Boris has told a rail conference that he expects all the offic workers to go back to working in their offices once restrictions are lifted this summer!

Johnson telling people what they want to hear shocker!

I’m one of the very very few people getting on a train into London from Milton Keynes at the moment

It’s insane, each train normally holds 1000+ people (there’s one every 15mins in rush hour). 99.99% are commuters

Now there are maybe 50 people a train and a much reduced service

2 of my neighbours, who I used to see on train regularly has set up a home office and both won’t be going back

Season ticket costs £6k a year, mine I get thru a work loan

I’m lab based and even I’m now doing 1day a week wfh

The future is flexible

Boris will be looking to try and get the London property market trending in the right direction, as it’s largely the only region that dropped in the last 12 months; not to mention the pubs, bars, cafes etc., needing local footfall.

This smacks of people in buildings = cash in the coffers of property owners

Commercial property investments are also part of most folk’s retirement portfolios – so be very wary of thinking only the “property owners” will benefit from getting peeps back into the office.

“We can’t change things for the better, it’d be too hard”

Same people: “We will expend limitless effort, money and even lives to put things back how they were”

Was the same after the financial crisis

“We can’t change things for the better, it’d be too hard”

Same people: “We will expend limitless effort, money and even lives to put things back how they were”

Was the same after the financial crisis

Worryingly accurate. As a species, I’m not sure how we’ve evolved as far as we have faced with that sort of self destructive attitude.

Is lockdown over.
Due to working all week i needed thing from wicks, halfords and screwfix pre ordered as much as i could in the hope it would be quick in and out. How wrong was i.
The small town centre was as busy as i’ve ever seen it the supermarkets were packed and people everywhere. Thankfully distance was kept in the ques and staffmin all shops were great.
I noticed a bit more traffic going past home but apart from going on site twice and the supermarket not really been any where else since christmas.
So is this typical of the whole country?

Supermarket is busy, I try to go at odd hours e.g. 9pm. Screwfix / Toolstation – I pick up in the evening, always pretty empty.

Lots of red kites though, and the squirrels refuse to socially distance. I’m lucky to live somewhere fairly rural.

Commercial property investments are also part of most folk’s retirement portfolios – so be very wary of thinking only the “property owners” will benefit from getting peeps back into the office.

Yes, sorry, it was an overly simplistic comment.

We are at the point of what do we do with city centres. Some of this just feels like the continuation of the change that has hit villages and then increasingly larger towns over the last forty years. We are just now at the point it’s impacting on cities. Covid has just accelerated the change. There is nothing that protects the traditional office base working from change – maybe it goes the way of heavy industry. It could be we start seeing a renaissance in smaller towns as people move back out again.

Going straight back to before doesn’t solve problems – there’s still pollution, there’s still quality of life, there’s still over crowding on trains / congestion on the roads. London is already creaking. We are at the point where atleast one water company has proposals for piping water down from the N of England. At this point you really have to ask wouldn’t it be better to change direction. Move the people to the resources.

As with a lot of people I don’t think there will be complete abandonment of office working more a move to blended options. I did some work on a project in the early nineties looking at potential impacts of internet / web on working. There were some influential thinkers who felt the writing wall was traditional offices. Technology would set us free and people would be working across the UK. Strangely that hasn’t happened, creaking rural broadband might have something to do with it.

As with a lot of people I don’t think there will be complete abandonment of office working more a move to blended options

“blended” is a phrase that keeps getting thrown around by the leadership team at my place. Given the choice I will be in the office 5 days a week. The way I see it my home is my home I want to leave work at work. City centres wont die like people predict they will just change businesses adapt.

There is no one size fits all. For me the current job – I’d work from home 2-3 days a week. My previous employer – definitely wouldn’t have wanted to work from home. Being able to log out and go home was part of getting through the day – dealing with highly stressed and as a result in some cases highly abusive people wasn’t something I’d want in my house.

Is Covid over? You’d think so from the tourists who’ve descended on a peaceful North Yorkshire town. Car parks overflowing at the moment.

Packed around here as well. Don’t sweat it… it’s Spring… just don’t sit in traffic moaning about traffic… especially on a sunny Sunday.

Much rather them outside than mixing indoors

Just seen that some Brazilian variant has been detected in Scotland after the people flew from Brazil, via Paris. So am I right in thinking you only have to quarentine if you come from certain countries direct, but if you fly in via one of the ‘safe’ countries then you don’t have to?

I understood that the 3 cases were all isolating as per the quarantine regulations.

BBC reporting one person not found.

I’m off to the underground bunker for another month.

The 3 travelled by plane from London to Aberdeen. Other passengers on the flight are being contacted.

There are another 3 unconnected cases of the same variant in England.

Remember if the COVID virus cannot multiply, it cannot mutate – Remember FACTS and follow the rules.

— Broadcasting Scotland (@broadcastscot) February 28, 2021

Why the **** are folk arriving then allowed to travel within the UK?

This is what we face for the next year – more folk traveling, people desperate to visit for not always essential reasons, other countries and other variants.

I’m staying away from you all.

I mentioned it a few pages back but the whole farce of only having to go through the quarantine hotels if you come direct from certain countries leaves us wide open to people taking indirect routes to bypass staying in an expensive hotel for a few days when they get back. It should be all through the hotels and tested or nothing, the stupid middle ground just gives a false sense of security.

The small town centre was as busy as i’ve ever seen it

Not in our small town centre, like a ghost town, compared to a normal Saturday. Went past a garden centre yesterday, the car park was rammed, though most looked like they had been vaccinated a couple of months ago.

Rode with a mate today for only the second time this year. Headed out to a cafe that’s popular with cyclists and has done takeaway coffee and cake whenever they’ve been allowed. 18 cyclists there when we were there, plus quite a few locals who had walked or driven. We’d properly pushed the boundaries of the definition of “local” going as far as we did today, but seeing what some mates are posting on Strava, we barely went anywhere

This is what we face for the next year – more folk traveling, people desperate to visit for not always essential reasons, other countries and other variants.

I totally understand people wanting to get away for a foreign break, I can’t believe that so many want to take that risk this year.

If this does get out in Scotland… will the “UK” media point out that it wouldn’t have if English airports had the same measures in place that Scottish airports do? Or just shrugs and more “unforeseen” and “alas” Johnsonism hand waving?

Social media seems to full of anger aimed at anyone reporting this. People actively want to be kept in the dark, don’t they. Often it’s the same people who latch on to conspiracies about “what they don’t want us to know”. Contradictory. Depressing.

just don’t sit in traffic moaning about traffic

Certainly not on a bike forum.

I wasn’t being literal… more “I was out enjoying a Sunny Sunday… and to my surprise, so was half the country…”

We’d properly pushed the boundaries of the definition of “local” going as far as we did today, but seeing what some mates are posting on Strava, we barely went anywhere

Am I understanding correctly that you’re being critical of the behaviour of others, right after admitting spending the day with somebody from another household? (I’m making the assumption that you don’t live with your friend)

Am I understanding correctly that you’re being critical of the behaviour of others, right after admitting spending the day with somebody from another household? (I’m making the assumption that you don’t live with your friend)

You do know that you are allowed to exercise outdoors with a friend?

You do know that you are allowed to exercise outdoors with a friend?

No, I didn’t. I stand corrected. Explains all the groups I’ve seen out riding… A cafe ride seems to be pushing the definition a bit though.

You are allowed to exercise with one other with some social distancing – which does make conversationa bit tricky, I’ll admit. We rode to a cafe that is legally allowed to sell takeaway products, and we went round the corner and ate them roughly 2 metres apart, away from anyone else.

Yes, as the crow flies the cafe is 15 miles away, and we did a total of 40 miles, which was probably breaking the spirits of the stay local. But it was the best 3 hours of 2021 so far, I’ll be honest, and it won’t be happening again for a few weeks yet.

Fair enough. I find it interesting the perceptions we have of what others are doing and how we justify our own actions. From what I observe, compliance of ‘the spirit of the rules’ is pretty much zero. The spirit appears to be broken on a collective level. But then I don’t observe a lot because I only leave the house to go shopping or ride my bike. I do do the occasional longer ride.

The small town centre was as busy as i’ve ever seen it

It was really quiet out and about today. No signs of anyone heading into the Lakes. Roads were really quiet all day. Only one or two motorbikes out for the first spring ride. Plenty of cyclists only pairs or solo. Plenty of people out for local walks.

From what I observe, compliance of ‘the spirit of the rules’ is pretty much zero. The spirit appears to be broken on a collective level.

And yet the rates, hospitalisations and deaths still keep on falling, even with more kids in schools this time round due to the increased number of supposed key workers.

We had all of this in spring time 2020 during that lockdown and nearing the end when we had the roadmap, “omg look at all these people out and about” “look at those packed beaches” “look at those honeypots absolutely rammed”

Same story different year.

People being out and about outside, even in groups poses very little risk.

Derbyshire Police posted on their Twitter feed that they were fining any visitors to Matlock Bath who were not local. To be fair, even I’d struggle to argue it was local, let alone trying to socially distance on the main drag

Is there a similar graph for the other countries of the UK?

The drop in Scottish hospital cases is now off the chart

Down a whopping 61 to 837 – one of the biggest overnight drops of the second wave

Forecasters did not expect cases to be this low until the end of March

The NHS battle against Covid is now a month ahead of schedule pic.twitter.com/Dgm6RQUOD6

— Mark McLaughlin (@mark_mclaughlin) February 28, 2021

I’m always ready for some good news.

From what I observe, compliance of ‘the spirit of the rules’ is pretty much zero. The spirit appears to be broken on a collective level.

Not what I’m observing.

Most people seem to be local and pretty respectful of it.
I’m splitting hairs when I hope some would walk or cycle a little further away.
Even traveling further, within our authority, and even allowing for much busier trails, folk are keeping out of each others faces.

Unless you’re queuing for the local coffee take away, in which case all distancing is ignored..

Yes, as the crow flies the cafe is 15 miles away, and we did a total of 40 miles, which was probably breaking the spirits of the stay local.

If everybody in the country only went as far from their house as they could manage under their own steam we would be in a much better position.

If everybody in the country only went as far from their house as they could manage under their own steam we would be in a much better position.

Unless they happened to live in a city with very few open areas. Then everyone would be crowded together. That’s the reason that there is some flexibility in travel options.

Jeez – we’ve been going over this for almost a year. What is it that some folk just can’t understand?

If everybody in the country only went as far from their house as they could manage under their own steam we would be in a much better position.

Really? I can ride out of London and do a lovely 100k loop on my bike.
I don’t because I don’t have a car owner in my bubble to come and pick me up if there’s a crash/mechanical and it’s selfish to do so and expect an ambulance to deal with me. So loops of quiet (for London suburbs) it is for now.

Why the **** are folk arriving then allowed to travel within the UK?

Yeah that was my point. If you fly direct from Brazil I believe you go straight to hotel to do your quarentine.

If you fly from Brazil to Paris, then on to the UK you then do your quarentine at home, and have to get there first. It beggars belief that someone thought this should be allowed. I mean it can’t be hard for someone at passport control to work out which county someone has come from, especially if it’s in South America.

Some (all?) these confirmed cases of the Brazilian variant came in on passengers a few days before the quarantine was imposed I believe.

Is this now as simple as saying that it’s a battle between the Kent variant and the Brazilian variant? With the SA a contender too?

Which is most contagious basically? One “out breeding” the other, out infecting anyway?

The other variants were always going to get in I think its fair to say. Trying to limit their shouted is still a battle worth fighting mind you.

Unfortunately that means relying on our t & t system…. Oh dear.

There are two mutations in the spike protein that are noteworthy. N501Y is the UK variant. This binds harder to the ACE2 receptor which might make the strain more contagious. The SA and Br strains have E484K which evades immunity – well the most immunogenic part. It also renders some antibodies resistant. Combinations of the two mutations have arisen in the uk already.

The terminology is original amino acid – location on genome – new amino acid. The uk strain is also missing a couple of amino acids at 69/70 location on the string of amino acids.

To be honest, this is evolutionary biology in action. We’d probably select for it anyway. Especially in patients who catch it whilst immune compromised.

I’m less concerned than many as some cross immunity is what matters. There is a lot of in vitro evidence of preservation of some protection. It’s not all doom and gloom. These are not the vaccine escape mutants you are looking for. They will come but it is vey early days.

Thanks TiRed.

These are not the vaccine escape mutants you are looking for

Is there any historical or laboratory “induced” information to give even a rough idea how long we are looking at before a truly worrying variant emerges?

I know that’s impossibly vague to answer I’m sure and the whole world is the petri dish but are we likely talking a few years or potentially a few months do you think?