When will this shit end?

[Fuzzy Afro]

Worth noting that apart from Denmark, no other European countries do nearly as much genome sequencing as we do in the UK. This means it’s unlikely they’d even notice a new version of covid spreading. 

[Mr.Tease]

6 minutes ago, st dan said:

Neil has it spot on here - not saying the new strain has been fabricated, but it’s certainly been hyped up to suit their Tier 4 agenda. You can imagine them plotting this in their Tory HQ thinking they have nailed it - we made it seem like there was no other option but to cancel Christmas. 
Pretty sure when they made such a big deal of this, that they hadn’t even though of the possible knock on effects we are seeing now. 

They're screwed either way- If it turns out the government did hype this up to cover their u-turn (which I think they did), surely heads have to roll (though I saw that after every monumental mess up they've done), or if it turns out this strain is as bad as hyped, then we're screwed because the spread will be horrific and  no one will want us entering their country for a long time.

[Mr.Tease]

5 minutes ago, gigpusher said:

Yep they made more of it that it is so that they didn't look like dicks for u-turning and it's backfired on them spectacularly. 

The fact they seem to have been caught completely off guard regarding other countries reaction to it, would indicate this is a distinct possibility

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Mr.Tease said:

They're screwed either way- If it turns out the government did hype this up to cover their u-turn (which I think they did), surely heads have to roll (though I saw that after every monumental mess up they've done), or if it turns out this strain is as bad as hyped, then we're screwed because the spread will be horrific and  no one will want us entering their country for a long time.

You are right, someone has to go for this but this government never seem to have a senior member resign or get sacked. They just lie and move on.

[Fuzzy Afro]

10 minutes ago, Mr.Tease said:

They're screwed either way- If it turns out the government did hype this up to cover their u-turn (which I think they did), surely heads have to roll (though I saw that after every monumental mess up they've done), or if it turns out this strain is as bad as hyped, then we're screwed because the spread will be horrific and  no one will want us entering their country for a long time.

Why would they want to u turn if the new variant isn’t a big deal though?

[Mr.Tease]

3 minutes ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

Why would they want to u turn if the new variant isn’t a big deal though?

Because covid numbers were hugely on the rise, making the 5 day Christmas plan look even more of a disaster waiting to happen (as most scientists warned would happen when restrictions were eased and a Christmas free for all was promised weeks before the numbers were in)

[Fuzzy Afro]

3 minutes ago, Mr.Tease said:

Because covid numbers were hugely on the rise, making the 5 day Christmas plan look even more of a disaster waiting to happen (as most scientists warned would happen when restrictions were eased and a Christmas free for all was promised weeks before the numbers were in)

Surely they’re on the rise BECAUSE of the new version though? It’s all chicken and egg but I don’t think the tinfoil hat conspiracies are correct here. The numbers are absolute spiralling in London in a way they wouldn’t under tier 2/3 type rules. The Dartford Supersniffles is very real. 

Edited December 21, 2020 by Fuzzy Afro

[st dan]

So, when are we expecting the ‘upon further analysis the new strain appears to be no more infectious than other Covid-19 variants and there is no additional cause for alarm’ statement then?

[st dan]

8 minutes ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

Surely they’re on the rise BECAUSE of the new version though? It’s all chicken and egg but I don’t think the tinfoil hat conspiracies are correct here. The numbers are absolute spiralling in London in a way they wouldn’t under tier 2/3 type rules. The Dartford Supersniffles is very real. 

This is what happens when you have a lying, devious, scheming, inept, immoral (insert other suitable adjectives here) bunch of charlatans running the country - people stop believing in what they are telling us - which is a very dangerous position to be in. 

This new strain could be a real cause for concern, but I no longer believe a word that comes out of any of their mouths anymore. And I know many others feel the same. 

Edited December 21, 2020 by st dan

[xxialac]

Pound is tanking this morning.

[Mr.Tease]

6 minutes ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

Surely they’re on the rise BECAUSE of the new version though? It’s all chicken and egg but I don’t think the tinfoil hat conspiracies are correct here. The numbers are absolute spiralling in London in a way they wouldn’t under tier 2/3 type rules. The Dartford Supersniffles is very real. 

Correlation doesn't equal causation though. Sad state of affairs that the idea the government exaggerated this to cover their backsides is even thought of as a possibility though (both on the grounds of honesty and spectacular incompetence)! I could indeed be wrong!

If it is true that this new strain is even more contagious, then the implications are really bad, especially with hospital numbers already bad.

[Mr.Tease]

4 minutes ago, st dan said:

This is what happens when you have a lying, devious, scheming, inept, immoral (insert other suitable adjectives here) bunch of charlatans running the country - people stop believing in what they are telling us - which is a very dangerous position to be in. 

This new strain could be a real cause for concern, but I no longer believe a word that comes out of any of their mouths anymore. And I know many others feel the same. 

Yep, we have a PM who's a habitual liar, it makes it hard to trust anything they say even in a serious situation like this, when trust is crucial

[zahidf]

Leading German virologist Christian Drosten has said he expects the new strain of Covid-19 discovered in the UK to be already in circulation in Germany, but that he was “everything but worried” about the viral mutation at the moment.
 

Speaking to broadcaster Deutschlandfunk on Monday morning, Drosten said the scientific data around the new N501Y mutation was still “unclear”. The internationally renowned coronavirus expert said claims that the strain was 70% more transmissible were likely an estimate for now, which still needed to be verified by British scientists over the course of this week.

“The question is: is this virus being washed up by a coming new wave in that region [in South East England], or is this virus responsible for creating this wave in the first place”, Drosten said. “That’s an important difference”.
Drosten noted that the viral strain had also been detected in other countries, like the Netherlands, where it didn’t appear to have multiplied in a significantly more rapid way. “I am open to new scientific insights, and in science there are always surprises, but I am everything but worried in this respect”.

 

[Ayrshire Chris]

Just listened to some bloated Tory brexiteer MP , the one who is always dragged out for interviews. He was going on his  usual anti EU rhetoric and condemning the tier 4 restrictions .  He was saying how he is a libertarian and lockdowns etc are against his political thinking.  All I can say is that there must be a fine line between being a right wing libertarian and a total fucking idiot. 

[efcfanwirral]

8 minutes ago, xxialac said:

Pound is tanking this morning.

If it drops to the point that the Tory backers make their disaster capitalism money BEFORE new year's day can we cancel brexit then...

[eFestivals]

14 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

If it drops to the point that the Tory backers make their disaster capitalism money BEFORE new year's day can we cancel brexit then...

brexit will be soooo passe by New Years day. 

Thanks to the mutant, the food riots are now starting before xmas. 

😛 

[xxialac]

"France's ban on UK transport came as surprise", says Grant Shapps

Inept.

[eFestivals]

4 minutes ago, xxialac said:

"France's ban on UK transport came as surprise", says Grant Shapps

Inept.

Spaffer: .. but ... but ... but ... you can't stop trade, how will we eat?

Macron: eat your fish.

[st dan]

2 minutes ago, xxialac said:

"France's ban on UK transport came as surprise", says Grant Shapps

Inept.

Yep - what makes it even worse is that we’ve even banned travel from these regions in our own country to try and stop the spread.

So they just thought that other countries were going to watch Saturdays press conference and just crack on as normal? 

[Homer]

I was drunk for a healthy chunk of yesterday. Have I missed anything?!

[Gingerfish79]

3 minutes ago, Homer said:

I was drunk for a healthy chunk of yesterday. Have I missed anything?!

Current advice is to carry on drinking.

[st dan]

Just now, Gingerfish79 said:

Current advice is to carry on drinking.

But you just can’t have any of those little French stubby’s at the moment. 

[RobertProsineckisLighter]

1 minute ago, Gingerfish79 said:

Current advice is to carry on drinking.

Get Drinking Done.

[steviewevie]

I don't think they are hyping it up, think they are genuinely worried about it...just from what my PHE mate said....and what Whitty and Valance were saying on saturday. Maybe in the end this new strain isn't as infectious or widespread as they feared, but probably best to be cautious. What they need to be doing is discussing all this with other european countries...but in the end if there was a new strain somewhere we'd be stopping all travel there...we did it with Denmark recently.

[Homer]