Day: 9 August 2020

by David Lewin Riga, Latvia I realise that tourists often view the place they’re visiting through rose coloured sunglasses, but Riga does definitely feel very different to most of the UK – and much more pleasant. My trip got off to an inauspicious start when the person next to me on the plane was a young female who sat down and immediately requested I made sure my mask was covering my nose. I readjusted it and uttered words along the lines of, “Of course. I’ll make myself feel unwell just to please you.” (I have lung scarring from an illness 19 years ago). Perhaps I should have been nicer. But she was a mask militant. After the flight I saw her in the airport’s outside car park, still fully masked up, getting picked up by her (what I presumed to be) dad, who was also fully masked up. Neuroticism must run in the family. My taxi driver from the airport and I bonded over a loathing of masks. He told me that in Latvia they’re only mandatory in airports or healthcare facilities. He also strongly recommended I try eating bulls’ balls on my visit, but that’s another story. His demeanour suggested no virus phobia. He was a sceptical sort to be sure – he told me that he doesn't even ...

Another Computer Simulation, Another Alarmist Prediction A Covid-safe classroom Last week, a paper was published in the Lancet saying that re-opening schools would cause a tsunami-like second wave of Covid deaths unless the Government improved its test-and-trace programme. Based on a similar computer simulation to that used by Neil Ferguson et al, the paper generated headlines across the mainstream media, such as this one in the Sun: "'NOT GOOD ENOUGH' Reopening schools in September risks 2nd virus wave unless test & trace improves as ministers say: ‘There’s more to do’." The story began: SCHOOL children returning to class in September risks triggering a devastating second wave of COVID-19 unless test and trace improves, a major new study today says.Scientists said the UK's test and trace system needed to be drastically improved as ministers today admitted there was "more to do" on making it work better.IF the low numbers of contact tracing continue, it could result in another peak in December.The crisis could be avoided, however – with pubs remaining open and no draconian lockdowns needed – if testing is ramped up and the track and trace system is improved.The study says reopening schools must therefore be combined with a high-coverage test-trace-isolate strategy. But how reliable is this study? I asked Sue Denim, the Lockdown Sceptics contributor who has written extensively ...