Coronavirus

[sprint95m]

That said, hospitality would be able to open until 22:30.

If I may, to clarify, what may seem like a small point but is actually very significant to us employed in hospitality,
in Level One, hospitality is allowed to be open until 21:30 with all customers to leave by 22:30.

Thanks.

[aqua]

This is my first post in some time. I stopped visiting and posting largely because I was tired of serial extreme opinions from a small number of people. I couldn’t be bothered reading it, never mind responding to it. I see one person has been banned, which is sad and has killed off most of the ‘discussion’.

I don’t claim to be a particularly informative or entertaining poster, or a very good debater, but I am still here, for now at least.

[Neil Howie]

Meanwhile in Sweden...

Intensive care in the Stockholm Region is under severe pressure. On Tuesday, the intensive care units were 99 percent full. This is the first time this has happened during the pandemic.

- These are activities that are about life and death, so the situation is very serious, says Björn Persson, operations manager for perioperative medicine and intensive care at Karolinska.

The director of health and medical care, Björn Eriksson, says that he turned to the National Board of Health and Welfare for staff reinforcement.

In the Stockholm region, there were 160 intensive care units on Tuesday, including intensive care for children, which were 99 percent full. Both by covids and by other patients who need the most advanced emergency care.

[ecb]

What do people thing about the cancellation of next year's Higher and Advanced Higher exams? Instead a new model that has been developed and awards will be based on teacher judgement of evidence of learner attainment.

I saw a comment attached to a newspaper story about this, which seems (to me) to have a grain of truth about it:

Employer; "so when did you get your 5 advanced grade Highers at A* "
Interviewee; " it was in 2021 actually"
Employer; "oh! I see, don't call us we'll call you"

[Alrock]

What do people thing about the cancellation of next year's Higher and Advanced Higher exams? Instead a new model that has been developed and awards will be based on teacher judgement of evidence of learner attainment.

Good year to be a teacher... Lots of bribes coming your way...

[aqua]

The new variant of coronavirus is scary. Can its advance be halted without a vaccine? With an estimated increase in R of 0.4, I fear it may be unstoppable before mass vaccination nears completion.

[ecb]

Stricter lockdown rules for Scotland:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-55379632

But will people follow the new restrictions. I saw the following humourous comment in a newspaper, about people's attitudes to the Covid rules:

"They break the rules;
You bend the rules;
I have a very good reason for what I am doing."

It seems to have a grain of truth in it.

[aqua]

The new variant of coronavirus is scary. Can its advance be halted without a vaccine? With an estimated increase in R of 0.4, I fear it may be unstoppable before mass vaccination nears completion.

Gulp! The increase in R is now being quoted as being in the range 0.4 to 0.9. The latter would be deadly, and probably make it unstoppable without near-total vaccination.