Completely agree about masks.

I really don't see the problem. Doesn't the govt. realise how much easier it would be if they stopped flip-flopping between one thing and another and just had a consistent message?

As a connected topic, and just for interest:

On July 14th, Macron announced that in two months time, any healthcare workers who did not have the vaccination (or have an accepted, approved reason for not doing so) would be suspended without pay.

At the time, only 50% of state healthworkers and 80% of private healthworkers had received the vaccine.

There was uproar, and protests, and claims there would be a mass loss of workers.

As of September 14th, 89% of state healthworkers and 95% of private ones have now received at least one jab. That will go up further as many were betting on the fact he would back down.

At the same time, as before, for the same period, hopsitalisations in the UK have gone up - the UK figures show approx 3,800 were being admitted every week in July - and now it is about 8,000 every week.

In France, the number per week is now below 2,500.

Covid rate here in Harrogate is 457 compared to the National average of circa 310. Hard to say why, highest in Yorkshire and rising rapidly day by day. Quite possible its a combo of Leeds Fest a month ago, schools then back and spreading at sixth form level and beyond , and a lot of tourists still here so the restaurants are full and active.

Not translating into deaths but worrying for folks like my wife who does shopping and care for a 100 year old lady - dont want to spread it to someone like her even if shes ok.

Cain's recent interview and podcast (him of Cain & Cummings fame) was 'amusing':

I particularly liked this bit:

Cain recalls a "long conversation" in the Cabinet room in Downing Street early in March 2020, about whether to close the nation's pubs to reduce social mixing.

"All the sort of key people [were] saying 'we should close the pubs,'" Cain said. "But then there was a sort of pushback from those with economic interests, saying, actually, this is a huge industry all these jobs will be lost. We'd need a whole scheme to support the industry.

"And we ended up with this compromise space of, 'well, let's leave the pubs open, but tell people not to go.' The communicators in the room were very forthright in saying: 'This is obviously not going to hold up. As soon as it hits the media, this will be pulled apart. And we're best just closing the pubs now.' But that's not where we ended up. And I think that's just one of those examples of poor policy."

Just has such a ring of truth to it....

And the Bojo going way offscript by shaking hands with everyone at the hospital bit...

www.politico.eu/article/boris-johnsons-former-spin-chief-blames-bad-policy-for-uk-coronavirus-deaths/

Strongbow wrote:

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Amazing that with 137 new Covid deaths today the media are concentrating on Sarah Everard and fuel shortages - what is wrong with the world.

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Certainly every covid death is a sad loss and there have been far too many avoidable ones. But that's currently a pretty normal figure ( I'm Incidentally seeing 137 reported yesterday and 127 today ). 

Overall UK covid deaths over a full week have come down from 1000 to last Friday to 806 to this Friday. In general, as I mentioned above, the death rate has been fairly settled for quite a number of weeks. 

-- Edited by indiana on Saturday 2nd of October 2021 05:32:55 AM

Strongbow wrote:

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Amazing that with 137 new Covid deaths today the media are concentrating on Sarah Everard and fuel shortages - what is wrong with the world.

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The media might seem slightly blasé now about the covid deaths because, as Indy says, it's the norm. 

And, anyway, what about all the other deaths? 

There were 11,009 deaths last week, in England and Wales (more with Scotland, obviously)

Why should the media make 137 of them main news and ignore the other 10,900? 

Moreover, as flamingow says, the Everard killing and the fallout is deservedly main news - hundreds of thousands of women now not only feel unsafe outside but feel that the very people who are there to protect them (a) will not necessarily protect them, quite the opposite and (b) their police and political bosses seem to think that this isn't a problem, that poor Sarah should have been more 'streetwise' (God give me strength, that almost made me cry) and that women should run into strangers' house and stop random buses if arrested by a what might be a dodgy police officer.  

And fuel shortages run to the heart of modern society (getting people to work, kids to school, patients to hospital, goods into shops, supplies to chemists etc etc) and the handling of it runs to the heart of what you think about the government (from not their fault and blame the media, to utterly unprepared without any game plan). I think that's news. 

flamingowings wrote:

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Wasn't that just a shocking comment CD (about her, and presumably all other women) to be more streetwise? What a gutpunch that is to everyone but especially her friends and family.

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 That was our North Yorkshire Crime Commissioner that came out with that gem. Idiot. 

Yes, CD, and I read that the role of the commisioner is to be "the voice of the people ...". People, get this man out at the first opportunity ( if he doesn't realise that he is unfit for purpose and resign ). 

In general yes the current main news stories do seem the right main news stories.