@gasband why are you comparing what a town did to what a continent did?
Is it really possible to compare like that?
I mean at the start Singapore I think had a very good response yet France fucked up until it’s 1st lockdown. The problem France had was after that the government flipped and flopped leaving the population possibly thinking wtf why do we keep having to make these big efforts when the governments fucking around. It was just incoherent.
However France’s response is very different to say UK, Germany, Spain or Italy. Germany seems to had big regional variations, France wanted to monitor and react regionally however didn’t put in place anything to inforce it. It’s just not comparable imo.
Is over 40K infections and over 150 deaths a day normal to you?
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Normality rains up here in the north. Thousands die every day, infections are I suspect a function of our brilliant testing infrastructure.
What the hell have you been reading / listening too?
Meeting minutes from the Barrington Declaration?
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If the infection level was simply a function of a higher testing incidence, you would see divergence in the positivity rate, with a significantly lower rate expected. That is just not the case, and in fact in some areas the positivity rate is stunningly high - as a matter of fact, many places in the north.
I do think something quite different is happening in the UK than the spikes we see in Europe - the infection rate has been so high for so long in the UK that between vaccinations and recovered recent cases, the R value is being held down in a way that it is not in Europe.
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So you’re saying that we’re just ace? Like it 
Pretty much everybody here is done with masks and lockdowns and has a “fuck it” mentality. One I heartily agree with.
I think that is the heart of it. There is a dangerously high level of covid circulating in the UK, but it has been going on so long it no longer has the feel of a crisis, unless you happen to be employed in one of the NHS trusts going through the wringer. With the death rate high, but not at the disastrous levels of January, lots of places have simply become fatalistic.
The fatigue over masks seems odd to me though. Compared to a lockdown, masks are pretty easy.
As for being ace, well, I think the UK will end up paying quite high social costs for failing to deal with covid effectively, but the failure has been chronic rather than critical. The UK has seen a very odd combination of a very effective state (NHS performance levels, early vaccine rollout, testing, genetic typing, all arguably world-leading) with really poor leadership on some critical issues.
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I suppose it was a flippant comment from me originally. The UK’s government was extensively excoriated for their handling of COVID. Life is now pretty much back to normal and our European cousins are really struggling having being lauded for their exemplar strategy in the early days.
I still wear a mask in supermarkets, shops and public transport etc. I’ll continue do so, as long as there are bellends who don’t.
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Look at the number dead people. That alone should hint at whether we’re doing ok or not. With the total rising at 1000 a week who can blame Europe for trying to avoid a similar outcome?
The PPE fatigue is normal when there’s no leadership to push it. I’ve seen it on construction sites in the past.
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That’s the bizarre thing about it. The EU rate per 1M population is lower than the UK’s. Germany and Austria only overtook the UK’s case rate less than a week ago. They are contemplating or executing lockdowns for levels you now consider ‘back to normal’.
I have a friend here from the Northeast, and he simply doesn’t understand what the hell his family are thinking now. They have just about all had it at least once.
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To my mind that’s the vacuum that comes from a total lack of leadership. The seriousness just simply isn’t pressed home and no one actually believes what they are saying anyway. There’s also the feeling that the vaccine is some kind of magic shield. Basically the messaging has been all wrong from a untrustworthy source
People are happy until it knocks on their door in a serious way but the numbers still seem small enough such that it’s not scaring enough people all at the same time. Basically “wont happen to me syndrome”
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Fairly similar to what has been happening in some of the US, though I don’t think the problem states have anywhere near the data quality that the UK does. But the UK’s ‘plateau’ is quite exceptional. Even allowing for declining rates of testing, states like Florida still show much more of a wave/spike property than the UK has now for months.
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Would you think they are perfect conditions for a mutation?
Here in France we’re not, where are you getting this from? Ok, we are reacting to the changing situation but surely that’s how it should be, no?
I don’t think so, the vaccin and immunity from having had it should mean people carry the virus for a shorter period. Mutation is really a function of how long the virus has in the contagious body. Hence why high numbers of people with comorbilities being kept alive artificially aided the ‘fabrication’ of mutations.
Still just having the virus around doesn’t help.
Cheers. I had thought that with such a high level of infection over such an extensive period of time that would increase the chances of mutation. Basically more of it around for longer etc.
If you don’t mind me asking, why? To me we either have faith in the jabs or not. I have. So I’m not wearing a mask for myself** If you can’t have the jab then you should be wearing medical grade PPE. If you haven’t had the jab then hello Darwin award.
Oh and I am absolutely that bellend as I’ve had it, had the jabs and can obviously stand the infection.
You can still catch the virus and therefore pass it on to other people, even after having the vaccine. Wearing a mask lessens the chances of catching it.
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So you don’t mind catching the virus and passing it on to others then?
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