Analysis Breaking

Breaking: Merseyside heading into ‘Tier 3’ lockdown for up to half a year – and what it means

Measures provisionally agreed and may last 6 months or more – but Tories’ misplaced obsession with pubs and determination to ignore schools continue

Liverpool is set to be put into ‘Tier 3’ lockdown this week – the strictest of the government’s new 3-tier system.

Measures agree include the closure of pubs and gyms, alongside betting establishments, but restaurants will remain open. The lockdown could last 6 months or more, although supposedly it will be reviewed monthly. The move reflects the Tories’ continued obsession with indoor hospitality – which represents only 4% of new cases in the second wave – while ignoring educational settings, which represent 38%.

In addition, hairdressers, gyms and sports/leisure centres are expected to close, while public transport will be cut back and non-essential travel banned.

The Tories’ wilful blindness on education goes as far as ordering track and trace operatives not to trace contacts of anyone who works or studies in school or university – even though those settings form the vast bulk of new infections and are driving the second wave, as the government’s own SAGE scientists warned months ago.

Local political leaders have agreed some measures but say that Boris Johnson is still not giving them enough involvement in the decisions or providing enough support for those whose livelihoods will be hit – and that their expert advice on transmission in hospitality emphatically does not support his fixation with hospitality.

If schools and workplaces are not locked down, the other measures are likely to be fruitless – and therefore hugely and unnecessarily prolonged for every area affected.

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36 comments

  1. That despicable little coterie of day-in-day-out covid19 denier trolls on here constantly trying to pooh pooh the seriousness of this Second Wave of UK covid19, need to drop their nonsense and face reality. The current wave of shambolic but necessary UK regional lockdowns, and this Sky News report on the already frightening situation in Northern Irish hospitals (at only the START of the second wave), shows the terrible situation we, and our understaffed, underfunded, NHS face over the winter. https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-northern-ireland-weighs-up-circuit-breaker-lockdown-as-hospitals-run-short-of-beds-12101945

    Any troll peddling the Trumpist lie that covid19 is ‘no worse than flu’, is simply , though stupidity, gullibility, or venality, or all three, a small part of a global capitalist propaganda effort to keep the working classes in the workplace producing surplus value for the bosses – regardless of the human death toll of an out of control pandemic.

    1. One word : ‘Evidence’?

      – as opposed to propaganda from the establishment usual suspects and fellow 77th Brigade recruits.

      Always the same when you pull back the duvet of a tinpot Tooting ‘leftie’ – a tiny mind and smaller intellect.

      1. Thing is RH, the poster is very selective about the evidence that he/she considers. His/her stridently aggressive tone suggests this might be deliberate. I’m sure though that most people here are both properly worried by the virus and yet able to question the Covid narrative they are given. Jpenney’s intense hectoring, name-calling, ridicule, and ostracism is obviously unhelpful and suspicious.

        The facts speak for themselves. If some, like jpenney and the editors of the billionaires press, choose to construct a narrative that is not supported by the evidence, it is their credibility and authority that are the main victims.

        Although not publicised by them, the Infection Fatality Rate (0.12 – 0.14) of the disease(s) produced by the virus is a fact. Steve Rotherham et al are aware of this.

      2. Jpenney’s intense hectoring, name-calling, ridicule, and ostracism is obviously unhelpful and suspicious.

        Oh, you mean jpenny the ‘knicker-wetter’? The tinpot lefite? The toerag stooge? (Yes you CAN be both, according to dicky) The anti-eu fascist knuckledragger? Or The ukipper?

        Strange, isn’t it? That when confronted with the consequences of pig-ignorantly ridiculing those urging caution and refusing to accept the premise of sensible warnings, the likes of dicky h can continue to hurl insults and ridicule instead of looking at the transpiring events of the exact things he (Amongst many others here) was warned of.

        Same thing happened with the last election; but when confronted with the consequences of that, he and his fellow europhiliacs (as was predicted back then, pre-election humiliation) continue to deny, slur and ridicule, instead of accepting any culpability or showing the infinitessimal amount of contrition, even when their continuing, risible argument has been blown to fuck by the events that have transpired and are transpiring – right this very moment as a result of their fucktardery.

  2. So much for protecting the NHS to avoid catastrophe when winter comes.
    It’s looking more and more like the Tories’ timing couldn’t have been worse.

  3. Ha,ha,ha, lockdown penny’s bust a gut because he’s been outed as a verbose, boring, wanker droning on about how authentic he is, chapter after chapter in his defence of the government’s tame boffins. He’s like Johnson and Starmer combined with Wolfie Smith.

    1. lundiel – Surely he’s just pointing out the truth, Covid-19 deniers are dangerous idiots.

      1. lundiel – The fact that you have only pathetic playground insults and nothing of substance to say is your problem, not mine.

  4. “Children are key superspreaders” huge global Covid-19 contact tracing study finds.
    No shit, Sherlock.
    They’ve always been ‘key superspreaders’ of everything else – the onus should have been on the doubters to prove the case that CV was different before the schools were reopened, but a couple of people said “Kids don’t seem to be affected,” BloJob said “Back to school” and parents said “Thank fuck, I can’t stand them 24/7.”

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/worlds-biggest-contact-tracing-study-22828326

  5. I think the best hope for getting the NHS through the winter is the new treatments hospitals have developed which reduce the need for intensive care, eg replacing ventilators with oxygen.
    It may be that in many cases the equivalent of hospital treatment may be able to be provided in the home by say student nurses with further training in the specifics and under the supervision of a doctor via video skype – they might be able to keep the death rate low by treating the ‘mild-to-medium-serious’ cases.
    For years I’ve believed the future of the NHS ought to include semi-skilled supervised surgery operatives – regional centres for specific everyday operations carried out by suitable people with training in one single operation – maybe ten or twenty such people might be supervised by one or two consultants via video – the point being that a person could probably achieve full proficiency in a single operation in little more than a year.
    General practice is likely to be largely replaced (and improved) by AI diagnostics the way things are going I think, but I also think we’re still some way from autonomous surgeonbots.

    1. Let’s hope you have nothing to do with the running of the NHS! “…replacing ventilators with oxygen” what a stupid phrase, ventilators are used to supply oxygen to patients unable to breathe by themselves! As for Doctors/Consultants supervising by video or General Practice being replaced by AI – no thanks!

      1. There are so many caveats with the article about treatment from U Chicago Medicine, it will take all day to go through it but I’ll work my way through it and post it here once I’m done.

        You are making an assumption about me, when I made no such assumption about you. I simply expressed a hope that you aren’t involved in running the NHS!

  6. Well – an opportunity for Liverpudlians to show their metal once again and tell Johnson to f. off, and get on with life.

    Ridiculous measures for a an infection ‘not of high consequence and of low incidence.

    1. How about this Liverpudlian tells YOU – as well as de piffle – to f.off and get A life?

      Ridiculous, trumpian fuckwittery about an infection he’s happy enough for everyone else to contract, but just like the MPs he despises, isn’t prepared to put himself in harm’s way.

  7. @LOCKDOWN?’ More abuse of language. There is no lockdown, just a gov’t determined to drag it out without Test; Trace; Isolate. There are huge areas of Britain virtually Covid free…….we need regionally devolved gov’ts to take control of their own regions & concentrate resources. The Isle of Mann shows you the way.

  8. Student nurses travelling from house to house…….any consequences?

    1. Perhaps you’d enlighten the class on your plan for midwinter when all hospital corridors are stuffed full?
      If you could also spare the time from your busy rounds to explain the consequences of travelling from already-infected house to already-infected house this poor dullard would be most grateful.
      If you are indeed a fully-qualified hospital porter I shall of course defer to your opinion on all medical matters.

  9. It’s worse than that,Steve.

    There is no current health crisis at the moment – ir’s a political issue creating a totalitarian framework . Current mortality levels are showing a minor rise consistent for this time of year, with Covid a minor part of overall infections.

    Because of this, scare stories are being created by the use of the term ‘cases’ : i.e meaningless ‘positive’ results from the misused and abused PCR Tests that the inventor clearly stated is not a diagnostic procedure, but simply amplifies scraps of RNA to a massive degree. As Kary Mullis himself said :

    “To test for a specific virus, and suggest that the result has any special meaning is a problem in terms of interpretation”

    i.e this is a massive scam in terms of diagnosing illness.

    In terms of actual population adjusted mortality (as opposed to the exaggerations from ‘scientists’ with their mouths stuffed with shares/grants in the pharmacological industry), the current levels (only a small part of which will be related to SARS-CoV-2) are in line with the lowest levels in more than a quarter of a century.

    In my lifetime, there’s been about two dozen worse infection years by this criterion.

    All this non-scary stuff is easily verifiable (for anyone who can get out of bed) and based on data, not propaganda via the MSM and BBC.

    1. “Stark new figures reveal that three times more people have died from coronavirus than flu and pneumonia combined so far this year.

      Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that by August 31, there had been 48,168 Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales – compared to 13,619 due to pneumonia and 394 due to flu.

      And statisticians have said that Covid-19 fatalities are already higher than any annual flu and pneumonia death tolls on record.
      https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/stark-new-figures-dispel-myth-22811852

      1. Indeed, SteveH. We actually agree on this one! The bogus, ludicrous, claims from the serial covid19 denier, RH, that ‘ there is no current health crisis…’ , and, ‘in my lifetime there have been about two dozen worse infection years by this criterion’ is utter nonsense. The actual FACTS are these , from a surprisingly useful article here: https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/history-of-major-virus-outbreaks-in-the-uk-in-recent-times-39009641.html

        The article points out the only THREE previous flu-type virus outbreaks with higher , or near equivalent, UK overall death tolls – all based on a longer total epidemic time span – INCLUDING THE CRUCIAL MAXIMUM DEATH-RATE WINTER PERIOD, compared to our current, only FIRST WAVE, death toll in the high 40,000 mark (depending on various assessment methods) . These were, the 1918-19 ‘Spanish’ Flu outbreak – death toll of 200,000. Then the 1957-58 Asian Flu outbreak – death toll 33,000. Then the 1968-69 Hong Kong Flu – death toll 80,000. I repeat again, that all these previous epidemic totals INCLUDE the high death period of WINTER – whereas in the current covid19 epidemic we have had circa 40,000 to 50,000 deaths (at a very conservative estimate) after only the initial spring-summer first wave – before the coming winter second wave – for which our under-resourced NHS is already becoming overstretched, as numerous current press reports testify. And unless an effective vaccine is produced those waves of high death rate infection , interspersed with desperate ‘firebreak’ lockdowns, could continue for YEARS

        The lying, statistics mangling, covid19 denier trolls , like RH, JackT, lundiel, timfrom, Doug, etc, are simply playing into a Trumpian, Big Business-propagated, propaganda lie of mammoth proportions – aimed at keeping the wealth-producing , surplus value-producing, working classes beavering away in their workplaces – regardless of the death toll such virus-spreading behaviour will inevitable produce. All these disgusting, lying, trolls are a witting or unwitting tiny part of a collective global capitalist lie machine, on behalf of a rapacious class of vultures which has rivers of blood on its hands from its failure to deal effectively with covid19.

      2. Stop it you two. Make a date on Grindr. By the way Wolfie, there were 50,000,000 deaths from Spanish flue not 200,000.

      3. Lundiel, put your glasses on! At the beginning of the second paragraph Penny states “UK overall death rates…” 200,000 is approximately correct for UK death rates from “Spanish” flu. As for GLOBAL deaths, estimates range from between 17million to 100million.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

    2. “Current mortality levels are showing a minor rise consistent for this time of year, with Covid a minor part of overall infections.”

      Coronaviruses along with rhinoviruses have both been component parts of the regular ‘flu virus every yearsince at least 1964. That’s not to dismiss the obvious need to assess and respond to the dangers of coronaviruses, but simply to highlight the Intellectual dishonesty at the heart of the establishment’s covid narrative.

    3. If Kary Mullis made that statement he wasn’t referring to CV19 given that he died in August ’19.
      He’s not here to defend his position so stop quoting him to support your denier bollocks please – “it’s not a good look.”
      Trunt & Bolsonaro deny CV purely to look tough to their redneck supporters but their administrations treat it as seriously as does any other country.
      This “political issue to create a totalitarian framework” – would that be just the UK or is it global?
      If global, was it agreed by all the world’s leaders at some meeting we never heard about, why were Trunt & Bolsonaro kept out of the loop and why are all their economies collapsing? Was that intentional?
      Is China going to save the world now, given that it’s the only economy big enough, still in good shape and with a healthy, busily-working population – or will it choose instead to isolate itself from the global crash and build self-sufficiency on its internal market, as it’s perfectly capable of doing?
      And by the way – ‘metal’ isn’t how you spell ‘mettle’. What are you – ten?

  10. Just to add a little common sense to the mix. The Tories have spent more in 9 months than the entire ‘unaffordable’ Corbyn manifesto. And while most of you are calling for tougher lockdowns and school closures etc. In the real world people are losing their jobs and food banks are busier than ever.

    1. Yes, and ALSO in the real world, allowing the virus to spread unhindered will/IS putting immense pressure on the NHS – Something which the ‘rags are only too happy with as they can say they’ve spaffed the money on all those lazy, bone idle bastards that took furlough – instead of doing their patriotic duty to get out and pull the tripes out of themselves for NMW, so the already obscenely wealthy ensure any fall in their gains (They DON’T EVER lose – the plebs, however DO). are minimised.

      If the likes of rees-mogg are so keen for us to ‘stop carping’ and get out and put ourselves at risk, let’s see that plummy prick get ‘on the hod’ for a pittance; instead of him expecting us to tug our forelocks and lie prostrate in a midden for him to step on so he doesn’t wet his handmade, bespoke shoes with a pricetag that’d feed a family (of his size, and of their culinary preferences – no ‘smart price’ bog-standard fare for them, oh no, siree!)) for a year.

      1. “Putting the NHS at risk” is what they told us when hospital wards were empty and nurses spent their time making tiktok videos. In fact they (NHS England) emptied the wards into care homes killing off thousands of vulnerable old people while the Nightingale’s remained empty. Since then I can only see my doctor if I have passed a question and answer session and I haven’t seen my dentist for more than a year. But never mind about me, thousands of people are on never ending waiting lists…..the NHS as we knew it has gone forever.
        RIP NHS.

      2. “In fact they (NHS England) emptied the wards into care homes killing off thousands of vulnerable old people while the Nightingale’s remained empty.”
        OMG!!! Why are we always the last to know?

  11. Good to see Michael Rosen recovering from Long Covid (BBC News, just now)

    “When someone stands in front of you and
    claims that both rich and poor took a hit
    following the great bankers’ crash of 2008
    you know that you’re dealing with someone
    who thinks that buying a Merc
    instead of a Rolls
    is the same as buying bread
    instead of meat.”

    1. Or – in rees-mogg’s case – ‘downgrading’ from a phaeton to a palanquin.

  12. And even the BBC are getting fedup with the Labour Knight.The political editor thought our knights criticism of the Conservative leader Johnson was slightly more although he didnt say that,but the impression was definitely slightly more than the usual.Now the other Opposition knight Davey boy was definitely critical and even showed some passion in his speech.Now the SNP were as per usual the only meaningful moment of Opposition to the Conservative and unionist party…Naturally the overgrown Etonian had the usual easy ride and walked away with a smile on his face…PS maybe a couple of conservative mps thought they had to jump in and help the lack of any real Opposition being embarrassing for everyone……So much for the Labour Lockdown?

  13. Stammer “We tried to give this government the benefit of the doubt”

    Yep.. .It was on the impartial channel’s news, just now.

    Un-fucking-real.

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