United Kingdom VI: Summer Lovin'

[Anpanman]

Yep, those two women actually drove somewhere to go for a walk, why not just go for a walk...

Nice to see supermarkets not letting people in without a mask;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55618408

[Hirst]

Glad it's not just me. I detest Johnson and everything he stands for, but it's easy enough to find other faults with him that I don't need to pick on something that relies on a lot of "could have" and what in my opinion is a really rather ungenerous position on what might be called local. If it turns out he was riding his bike over there to have it away with some lass or pick up his latest instructions from an exiled Cummings, fair enough. He is a podgy dweeb, but he's pretty well-known for constantly riding around on a bicycle and has clearly been on some kind of health kick ever since he caught the virus from shaking hands with the infected like an absolute cretin. It doesn't seem that unfeasible to me that he could go that far on a decent bike, I'm probably at least as out of shape as him and I reckon I could do it easy.

If you want to pick on him, pick something good - appointing a cabinet that is a dream team of some of the worst people currently in existence, frequently allowing contracts to repeatedly to go to friends and family of current MPs with little/no scrutiny, leaving the borders open for many months with no kind of virus checks, seeming to disappear for lengthy periods during a time when we should be fed up of seeing him, not attending the Cobra meetings on the run up to this whole thing. There's loads to go at!

[monel]

Every time I see cobra mentioned I think of Action Force / G.i Joe. They've gone all out with the branding in the last 2 decades. Hiding in plain sight etc.

[Asura]

Every time I see cobra mentioned I think of Action Force / G.i Joe. They've gone all out with the branding in the last 2 decades. Hiding in plain sight etc.

Sounds more interesting than it is. It just stands for Cabinet Office Briefing Room A.

There's even a COBRB - room B.

[Neon Ignition]

Cabinet Office Briefing Room A - Kilometres Ambled Investigation

[saif]

Johnson's awful in many but this will cost lives in the short term. The public do, and will, act differently as a result of this. And the Cummings case shows what happens when people start to think of this as a something that government want you to do but don't think is important enough for them to have to do. For a prime minister, or any public figure that has responsibilities, this is a really simple thing in the middle of a pandemic.

7 miles away *is not local* in London. I cannot make this clearer to you if you don't live in London but it just isn't.
He did not, apparently, cycle there but drove there (or was driven). This is not following guidance that was given (about staying local) nor is it guidance that should be given as people should stay home to minimise spread and therefore also stay local if they have to go out.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Johnson's awful in many but this will cost lives in the short term. The public do, and will, act differently as a result of this. And the Cummings case shows what happens when people start to think of this as a something that government want you to do but don't think is important enough for them to have to do. For a prime minister, or any public figure that has responsibilities, this is a really simple thing in the middle of a pandemic.

7 miles away *is not local* in London. I cannot make this clearer to you if you don't live in London but it just isn't.
He did not, apparently, cycle there but drove there (or was driven). This is not following guidance that was given (about staying local) nor is it guidance that should be given as people should stay home to minimise spread and therefore also stay local if they have to go out.

Hammer. Nail. Head.

[MartyG]

The public going out and getting exercise would be an excellent example to follow, reducing weight and reducing risk.

We'll just have to disagree on this one - I have zero issue with Johnson going cycling, more people should do the same.

[cutmymilk]

Ignore

[Nu-Eclipse]

The public going out and getting exercise would be an excellent example to follow, reducing weight and reducing risk.

I'm all for people getting themselves healthier to reduce COVID risk. I just fail to see why they cannot stay local while doing it to reduce the spread.

But I digress.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2021/jan/12/uk-coronavirus-live-lockdown-rule-breakers-fines-police-boris-johnson-covid-latest-updates

2020 was the worst year for deaths in England and Wales since 1918 with 608,000 deaths recorded meaning more people in total died last year in the UK than in any year during World War II, 81,653 attributed to Coronavirus. In the last week of 2020 COVID was the cause of 31% of all deaths. Excess deaths were at the highest level since 1940. By age-standardised measures it gets worse and you have to go back to 1929 for a worse year.

Met Chiefs have called for exercise rules to be clarified following Boris's bike ride

[Dogg Thang]

This is like his interview about the bus. Look - that dog has a puffy tail!

[Asura]

2020 was the worst year for deaths in England and Wales since 1918 with 608,000 deaths recorded meaning more people in total died last year in the UK than in any year during World War II, 81,653 attributed to Coronavirus

This sounds like a weird question, but given those two numbers - how much higher is 608k over, say, the average of the previous decade?

[QualityChimp]

This sounds like a weird question, but given those two numbers - how much higher is 608k over, say, the average of the previous decade?

Edit: Full details (and clearer charts) here

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending1january2021

[saif]

It is also worth bearing in mind that restricting movements also restricts other deaths too and that these death charts are the *net* impact. There are fewer deaths from, say car crashes, when there are fewer cars and fewer crashes.

For example, there is some research to suggest that 9/11 caused more deaths as a result of reducing air travel within the year due to increased car travel meaning increased car crash deaths as opposed to making those journeys by air.