Sunseekers Ignore Official Guidance on Britain’s Hottest Day of the Year
Seeing pictures like this of the beach in Bournemouth yesterday, it’s hard to believe the opinion polls about the extent of public support for continuing lockdown restrictions. Looks to me as though the great British public is aware that the virus has all but disappeared and their chances of catching it outside is virtually zero.
The Mail has compiled a handy round-up of comments from paranoid bedwetters.
Beaches across the south coast were already packed by mid-morning on Friday, further stoking fears among police and local councils that tourists will ignore coronavirus social distancing rules and cram onto packed seafronts.
The scenes could be repeated on Saturday and Sunday, with the scorching weather set to continue.
Furious critics took to social media to slam beach-goers and accuse them of ‘undoing the hard work of lockdown’.
One wrote: ‘Here they are again, all the idiots on Brighton beach putting all of us at risk, they just keep on coming.’
A second said: ‘Government: ‘Stay away from beaches today. It’s hot, but no amount of heat is surely enough to risk your health and the health of loved ones by breaking social distancing rules, and undoing all the hard work of the last 4 months of lockdown.’
While a third added: ‘My worst nightmare, even before COVID. Too many people. We will never get over this virus if people are this stupid. Just because it’s hot doesn’t mean you should all pack a beach & not socially distance.’
Update of Elusive Government Report on Collateral Lockdown Damage
Readers will recall that on July 21st I asked them for help in tracking down an elusive Government report. This was the analysis done by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Office for National Statistics (ONS), Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) and the Home Office (HO) of the collateral damage of the lockdown. Eventually, I tracked it down – it was published with absolutely no fanfare here. The only reason it came to public attention is because Sir Patrick Vallance referred to it in passing when testifying before the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee on July 16th.
Well, yesterday the Government published an update entitled “Direct and Indirect Impacts of COVID-19 on Excess Deaths and Morbidity”– and, thankfully, it was picked up by the Telegraph (see today’s front page above). This update was presented to SAGE on July 23rd, but it was only published yesterday.
The headline news is that the lockdown killed two people for every three that died of COVID-19 by the beginning of May. However, when you take into account the age of those who died from coronavirus, as well as their underlying health conditions, the loss of life as measured in Quality Adjusted Life Years, or Qalys, for those who died as a result of the lockdown was greater than it was for those who died of COVID-19. This is how the authors of the report put it:
The direct COVID-19 deaths account for the majority of all excess deaths. However, when morbidity is taken into account, the estimates for the health impacts from a lockdown and lockdown induced recession are greater in terms of QALYs than the direct
COVID-19 deaths. Much of the health impact, particularly in terms of morbidity, will be felt long after the pandemic is assumed to last…
According to Sarah Knapton, the Science Editor of the Telegraph:
The estimates show that 16,000 people had died through missed medical care by May 1st, while coronavirus killed 25,000 in the same period.
The figures include 6,000 people who did not attend A&E at the height of lockdown because of fears they might catch the virus and the feeling they should remain at home because of the “Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives” message.
Likewise, 10,000 people are thought to have died in care homes due to early discharge from hospital and not being able to access critical care.
The article includes some choice quotes from the President of the Royal Society of Surgeons:
Professor Neil Mortensen, the President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, warned that the health service “must never again be a coronavirus-only service”.
“We have to deal first with the most clinically urgent patients, and then as soon as possible with those who have been waiting the longest,” he said. “The period through August and September is vitally important in making progress before routine winter pressures emerge.”
Pretty damning, but before you pop the champagne corks with cries of “finally!”, a caveat. The authors of the report claim that the Covid death toll in an “unmitigated scenario”, i.e. a scenario in which the Government did nothing to encourage social distancing and people carried on as normal, would have been a whopping 1.5 million!
It should be noted that the health impacts modelled here represent a scenario with mitigations in place. Without mitigations, a far larger number of people would have died from COVID-19 such that the QALY impact from COVID-19 deaths would be more than three times the total QALY impact of all the categories (mortality and morbidity impacts) for the CSS mitigated scenario presented here. A comparison with an unmitigated scenario 3 is provided in Annex G and shows that mitigation have prevented up to 1.5m direct COVID-19 deaths.
Total balls, obviously. The relevant counter-factual is not this fantastical “unmitigated scenario”, but a continuation of the mitigation strategy put in place by the Government on March 16th in which people were encouraged to observe modest social distancing measures, with quarantining restricted to the infected, the elderly and the vulnerable. As even Chris Whitty now admits, this strategy proved effective and the number of daily cases was falling before the full lockdown was imposed on March 23rd. The real question is “Did the full lockdown prevent more loss of life than it caused?” and, thanks to this report, we can conclude with some confidence that it didn’t.
Thousands Wiped Off Official Covid Death Toll
Thousands are likely to be wiped off Public Health England’s official Covid death toll following Yook K Loke and Carl Heneghan’s blog post in which they drew attention to the fact that PHE was counting anyone who’d tested positive for COVID-19 and then died as having died from novel coronavirus, even if their death occurred months afterwards and clearly had no connection to the virus. As they pointed out, this meant that all 290,000+ Britons who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 would eventually be classified as having died from the virus, even if some of them don’t die for another 60 years.
According to the Sun, PHE’s official figures will now be revised downwards.
Matt Hancock will now step in and bring the figures in line with Scotland and Northern Ireland, who only count a death as Covid-related if it occurs 28 days after a person tests positive.
A second weekly measure, which records fatalities within 60 days of infection, will also be established.
An official announcement on the new approach is expected by the end of the week.
It could see England’s official coronavirus death toll of 41,686 reduced by around as much as 10 per cent – or 4,170.
Latest ONS Infection Survey Shows Infections Falling
The ONS’s latest weekly infection survey found that just 53 people tested positive in the last week of July, equating to an estimated one in 2,200 people in Wales and one in 1,900 in England. That’s down from one in 1,500 last week. In addition, the number of people estimated to be infected in the community in England last week was 35,700; this week it’s 28,300. So back down to 0.05% of the population, which is where it’s been since June 21st (see above).
Worth remembering that last week’s infection survey was widely cited by members of the Government to justify imposing a second lockdown on four-and-a-half million in the North West and “squeezing the brake” on the easing of restrictions across the rest of the country.
Does the fact that the ONS now thinks infections are back to where they’ve been for the last six weeks mean that the Northern lockdown can now be scrapped and we can get on with re-opening casinos, bowling alleys and skating rinks? Didn’t think so.
Stop Press: Preston is the latest victim of the mask-wearing lockdown mob, having been forced to undergo a second lockdown after a “spike” in infections.
Request For Help From Croatia-Bound Yanks
An American reader has asked for advice about a forthcoming visit to Croatia. Can anyone help? If you can, email me here and I’ll pass it on.
Would you or your readers kindly help advise on a possible September trip to Croatia for my husband and me? Trouble is Covidmania. Croatia is currently one of the few countries allowing visitors from the US, sans quarantine. That is, if one can produce a negative PCR test within three days of arrival.
Ideally, we would be tested here in the US the day before we travel, but I’m unsure if we would get the results back in time. Conversely, we could pay to be tested upon arrival in Croatia, but would be under house arrest until results are returned, with the possibility of false positives and enduring two weeks of punishment. Sheesh! Just putting this into words, I’m realizing what a conundrum we’re in.
In addition, can anyone shed light on our likely experiences regarding face masks, Perspex, and NORMALCY! How we crave normalcy. We don’t care about level of cleanliness or frequency of disinfectant procedures. We want real life and dirt. We did read the recent “Postcard from Croatia” in the Telegraph, but it looked slightly heavy on reassurances for those who fear to venture out, and we’re firmly not in that category.
Round-Up
- ‘Australia’s hysterical response to this pandemic is downright bonkers‘ – Robert Fenwick Elliott takes aim at Victoria’s ludicrously over-the-top lockdown, pointing out that the Covid death toll in Australia still hasn’t exceeded 250
- ‘End this shutdown of civic life. Our liberty depends on it‘ – Robustly sceptical piece by James Black in Bournbrook
- ‘Watch Christians Outsmart Dem Governor to Worship God at Walmart‘ – Christians get around church closures in Pennsylvania by holding a service in Walmart
- ‘Sweden settled in for the long haul, and now doesn’t need to worry about a second surge‘ – Daniel Hannan sings the praises of Sweden in ConservativeHome
- ‘Signs that coronavirus infection rate is levelling off in England and Wales‘ – The Times reports on the latest ONS infection survey
- ‘“Black Friday” at British Airways as 10,000 staff are made redundant‘ – More bad news for the airline industry
- ‘Why should anyone be forced to shield?‘ – Matthew Parris speaks up for oldsters in the Spectator
- ‘Glencore cancels dividend after recording $2.6bn loss‘ – The commodities group said that it would be “inappropriate” to proceed with the proposed $2.6 billion payout for the year given the continued uncertain outlook because of the pandemic and the need to reduce debt
- ‘Starmer overtakes Johnson as voters’ choice of Prime Minister‘ – Bound to happen
- ‘UK tourists “left in dark” by holiday quarantine, say MPs as anger over “red-listing” of countries grows‘ – Conservative MPs chastise the Government for its constantly changing holiday quarantine policy, led by the redoubtable Sir Graham Brady
- ‘An excerpt from Part 2 of “Unreported Truths” – a brief history of lockdowns‘ – Condensed extract from Alex Berenson’s best-selling book on the lockdowns
- ‘Germany’s populist revolt against the lockdown‘ – Sabine Beppler-Spahl, Spiked‘s German correspondent, reports on the growing lockdown backlash in Germany
Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers
Just one today: “We Are Normal” by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.
Small Businesses That Have Re-Opened
A couple of months ago, Lockdown Sceptics launched a searchable directory of open businesses across the UK. The idea is to celebrate those retail and hospitality businesses that have re-opened, as well as help people find out what has opened in their area. But we need your help to build it, so we’ve created a form you can fill out to tell us about those businesses that have opened near you.
Now that non-essential shops have re-opened – or most of them, anyway – we’re now focusing on pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants, as well as other social venues. As of July 4th, many of them have re-opened too, but not all (and some of them are at risk of having to close again). Please visit the page and let us know about those brave folk who are doing their bit to get our country back on its feet – particularly if they’re not insisting on face masks! Don’t worry if your entries don’t show up immediately – we need to approve them once you’ve entered the data.
Forums Back Up and Running
I enjoy reading all your comments and I’m glad I’ve created a “safe space” for lockdown sceptics to share their frustrations and keep each other’s spirits up. But please don’t copy and paste whole articles from papers that are behind paywalls in the comments. I work for some of those papers and if they don’t charge for premium content they won’t survive.
We have created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums that are now open. Initially, they became a spam magnet so we temporarily closed them. However, we’ve found a team of people wiling to serve as moderators so the Forums are back up and running. Any problems, email the Lockdown Sceptics webmaster Ian Rons here.
“Mask Exempt” Lanyards
I thought I’d create a new permanent slot down here for people who want to buy (or make) a “Mask Exempt” lanyard/card. You can print out and laminate a fairly standard one for free here and it has the advantage of not explicitly claiming you have a disability. But if you have no qualms about that (or you are disabled), you can buy a lanyard from Amazon saying you do have a disability/medical exemption here (now showing it will arrive between Sept 23rd to Oct 2nd). The Government has instructions on how to download an official “Mask Exempt” notice to put on your phone here. You can get a “Hidden Disability” tag from eBay here and an “exempt” card that looks like as if it’s been issued by the NHS for just £2.79 from Etsy here.
Don’t forget to sign the petition on the UK Government’s petitions website calling for an end to mandatory face nappies in shops here (now over 27,000).
A reader has started a website that contains some useful guidance about how you can claim legal exemption.
Shameless Begging Bit
Thanks as always to those of you who made a donation in the past 24 hours to pay for the upkeep of this site. If you feel like donating, however small the sum, please click here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links I should include in future updates, email me here. I may not be able to manage an update every day over the next few days as I’m in Wales doing some walking in the Brecon Beacons.
And Finally…
Sky News Australia’s Alan Jones demolishes the case for lockdown in his typically blunt, no-bullshit style. Includes an interview with arch-sceptic Professor James Allan. Watch it here.
Discussion
Comments
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**Sunday Edition is available now**
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/johnson-Scotland-two-week-staycation-a4520176.html
” All my happiest holiday memories are of holiday vacations here in the UK, bucket-and-spade jobs or whatever, and I thoroughly, thoroughly recommend it, and I’m sure that people will have a great time over the summer”
He forgot to add, “ But whatever you do, don’t go to the beaches”
Here’s a good piss-take of the culture of fear and safetyism the pandemic has unleashed:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lcX9HBG4L34
And this one too:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1256425181960003585
Oxford scientists are having a public spat over whether or not to artificially infect human subjects with the virus for vaccine testing purposes.
No need to be awed by these stuffed lab coats, their profession is a laughing stock. Think stones and beatles or oasis and blur. It’s at that level of desperation now they need false passions to produce boring stories that are a diversion from the actual meat and potatos of the thing.
Inside at least one national rag today.
I think a certain M. Hancock should be first in line. Or maybe B. Gates?
Has the virus actually been isolated and regrown in the laboratory? Not as far as I’m aware.
DavidC
Nicked from Going Postal…thanks to Mrs Raft…
Hargreaves Lansdown issues calm but cautioning briefing for anyone who thinks vaccines are an automatic ticket to riches.
https://www.hl.co.uk/news/a…
“But the reality is that even expert virologists can’t predict who’s going to come out on top. Drug and vaccine development is difficult, time consuming and costly. A number of complex and unpredictable stages makes the costs and likelihood of failure high – especially when it’s being developed at break neck speed.
Even once they’ve been developed, vaccines require extensive testing to make sure they’re safe – particularly for a vaccine which could end up being given to billions of people in a relatively short space of time.”
They’ve got round that one though, by simply deciding to miss out the extensive testing part. Who needs safety? Other than from The Virus of course.
240 Belgians vs. Bill Gates, Neil Ferguson and the Belgian state
https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/123831/pestered-belgians-sue-bill-gates-and-belgium-over-coronavirus-restrictions/
Apologies if already mentioned on LS this court case is news to me. Good luck to them.
Criminal as well as civil claims.
But notice this snide bit of reporting in the article. They just couldn’t resist it, could they?
‘Verstraeten, who claimed he had contracted Covid-19 himself, repeatedly compared the coronavirus to the flu, and brushed off the high death rates of the ongoing pandemic as comparable to those of a “severe flu” saying it was “complete nonsense” to say that the novel coronavirus was “killer virus.””
Houston, we have a problem:
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-only-half-of-britons-say-they-would-get-a-vaccine-poll-reveals-12045605
Solution: let’s just keep banging away at the ‘young people, it’s you who are killing the grannies’, and they will be shamed into getting the untried, untested vaccine and risk their lives, not just their freedoms, to save granny!
On that front, I do hope the Preston city council lead and deputy lead have been adhering to lockdown and saving their mothers. They are a disgrace and should be ashamed of themselves. As should anyone who is seeking to blame young people for deaths of the elderly, who have been murdered in the main by our wonderful NHS. Grandad, by the way, is likely to be among the 16,000 or more who have died from other causes in being denied treatment (heart attacks, strokes, various cancers).
https://aip.asn.au/2020/06/open-up-our-country-sign-the-open-letter/.
This is a link for any Australians who wish to sign an open letter to our heads of Australian governments to reopen the economy and take a different approach to COVID. The letter has been propagated by The Australian Institute for Progress.
James McKeon.
De Tocqueville 1835:
‘In America, the majority draws a formidable circle around thought. Within these limits, the writer is free; but woe to him if he dares to go beyond them……He gives in; finally, under the daily effort, he yields and returns to silence, as though he felt remorse for having told the truth.’
‘The influence of what precedes is still felt only weakly in political society; but its harmful effects are already noticeable on the national character of the Americans. I think that the small number of outstanding men who appear today on the political stage must be attributed, above all, to the always increasing action of the despotism of the majority in the United States.’
‘There is, moreover, a great difference between doing what you do not approve or pretending to approve what you do; the one is done by a weak man, but the other belongs only to the habits of a valet.’
‘If liberty is ever lost in America, it will be necessary to lay the blame on the omnipotence of the majority that will have brought minorities to despair and will have forced them to appeal to physical force. Then you will see anarchy, but… Read more »
That last sentence is true of so many things theses days…such as research scientists being dependent on grants or funding to do their ‘research’.
DavidC
Coronavirus: Redundancies rise fivefold as pandemic hits jobs
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53680671
is it any wonder that the sheeple of this country struggle to understand what’s happening to them when Ben King at the BBC thinks that it’s the ‘pandemic’ making people redundant, not the lockdown strategy adopted by our bed wetting Government?
And reboot “Wave 2” scare story.
Sense from MSM again that “someone” is getting worried that the country has started to see through this charade.
The government must now be panicking as soon as you have lost the “herd” then that’s it.
Ironically creating herd immunity in the process.
Oh and looks like Hancock has been thrown under the bus.
which bus, where? do tell!
Quite – I should like to go and catch it!
Please can someone explain the Hancock thing. I need to know whether to crack open the chanpagne.
I found it further up – apparently he is being accused of incompetance in chairing the COBRA meetings.
Thought this was a laugh:
https://twitter.com/OffGuardian0/status/1291710799225008128?s=20
Yes, but the sad bit is that so many sheeple take it as gospel!
In the Irish Republic there have been more ‘cases” in the last week than in the whole of June.
I strongly suspect this is a case of; – “Seek and ye shall find”
98 cases were found on Friday and they locked down three counties. Mostly workers in a meat factory who were clearly tested.
174 cases yesterday. (Located where? – I don’t know as I didn’t listen to the news)
Numbers for hospital admissions come in late. But when 69 cases were identified on Thursday there were only three hospital admissions. So I suspect the great majority of cases are the result of testing.
A single death from/with Covid was registered on each of the last three days. Before then there were eleven days with only one death registered.
This testing malarky is, I fear, going to be the spur for lots of panic and lots of lockdowns. Which would not be possible to generate, at the moment for certain, if the focus was on numbers dying and hospital admissions.
Sorry, I’ve been busy and cannot keep up with the volume of comments on this site and so my apologies if I am repeating stuff but anyway;
Yesterday village football resumed here in North Devon, lovely afternoon, around 50 spectators, including children, no face masks, plenty of cheering, who won? a big victory for sanity and common sense!
But whilst watching I was thinking; in the areas of the UK subject to these local lockdowns has there been a rise in Covid deaths or serious hopital cases? or has it all been done on test results (so called cases)?
If it is all related to test results, do we know what usually happens with colds and flu in the summertime? Maybe they spread asymptomatically during the summer and thus impart some protection for the coming winter, the much derided herd immunity.
If that is the case then you could argue that summertime lockdowns are more harmful than letting nature take its course? just a thought maybe the sun has gone to my head?
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/covid-wards-empty-as-virus-death-toll-plunges-bvm0mxl2n?shareToken=a01668df89e51ae2d5566cdcc020c56a
That’s an excellent article by the Sunday Times, with proper reporting. Thanks for linking it Max. The virus has gone, after a month of social interaction, pubs being open, etc. has not resulted in any further hospital admissions.
Couldn’t believe it when I read it this morning – long overdue and hopefully will be the first of many
Thank you for this link, pretty clear. It would appear that there is no logic to the current madhouse.
Wow they even talk about herd immunity being reached. I thought that was a dirty word. What’s happening?!
Has Boris read this?
I doubt he works on a weekend!
Or on a weekday.
https://unherd.com/thepost/the-leicester-lockdown-was-not-necessary/
This article that Toby linked to yesterday covers in some detail the Leicester situation. Essentially, no deaths no increase in hospitalisations.
Atmospheric oxygen is the most important need humans have, even more important than food.
https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Atmospheric_oxygen
Anyone who has a rudimentary grasp of psychology will also say that socialisation is also a basic human need.
From NHS Twitter feed: “It might be slightly more uncomfortable in the warmer weather, but it’s still vital you continue to wear a face covering in shops and on public transport.”
Is the NHS trying to sign its own death warrant? When the litigation claims for hypoxia, hypercapnia and pleurisy start rolling in, things will get very interesting.
Fortunately, the comments are not very complimentary 🙂
https://mobile.twitter.com/NHSuk/status/1291667900789665792
Vital? Rubbish.
Not content with killing thousands by neglect, the foul NHS now rules the sheeple by lies.
Vomit vomit vomit.
I see there has been some discussion about the lack of political options. I suspect that it will be up to us to do summat if owt’s to be done. Obviously don’t oppose lockdown sceptic politicians at elections, but if there’s a by-election and all the candidates are lockdown zealots, we should go for it big time (it only costs a few thousand to stand doesn’t it?) The like’s been done before you know, I recall a council election where a big supporter of a “congestion charge” was standing and the locals were dead against it – he got trounced. And in the North East, a referendum on a “regional assembly” was opposed by a poorly funded ragtag bunch who used a giant white elephant helium balloon on the Tyne Bridge quite effectively – you don’t have to spend big bucks as long as you get people’s attention with a message that resonates. I once solved a local parking problem with strategically placed water bottles, posters on them printed off at the library (those were the days!), and a lot of time sitting out on the street explaining to people what I was doing. People mostly back off as long… Read more »
Toby needs to seriously consider bringing together his concerns about erosion of Free Speech, Lockdown dictatorship and the spread of Marxist idiocy together in a crowd funded Free Citizens Party.
Oh heavens! My usual grocery store was just, for the first time ever, filled with more masked than full faced shoppers. Oh no, nooooooooooo! All voluntary.
I guess they must be pounding home this directive on the local MSM (I wouldn’t know, can’t watch it for a second)
This, from Australia, is hilarious. And heartening. And yes, heartbreaking in parts. But I’m so glad that more and more people are wise to what’s going on, and willing to speak out.
https://www.facebook.com/1748707558788299/posts/2769108556748189/
Gulf War Syndrome from a 2001 Guardian Article:
The illness known as Gulf war syndrome looks likely to have been caused by an illegal vaccine “booster” given by the Ministry of Defence to protect soldiers against biological weapons, according to the results of a new series of tests.
Scientists in the United States found that symptoms of the illness were the same for service personnel who received the injections whether or not they served in the Gulf.
The common factor for the 275,000 British and US veterans who are ill appears to be a substance called squalene, allegedly used in injections to add to their potency. Such an action would have been illegal. Squalene is not licensed for use on either side of the Atlantic because of potential side effects.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2001/jul/30/internationalnews
A genuine report suggesting illegal injecting of troops.
I am not knowledgeable about what the current research gives as the reasons for GWS. It is appropriate to look at the unexplained harms experienced 10-15 years after the Gulf War.
Another opinion here:
file:///C:/Users/tim/Downloads/Anthrax%20and%20Squalene%20QA.pdf
Thanks Tim I believe the link you give addresses your hard drive in error? I cannot read PDFs to be sure. I am interested to learn more about GWS.
GSK are trialling squalene in their coronavirus vaccine.
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/gsk-makes-adjuvant-available-to-coronavirus-vaccine-project
Squalene – was blamed in 2001 at least, and may still be for causing harm to 30% of all Gulf War veterans.
Wikipedia in 2020 claims GWS cause is unexplained. I wonder what the story was that took Squalene from public pages of blame and into trials for warp speed vaccine cooking.
Thank you kate for that info. It feels like there is much more dirt to uncover here.
To add GSK has an address in Bernard Castle. Since Bernard Castle was the setting for the notorious day trip eye test drive.
A few snippets –
my OH flew to Lithuania yesterday. No issue going maskless at LGW, nor with getting on the plane itself. Sadly, once airborne, the other passengers kicked up a fuss, and staff asked her to put a mask on to keep them quiet. She has a medical exemption.
Saw a woman in Waitrose wearing a mask that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie – big filters or similar on each cheek. Made her look like an ant. 🙂
Fewer people masked in the street today – one family with 5 masked kids did upset me a lot though. Also one or two oldies with walking frames were masked up too.
It’s obvious, except to government idiots, that there’s no point in giving complex nuanced instructions to the general public. They just hear “mask good, no mask bad” and if they’re of an obedient or unenquiring nature they’ll put masks on themselves, their kids irrespective of age, probably dogs and cats too if they could.
The government don’t want nuanced messages – or they wouldn’t be employing platoons of Goebbels acolytes.
Just a theoretical thought re. variables underlying between-country differences in Covid deaths.
Perhaps intelligence levels in the population correlate inversely. 🙂
Funny you should say that, one of the “mask” Case-Control Studies that the Royal Society used (utterly crap study) did have a significantly lower odds ratio for infection with “Education” cf. “mask” 😉
How many mask changes were mandatory on the flight? Clearly the airline knows best having risk assessed the situation to over rule medical exemptions. They are gold standard at LGW, so how many changes were facillitated by their on it staff.
Not you John… these things piss me off how bloody stupid these authorities claim to be.
No problem Basics. 🙂 I don’t think the airline crew were bothered, until a number of passengers started moaning and their ‘passenger disturbance/riot/drunk/fighty’ training took over.
I’d pursue it, but don’t want to prejudice OH’s return flight. Hang on a sec …
I’m actually considering requisitioning a proper battery powered respirator when I am going to fly just to prove a point of what is adequate aerosol protection and if that distresses the passengers too bad… Just can’t decide whether to go for a clinical/lab sealed faceshield with that go a full “ebola” hood for the effect…
I assume the power is to provide positive pressure to keep the nasties completely out?
Indeed—positive pressure, and the filter medium is so fine you actually need power to suck the air through it 😉
When I discovered NHS procedures didn’t require negative pressure isolation for COVID-19, the case was pretty much closed for me as to the virulence!
Where would one acquire such kit, please, IMoz ?
just google for ‘hood papr’
Ta. You can fork out $1300 for just the hood, never mind battery, pump, etc. !
https://static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/6NTU2_AS01?hei=128&wid=128
A bit much just for havin’a larf. 🙁
Yup, that why I used “requisition” cf. buy 😉 but that sounds a bit too much—sounds like the price of an industrial helmet (unless they jacked the prices up Stateside) I think you can buy the whole set with enough single use speares in the UK for about a grand, not that that’s much cheaper 😉
That was the top one – with a plastic visor !
Good old capitalism 😉
How could I forget …
Saw one old boy (I am in receipt of state pension) wearing a pointy mask on top of his bald suntanned head.
Very fetching !, I encouraged.
Thank you, I’m thinking of setting up as a milliner, he said. Enormous grin ….
And outside Waitrose I spotted a queue of 7 or 8 people all dutifully walking through the string-enforced queuing system. (There was no queue.).
First one to solve the maze gets a piece of cheese, I shouted, as one does.
They all did a sort of mental-doubletake, and as one dipped under the string to form a line up to the door. Worryingly, I feel I may have replaced one form of conformity with another. 🙂
Just watching ITV News stating that a further 55 people had died from coronavirus today. Clearly accuracy is not their strong point. This preceded a simpering account of increased lockdown measures. Critics of the BBC should remember that commercial tv newscasters are as biased and also more stupid.
Indeed but we don’t have to pay them to legally watch live television.
“It comes after Public Health England revealed the number of people to have died in hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus had risen by 16.
In England, the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals now stands at 29,401.
The patients were aged between 67 and 100 years old and all had known underlying health conditions apart from one 91-year-old.
Twelve deaths were reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.”
PHE – ah – so that’s OK then. The ultimate authority on accurate figures. 🙂
I reckon we have a perfect illustration of the way tests are used to inflate Covid figures to include those with terminal illness.
Just looking at the claimed figures.
If 55 people have died of/with cv19 today, why were only 15 of those in hospital according to latest figures?
Surely if someone is critically ill they would be rushed to hospital, we know hospitals have capacity because since 16th March they cleared out everyone they could.
Maybe the people dying are poorly people who are being ignored by our beloved NHS.
This makes me so angry.
And 12 of those 15 in hospital with no positive test! The only one not to die with underlying condition was 91, not being callous but I would say that is an underlying condition in its own right.
From the same source, no doubt, that brought you the Magic Money Tree – the Magic Death Registration Tree.
Grown to order.
I think I’ll depend upon CEBM data for the contextual picture.
Here’s something for you to try … go to google and put in three random digits followed by ‘new cases’ and see what comes up. Then try again with different three numbers. See what happens each time. What are the odds! I put in 958, Japan had 958 new cases. Every three digit number returns results with new cases.
Just did that, a new place or country comes up every time with the number, manufactured or what
Basics that has been happening for some months, maybe even from March.
Algorithm fix is it? I tried four digits and top result was a covid result – even though the random figure I chose was not the number of new cases in the search result.
Would not put it past them.
Anything to keep the fear alive.
Would love to believe this one and it does happen but surely just down to probability and the limited number of 3 digits options and huge number of reports over a 6 month period??
Planet sized brain to work it out please! Four digits ‘6821 new cases’ picked at random. Something is up with that result – it prioritises new covid cases over other results even though the number is relating to active cases.
Whatever number I type in, before completion the top hit is new cases. So, basically type in a number into search and it suggest new cases.
It might be a Google thing, i.e., it’s suggesting that new cases is a very common search term.
You can’t trust Google.
Try typing in “men can” and “women can” and see what it suggests as most common search terms. It’s a deliberate algorithm manipulation, highlighted by Project Veritas.
Yep + every time – the number 33 also proves popular
That’s really creepy!
Wow, I’ve yet to find a 3 digit number that doesn’t return a “xxx new cases of coronavirus” headline in the first 10 results, even using duckduckgo.com. Every permutation of 958 seems to work, for example. I’m sure there’s some reasonable statistical explanation.
Hello. I thought I’d share my own experience of the last couple of weeks. I refuse to cover my face for the same reason I refuse to stand outside and clap for the NHS or display a rainbow flag in my window: it’s so clearly about forcing people to declare support for a cause, and it’s a horrible infringement of civil liberties. I’ve mostly shopped online and I’ve written to my MP, a health minister, explaining my thoughts. Two weeks ago was my first experience of breaking mask rules, with a car mechanic, and with me the only customer. Not at all awkward. Last week I visited a corner shop. The shopkeeper is a friendly Indian man who never attempted to enforce a one-way system or limit the number of customers in his shop and seemed to have limitless supplies of flour, tomato purée and hand sanitiser when these things were in short supply elsewhere. I was disappointed to see him in a mask with a screen and a notice saying only three customers were allowed in at a time. He was perfectly friendly and didn’t say anything about my lack of mask but I was embarrassed and felt I… Read more »
Can the stewards know all hidden exemptions such as distress and anxiety?
Probably not. But I’m a bad liar. And I’m uncomfortable doing it with people I know personally, and who will work out the motives. It’s probably not an option. I might be able to slip in half an hour before and sit somewhere inconspicuous. But how has it come to this!?
They don’t want you, so why bother? Say a prayer at home and make sure they get a brass farthing from you in future.
Oh dear. Any full answer to that is going to be very off-topic. “They” aren’t a monolith. And if staying at home and saying a quiet prayer were a straightforward alternative the churches (all of them) would look very different.
smaller ?
You are not lying. Reg 4 provides a reasonable excuse of severe distress. This is subjective and for the enforcement authorities to disprove. If you are contemplating foregoing church so as NOT to wear a mask, how does this not suggest severe distress? I am using this excuse. I believe a number of others on this site are doing likewise. It is not easy. But if you believe, as I do, that there is zero credible medical justification for the mask, that they will cause a number of minor and in some cases severe reactions then being forced to wear one is an act of aggression against me and submitting to this diktat would be an act of self-harm. My distress is real.
Encouraging news about your Tesco metro, I think many bare-face shoppers come out to play at night. I went into my little onestop (Tesco) to post a parcel, bare-faced, all other shoppers were nappied-up. So was the cashier lady, with one on her chin, behind a screen. She has worked in there for years, she wasn’t happy at all with my bare-faced cheek pulled her little black mask up and typed angrily into her package registering thing.
Hummm, poison.
It’s why I wish there were a way of sharing these experiences and finding the easiest places to shop, which actually deserve our money. I haven’t said where the Tesco was in case I get the staff into the trouble but it must be the same everywhere late in the evening.
Each chain seems to vary depending on their local management, TPFR.
‘Exemption’ isn’t about legality – and it applies to everyone if you wish to claim it, since masks obviously and rationally cause you distress, and they incontrovertibly cause discomfort and inhibit normal breathing.
Go to Mass, if you feel uncomfortable wearing a mask go without, the only person judging you will be your god, not the steward at the door, not your priest.
Have strength.
Well said.
Meet your God face to face.
As well as the “distress” exemption, another exemption is:
“to avoid harm or injury, or the risk of harm or injury, to yourself or others”
Wearing a mask risks harm, or injury, to my own physical health. Government should not oblige me to self-harm.
Just watched ‘Children of Men’, thought I was watching a documentary at some points.
That was probably a mistake. It’s a very scary film. Even scarier now. I remember at the time it left a lasting impression and I wondered if the future would look like the film. It’s almost does. Especially the visors the cops wear.
I feel nauseous posting this as it just seems like more click bait from the DT, but here goes.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/08/08/obese-people-coronavirus-hotspots-will-told-stay-indoors-combat
The comments however make me physically sick. Heres one example.
“Fat people should be isolated and only be provided with low cal food delivery rations – fruit and veg etc.
Problem solved!”
Fucking fascist fuckwit
To be fair, though, the most popular comments are all scathing, and rightly so.
Staying indoors will really help to improve their health, won’t it?
Seriously, does anyone really believe that anyone has contracted the virus whilst out walking in the open air?
Apparently all the maskholes in Toronto who wear them outside for no good reason, which is why I’m holed up in my country place where I don’t need to see a soul. As for the article, couldn’t read it but I get the idea. As someone who is healthy and 55, I fully expect my husband (who is in the best shape of his life) and I to be “encouraged” to lock ourselves up for the foreseeable future. And that’s with a whopping 70 new cases in Ontario today (population over 14 million).
Does anyone seriously believe that Covid-19 isn’t just influenza rebranded?
This is what boggles my mind to no end. I have always – and I mean always – have caught colds from sick co-workers who come into work and expose me to their germs for a couple days or so. Stuck indoors with infected people and chances are high you’ll soon be suffering from the same virus. Everyone knows that.
But now we have super cold virus covid which hangs in the air wherever there is air, and can swoop in on un-suspecting human targets like a swarm of hornets. I mean why else would you wear a mask outside if you didn’t think this was true?
I am so bewildered at the sight of masked people walking alone outside. I just encountered a few earlier today and yelled “noooooooooooooooo!” out the window as I drove past. Please, somebody tell them it’s safe to be outside!
Yes cos we all got thinner in lockdown, not!
For a version not behind a paywall, try https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1320497/Coronavirus-news-UK-COVID-19-wave-lockdown-obese-elderly-old-people
Sensible piece in the Washington Post:
“Forty percent of people with coronavirus infections have no symptoms. Might they be the key to ending the pandemic?“
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/08/08/asymptomatic-coronavirus-covid/
Forty? Where did they get that from? Isn’t it more like 80?
It’s a start!
Would like to hear from some folks here- is this consistent with what you have been seeing in the UK and if so would you have any other links/references/stories that corroborate this- UK Lawyer speaking about a care home whistle blowers account of euthanasia in a care home:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01CuXStcmc8
Just watched Official Secrets, makes you never want to believe a politician again
Go with that. Assume they’re lying, it’ll save being disappointed later.
Was the film any good? Don’t tell me about the plot, as I’m saving it to watch in the next day or so.
Yes it was good and interesting, very
This idea that we have to conduct ourselves by wearing a mask so as to protect other people’s health – does it also mean we can whip cigarettes out of their mouths and confiscate cakes from fatties?
Hmmm. Why not? It’s the same logic…
Yes, and patrol the biscuits and sweety isles at supermarkets to stop fatties and save the nhs
I volunteer to be cake monitor.
Right, I’ll be the choc bar monitor then!
Yes it’s like lifestyle risk is being socialised.
Worrying as I doubt the government and those that advise them have much idea about obesity and how to reduce it. It’s more complicated than making fast food a bit more expensive, and offering tax payer funded bribes. People make choices for all sorts of reasons.
It wouldnt suprise me if we see more complely ineffective policies, like tax payer funded gym memberships and fatty food taxes.
Yes, Government imposed restrictions in the name of safety or lowering risk are nearly always counterproductive.
The little Casribbean country where I live has very few of these restrictions.
No drink driving laws, yet our annual road death tally is 6 per 100k while in the USA its 12 per 100k.
Cigarettes are untaxed and cost about GBP 1.50 a pack yet most people do not smoke (except herb!)
Alcohol is untaxed and cheap but we have no more drinking problems than anywhere else.
We have no Health and Safety requirements at work yet we have very few accidents. In 35 years of running my construction company the worst accident was somebody missing a nail and hitting their thumb with a hammer. We do use common sense to improve our safety though.
I could list more but to most ‘Westerners’ this would all seem counterintuitive because everyone has become accustomed to their government’s policies. My fear is that these present restrictions imposed in the name of coronavirus will also become the norm and entrenched as society’s rules permanently and for absolutely no good reason.
You think the government actually cares about our health?
Happy to take on chocolate eclair watch…
Where does it end? Pointless mountaineering banned? Skate boarding? Not sure how I feel about boxing and rugby. We’ve already banned heading footballs. What kind of cocoon will be allowed and who is choosing it. It’s a steep and slippery slope from cake monitor to mandatory exercise classes governed by fit bit heart activity.
By the way, I consider the hive mind explosion in mass participation sporting events to have fostered in part the unquestioning uptake of diktats. Much more prevelant in recent years. Tracked back to Cram and the 1980s London Marathon.
Banned heading footballs ?! You’ve not been watching Sadio and Virgil this season, have you ?
Tracked back to Ancient Rome, circuses.
Im talking about football so already outside comfort zone and now you throw me a googly of Ancient Rome!
But yes, heading footballs has been banned in Scotia. If you are under some age and then at another age you are only allowed to head on match day. Not a joke. A micro managment of life. As I say I’m not too sure where/how/why/where and how again that leaves boxing or rugby.
Chasing down bad drivers and pulling them from their cars would also be applicable
Now, I am a little porky and I smoke a lot so it is your civic duty to take these things from me. But then I am also 6’3″ an built like a brick shithouse….so just try it mate!
What I find insulting about this concept of Covid-Secure is how paltry they assume our ambitions and aspirations are. That all we want out of life is to be ‘safe’ at all costs.