[JAFO]

No, no no no no no!! It's YOUR fault.

I absolutely agree with Baroness Harding, as I said in my earlier post.

When I said "Operation Kneejerk" I was not, necessarily, referring to the government.

[Flyingfemme]

If it's SERCO then we are all doomed.............

The government has terrified everyone witless over this "new flu" and organisations, businesses, schools etc are, quite rightly, scared that they will somehow be held to blame for a random person getting a bug on their watch. in the circs it is perfectly reasonable to insist that people show a negative test result to cover everyone a$$es. If these tests are not available people cannot go about their normal business in these times.

[Miscellaneous]

The government has terrified everyone witless over this...

That's not my experience. In fact it seems to me people are largely ignoring it now and that, I'm afraid, is going to lead to more stringent restrictions in an attempt to avoid a second wave.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54199642

Indeed the WHO has 'warned' the whole of Europe it is in danger of running amok as cases double.

[eltonioni]

Indeed the WHO has 'warned' the whole of Europe it is in danger of running amok as cases double.

If there's one thing we've learned, it's to believe the opposite of what the WHO say.

[malcolmfrost]

Now we are looking at a “firebreak” lockdown of 2 weeks in October.......

[johnm]

Indeed the WHO has 'warned' the whole of Europe it is in danger of running amok as cases double.

If there's one thing we've learned, it's to believe the opposite of what the WHO say.

So whom are we to believe then???

Certainly not HMG, nor its outsource contractors, definitely not the bloke in the pub, especially if it's Tim Martin, probably not UCL modellers.

[Propwash]

So whom are we to believe then???

Certainly not HMG, nor its outsource contractors, definitely not the bloke in the pub, especially if it's Tim Martin, probably not UCL modellers.

Some would say nobody on the Help & Advice Flyer Forum either.

PW

[JAFO]

...it is perfectly reasonable to insist that people show a negative test result to cover everyone a$$es...

No, it isn't. In doing that they are denying tests to those people and those areas where there is real need.

[johnm]

The percentage testing positive is definitely trending slowly upwards according to ONS but it doesn't look like cause for panic so far nor dohospital admissions on the face of it.

[Flyingfemme]

...it is perfectly reasonable to insist that people show a negative test result to cover everyone a$$es...

No, it isn't. In doing that they are denying tests to those people and those areas where there is real need.

If I had bolshy employees, complaining of feeling ill, I would be sending them home with an instruction to "prove" they were safe to work. How are they supposed to do this?
Happily, I no longer have any employees to worry about (or pay while they swing the lead) so this situation will not come up. But I feel for all those managers and owners who are facing an impossible situation and trying to plan for survival when the goalposts keep getting moved, the game is forever extended and nobody knows what a "goal" looks like.

[eltonioni]

HMG ruled out Covid certs early on. ISTR it was on grounds that they would become a passport for work which in itself is hugely discriminatory. If you needed a Covid cert to work (or shop / have a drink / go to the park) the whole idea is open to massive levels of fraud which would be totally counterproductive.

Aside from that it's basically an ID card by the back door and we don't do ID cards in the UK, do we?

[Pete L]

There's a track record of fraud and incompetence in any recent (post 1997) government voucher or licensing scheme - a Covid certificate administered by 3rd party agencies would certainly pump money into the economy...the Indian economy in the case of the IT and the profits who knows where.

[low&slow]

There are several organisations selling testing:
Halo
Virolens
Chronomics
DnaNudge
and no doubt there are others.

If I was the mayor/chief executive of a council either in or threatened with another lockdown I would be contacting these organisations & arranging for mass testing of the local population. There's absolutely no reason to wait for the government to do everything for us.

[rikur_]

If I was the mayor/chief executive of a council either in or threatened with another lockdown I would be contacting these organisations & arranging for mass testing of the local population. There's absolutely no reason to wait for the government to do everything for us.

to which they would reply that they do not have the capacity. Some of those you've listed can't even take on additional small businesses at the moment, let alone mass testing.

[rikur_]

The percentage testing positive is definitely trending slowly upwards according to ONS but it doesn't look like cause for panic so far

It doubled on 1st September after having been stable all summer.
I suspect this is due to changes in testing focus/process/etc ... I can't see what behavioural or policy change would make such a sudden step change.
Things like track and trace should actually drive up % testing positive, as tests should in theory be more focused around those with higher propensity to be infected.
I treat the stats with a lot of caution.
Graph for England: