Coronavirus

[Kenny]

Josh Halliday
@JoshHalliday "New: I'm told that 'food-based pubs' such as Wetherspoons will be allowed to stay open in Merseyside while pubs and bars that don't "substantially" serve food will have to close later this week."

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Ah, "substantially", what a useful term in this context.

Bowl of chips with my pint, please. Yes they do take me three hours to eat, always. Done.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Really not sure that Weatherspoons & food go together in any way.

Fuel if there's nowhere else open possibly, but not more than that

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

South Yorkshire going into Tier 2.

This is going to shock you all but I'm not sure they've entirely thought all this through (even though they were briefing about this amazing new idea nearly a week ago).

For a kick off South Yorkshire is massive, are they really going to lump everyone together across huge conurbations? The West Midlands isn't a homogeneous lump.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Interesting that they only have ratings of Medium, High & Very High - clearly if they rated any area as low then the whole populace in that area would have rushed outdoors & into the pub for a rave (though pretty sure that I've not done that for a few years).

Anyone would think that they believe that the rest of us are unintelligent compared to them so will be fooled (though thinking about it they probably do)

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

North East MPs got less than 10 minutes' notice of their "meeting" (in inverted commas as really, if there's no discussion to be had then it isn't a proper meeting).

Tiers of a clown.

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

Ah, "substantially", what a useful term in this context.

Bowl of chips with my pint, please. Yes they do take me three hours to eat, always. Done.

This is the model we have in Ireland. Pubs serving food were allowed to remain open as long as they followed the guidelines about distancing and PPE.
Pubs not serving food were not allowed to open, so you had 'wet pubs' as they were known, offering toasted sandwiches and plates of crisps to circumvent that rule.

All a load of bollocks anyway, pubs serving food surely carry an increased risk due to the very nature of eating in an open public area and the amount of utensils and equipment needing to be constantly cleaned and sterilised.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

So nice of Alex to give a clear set of criteria for placement in the three tier system.

 

[BillyDee]

Tiers of a clown.

:tiphat: Chapeau...

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

This is such an almighty mess. Where are any specifics? Are support bubbles effectively abolished now, they seem to be suggesting so?

 

[BillyDee]

Hopefully the 7 o'clock tv briefing gives actual details? Surely?

 

[Sniffer]

Hopefully the 7 o'clock tv briefing gives actual details? Surely?

Only 35 minutes scheduled on BBC One for it and according to reports this morning he'll be alongside Sunak and Whitty. I'm not hopeful that the details man will have enough time for the details.

 

[BillyDee]

So seems the expected set threshold of x no. of cases per 100k isn't happening, still just arbitrary?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

So vast swathes (all?) of the West Mids getting more restrictions, even though all the local authorities say we don't need them, and numbers across the region have been dropping, and it's an incredibly diverse area in so many ways, and there's no data provided to explain why. Ta.

 

[Sniffer]

This is such an almighty mess. Where are any specifics? Are support bubbles effectively abolished now, they seem to be suggesting so?

From the BBC regarding Nottingham/Nottinghamshire going to Tier 2 which Wolverhampton is also placed in.

Tier two means an area is at a "high" risk and aims to reduce household-to-household transmission by preventing all mixing between different households or support bubbles indoors.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Looks that way. If you already have extra restrictions expect to be in tier 2, even though next door which hasn’t had restrictions but does have a higher case rate than your area did when the restrictions were announced will remain in tier 1. Seems fair.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

 

[BillyDee]

A very measured and understandable response from the Mayor of the West Midlands.
Although very surprised that an area as vast as the West Midlands is covered by one Mayor?

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

This is the model we have in Ireland. Pubs serving food were allowed to remain open as long as they followed the guidelines about distancing and PPE.
Pubs not serving food were not allowed to open, so you had 'wet pubs' as they were known, offering toasted sandwiches and plates of crisps to circumvent that rule.

All a load of bollocks anyway, pubs serving food surely carry an increased risk due to the very nature of eating in an open public area and the amount of utensils and equipment needing to be constantly cleaned and sterilised.

Simple rule here:

Over 50% of sales are from food, you are a restaurant and can be open (but must adhere to other rules)
Under 50% you are a bar and must remain closed.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

The more I read, it's more like I can't meet up indoors with anyone else OTHER THAN my support bubble.

But:

1) How fucking hard is it to come out with an unambiguous statement, this is pretty bloody important
2) Support bubbles aren't registered anywhere. So technically there's nothing to stop me going to ten different pubs in a night with ten different people. I could claim each time that this person is my support bubble. Ridiculous.