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Corona doesn’t get spread in supermarkets silly!
It not only gets spread, it gets sold by the caseload on special offer in the big ASDA in Carlisle.
Especially round about New Year.
An unintended consequence of minimum alcohol unit pricing innit.
Not really. Since March of last year the Borders and Dumfries & Galloway have had the lowest rate of infection and death rate in mainland
Aye, but there wasn't the xmas travel and a more transmissible version then, was there.
SK, yes, did post that, as it's a fairly blatant route of transmission, I'm sure that's quite obvious? It's not blaming the English as you suggest, it's a pretty obvious vector.
I'll maintain if we'd closed the border, stopped folk flying in and out, we'd be in a far better place, are you saying I'm wrong? You can question my motives all you want, I couldn't give a flying **** what you think tbh.
I’ll maintain if we’d closed the border, stopped folk flying in and out, we’d be in a far better place,
That is certainly true - both for Scotland and the UK. too late now and also somewhat difficult to do
Just found this line in the DMBinS release for today
The way DMBINS have embraced this situation and used it as a king of land grab to position themselves as the arbiter of all things mountain biking in Scotland, is laughable.
I treat anything they say with the contempt it deserves. The way they took the opportunity to pile in on Cathro and the problems with his track in Pitlochry, pitching themselves as referee/ guardian/ judge/ jury really annoyed me.
They're an absolutely pointless organisation and they've used this situation to try and justify their pointless existence.
she has spent the pandemic is the luxury of going through the motions in a part of the world where the reality was that you were unlikely to get it even if your social distancing and hygiene routines were not the best
That chicken is coming home to roost for the Highlands.
With a travel corridor to Edinburgh please – after all our numbers are low and we have been behaving!
You sure your numbers are 'low'?
Info on hot tub nurse plz
SK, yes, did post that, as it’s a fairly blatant route of transmission, I’m sure that’s quite obvious? It’s not blaming the English as you suggest, it’s a pretty obvious vector.
I'm not sure what you think shutting the border is going to achieve when it's being spread just as easily within Scotland. You may as well close the border on every council area if you want an effective reduction.
As I said before amongst accusations of being a fascist, soft solutions aren't working because people can't be trusted. The next step is hard solutions.
On a UK wide basis I agree our border should have been closed but that ship sailed long ago. Now we're the ones being kept out.
FWIW I'm not questioning your motives (they very obviously seem to be for reducing the spread), I'm just saying your comments come across badly.
EDIT: I don't think you have any sort of anti English agenda and I'm sorry for suggesting it. You were right the other day when you said I was going for most crabbit on here. I'm grabbing at stuff and not realising I'm doing it. Apologies again, you don't need me giving you shit.
The jump in Hawick numbers is quite large and probably in no way related to the pubs being open mad friday and christmas eve (the drinking pubs are proper shoulder to shoulder affairs).
guitarhero, if you think that skelf can't hold the red bull round there might be another track nearby willing to help that was completed recently 🙂
You sure your numbers are ‘low’?
compared to the rest of you plague rats - especially the weegies! 😉
Info on hot tub nurse plz
*waves at YGH*
Mibbe your crabbitness has spread across the north south divide this morning! 🙈
Aye, too late now, the time to do it was June or July, but people don't accept draconian changes when case rates are low.
compared to the rest of you plague rats –
Fellow central belter here, our rates are lower than salt n sauce, but I still wouldn't say their low, doubled in the last week.
You may as well close the border on every council area if you want an effective reduction.
It is called lockdown.
You may note that a lot of Scotland had a Tier 4 (so pretty much lockdown) in November.
Closing a border and stopping flights for me fits into the 'every little helps' category.
The fundamental issue is somewhere between folk having to still work and folk ignoring guidance in Scotland.
Edited previous reply. Guess we're all just pissed off.
It is called lockdown.
And is based on trust. There is no closure. There is no lockdown either, people are still out and about.
*shrugs*
our rates are lower than salt n sauce
😂
edit: now I am being drawn in and grumpy. I am stepping away from the thread.
wonder what the secret message of "dropscone bunny" is.
Dropsy flopsy?
Just talking to a colleague who knows loads of folk working in hospitality in the Highlands.
She said that during the spell when the Highlands were tier 1 and lots of other areas were tier 3 or 4 hospitality here was booked solid and a large proportion were out of area visitors. In conjunction with the blase attitude some have had here due to low rates and the festive mixing that goes a long way to describing the rapid rise in cases.
And yet when the various voices of the hospitality sector are on news, radio etc, they claim to be running a tight ship.
A shite tip in reality*
(a favourite still game line!)
In Sept when I went to Kintyre the difference in attitude between different hotels was astonishing - from "don't bother with masks" to someone following you around with a disinfectant spray
She said that during the spell when the Highlands were tier 1 and lots of other areas were tier 3 or 4 hospitality here was booked solid and a large proportion were out of area visitors. In conjunction with the blase attitude some have had here due to low rates and the festive mixing that goes a long way to describing the rapid rise in cases.
I've been saying this all along. At some places, you couldn't book a table unless you had a local address. Meanwhile, other venues didn't give a shit. Various second/holiday homes are occupied with folk from Central Belt etc, even now. The mix of local complacency, tier tourism and lack of policing meant this recent increase was inevitable.
...
tjagain
Full Member
You sure your numbers are ‘low’?compared to the rest of you plague rats – especially the weegies! 😉
Doing yer best to catch up! 😆
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@scotroutes, I posted about that a little while back. Saw a random 'contact' on FB that had nipped up to Aviemore for the weekend, from a Tier 3 area, stayed in a hotel, eaten out etc - twice. And shes a flippin nurse as well. I couldn't believe it would have been able to book but I guess some businesses were turning a blind eye for revenue.
yourguitarhero
Free MemberInfo on hot tub nurse plz
Sadly for me, TJ is closer to the truth than I'd like to imagine!! The nurse in question is happily married with teenage children and I would have been sharing the hot tub with her husband!
I had to go to Forth Valley hospital pharmacy today to pick up a prescription.
The roads were busy, like pretty normal.
Eldest_oab has just returned from work in Covid test centre in Stirling saying that they have spent all day commenting on how many cars there were too be seen and heard...
Hmmmm.
YGH- with regards to your pump track world's, the Olympic Committee chap said today that the only way the games will go ahead in July is if all the athletes are vaccinated. So I doubt a pulp track event will be a goer even by then, which is sad as I'd been hoping to do some bike races in May.
YGH - we also took the decision yesterday to go online for a conference we're organising in September, already postponed from last year.
Ours was an international event, but likely over half of attendees would be UK. I just can't see international travel opened up properly in time and even in the UK trying to gather 300+ people under one roof isn't going to work.
Hopefully that will become the norm, we should now be in a position to see that such international conferences and business travel is seen for what it is, both in terms of financial and environmental cost.
Maybe we'll do it on Zwift!
Edinburgh seems to be on a rather different trajectory to Glasgow. why? Also anecdotally the traffic past my house ( main arterial route) is still massively down from normal if up from april levels which from others comments seems unusual
Anyone any clues? Christmas lockdown in Edinburgh but not in Glasgow for shopping IIRC? More white collar workers so more working from home?
More white collar workers so more working from home?
Yep. Not may office blocks in Aviemore.
My wife has a dentists appointment this afternoon. I know they are still open and working but this is just for a clean/de-scale. We're both surprised they're carrying those out.
Markedly quieter on the road past my house in East Lothian. Not down to late March, obviously but definitely abnormal.
My wife has a dentists appointment this afternoon. I know they are still open and working but this is just for a clean/de-scale. We’re both surprised they’re carrying those out.
Aye, I got a message from my dentist in sept to say I was due this as well, patched it.
Opticians still doing regular eye tests. Pretty sure that wasn't happening in lockdown 1?
Felt odd with someone right in your face doing the tests.
Yeah, as I've said, i guess lots of folk are more organised with PPE and procedures than they were 10 months ago. Still, if the Govt are looking to cut down on travel and interaction then there are obviously a few things they could add to the list.
FWIW, must have been about 100 cars and twice as many folk at or around the Glenmore area and up the ski road to Cairngorm today. Can't say I saw any groups of folk or that it was actually crowded but I'm pretty sure they all passsed somewhere suitable for exercise before they got there 🙂 *
* We're planning to drive up to Glenmore and walk up to Coire Cas tomorrow actually
Lots of positive measures are being taken by politicians and the general public which should help at least to control the spread somewhat.
Ultimately though I feel sad for the world we have created. Looking at kids walking around in masks. It is just not right. We have utterly screwed up this planet if we are having to wear face masks to survive.
I can't see the generation at school now easily forgetting this experience, hopefully it will drive them to seek positive lasting change when it is their time to come to power. The current generation are abject failures globally in preserving the planet, myself included, I should ride more, drive less.
Some days I can't help but think it really is time for the asteroid to reset things. Sad sad times indeed.
Ultimately though I feel sad for the world we have created. Looking at kids walking around in masks. It is just not right. We have utterly screwed up this planet if we are having to wear face masks to survive.
Not the same thing at all. You can argue the rights and wrongs of how the virus took the species leap but at the end of the day it's not anything new. Yes, living with the virus is compatible with more sustainable living and I'm all for that but one is not necessarily a symptom of the other.
Yeah interesting thought but I think that the only thing about the modern world that has really helped the virus is our desire to travel. Ultimately it's close human contact that the virus uses to spread and we have always wanted and needed that. The really sad bit for me is that fact that it managed to mutate at the perfect time to cause maximum harm in the UK! Probably just very bad luck.
Probably just very bad luck.
Or maybe government not taking it seriously enough at the start and continuing the too-little-to-late theme and turning the UK into a giant fermentation vessel had something to do with it
Can't understand why with the cases escalating and deaths rising Scotland is in a softer lockdown than England.
Scotland is in a softer lockdown than England
Softer? Certainly a different lockdown. For instance, I believe churches and other places of worship are still open in England.
Are we really in a softer lockdown? There's were football fans at English grounds last week ffs, the vast majority of the SE has only just gone back under restrictions, whereas us in the central belt have been under restrictions for quite a while. A blind man running for a bus could see that England, particularly the south, was heading for bother.
Nicola's comments on click and collect were interesting, takeaways too. Probably time it was delivery only. Supermarkets have dropped their guards too, limited numbers seems to have gone, full families all going in, all of this is small fry, but adds up.
I'm an eternal optimist, but looking at our numbers it would appear (hopefully) that the xmas/new variant bounce is stabilising. Hospitalisations and deaths will continue to rise though, due to the lag.
Or maybe government not taking it seriously enough at the start and continuing the too-little-to-late theme and turning the UK into a giant fermentation vessel had something to do with it
I have to say that I have a lot of sympathy for the government(s) during the pandemic. Yes they have been far from perfect but there have been no correct or easy decisions. Every choice has been difficult and an fine balancing act. Everyone will have a different opinion on those choices depending on whether they have very sadly lost loved ones, lost job/income, lost freedom, lost an NHS treatment etc etc.
Can’t understand why with the cases escalating and deaths rising Scotland is in a softer lockdown than England.
Its a differnt country with differnbt problem and needs. I have confidence in the scottish government to be trying to do the right things for the right reasons. also our infection rates are much lower.
lotto
Free MemberCan’t understand why with the cases escalating and deaths rising Scotland is in a softer lockdown than England.
Are we? It's a little different but seems in the same ballpark for soft/hardness, even leaving aside all the differences in messaging and leadership which is pretty much one-way weakening of the English lockdown. So what are the major things that make Scotland's lockdown weaker?
Always worth wondering what England's lockdown would look like today, if they'd had 291 cases per 100000 in the last 7 days rather than 626. I mean, we shouldn't be where we are either, goes without saying... But following the 7 day averages definitely looks like we might be peaked- needs a few more days to really trust that but the all-uk stats do not look like that at all. Because of course a similar level of lockdown with a different level of cases will deliver different results.
England are actively discouraging driving for exercise with police prescence at beauty spots etc. Scotland don't seem to bother. Driving to work today and cars everywhere abandoned for kids to go sledging. Same story at beaches, they are packed with people. Hardly surprising Scotland now has record high Covid patients in hospital. This period is worse than March/April time and the restrictions are less/softer.
While it may look bad, I really don't think folk exercising in the outdoors is a factor in spreading the virus.
I know some folk want everyone locked in their homes, but that ain't gonna happen.
Lotto - cops are also having words / stopping / fining folk in Scotland.
cops are also having words / stopping / fining folk in Scotland.
Not in my experience. Was stuck for ages last week on the A82 near Kings House as the police tried to keep the road open due to wreckless parking. I didn't see them talk to anybody in all the time I was stuck there.
That's cos they were trying to keep the road open.
They were stopping and turning back at Loch Doon locally last weekend.
lotto
Free MemberEngland are actively discouraging driving for exercise with police prescence at beauty spots etc. Scotland don’t seem to bother. Driving to work today and cars everywhere abandoned for kids to go sledging. Same story at beaches, they are packed with people.
Do you have any reason to think that's what's driving the increase, though? There's little evidence for outdoor transmission. But also, this is happening everywhere, right? But the increases aren't happening equally. THere's no reason that travelling for exercise in Edinburgh and the Lothians would be less infectious than in Dumfries or Inverclyde.
Living on the edge of the Pentlands I've been up there a lot (and seen a lot more from the pentlands facebook group I help run). And yes it's busy but very little of it is actually transmission activity (there's a lot more pearl-clutching than there is actual risk-taking)
I get why it'd bother people, it's not a good visual and could help motivate other poor behaviours but I just don't think it's where the cases are coming from. And for all track-and-trace is pretty much overwhelmed just now apparently, they do still have good information on where a lot of these cases actually happen and why, which is what ought to drive public policy.
Driving to work today and cars everywhere abandoned for kids to go sledging. Same story at beaches, they are packed with people. Hardly surprising Scotland now has record high Covid patients in hospital.
It's the indoor mixing over Christmas and the new variant that's caused the increase, not people going to the beach for a walk.
I would class the cars they are using as indoors. Loads of people were clearly car sharing last weekend to go sledging/skiing. Car in front of mine had 4 males around mid twenties with their skis on roof. They all got out for a smoke we were stuck for so long.
Just seen a story on BBC Scotland saying there's a planned anti-lockdown protest in Edinburgh on Monday. Obviously police saying it can't happen.
WTF I had some niave idea we were above that, but appears there's been protests there since the first lockdown. 🙄
Ah, when you say "last week" you mean "last weekend" when the Highlands were in Tier 1 and the guidance on car sharing was "avoid if possible".
Longdog - attended by 3 people. Its a tiny minor fringe element and probably Yoons 🙂
I had some niave idea we were above that, but appears there’s been protests there since the first lockdown
Naive indeed I think, idiots exist everywhere.
Aye, like every other country, we've no shortage of arseholes.
Were there not a couple of hundred folk gathered for the bells in Embra last week?
there were a few. a couple of hundred out of the usual 125000 is a very small %
Were there not a couple of hundred folk gathered for the bells in Embra last week?
The photos I saw were of a couple of hundred folk scattered around the castle esplanade. Not that they should have been there, but it didn't exactly look crowded.
Would love to see the stats of sledging injuries vs. any other sport!
Have two friends who have suffered really nasty broken legs, and there was that hellish news story of some kid getting decapitated a few years ago...
I'll bet per minute of activity it is right up there amongst the most dangerous sports
Aye, a mate from Larbert sent me a vid from this week of two 4 year olds pushed by their mum in a park, who then end up in the river. Q mega panic.
There was a young girl killed in kelvingrove park 4 or 5 years ago too.
It was really heart warming to see all the broken sledges dumped around the park when I went for a walk yesterday
Wee hardware shop in town sold 350 of them last monday, 500 due back in stock next day.
Lost a mate to a sledging accident when he was 14.
I watched Nicola's briefing this dinner time. Due have a cabinet meeting tomorrow morning to discuss what if any further restrictions they might put in place. Exercise restrictions were questioned. She basically said that the allowance to leave home was for essential exercise, not for leisure purposes, but to get actual exercise. Gave the impression that family wanderings on the beach or park or other general activities outdoors (birdwatching, art, picnics, photography?) is not what was meant. There was a question over enforcement and tightening of definitions, but she said that sort of thing was what they'd be discussing tomorrow.
She basically said that the allowance to leave home was for essential exercise, not for leisure purposes, but to get actual exercise. Gave the impression that family wanderings on the beach or park or other general activities outdoors (birdwatching, art, picnics, photography?) is not what was meant.
Which is back to what it meant last March. Cut it back to. "no meeting up with anyone else" and a lot of those activities would stop anyway.
Other than pubs being closed it really hasn't felt like a lockdown at all. I met a guided group of 6 ski tourers up the local Corbett on Friday ffs!
She basically said that the allowance to leave home was for essential exercise, not for leisure purposes, but to get actual exercise. Gave the impression that family wanderings on the beach or park or other general activities outdoors (birdwatching, art, picnics, photography?) is not what was meant.
Not this again. Perhaps she has forgotten the rather foolish and hastily buried announcement in the first lockdown (I think one of the many gaffes made by Jason Leitch) that if you enjoy it then it isn't exercise!!
At a time when Scottish media is being saturated with advice to take advantage of the limited daylight to get outside in order to avoid depression, this is a particularly stupid and unhelpful thing to say.
Gave the impression that family wanderings on the beach or park or other general activities outdoors (birdwatching, art, picnics, photography?) is not what was meant.
Try explaining this distinction to a three year old! His 'exercise' is our 'family wandering'.
I guess we should be splitting 3 year old exercising duties so at least it's only one of us wandering around with our hands in our pockets while he splashes about in the mud or kicks seagulls or whatever exercise regime he is currently enjoying...
or kicks seagulls
Seagull kicking is cruel. Everyone on the pigeon slapping forum thinks so.
Try explaining this distinction to a three year old! His ‘exercise’ is our ‘family wandering’.
Yeh that's the issue, what is many people's exercise is not what other's call exercise. Maybe we'll have to wear hrm's to show to the police the zone's we've been exercising in?
Sorry sir that's only zone 1, and I see you didn't workout hard enough yesterday to justify a recovery session today! Is that a scotch egg in your pocket? Practically a full meal! Sorry it's off to the nick for you!
Guess we'll see what come's tomorrow...
She basically said that the allowance to leave home was for essential exercise, not for leisure purposes, but to get actual exercise. Gave the impression that family wanderings on the beach or park or other general activities outdoors (birdwatching, art, picnics, photography?) is not what was meant.
I didn't listen to the FM's presentation today, but if that is what she meant, then the journalists should have asked why then are the words "or recreation" in s18(2)t of Schedule 5 of the regulations.
There's nothing in the dictionary definition of recreation that would suggest art or photography would not be included. I also think that someone on their own birdwatching, photographing or drawing is obviously lower risk than two people from different households going for a run together which the rules explicitly permit. I have no idea how the courts could distinguish that me walking North from my house and along a "beach" (which I can do within 5 miles of my house) is not within your implied interpretation of the exercise rules, but turning south and walking up a hill is permitted. Its ****ing baltic so I doubt there is a big problem with people sitting around on beaches or having traditional picnics.
Can anyone point me to where she said the above I can only find clips about vaccine, Celtic, Microsoft teams and court closure?
I think it was more about meeting up with people from other households for exercise/recreation - I understood her to mean doing this is a single household locally is ok.
I have no idea how the courts could distinguish that me walking North from my house and along a “beach”
You're never gonna be near a court for any of this.
Other than pubs being closed it really hasn’t felt like a lockdown at all. I met a guided group of 6 ski tourers up the local Corbett on Friday ffs!
What about the father and son duo that had to get airlifted of the hills at Xmas holidays?
Expert mountain men,so very low risk and they were only checking out an new ski route they had been thinking about,so off they went on an 80 mile round trip to the Glens.
The restrictions are not too soft,but this time around some folk have just got better at interpreting/bending them,now they don't feel guilty about all those essential trips out and about.
Thoughts on a wee local overnight bivvy jaunt? Can't see it mentioned in the latest guidelines, but it's obviously a very niche activity....