When will this shit end?

[Ozanne]

30 minutes ago, xxialac said:

I'm not quite sure.

This new announcement feels quite technical, boring and not newsworthy.

Whereas with hotel quarantine this is surely the first time in our lifetime law abiding citizens are being effectively put under house arrest by their government. Will be lots of 'human life' stories coming out of it.

It was a thing that was coming for a few weeks now and now not. It’ll get pushed down the news agenda so people won’t notice and as such people will go on thinking the government are doing a stellar job. 

[Fuzzy Afro]

50 minutes ago, jparx said:

Making predictions is a fools game at the moment, even for the experts, but I’d put a wager on household mixing being allowed at/by Easter. Outdoors, up to 6 people.

I am specifically talking about it INDOOR mixing. Rule of 6 outside will be back within weeks. 

[xxialac]

Just now, Ozanne said:

It was a thing that was coming for a few weeks now and now not. It’ll get pushed down the news agenda so people won’t notice and as such people will go on thinking the government are doing a stellar job. 

I suspect when it does eventually land, it will be bungled (buses getting lost on the way to the hotel etc, hotels getting double booked, people catching covid in the hotels) and the chaos will make front page news.

[jparx]

Just now, efcfanwirral said:

To be fair I think there are crossed wires on the "vaccine passport" talk- I think they've denied doing it for going to pubs or generally living lives (still not convinced it'll stay that way) but the international side of things isn't really our decision.

Well I took the initial vaccine passport story as being something we would bring in to protect us from importing variants from abroad, so only those with immunity would travel and return. I’m sure other countries may well stipulate it, but it’s what we do to protect the UK from bringing it back in.

Maybe tests will just be sufficient for re-entry and we’ll bank on the success of our vaccinations.

[Crazyfool01]

this is how to visit a vaccination centre Boris take note ...

 

[mattiloy]

1 hour ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

Re: my inside info about household gatherings being out until September, it came from someone I know who works in a government agency and claims to have been briefed on the roadmap. No idea if true or not. 

He works for super army soldiers special ops mi6

[Ozanne]

3 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

this is how to visit a vaccination centre Boris take note ...

 

Awesome, they are so refreshing!

[Paul ™]

Just now, xxialac said:

I suspect when it does eventually land, it will be bungled (buses getting lost on the way to the hotel etc, hotels getting double booked, people catching covid in the hotels) and the chaos will make front page news.

Guaranteed it will be a shambles if/when it ever gets going. 

Talks of a central online booking system to book the hotel/transfers and tests... why would you need to ensure passengers who are effectively locked up in a hotel room for 10 days, have a test on days 2 & 8 at their expense??

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-02-08/covid-all-travellers-arriving-to-uk-to-be-tested-on-day-2-and-day-8-of-self-isolation-itv-news-understands

Edited February 8, 2021 by Paul ™
Added Link

[Crazyfool01]

https://www.mixmag.net/read/health-passports-music-venues-trlal-uk-club-news

 

vaccine passports in another name ? 

[steviewevie]

bugger shit bum

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-55986900

[steviewevie]

Confused. In BBC article above says following:

Surge testing for coronavirus is to be introduced in parts of Manchester after four cases of the so-called Kent variant of Covid were confirmed.

More than 10,000 tests are planned after cases of the E484K mutation were found in two unconnected households.

Isn't it the SA variant?

 

[steviewevie]

Oh, it's the mutated Kent variant. kin'ell.

[Ozanne]

3 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

Confused. In BBC article above says following:

Surge testing for coronavirus is to be introduced in parts of Manchester after four cases of the so-called Kent variant of Covid were confirmed.

More than 10,000 tests are planned after cases of the E484K mutation were found in two unconnected households.

Isn't it the SA variant?

 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/71e53321-3719-4f10-9406-c614a5ddc1b8

[dotdash79]

2 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

Confused. In BBC article above says following:

Surge testing for coronavirus is to be introduced in parts of Manchester after four cases of the so-called Kent variant of Covid were confirmed.

More than 10,000 tests are planned after cases of the E484K mutation were found in two unconnected households.

Isn't it the SA variant?

 

No it’s the Kent variant which has developed the E484K mutation separated from the South African one. 

[steviewevie]

Me again!

I thought I lived in area to have these surge tests...but I'm outside it...

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/thousands-people-around-moss-side-19795599

[squirrelarmy]

18 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

Confused. In BBC article above says following:

Surge testing for coronavirus is to be introduced in parts of Manchester after four cases of the so-called Kent variant of Covid were confirmed.

More than 10,000 tests are planned after cases of the E484K mutation were found in two unconnected households.

Isn't it the SA variant?

 

I’m also confused. There’s no football fans allowed in stadiums so why are there people from Kent in Manchester?

[Paul ™]

Covid: Why Australia's 'world-class' quarantine system has seen breaches - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-55929180
 

I can only imagine ours will be far worse too.

[StuMalinas]

Just booked up Vegas in July with a few mates, can cancel hotel and change flights. Do we reckon I’ll get there

[dingbat2]

25 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

Confused. In BBC article above says following:

Surge testing for coronavirus is to be introduced in parts of Manchester after four cases of the so-called Kent variant of Covid were confirmed.

More than 10,000 tests are planned after cases of the E484K mutation were found in two unconnected households.

Isn't it the SA variant?

 

Presumably they will be able to establish how/where these cases contracted the virus. Assuming they can then they should make it public so we know how easy it is to contract and spread the virus (whilst maintaining the anonymity of those infected) - a lot of the issues are with people thinking they are doing the right thing without realising what they are doing might still be putting themselves and then others at risk. There arent real world examples of how the virus is managing to spread in the general population so easily, it will be interesting to find out how and where they were infected. Might focus a few minds. Well we can live in hope 

[zahidf]

 

[efcfanwirral]

1 hour ago, steviewevie said:

bugger shit bum

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-55986900

Same old mistakes again - if it's important enough for this "surge testing" surely it's important enough to make use of this next month before schools go back to come down hard on it. A harsh 2 weeks where the numbers come down

All possible in theory, but we won't pay the support needed to businesses so will let this version get out of control. 

 

[efcfanwirral]

Just now, zahidf said:

 

I don't see what's wrong with allowing people to pay more 

[efcfanwirral]

Read the thread below this - our government doesn't even make the decisions...

[Paul ™]

11 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

I don't see what's wrong with allowing people to pay more 

I believe the government are paying upfront for it and then will try to recover the money from the passengers.

Be interesting to see how they segregate indirect flights from EU hubs if indeed they do.

No mention of ports either, only seen a few airports mentioned.

[Reckoner]

9 hours ago, stuie said:

Amid spending spree.

Massive stimulus injections to replace lost tourism income so the answer to the original question - can they keep the borders closed indefinitely - is still no. 

From the article you posted:

The government pledged NZ$62 billion ($44 billion) of fiscal support to help revive domestic demand and protect jobs, while the central bank has slashed interest rates and embarked on quantitative easing and term lending programs to further drive down borrowing costs.

I’m not sure what the point is? Yes, they’ve added stimulus to help restart an economy that was crashing due to a lockdown as a result of a global pandemic. Seems like sound economic management to me.

They’ve decided the best way to tackle this in the short/medium term is to not be locked down as locked down economies do not result in economic growth. Keeping cases low and restricting arrivals to ensure no new chains of transmission allows the rest of the economy to keep ticking over and continuing targeted stimulus for those sectors affected by these actions such as tourism, can get support to tide them over until it is safe to remove those measures. It’s certainly more likely to reclaim this stimulus through tax receipts of a functioning economy than one that is in and out of lockdown. 5.8% (tourism ) is a massive chunk of GDP lost, but what’s the point in hanging onto it at the moment if it helps torpedo everything else?

Can they keep arrivals restricted (borders closed) indefinitely? No, and New Zealand have been assertive that it won’t be the case, unlike Australia where it plays very well politically to throw a wall up and demonise everyone outside it. It depends on a number of factors though. How well the vaccines work, and whether they are successfully rolled out to countries that your visitors arrive from, Do new variants change the efficacy? Can production keep up with demand? By keeping cases low and retaining a functioning economy they can make the call to remove their management measures at a time that doesn’t put the economy at risk.