHS will help it deliver the vaccinations. Besides hospitals, doctors and nurses, it can rely on other allied health care professionals, such as pharmacists, to give vaccine shots.

“That’s one area where you can really maximize the benefits of having a nationalized service because you can establish hubs, you can pool staff, and you’ve got a very strong brand to attract people,” he said. “I think the NHS is doing quite a good job of setting up the logistics of how you will get the vaccine into the right places.”

In the meantime, grants are being given to help businesses further strained by the new rules. Grants of up to 9,000 pounds ($12,200) will be offered to businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.

“The new strain of the virus presents us all with a huge challenge – and, whilst the vaccine is being rolled out, we have needed to tighten restrictions further,” Treasury chief Rishi Sunak said. “Throughout the pandemic we’ve taken swift action to protect lives and livelihoods and today we’re announcing a further cash injection to support businesses and jobs until the spring.”

Johnson announced the lockdown after the chief medical officers of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales raised the U.K.-wide COVID-19 threat assessment to the highest level. The health system is already under “immense pressure,” they said.

The new measures are similar to those imposed last spring, with people being told to work from home unless it’s impossible to do so, and to leave home only for exercise or essential trips such as grocery shopping. Schools across England were ordered to close their doors except for the children of critical workers and most vulnerable children, and shift to online instruction beginning Tuesday. University students won’t return to campus until at least mid-February.

All nonessential shops and personal care services like hairdressers will stay closed. Restaurants will be allowed to offer takeout services only.

New COVID-19 infections have soared in recent weeks as public health officials struggled to contain the new variant, which the government says is 50 per cent to 70 per cent more contagious. The number of confirmed new daily infections in the past seven days jumped 50 per cent from the previous week, and coronavirus-related deaths rose 21 per cent in the same period.

Britain has been seeing over 50,000 new infections a day for a week and has reported 75,500 virus-related deaths overall, one of the highest tallies in Europe.

Source: https://globalnews.ca/news/7555933/uk-hospitals-variant-toll/.

 

[HitWicket]

What a joke!

Even the WHO said lockdowns dont work. If they did we wouldnt be in a 3rd lockdown now.

The WHO never said that. The UK lockdown 'hasn't worked' (if you only base it on 'working' being eradication) because there has been constant flaws in the lockdowns preventing them being effective lockdowns.

 

[MenInG]

The UK has recorded the highest number of COVID-related deaths during the second wave of the pandemic - and the highest daily increase in cases.

Another 1,041 people died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus, along with another 62,322 cases, the latest government figures show.

The number of fatalities is the highest daily increase since 21 April.

Today's numbers are up on yesterday's increase of 60,916 cases and 830 deaths.

 

[Technics 1210]

What a joke!

Even the WHO said lockdowns dont work. If they did we wouldnt be in a 3rd lockdown now.

Yup.

WHO were promoting herd immunity at first then made a massive U-Turn. WHO also said masks do not work, then made a U-turn too. WHO also made the claim the virus doesn't transfer from human to human, and yup another U-Turn.

This is precisly why WHO were accused of coluding with China.

 

[MenInG]

More than 1,100 new deaths of COVID patients

The daily UK coronavirus statistics have just been published by the government.

They show there has been a further 1,162 deaths of people who died within 4 weeks of a positive test.

And there has also been another 52,618 more cases reported.

 

[MenInG]

The PM says people want to know government at every level are "throwing everything" at getting the vaccine rolled out and how the government will meet its target to vaccinate everyone in the top four priority groups - some 15 million people across the UK.

By the end of the week there will be over 1,000 GP-led vaccine sites providing jabs and 223 hospital sites doing the same - meaning people should be able to get a jab within a radius of 10 miles of where they live.

That means there will be hundreds of thousands of vaccines a day by 15 January, Mr Johnson says.

A vaccine deployment plan will be published on Monday, he adds.

Altogether, more than 1.5 million people across the UK have had their first dose, the PM announces.

There will also be a new national booking service for appointments - and Mr Johnson encourages everyone eligible to come forward to get inoculated.

 

[sweep_shot]

Ambulance waiting times in parts of England 'off the scale'

The number of hours ambulances spent waiting to offload patients in parts of England is "off the scale", the Royal College of Emergency Medicine says.

Data leaked to BBC News shows ambulance waiting times at hospitals in the South East rose by 36% in December compared to the same month in 2019.

People are also having to wait longer for ambulances to arrive when called.

Ambulance services say it is taking longer to hand over patients but they are doing all they can to meet demand.

It comes as the NHS faces unprecedented pressure because of the Covid pandemic.

'On its knees'
A paramedic working in London told BBC News he had encountered patients left waiting up to 12 hours for an ambulance in the last week.

One patient in London with a broken leg had to wait outside at night for six hours before an ambulance arrived to collect him, he said.

On another occasion, paramedics were called to attend to a young man with Covid-19 whose oxygen levels were "so low". He was given oxygen when they arrived - but that was eight hours after the ambulance was called.

Incidents such as these are "dangerous" and the service is "on its knees", the paramedic added.

The figures also show that at one point on Monday this week more than 700 patients were left waiting for an ambulance to arrive in London when none was available.

On Tuesday, a patient with what is classed as a Category One emergency, meaning their condition was life threatening, waited more than 70 minutes for an ambulance.

Callouts for such seriously unwell patients should take seven minutes on average.

Different statistics obtained by BBC News highlight the number of hours spent waiting to offload patients at hospitals half an hour after ambulances arrived at hospitals in the South East.

'Different magnitude'
South East Coast Ambulance service lost 7,803 hours queuing outside hospitals, an increase on 5,732 hours in 2019.

Kent saw the greatest rise in this period. One of its hospitals, Medway Maritime Hospital, saw a doubling in ambulance waiting times.

These figures are "off the scale", according to Royal College of Emergency Medicine Vice President Adrian Boyle.

"It is not because more ambulances are being called, it's because the amount of time they're spending outside a hospital has increased," he said.

Dr Boyle says ambulances left queuing outside hospitals meant crews were not available to respond to other emergencies.

He says services are facing a "crisis" unlike any other he has seen.

"People may feel they have a winter crisis every year but this is a different order of magnitude", he added.

"This is the worst winter crisis I've been through in my 25 years of practising as a doctor."

Ambulance services say they are are doing everything they can to meet the demand.

A London Ambulance Service Trust spokesperson said: "We are continuing to prioritise the most seriously ill and injured patients, and our team of trained clinicians in our control rooms are working hard to monitor and maintain contact with many other patients as needed while they are waiting for ambulance crews to arrive."

A South East Coast Ambulance Service Trust spokesperson said: "We are doing everything we can to increase the number of staff available to meet this demand, including increasing overtime, to ensure crews are as available as possible to respond to patients in the community."

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55581006.

 

[MenInG]

New negative test rule for international travellers 'can only be temporary' - Heathrow boss

Heathrow Airport's chief executive has welcomed the new testing rules for international arrivals to England - but says they can only be "temporary".

"We have long called for pre-departure testing as an alternative to quarantine," John Holland-Kaye tells Sky News.

"It is much better that we know before people get to the UK that they don't have COVID, they can travel with more confidence on the plane knowing that all the other passengers don't have COVID, and that way we can keep our borders secure.

However he said the new measures, combined with quarantine would mean "very few people travel, so it can only be a temporary measure".

He adds: "What we would like to see from the government is a road-map - what is going to happen next?

"Is it the case that as vaccinations are rolled out and case levels start to fall, that we will be able to reduce these measures? Or do we move to something like the daily testing regime... as an alternative to quarantine so that we can get aviation moving again."

 

[MenInG]

Sadiq Khan: Firefighters are driving ambulances in London - and soon so will the police

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has told Sky News the situation in London is so severe that firefighters are driving ambulances - and in a few days police officers will be too.

It comes as the coronavirus infection rate in the city has exceeded 1,000 per 100,000 people - forcing the mayor to declare a "major incident".

He said the threat the virus poses is at "crisis point".

"We're at risk of NHS hospitals running out of beds in the next couple of weeks if the virus continues to spread and people continue to be hospitalised," he said.

"You'll be aware that across the country on average one of 50 people have this virus. In London, on average, it's one out of 30. In parts of London it's one out of 20."

 

[MenInG]

Three of the seven vaccines pre-ordered by the UK have now been approved.

It's a tremendous psychological boost for us all after an awful year - there really does seem to be a way out of the coronavirus pandemic.

The MHRA, the medical regulator, has looked at all the evidence from clinical trials of the Moderna vaccine and concluded it is safe and effective.

It has been conducting a "rolling review" of the results as they were released by the company, rather than waiting for a massive data dump once all the studies were over.

It's a strategy that has left other regulators around the world in their wake, although US authorities have also approved the Moderna vaccine.

Fast can still be accurate, and the MHRA has a first-rate global reputation for its robust assessments.

The clinical trials showed the vaccine was 94% effective at preventing COVID-19 and that there were no serious side effects in any of the volunteers.

The company recently released results of a study showing that antibody levels three months after the second dose decline slightly but are still high. That is also reassuring.

The UK has 17 million doses on order - enough to protect 8.5 million. But they won't start arriving until the spring.

And because full immunity only kicks in about a month after the first dose, the vaccine is unlikely to make a significant difference to the UK epidemic this winter.

The vaccine will, of course, protect people against any future return of the virus. But we could have done with the jab earlier.

Although it uses the same RNA technology as Pfizer's vaccine, it can be kept at normal freezer temperature and distribution to places like care homes will be much easier.

But the UK only ordered doses once the company had released results from its late stage clinical trials and by then there was a queue for the vaccine.

So, the focus for now is very much on the Pfizer and Oxford vaccines and making sure that the doses can reach those who need them most.

 

[MenInG]

The UK has recorded its highest daily increase in the number of COVID-related deaths of the pandemic, with 1,325 fatalities.

Government figures also show the UK recorded 68,053 new coronavirus cases - the highest daily total of the pandemic so far.

 

[KingKhanWC]

The WHO never said that. The UK lockdown 'hasn't worked' (if you only base it on 'working' being eradication) because there has been constant flaws in the lockdowns preventing them being effective lockdowns.

https://nypost.com/2020/10/11/who-warns-against-covid-19-lockdowns-due-to-economic-damage/

Make what you like of it but Lockdowns havent worked in the UK otherwise things wouldnt be getting worse.

Yup.

WHO were promoting herd immunity at first then made a massive U-Turn. WHO also said masks do not work, then made a U-turn too. WHO also made the claim the virus doesn't transfer from human to human, and yup another U-Turn.

This is precisly why WHO were accused of coluding with China.

It seems WHO and governments are making things up like a childs storybook as weeks go on.

What we know is the pandemic is exagguarted.

Those who are vunerable or who feel they dont want to catch it, stay home, others who have no issues should be allowed to continue living thier lives.

 

[HitWicket]

https://nypost.com/2020/10/11/who-warns-against-covid-19-lockdowns-due-to-economic-damage/

Make what you like of it but Lockdowns havent worked in the UK otherwise things wouldnt be getting worse.

The link you've provided has absolutely no reference to the WHO saying that 'lockdowns don't work'.

Whether you consider the lockdown to have worked or not depends on what you consider to have 'worked'. Yes, if you go with the very extreme definition of complete eradication then no it hasn't, because there's been too many flaws in the lockdown regulations. If you go with the definition of reducing deaths/infections then clearly it has been successful to that extent.

 

[IMMY69]

I'm sick of these people who simply dismiss covid as some conspiracy.

Wait until you know someone, relatively fit and healthy, who has succumbed to it and others who have had to endure the ventilator in a coma... I think only then will you actually take this thing seriously.

 

[MenInG]

Official figures show the UK has recorded 59,937 new covid-19 cases and 1,035 further deaths in the latest 24-hour period

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Over 80,000 excess deaths since the pandemic began (the highest since 1918) and over 1000 dead to covid for the 3rd consecutive day. Yet people still think the covid threat in the uk is exaggerated?

 

[Technics 1210]

Over 80,000 excess deaths since the pandemic began (the highest since 1918) and over 1000 dead to covid for the 3rd consecutive day. Yet people still think the covid threat in the uk is exaggerated?

How many people have died from Flu in the same period? Do you have these numbers?

 

[pakistani pride]

Over 80,000 excess deaths since the pandemic began (the highest since 1918) and over 1000 dead to covid for the 3rd consecutive day. Yet people still think the covid threat in the uk is exaggerated?

Do you have more details on the deaths?
Age, health issues, previous medical record?

 

[HitWicket]

How many people have died from Flu in the same period? Do you have these numbers?

Flu data in isolation for England and Wales last year is currently only available up until the start of September. In that period there were 506 deaths associated with influenza (compared to 52,000 from COVID in the same period).

 

[Varun]

Lockdowns/masks nothing will work unless everyone gets vaccinated. It wont be free world until every person gets the jab and it would take atleast till the end of 2022 to vaccinate all. We are in for a very long haul.

2022? That's being optimistic.

In India I would realistically expect it to take the better part of the decade. If you think of how long it's taken to implement Aadhaar - and even now it's still not fully implemented.

Good thing Covid for whatever reason isn't biting us as hard here as it is to Europe/USA.

 

[Robert]

Btw for the guys in the UK, what is the impact on your jobs?

Pretty bad.

Some people can work from home so at least continue to earn, though this can bring different pressures such as social isolation.

Some sole traders and micro-businesses such as pubs are in real strife. Many are being kept afloat by furlow payments but a substantial minority cannot access any funding from any source.

 

[Robert]

2022? That's being optimistic.

In India I would realistically expect it to take the better part of the decade. If you think of how long it's taken to implement Aadhaar - and even now it's still not fully implemented.

Good thing Covid for whatever reason isn't biting us as hard here as it is to Europe/USA.

UK Gov reckons they can vaccinate everyone who chooses the vaccine by August 2021.

 

[Varun]

UK Gov reckons they can vaccinate everyone who chooses the vaccine by August 2021.

I would take everything the UK government says with buckets of salt - they've botched up Covid from beginning to end, along with the USA.

Australia and New Zealand - through geographical circumstances and otherwise should be the gold standard looking at this episode in history.

 

[Pakpak]

Over 80,000 excess deaths since the pandemic began (the highest since 1918) and over 1000 dead to covid for the 3rd consecutive day. Yet people still think the covid threat in the uk is exaggerated?

Flu data in isolation for England and Wales last year is currently only available up until the start of September. In that period there were 506 deaths associated with influenza (compared to 52,000 from COVID in the same period).

Yup. People are still winding others up on conspiracies. I am a doctor and the impact of Covid has been devastating. Most hospitals are under strain because there are too many patients. The hospital I am going to now had hundreds in the last week alone. My spouse's hospital had nearly 400 in the space of a few days. Lot of places have had to shut down wards for other surgical specialities because there is no resource available to deal with other problems due to the overwhelming amount of covid patients, the BBC did a long report on this with some depressing case studies. My wife, along with my brother and a host of family members had covid, 2 of whom died. My spouse was not asthmatic, never had it. yet she spent an entire month after she got healed coughing like someone who's 70. Its because of people being so careless is the reason hospitals are full. We have seen so many people in their late 30s as well now requiring intensive care. Tens of thousands dead and people are still being moronic and comparing it to diseases like influenza which we have vaccines for and who's death rate is hundreds of times less.

You might have noticed I don't post on such threads, it makes an absolute mockery of the medicine degree and all its knowledge when you see these armchair doctors and quacks who think they know more.

 

[IMMY69]

Yup. People are still winding others up on conspiracies. I am a doctor and the impact of Covid has been devastating. Most hospitals are under strain because there are too many patients. The hospital I am going to now had hundreds in the last week alone. My spouse's hospital had nearly 400 in the space of a few days. Lot of places have had to shut down wards for other surgical specialities because there is no resource available to deal with other problems due to the overwhelming amount of covid patients, the BBC did a long report on this with some depressing case studies. My wife, along with my brother and a host of family members had covid, 2 of whom died. My spouse was not asthmatic, never had it. yet she spent an entire month after she got healed coughing like someone who's 70. Its because of people being so careless is the reason hospitals are full. We have seen so many people in their late 30s as well now requiring intensive care. Tens of thousands dead and people are still being moronic and comparing it to diseases like influenza which we have vaccines for and who's death rate is hundreds of times less.

You might have noticed I don't post on such threads, it makes an absolute mockery of the medicine degree and all its knowledge when you see these armchair doctors and quacks who think they know more.

Yet some people will say that hospitals in the Uk have experience bed shortages in previous years due to the flu and due to underfunding by successive governments

To counter this I would urge these people to see the latest reports on hospitals in California.
There is no seasonal flu issue there yet their hospitals are absolutely crammed with covid patients...

Some of the scenes there are shocking.

Stay safe my friend and thank you again for putting your own life at risk for us all.

 

[Pakpak]

Yet some people will say that hospitals in the Uk have experience bed shortages in previous years due to the flu and due to underfunding by successive governments

To counter this I would urge these people to see the latest reports on hospitals in California.
There is no seasonal flu issue there yet their hospitals are absolutely crammed with covid patients...

Some of the scenes there are shocking.

Stay safe my friend and thank you again for putting your own life at risk for us all.

You're 100% correct re: bold. It was never this stressful or bad before, a lot of people don't know that sometimes to survive COVID you need intensive care. Those units have limited spaces and can only deal with a set amount of people. Tens of thousands heal from COVID because of intensive care, so when there is such a high demand the resources struggle. I did say before to a lot of people that lockdowns were in part to save the NHS from overwhelming pressure. I also realise how devastating they have been to people with jobs and how the government should have done a lot better in that regard. Thanks for your kind words, I appreciate it. I hope with vaccinations and everything the year goes smoothly and everyone can move on to a semblance of normality.

 

[MenInG]

The UK has recorded another 54,940 coronavirus cases and 563 deaths.

The latest data takes the total number of fatalities within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test to 81,431.

There have been 3,072,349 confirmed cases since the pandemic began - the fifth-highest in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.

 

[MenInG]

The UK has recorded another 45,533 coronavirus cases and 1,243 deaths.

This is the second-highest number of fatalities in a single day.

It brings the total number of deaths within 28 days of a positive test to 83,203. The total number of cases in the UK has now reached 3,164,051, according to government data.

Speaking at the Downing Street briefing, Home Secretary Priti Patel said that 35,075 people were currently in hospital with COVID-19 - an increase of 22% when compared with a week ago.

 

[bones]

You might have noticed I don't post on such threads, it makes an absolute mockery of the medicine degree and all its knowledge when you see these armchair doctors and quacks who think they know more.

This is the issue I take with the doctors and so called medical experts. We should blindly follow what they tell us and not question anything.

I have had issues from day 1 with everything they're doing and the lies that the mainstream media have fed. People questioning what they're told are "thick" or "misinformed".

In amongst the pandemic we had mass gatherings for the black lives matters protests, so about 2 weeks later there should have been a huge surge especially amongst the black and asian community but nope nothing of the sort. Black and Asian people are more likely to suffer from Covid 19 as well so why was there no increase in the infection rate? Unless of course they're telling us that only non-infected people were at these protests.

A year ago we were told by our government that they had no money and that more strict measures needed to be in place to cut the national debt. Yet when Covid hit the government managed to find billions from almost thin air and hush the population temporarily with these furlough schemes. Little did anyone bother to ask where the money came from and how it would be paid back. I am one of those who's not fooled, I know exactly what will happen in 18-24 months when this all dies down once the population is vaccinated. Expect even more austerity. Goodness knows what will happen in terms of inflation and house prices etc etc. Will there be a boom or crash?

Some industries have been destroyed completely, others close to collapse and whilst the doctors and nurses and politicians are all busy and happy in their daily lives. There are millions - billions around the world who are wondering what the future holds.

Then there are these stupid every changing laws and rules. They're changing so often hardly anyone can keep up. The average person doesn't want to have to spend an hour a day reading up on what exactly they can and cannot do so as to avoid fines. I asked my neighbour about the rules over the fence yesterday and guess what he didn't know what the laws on exercise were. He said the same as what most people have in terms of the tiers - didn't understand what the differences were and when and what is applied.

Right now it's ok to meet up with one person outside your family for exercise with social distancing. The question is why? If the fastest way of this spreading is by coming into contact with others, why take the risk? Why not stop meeting with anyone outside yoru family/household full stop? It's these ****ing half arsed measures that are the reason we're in this mess still.

What should have happened back in March/April when this all kicked off was - a total lockdown for everyone and everything for 14 days since that's what the doctors told us was the quarantine period was, 14 days where you cannot meet anyone, not even 2 metres apart. That is why people are bringing up these "conspiracies". If it's such a deadly and infectious disease then why now are we still continuing with these half arsed measures?

After all this the politicians, doctors and experts want the general public to have confidence in anything they tell us?

 

[bones]

Its because of people being so careless is the reason hospitals are full.

What about the doctors/politicians and medical experts who keep changing their tune on the best way to overcome Covid-19? Remember when we were told masks didn't make a difference? Then the politicians properly got their shares and investments into the mask companies just in time to make it a mandatory requirement for almost all public spots. Why blame the public when the so called "experts" can't even sing the same tune.

 

[bones]

Yup. People are still winding others up on conspiracies. I am a doctor and the impact of Covid has been devastating.

...and yet you haven't answered the point he's made. Why are the figures for influenza so low compared to normal years? Yes you'd expect covid deaths to increase in the middle of a pandemic but what's the explanation for the significantly lower number of flue deaths?

 

[bones]

UK Gov reckons they can vaccinate everyone who chooses the vaccine by August 2021.

It won't be compulsory - good. I only plan on getting it if it's a requirement for travel. £150 for a fit to fly certificate is not ideal. Set me back £600 (4 travellers) when we recently flew out to Pakistan.

 

[HitWicket]

...and yet you haven't answered the point he's made.

No point was made.

Why are the figures for influenza so low compared to normal years? Yes you'd expect covid deaths to increase in the middle of a pandemic but what's the explanation for the significantly lower number of flue deaths?

A variety of reasons :

1) People are generally social distancing, wearing masks, cleaning, washing hands, reducing exposure to others and in general just being far more careful than in previous years.

2) Those that are vulnerable to the flu will also be those that are vulnerable to covid. If someone dies of covid then they can't later die of the flu as well.

3) Those that are ill with the flu are less likely to go to hospital/their GP at the moment and actually therefore be registered as a flu death.

4) The part of the year that we don't have flu data in isolation for yet (September-December) typically contains a significant proportion of flu deaths.

5) Won't be relevant in the data we have yet for the above reason but the uptake for the flu vaccine this flu season has been record high and the age for those eligible for a free flu vaccine has been dropped.

 

[MenInG]

UK records 1,564 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test – the highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic

 

[MenInG]

More countries removed from travel corridor list

Arrivals from Chile, Madeira, the Azores, Aruba, Qatar, Bonaire and St Eustatius and Saba will need to self-isolate for 10 days from 4am on Saturday 16 January.

 

[MenInG]

The UK has recorded another 1,280 coronavirus-related deaths bringing the total to 87,295, latest government figures show.

As of 9am on Friday, there had been a further 55,761 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK - bringing the total number to 3,316,019.

 

[The Viper]

Covid: UK to close all travel corridors from Monday

The UK is to close all travel corridors from Monday to "protect against the risk of as yet unidentified new strains" of Covid, the PM has said.

Anyone flying into the country from overseas will have to show proof of a negative Covid test before setting off.

It comes as a ban on travellers from South America and Portugal came into force on Friday over concerns about a new variant identified in Brazil.

Boris Johnson said the new rules would be in place until at least 15 February.

It comes as a further 1,280 people with coronavirus died in the UK within 28 days of a positive test, taking the total to 87,291.

The latest government figures on Friday also showed another 55,761 new cases had been reported, up from 48,682 the previous day.

Meanwhile, more than two million people around the world have now died with the virus since the pandemic began, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, the prime minister said it was "vital" to take extra measures now "when day-by-day we are making such strides in protecting the population".

"It's precisely because we have the hope of that vaccine and the risk of new strains coming from overseas that we must take additional steps now to stop those strains from entering the country."

People coming to the UK will need to quarantine for up to 10 days, unless they test negative after five days, in line with the current policy.

Mr Johnson added that the government would be stepping up enforcement at the border.

Travel corridors were introduced in the summer to allow people travelling from some countries with low numbers of Covid cases to come to the UK without having to quarantine on arrival.

Trade body Airlines UK said it supported the latest restrictions "on the assumption" that the government would remove them "when it is safe to do so".

Tim Alderslade, its chief executive, said: "Travel corridors were a lifeline for the industry last summer and the government were right to bring them in when they did.

"But things change and there's no doubting this is a serious health emergency."

The prime minister warned that the NHS was facing "extraordinary pressures", having had the highest number of hospital admissions on a single day of the pandemic earlier this week.

On Tuesday there were 4,134 new admissions, and the UK currently has more than 37,000 Covid patients in hospitals.

Mr Johnson said that once the most vulnerable have been vaccinated by mid-February "we will think about what steps we could take to lift the restrictions".

England is currently under a national lockdown, meaning people must stay at home and can go out only for limited reasons such as food shopping, exercise, or work if they cannot do so from home.

Similar measures are in place across much of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Also speaking at the No 10 briefing, England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty said the restrictions would need to be lifted gradually by "testing what works, and then if that works going the next step".

He said the peak of people entering hospital will be in the next week to 10 days for most places, but "we hope" the peak of infections "already has happened" in the south-east, east and London.

"The peak of deaths I fear is in the future, the peak of hospitalisations in some parts of the country may be around about now and beginning to come off the very, very top," he said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55681861

 

[sweep_shot]

Covid-19: Nisra records highest ever weekly deaths

Northern Ireland's statistics agency has recorded its highest weekly Covid-19 related registered deaths since the pandemic began.

Nisra said 145 deaths were registered in the first week of 2021, although administrative delays over Christmas may have affected the number.

That brings the agency's death toll to 1,976 by 8 January.

The figures come as the chief medical officers from NI and the Republic issued a joint stay-at-home plea.

Dr Michael McBride and Dr Tony Holohan said they were "gravely concerned" about the "unsustainably high level of Covid-19 infection" across the island of Ireland.

Concern was raised in the Republic of Ireland this week as figures showed it has the world's highest number of confirmed new Covid-19 cases per million people.

On Friday evening, the Irish Department of Health reported 50 further deaths with Covid-19 and 3,498 new cases of the virus. More than half (54%) of those newly diagnosed are under the age of 45.

Northern Ireland is in the third week of a six-week lockdown, with ministers scheduled to review measures next week.

However, health officials have warned that an extension of the restrictions could be required to reduce pressure on the health service.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-55675539.

 

[MenInG]

UK deaths rise by 1,295

A further 1,295 people have died in the UK within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, according to the latest government figures.

It takes the death toll by this measure to 88,590.

A further 41,346 cases have been reported. There have been a total of 3,357, 361 cases.

 

[MenInG]

A further 671 people have died in the UK within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, according to the latest government figures

 

[MenInG]

A further 599 coronavirus deaths have been reported in the UK, government figures show.

This brings the total number of deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test to 89,860.

 

[MenInG]

A further 1,610 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19 - the highest number of UK deaths on a single day since the outbreak began.

Meanwhile, a further 33,355 confirmed coronavirus cases were also recorded in the past 24 hours, according to Public Health England (PHE).

That compares with figures released on Monday of 599 further deaths and 37,535 confirmed cases.

 

[The Viper]

A further 1,820 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19 - the highest number of UK deaths reported on a single day since the outbreak began.

It surpasses the previous record of 1,610, which was announced on Tuesday.

 

[Firebat]

Nearly 2m UK people got first Covid vaccine in last week

Nearly two million people in the UK have received their first dose of a Covid vaccine in the past week, government figures show.

By the end of Tuesday 4.61 million people had received their initial jab, up from 2.64 million the week before.

Matt Hancock told MPs: "We're giving 200 vaccinations every minute".

But Boris Johnson warned there was "unquestionably going to be a tough few weeks" while the vaccine was rolled out and urged people to observe lockdown.

Speaking during a visit to flood-hit Didsbury in Manchester, Boris Johnson said it was still "too early" to say when some lockdown restrictions could be lifted in England and it was "absolutely crucial" people observed the restrictions.

He said figures from an Imperial College London survey showed the "contagiousness" of the new variant of the virus, "it's not more deadly but it is much more contagious and the numbers are very great".

The Imperial College study suggests there was a rise in infections in the community at the start of the latest lockdown in England.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55748645

 

[MenInG]

COVID cases falling in every region

Case rates have fallen in every region of England, according to the latest weekly surveillance report from Public Health England.

London's rate of new cases stood at 629.7 per 100,000 people in the seven days to 17 January, down from 864.9 in the previous week.

The capital continues to have the highest rate of any region.

Yorkshire & the Humber continues to have the lowest rate: 246.6, down from 297.2.

 

[MenInG]

Almost five million people have been given a first dose of a COVID vaccine, as the UK recorded another 1,290 deaths and 37,892 cases, figures show.

A total of 363,508 first coronavirus vaccinations were administered yesterday, the highest daily figure to date.