Article about the Cheltenham Races. Makes me so angry!

[buttheywereonlysatilites]

Seeing it all in black and white makes me even more angry than I already was at our government and SAGE at the time.

I'm on other threads now supporting the reintroduction of outside activities, but not like this. What the hell were they thinking?!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/20/virus-dispersion-hub-packed-racecourse-cheltenham-festival?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

@LadyEloise

Beaniecats You say they ( Irish racegoers ) had every right to go. With rights come responsibilities. They should have quarantined on their return. How many did ? The only person I know personally who went to Cheltenham races in March 2020 had Covid19 on their return to Ireland.

Was there a quarantine restriction in place? No there wasn't You do not know, you cannot know they contracted covid at the racecourse

The reason that racing is being singled out is not because it's racing but because of the close links (including financial interests) members of the government have with this event.

@GCAcademic

The reason that racing is being singled out is not because it's racing but because of the close links (including financial interests) members of the government have with this event.

So it has always been

So it has always been

Well, obviously. But in the past the government hasn't had to make a choice about whether to prioritise it over public health and the country's wider economy. And chosen the event they have personal interests in.

@megletsecond

I don't think anyone is anti racing. The football shouldn't have gone ahead either, neither should Crufts or the gigs. All of them were negligent.

Everything (pubs, school's, gyms etc) should have been stopped at least a fortnight before they actually were. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion.

Agreed.

We should have shit down quicker and had a better roadmap out.

I'm hopeful the government do seem very sensible this time about coming out of it to avoid another complete lockdown even if winter requires some restrictions again.

The Bath Half marathon went ahead on 14th March - utterly ridiculous decision but luckily a lot of people decided not to run it and do their own virtual marathon. There was a lot of backlash locally and a lot of people saying they would boycott future ones - I hope they do!

Likeamillpond the British citizens has no choice about all the Spanish fans attending when Spain was in lockdown because the government allowed it.

Those in Liverpool affected by it who didn't attend had no choice.

All those in Cheltenham infected because the virus spread around their twin also had no choice. The government allowed those people to come and do it.

I agree cheltenham should never have went ahead along with many other events but realistically, people had a choice to attend or not. I know people who went and their only concern was losing out on money (flights/tickets) if they didnt go. Government and organisers cant be blamed for an individuals stupidity..

@Beaniecats

Cheltenham will go ahead this year, next year and forever, survived the war and other calamities First chance we get we will be back there

As will all the other mass events when it's safe. And so they should.

It wasn't safe to fun Cheltenham. It was age to run any of the gigs and football matches that went ahead.

Even if the government decided it was. There is solid evidence now - they were wrong.

@CantBeAssed

I agree cheltenham should never have went ahead along with many other events but realistically, people had a choice to attend or not. I know people who went and their only concern was losing out on money (flights/tickets) if they didnt go. Government and organisers cant be blamed for an individuals stupidity..

They can.

Because they allowed locals in the areas these events occurred to have people flocking to their towns and cities - bringing covid - and killing some people.

People had a choice to go. Those who live there had no choice. That's a government failure.

Jenny Harries stood there at the podium saying that they didn't think the virus spread at large outdoor gatherings if I recall correctly. I think it's not incumbent on the general public to decide whether a big event is safe to go to if the govt scientists are saying it's fine. How can the attendees possibly be deemed selfish??

We were making tricky family decisions that week of 12th March, remember so clearly, cancelling a holiday due to fly on 13th March, reluctantly cancelling a visit to my elderly father. That same week we'd been to London for work, reluctantly but still went and out to the gym, pub etc. It was an awful period of time feeling nervously like this thing was closing in but looking to the govt who seemed fine with it.

@CantBeAssed

I agree cheltenham should never have went ahead along with many other events but realistically, people had a choice to attend or not. I know people who went and their only concern was losing out on money (flights/tickets) if they didnt go. Government and organisers cant be blamed for an individuals stupidity..

Government and organisers cant be blamed for an individuals stupidity

Why do they employ behavioural scientists then? Yes, people should be responsible but you can't bank on it. People will do what they're allowed to do.

Evidence for your claims or gossip and hearsay

Lots of local folk including myself have followed the figures in the local press and on the yougov postcode viewers. My postcode area had very few deaths. We are not near the racecourse or rail station, my sister's postcode area had many deaths - near the rail station.

" Calculating the full human cost of the festival is hard. NHS data leaked last spring showed that, by 3 April, the GL52 postcode, which covers the racecourse area, had the most Covid-related hospital admissions in Gloucestershire. Three weeks later, the local NHS trust had recorded 125 deaths – nearly double the numbers in much larger centres such as Bristol."

It is hard to unpick now that the postcode delimited data only seems to go back to September. I'm sure someone with more advanced analytic skills than mine can find the raw evidence that will prove it to you.

@Beaniecats you seem the be taking it really personally. None of this is directed at you or your love of horse racing.
It isn't a thread singling out Cheltenham or horse racing any more than it is a thread singling out Real Madrid/the FA, or the Stereophonics/concerts.

None of these events should have happened and it's tragic that they did and people lost their lives as a result of misguided information from the government.

A friend of mine lost her dad to covid, he was a bus driver and was driving people to and from the Liverpool Madrid match when he probably contracted the terrible virus. People like him and many others died as a direct result of the government telling the country that there was no risk and big events were safe to continue.
Maybe it was misguided because the scientific evidence wasn't fully understood at that point. Or maybe there were other reasons.
My anger at these events are not directed to horse racing/football/concerts. More the fact that they went ahead at all in the face of what was unfolding.

And I don't even know if I'm angry, just really sad.

It is an attack on horse racing. I'm particularly defensive of Cheltenham, it means a lot to NH racing Local businesses do very well from the racing economy so locals need to think about that

The world was turning normally then but hey blame racing

@CantBeAssed

I agree cheltenham should never have went ahead along with many other events but realistically, people had a choice to attend or not. I know people who went and their only concern was losing out on money (flights/tickets) if they didnt go. Government and organisers cant be blamed for an individuals stupidity..

It's not that straightforward though, is it? Look at the aftermath of Dominic Cummings little trip to Barnard Castle. Many people decided then that they wouldn't follow the rules anymore either because he didn't. The risk of infection hadn't come down. Same with Christmas gatherings. We decided that whatever the rules were at Xmas, we wouldn't be mixing with other households indoors. Because the risk of infection hadn't gone down. Loads of people did though, because the government gave them the green light to do so.

So yes, many many people are basing their behavioural choices on what the government is saying is / isn't allowed. I'm not sure why that is a surprise to some people?

@Beaniecats you're just not listening. You're so caught up in your own thoughts and defensiveness that you're not even listening to what people are saying.
I wish you well

[quote Bezzi]@Beaniecats you're just not listening. You're so caught up in your own thoughts and defensiveness that you're not even listening to what people are saying.
I wish you well [/quote]
Oh I'm listening I wish I wasn't
Well look forward to us all returning to the Festival next year

Ah well, work hard (NOT), play harder (YES). It's all about money and those who have it always want more.

They must be devastated that it couldn't all carry on for their benefit the rest of the year...instead they had to spend a few sleepless nights on work (perhaps?).

@Beaniecats

Incidentally for the anti racing lot Cheltenham's charity partner for this year's Festival is Well Child Before everyone starts foaming the Festival is being held behind closed doors

where do you get the idea from that anyone is anti racing? They were anti large gatherings at the beginning nof a worldwide pandemic. Not the same thing at all!

I agree with @mamakoukla

The comments on here is we all thought it was unadvisable, so that thought must have gone through the minds of those who attended , but they still decided to go . If I had a ticket I would not have gone .

But because it was outside I guess a lot of people thought it was low risk .

Hindsight is a wonderful thing .

@Beaniecats - yes the local economy relies on racing - and the many other festivals. But we'd rather live to see the benefit.

"locals need to think about that"... indeed, we already do! Many businesses have suffered deeply from the lack of festivals over the summer - science, literature, jazz, music - we've got the lot. Racing is one part in our economic jigsaw though we are sick to the high teeth of being told to be grateful for it. (not because it is racing, but because people bang on about it so much - we put up with it precisely because the local economy needs it)

It is not an attack on horseracing, it is an attack on the mentality of allowing ANY large scale events to go ahead during a worldwide pandemic. And Cheltenham was pretty much the first of the big ones.

In retrospect of course it shouldn’t have gone ahead. But there are some dodgy assumptions in this article. The man who had Covid very badly after Cheltenham became ill the following day, which means it’s unlikely he actually caught it at Cheltenham. The incubation period is longer than 24 hours, isn’t it? Also, the link to the suicide of Rose Patterson is pure conjecture!

I suspect the bigger problem at that time was allowing people to visit the UK from abroad. The Liverpool Madrid match was probably far more significant. But the article is singling out Cheltenham (for its own - understandable - agenda), which feels a little unfair. This feels less about Covid and more about cronyism and anti-racing to me.

Why does anyone think this is an anti racing thread? Nothing could be further from the truth for us, it's been a huge part of our lives.
However, letting Chelt Festival go ahead was batshit crazy.

Thinkivepulledsommat, but that man was at the races spreading it around which was precisely the problem.

You say "in retrospect", but at the time, when I was listening to reports on the radio, it was clearly a terrible decision. The same for any events where large numbers of people were congregating. I imagine that the government are well aware of this now.