Coronavirus

[Dunners]

I thought the spreadsheet comment was a joke but :

'The problem was caused by an Excel spreadsheet reaching its maximum file size, which stopped new names being added in an automated process'.

It's incredible how many "IT systems" are just fancy user interfaces over a spreadsheet database.

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

I wondered why total deaths had peaked at 65,536.

[Max B Gold]

I thought the spreadsheet comment was a joke but :

'The problem was caused by an Excel spreadsheet reaching its maximum file size, which stopped new names being added in an automated process'.

It's incredible how many "IT systems" are just fancy user interfaces over a spreadsheet database.

With widespread use of pivot tables. Incredible.

[Long slender neck]

Did you expect Skynet or something?

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

They've been allocated £10,000,000,000.

You'd have thought Dido could do a little better than a f**king spreadsheet.

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

Although it's probably Bill Gates behind it, eh Thor?

[Dunners]

Did you expect Skynet or something?

At the very least. Given everything else this year has thrown at us, 2020 would be the perfect time for it to become self-aware.

[Mistadobalina]

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus- ... t-12090904

'At this stage it is perhaps worth underlining that around £12bn has been budgeted for the test and trace system - more than almost any other government investment programme in modern history.'

[BoniO]

One hell of a gravy train for "the boys"....

Fortunes will be made on the back of this for the chosen few.

[Max B Gold]

One hell of a gravy train for "the boys"....

Fortunes will be made on the back of this for the chosen few.

It's straightforward corruption.

Contracts are being awarded without them being advertised and tenders invited which breaks the guidelines. Many of them have gone to mates of Boris and Cummings.

Thankfully the Good Law Project is on the case and several actions have been raised to challenge this abuse of taxpayers money.

I suspect the Taxpayers Alliance will also be onto this scam soon enough. They will be ragin" that the public purse is being looted in this way.

[Mick McQuaid]

Good to see the mutant algorithm excuse rolled out again as if these darned computers act independently of any operator.

I haven't looked into it in any detail but sounds like they are trying to pin it on PHE rather than any of the outsourced companies. Although if that's true that means it's PHE taking all the data from the independent labs, collating and sorting it and then handing it back to Serco, being sent through at least part of the chain in what is basically an unprotected format for anyone handling the file and all because the private labs can't be expected to have a system any more advanced than notepad.

[BoniO]

One hell of a gravy train for "the boys"....

Fortunes will be made on the back of this for the chosen few.

It straightforward corruption.

Contracts are being awarded without them being advertised and tenders invited which breaks the guidelines. Many of them have gone to mates of Boris and Cummings.

Thankfully the Good Law Project is on the case and several actions have been raised to challenge this abuse of taxpayers money.

I suspect the Taxpayers Alliance will also be onto this scam soon enough. They will be ragin" that the public purse is being looted in this way.

Well, what's the World coming to if you can't turn a Worldwide Pandemic that's killed over a Million people already to your financial advantage? This lot are no better than spivs, profiteers, vultures.

[Long slender neck]

Just the 12500 cases today

[Long slender neck]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... s-in-shops

[BoniO]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... s-in-shops

Multiply this by all the other councils in the Country who have issued warnings to retailers and you have one more reason for the sh*t-storm of confusion presided over by the government. It's either ineptitude on a whole new level or part of a plan to appear tough on the rules whilst really allowing "business first" practices. Form your own opinion.

[Long slender neck]

All so business dont have to employ some extra security?

[BoniO]

All so business dont have to employ some extra security?

I don't believe it's just that. The retailers want to maximise business and don't want to distance themselves from customers who won't wear masks. I imagine they believe they'll lose more trade by enforcing the mask wearing rules than they will by alarming mask wearing customers who respect the rules. The government is simply allowing them to do this.

[Long slender neck]

Personally I'd rather shop somewhere safe.

[Rich Tea Wellin]

Theres normally the right way to do things and the Tory way to do things.

[Mick McQuaid]

I'd give the shops a bit of a pass on this, there's been a huge drive with supermarkets, tfl and other big organisations over the last few years to get them to understand and respond appropriately to hidden disabilities, which includes not challenging people on whether they have a disability.

The government has made clear that there are exemptions and that people can declare this themselves On the handful of occasions where I have seen staff ask politely if someone has a mask the reply has been 'I'm exempt, innit'. What are staff meant to do in response to that other than to nod them on their way, to do otherwise would be potentially discriminatory.

I think most businesses would be fine to apply the rules if there was guidance that people needed to show a formal exemption card, but that's obviously never going to happen.

Anyway, although I happily wear a covering when shopping and I agree it probably has some benefit, I think it's far more to do with giving confidence to people so they can be economically active than it is to do with reducing transmission.

[JimbO]

All so business dont have to employ some extra security?

I don't believe it's just that. The retailers want to maximise business and don't want to distance themselves from customers who won't wear masks. I imagine they believe they'll lose more trade by enforcing the mask wearing rules than they will by alarming mask wearing customers who respect the rules. The government is simply allowing them to do this.

Vote with your feet and don't go there and tell the appropriate people why they'll soon start enforcing it when the takings start to drop.

[JimbO]

I'd give the shops a bit of a pass on this, there's been a huge drive with supermarkets, tfl and other big organisations over the last few years to get them to understand and respond appropriately to hidden disabilities, which includes not challenging people on whether they have a disability.

The government has made clear that there are exemptions and that people can declare this themselves On the handful of occasions where I have seen staff ask politely if someone has a mask the reply has been 'I'm exempt, innit'. What are staff meant to do in response to that other than to nod them on their way, to do otherwise would be potentially discriminatory.

I think most businesses would be fine to apply the rules if there was guidance that people needed to show a formal exemption card, but that's obviously never going to happen.

Anyway, although I happily wear a covering when shopping and I agree it probably has some benefit, I think it's far more to do with giving confidence to people so they can be economically active than it is to do with reducing transmission.

"I think most businesses would be fine to apply the rules if there was guidance that people needed to show a formal exemption card, but that's obviously never going to happen."

I personally have thought that this should have been in from the start surely they could have given something to those who are registered disabled.

[Dunners]

Like Mick says, it's likely that the wearing of masks is more to give confidence than for any meaningful barrier to transmission. It's just another example of Covid theatre.

I'm happy to wear one, even if the benefits are only marginal. But the main reasons for me wearing one is to not make shop employees feel under pressure, and being aware that a lot of people have genuine anxieties. Basically, I just want an easy life.

[Long slender neck]

From my work

The Covid-19 virus is very small-around 100 nm. A full stop on a printed page would contain about10,000 viruses if they could be stacked end to end.In human breath the typical size of the exhaled droplets are 5-10 microns (ca 1/10 of the width of a fullstop). These droplets tend to have a low buoyancy and subsequently deposit onto surfaces after travelling typically no more than 1-2 metres(unless under great force such as a large cough, shouting or opera singing). This is one of the reasons behind the Government’s 2-metrerule, as the droplets are the primary transfer vector for COVID-19,not the individual virus.Touching contaminated surfaces and then touching the mouth, nose and eyes is a key transmission route, hence the huge push for regular hand hygiene, avoiding touching the face,and regular deep cleaning of surfaces.

Under extremely high force and using artificial aerosols that are a lot smaller than from human breath the virus has been detected under lab conditions as airborne for 3hours. This is not the situation faced in an indoor space with people talking in a socially distanced fashion.Wearing a face covering in classroom settings offers a significant further layer of protection-even a simple cotton face covering and especially if it is made of multiple layers and materials.These face coverings trap the exhaled 5-10 micron aerosols quite effectively and help prevent onward spread.They will offer significant protection to the wearer of the face covering and people around them, if worn properly.The purpose for the vast majority of people wearing face coverings is that they help to protect the whole population in particular by trapping exhaled virus from an asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic host

[BoniO]

I'd give the shops a bit of a pass on this, there's been a huge drive with supermarkets, tfl and other big organisations over the last few years to get them to understand and respond appropriately to hidden disabilities, which includes not challenging people on whether they have a disability.

The government has made clear that there are exemptions and that people can declare this themselves On the handful of occasions where I have seen staff ask politely if someone has a mask the reply has been 'I'm exempt, innit'. What are staff meant to do in response to that other than to nod them on their way, to do otherwise would be potentially discriminatory.

I think most businesses would be fine to apply the rules if there was guidance that people needed to show a formal exemption card, but that's obviously never going to happen.

Anyway, although I happily wear a covering when shopping and I agree it probably has some benefit, I think it's far more to do with giving confidence to people so they can be economically active than it is to do with reducing transmission.

The exemption "exception to the rules" was always going to be abused unless there was a need to prove the exemption. The supply of a simple card if you fit the criteria would have fixed this. Why the government didn't do this is just one more indication of their ineptitude - as if we needed any more..