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Was your swab test collected or did you post it to them PP?  My letter is at home so can’t check but I have a feeling it said the swab would be collected from my home.  If so ...... yet another ridiculous expense.  

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Margie is right. I keep popping in to see how you all are. Thankyou all so much for your posts.   I'm afraid we are not very well the pair of us. This must be the 'Long Covid' that we hear a

I really wish that more people were afraid. For their own safety.    I don't think anyone who hasn't witnessed in reality a person down on their hands and knees gasping  with a chest full of

Am in total dismay at the human race. It's becoming more like Mad Max at the moment.        This me me society we have created cares only about themselves: I'm alright Jack, the rest of you can f

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Had to have the swab test at the hospital before they would do my recent surgery.  Swab test up the snout!!  Gets near the bone that does.   Needless to say I didn't have it.  Hardly been anywhere for months. 

 

Guy over here got killed in a motorbike crash.  He'd had the CV three months before and recovered.  It was recorded as a CV death.

 

Bikers had a big rally last month at Sturgis, South Dakota 500,000 attended over a week.  Partying etc. as those guys tend to do.  Media was screaming 250,000 would come down with it.  Final total was 57 confirmed cases, no deaths as far as I know.  The 57 cases probably arrived form somewhere else with it.  No contagions as far as I know.

John McArthur's church in L.A. California has over 4000 attendees.  They have had the mayor on their backs trying to close them down.  As of last Sunday not a single reported case and they have been meeting for six weeks or so now.  Ok for bars and abortion clinics to be open.  Essential services you know.

 

 

 

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Believe I mentioned previously that I had to have a swab test before Brighton would accept me prior to my heart surgery. The nursed promised she would avoid the ' gagging area, then with the same probe up my  nostril and I never realised it would go that far ! It were bloody awful, but they don't tell you that when testing. Like the nurse said, " If we did, nobody would have it"

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I'm not claiming an answer here.. just launching a few thoughts.

Firstly, we are currently seeing a broad spectrum of Govt. policy on Covid which is so shot full of holes as to be all but useless.

-Partial 'lock downs', poorly policed.. if at all.
-Porous borders.
-10 p.m. pub closing.. I mean... FFS!!
-Confused messages.
-'U Turns'
-Govt...in typical Post Thatcherite Tory fashion, spraying OUR money around to a patchwork of the same old dodgy outsourcing orgs, 'managed' by the same old bunch of people already promoted and decorated to their level of incompetence. The Profits have already been Privatised. The Debts will of course be Nationalised. Sunak is too smart to come up with words like 'Austerity' again.. but expect 'difficult decisions'.

I haven't worked this through yet.. but it strikes me that it might just have been cheaper to properly protect the elderly and vulnerable.. whilst allowing the younger and generally less vulnerable to get on with things. This might well have also led to less resistance.. because it strikes me that it is mostly younger people who want and need to get on with their lives and their careers. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not blaming the younger element for the current mess.

FWIW.. I really feel for the new crop of undergrads. They have not been served well by anyone. Govt seems oblivious. but then Higher Education is no longer an education system..so much as a money making machine..and it is money which is dictating current policy.

Vaccine? I don't know.. I believe it's true that attempts to find a 'cure' for the Common Cold all failed...and of course the Common Cold is caused by a range of Coronaviruses. But the the Common Cold is a bit of an economic issue..yet rarely, if ever fatal..so 'they' gave up in 1989. Things have moved on considerably in 30+ years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Cold_Unit

Meanwhile, we have Prof Carl Heneghan of Oxford, presenting a rather different way of looking at things.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/uknews/12719024/no-evidence-of-second-wave-oxford-professor/

As I understand it, Prof. Heneghan is basically saying that we should expect the 'usual' rise in Respiratory infections as kids go back to school... and that this rise is causing panic and stressing the Covid Test and Trace system.

But.. ISTM that if we were observing Social Distancing as recommended.. we would not be seeing quite such a steep 'usual' rise in infections. And in any case. as far as I can tell..Covid spreads via exactly the same mechanisms as 'usual' viral infections, so will presumably be spreading in parallel.

It is. IMHO.. a cop out.. to blame the seasonal rise in 'usual' infections.. for the failure of the Test and Trace system. We have been repeatedly assured by Govt., that the way out of Lockdown is to use their 'World Beating', or 'Moonshot' Tand T system to contain local outbreaks. Yet it is currently failing..as might have been predicted by the involvement of Serco and 'Baroness' Dido Harding... failed Talk Talk boss.

Meanwhile. I'm still largely hiding. I can speak to my Kids and Grandkids on Whatsapp etc. and it's no worse than if they'd emigrated.. (Who would blame them?)

I get out for walks and occasional careful forays into shops.. but no Pubs, Clubs or Public Transport for me. And I do not feel an overbearing need to get pissed in Spain, Greece etc.. I can do that here...and am doing so as I type..

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You"re right BK.  As far as I'm concerned it was worse than the op.

 

Edited to add.  Here in the US  we have also been plagued by riots in various major cities.  The msm has little to say about it.  Rioters do not wear masks or 'social distance'  They do not seem to be any worse effected by CV than anyone else.  While their agenda seems to be opposition to police violence their underlying objectives seem closer to communism to this old hound.

 

The timing of it all seems to be an intent to destroy the economy and the governmental system while the populace stay in 'Lockdown.'    I hate that word,  more appropriate to a prison than a civil society.

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1 hour ago, philmayfield said:

When you look at the amount of money spent to alleviate common cold symptoms it would not be in the drug companies best interests to find a cure!

 

Not sure about that. Only a small proportion of the population purchase cold relief medicine, the market for a Covid cure and or a vaccine would be global...

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I downloaded the app on Thursday, got it going (oh dear the English one has a glitch which is being “sorted out” as I type this, strange the Welsh one works okay - no surprise there then). Yesterday I got a txt on my phone from test and trace about it. Went into panic mode thinking I had been near someone who had tested positive. Then I realised I had only been shopping at Lidl and wasn’t near anyone for any length of time, I had being near someone for 15 to 20 minutes triggered the alert  in my mind don’t know if this is right? Looked back at the txt and it was telling me I could download the app now!! 
I see someone from Sage is now saying there will possibly be a third wave as well. Starting to think they are paid to distribute doom and gloom, at least they could let us try (being the operative word) to get the latest outbreaks under control before saying things like this. Really it is obvious that even if it is circulating at low levels, which it never was here really we used the “running hot” technique instead of going for eradication, there is always the probability of it escalating common sense really. 
I had a relative who had to go for a test last Saturday, took a while to get one, the test centre on the Forest didn’t even come up. They eventually got one in Nottingham, when they got there they were the only one there just one bay open. 
Hadn’t heard result by Tuesday morning rang the number given to them, went thru several menus to get to “chasing up test result” pressed 1 to do that and it said “we are not chasing up test results“ and cut them off. Luckily the result came thru later Tuesday and it was negative. Missed 2 days at work and I isolated as well for those days just in case. 
I don’t go out much, take Kai for a walk, go shopping once a week or so, get most online and an occasional visit to the library which is usually quite empty. We do go for something to eat later Saturday afternoon, sit outside though, took a blanket yesterday to put over my legs, I would not go inside wouldn’t feel safe to be honest. Don’t go to pubs so that doesn’t bother me at all, but do miss my 2 clubs that met every week. I am in touch with some of the ladies that also went by phone every week. It has become my routine now and going into autumn/winter I wouldn’t have been out and about as much anyway. I don’t think I will be invigilating at the exams this year, there has been 1 case at the school I do it, but will see how things are when the time comes. But sad about that as I did enjoy it and if I say I can’t do it not sure if I will be asked again, the money came in useful as well.
So all in all I am trying to keep safe, battling with my 8 legged friends and contemplating what colour to do my side room now I have saved the money to get it done. Anyone know a good cheap decorator?

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13 hours ago, DJ360 said:


I haven't worked this through yet.. but it strikes me that it might just have been cheaper to properly protect the elderly and vulnerable.. whilst allowing the younger and generally less vulnerable to get on with things.


I’ve been wondering the same thing ... but at what age should ‘you are now considered elderly’ come into force? 
How old is Boris :rolleyes:
The government could pay us oldies extra money to stay indoors and not mix with anyone, whilst everyone one else would carry on as pre-Covid.  Then when a reliable vaccine came out, we would be first in line.   I wouldn’t even mind a nice policeman standing guard outside my door so I didn’t try and sneak out smile2
Sounds good to me, although I wouldn’t be able to do any childcare, so perhaps it would have its negative aspect.

 

Am I joking?   Not really sure!!!   What do you reckon?
 

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14 hours ago, DJ360 said:

I'm not claiming an answer here.. just launching a few thoughts.

Firstly, we are currently seeing a broad spectrum of Govt. policy on Covid which is so shot full of holes as to be all but useless.

-Partial 'lock downs', poorly policed.. if at all.
-Porous borders.
-10 p.m. pub closing.. I mean... FFS!!
-Confused messages.
-'U Turns'

14 hours ago, DJ360 said:

Meanwhile. I'm still largely hiding. I can speak to my Kids and Grandkids on Whatsapp etc. and it's no worse than if they'd emigrated.. (Who would blame them?)

I get out for walks and occasional careful forays into shops.. but no Pubs, Clubs or Public Transport for me. And I do not feel an overbearing need to get pissed in Spain, Greece etc.. I can do that here...and am doing so as I type..

 

 

I've edited the political diatribe to get at the  gist of your post Col (pleased the back is getting better by the way), and it seems you're being critical of the actions presently in force.

 

Partial lockdowns and porous borders are I agree not particularly effective but there can only be two alternatives.

1. Total lockdown and close the borders or 2. abandon any attempt at containing the spread.

One has huge, possibly ruinous economic consequences, the second may result in a huge rise in premature deaths. It's not a question with a correct answer.

 

10pm closing for pubs? I see no sensible reason for them to be open at all, it's common knowledge what effect alcohol can have on sensible behaviour.

 

Confuse messages, can't argue against that.

 

U Turns. If they did not change and adapt to the situation as they think necessary then the gov would be open to criticism for being rigid and dogmatic by the opposition, again a no win situation.

 

If we can't think of an answer why should we expect Johnson to? There would be uproar if he went out on a limb and not seek qualified advice - and there's the nub of the problem.

I'm not sure if the 'experts' that are creeping out of the woodwork are saying what the media wants them to say and gain their 15 minutes or if they believe what they say. There are so many variations of expert opinion it's like pick 'n' mix, we choose whichever opinion most closely allies  our own point of view.

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Don't know if it would work 'as is' Margie but at least you have a the basis of an actionable plan.  Not sure why we would need extra money to stay home  - but I'll take it if it's offered!

Perhaps we could have elderly only days out, separate shopping days etc. Our local tip has alternate days according to the last number of your registration plate, maybe we could carry a card that shows our age to gain admittance to shopping malls, public transport etc. Anyone under age will be turned away...

 

I too am not sure if this could be a serious suggestion or not.

 

Who are the elderly? according to the graphs the most vulnerable start around 65 although no doubt the Sun can come up with an expert to say its wrong.

 

Maybe we could revive the old pensioner political party... who wants to be PM?

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49 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

Closing pubs completely would push people into drinking at home. It’s a lot cheaper after all. They would probably consume more alcohol and behave even less sensibly.

 

When they're at home they can be as daft as they like. The problem comes from starting out sensible in the pub, guzzling it down to get their quota in before closing and by 10pm they're mingling with no more thought about distancing.

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If the pubs were shut they would be drinking at home with their pub going mates. We’re talking about the irresponsible here.There’s lots of them out there saying Covid is a load of nonsense and it won’t happen to them. If it wasn’t for the irresponsible we might be able to contain the situation until a vaccine is available. Unfortunately there are a large number of people who say they will refuse vaccination.

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2 hours ago, Brew said:

Maybe we could revive the old pensioner political party... who wants to be PM?

 

Proposals for cabinet members:

 

Col - Social and Benefits agency

Margie = Home Secretary

BK - Minister for arts

PMayfield - Chancellor of the exchequer

CT - National archives

Denshaw - Speaker of the house

Lizzie -  Foreign secretary

Radford (I'll tek me shirt off) Red - Minister of defence

Ben - homeland security

Mary - Womens equality affairs

Trogg - Minister for health

PeverilP - Minister for the environment

Loppy, Ayeup and Ozt ambassadors

Colly - minister for science

Katy - Leader of the house

 

Any more?

 

All those in favour say aye...

 

 

 

Me? - I'll be the one carrying all the bags...

 

 

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11 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

f the pubs were shut they would be drinking at home with their pub going mates.

 

True enough but unlikely to mingle with the same amount of people out and about and in the pub.

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16 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

I rather fancy 'Minister without portfolio'.

 

You're just a trouble maker you...    bleddy country yokels.... never happy...... the natives are revolting....

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As Home Secretary I’d have to make speeches wouldn’t I?   Could I just write them and let Paul deliver them please?  We are a team  

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1 hour ago, loppylugs said:

You forgot Jill.  Minister of education?  ;)

 

Good point,

 

Cabinet reshuffle.

For services to Canal towpaths Cani is now minister of the environment ,

Peveil is to be  minsister of Ag and fisheries.

Mistress Sparrow is Minister of Education, Irish accent optional..

Margie as our resident Zoom expert and will deliver through the medium of an iPad with prompts by her soul mate, chief cook and bottle washer extraodinaire, Paul

Compo, Scottish secratary, when he can be found

TG is to be Minister of Transport, with railways as they are she will need her sense of humour.

 

The foreign secrataty has resigned her postand will be replaced by the well known gourmet nonnB

The foreign secratary will now be the right horrible Minister for International Trade.  :rolleyes: providing she don't keep losing people in foreign lands...

 

Now can the governemt come to order and forward their propsals for a manifesto - a minstry of silly walks will not be accepted.

 

NB. The budget must not exceed £2.50 or three Tesco tokens.

 

 

 

 

And I'm still carrying the damn luggage... :mellow:

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