The government is wary of the Beta variant because they are not certain how well the vaccines work against it; they know they work very well against Delta. The current government travel advice is very much geared towards keeping Beta out.
Which makes no sense when you consider that they are clearly trying to achieve herd immunity by allowing hundreds of thousands of people to catch Covid.
I don't quite understand how or what applies in the opposite direction - that is, France-to-England - except that it's put my sister off from visiting this country since late 2019! Of course, there may be other factors...
She lives not far from Narbonne, BTW, although previously she was nearer Perpignan. Oddly, Gerona airport in Spain was often the most convenient for flights to England, as she had an Aged Aunt living near Bournemouth, and, as enny fule kno, there are (or were) direct flights from Gerona to Bournemouth.
TBH what I had been afraid of was France would put the UK on the red list. I would have been sad but I would have at least understood it as a reasonable decision given the stratospheric new case numbers over the Channel.
The British government's position, OTOH, is so absurdly incoherent I can't even. To protect against variants, the fully vaccinated can't visit their relatives in an amber list country, but meanwhile back home they are going to let people go to nightclubs unvaccinated and unmasked as Covid cases skyrocket. If they were trying to create a shiny new variant of their own, I can hardly think of a better way of going about it.
I am contemplating writing a Strongly Worded Letter to the MP for the last constituency I was eligible to vote in (a smug Tory gammon who literally once wrote a published guide to legal tax avoidance for the wealthy). I doubt it would do much good but it might make me feel better.
With infections increasing, schools closing early, travel becoming impossible, and the general population being left to its own often-irresponsible devices, it's surely time for Bozzymandias and his Chums to retire to their bunker.
I'm sure someone could be paid enough to lose the key.
They've made a rather swift U-turn following public outrage. Now if they could just be persuaded to do the same for French quarantine... on the which subject, further research indicates that all our Beta variant cases are happening on Mayotte and Reunion, a full 6000 miles away from the French mainland. The incompetence, it burns.
My word - things are moving fast. I guess this means the super-spreader event scheduled for tomorrow (The House of Commons at full capacity) may go ahead without The Gibbering Gargoyle spluttering inanities (and the virus) over everyone.
The revised article in the link emphasises the enormous muddle the *government* has got itself into over *Freedom Day*.
Case rates matter a lot. Because there's more biological substrate within which this virus can vary, form a copy that's slightly different and possibly more contagious and lethal.
There'll be an equation that shows how frequently this virus mutates, how this is affected by numbers of infected people, numbers of those infected people who are vaccinated, half vaccinated, not vaccinated, which vaccine combinations they've taken, age, medical vulnerabilities, other variables. This is the predictive power of applied statistics. Multiple regression as I've listed some possible variables.
Whenever someone says "<something> doesn't matter", perhaps they want to simplify. Which is understandable. It gives a sense of control I think.
I am no apologist for Katie Hopkins abhorrent views, but the woman is, literally, brain damaged. There is something unedifying in TV programmes hiring her, knowing that she is her own worst enemy.
I had no idea until recently who Ms Hopkins is ( not having a telly helps); however this bloody woman was allowed into Oz on a so-called” critical skills visa”
I had no idea until recently who Ms Hopkins is ( not having a telly helps); however this bloody woman was allowed into Oz on a so-called” critical skills visa”
There are lots of islands in the Pacific - might not one of them do? One of the otherwise uninhabited ones, of course...
I wondered about St Helena - they have a nice line in wallpapers there - but it's in the Atlantic. In any case, I have no grudge against its worthy denizens.
I am no apologist for Katie Hopkins abhorrent views, but the woman is, literally, brain damaged. There is something unedifying in TV programmes hiring her, knowing that she is her own worst enemy.
Whoops just looked; south Atlantic and to my surprise still claimed by Argentina.
Why would anyone want the place?
Because someone else wants it. Nations with land are often indistinguishable from toddlers with toys.
Quite. AIUI, there are ongoing disputes with Argentina about oil...which is rather ironic, given the rapid onset of climate change caused by the use of fossil fuels...
Whoops just looked; south Atlantic and to my surprise still claimed by Argentina.
Why would anyone want the place?
Because someone else wants it. Nations with land are often indistinguishable from toddlers with toys.
Terry Pratchett had it right in Jingo!: two powerful countries and their "patriotic" hoi polloi fight for possession of an island that periodically floats up from the bottom of the sea in disputed waters. Then it sinks again. Oh.
Hi, everybody. I thought I'd pop in for a bit. I passed the three month "anniversary" of having Covid, about two weeks ago. I wanted to go off and get my first vaccine but my body has other ideas. Mainly, a root canal that had to be postponed is causing problems and raising my blood glucose levels alarmingly. Also, my asthma that was moderately serious before I got Covid has decided to become seriously serious and all sorts of unpleasantness has crept in. So! The upshot (no pun intended) is that I might have to wait a little while longer for my first vaccine. Aye carumba!
I am completely moved in to my new digs in Seattle now. Not unpacked, by any stretch of my fevered imagination, but that is happening, slowly. Everything is happening slowly now.
Anyway, enough blithering and blabbering here. I'm very glad to be alive and once again, would like to thank all of you for your well-wishes and prayers.
That's a lot going on at once! COVID, root canal, moving... goodness. Glad you have survived. (and oh yeah, sounds like you're in heat dome territory, so there was that as well).
Comments
Which makes no sense when you consider that they are clearly trying to achieve herd immunity by allowing hundreds of thousands of people to catch Covid.
Totally and absolutely this! So sorry @la vie en rouge 😭.
She lives not far from Narbonne, BTW, although previously she was nearer Perpignan. Oddly, Gerona airport in Spain was often the most convenient for flights to England, as she had an Aged Aunt living near Bournemouth, and, as enny fule kno, there are (or were) direct flights from Gerona to Bournemouth.
The British government's position, OTOH, is so absurdly incoherent I can't even. To protect against variants, the fully vaccinated can't visit their relatives in an amber list country, but meanwhile back home they are going to let people go to nightclubs unvaccinated and unmasked as Covid cases skyrocket. If they were trying to create a shiny new variant of their own, I can hardly think of a better way of going about it.
I am contemplating writing a Strongly Worded Letter to the MP for the last constituency I was eligible to vote in (a smug Tory gammon who literally once wrote a published guide to legal tax avoidance for the wealthy). I doubt it would do much good but it might make me feel better.
https://theguardian.com/politics/2021/jul/17/sajid-javid-uk-health-secretary-tests-positive-for-covid
https://theguardian.com/politics/2021/jul/18/boris-johnson-and-rishi-sunak-will-not-isolate-after-being-pinged-says-no-10
With infections increasing, schools closing early, travel becoming impossible, and the general population being left to its own often-irresponsible devices, it's surely time for Bozzymandias and his Chums to retire to their bunker.
I'm sure someone could be paid enough to lose the key.
https://theguardian.com/politics/2021/jul/18/boris-johnson-and-rishi-sunak-will-not-isolate-after-being-pinged-says-no-10
My word - things are moving fast. I guess this means the super-spreader event scheduled for tomorrow (The House of Commons at full capacity) may go ahead without The Gibbering Gargoyle spluttering inanities (and the virus) over everyone.
The revised article in the link emphasises the enormous muddle the *government* has got itself into over *Freedom Day*.
There'll be an equation that shows how frequently this virus mutates, how this is affected by numbers of infected people, numbers of those infected people who are vaccinated, half vaccinated, not vaccinated, which vaccine combinations they've taken, age, medical vulnerabilities, other variables. This is the predictive power of applied statistics. Multiple regression as I've listed some possible variables.
Whenever someone says "<something> doesn't matter", perhaps they want to simplify. Which is understandable. It gives a sense of control I think.
No, you're fine. We really don't mind if you keep her. Go on, no, really, it's fine.
I'm sure the RAF can be prevailed upon to winch her down.
Parachute, wet suit and flippers. Transatlantic flights must go within a few hundred miles.
Gravity works, I think...
What skills?
Jesus wept
Being an utterly obnoxious arse.
Clearly Home Affairs did not do its homework.
Whatever, good riddance.
Quite possibly, but there aren't many transatlantic flights from Australia. And by not many I mean zero.
I wondered about St Helena - they have a nice line in wallpapers there - but it's in the Atlantic. In any case, I have no grudge against its worthy denizens.
This,
Why would anyone want the place?
I don't think Ms Hopkins needs to be deposited on a specifically British territory - anywhere uninhabited (or uninhabitable) will do.
BTW, I was surprised to be told by Professor W I Kipedia that the population of the Pitcairn Islands is just 47.
Oil.
Because someone else wants it. Nations with land are often indistinguishable from toddlers with toys.
Quite. AIUI, there are ongoing disputes with Argentina about oil...which is rather ironic, given the rapid onset of climate change caused by the use of fossil fuels...
Look, it's deportation and she belongs to you. Deal with it.
O bugger.
I have it! We could team her up with Niggle the Garbage on GB*News*, and let them implode together, preferably whilst on air.
The viewers (Sid and Doris Bonkers) would love it.
Terry Pratchett had it right in Jingo!: two powerful countries and their "patriotic" hoi polloi fight for possession of an island that periodically floats up from the bottom of the sea in disputed waters. Then it sinks again. Oh.
I am completely moved in to my new digs in Seattle now. Not unpacked, by any stretch of my fevered imagination, but that is happening, slowly. Everything is happening slowly now.
Anyway, enough blithering and blabbering here. I'm very glad to be alive and once again, would like to thank all of you for your well-wishes and prayers.
That's a lot going on at once! COVID, root canal, moving... goodness. Glad you have survived. (and oh yeah, sounds like you're in heat dome territory, so there was that as well).
I know virtually nothing of Aussie politics, but this guy gets my vote on the basis of entertainment.