Peter wrote:
I am informed by a Swede that the media reports of the place being open and all working normally are bunk, and that there is a considerable reduction in social activity.
Being a Swede, I can confirm that.
Some recent statistics show that during Easter, which is traditionally a major travel holiday, travel from Stockholm to other parts of the country were only 10% of what is usually is. We usually visit my mother-in-law during Easter for a family gathering – this time we did it over Zoom instead which worked rather well. Of course there was no family dinner. :-(
There is currently ONE aircraft from Scandinavian Airlines making domestic flights. The second major domestic airline (BRA) has gone bankrupt.
Restaurants have a very difficult time. They can keep open if they increase distance between tables etc. Many restaurants have begun offering take-away, which is a thriving business right now.
Rwy20 wrote:
Just not a “we’ll beat everyone with a stick who steps outside their house” type of lockdown.
Very much so.
skydriller wrote:
Which is, of course, sensible… but then that didnt work when it was initially tried here in France and in the UK.
Well, that phase lasted only 48 hours (between saturday evening and monday evening).
Before that, they said to avoid groups, but with open bars, what can you expect ?
Jujupilote wrote:
Well, that phase lasted only 48 hours (between saturday evening and monday evening).
Before that, they said to avoid groups, but with open bars, what can you expect ?
Exactly, And it wasnt helped by the Govt saying “stay in” and then in the next sentence “Everyone must go out and vote”…
Bars & restaurants staying open combined with the best weekend of weather for about 2 months topped it off.
Regards, SD..
The lockdown has taught me that, in more normal times, I spend most of my time:
1. Going out to eat.
2. Going out to drink.
3. Being <2m from people.
4. Making unnecessary journeys.
5. Touching my face.
On a more serious note, the lockdown has brought out some the worst aspects of Brits in terms of over-zealous interpretation of rules and a delight in informing on one’s neighbour.
The most common misunderstanding (or outright fabrication) here in the UK is that you must not go to work unless your work is ‘essential’. The rules actually only say that if you can work at home then you must. If you cannot work at home, and the business you work in has not been instructed by government to close, you are free to go to work.
Graham wrote:
The most common misunderstanding (or outright fabrication) here in the UK is that you must not go to work unless your work is ‘essential’. The rules actually only say that if you can work at home then you must. If you cannot work at home, and the business you work in has not been instructed by government to close, you are free to go to work.
How does that apply with a self-employed person working at a client’s house, for example, a painter-decorator?
Graham wrote:
over-zealous interpretation of rules and a delight in informing on one’s neighbour.
This kind of thing is straight out of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four – he had it spot on with the “curtain twitchers” who would dob people into the Thought Police. Unfortunately the ‘clap for the NHS’ thing – while different in sentiment to the Two Minute Hate – is starting to feel an awful lot like the Two Minute Hate, where you will get criticised for not praising hard enough (a bit like the Poppy Appeal has morphed from quiet reflection and commemoration to some form of competitive virtue signalling with anyone not putting a gigantic poppy on the front of their car being outed on social media for being ‘disrespectful to our troops’).
2greens1red wrote:
How does that apply with a self-employed person working at a client’s house, for example, a painter-decorator?
You use your common sense and decide what’s safe, practical and workable. For some it might mean they don’t work, others might feel they can continue.
I don’t expect the government to issue exhaustive advice covering every possible scenario. I expect people to take reasonable decisions based on the options open to them, and accept that their definition of reasonableness may differ from mine.
What I really dislike is people defining how they think a rule should be interpretated/expanded and then telling others that it’s what they must do.
We are used to this, in aviation, people propagating myths about what we can and can’t do based on opinions rather than facts. The aviation ‘establishment’ is full of people telling you that you can’t do something because they don’t think you should be allowed to do it.
How does that apply with a self-employed person working at a client’s house, for example, a painter-decorator?
Same as a builder working on a site.
It is not banned, so it is allowed. Social distancing is the only requirement.
There are several working not far from where I am writing this.
he had it spot on with the “curtain twitchers” who would dob people into the Thought Police.
It takes only a glimpse on forums in other countries to see they have the same problem as the UK.
It would be interesting to know the focus of the vast majority of cases?
I have spoken to two consulants today and one doctor all at different hosipitals including two in London or very close to. One has four cases, the other no more than a handful. Parts of the hospital set aside for the cases has been retasked back to normal functions in one of the major London hospitals. I appeciate there must be some nasty hot spots.
I reckon they must be concentrating covid patients in certain hospitals. It seems obvious. It minimises risk to staff, and enables all the other treatment to continue without risking infecting the patients.
We do know that 4000 bed unit built in the exhibition centre is hardly used, and I am told the conversion of the Friedrichshafen exhibition centre is empty. But if it had been the other way round everybody would be criticised for not having done enough.
Like everybody else, the UK govt is scraping out the bottom of the barrel trying to buy PPE for the NHS, now they are scraping out more of the same barrel trying to buy PPE for care homes (which are “exploding” everywhere… UK, Europe, US) and all while the opposition is smelling political blood 
