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Worth looking at. For this area the range is astounding – Congresbury and Kewstoke is 430/100000 whilst Winscome/Sandford is around 47; and Wrington is to low to record!
So this area and Bristol have been moved down to tier 2 which we have seen does not work. So Mr. Penrose, Mr. Fox, Mr.Rees-Mogg can hopefully be held to account when numbers of deaths rise.
Sometimes it is hard, but good to listen. This what I did this morning talking about Covid to a staunch Tory. “The government are doing a brilliant job in an ever changing situation”. “The high rates in Congresbury are due probably to a travellers camp”. Please forgive me for not arguing back. I basically taken aback, and wanted to here more from how many people think. Reader of the Telegraph, he went on to state that the press has a lot to be blamed for! Presumably not the Telegraph! (Or the Mail, or the Sun, Express, Western Daily Press. So it must all be down to the Guardian, Mirror and iDaily (all minority reads!).
I did not point out the fluctuating situation was largely a result of ineffective government!
Or that Westbury-on-Trim was the highest in Bristol – presumably because of the …. high number of servants????
And I was thinking! If test, track and trace contact someone, presumably they can see if that stops that particular pathway for the virus. But there are others who are tested but not tracked immediately – but presumably their contact reappears in later cases. How many prosecutions have there been? I am not suggesting a police state here – people who have to isolate should be made financially secure to do so. How many cab/Uber drivers have spread the virus inadvertently due to economic necessity.
And sad but true – pubs have been shutting down for a few years – this crisis might increase the rate. But hopefully there will be some innovation so not all turn into housing/flats, but into local hubs. Surely a potential now that more people are likely to work from home, but would still like to meet another human being at lunch or other times. If I had money I would start a chain of licensed cafe/work spaces in villages/local areas. Bike racks outside, wifi, cafe, craft type shop, conference room for hire, rooms that could be rented for offices instead of having to work from home. I think I first floated this idea about 20 years ago when The Ship in Banwell was up for sale.
I am annoyed/angry about a ministers use of the above word! They will allow us to visit relatives over Christmas. Personally I think it is a dumb idea, but they ‘will allow us’. Who the f do they think they are? Just because they right cheques for their buddies with more noughts than I can count, does not mean they can dictate how we spend our personal, law abiding time. This does not give them a free hand to introduce whatever measures they like at their whim and fancy.
So Nick Gibb threatens Greenwich and Islington with prosecution for advising schools to shut. Maybe he sees himself as a General Haig figure? Surely each council should be able to make their own decisions – if not popular the councillors can be voted out next time. I think that is called democracy?
I am fascinated by statistics – ever since failing the statistics part of my A Level Maths!
OK, let me start off by saying that I know nothing about farming (well a smidgen, it involves growing plants and animals to feed and cloth us). Actually it is this smidgen that I want to expand.
Farming since the introduction of the EU Common Agricultural Policy would seem to have been tremendously successful. No shortages in the shops, reasonably stable prices. But the environmental cost cannot be offset by set aside and other environmental schemes.
This is ridiculous. It is like asking 10% of people to walk/cycle whilst everyone else pollutes the air, and expecting them to thrive. So Johnson stop the political games with farms. Let us have a policy which ensures sustainability for the crops/animals and the wildlife; for the whole countryside. Too many species are seeing reductions by huge %’s – some might be due to global warming (and here again farming plays its part) – but I suspect most is down to farming practises?
I was thinking about why a c-b a for Covid restrictions would not be valid.
So firstly a look at costs of a lockdown. presumably an economic figure can be calculated with reasonable accuracy (Unemployment and welfare costs plus loss of tax income). Add on reduced tax from firms with reduced capacity (e.g. Airlines). I am sure this is a considerable cost. Then there is the social cost of isolation and measures on mental welfare. And the benefits of a lockdown are much more difficult to calculate – lower costs for NHS. Maybe some small environmental gains. I would calculate the cost of Tier 3 for the whole nation at about £40 billion (back of an envelope).
Costs of opening up economy. Economically it is probably fairer to calculate the reduction in economic costs as there will still be restrictions. Costs of increased pressure on NHS and reduced capacity for other things can probably be calculated – I have no idea of the cost a covid patient per day? Or the economic cost of a death at different ages, or the impacts of long covid. Just as lockdown creates mental health problems, the converse is also true with people being worried about being outside with lack of observance of safety rules. The social cost of deaths is also un-quantifiable. From what we hqve4 seen so far it would seem that any opening up of the economy will be met with a strict lockdown soon after.
Whilst the economic impacts maybe retrieved in the long term, the social costs cannot. Which leads to the final point. Vaccines are on their way – so probably 4/5 months more of restrictions before a return to some sort of normality.
But also remember that the more we intrude into the natural world, the more likely it is that further virus outbreaks will occur (AIDS, SARS, BIRD FLU, etc.).
Maybe it is time to increase the aid budget in an attempt to reduce the discrepancies in wealth between countries. This would reduce the population explosion in Africa and South Asia. In turn this would reduce the environmental pressure on habitats. We should also invest in using our land more sustainably. I feel a new post coming on!
Jupiter and Saturn will appear as one star in the south-west evening sky on 21st December. The mood will be a 11% crescent moon. Fingers crossed for a clear sky.
I am quite excited as Martin is getting me a SCOBY to start making my own kombucha. And some festive jokes!
What did Santa do when he went speed dating? He pulled a cracker! Why was the turkey in the pop group? Because he was the only one with drumsticks! What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck? A Christmas Quacker! What goes “Oh, Oh, Oh”? Santa walking backwards! Why was the snowman looking through the carrots? He was picking his nose! Why does Santa have three gardens? So he can ‘ho ho ho’! Recipes on next page