Angela Merkel launches bid to ban all British travelers from the EU due to Delta variants

[Honey12346]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/angela-merkel-launches-bid-to-ban-all-british-travellers-from-the-eu-cn95bjfpk

@NannyAndJohn

That's because the "anti-dementors" caused a pile on.

I was only around for the first few posts of the thread.

If that's what you want to believe. You abandoned your own thread then it was deleted. Perfect.

I have no intention of going to Europe till they change their attitude.
Sorry but that's hilarious.

Thanks

Very little is 'essential' in the basic sense of what keeps you physically alive. Of course family and/or friends are an essential part of a full human life. Otherwise you're just existing. Social connection is extremely important for human wellbeing. Doesn't necessarily have to be people who are blood related to you, but all humans have a deep need to be part of a group of people who we love and who love us and for many people that is their family. For most people, our loved ones are very near the top of our priorities in life. And Zoom calls just don't cut it as a long term solution.

Isn't it that the UK looks worse right now because of the extremely high testing we do? So my challenge would be - are we in fact different to other similar EU countries? Probably not.

@Sparklingbrook I made the thread when I woke up and saw the news, went to carry out a few errands and it was gone by the time I got back.

Some of us have a life outside of this website, you know.

@Kendodd

Sorry but seeing your parents, partners or children at least once a year IS essential.

No it's not.
What terrible think is going to happen if you don't see your family once a year?

In the last year and a half in which I've not seen my family :

My sister has had a car accident that could have killed her
My sister has had 2 miscarriages
My mum has had an emergency surgery.

These things would have happened had I been there or not, but my mental health isn't the same since I've not been allowed to see my family.
I dont care if you dont give a toss about your family, some of us want to see ours.

@Kendodd

Well, mine went and died which was a bit lax of them.

And I feel for you, absolutely genuinely, I do.
But even visiting a dying parent should not be prioritised over limiting the spread of a pandemic that has killed over four million people. Very little travel, beyond moving food and medicine, is essential and the world would be in a much better place if nobody had travelled for business/visiting relatives/holiday during covid.

I'm sorry about your relative

Wobble your give a head. Re-arrange.

Pootle40 - what testing is the UK doing? Are a lot of people without symptoms being tested?

@PuffinShop

Very little is 'essential' in the basic sense of what keeps you physically alive. Of course family and/or friends are an essential part of a full human life. Otherwise you're just existing. Social connection is extremely important for human wellbeing. Doesn't necessarily have to be people who are blood related to you, but all humans have a deep need to be part of a group of people who we love and who love us and for many people that is their family. For most people, our loved ones are very near the top of our priorities in life. And Zoom calls just don't cut it as a long term solution.

Thanks @PuffinShop for your wise words, some of us need to hear more things like what you say to trust in humanity

I have no intention of going to Europe till they change their attitude.

Too funny.

[quote NannyAndJohn]@Sparklingbrook I made the thread when I woke up and saw the news, went to carry out a few errands and it was gone by the time I got back.

Some of us have a life outside of this website, you know.[/quote]
Some of us have a life outside of this website, you know.

Lol

@Naggety

Pootle40 - what testing is the UK doing? Are a lot of people without symptoms being tested?

I mean our volumes of testing for 'cases' is much much higher than say Germany. Wonder if Germany did the same volume of testing......they would probably have the same level. Easy to pile on the UK. This is mostly politics now, not science.

Merkel should care about what happens n her country rather than blaming the uk, she closed the borders a month ago to the uk and yet delta its going up and up each day... damm British sending the variant via air across the channel...

The UK reliance on AZ and its lower effectiveness on delta is also a factor. Most european countries are much more reliant on mRNA vaccines which provide better protection against delta.

It'll likely be this and not "having an attitude".

My mum is 83 and she could die without me having seen her again.

Yes absolutely, I am serious.
Between Pakistan and India being but on the red list 20,000 people arrived in the UK from India. 6% of those tested positive.

We are now India, and if we travel, we will be taking Delta with us to other countries.
Now it would be terrible if you didn't see your mum again, genuinely, I mean that. But not nearly as terrible as someone dying from covid because (possibly your mum or other relatives) because people decided visiting family was more important. You may disagree though and think visiting family regularly is more important that anything else, even spreading covid.

@NannyAndJohn when we had one of the lowest rates of active Covid cases in Europe earlier this year, were the countries at the top of the chart a laughing stock? Will we stop being a laughing stock once we get to the bottom again? You only have to look at Australia to see how quickly things can change. In another month our rates will most likely be going down and France and Germany’s going up. That’s what happpens in a pandemic. It comes in waves!

IT IS A FACT that we have one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe. Why would anyone be embarrassed about that?!

@Pootle40 - I don't think that's true of UK/Germany at the moment, though it has been true at other times. This map is hard to read but usefully shows test positivity against cases: ourworldindata.org/grapher/covid-19-daily-tests-vs-daily-new-confirmed-cases-per-million?country=AND~AUT~BLR~BEL~BIH~BGR~HRV~CYP~CZE~DNK~EST~FIN~FRA~DEU~GRC~HUN~ITA~OWID_KOS~LVA~LIE~LTU~LUX~MLT~MDA~NLD~MKD~NOR~POL~PRT~ROU~RUS~SRB~SVK~SVN~SWE~CHE~UKR~GBR

@Naggety

I have no intention of going to Europe till they change their attitude. Sorry but that's hilarious.

Where do you live now?

You have to put things into perspective:

1. We are one of the richest countries in the world.
2. We are an island nation.

Despite these massive advantages we still managed to have one of the highest death rates in the world, and created the Alpha variant which then transformed into Delta.

Well @Kendodd, you’re wrong. Lots of us haven’t seen family since 2019 PRECISELY because we were doing the responsible thing and didn’t travel in 2020, when it was possible. At the time, I decided that although I was allowed to go to my home country, the risk was too high and I could surely wait another year before seeing my parents again. That year has now passed and travel has become much harder, almost impossible. I am not going to wait another year because that could easily turn into another 2, 3, 5 years. Governments have failed again and again to contain the virus, probably because it is impossible to contain. So, I will do everything I can to see my family, and I will not feel guilty about it.

It was a shame yesterday’s thread got scrubbed…it was just gettin* interesting.

Like others I find it hard to get my head around the idea that Madame Merkel’s proposals are in someway unreasonable when you consider the current restrictions the UK has in place for anybody arriving from an Amber list country.

Merkel can kiss my ass. I'm off to the Balearics this weekend (and yes I am double jabbed).

@NannyAndJohn

You have to put things into perspective:

1. We are one of the richest countries in the world.
2. We are an island nation.

Despite these massive advantages we still managed to have one of the highest death rates in the world, and created the Alpha variant which then transformed into Delta.

Land border with Ireland.

Delta variant is not descended from Alpha variant. Both are descended from B.1.

@chocolatesaltyballs22

Merkel can kiss my ass. I'm off to the Balearics this weekend (and yes I am double jabbed).

enjoy! have a lovely time eating ensaimadas!