October Becomes November Lockdown

[BlueThursday]

New thread

I suspect this will be the second of many

He's on every single Saturday @WouldBeGood and he's excellent, I think. He answers questions from listeners. It's a good, creative way to get people to listen to a public health message, especially for a traditionally hard to reach group, i.e. middle aged and older men who don't look after themselves as well as some other groups might.

It's just childish and churlish to suggest he's doing it - essentially working every Saturday - to be one of the lads. Jesus.

Thanks @IncludeWomenInTheSequel I do occasional listen so will pay attention!

That’s me told then

I reckon with sturgeon and swinney she's in that situation where you know you've got a liability on your team but they've got so much experience of the day to day job that to replace them you'd end up doing 50 percent yourself without a fall guy.

I agree about CC @StatisticallyChallenged and I wonder how that decision looks in light of MF et al!

I’m wondering how long Sturgeon can afford to fund hospitality venues forced to shut given that there is to be no indoor drinking until tier 1.

If Edinburgh is going to be tier 3 despite relatively low figures (that would be the lowest tier in England), I can’t see anywhere in the central belt reaching tier 1 anytime soon.

Yep, we went from Stirling to Allerdale which has similar numbers. Stirling is effectively Tier 3 (and possibly won't change) and Allerdale Medium/Tier 1. There needs to be an actual standard set of requirements which each area knows about so they can maybe try to meet those to move to the next level down or up. At the moment it seems to be finger in the air and justifying not doing anything with the west levels of positive test rather than actually being fair.

A bit more carrot when you know what needs to happen (however ridiculous you think it is) than just feeling defeated that you have no idea under what criteria you may ever be able to sit in a restaurant with a glass of wine or in the pub with a pint, or get to the football etc. That just leaves everyone thinking fuck it.

I absolutely despair at the 5 tiers. It doesn’t exactly encite hope that tier 0 is the situation we were in in August (where you still couldn’t go anywhere because everything was shut). It’s so dishonest to start a two week lockdown then bring in rules to make it permanent. How can we trust the SNP after this? Coupled with a digital Christmas I am feeling depressed. Not to mention I don’t believe what I’m personally sacrificing makes a jot of difference to hospital intakes. I don’t believe these restrictions are going to have any impact, so how are we going to get out of these tiers when we’re placed in the most severe? The only light within this is that schools should stay open. They’ve sucked all of the fun out of life with little scientific basis.

Hear hear, @iquitelikenormalityafterall

I’m very anxious today. Do we know when she tells us our fate?

There absolutely needs to be guidance about numbers. Caveats around them - for example if the tier 1 threshold was 20/100k you could have an area where it's numbers are 25 but that's down to an outbreak in a single care home rather than community spread so the risk level means they can stay at 1. But there needs to be some clarity as nobody knows what they are trying to achieve. If I was in Glasgow I would be depressed by Edinburgh on the same tier not pleased- the numbers are a lot lower (or were last I looked) so for glaswegians it must feel like they have a huge struggle to get to tier 2 let alone 1 or 0

I totally get why some people are feeling anxious - my mental health was shot to pieces in March and I really wasn't coping. It wasn't the virus which made me anxious, it was the empty shelves. My very lovely GP gave me a prescription for Sertraline but also told me that she would prefer me to try other things first. I find Headspace works really well for me, it's all about grounding yourself in the moment and not letting your mind wander off into worrying. Also getting out for a walk helps - easier in March when the weather was improving, not so easy now as it's so grey and dull. I'd also avoid deleting news apps - and especially notifications - from your phone, and avoiding the Covid forum on here as there are some real hardcore nutters who are loving it and salivate over every negative piece of information. There were some very long-running Anti-Dementor (AD) threads on the Chat forum which helped keep me sane.

I never took the anti-depressants in the end, and i hope i have learned enough over the last 6 months to spot the warning signs if I'm on that downwards slide again. Recognising your anxiety is a positive sign.

I mean I would avoid news on the telly, and delete apps. It's so easy to start to obsess over statistics and conflicting opinions.

Thanks @RaspberryCoulis - i'm sure that might be useful for some of us.

Agree @StatisticallyChallenged and I also think there would need to be some parameters so that areas aren't changing from one tier to the other and back again twice a week. But simply knowing that there were a set of (flexible) standards to meet and what those were would help. I say flexible for the reason that if an the criteria was a 7 day rate of 25-49 and an area was at 50 for 3 weeks then i think it would be fair to consider that they could move down.

Politics Scotland just about to start on BBC1 and BBC Scotland. Brace yourselves. 😬

Sounds like they've seen sense over the "when is a cafe not a cafe" and will allow restaurants to open on the same basis which makes a lot of sense.

Although I just don't buy the "be good, compliant little citizens now and it'll be all marvellous by Christmas". No chance. Judging by summer, when cases were so low and she still kept us locked up, and how Swinney only yesterday was saying that students might not go home, I just don't believe her any more.

DD (S4) has just come home saying someone in her maths class has tested positive but she's over the other side of the room so should be OK. Another case in S5. Email notifications pinging constantly - we have managed to avoid the covid self-isolation lottery so far.

And for those of you living in Lanarkshire - you sound like you're about to be hammered.

What happened to a "quick 16 day circuit braek"?

Yeah, the temporary, only 16 day restrictions

Think RD was right about Christmas.

Sat here really upset. I was hoping that Fife would be in Tier 1 but doesn't look likely. I am expecting my first child in December and my parents (divorced) want to come see the baby for a couple of days. I live in a Tier 1 area in England.

Sturgeon is totally out of her depth

I think the only places that have a chance of tier 1 are Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles maybe Moray, Highland are close but I think it should be clear tier 0 is less than 20 per 100 or whatever tier 1 is less than 50 and you need 2 weeks at 50 to move down not a single day and conversely a single high day doesn't move you up a definite day so this week decision is on Friday 30th next review Friday 13th November
So if an area has a rate of 57 per 100 this Friday it is tier 2 but if by friday 13th the following 14 day average is below 50 you go down if it goes up to 104 you go up if it's still around 57 or a bit above you stay put
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There must be a definite end point vaccine or no vaccine which I think is next March at latest, everyone should be in tier 1 from December 24th to 1st January but no big parties or street gatherings but you can see your friends and family at home in small numbers

She seems to be losing her cool more often I think - less smooth/polished, more "ffs why are you asking me this"

I've got the SP on in the background. But it's just noise tbh. I thought today was when the tiers were being set out and we would find out who and where we could do what. Anyone know when that info's being released? Ta.

@Justmuddlingalong

I've got the SP on in the background. But it's just noise tbh. I thought today was when the tiers were being set out and we would find out who and where we could do what. Anyone know when that info's being released? Ta.

I think they said on Thursday is when we will find out what level each area is and then it will apply from Monday.

SephrinaX thanks.

@danidella it may be in tier 1 in Dec and if they're 'providing childcare' there are exceptions. Boots is doing a covid test now, so they can test to make sure they don't have it. I'd think there will be a way around so don't get too down.

I don’t know why anyone is bothering to listen to this woman any more.

Utterly shambolic and nonsensical.