International COVID-19 Megathread

[CumbrianLefty]

Finnish government finally recommends wearing masks in public places where social distancing is not possible. This follows months of insisting that masks are of no use.

That's the thing, you see. Saying masks aren't a cure all is one thing, but several went way beyond that and insisted they had no effect at all (or were even actually harmful)

[CumbrianLefty]

UK government reopens a bit more stuff, but also imposes new overseas travel restrictions.

(notably with France)

[CumbrianLefty]

You were doing so well too.

That could be applied to quite a few places, unfortunately.

[CumbrianLefty]

Its a SCANDEMIC, though!!

[CumbrianLefty]

As posted elsewhere, Spain now having a major uptick in cases. More worryingly, speculation it might have got into elderly people's accommodation again......

[CumbrianLefty]

Of course it is the normal virus "path" for mutations to be more spreadable but less deadly. There are exceptions to this, but they are not that common.

[CumbrianLefty]

The government here has issued new guidelines for schools re-opening in just a few days time.

Teachers are, needless to say, not happy.

[CumbrianLefty]

Deaths do seem to be right down almost everywhere. More effective treatments are certainly a major reason for that, but maybe the virus is also mutating and becoming milder?

[CumbrianLefty]

Our government now seems more concerned with hectoring people "back to work" (of course, many of them have actually been working through the last 6 months)

What they actually mean, of course, is "prop up our mates in the commercial property game NOW!"

[CumbrianLefty]

Yes of course, but the fact is for *some* people (and, it would seem, a significant number) the past six months have shown they don't HAVE to go into the office every day.

And maybe even more importantly, their employers often agree.

To me, trying to forcibly revert things to EXACTLY how they were in March 2020 is Canute-like. Much better to accept that certain things *will* change, and manage that as painlessly as possible.

[CumbrianLefty]

Its generally accepted that the story was about Canute issuing a symbolic rebuke to his flattering courtiers and/or demonstrating even a king's powerlessness compared with the workings of God. Despite this, the metaphor is most commonly used in the way that I did.

[CumbrianLefty]

Glasgow is of course mostly white, which goes against certain "narratives".

[CumbrianLefty]

It is more Asian than the Scottish average, with major concentrations in some wards, but not hugely so.

Demography of Glasgow

One Scottish author's most violent Glaswegian is a petite South Asian woman...

I know Glasgow has the highest Asian population in Scotland, but it is still *mostly* white.

(in contrast to several other "hotspot" areas)

[CumbrianLefty]

It is more Asian than the Scottish average, with major concentrations in some wards, but not hugely so.

Demography of Glasgow

One Scottish author's most violent Glaswegian is a petite South Asian woman...

I know Glasgow has the highest Asian population in Scotland, but it is still *mostly* white.

(in contrast to several other "hotspot" areas)

Pouring over the data

Tbf wouldn't that make it rather hard to read?

(soz about picking up on the typo but this was a good one - its actually "poring")

[CumbrianLefty]

Speaking of racially related things, my city has just had a COVID outbreak and it is apparently centered on the Dominican community.*

I don't know who's more stupid between those who think that mentioning this at all is xenophobic and those who have actual xenophobic takes about it.

*for reference it's the largest immigrant community present in La Spezia.

That is nothing. Pauline Hanson blamed the COVID-19 outbreak in Melbourne on "unemployed drug addicts who cannot speak English" on national TV.

https://www.mamamia.com.au/what-did-pauline-hanson-say/

Why does this failure at literally everything still get the oxygen of publicity?

[CumbrianLefty]

Which suggests that the virus might have mutated and became less deadly. Or that younger people are now affected. Or better treatment.

Quite possibly, all those things.

[CumbrianLefty]

Two weeks ago the UK government was demanding (not least through its tame media proxies) that it was now ESSENTIAL that ALL office employees should commute to their workplace EVERY DAY.

The wisdom of this "advice", given subsequent developments, is left as an exercise for the reader.

[CumbrianLefty]

True, but also not really the point

[CumbrianLefty]

The issue with the ‘circuit breaker’ concept is, in the absence of a vaccine or some other deus ex machina like mass testing, herd immunity or the virus ‘losing potency’, the case level will immediately begin to creep back up again once these restrictions are lifted, meaning we could be back where we are now in December.

This *may* be happening if the reduced numbers of deaths pro rata are any guide.

(though that will also be improved treatments to an extent)

The problem is, as with so much else, its only possible to be really sure about this in hindsight.

[CumbrianLefty]

Sure, some people are dicks. That will be the case everywhere.

[CumbrianLefty]

Hancock: any second UK-wide lockdown is the fault of you, the voters - not us.

I can totally see this ending well

[CumbrianLefty]

While the government has its own considerable share of blame for all this (and that isn't helping with compliance), people do have to fulfil their side of the social contract.

Like most problems in society, it's the minority who cause problems for the rest of us.

Also, if we impose a 10pm curfew on pubs, can we keep it? That will do wonders for our NHS.

Sure, but as I said you get a minority behaving stupidly in all countries. That doesn't alter the fact some governments have undoubtedly handled this crisis better than our own - not least because their messaging has often been less vague and contradictory.

[CumbrianLefty]

There really isn't much evidence masks *outside* make much of a difference at all.

[CumbrianLefty]

The treatment of students in the UK - starting in Scotland but now moving south of the border too - is shaping up to be a genuine scandal.

[CumbrianLefty]

Striking too that polls only show lukewarm support for this, compared to the strong backing still given to most anti-virus measures. Not hard to see at least a degree of backtracking on the way.