Off Topic Coronavirus - 606 tales from the Inquiry

Best pie and mash shop in the country also do deliveries

 

Home deliveries are probably much less popular than pre COVID19.

 

I was wrong to suspect that a change to the lockdown rules was going to be announced today.
It's steady as she goes, with no changes (on the easing off side) until the end of next week at the earliest.

I certainly don't mind being wrong, though I apologise for any disquiet caused.
It could still be that if some people disregard the lockdown rules during this Bank Holiday weekend, the Government may act on Monday or Tuesday.
Please everyone, follow the rules.

Ken Shabby was also right to point out that the UK lockdown has been mild compared to some in other parts of Europe.
And we are still almost following the growth curves in infections and deaths that were seen in Italy and Spain after the same number of days locked down.
We're doing a little better, but only a little.

See the latest post in the INFORMATION thread if you wish to see the numbers.

 

For anybody wondering how well the UK is doing with its lockdown compared to Italy, Spain and France,
Here are some comparative figures.

Unfortunately these figures show that at the same point in each of our lockdowns our figures are not very much better than those in Italy or Spain.

Number of Coronavirus deaths recorded in each country after 16 days of lockdown

9,000 ... Italy (locked down 9th March)
7,500 ... Spain (locked down 14th March)
7,000 ... UK (locked down 23rd March)
4,000 ... France (locked down 17th March)

So the possibility that our lockdown will be tightened in future is as real as the possibility that it will be eased.

This is day 17 of the UK lockdown. We are

14 days behind Italy (31 days locked down) ... current death toll 18,300
9 days behind Spain (26 days locked down) ... current death toll 15,300
6 days behind France (23 days locked down) ... current death toll 10,900

Recorded deaths in the last 24 hours (to 9th April)

881 ... UK
766 ... Italy
683 ... Spain
541 ... France

So if in a fortnight's time our daily Coronavirus death rate in the UK is lower than 600 to 700 per day,
we will be doing better than Spain or Italy.

 

I wouldn't risk it myself.
But it's a personal choice for everybody.

I never ordered food in even before this crisis.
I'd buy a takeaway from McD, BK or KFC drive-thru occasionally, but never had anything delivered to my place.

 

Would-be tourists take heed:

A disturbing news story today;
A district nurse staying in a remote area doing essential work was mistaken for a tourist by some local morons.
She went out one morning to find all the tyres slashed on her car.

This kind of vigilante thuggery is very nasty and I hope the perpetrators are caught.
(It would be nice if they gave themselves up and apologised now that they know the truth, but I don't suppose they will)

But this DOES illustrate the extreme end of a growing feeling of hostility towards tourists and outsiders in some regions.
The Police don't need this kind of rubbish to deal with along with everything else.

But they won't have to deal with it if people follow the lockdown rules.

So no please, no caravaning or kayaking or driving to remote beauty spots this weekend for pity's sake.

 

Dorks of the Day ... 9th April

The Party People of Madchester

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-52221688

What a massive needless headache for the Police.

 

Boris is out of Intensive Care

He must still rest,to avoid a relapse. And he could still be in hospital for quite a while. People take weeks rather than days to regain their strength when recovering from this illness.
So he still has a long way to go. But this is encouraging news...

 

f'd up a DIY hair cut today. had to send the missus out to borrow my brothers clippers... now sporting a 4 all over, with a 2 in some places lol

most exciting thing to happen in days.

 

Why stop with the hair on your head Sat ?

 

i only went upstairs for a bath and shave. think i was bored more than anything, and that it might save me 10 mins in the morning

 

Will no doubt take longer than others due to the stress of his job.

 

More disappointing stuff coming from the Scottish Marxist guest they've got on QT tonight.
Basically reminding folk over and over again that Coronavirus is worse in the UK because of Austerity and the Tories...

So much for all being in it together Comrade.
Of course he's a bit slower to bang on about the disease originating in his Communist Paradise.

I've switched it off now, so I'm already happier
It's not half the program it used to be.

 

Regarding the case of Robert Jenrick
From what I have read so far I don't think he has done anything wrong.

He has been criticised for two things;
1) Traveling 40 miles to visit his elderly parents.
2) Traveling from his London (work) address to his family home outside London after the lockdown came into force.

On the first point;

Mr Jenrick says he was delivering essential food and medicine to his parents, who are vulnerable people.
That is within the lockdown rules.

I did the same thing myself two weekends ago.
My mum (who lives 25 miles away from me in SE7) is housebound, but she could not get her usual Sainsbury's delivery service to work.
I was the only person who could buy essential shopping and deliver it to her, so I drove across London and bought her the shopping she needed.
I left it on her doorstep, I didn't go into the house. We just had a brief chat while I stood a safe distance from her front door.

Assuming My Jenrick also observed the social distancing rules, and assuming he could not arrange for anybody else to deliver the required things to his parents, he has done nothing wrong in my view.

On the second point;

Mr Jenrick says he traveled to his family home from his London address (which he uses for work) once this Ministerial duties were completed and he knew he could do all future work from home. Once he got to his family home he stayed there, and is still there. He has not been commuting between there and London.

A very pedantic interpreter of the lockdown rules might say he should have stayed alone at his London address.
But the man has his wife and children living at the family home. Obviously he should be with them, if he is no longer needed in London.

The lockdown rules are there to protect us, not to cause needless distress by being interpreted over-zealously.
And there is no specific rule that says you cannot change your address - if that change is a permanent one.

Under the rules I cannot visit my old mum just to say hello, but if I was going to move back into her house and live there (and not go back to my previous address) that is allowed. I would have just changed my household.

Granted, there is a risk that I might bring the virus with me into my mum's home should I decide to move back there. Just as there is a risk that Mr Jenrick might have taken the virus home to his family. So from that point of view such a move is inadvisable unless it is essential.
But there is a degree of risk in everything we have to do. Going to the supermarket, even going out for exercise.

In short, I don't think Mr Jenrick has done anything wrong.
This opinion is only based on what I know about the matter at this moment.

 

A new award for purveyors of Blindingly Obvious News

Today's NSS winners are... GOOGLE DATA

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52243088

For letting us know that their snooping suggests were more people in UK parks last weekend when the weather warmed up.
They don't miss much do they

 

I think the Government is absolutely right to reassure the Public concerning this issue;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52245937

That Police officer on TV who said they might start going through people's shopping to check for non-essential items was going too far.
Very strictly speaking, shopping trips are supposed to be for essential items.
But the Police MUST retain the support and confidence of the People at this difficult time.

Taking folks to task for trying sneaky holiday trips (canoeing etc.) is wholly commendable.
Things like that are a clear and selfish breach of the rules.
But officers rummaging through shopping trolleys? That is going to cause offence and upset. It will turn many people against the Police.
And that cannot be allowed to happen.

Sometimes, senior officers on TV appear to be relishing their unprecedented power just a tiny bit.
This goes down very badly indeed.
We are all in this together, and that has to include our Bobbies.
They cannot afford to begin behaving like they are not on our side in this crisis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And it is also heavy-handed of the Police officers who told off a family for letting their own kids play outside in their own garden.
If folks are lucky enough to have a garden then it counts as part of their home.
Within their homes members of a household move about as they please.

If it had been other people's kids as well (kids who did not live at that address) then fair enough.
That is a breach of the rules.
But as far as I know that was not the case.

 

By the way...
I think that story about the mass grave in New York is a little bit naughty.

The drone pictures look shocking, but it should be remembered that those scenes have not only just begun because of Corinavirus.

That island has been used used by the City to bury paupers for 150 years.
It was mentioned in a report that 25 people per week are buried there even in normal times.
I should think they are buried in the same manner; a big trench with coffins stacked inside, filled in with earth movers.
25 per week is over 100 per month. It's unlikely they all got individual graves dug for them.
It sounds a bit heartless, but I guess that's just how it is done in New York.

So that story has been presented in a more sensationalist manner than really nevessary.
It creates the impression of 'plague pits' in New York. A ghoulish and nasty thing which just isn't the case.


The habit of news services to sometimes sensationalise Corona related news stories is very regrettable.
It can serve to heighten fears and tension. And that helps nobody.
The BBC is doing it even now on their 6 O'Clock news.
Using phrases like "unimaginable that there should be mass graves in New York".
I'm very disappointed to hear needlessly emotive stuff like that.

I'm not suggesting news be censored, but it should be presented in a rsponsible manner.

 

Why don’t they just cremate them - mass burial looks a tadge undignified to me

 

I did wonder about that myself.
A couple of possible reasons occurred;

1) Respect for religion? Perhaps some religions don't go in for cremation. Probably less bother just to bury everyone.
2) Mass cremation would mean a column of smoke. Unacceptably emotive and provocative I think.

There are probably ways of minimising smoke from cremations, but that facility in New York is not a luxury one.
This is a very grim subject.

 

Cremate at night - smoke is less visible