Covid the *** and the final stage.

[Northern_Brewer]

This is really grim - CEO of a major restaurant chain was driven to suicide by tinnitus caused by long Covid. Getting vaccinated doesn't mean you can't get long Covid, although it does reduce the risks.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/20/us/kent-taylor-texas-roadhouse-ceo-death-trnd/index.html

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Supermarkets can sell non-essential items and garden centres can open in Wales from Monday in a further slight easing of Covid lockdown rules.

Shops that have already been open, but had non-essential aisles cordoned off, can now sell anything, but shops that only sell non-essential items will remain closed until 12 April.
Garden centres will open their doors to customers for the first time since lockdown began in December.
Shops must have strict Covid protocols.
They are the latest restrictions to be lifted as Wales' coronavirus case rate has fallen below 50 per 100,000 people and the national Covid positivity rate is below 5% - both under the lockdown threshold.

• Dates for Welsh gym and outdoor hospitality opening plan
• Welsh tourism reopening decision 'will be last moment'
• Q&A: What are Wales' lockdown rules?

All primary and some secondary school children have returned to the classroom while four people from two different households can now meet outdoors, including in gardens, as the stay-at-home rule was relaxed to a stay local one.

First Minister Mark Drakeford and the Welsh government have also said more industries could be reopened or considered for reopening if Covid cases rates and test positivity rates remained low.

What restrictions could be lifted?
From 27 March, if case rates remain low:

• Libraries and self-contained accommodation could reopen, but you can only holiday with people from your own household
• Organised children's activities could restart
• Stay local restrictions could be lifted

From 12 April, if case rates remain low:

• All shops and remaining close-contact services could resume

On 22 April

• Ministers will consider when gyms and outdoor hospitality in Wales can reopen in its lockdown review

Full article - Covid: Supermarket limits lifted as lockdown in Wales eases

 

[Clint]

Herr Drakeford will be polishing his half track as we speak...I'm not holding my breath on any of that.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[marshbrewer]

Herr Drakeford will be polishing his half track as we speak...I'm not holding my breath on any of that.

I get the slightest of hints from your posts @Clint that Mr Drakeford isn't your most favourite politician. Am I right?

 

[Clint]

I get the slightest of hints from your posts @Clint that Mr Drakeford isn't your most favourite politician. Am I right?

You could be...

 

[dad_of_jon]

I get the slightest of hints from your posts @Clint that Mr Drakeford isn't your most favourite politician. Am I right?

I'm with Clint. I think that some measures are counter productive. Opening up more outdoor activies or hospitality would surely reduce the risk of mixing illegally in the home? I was in Tesco Llanelli earlier and the staff picking , for click and collect/home delivery didn't give a jot about social distancing.

 

[darkbright]

Second dose today. Great service from Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford.

 

[Arcs]

Winning an election like he did then 12 weeks later being hit with a pandemic, the guy deserves a break

yea he sure does, in the Haigh ><

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Due to the length of lockdown and the nicer weather coming its going to be difficult to stop people ignoring the rules the amount of vaccines already given will also add to this as it'll give people a false sense of security, lets hope common sense prevails.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Due to the length of lockdown and the nicer weather coming its going to be difficult to stop people ignoring the rules the amount of vaccines already given will also add to this as it'll give people a false sense of security, lets hope common sense prevails.

Common sense will not prevail Chippy. It would be better to allow travel and other activities to loosen from the end of March. That way people can spend Easter with their kids, parents, grandkids etc.

 

[Clint]

I've resigned most of this year to the bin!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

It would be better to allow travel and other activities to loosen from the end of March.

Maybe they should have made it a special Easter weekend and allowed limited numbers to visit family i don't think opening the flood gates and allowing any number to meet with whoever they want just as we head towards full vaccination would be a good idea.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I've resigned most of this year to the bin!

I think you may be right Clint as the third wave could be on the way.

19 hours ago - Coronavirus: Third wave will 'wash up on our shores', warns Johnson



Boris Johnson has warned the effects of a third wave of coronavirus will "wash up on our shores" from Europe.
The PM said the UK should be "under no illusion" we will "feel effects" of growing cases on the continent.
One of his ministers, Lord Bethell, also warned the UK might put "all our European neighbours" on the red list of countries, where arrivals are either banned or put in quarantine hotels.
The comments come amid a row over Covid-19 vaccine supplies in the EU.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has warned the EU could "forbid" doses made in the bloc from being exported to the UK.
EU leaders will hold a virtual meeting on Thursday to discuss their plans.
Officials confirmed the PM spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday about the ongoing issue, which would affect exports of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine made in Europe.
Mr Johnson said he "talked to EU friends repeatedly" during the pandemic and had been "reassured... over the last few month they don't want to see blockades".
Downing Street also said President von der Leyen, had told Mr Johnson earlier this year that the EU was not intending to restrict exports of vaccines.

• PM hails record-breaking day with 844,285 jabs
• EU should not 'build walls' around vaccines
• Why is the EU having vaccine problems?

EU legislation allows measures to be taken "if severe difficulties arise in the supply of certain products" - which, in theory, could include export bans and the waiving of patent and intellectual property rights on vaccines.
But earlier, Mrs von der Leyen's chief spokesman, Eric Mamer, insisted that Brussels was not seeking to ban vaccine exports, but wanted pharmaceutical firms to meet their contractual obligations to the bloc.
Mr Mamer said: "In that context, the president has said that, of course, we see that, actually, companies that manufacture doses in the EU have been exporting very widely - which is in itself a good thing - but that we want to see reciprocity and proportionality in these exports

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Deaths in the UK have fallen below the five-year average for the first time since the summer.
Experts say it means the winter wave of Covid deaths has ended and lockdown and the vaccine rollout have saved lives.
In the week up to 12 March, 14% of all deaths involved Covid, compared with 44% at the 22 January peak, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show.
In January, Covid deaths drove overall mortality in the UK 40% higher than the average seen between 2015 and 2019.
There have been more than 145,000 deaths involving Covid in the UK since the first lockdown, a year ago.

Warmer weather
During the first wave of the virus, tens of thousands of Covid deaths meant many more people were dying overall than during the same months in previous years.
The first lockdown brought cases down - but it took longer for this to translate to a fall in deaths.
Following this lockdown, and in the warmer weather from late June until the beginning of August, deaths dipped back below the five-year average.
But after the first week of August, they again began to rise above levels expected for the time of year.

And they remained above expected levels every week since - with the exception of the week ending 4 September, which was skewed by delays in reporting because of the August Bank Holiday - until the second week in March, which saw them fall 5% below the average.
This time we have a tool we did not have previously, though, in the form of vaccines.
Prof Neil Ferguson, director of the Medical Research Council Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, at Imperial College London, said: "The new ONS data on deaths is encouraging in suggesting the second devastating wave of the pandemic is behind us.
"But calling epidemics 'waves' can be misleading in implying a phenomenon which has reached a natural end - that is not the case here.
"The rapid decline in deaths we have thankfully seen is entirely because of the lockdown and the rapid rollout of vaccines.
"So while I'm optimistic that this we will be able to return to something more like normal in the next few months, we need to remain vigilant and cautious in the pace with which social distancing is relaxed - particularly given the threat still posed by new variants of the virus."

 

[Pezza24]

I'm with Clint. I think that some measures are counter productive. Opening up more outdoor activies or hospitality would surely reduce the risk of mixing illegally in the home? I was in Tesco Llanelli earlier and the staff picking , for click and collect/home delivery didn't give a jot about social distancing.

I refuse to shop in any Tesco where they do this as the people they employ to do it in my area seem to be absolute bell tips.

 

[Rodcx500z]

You could use the Stanley Johnson loop hole, if you own a second home abroad you are allowed to travel to prepare it for sale to let or rental, so thats the well heeled sorted this summer don't you just love back door politics, now were's my placard i am gonna protest about this Covid travel rules will include 'Stanley Johnson loophole' for second homes (msn.com)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[Galena]

Had my fist dose last Friday, felt pretty crap the next day like slight flu like symptoms, aching muscles etc and lethargic, the second day less so and was able to do some jobs outside without issue having some paracetamol. Went for a 50k bike ride today and still felt a bit weak compered to normal but got round okay.

 

[Chippy_Tea]