End the Lockdown

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
49,906
1,905
113
What makes me sad about this whole Wuflu ordeal is that I have been right since day one. What a huge mistake.

Yeah. It'll be looked back on by future historians in the coming decades and centuries as a big mistake.

We're in the right here.
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
49,906
1,905
113
The original goal of keeping our healthcare system from being overwhelmed? It wont be overwhelmed any longer if we go to normal? What are you losing out on?

One reason why it's not overwhelmed during this lockdown is because people are not receiving treatments for far more serious conditions like heart attacks, strokes and cancer.
 

HarperCons

Council Member
Oct 18, 2015
1,865
74
48
again why are you calling what we have in Canada or the U.K a lockdown? There is no lockdown. You little babies are annoying. Too over-privileged and too dumb.
 

Walter

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 28, 2007
34,887
126
63
again why are you calling what we have in Canada or the U.K a lockdown? There is no lockdown. You little babies are annoying. Too over-privileged and too dumb.
Been to a Blue Jays game this year? Had a meal in a sit-down, eat-in restaurant since March? Taken yer kids to play at the playground in the park in the last month? Kids been to school lately? Graduates been to any proms or graduations or commencements lately? Bought a shirt in a store recently? Anyone had elective surgery since March 17? Haven't seen an NHL game for weeks. No basketball playoffs allowed. Can't leave the country. Can't have weddings. Can't have church services. Can't go to temple or mosque.

No lockdown my ass. End the lockdown.
 
Last edited:

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
25,756
295
83
Been to a Blue Jays game this year? Had a meal in a sit-down, eat-in restaurant since March? Taken yer kids to play at the playground in the park in the last month? Kids been to school lately? Graduates been to any proms or graduations or commencements lately? Bought a shirt in a store recently? Anyone had elective surgery since March 17? Haven't seen an NHL game for weeks. No basketball playoffs allowed. Can't leave the country. Can't have weddings. Can't have church services. Can't go to temple or mosque.
No lockdown my ass. End the lockdown.


Nope, no lock down. Some restrictions, yes. Lock down no. If there was a lockdown, I wouldn't be sitting in my property in the koutenays when I live in calgary. Heading back this afternoon, and then back here again next friday. I'm not locked down at all. If you are, then it really sucks to be you. Maybe there's a reason you're locked down, mental issues maybe?
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
117,183
14,241
113
Low Earth Orbit
One reason why it's not overwhelmed during this lockdown is because people are not receiving treatments for far more serious conditions like heart attacks, strokes and cancer.
Dont be an idiot. All emergency and acute care is going full bore.

Ya know, if you need help with your anxiety my wife can help. Should I have her email you?
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
117,183
14,241
113
Low Earth Orbit
Nope, no luck down. Some restrictions, yes. Lock down no. If there was a lockdown, I wouldn't be sitting in my property in the koutenays when I live in calgary. Heading back this afternoon, and then back here again next friday. I'm not locked down at all. If you are, then it really sucks to be you. Maybe there's a reason you're locked down, mental issues maybe?
Wally appears to be the type to panic and exhibit irrational behavior during a crisis.
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
49,906
1,905
113
Boris Johnson speech: PM unveils 'conditional plan' to reopen society

BBC News
10th May 2020



Boris Johnson has unveiled a "conditional plan" to reopen society, allowing people in England only to spend more time outdoors from Wednesday.

The PM also said people who could not work from home should return to the workplace - but avoid public transport.

He said a new Covid Alert System with five levels would govern how quickly lockdown restrictions could be eased.

He hoped the next step "at the earliest by 1 June" would be for some primary pupils to return to school in England.

In an address to the nation, Mr Johnson said this stage would also involve reopening shops - but he cautioned this would only happen if the science supported it.

The next step could see some hospitality businesses and other public places reopen - "if the numbers support it" - but not earlier than 1 July.

The PM added: "This is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week.

"Instead we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures."

Clarifying the conditions in which schools and shops would reopen, Mr Johnson said: "Throughout this period of the next two months we will be driven not by mere hope or economic necessity.

"We are going to be driven by the science, the data and public health.

"And I must stress again all of this is conditional, it all depends on a series of big ifs."

He said those who could not work from home would now be encouraged to return to work - but they should avoid using public transport to get there if possible.

Mr Johnson mentioned construction and manufacturing as examples of the sorts of industries where restarting would now be explicitly encouraged.

Workplaces would receive guidance on how to become "Covid secure", Mr Johnson added.

The PM also said he was "serving notice" that it would soon be the time to impose a quarantine on people coming into the country by air.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52609952
 

NZDoug

Council Member
Jul 18, 2017
1,894
31
48
Big Bay, Awhitu, New Zealand
Boris Johnson speech: PM unveils 'conditional plan' to reopen society
BBC News
10th May 2020

Boris Johnson has unveiled a "conditional plan" to reopen society, allowing people in England only to spend more time outdoors from Wednesday.
The PM also said people who could not work from home should return to the workplace - but avoid public transport.
He said a new Covid Alert System with five levels would govern how quickly lockdown restrictions could be eased.
He hoped the next step "at the earliest by 1 June" would be for some primary pupils to return to school in England.
In an address to the nation, Mr Johnson said this stage would also involve reopening shops - but he cautioned this would only happen if the science supported it.
The next step could see some hospitality businesses and other public places reopen - "if the numbers support it" - but not earlier than 1 July.
The PM added: "This is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week.
"Instead we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures."
Clarifying the conditions in which schools and shops would reopen, Mr Johnson said: "Throughout this period of the next two months we will be driven not by mere hope or economic necessity.
"We are going to be driven by the science, the data and public health.
"And I must stress again all of this is conditional, it all depends on a series of big ifs."
He said those who could not work from home would now be encouraged to return to work - but they should avoid using public transport to get there if possible.
Mr Johnson mentioned construction and manufacturing as examples of the sorts of industries where restarting would now be explicitly encouraged.
Workplaces would receive guidance on how to become "Covid secure", Mr Johnson added.
The PM also said he was "serving notice" that it would soon be the time to impose a quarantine on people coming into the country by air.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52609952
This bears a familiar resemblance to NZ's Lock Down Levels introduced 7 weeks ago.
Do you think BOJO reads the newspapers or did his NZ nurse Jennie tell him how its done?
I remember Heremy Corbyn wanted to can the nuke submarines and put the moola into the NHS and buy back British Rail from private hands.
BUT, he said "our friends in Hamas" and got shot down in flames.
33,000 British dead now?
 
Last edited:

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
117,183
14,241
113
Low Earth Orbit
Provincial Parks in SK open today. I had planned on going fishing but a caliper on the truck packed it in last evening. I just ordered a new one that will be delivered by 8AM.

Sestlevi.

Today, Quebec does an immunity test on their children.

Let's see what happens.
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
49,906
1,905
113
Of course the SNP loves the lockdown

It is no surprise that Scotland's authoritarian government is still telling people to 'stay at home'


ROB LYONS
COLUMNIST
11th May 2020
Spiked



Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told us firmly on Sunday that the message to ‘stay at home’ remains unchanged. We expected little and she delivered in spades – which is handy, given that the garden centres will remain closed and spades are currently unavailable.

‘For Scotland right now’, she said, ‘given the fragility of the progress we’ve made, given the critical point that we are at, it would be catastrophic for me to drop the stay-at-home message, which is why I’m not prepared to do it’. There was an inevitable dig at Boris Johnson for offering a sliver of additional freedom in England. ‘And I’m particularly not prepared to do it in favour of a message that is vague and imprecise.’

Scotland’s Covid-19 rules are significantly different now to England’s. The only tweak north of the border is to recognise what was happening already — namely, that people have been leaving their homes more than once a day. So a rule that was pretty much unenforceable, except with the connivance of curtain-twitching neighbours, has been relaxed.

Sturgeon declared: ‘All other lockdown restrictions remain in place. When you are exercising, you must stay relatively close to your own home and at all times at least two metres away from people from other households.’ This is not, she added, ‘a licence to start meeting up in groups, at the park or at the beach’. Heaven forbid that we use our own judgement!

The differences now between the approaches of England and Scotland are marked. Up here, police officers have been told to warn or even fine anyone who has travelled by car to take exercise, even if he or she has only travelled a short distance to do so. Down south, the rule of thumb is that the time spent exercising must be considerably longer than the time spent driving for it to be allowed. In Scotland, it’s strictly a case of ‘stay local’.

It was already the case that construction work has largely ground to a halt in Scotland, and there is little sign of that rule being softened. In England, construction work is, if anything, set to ramp up.

Then there are the garden centres, which have become an odd battleground in this crisis. In England, they can reopen on Wednesday. No such luck in Scotland. However, Sturgeon will look urgently at one kind of operation reopening: waste-and-recycling centres. How kind of her.

And what of education? Johnson hopes that schools can partially reopen at the start of June – for pupils in reception, year one and year six, and for older pupils due to take exams next year – Sturgeon said that schools may not open until the next school year begins in August.

Is that because Covid-19 is still raging through Scotland? Hardly. The number of patients in intensive care units or high-dependency care peaked on 12 April at 221. It was down to 82 on 10 May. Patients in hospital fell from 1,855 on 11 April to 1,484 on 10 May (with an odd spike on 21 April of 1,866). The NHS looks in no danger of being overwhelmed. Glasgow’s emergency ‘field hospital’, the Louisa Jordan, hasn’t been troubled by any patients at all.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Monday, Sturgeon could not say that the reproduction rate – the much touted ‘R’ number – was any higher in Scotland than it is in England. She said there are ‘some indications’ that this might be because Scotland’s outbreak started slightly later than England’s.

Sturgeon is clinging to the original lockdown slogan of ‘Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives’. But it doesn’t look like the NHS needs that protection any longer. In fact, there is a desperate need to get the NHS back to providing the other kinds of care it is supposed to provide, particularly for patients with serious illnesses like cancer and heart disease.

Moreover, the vast majority of serious cases of Covid-19 are among an elderly cohort, and those who already have at least one significant ‘underlying’ condition. As National Records of Scotland notes: ‘As of 3 May, there have been a total of 2,795 deaths registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) was mentioned on the death certificate.’ The statistical report further states that ‘43 per cent of COVID-19 deaths registered to date related to deaths in care homes’, although ‘the number of deaths in care homes has fallen – from 339 to 310’. Three quarters of all deaths involving Covid-19 to date in Scotland were of people aged 75 or over.

So, the epidemic in Scotland is clearly in decline. Given the characteristics of those who have been seriously ill, the way forward seems to be to protect the most vulnerable and get the rest of society back to something like normality.

Instead, our politicians are extending the agony. Johnson may have been extremely conservative in his willingness to loosen restrictions, but at least we have some sort of roadmap for England on how things will be taken forward. In Scotland, we are stuck. Control is paramount; freedom – to move, to do business, to work – remains a secondary concern, not just now but in the near future, too.

Still, we should hardly be surprised. The SNP government has always been more concerned with restricting our freedom for our own good than in letting us make choices for ourselves. How ironic that the party that demands ‘freedom’ from the UK is so unwilling to provide it for Scotland’s own citizens.

Rob Lyons is science and technology director at the Academy of Ideas and a spiked columnist.


https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/05/11/of-course-the-snp-loves-the-lockdown/