Covid-19 and Beetley: A Saturday Update

~ beetleypete

So the UK government has officially downgraded the alert level for the Coronavirus, from 4 to 3. All the schools are set to go back in September, hotels are opening in July, and non-essential shops opened earlier this week. The two-metre social distancing is set to be reduced to one metre soon, and all public transport is running, with the requirement to wear a face-covering of some kind inside trains and buses.

Sounds positive, doesn’t it? Well, I don’t think so.

Too many people are still dying, and too many people are still carrying the virus without any idea that they have it.

The track and trace app has been abandoned in favour of something else provided by Google and Apple. No doubt a company somewhere made a mint out of the failed experiment, and some officials pocketed a nice payoff too. The fall in the numbers of deaths is hailed as a great success. Try telling that to the people who died this week, and their bereaved relatives and friends.

Speaking from his luxury home in Florida, where he travelled to by private jet, the odious Lord Sugar, he of ‘The Apprentice’ fame, denied the very existence of the virus, for the simple reason that he doesn’t personally know anyone who has died of it. That man has a vote in The House of Lords, let’s not forget that.

I had to drive into the nearby town of Dereham yesterday, to go to the bank. It was a Friday as normal, as far as I could tell. Car parks almost full, crowds of eager shoppers everywhere, and few bothering about social distancing. You could have assumed it was still 2019, and nothing had happened. There were measures in place at the bank, and around half the shops and all the cafes and pubs were still closed until July.

But it was otherwise very ‘normal’. OId normal, that is.

Far too normal for me, I assure you.

85 thoughts on “Covid-19 and Beetley: A Saturday Update”

  1. Not a good thing. We have cases in all surrounding buildings here because they lifted the lockdown. I am just waiting for my number on the line of infected. This is a huge disaster.

    Stay Safe😞✌😤

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  4. Here we have a share of weirdos also either denying this is happening, or insisting it is some sort of conspiracy to do with… well, all kind of things, including the App that they are not using here anyway. We are not in a state of emergency any longer and the numbers are looking better, but there are also some places that have decided to go back due to increased contagion, and I worry people are too complacent. People’s memories are very short and some have never quite got it into their heads. I do worry as well, Pete.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Just watching the news of another serious outbreak in Germany after the relaxation there. It seems some people are prepared to chance dying, to be able to work or socialise. Unfortunately, they are still putting us all at risk!
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Like

      Reply

  5. I keep talking out loud: IT IS A PLAGUE – what do these people not understand? I told my grand child today she will have this in her life story – something she survived at age 15/16.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. My bank has a person at the door checking temp and asking questions about my health….and they allow only 10 people in the bank t a time….I had to wait for entrance and of course masks are required…..my area is becoming a “hot stop”….we will see if these precautions will help. be well….chuq

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. The silly thing was, that while we were lining up outside the bank, people were squeezing past us on the street, close enough to touch. They appeared to believe it was all over.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  9. I agree with Frank. Our lockdown was far too late, we should have shut the borders in Feb like Australia and NZ did and tested, tested, tested. The knee jerk reaction was to allow the NHS to have the resources they have been denied for years. Why were schools closed when most people dying from this are elderly? And they (us) are dispensable – think of all those pensions saved! And now we are on the brink of opening up our borders again, without a track and trace app (and wasn’t that a mate of Cummings?) when we still have more deaths per day than Australia and NZ have had in total and they are still not opening their borders, not even the state borders! It’s all a bit of a mess and god help us this winter. Maybe the virus will simply disappear, but if it doesn’t…

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    2. Well, sadly you are right in that “too many people are still carrying the virus without any idea that they have it.” and “So many people are tired of the lockdown, they seem to have abandoned common sense.”…….I’m taking things slowly, see how things pan out in the next weeks

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  12. Pete, here in the US, a dozen states are reporting their highest numbers ever, the death toll climbs steadily, and our President is holding a rally in a closed building where tens of thousands of people will stand – proudly without masks, as their “Emperor” says they don’t look good on…

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

      1. This year has shown us the best and worst of people all over the world, for sure. Those who sacrificed their lives to help others, contrasted with the selfish ignorant bastards, and the outright ‘deniers’.
        Best wishes, Pete.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

        1. Yes they have. Student nurses contracts cancelled today, and no pay rise agreeed as per the claim from qualified nurses. Tory scum, showing their true colours! I hate them so much, a firing squad is too good for them!
          Best wishes, Pete.

          Liked by 2 people

          Reply

          1. Arrgh! It wouldn’t be so bad if they could occasionally apologise for their actions (or inactions) but they are all so bloody full of themselves! The OH wonders if they all attend ‘Smirk School’. All nurses should go on strike. They all deserve a 15% rise AND a bonus payment. It’s despicable.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

  13. When I go to the supermarket, all arrows and marks for social distancing have been taken away, but by and large people are still trying to stay 2m apart. Unless I really need to visit a non-essential shop, I’m not going to!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I shall stick with my small and local Tesco where so far I have only seen half a dozen people in the store at a time and we all grin sheepishly at each other as we skip past someone who is dawdling! I am in no hurry to go shopping elsewhere and in fact most of my shopping is carried out online anyway. At the moment I have no need to buy any more stuff though I do need some electrical work carried out on the house.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

          1. I might see of my electrician is happy to work. I need new lights and a new hob, we’re down to 2 rings working now so it is getting serious! I don’t want to order goods though until they can be fitted as the warranty / returns option will be running from the delivery date.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

  14. Yes the virus is spiking in many places and some folks choose to remain ignorant of the fact as if it could never happen to them; and they don’t seem to care about others. Here in Washington state where things have slowed on the virus front, reopening has been in phases by county. Our county finally moved into phase 2 of 4 yesterday, which still has many restrictions in place.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Thanks Pete. Our governor took action early and decisively and it seems to be working out okay so far even though there have still been thousands of cases and many deaths. We do what we can to stay safe.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  15. I have seen that the Brits are very emboldened, Pete. So are the Americans in many places. Here in SA our figures are climbing quite quickly now. It is bizarre to me that our gov shut the economy down when there were no infections and now it actually is a problem, everything is reopening this week. They have run out of money.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It seems that so few countries have managed this well, Robbie. I can only think of New Zealand, Greece, and South Korea as examples of where they have genuinely minimised the death rate. I hope things don’t get too bad for you down there once it all reopens.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  16. We both know Pete that capitalism wasn’t going to shut down so that a couple hundred thousand mostly old people didn’t sicken and die. They were always expendable. The big deal about restrictions was just to “flatten the curve” to make sure one died in an ICU room with a ventilator and not out in the hallway of the emergency room. Now that the hospital system has caught up we can all go back to buying shit we don’t need.

    We are on our own until a vaccine or an effective therapy.

    Stay well. Best from “opening up” Florida.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  20. non-essentials have opened here and people wearing masks are out shopping like business as usual. some stores are allowing only certain number of shoppers at one time for social distancing which is good. but like you said, people are still dying and there is not vaccine yet. it’s a little too soon to be out and about. best to you, Pete.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  21. Pete, everywhere here that has opened up has seen a resurgence of the virus. 16 young women in Florida went to a bar together and all 16 contracted the virus. In California, restaurants are closing again because staff members have contracted the virus. In our state, we had over 1600 new cases yesterday and everyone is pushing for even more lessening of restrictions. No regard for those at risk.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. I cant imagine what it must be like in the UK, with the virus having had such a light touch over here. Although I did speak with someone from Krakow the other week and they said that restrictions are a lot tighter in the city.
    We actually went out yesterday, not something we do very often, first to the swimming pool, then a restaurant and onto the playground. And the only place that required the wearing of a mask was a supermarket that was next to the restaurant. Non of the venues were very busy so much of the tension that I may have otherwise felt was soon forgotten.
    I doubt I would feel the same in the UK, where I get the impression from listening to the UK radio that science and politics are going in separate directions, the latter being driven by people in the wings rather than your beloved leader who comes across as some kind of delirious fool (no change then) 🙂 It seems the state is passing responsibility back to the people, if you get ill its your own fault, which to be fair is the way they look at it over here, but then with a little over a thousand deaths the Poles have that luxury.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Once they make ‘the public’ here responsible for their own fate, that is the edge of a very slippery slope. Just look at the online demands for Wetherspoons to reopen their pubs so they can go and watch football while downing pints, shouting loudly, and jumping up and down. The simple pleasures of life, undoubtedly.
      Hopefully, the chlorine in swimming pools should make them quite safe places.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. The cynic in me might even think that the government is happy to loose those that are a drain on the coffers, the elderly and disadvantaged. Think of the money they can save in the future, no need to raise taxes to pay back the money they have borrowed, the overheads will be much reduced in the future! I heard that care homes are already going out of business as they no longer have enough clients!

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

  23. Our non-essential shops will re-open at the end of the month. We expected outdoor eating places and beer gardens to open this week but Nicola said, ‘not yet’ so we’ll wait. It gives us a tiny window to watch what happens in England as your restrictions are lifted.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. From what I saw in just one hour yesterday, I still fear the worst, Mary. Once the pubs and bars are allowed to open, I can only imagine that ‘summer of sport’, and all the drinkers.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  24. NZ is importing the virus again from other countries, quarantine does not actually mean quarantine and never has here. It seems more lets stay in a nice hotel, go for a walk and mingle. Oh and since the re-emergence our illustrious health minister has actually made an appearance which has been long overdue ( not the same as when he breached lock down protocol twice,) before this it was just to apologise , but now to say he will not resign. Another minister seems to be leading the quarantine issue. Our PM, well not seen her front up all week…………..

    With great sadness a police officer was shot and killed yesterday, My thoughts go out to his family, friends and colleagues.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I saw on the news that two women from England arrived carrying the virus after various airport stop-overs. Then they were allowed to visit a dying relative, miles away from that ‘quarantine’ hotel. NZ did so well with controlling the virus, they should never have let those women do that. I can’t go to my mate’s funeral in south London, but they can travel to NZ because a relative is ill? Crazy!
      Sorry about the police officer, I hadn’t heard about that.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thanks, Lauren. I understand that the economy is suffering, but I feel that too many people are still dying, and the government sees that as acceptable ‘collateral damage’.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

All comments welcome

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.