New rules Monday.

[PineappleUpsideDownCake]

Looks like England may be following Scotland. Or parts of England? Or new levels to be announced!? Who knows...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54457377

Huge student numbers in Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle

Even larger in Leeds. Notorious up here for cheap weekday partying aimed at students

(possibly the children of the southerners pointing the finger and the people of Northern cities for "ignoring the rules". Seriously I am done with this divisive shit)

Can't you see the irony in this? You're pointing the finger as well

Also, more people working in factories/distribution/manual and front line work, proportionately in the areas most affected.

Lots of school and bubble closures round here too.

Smacks of the second round of "managed decline" for the north as per Thatcher policy

Oh come off it. I disliked Thatcher as much as any other northerner, and we really did dislike her, but it's 2020 now, not 1985.

Cities like Leeds and Manchester are thriving. The surrounding urban areas, the old mill towns and coal districts not so much true, but the big cities are a mass of new high rises, buildings and regeneration. Take a ride through Leeds and Manchester. They are unrecognisable compared to 20 years ago.

It's simple, people here are simply not following the rules and they are not using the T&T app.

I'm in an urban area up north, in the centres quite a lot and, apart from the big chain pubs, I've yet to see one single person scan the QR code as they enter a shop/supermarket .

I have friends in retail, ex colleagues, and they say the same, and that many refuse to wear a mask and just push past when asked about it. No social distancing either

It's like February again.

@SqidgeBum - yes I just wondered where they got them from. I looked on .gov and the ONS but can’t find the info anywhere.

@PennyDreadfuI

The proposed Tier 3 restrictions include no contact whatsoever outside the home, it seems. So no support bubbles.
I haven't seen anything in the proposed tiers that suggests no support bubbles. Do you have a source for this or are you mistaken?

@youngestisapsycho - my kids only get a week at half term. Not sure how they’ll suddenly spring an extra week on parents without some warning!

I am wondering how this will affect holidays.

If you are in a red tier where you cannot mix with other households (presumably apart from support bubbles), will you be allowed to go on holiday to an hotel in the UK in an area where pubs and restaurants are not closed?

@Strawberrypancakes

I absolutely don’t give a shit about any new rules... does no one else feel this way? I’m over it.

Economy, cancer, mental health, every other illness!... ffs everyone needs to get over this.

I agree. My main concern in all this is people being so eager to follow senseless rules. I wonder if they’d blindly wander into a 1984 situation and still be chastising anyone who objected?

(possibly the children of the southerners pointing the finger and the people of Northern cities for "ignoring the rules". Seriously I am done with this divisive shit)

Can't you see the irony in this? You're pointing the finger as well

@flaxmeadow I'm not accusing anyone of anything! Huge influx of young people holed up in tiny student flats in some of those massive apartment blocks! Nothing to do with their behaviours necessarily, but their simultaneous arrival is certainly part of the picture.

Everyone seems to be following the rules round here tbh. In the city centre, and the 'burbs, and the low income outer city community where I usually work.

And TBH Leeds is doing well, but has a backbone of historical affluence that none of the other cities has. You'll not have been to Leigh or St Helen's though, I don't suppose.....

And TBH Leeds is doing well, but has a backbone of historical affluence that none of the other cities has.

What do you mean?

You'll not have been to Leigh or St Helen's though, I don't suppose.....

Know them well. Have relatives there

17,540 new infections for todays numbers.
Tighter lockdown looks inevitable now

who are these people not following the rules in 'the north' or using T&T?

we go out to eat regularly (several times a week) & ALWAYS with track and trace because you HAVE to (I have yet to go to a resteraunt/pub that doesnt require it before even letting you in) and you are made to sanatise and wear masks before coming in (same at church and most small shops) + the track and trace works fine thats how even 2 months ago they got the outbreak under control here, they identified the pub and sent a warning out instantly to isolate from anyone there those days

as for how we know the 770 students (all shockingly linked to each other via housing, courses, illegal house party and shared buildings) didn't just catch it randomly in a string of hundreds of random pub/resteraunt based coincidences all at the same time? really

@mam0918 a lot of people giving fake names and numbers, there was a thread on here about it
My local shop, nobody wears masks except staff

mama0918

Shoppers, (not people dining) as I said in my post

I've yet to see one single person scan the QR code as they enter a shop/supermarket

I've yet to see a supermarket that has one, and I've certainly never heard of this being advised.

@PennyDreadfuI

I've yet to see one single person scan the QR code as they enter a shop/supermarket

I've yet to see a supermarket that has one, and I've certainly never heard of this being advised.

If you look on the government site it gives you a list of places that need a QR code.

I only looked at the list for England and you do not need one for supermarkets.

It's for things like cafes, restaurants, hairdressers etc.

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

It’s looked inevitable for the last few days. The question is how long they’ll try and put it off for and how long. I feel like we might have missed the boat on the 2 week circuit breaker.

Yip, we have made everything much harder, which will cost more lives and more jobs

@JKRowlingIsMyQueen

It's easy to say everyone has to make sacrifices when your only sacrifices are that you can't have parties and go traveling.

Some people have sacrificed their livelihoods, their businesses are ruined or hanging by a thread, some sacrificed their mental health, some people's loved ones have killed themselves due to the lockdown, some have lost jobs that look like they will never get back because industries are ruined, some young people have graduated with NO prospect of a job, people's cancer diagnosis missed because they couldn't get a check up...

When have we sacrificed enough?

There is no enough. These are the horrific consequences of this pandemic. One way or another the impact is so awful that people are struggling to comprehend the enormity of it. You’re railing against the reality, but you can kick and scream as much as you like, there is no choice. The consequences of no restrictions would be far worse on public health, the economy, education, all of it.

@PineappleUpsideDownCake

Squidge they're intentionally dodging the schools issue arent they.

Im surprised workplaces is so high. They're still sating work from home if you can and the insistence on covid secure etc. Scary its still so high even with that.

Because cases went through the roof up north during the 'get back to the office' campaign which seemed to have more of a take up in the north, despite it being geared towards getting workers back to London (where commuters continue to mostly wfh).

I am so fucking sick of government by leak on this.
Fucked up track and trace system. No furlough.
It's only Northerners so it doesn't count.

It's fiiiiiiiiiiine

@MyPersona

This.

You can be as tired as you want of the whole situation but it isn't going away. The entire world is reckoning with this and it is horrific for everyone. You can't just close your eyes and put your fingers in your ears and pretend like the restrictions are the problem.

Grouping schools and universities isn't very helpful. I suspect a huge proportion of transmission is at universities compared to schools.

@Chaotic45

Grouping schools and universities isn't very helpful. I suspect a huge proportion of transmission is at universities compared to schools.

Yes this is correct, in relative terms (people have their opinions on absolute terms) but once a Covid-19 infection gets into a halls of residence that leads to hundreds of cases within a short space of time due to living together all the time (even more so with online teaching).

My local uni has loads of cases, very few in schools (fingers crossed it lasts).

MyPersona
There is no enough. These are the horrific consequences of this pandemic. One way or another the impact is so awful that people are struggling to comprehend the enormity of it. You’re railing against the reality, but you can kick and scream as much as you like, there is no choice. The consequences of no restrictions would be far worse on public health, the economy, education, all of it.

This ^

Meanwhile cancer referrals are at a 10 year low and 20,000 suspected cancer referrals have not been seen within 14 days
Treatment times are also at record delays.

How many ‘non Covid’ lives are/will be lost? Why is it all about covid?

@MH1111

Why do you think the NHS is struggling to catch up with other services? Because all the doctors are struggling to motivate themselves to get back to work after a long period of furlough?

It's because when COVID rates are high the NHS needs to divert resources to manage it!

Our choices are a) control COVID through SD, masks, restrictions, and T&T so that the NHS can continue to function properly b) allow COVID to spread and overwhelm the NHS so that no one can get good care for anything or c) give up and let certain groups go without any medical care at all

What do you suggest is the best option?

It seems like option 3) for cancer patients