Coronavirus: COVID-19

[RegisterMe]

I ordered some reusable / washable masks on Amazon late last week. Unfortunately they won't be delivered until mid-August. A pack of ten disposable masks costs £8 in Sainsburys .

[mr.WHO]

Wait, what? They aren't compulsory in UK?

They are compulsory on public transport and when visiting the hospital or a doctor. Until recently many shops weren't open anyway, and those that were have had social distancing rules with one-way systems, well-spaced queues, and screens at check-outs. Masks are becoming compulsory now that more shops are open, and so that some of those other measures can be relaxed to make shopping easier. But yes, the UK has been a bit slow on the mask front.

That sounds a bit less insane, but I sill wonder why wait 10 days until 24th July?
What is UK reasoning for avoiding mask till now?


In Poland, when goverment implemented and announced COVID restrictions, it usually took about 2-3 days between decision and implementation.

This include the shop restrictions, with social distancing rules with one-way systems, well-spaced queues, and screens at check-outs. However, only the biggest retail shops managed to organized within 3-4 days and the rest took 5-7 days to comply with restrictions.

Masks were ones the very first prevention tool, despite the huge shortages in first 2 weeks of lockdown - there was big campaign for everyone to produce their own masks and even produce masks for healthcare system (like making masks via 3D printers) - now I can have any mask at any size, type and price I can imagine.
This kinda remind me the old comunist times where there was shortage of everything, yet somehow people managed to pull out most of the things they needed out of nowhere. I guess this is the reason why no one panicked about toilet paper during lockdown and for unknow reason for a few days there was only shortage of eggs.

[pjknibbs]

That sounds a bit less insane, but I sill wonder why wait 10 days until 24th July?
What is UK reasoning for avoiding mask till now?

I don't know what the reason for not making them compulsory until now was, but the obvious reason for giving it 10 days is to give people a chance to get hold of masks if they don't already have them? After all, if they said that you have to wear a mask to go into a shop right now, and you had to go to a shop to fetch some masks to comply with the law, you'd be breaking the law by default by not having a mask in the shop!

[Alan Phipps]

I'm guessing that ready-made face-coverings will be the new 'toilet rolls' for panic-buying in the UK and will soon become difficult to find in the shops - a bit like disposable gloves became. Still, you can easily enough make your own facelets or even just use a scarf or big (clean) handkerchief at a pinch if you are caught at need without one.

Unfortunate thing to relate that I saw recently - an oldish chap sat alone at a distanced table in a garden centre cafe who forgot to remove his face covering before trying to drink his coffee. Under less trying circumstances it might have appeared funny, but this was just sad to see. The staff did clean up and offer him a new disposable covering plus a fresh coffee though. Good for them.

[felter]

I have to say this, but less of the use of the UK when talking about how they are acting to the Virus. The UK is made up of four nations and each of these nations are acting differently with different rules from the other nations on how to they deal with the Virus. Scotland has compulsory use of masks in shops all ready, not sure on Wales or Northern Ireland. England is well behind Scotland on all points when it comes to dealing with the virus, so it is not fair to either the people of Scotland or the Scottish government when we get clumped together with the English with the use of UK when taking about the Covid-19 response.

[Alan Phipps]

In exact timings and details maybe with a bit of political posturing thrown in, but the last time I checked the science behind the recommendations was all coming from the same UK and international sources. Don't take all that too seriously though because there are no hard borders between (well 3 at least of) the devolved nations and so things change gradually across lines drawn on the map.

[felter]

Who is talking about the science, no one was talking about the science. It was about the UK rules which as I pointed out are different for each nation. Scotland's rules are totally different from the English, Welsh and Irish rules. It was compulsory to wear a mask in shops here in Scotland nearly two weeks ago, it was also compulsory on Public transport about a month before the English decided to go that way. Travel restrictions were different here in Scotland, our pubs aren't even open yet apart from beer gardens. A lot of the shops were only allowed to open just yesterday. Restaurants and cafes are still only takeaway and home delivery. These rules are different in England.

So when you are talking about rules being for the UK, you are totally mistaken, as they are not for the UK, the science may be but those rules are not. The rule for the mask becoming compulsory from the 24th is for England, by that time it will already have been compulsory for around 3 weeks in Scotland. So it is not the UK rule it is an English rule and it has to be told as being that.

My sisters English partner is coming up here tomorow from England, when he crosses that English Scotland border he has to obey the Scottish rules, he can't go I'm English and the UK government says I don't have to wear a mask in a shop till the 24th, he has to abide by our Scottish rules as there are no UK rules that says he doesn't have to wear a mask till the 24th, just an English one for in England.

[CBJ]

You're right, felter, and I apologise for the slip. The rules in Wales and Scotland in particular have been slightly more cautious than those in England right from the start (I've not really kept up with what the NI rules are, so maybe they have too). The problem now is that, after a fairly clear start when lockdown was first imposed, it's become increasingly difficult to keep track of what the rules are in the different nations of the UK, and from when they apply. While I fully support devolution, it would have been nice to see a more coordinated approach (ideally with the more cautious approach being applied in England too).

[mr.WHO]

I start to apreciate to live in unitary state and society.

Seems like Federations and Unions kinda sux with COVID.
You have single currency, yet you don't have singular epidemic policy.

Edit: I wonder about Germany case - Federal state, yet they deal with COVID quite decent so far.

[CBJ]

It's not that bad. It's just that the restrictions have been slightly different in different places and at different times. And in some ways it's a good thing, as it means the measures in place can be adapted to local circumstances. The only real issue is remembering what rules are in place in a given location, and that only really matters if you're moving around (which for most of the lockdown we weren't supposed to be doing anyway).

[Rug]

... and that only really matters if you're moving around (which for most of the lockdown we weren't supposed to be doing anyway).

Unless your name is Dominic Cummings apparently, in which case you could do (and still can to my amazement) as you please. How did he not lose his job ?

Rug

[Tycow]

... and that only really matters if you're moving around (which for most of the lockdown we weren't supposed to be doing anyway).

Unless your name is Dominic Cummings apparently, in which case you could do (and still can to my amazement) as you please. How did he not lose his job ?

Rug

Indeed. If he was a civil servant he'd be fired out of a cannon by now.

Also the fact he's gone on a tour of our most secure military establishments boggles the mind. No way he has the clearance required given his shady history, dubious connections, and the three years he spent in Russia...

[felter]

Also remember that if your Surname is Johnson, it is okay for you to travel to a country that everyone else in the country you are coming from is banned from travelling to.

Many, many years ago I used to work in catering and one of the restaurants I used to work in was a vegetarian restaurant in Edinburgh called Hendersons. It was a famous restaurant, especially when it came to vegetarian food as it was one of the first such restaurants for vegetarians. I worked in the place for several years and have some fond memories of doing so, along with more than a few I would rather not have. It was an interesting time and I got to see a lot of famous people from that time, like Big Robbie Coltrane, Annie Lennox, Jim Kerr even Walter Koenig among many others. So what's this got to do with Covid-19, well last night I found out that while restaurants were re-opening today in Scotland, Hendersons would not be one of them, after 58 years of catering for vegetarians, Covid-19 killed it off. Makes me sad to think of it closing down. It's not just lives being lost, but livelihoods also.

[pjknibbs]

Makes me sad to think of it closing down. It's not just lives being lost, but livelihoods also.

It's happening all over--I think I mentioned a while ago that Wicksteed Park, a theme park near Kettering that I used to visit as a lad and which has been there just short of a century, went into administration due to lack of visitors thanks to the pandemic.

[Vertigo 7]

I said from the beginning that this was going to require a life style change. Anything that is dependent on people to gathering en mass in order to function is just a bad idea under the current circumstances. In the case of restaurants, the solution is rather obvious, delivery or take out only. In person dining is hardly essential and with as many people that have lost their employment due to Covid, I would imagine it wouldn't be terribly difficult to find delivery drivers.

We have to accept that business as usual just isn't going to work, for right now. And that means that our wants and needs will have to be reevaluated and balanced accordingly. It isn't fun and it isn't easy, but if we try to fight it, we'll loose.

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

There was only one thing to do: wait for the situation to go back to normal, or very close to normal.
Some countries didn't, and they're experiencing the consequences of their choices. It was very clear what to do, just looking at how allies where handling the situation. But no, "we're better", they thought. Just like a virus would care about skin colour, religion, wealth or geographical position.

[matthewfarmery]

How mind boggling stupid is this? WH on schools been forced to reopen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHCUYxjpako

McEnany on school reopenings: ‘The science should not stand in the way of this’

It is utter crazy and silly that the WH is saying this. and totally ignoring the fact that children can become infected by the virus, remote as it is. Not only that what about the teachers? trump clearly will end up killing far more people, before he is finally booted from office. and why aren't the GOP not doing anything to countermanding this? or are they so scared of Trump now, they will gladly see more American citizens die at the hands of Trump?

It really beggars belief that she even said that, or should I say he did. I wonder how many more lives will be lost before the senate really takes action, or maybe the American people will finally wake up and do the right thing.

utterly shocking, whichever way you slice it. And even more so, that no one from the senate is really doing much to help either.

I really wonder what the death toll will be before this is all over?

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

He's got until January to destroy everything he can.
Something like "the ball is mine, and I'm taking it with me!" we used to jockingly say when I was a child to the boy who didn't want to follow rules when playing.

[felter]

I don't know what to say to that, apart from it has to be the dumbest thing a blonde has said in the past 1,000 years, since mankind thought science was from the realm of witchery. Honestly it has to be up there for the stupidest thing that has been said and done since this presidency started, which is saying a lot when you think on some of the things that have happened in the last 3 years.

[Vertigo 7]

I don't know what to say to that, apart from it has to be the dumbest thing a blonde has said in the past 1,000 years, since mankind thought science was from the realm of witchery. Honestly it has to be up there for the stupidest thing that has been said and done since this presidency started, which is saying a lot when you think on some of the things that have happened in the last 3 years.

I dunno. The other dumb blonde wanted to test ingestion of disinfectants to cure Covid. It's hard to judge which is a worse idea. Both scenarios will result in a whole lot more dead people.