Coronavirus – A perspective from Britain Part 16

Written by Andy Rowlands on December 2, 2020. Posted in Current News

This article covers the second half of November. Above is the chart from the BBC virus webpage for the number of new cases in the UK up to November 30^th.

You can see the number of new cases is falling rapidly across Britain, but UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock described this as ‘cases appear to be flattening’!

The graph below shows the number of daily cases in Birmingham and Solihull for November. This also shows a significant fall.

I was made aware of this last week. A website called Covid Watching reported on the 12^th November that the government has given a £1.5 million contract to a company called Genpact, to develop a system for logging an “expected high volume of Covid-19 vaccine Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) and ensure that no details from the ADRs’ reaction text are missed.”

An expected high number of adverse vaccine reactions? Well well, no-one predicted that did they!

It can be seen here: covidwatching.org

On the 16^th, the BBC announced the vaccine company Moderna had a vaccine they claimed was 94% effective. The article admits the long-term side-effects are not known.

It can be seen here: www.bbc.co.uk

The same day, itv.com reported Matt Hancock would not rule out virus vaccines becoming mandatory. The article says, in part:

Mr Hancock told talkRadio: “I hope that a very large proportion of people will want to take the vaccine because it’s the right thing to do.”

But he added: “We are not proposing at this stage to make it mandatory.” (Emphasis added)

Asked if he would rule that out, the Health Secretary said: “I have learned not to rule things out during this pandemic because you have to watch what happens and you have to make judgments accordingly.”

It continues:

Downing Street also refused to rule out the prospect of making it a requirement for eligible people to take the vaccine although officials stressed that was not the plan. (Emphasis added)

“We want as many people as possible to take the vaccine,” the prime minister’s official spokesperson said.

“It will go through rigorous safety checks before it is cleared for use, but we are not proposing to make it mandatory.”

Asked whether there could be restrictions – such as a public transport ban – imposed on people who refused a vaccine, the spokesperson said: “We are not proposing to make it mandatory.”

Notice how the question was not answered.

It is interesting to note the article quotes Wales’ Health Minister Vaughan Gething as saying making vaccines mandatory is “the most extreme and most unlikely outcome possible”.

It can be seen here: www.itv.com

Also on the 16^th, it was announced the PM had gone into self-isolation after it was found he’d been exposed to someone infected. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I had been under the impression once you’d recovered from Covid, you were immune, but this now suggests we can catch it multiple times, giving governments the excuse to continue imposing restrictions indefinitely.

The same day, the BBC reported Prof Ugur Sahin, BioNTech co-founder, saying the new vaccines should make life back to normal by next winter. Notice the use of the word ‘should’.

He was quoted as saying: “I’m very confident that transmission between people will be reduced by such a highly effective vaccine – maybe not 90% but maybe 50% – but we should not forget that even that could result in a dramatic reduction of the pandemic spread.” (Emphasis added)

What’s the betting if the effectiveness was shown to be only 50%, many governments will say that requires extended regulations and restrictions, possibly for years?

It can be seen here: www.bbc.co.uk

On the 17^th, the Telegraph reported the £10,000 fines for organising protests have apparently been dropped by the Police, and one of my social media friends told me they have been replaced by court summons.

If you can get past the paywall, the article is here: www.telegraph.co.uk

The same day, the BBC website carried an article about the damage the lockdowns have done to the UK economy. It says, in part:

UK Hospitality chief Kate Nicholls said that at the end of 2019, the sector was the third-largest employer in the UK.

The industry was forecast to generate one-in-six net new jobs this year, she said, but instead some 20% of the sector’s 3.2 million jobs had gone.

Hospitality sector revenue is down 40% compared with last year, she said.

Ms Nicholls said businesses should be enjoying a “golden” time of year, since more than a third of annual revenue is usually earned between Halloween and New Year’s Eve.

But instead she said the sector was in “intensive care” and called for pubs and restaurants to be able to open with as few restrictions as safely possible in December.

Earlier, the chair of the BEIS Committee, Darren Jones, said it was unfair that some big retailers were able to keep trading during lockdown, while many small shops were closed.

Speaking to BBC 5 Live’s Wake Up To Money programme, Mr Jones said: “It’s evidently unfair that some retailers can sell everything and others cannot sell anything at all.”

The Labour MP also called for more financial support to go to businesses forced to close, and criticised some supermarkets – which have stayed open during lockdowns – for accepting public money for help with business rates.

“Christmas is the most important time of the year for retailers and we don’t just want them to survive the Christmas shopping period but to be able to survive into the new year,” he said. (Emphasis added in all paragraphs)

It can be seen here: www.bbc.co.uk

Also receiving scant mention in the media is the huge increase in alcoholism, suicide and mental health issues in the UK, caused by the lockdowns.

The same day, the Carehome website carried an article saying that not only have residents been deprived of all contact with their families and friends for a year, they are now being denied Christmas decorations due to ‘infection control issues’. Unbelievable.

It can be seen here www.carehome.co.uk

On the 18^th, Julia Hartley-Brewer of Talk Radio tweeted this:

Nigel Farage added his own thoughts:

Sums it up rather well in my opinion.

The same day, the Guardian carried an article where Professor Dominic Harrison; director of public health at Blackburn with Darwen council, said poor areas of England are facing what amounts to a ‘permanent’ lockdown because of their deprived status.

It can be seen here: www.theguardian.com

On the 22^nd, the BBC virus webpage stated: In England, a tougher three-tiered system of local restrictions will come into force when the lockdown ends on 2 December, Downing Street has said. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to set out a plan – including details of how families can see different households at Christmas – to MPs on Monday. (Emphasis added)

On the 23^rd, the BBC virus webpage said:

Boris Johnson told the Commons that the three-tiered regional measures will return from 2 December, but he added that each tier will be toughened.

Spectators will be allowed to return to some sporting events, and weddings and collective worship will resume.

The allocation of tiers will be dependent on a number of factors, including each area’s case numbers, the reproduction rate – or R number – and the current and projected pressure on the NHS locally.

Tier allocations will be reviewed every 14 days, and the regional approach will last until March.

The PM said he expected “more regions will fall – at least temporarily – into higher levels than before” and that he was “very sorry” for the “hardship” that such restrictions would cause business owners.

With regards to household mixing, the PM said:

• In tier one, a maximum of six people can meet indoors or outdoors
• In tier two, there is no mixing of households indoors, while a maximum of six people can meet outdoors
• In tier three – the toughest tier – household mixing is not allowed indoors, or in most outdoor places.
• In all tiers, exceptions apply for support bubbles

From 2 December, parents with babies under the age of one can form a support bubble with another household

Mr Johnson also said that in tier one, people should continue to work from home where possible. He added that in the middle tier, only pubs serving meals can open, while in tier three hospitality will close except for delivery and takeaway and indoor entertainment venues must also close.

The same day, Boris confirmed that the blanket lockdown in England will end as scheduled next Wednesday, but said restrictions need to stay in place until Easter 2021. (Emphasis added in all paragraphs)

The Daily Mail reported former minister Sir Desmond Swayne saying: ‘There is lots of concern. Will anyone get away with Tier One? The mood music seems to suggest that everybody is going up one – it’s going to be worse than before. 

‘We will have gone from lockdown to lockdown by another name. This is indefinite – it goes on to the Spring. It is a miserable situation, but it is devastating for businesses. (Emphasis added in both paragraphs)

Desmond Swayne is right, coming out of a ‘lockdown’ into tighter restrictions than before the lockdown, effectively means the lockdown is continuing.

On the 25^th, the government announced they have agreed to allow up to three households to meet indoors during a five-day Christmas period of 23^rd – 27^th December.

On the 26^th, it became clear that just 700,000 people – one per cent of the population – will be subject to the loosest grade of restrictions. Before November 5^th there were 29million in the lowest tier.

Meanwhile, around 55million residents will be in the toughest two levels after the blanket national lockdown ends on December 2^nd.

As a result, most of England will be banned from mixing indoors with other households, apart from five days over Christmas. Pubs in Tier 2 will only be able to serve alcohol with ‘substantial’ meals. 

Only Cornwall, Scilly and the Isle of Wight have been put into the loosest Tier 1, which allows socialising inside homes and pubs subject to the Rule of Six. 

It was announced last week that an extra £7 billion was being allocated for Test and Trace in a bid to increase testing and improve contact tracing. This takes the overall funding provided for Test and Trace this financial year to £22 billion – nearly a fifth of the entire annual NHS budget – which has been met with some criticism.

The Department of Health and Social Care also admitted this week that 1,311 people who took a test between November 19^th to the 23^rd across the UK were incorrectly told they received a positive result.

On the 29^th, the Guardian reported the government is to enlist the help of ‘very sensible’ famous celebrities, to try and influence more people to accept the virus vaccines.

The Guardian said: one source with knowledge of the plans said “NHS England are looking for famous faces, people who are known and loved. It could be celebrities who are very sensible and have done sensible stuff during the pandemic.”

Very sensible celebrities?

And as for ‘sensible stuff’, tremendous writing skills there! Mein Gott, I thought I’d read some drivel in my time!

Someone is having a giraffe.

The R number

On the 9^th October, the R number was showing as 1.2-1.5. By the 18^th, it had changed to 1.3-1.5. Surprisingly, on the 23^rd, it had reduced slightly to 1.2-1.4. By the 31^st, it had dropped to 1.1-1.3, and by the 13^th November had dropped again to 1-1.2, and by the 30^th had dropped to 0.9-1 as shown below.

According to Worldometer, the number of people in hospital in critical condition in the UK had risen to 978 by the 31^st October, and risen again to 1355 by November 15^th, and was at 1417 on the 30^th, still below the 1559 I recorded at the height of the first wave.

This is the chart for UK deaths up to November 30^th.

The BBC virus webpage has changed the wording for deaths, to now read ‘coronavirus-related deaths’, which includes people suspected of having died from the virus, even if they were not tested.

The five-year average

The graphic below shows the five-year average of UK deaths to 30^th November, and we see as with every other year, once colder weather gets here, deaths start to rise. However, they are at present above ‘normal’ for this time of year.

According to Worldometer, the number of active cases worldwide as of November 30^th stands at 18.07 million. Of those, 17.96 million are mild, with just 105,000 classed as serious / critical. In the UK, we have 1.6 million total cases, with 1417 classed as serious / critical.

There’s plenty of evidence this is an intelligent virus. On October 22^nd, when asked on the Today Programme on Radio 4 about differing tier 3 lockdown rules for different areas, MP Kim Malthouse said “The virus behaves differently in different parts of the country“.

The media tells us we are walking plague-carriers and will kill anyone we get closer than six feet to. Even speaking loudly or singing can now kill, and hugging or even touching is now lethal.

With taxi companies also beginning to refuse to take passengers who will not wear masks, the ‘new normal’ will probably create a section of the community who are barred from public transport, any form of social life, denied access to most shops, pubs, restaurants, leisure venues and most products & services, and in the future even basic needs.

People are even being asked to report businesses open ’illegally’ during lockdowns, as in the image below from Kirklees in Scotland.

I’m at a loss to know what to say about this that would be printable, other than it smacks of the police states of the Soviet Union.

About the author: Andy Rowlands is a British Principia Scientific International researcher, writer and editor who co-edited the new climate science book, ‘The Sky Dragon Slayers: Victory Lap‘

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