Re: We're all doomed! Doomed I say- the Corona virus thread for panicking in!

[Pettytyrant101]

'The leader of the Republican Party in Texas suggested Friday that “law-abiding states” might want to form their own "union," after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Lone Star State’s lawsuit over the 2020 presidential election, according to reports.
"Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the Constitution,”
West’s proposal echoed a similar sentiment expressed earlier in the week by Texas state Rep. Kyle Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg, who called for a referendum that would allow voters to decide if Texas should break off from the U.S.
radio host Rush Limbaugh this week also stated that perhaps a fissure in the U.S. was inevitable.
“It can’t go on this way," he continued. "There cannot be a peaceful coexistence of two completely different theories of life, theories of government, theories of how we manage our affairs. We can’t be in this dire a conflict without something giving somewhere along the way.”

[halfwise]

Yep, inconsistent viewpoints. But the two sides can get on so long as they accept the other viewpoint as valid disagreement. Then you get together and wrangle it out. The comedian Lewis Black pointed out that the country was run better when congress was a bunch of drunks who'd go into a bar and work things out. Doesn't happen anymore.

[Pettytyrant101]

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ Happy to report my care worker friends have had their first dose of the vaccine and nothing untoward to report I'll keep you updated as I hear more. }}

[Mrs Figg]

thats brilliant. I love Joe vids.

[Mrs Figg]

{{ Happy to report my care worker friends have had their first dose of the vaccine and nothing untoward to report I'll keep you updated as I hear more. }}

thats great news

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ Sadly there is bad news too, with a new variant of the virus thats 70% more infectious and transmittable than the already very infectious original sweeping through England, there were 9 cases of the new variant in Scotland at last briefing, I suspect that wil lbe much higher when we hear from Sturgeon later today. As a result Boris held a press conference just a short while ago and the south and south-east of England is moving into higher levels of lockdown in an attempt to combat it.
They are saying so far there is no evidence the symptoms from the new strain are any worse, or that the death rate is any higher, just its much more transmittable and they think the vaccine will still work against it. But its early days on this new strain, so there's an element of hope in those statements I think. }}

[Mrs Figg]

that's not good, hopefully it wont effect the vaccine, and there have been many variants of this virus before, like the Spanish one, so I wouldn't be unduly worried. They need to stop people travelling up from the South into Scotland, put in a road block.

edit. so the South is in tier 4 and not allowed to travel out of their zone, so that should stop it spreading North. it is 70% more infectious, how is that even possible? I don't understand that.

[Lancebloke]

As a general rule, diseases become more infectious but less virulent otherwise they end up killing too many hosts and therefore die out themselves.

Also, coronaviruses tend to be quite stable on their basic structure (unlike flu) so the vaccine should be fine.

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ Well Strugeon has closed the border with England, reduced the 5 day relaxtion xmas period to just xmas day and only within your own area, and as of midnight on xmas day we are back in full lockdown country wide. Schools will be remote learning save for children of essential workers, so schools will effectively be acting as day care.

Also update on those I know who have had the vaccine- redness and pain around the injection site, and mild to severe muscle pain for a couple of days, in some cases even making difficult for some folk to walk. But then it passes. }}

[Mrs Figg]

Good to hear about the travel ban, it makes sense. Scotland is lucky to have such a decisive leader. She isn't afraid of giving bad news if it is necessary.
The muscle pain is pretty normal for a lot of vaccines. The tetanus jab gives you a painful arm for a couple of days.

[azriel]

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ If youre in the Uk expect shortages of food and goods!

'The port of Dover will be closed to traffic leaving the UK...France halted the lorry movements in the wake of fresh concerns over the spread of a new strain of coronavirus. Freight from France to the UK will be allowed, but there are fears lorry drivers will not travel to avoid being stuck in the UK. The border restrictions could mean disruption to food supplies, as well as difficulties in meeting orders of British goods in continental Europe. Continental truckers will not want to travel here if they have a real fear of getting marooned.
A number of countries have banned or are considering stopping flights from the UK following the emergence of a new variant of coronavirus.
Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium are all halting flights, and other nations are considering the move.
Trains to Belgium are also not operating.
Eurotunnel is suspending access to its Folkestone terminal from 22:00 GMT for traffic and freight heading to Calais.
Coronavirus cases in the UK have risen by 35,928 - nearly double the number recorded last Sunday, figures show.- BBC News

Its getting worse and worse. }}

[halfwise]

Current rates in England are 2/3 what's in the US. Have to assume we've been blockaded for a while.

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ Yeah but America doesnt get the bulk of its fresh food from the EU. We dont produce enough to feed our country on or own, we rely on trade for it. Add on top of that if there is no Brexit deal come 1st Jan we will be trading on WTO terms with tariffs on goods and its a recipe for utter disaster.}}

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ Dover this morning-



To give idea of scale of this problem there is normally at this time of year approx 10,000 lorries going back and forth across the channel every day. Thats gone instantly to 0.
Not sure if this will also effect the vaccination program given the vaccines were coming in by lorry from Belgium.

And this on top of a mass exodus from London after Boris made his announcment about the new strain which is hitting London and the SE particularly badly-



Bunch of selfish buggers risking taking the new strain out of London with them and spreading it to the rest of the country.

'Londoners who crowded on to trains to leave the capital on Saturday night were "totally irresponsible", the health secretary has said. By 19.00, there were no tickets available online from several stations including Paddington, Kings Cross and Euston. A spokesman for the railway apologised for any "inconvenience and discomfort caused" by the "unexpected surge in passengers".- BBC News

Sturgeon is calling on Boris to ask for a Brexit extension, as obvioulsy dealing with both these issues at once is madness- doubt he will listen though.}}

[Lancebloke]

{{ Happy to report my care worker friends have had their first dose of the vaccine and nothing untoward to report I'll keep you updated as I hear more. }}

Same for my grandparents. They had no side-effects on dose 1.

[halfwise]

What does GB trade for food? My impression is that the US tends to trade out grain for fresh fruits and vegetables from the southern hemisphere and tropics in the off season. Not directly, but calorie wise the US is self sustaining.

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ '80% of food is imported into the UK... the UK's frozen food storage capacity is already 100% used, according to various press reports. "In preparation for a worst-case scenario, retailers and suppliers have been stockpiling in the UK and press reports have highlighted that there is now no unused frozen food capacity in the UK,"'- Buisness Insider.

And that was from a report from last year. So the situation is not good.

These days we barely export anything.

Our top export is cars (but all the firms who make them here are foreign).
Crude and refined petroleum are also in our top ten (taken from Scotland I might add!)
Gold is on the top ten too as are pharmecuticals. And liquor (again mainly Scottish, as most of it is whisky exports). }}

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_exports_of_the_United_Kingdom

[Mrs Figg]

its a perfect shitstorm. I have never known of such terrible times for the UK. The only way out is very fast vaccination, maybe firebreaks around effected areas.

[Pettytyrant101]

[Mrs Figg]

make sure you ask which vaccine you are getting each time, in the UK they are talking about mixing them which is not a good idea.

[Lancebloke]

They have talked about it but the guidance at the moment is very much to keep them separate until trials of mixing have been conducted.

Few months off being available for most of us I think.

[Mrs Figg]

depends on age and risk factor, those below 50 with no health issues will be waiting a lot longer, but AstraZeneca is a game changer as regards timing unless this useless government doesn't cock this up as well.

[Lancebloke]

It is, but the whole world needs a vaccine. For someone my age I would imagine getting offered a first jab about March.