Town is now running at 118 positive cases up from 78 last week and up from 5 in October.
Bet the pubs wish they hadno had a wee lock in Xmas Eve.
What a ****ing joke.
Wife is doing a post grad at caley uni, only thing left is a practical exam. Was scheduled for 16/17 Jan, so falls right in no non essential travel, it's not a course which any of them require to do to continue practising etc.
So, they've decided to go ahead with it. 20 nurses from all over country, using public transport, for a procedural exam that is actually only bring done in emergencies only at present. The exam could be carried out at their own hospitals by mentors. Oh no, not a chance.
Un ****ing believable.
It would appear that unbelievable acts are flavour of the season.
We've been in "panic" mode getting work ready and online for kids to start with on Monday. All done on Teams and a "homework" app called satchelone.
Just been told to hold fire on that as there's doubt about using teams and satchelone or maybe there's no doubt. We'll maybe find out tomorrow pm.
An observation more than a criticism: I was on the A9 for a short spell at 7:30 this morning and there was loads of traffic - not just deliveries. During the last lockdown it was rare to see any traffic at all. Private cars were completely absent. I guess more businesses have measures in place to allow folk to work as "normal" given they've had time to adapt?
The fears gone Colin, I genuinely think that's what's happened. Lots of folk have had months to confirm their own bias on Facebook, daily mail, whatever, and are bending guidance to suit them.
I remember in April actually stopping dead when I heard an ambulance siren, and thinking it was for some poor soul with this illness.
Sadly, I hardly give it a second thought now.
Just found this line in the DMBinS release for today
you should NOT stop during your ride
Any idea where this appears in the guidance?
The fears gone
People can't live in fear for long, especially of something that isn't personally that frightening for most.
Fear was never the right tool for getting compliance with this but I don't think our society now has the right tools, if we ever had them. We've become too fragmented, self centered and mistrustful.
Fancy giving my sister a ring about that Spin ? She might be able to answer during her 13 hour shifts turning people my age (40’s) prone to keep them alive in her ICU ? Although she might still be hard to hear wheezing through her own Covid lungs having caught it 4 weeks ago.
...so falls right in no non essential travel...
actually seems to fall right into the 18(2)c reasonable excuse
actually seems to fall right into the 18(2)c reasonable excuse
A non essential work course? Is that listed? I'll be damned.😆
@Scotroutes, I heard on the radio Gove (I think) saying you can meet one other person for exercise, be that a cyxle, run or walk etc but you can't stop to sit down but you're allowed to pause. It has to be exercise not a chat on a park bench for example.
I wonder if that's the interpretation DMBinS are going for.
Fancy giving my sister a ring about that Spin ?...
Not sure what your point is here, you sound angry at what I said? My point was that our society clearly isn't well equipped to deal with something like covid because it requires people who think they won't be much affected themselves to make significant changes in their behaviour to protect others.
I misread your post 😂 Soz.
No worries.
Shetlands having a higher case rate than Edinburgh is incredible.
Borders and DG is fairly obviously down to cross border travel mixed with lower tier restrictions, but shetland is a head scratcher.
It's clear that many island/rural communities are not maintaining the same social distancing strictures as elsewhere. This is partly based on the view that "no one here has the virus", which is fine until someone does. The Uist outbreak last year was exacerbated by car sharing - amongst home carers who had no other means of getting around due to lack of public transport. I see photos of friends of mine mingling with other locals. I have family who still have folk in the house. I guess this behaviour might have been manageable until the new, more infectious, strain appeared too.
I did wonder if that was the case, but didn't want to say as I've no experience of the place!.
RE: Michael Gove up there ^, I'm pretty sure the Scottish regulations allow you to meet 1 adult from another household outside for socialising as well as exercising. The English restrictions are a little stricter than ours.
I think the smaller Scottish counties having higher rates is a stats thing dues to smaller populations. Scottish Borders pop is a shade over 115k, so that 391 is less than 450 cases. (is that right? I'm better at spelling...). I am not trying to downplay it, 40 folk very sick in the BGH is still a lot, it just seems worse than it is. Its awful, wear masks, stay at home, wash your hands etc
I was also wondering if the Edinburgh festival will be going ahead this year? How much time do the performers/venues etc need... and how likely is it that it'll be OK by August anyway?
On that note, I am organising the Red Bull World Pump Track Challenge UK heat at the Skelf for this year. Booked in for July 10th/11th.
I should really be starting to organise it now, but I'm swithering over it - no idea if it will go ahead, and don't want to commit our wee charity to any contracts we would have to pay up for if its cancelled.
On the good side, it's an outdoor event, though we were going to hire the sportshall next door for a kind of athletes village thing.
On the bad side it involves people travelling from all over the country (and a few international people from Red Bull). And lots of spectators standing close to each other - not a huge amount of space around the track.
Yes hels, that's why I said rates and not numbers, but the point is that in an area with nowhere near the concentration of numbers they a city has, it's quite something to infect a greater ratio of people.
Borders and DG is fairly obviously down to cross border travel mixed with lower tier restrictions, but shetland is a head scratcher.
Is it? I'd say its probably more in line with Scotroutes thinking. The virus wasn't there, till it was. Easy to blame English folk but as you yourself have said plenty of folk up here have been travelling to the usual places. A lot of haulage traffic through D&G as well.
I think the smaller Scottish counties having higher rates is a stats thing dues to smaller populations.
Dunno, our rural block is at about the same rate as the towns, was much higher than where I am at one point. You would think with less people the rates would be lower (since less contact) but that doesn't seem to play out.
Indoor mixing has definitely been very visible up here with some before and over Christmas, though less obvious now as I think the recent massive number of case for us has shocked most. We have a mix of ultra 'paranoid' who want us to be in full lockdown, don't want anyone one coming without testing before and after ferry/plane and the other extreme who think it's totally over played.
Despite being tier 3 the LA are restricting use of internal ferries to essential use, reducing ferry and bus service and very much putting out a tier 4 feeling with a number of shops and cafes remaining closed after Christmas even though they don't need to.
Is it? I’d say its probably more in line with Scotroutes thinking. The virus wasn’t there, till it was. Easy to blame English folk
I'm not blaming english folk, wind that agenda in, it's awfy coincidental that it's the border lands though, eh?.
It's about a direct transmission route, rather than any other sentiment.
Worrying noises out of Raigmore Hospital (Inverness) in the last 24hrs. Opened up 3 extra covid wards (that have obviously shut as their primary function) and hospital numbers going up exponentially. Not a significant amount of capacity left. We clearly have lower numbers in comparison to central belt but a much reduced infrastructure too. Pointed conversation with my mother last night - 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. She thinks she's getting it right but she is laughably bad at it. Now's the time for people like her to step up their game.
Maybe people presenting themselves at NHS earlier now, and better treatments in hospital, meaning more folks in hospital? A downside of having better treatments is there folk are in beds for longer, as they're not dying.
A friend of mine died in wave 1, he stayed at home choked up for 2 weeks before going into hospital, put on a ventilator for 3 weeks before he eventually succumbed.
Was only 50, no co-mirbidities other than carting a bit of extra timber.
I often wonder if he'd went in earlier....
Is it? I’d say its probably more in line with Scotroutes thinking. The virus wasn’t there, till it was. Easy to blame English folk but as you yourself have said plenty of folk up here have been travelling to the usual places. A lot of haulage traffic through D&G as well.
As someone living in the Borders very much this. As pointed out above the Borders has a population of a little over 100,00, so the rate per 100,000 is pretty much the actual number of cases. Before Christmas there was something like 34 cases in total with 28 of them being in one care home and the remainder generally clustered around the court in Jedburgh. I know plenty of people (including many working at Borders General and Edinburgh Infirmary) who were all but ignoring the guidance. I was invited to come round to use a hot tub for the evening by a nurse going on to night shift at Edinburgh the following day. I declined but others were happy to go. Living in a quite picturesque area the number of visitors from other parts of Scotland in higher tiers was also very noticeable. Much more so than visitors from England.
Edit.
it’s awfy coincidental that it’s the border lands though, eh?.
Not really. Since March of last year the Borders and Dumfries & Galloway have had the lowest rate of infection and death rate in mainland Scotland despite being the border with England. Indeed, for the Borders, the risk from the Lothians has been of far greater significance than rural Northumberland.
As a slightly weird stat that I came across - there were more deaths in the Borders from accidental poisonings in 2020 than those attributed to coronavirus.
Easy to blame English folk
If I was going to have a border to keep out the plague-carrying second homers it would be at Drumochter!
With a travel corridor to Edinburgh please - after all our numbers are low and we have been behaving!
On the stats thing. when the incidence is so low in a small population a dozen cases changes the rate hugely whereas the same dozen cases in a large population make little difference.
I’m not blaming english folk, wind that agenda in, it’s awfy coincidental that it’s the border lands though, eh?.
I'm not but I am? You posted that graph saying shut the border, what other conclusion is there? If you're not saying that then it would help if you didn't actually say that. It's like the folk here constantly blaming "out of towners". How do they know they were from out of town? Oh they've never seen them before or they had a Glasgow accent. Solid evidence there.
On to the actual point, as I said D&G sees a lot of haulage traffic plus both areas have attractions for those that can't be bothered sticking to the rules regardless of where they come from. There are so many variables at play who bloody knows how it got there, the one thing we do know is that folk in those regions aren't keeping to the rules themselves.
Maybe people presenting themselves at NHS earlier now, and better treatments in hospital, meaning more folks in hospital? A downside of having better treatments is there folk are in beds for longer, as they’re not dying.
Compare these two graphs
Numbers in hospital rising, new admissions falling. That certainly suggests folk are in hospital for longer.
*Note the second graph hasn't been updated for a while so there's a potential lag increase yet to be reported
There are so many variables at play who bloody knows how it got there,
As a sometimes resident of D&G, my money's on the big ASDA in Carlisle.
One of the D&G outbreaks was directly traced to cross border movement was it not?
As a sometimes resident of D&G, my money’s on the big ASDA in Carlisle.
Corona doesn't get spread in supermarkets silly!
Just found this line in the DMBinS release for today
you should NOT stop during your ride
Any idea where this appears in the guidance?
After asking this same question on Facebook, this bit has now been removed from the DMBinS guidance.
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! 😉
