We have been assured that our unlocking will be “irreversible” – that July 19th is the “terminus date” for Covid restrictions (in England, at least). These words would be comforting if only they were matched by Government action. Alas, laws allowing local authorities to bring back restrictions on businesses and social contact in case of Covid outbreaks or – of course – new variants are being kept at least until the end of September, Sajid Javid has confirmed. The i has the story.
Ministers will retain laws that allow local authorities to shut down businesses, prohibit certain events, or close outdoor public spaces “in case of a local breakout” or in case a new dangerous variant emerges, the Health Secretary told MPs.
“We will be keeping in place contingency measures, particularly for local authorities, the so-called Number Three regulations, at least until the end of September, in case those powers are needed in the case of a local breakout,” Mr Javid told the Commons.
He added: “Of course there’s no intention at this point that those powers will be used but we believe it is necessary to have powers in place just in case.
“You would have heard me earlier talk about the risk that still exists from new variants and that is the plan.”
The so-called Number Three laws were first introduced in July 2020 to give local authorities the power to respond to “a serious and imminent threat” to public health by managing Covid transmission.
They form a patchwork of legislation that was used to govern local lockdowns in the second half of 2020.
But Boris Johnson decided to scrap the approach and impose another national lockdown in England in January after a series of painful negotiations over restrictions with local leaders like Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.
Worth reading in full.
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Well, what a surprise. And will the T publish an article blaming the former Gov? (I’m not going to hold my breath for that).
Lockdowns as called for by all mainstream parties, including and especially Labour, and as supported by I think all of the Labour supporting Trade Unions, especially the teachers union.
Basic Maths question for the children: How does a finite variable appear on a curve to infinity?
OK, I’ll bite. I think I’m OK at arithmetic but probably not at ‘maths’.
This might be a question to which the kids these days are taught the answer. I was for example, perplexed when my granddaughter started talking about ‘split digraphs’ and ‘level 3 phonics’ – and then discovered that she was talking about the letter ‘i’ being pronounced ‘eye’ if the word ends in a letter ‘e’ (like) and ‘ea’ being pronounced ‘ee’ under some circumstances (tea often springs to mind).
So at a guess. If the variable represents a finite value and the curve goes to infinity, the point representing the variable must be on the base line. (edit: on the origin).
How did I do?
SoR (aged sixty-something – I’ve lost count).
Reeling and Writhing of course… and the different branches of arithmetic: ambition, distraction, uglification, and derision.
creation of the Epsilon breed is going well it seems, Conservatives and Labour must be very pleased, as I am sure are their controllers in the WEF, and the U.N