"Tis better to die on our feet than live on our knees

[Mr Dee]

I don't think it's the same person since before his illness . I think we have a Boris body double

Maybe he's hiding in here: apologies for inserting the earthy humour pic into this sensible discussion.

As a Londoner of 35 years, I vividly recall Boris' time as Mayor: especially the Boris Garden Bridge scheme that cost us a mere £45 million, the failed and totally daft attempt to build a new airport in North Kent, the Boris bendy bus that never worked.....etc.

I also recall watching Boris answer questions in the London Mayor forum from his fellow elected councillors: full of waffle, links to the Greek classics and totally devoid of detail. "He's not good on detail," so we're told.

In addition, I remember Boris being interviewed by Andrew Neil in the Conservative leadership election in 2019: completely torn to shreds. No wonder Boris refused a similar session for the 2019 General Election

It's not just the virus that has now hit the unfortunate Boris (for which he has my sympathy.) He has also been thrown by a new leader of the Labour Party who is able to challenge him more effectively - Sir Keir Starmer.

We live in interesting times.....

[GreenBlue]

Oh, and the good news is that the App they're testing on the IoW appears to be a joke. Loads of false notifications, even to people who haven't left their homes, and doesn't appear to work on older phones. FFS, even the Germans are adopting the Google/Apple platform but we have to try to be different, and by the time they get it working we'll have wasted another four weeks.

The Government have now realised themselves what NSS pointed out 6 weeks ago yet they are still trying to claim it a success and blaming Apple. Okay, so we have decided to leave the EU but why cut off our noses to spite our face? Incredulous!!

[Sam_Brown]

Oh, and the good news is that the App they're testing on the IoW appears to be a joke. Loads of false notifications, even to people who haven't left their homes, and doesn't appear to work on older phones. FFS, even the Germans are adopting the Google/Apple platform but we have to try to be different, and by the time they get it working we'll have wasted another four weeks.

The Government have now realised themselves what NSS pointed out 6 weeks ago yet they are still trying to claim it a success and blaming Apple. Okay, so we have decided to leave the EU but why cut off our noses to spite our face? Incredulous!!

Enjoying the gas-lighting going on where apparently it's always been the case that they've always been looking into the Apple \ Google apps alongside the UK made one and were going to pick the best

[GreenBlue]

Enjoying the gas-lighting going on where apparently it's always been the case that they've always been looking into the Apple \ Google apps alongside the UK made one and were going to pick the best

We are becoming a laughing stock.

[just blue]

UK's Covid-19 alert level reduced from four to three!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53106673

[No Shot Sherlock]

UK's Covid-19 alert level reduced from four to three!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53106673

That means they're now officially allowed to do all the things they've done in terms of reducing the lockdown over the last several weeks.

[No Shot Sherlock]

Enjoying the gas-lighting going on where apparently it's always been the case that they've always been looking into the Apple \ Google apps alongside the UK made one and were going to pick the best

We are becoming a laughing stock.

Becoming?

[GreenBlue]

UK's Covid-19 alert level reduced from four to three!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53106673

That means they're now officially allowed to do all the things they've done in terms of reducing the lockdown over the last several weeks.

[GreenBlue]

Enjoying the gas-lighting going on where apparently it's always been the case that they've always been looking into the Apple \ Google apps alongside the UK made one and were going to pick the best

We are becoming a laughing stock.

Becoming?

Fair point. Correction accepted. "Continue to be"

[Sam_Brown]

Must admit I’ve not been keeping in the loop with the news or social media on recent weeks for my own mental health but caught the below.

I know we’ve had some passionate discussions in here over the months but with recent pictures of packed beaches in the UK and news about holidays abroad opening up again with record numbers can’t help but feel a little pessimistic about the future and the chances of a second wave.

Anyone else feel like this or am I just being unjustly worried and overly paranoid?

Coronavirus: Florida and Texas reverse reopening as US cases pass 2.5m https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53205720

[New Forester]

No one is going to change how you feel about all this. I'm lucky. I'm retired. About the only thing I've really missed is football and my daily trip to the coffee shop. I am getting back to going out and about. I'll observe the social distancing requirement, wash my hands regularly and hope for the best. Everything we do in life carries an element of risk. I don't, like some people, clean every item they touch or hug and shake hands. Just a common sense middle path. As to where all this is going, I'm not going to worry. I could discover any day that I have a terminal illness. And my best friend died instantly of a heart attack while walking his dog late at night. He was 66.

I'm off to watch the Arsenal match.

[Sam_Brown]

That's fair. I think I'm of the opinion you can't control other peoples actions so all you can do is control your own and hope other people are considerate enough not to put you at risk intentionally.

I was also curious about The Cincinnati Kid's opinions as I know he's been very vocal on some aspects of the lockdown in this thread. Especially on stopping or in some cases reversing the easing of restrictions in many US states and if he still feels it's too much despite recent news of record cases in areas?

[GreenBlue]

It still greatly concerns me how very little we know about this virus and the potential longer term damage to the health of those who had it. Has everybody conveniently forgotten about the 5 stages Buffoon Johnson attempted to explain to us a couple of months ago? It appears that the PM himself has! I sincerely hope I am wrong but I think our lifting of measures are happening too quickly and too soon.

[PakefieldBlue]

It still greatly concerns me how very little we know about this virus and the potential longer term damage to the health of those who had it.

My wife had the virus back at the end of March and whilst the acute symptoms have gone she has been left with extreme fatigue, can't even go for a ten mins walk. Previously fit and healthy in her mid-40s. Like you say GB, there is a legacy of this virus that will go on for a long while.

[The Cincinnati Kid]

That's fair. I think I'm of the opinion you can't control other peoples actions so all you can do is control your own and hope other people are considerate enough not to put you at risk intentionally.

I was also curious about The Cincinnati Kid's opinions as I know he's been very vocal on some aspects of the lockdown in this thread. Especially on stopping or in some cases reversing the easing of restrictions in many US states and if he still feels it's too much despite recent news of record cases in areas?

yeah, with hindsight of course, an 8 week global lockdown with everyones military on the streets might have worked. The half hearted efforts of most democracies haven't worked well. The tactic perhaps (hindsight alert) should have been to totally lock down the vulnerable spots of society and let the rest of us get on with it until herd immunity and / or vaccine is achieved. I suspect y'all will see the same resurgence in the Euro countries opening back up. They say 20 x more peeps have had it than recorded positive tests so here at least we must be around 40 odd millions had it, most without knowing so, hopefully, you cant get it twice and herd immunity will be achieved..... which by now, with the cat being so far out of the bag is about the only way this is going away.
My opinion on lockdowns / shutdowns hasn't much changed. They have been shown to be ineffective in this society other than localized ones for the purpose of not overloading medical care. They do appear to have been effective in certain countries. NZ, Taiwan, S. Korea come to mind. But that would also mean those countries wont have any herd immunity so who knows how it will end up for them and will they be able to get back to business as normal.