Coronavirus outbreak

[Mo1959]

But they're unable to do that in her house. Pub or restaurant, but not the home.

When they pop in Bill usually plonks himself on the chair at the other end of room and Margaret at the opposite end of the couch to me so feet apart. If we go for a meal in the place I’m thinking we will go, we will be sitting across from each other at a table barely 3 foot across.......but rules are rules and I will obviously stick to them.

 

[tom73]

Easier said than done. Not everything that might make wearing one hard is visible, therefore if you're not wearing one you're at fault. You can even be denied services by not wearing one.

Loose material over the mouth/nose has been chewed before today, and the single use masks are not very tasty.

At least you've tried and good for you.
Yep we've both IBS and had issues using our radar key as we don't look disabled. Legging it off a tube train and running all over to find a toilet late at night is no fun. Think the problem go's much deeper than current issue and more to do with society intolerance of anyone that's different.

 

[Tanis8472]

At least you've tried and good for you.
Yep we've both IBS and had issues using our radar key as we don't look disabled. Legging it off a tube train and running all over to find a toilet late at night is no fun. Think the problem go's much deeper than current issue and more to do with society intolerance of anyone that's different.

Same for my Mrs. She has Crohns disease.
People are very intolerant. I see a lot of our customers coming in without 'masks' who I know for a fact have no excuse. I boils my piiss.

 

[RoadRider400]

Sorry that one don't cut it with me HCP's and others manage for much longer than that and wearing ones much more uncountable. They also don't have the luxury of air con either.

Healthcare settings are a different scenario. Plenty of necessary close content.

It it were likely to achieve anything significant then I would be behind masks for shop staff. However supermarkets have remained open throughout the pandemic and this did not prevent the daily cases reducing after the government put us into lockdown. Indeed the cases were reducing significantly before the 24th July mandate for masks for customers.

Other retail opened again mid June and there was not a rapid increase in cases as a result.

I can get behind staff mask requirements for environments where there is lots of natural close contact and speaking. Shops are not one of them. The fact employees in other sectors wear masks all day is neither here nor there. Plus many health care professionals are dealing with at risk people, so clearly they need to wear masks.

 

[pawl]

You put " Why should it be mainly stuff that makes people happy that gets restricted and not anything that involves payment?" Pubs not taking payment!

If the pubs can't manage to do it, they get made to. Safety of the public comes over profit.

There's no resurrecting old traditions, it's simply a case of they can't manage simple instructions, like taking correct contact details. Or maintaining the agreed distance. All conditions agreed to, before they were allowed to re-open in the first place.

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

 

[roubaixtuesday]

View: https://mobile.twitter.com/OneRuleForThem_/status/1308483518591381505

 

[tom73]

Healthcare settings are a different scenario. Plenty of necessary close content.

It it were likely to achieve anything significant then I would be behind masks for shop staff. However supermarkets have remained open throughout the pandemic and this did not prevent the daily cases reducing after the government put us into lockdown. Indeed the cases were reducing significantly before the 24th July mandate for masks for customers.

Other retail opened again mid June and there was not a rapid increase in cases as a result.

I can get behind staff mask requirements for environments where there is lots of natural close contact and speaking. Shops are not one of them. The fact employees in other sectors wear masks all day is neither here nor there. Plus many health care professionals are dealing with at risk people, so clearly they need to wear masks.

View attachment 548636

Lockdown held numbers down artificially that's the point of them. As more things open up extra measures are needed. You can't unlock without them. The use of face coverings in all enclosed areas with poor ventilation and placers that make social distancing harder are two examples. Shops clearly come into that. Mass face coverings by the public is not about infection prevention as in health care settings. But source control and they work plenty of evidence points to this. Equally they are not about protecting the wearing but protecting others. Though some studies show some benefit to the wearer.
Given that most cases are from pepole who never show any signs. Everyone is potential danger to others so when in at risk envoments in makes perfect sense to have as many as possible wearing face covering. The delay in the UK using them was wholly a political one equally the delay in formally accepting the virus is airborne transmitted.
The fact that other water them all day is the point when pepole believe they can't wear them or don't want to wear. Simply because they are not comfortable or practical. Compared to surgical ones cloth ones are more than comfortable for most. Use of face coverings alone won't deal with this but they are part of the solution.
Other counties know this and just get on with it because they know they work and allow people to get on with life be in different but safe enough for something near normal to be possible. It's high time people here got a grip and masked up.

 

[Rezillo]

I wrote "mainly"


Well, why did we stop doing that?

"The Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Bill will encourage a more civilised culture in pubs, bars and restaurants and increase choice for consumers. It will be based on clear objectives—preventing crime; reducing disorder and public nuisance; ensuring public safety; and protecting children from harm. [...] Most widely trailed, there will be potential for 24-hour opening seven days a week to help minimise, not increase, the public disorder which results from artificially early closing." (Tessa Jowell as Culture Minister, introducing the change)

The middle of a pandemic is no time to be failing to learn from history by resurrecting old traditions which were abandoned for very good reasons!

Except that in many towns, it had exactly the opposite effect to that claimed for the change. In the early 80s, I could wander round Ipswich town centre at night and see only a handful of people. Mrs R and I used to go into Mannings in the Cornhill, where there would be half a dozen old men playing dominoes and drinking pints of mild. The White Horse Hotel had wicker chairs, tables with cloths and a guy in an immaculate three piece suit for table service. The whole atmosphere of the town was peaceful - the busiest pub had folk music. There was one nightclub, frequented by Ipswich Town footballers in an empty 1960s shopping precinct. There were some other clubs but they were not really nightclubs; just a means of obtaining extended drinking hours for their members.

Once the hours were relaxed it changed the entire economic case for town centre pubs. By staying open for longer, they could attract a completely different clientele, namely newly affluent younger people with money to spend. In Ipswich, out went old men playing dominoes and in almost overnight came pub revamps and crowds of drunks until the small hours.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Let us know whether the waiting time for results is accurate. I've done 3 weekly tests for the ONS survey, was told 8 - 10 day delay, and I still haven't had any back.

Will report back

 

[bitsandbobs]

Belgium Foreign Ministry lifting all "do not travel" advice from Friday. Replaced by testing on arrival in Belgium from a red zone. Also nice items on their news about cycle couriers being the fastest way to get tests to labs and walking being healthy.

Maybe bowing to reality.

I encountered Belgians last weekend in a redzone. They had no good reason for being there and I'd be astonished if they were going to quarantine on return to BE.

 

[tom73]

Will report back

Did you just sign up to it or did you get asked ?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Did you just sign up to it or did you get asked ?

I was picked at random from registered GP patients . So I was asked.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

My experience of masks here in Spain:

On the flight over (30 or so passengers with a row of seats each mainly) I wore the best quality medical masks I could buy online - KN95? After 4 hours I thought I had a cold because my eyes were streaming, my nose was constantly tickling/running and I was sneezing. I was scared I was going to fail the temperature checks at the airport but I didn't. When I finally got the mask off, the symptoms disappeared within 15 minutes and I was fine. In Spain itself, I switched to the light fabric washable ones but again, after a while I got cold symptoms. The only ones I find bearable here are the blue paper disposable type but even they are uncomfortable in the middle of the day or when walking up steep hills.

But - a question. Wearing face coverings outdoors is compulsory here and more or less observed, but Spain has horrendous infection rates. Is it a case that masks make little difference outdoors or are they "masking" what would have been otherwise horrific figures?

 

[Rusty Nails]

My experience of masks here in Spain:

On the flight over (30 or so passengers with a row of seats each mainly) I wore the best quality medical masks I could buy online - KN95? After 4 hours I thought I had a cold because my eyes were streaming, my nose was constantly tickling/running and I was sneezing. I was scared I was going to fail the temperature checks at the airport but I didn't. When I finally got the mask off, the symptoms disappeared within 15 minutes and I was fine. In Spain itself, I switched to the light fabric washable ones but again, after a while I got cold symptoms. The only ones I find bearable here are the blue paper disposable type but even they are uncomfortable in the middle of the day or when walking up steep hills.

But - a question. Wearing face coverings outdoors is compulsory here and more or less observed, but Spain has horrendous infection rates. Is it a case that masks make little difference outdoors or are they "masking" what would have been otherwise horrific figures?

I thought that most scientific opinion is that provided social distancing (1m or 2m?) is adhered to the risks of infection outdoors is minimal.

It is a bit belts and braces, but if the belt works well (masks indoors plus social distancing plus good hygiene) the braces (masks outdoors) are not going to make a huge difference.

 

[mjr]

You put " Why should it be mainly stuff that makes people happy that gets restricted and not anything that involves payment?" Pubs not taking payment!

1. I wrote it as "Why should it be mainly {{stuff that makes people happy that gets restricted} and not {anything that involves payment}}?" and you misread it as "Why should it be {{mainly stuff that makes people happy that gets restricted} and not {anything that involves payment}}?"
2. Is it only the drink that makes you happy in pubs, not the socialising?

If the pubs can't manage to do it, they get made to. Safety of the public comes over profit.

There's no resurrecting old traditions, it's simply a case of they can't manage simple instructions, like taking correct contact details. Or maintaining the agreed distance. All conditions agreed to, before they were allowed to re-open in the first place.

Kicking everyone out at ten doesn't necessarily help with any of that, so are you saying it's just punishment?

And how exactly can they tell that taken contact details aren't correct, as long as "M Mouse" isn't on the list?