October Becomes November Lockdown

[BlueThursday]

New thread

I suspect this will be the second of many

I'm wondering if Edinburgh will go into Level 2. DH plays football on Edinburgh Leisure ( arm's reach council ) outdoor pitches. They've emailed to say they can play next week. From what I can see outdoor 18+ contact sport is allowed in Level 2, but not 3.

Just any reason to keep people hanging on her every word with no clear message and no proper reasoning for the "we'll keep central belt where they are in equivalent to tier 3" when the figures don't stack up

I hope they do if only to show that moving down is possible! I'd be despairing if I was in a 4 area and seeing solid 2s by numbers stuck at 3.

Then there is this "even if they haven't been tested..."

Edinburgh's numbers have been coming down in the last week or so but I can't see us being anything other than 3 sadly. At least to begin with.

I hope though that they don't put places like east and mid Lothian onto 3 and some of the other areas which are in the central belt but don't have high caseloads. Would seem rather unfair.

The numbers for Edinburgh don't meet the tier 3 requirements either - it's currently at 107 per 100k, suggested T3 threshold (for that indicator) is 150. It only meets it on a % test positivity - out of interest does anyone know how the location for test is set, I'm assuming it's based on where it's actually taken. In which case that number could be skewed up for Edinburgh given it's got the main hospitals for the Lothians in it (I'd expect a higher % positive in hospitals where the sick people go!). It's also got the uni halls; I suspect the positive rate in the residential community isn't over the limit.

Agree it's getting tier 3 though, expect East Lothian/Mid to be the same

i'd presume you need to give an address and it would therefore be based on your postcode?

Again I agree that Edinburgh should also be Tier 2. Ridiculous that they are going to announce it tomorrow - it shouldn't need announcing it should be obvious based on the criteria and the figures? Only borderline decisions need clarification e.g. over the cases but all contained and confined to a care home so not community based.

Being daft here but how can it be listed as a cause of death without being tested?

Not daft. Most likely scenario is when an elderly person dies from respiratory failure and hasn't been tested, they'll just fling covid on the certificate .

different but related. Just got a txt from my NHS dentist saying they are now open for private routine treatments...

WTAF - so what about all the folk that can't afford it? Have and have nots again. How can that be right, it's another fucking scandal.

Just caught up on this thread. Have been supportive of Scot Government approach until recently, but they have totally fucked this up. And been very disingenuous about it. The original central belt restrictions only envisaged for 3 weekends, now it seems virtually permanent. The restrictions aren’t tough enough to bring numbers down quickly, so we will be stuck in a tier 3 / tier 2 cycle for months on end.

As a previous poster said, the rules are more about some sort of Presbyterian temperance movement than anything else.

I see that not only the loca councils but also the NHS and police have all signed a letter calling for Lanarkshire not to be put in tier 4.

Surely if the NHS are saying they have enough capacity and more restrictions are not necessary there is no need whatsoever to impose tier 4.

Today Edinburgh's 7 day average per 100k figure is 76.4 according to the tableau site. And I think if it goes less than 75, even with a high % of positive cases (>5%) that should still be low enough to put Edinburgh in level 2 according to their indicator methodology. It won't be, but their justification will be interesting given by all other measures Edinburgh is solidly in level 2 or less. My guess is figures increase tomorrow so we are still above 75! In any case, Stirling and Inverclyde are definitely less than 75, so shouldn't be lumped with the rest of the central belt.

@WaxOnFeckOff

different but related. Just got a txt from my NHS dentist saying they are now open for private routine treatments...

WTAF - so what about all the folk that can't afford it? Have and have nots again. How can that be right, it's another fucking scandal.

The dentistry thing is really the end of NHS dentistry. I don't know why NS isn't being pressed more on it.

I was quote £40 to get a hygienist to knock a bit of plague of my pre schoolers teeth. He hates getting his teeth brushed, hates the toothpaste, gawd only knows if he'd sit for them to actually do it, meanwhile I'd be £40 for the privilege.

A question regarding the tiers was asked at the briefing earlier (why Borders with low levels are not going to be in tier 1) and NS said it was in some cases due to interdependencies between other authority areas which is may explain my Aberdeenshire query too...

I forwarded the dentist text to my DH as he has a tooth that is crumbling away but he cant get it removed as its part of the support for the £3k plate we've just paid for. He's phoned regularly and been told only option is to have it taken out. He is fuming.

We could afford to pay but he's refusing as he is a thrawn bugger just like me.

I agree it's the end of NHS dentistry, most dentists now are just money making companies, the few which are still traditional local practices are dying out as the dentists retire. Another license to print money at the expense of the communities and in particular children and those on low incomes.

I guess if areas go to tier 4, Unions will call for blended learning and there goes all the exams for this academic year 😢

It's outrageous - our nhs dentist converted to private a couple of months ago. I suppose we should book the dc in but I don't want a private dentist...

That's another thing that won't come back 'new normal' means even fewer nhs dentists.

I'd already been trying to move before this happened as we've had a succession of dentists with them changing almost every appointment and just not happy with the one we have who seems to have lasted longer than the others.

Then of course no-one was working and now we'll be on a hiding to nothing.

@Ecosse

I see that not only the loca councils but also the NHS and police have all signed a letter calling for Lanarkshire not to be put in tier 4.

Surely if the NHS are saying they have enough capacity and more restrictions are not necessary there is no need whatsoever to impose tier 4.

I was very pleased to see this!!

To be fair to the dentists from what I've seen/heard/read they just can't afford to do procedures at the rates the NHS pays them whilst complying with covid guidance. Last time I looked they had to leave rooms empty between patients in addition to all the extra PPE costs.

I appreciate that they will be in a difficult position the same as everyone but they need to get the balance right. I've never seen a starving dentist or gp or hospital consultant. I appreciate their job isn't easy but it is well compensated. Without the NHS they wouldn't be where they are now.

I saw an NHS dentist who said they could treat on the NHS but there's a limit to how many treatments (as said above it means extra PPE and leaving the room for a period after). The surgery is part NHS and part private and I've chosen to get a filling replaced privately but they're certainly seeing NHS patients and hoping to be able to do more treatments shortly.

well it's good that some people getting access but certainly not ours - they have multiple practices so will be affecting a lot of patients. I'm really not fussed at missing my check ups. I've not needed any treatment for about 20 years. But they should be offering something imo. I've texted back and asked when they are opening for NHS treatments and why are they offering one without the other? I doubt I'll get a reply.

They're definitely not doing standard check ups at mine. I filled out a contact form and was quite surprised when they gave me an appointment (was steeling myself to get sent to a dental hub and have it extracted as I'd assumed they wouldn't have any other option).