And breaking news this morning of concerns the Kent strand has been detected as mutating along the lines of the South African one and it could bypass the immune system more easily. Still so much up in the air. I'm certainly not getting my hopes up til there is very good reason.
https://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Ar...ial-meal-rule-to-be-scrapped-when-pubs-reopen A step in the right direction. It should mean households being allowed to mix from the day pubs open again.
Current government line is all over 50s by the "end of Spring", which translates as 31st May, or 20th/21st June depending on the equinox. Add 3 weeks on for the immune response to kick in, and you are looking at mid-June to early-July. Even then, you would need border control to prevent incoming new strains. I suspect that pubs in April is going to be yet another Summer/Christmas/Easter. I don't know if that is everyone that is over 50 *now*, or those of us that turn 50 between now and the end of Spring...
Pubs might as well be shut with Tier Two restrictions. Restaurants can almost make a go of it, but anything that limits to single household is a waste of time. We also need to avoid thinking 100% of an age group need to be vaccinated to open up. We'll still have restrictions, we'll still need to be careful, but remembering that a registered Covid death isn't 100% due to Covid, we had three months over Summer where cases were incredibly low. No need they can't be the same in April with a sensible opening plan for hospitality.
Tier 2 is basically a pub killer. No financial support but you can't go with friends. It would be difficult to design something that was more effective at killing the trade if that was the aim.
I know that but the problem is the scientists and media are continually changing the goal posts. They are now edging towards wanting a zero covid approach. So the powers that be will want to placate all sides of the argument. For me once the schools are open and the higher risk members of society have been offered a vaccine we should get as much as possible opened for June. No masks, no social distancing. No restriction of numbers.
There will come a point when, if you are still concerned for your welfare despite falling numbers of infections and deaths and near complete vaccination, then you take responsibility for your own care and isolation, not imposed rules by government. We need to get back to normality asap, and by normality I do mean 2019. Not a believer of this "things will never be back to how they were". They just have to be.
We need to alter our perception of the common cold when this is over. If you have a cough wear a mask or phone in sick it could kill someone. HR departments need to work away from totting up points to sack people too.
Most things will. Not everything will. Offices will never again be how they were before, for example.
It won't be long before the politicians and scientists start using "personal responsibility" all the time.
That's what frustrates me most about all this. When all's said and done it's spread by not washing your hands or coughing and sneezing germs out for all to share. You can have all the measures in the world but while people have the morals of sh1thouse rats there's no help.
I wonder if we face a increased risk of a bad year next year as people come out of shielding away for so long?
https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/05/rishi-sunak-government-pandemic-chancellor? No sooner does all the positive media come out about a road map to normality someone does an article having a go at Sunak for thinking of the finances when that's his job.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13963692/pubs-open-may-no-curfew-takeaway-pints-april/ April for takeaway pints. Hospitality will need our help to go and support it.
