Coronavirus outbreak

[mjr]

The problem with comparing Nation State to Nation State is that each is uniquely composited by very wide set of variables and thus any comparism is rendered void, imo.

It is possible to do things like Principal Component Analysis to try to draw out those variables and identify the contributions of the components of interest (probably health regulations is a key one), although with stuff like politics and social attitudes, it's not as exact as if you were observing physical actions. It's worth doing, but I'm not sure who is trying to do it and I've definitely not seen much about it in the UK media.

 

[PK99]

Is South Korea an authoritarian surveillance state?

Simple answer: Yes

Sample references:

This from 2015:

A new South Korean law embeds a surveillance tool on teenagers’ phones – just another example of the country’s paternalistic attitudes, reports Steven Borowiec
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0306422015605708

and

this from jan 2021

Behind South Korea’s Success in Containing Covid-19: Surveillance Technology Infrastructures
In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, South Korea was often hailed for its success in taming the spread of the virus through the use of ICT technologies that facilitated rapid tracing and notification of those who had encountered individuals who had tested positive. In this essay for the “Covid-19 and the Social Sciences” series, Myungji Yang traces the development of disease prevention infrastructures in South Korea following lessons learned from experiences with earlier epidemics, showing how changes in both technology and law played important roles in its strategy. Yang also raises questions about the impact of the intrusive surveillance systems on individual privacy and freedom of movement.
by Myungji YangJanuary 21, 2021

In addition to the country’s government capability, I emphasize the role of deeply-penetrated surveillance infrastructures that enabled health authorities to trace those who were in contact with the virus immediately. However, these surveillance practices have also raised critical concerns about political governance and democratic practices.

https://items.ssrc.org/covid-19-and...d-19-surveillance-technology-infrastructures/

this from April 2020

Take, for example, Korea’s COVID-19 patient #10422. Before being diagnosed, patient #10422 visited the Hanaro supermarket in Yangjae township on March 23 from 11:32 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. The patient was accompanied by their spouse, both wearing masks and using their own car for transportation. On March 27, the pair visited the Yangjae flower market from 4:52 p.m. to 5:18 p.m., again wearing masks. They then had dinner at the Brooklyn The Burger Joint at Shinsegae Centum Mall from 6:42 p.m. to 7:10 p.m. This detailed record can be found, publicly available, on many government websites, and is a testament to the extensive contact tracing carried out by Korean authorities.

But how exactly is this information compiled? There are essentially three sources: electronic transaction data, mobile phone location logs, and surveillance camera footage.
Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, the Korean government collected massive amounts of transaction data for investigating tax fraud. Literally every credit card and bank transaction in Korea is recorded on government databases.


https://www.brookings.edu/techstrea...ology-powered-south-koreas-covid-19-response/

 

[presta]

It's interesting to read the first couple of pages of this thread.

 

[Bazzer]

Last week on a Teams meeting, my boss told us the word from the top was that if as expected, Bojo eased restrictions, then from the 19th, it was back to work as normal. By this morning there is some backtracking and now it is expected to be the second week of September.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Covid world, at the primary school where my eldest daughter is deputy head, today there were 23 staff off through Covid. And a short time ago, Mrs B and I were told the secondary school we attend for pilates, but other groups attend for running, yoga, football clubs etc., in after school hours, cannot allow clubs for the rest of this week or next. - Staff shortages.

 

[matticus]

We can tell that the vaccine is having an effect on slowing the conversion of infections to hospital cases because we have two previous waves to compare against. There's also 190-odd other countries that are collecting this data and generally publishing the measures that they are taking.

Now that makes sense; stick to one population, change one thing (jabs) and look at what happens. Perfectly sensible science.

But changing tactics based on data from other countries ... well that's just guesswork. It might be one useful tool amongst many, but it can't be the cornerstone of your strategy or analysis.

 

[DCLane]

Wandering through Dewsbury this afternoon whilst son no. 2 was in the gym I needed to go into a couple of shops.

They were both busy, a good thing, but in both hardly anyone was wearing a face covering - including the woman standing too close behind me and coughing. It's a very small sample, but have people heard the 19th July announcement and given up already?

 

[Buck]

Wandering through Dewsbury this afternoon whilst son no. 2 was in the gym I needed to go into a couple of shops.

They were both busy, a good thing, but in both hardly anyone was wearing a face covering - including the woman standing too close behind me and coughing. It's a very small sample, but have people heard the 19th July announcement and given up already?

I think some have already - a bit like the change in speed limit where people start gunning the accelerator as soon as they see the national speed limit sign and well before they are out of the 30 zone!

Her's an update from mask wearing in healthcare settings that has just been released
https://www.england.nhs.uk/2021/07/...o-wear-face-coverings-in-healthcare-settings/

 

[potsy]

I've certainly noticed a decrease in mask wearing at my local supermarket, was expecting it.

I am planning to carry on wearing mine even if it's not compulsory, certainly for the time being at least.

 

[Bazzer]

It looks like the bar where daughter 2 works at weekends, is going to be closed this weekend, due to the number of staff who have been pinged by the C19 app. TBH that doesn't surprise me. From what my daughter has said, since it reopened, enforcement of mask wearing when required was zero.

 

[Ajax Bay]

I wonder if there's some merit it in the H&S people 'using' T&T to close down premises which fail to adhere to the law and good practice (or at least threaten so to do). Trouble is it would damage T&T's reputation.

 

[PeteXXX]

I was in Tesco, Northampton, this afternoon and the two security staff on the doors were telling customers to put their masks on before entry.

Many seemed to be not bothering until they were reminded.

 

[cambsno]

And those pubs should be given outdoor space. Very few are impossible, if there was the will.

Its not about the will, its about practicality. My favourite pub for example, tables on pavement would prevent access for wheelchairs or buggies, so its either close pavements or road. Another good pub - could get some tables outside but probably 1/5 of indoor capacity.

I have been round enough pubs in my time to know that a lot would not be able to do this unless roads or pavements were closed.

And thats before we talk about the weather - who will sit there when it rains? Will people really sit there when 5c in winter?

 

[Ajax Bay]

Prediction: the UK will reach effective herd immunity before it goes below 5 degrees C before closing time in Cambridge.

 

[stowie]

Its not about the will, its about practicality. My favourite pub for example, tables on pavement would prevent access for wheelchairs or buggies, so its either close pavements or road. Another good pub - could get some tables outside but probably 1/5 of indoor capacity.

I would argue the word practicality is a euphemism for priorities and politics.

We are all probably cyclists even on this forum, so I don't need to go on about the hegemony of motorised vehicles in our public spaces and the strength of resistance to changing this. Even when the need for better outdoor public spaces is widely agreed, I notice that quite often the discussion centres around re-purposing existing pavements with any discussion on the generally vast space of tarmac dedicated almost exclusively to motors being framed within the confines of "traffic flow".

 

[PK99]

And I feel Boris did have a choice. They can wibble about the weather meaning September unlocking would be worse, but that's because they've pretty much completely failed to encourage three-season outdoor hospitality. England has seen very few of the encouragements and legal easements for outdoor eating and drinking that neighbouring countries have done. In fact, England has actually gone the other way, with local council covid inspectors requiring some outdoor tables to be removed from existing terraces/gardens and two sides of windbreaks to be removed at all times! This is not impossible to change, but it appears the decision is it's easier to abandon thousands more to death than to change our streets.

Times Today:

Outdoor café culture is set to become a permanent fixture of Britain’s streets under plans to give bars, restaurants and coffee shops the right to offer al-fresco service.

The rules were first relaxed last year to make it easier for businesses to serve customers outside when indoor Covid restrictions were in place. Now ministers say that they want the changes to be permanent to reinvigorate town centres. . .

Government sources said that allowing cafés, bars and restaurants to spill out into the street* had proved popular with businesses and the public. They added that previous restrictions had needed a licence from local authorities and were overly restrictive and costly: “You’ve always had an outdoor café culture on the Continent but much less so in this country. It seems sensible that the changes we made as a necessity during Covid should be made permanent.” . . .

*(link)
All pubs and cafés in England will be allowed to sell outdoor drinks
Ministers want to change licencing laws to encourage more people to drink outside, where the chances of spreading coronavirus are significantly reduced.
Many pubs already have licences that enable them to sell alcohol for people to consume off their premises but they are less common for restaurants and cafés.
The government will also drop the 28-day consultation period for cafés, bars and restaurants setting up seating outside.
It comes as a swathe of central London is to be transformed into a continental-style outdoor dining area.
Westminster council is preparing 50 projects to make space for alfresco dining by widening pavements and closing roads for part of the day.