Christmas fixtures, what can we hope for?

Quoted from Son of Cod

It's not bollocks at all. I'm not sure where you live, but it feels like it's more rife than it's ever been in London right now. I know about 12-15 people who have tested positive in the past week alone. We should be in lockdown down here, but they're too scared to cancel Christmas two years running. I love to pile in on the government but them highlighting the severity of Omicron's impending spread isn't a fair criticism really, in my opinion.

Let me be clear; I am no Covid-sceptic. Going back as far as January last year I was one of the first to raise alarm bells among family, friends and colleagues, and quite a bit of písstaking I took for it too. However, I have learned to become very sceptical of this cabinet and in particular Boris Johnson.

I think it’s fair to say that it is widely accepted that Omicron is an incredibly transmissible virus, and that’s evident in this country and in particular London right now. But other countries do not seem to be as panicked or as frenzied as we do, so why is that?

This article from the Telegraph suggests that Omicron may in fact be a very mild disease indeed, and top scientists in South Africa remain perplexed at our response to its arrival on our shores. It’s worth a read (link to bypass paywall):

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%.....vaccine-jabs-give%2F

Now I realise you could come back at me with any number of doomsday-esque articles from our own press, and that selectively calling out particularly optimistic or grim articles isn’t a very objective way of looking at things.

But this is fact. The current 7 day average for Covid cases in South Africa is 21,917 - the highest it has ever been. The second highest was in early July, when cases hit just over 19,000. At that point in time the 7 day average for deaths was 338. The latest 7 day average death figure? 24, a number of which are understood to be Delta, not Omicron. I appreciate this is a small sample, but unless Omicron has a much greater lag between the recording of cases through to death, then it’s certainly indicative of a significant reduction in lethality.

So why would a government that has been famed for acting way, way too late multiple times in the past, suddenly become a world leader in urgency and caution? Why? Simply because it had found itself down political shít creek, and Omicron is its paddle.

I recognise the fact that Omicron’s transmissibility is problematic; I’m not completely dismissing it. But do I believe that all of the fear and panic currently being peddled is for the good of the British people, or for the British government? You can probably work out the answer to that.

Quoted from Poojah

It’s absolute bóllocks in my opinion - literally no other country in the world is going so bat shít about Omicron, and the government clearly has other motives for manufacturing compelling, scare mongering headlines. Another Boris press conference at 5pm.

What a time to find ourselves in this shít show of a division.

Ok. I’ll get drawn into the ‘non footy’ part of this. And if it continues it should be moved.
If it’s the governments motives for the scaremongering etc. How come it took the support of the opposition to avoid a highly embarrassing defeat. Or are you saying Labour are in on it as well.
Incidentally I actually think Boris has handled this situation appallingly !!

Because Kieth Starmer shíts his pants at the thought of doing any opposing for fear someone in the Telegraph would say he’s “playing politics”.

Just to get this back onto football, I hope someone does a Dave Busst on Starmer’s neck

Back on football track. As much as I'd like us to get as many points as possible I'm sceptical mainly because it's a good few games since we've played well enough to say we dominated opponents and came away thinking, we look good.

Even in the only game we've won in the last 8, for large parts of it we looked mediocre and toothless.

Lose
Lose
Win
Draw

In our 2 home losses so far the performance has been decent. If we fail to put a performance in and lose against Boreham Wood or Kings Lynn then BP will become toxic.

Quoted from Poojah

Let me be clear; I am no Covid-sceptic. Going back as far as January last year I was one of the first to raise alarm bells among family, friends and colleagues, and quite a bit of písstaking I took for it too. However, I have learned to become very sceptical of this cabinet and in particular Boris Johnson.

I think it’s fair to say that it is widely accepted that Omicron is an incredibly transmissible virus, and that’s evident in this country and in particular London right now. But other countries do not seem to be as panicked or as frenzied as we do, so why is that?

This article from the Telegraph suggests that Omicron may in fact be a very mild disease indeed, and top scientists in South Africa remain perplexed at our response to its arrival on our shores. It’s worth a read (link to bypass paywall):

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%.....vaccine-jabs-give%2F

Now I realise you could come back at me with any number of doomsday-esque articles from our own press, and that selectively calling out particularly optimistic or grim articles isn’t a very objective way of looking at things.

But this is fact. The current 7 day average for Covid cases in South Africa is 21,917 - the highest it has ever been. The second highest was in early July, when cases hit just over 19,000. At that point in time the 7 day average for deaths was 338. The latest 7 day average death figure? 24, a number of which are understood to be Delta, not Omicron. I appreciate this is a small sample, but unless Omicron has a much greater lag between the recording of cases through to death, then it’s certainly indicative of a significant reduction in lethality.

So why would a government that has been famed for acting way, way too late multiple times in the past, suddenly become a world leader in urgency and caution? Why? Simply because it had found itself down political shít creek, and Omicron is its paddle.

I recognise the fact that Omicron’s transmissibility is problematic; I’m not completely dismissing it. But do I believe that all of the fear and panic currently being peddled is for the good of the British people, or for the British government? You can probably work out the answer to that.

Great post and absolutely agree. Actually, I’d go so far as to say, this isn’t just a well presented and reasoned opinion, it is fact.

To not be in lockdown and able to go to games

11pts and no lockdown please.

Quoted from Poojah

I recognise the fact that Omicron’s transmissibility is problematic; I’m not completely dismissing it. But do I believe that all of the fear and panic currently being peddled is for the good of the British people, or for the British government? You can probably work out the answer to that.

Again, I'm the first to stick the boot in on the current government however I think the answer to that is simply that this time round they have a vaccine in the early stages of what is set to become the dominant strain.

Quoted from Poojah

Let me be clear; I am no Covid-sceptic. Going back as far as January last year I was one of the first to raise alarm bells among family, friends and colleagues, and quite a bit of písstaking I took for it too. However, I have learned to become very sceptical of this cabinet and in particular Boris Johnson.

I think it’s fair to say that it is widely accepted that Omicron is an incredibly transmissible virus, and that’s evident in this country and in particular London right now. But other countries do not seem to be as panicked or as frenzied as we do, so why is that?

This article from the Telegraph suggests that Omicron may in fact be a very mild disease indeed, and top scientists in South Africa remain perplexed at our response to its arrival on our shores. It’s worth a read (link to bypass paywall):

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%.....vaccine-jabs-give%2F

Now I realise you could come back at me with any number of doomsday-esque articles from our own press, and that selectively calling out particularly optimistic or grim articles isn’t a very objective way of looking at things.

But this is fact. The current 7 day average for Covid cases in South Africa is 21,917 - the highest it has ever been. The second highest was in early July, when cases hit just over 19,000. At that point in time the 7 day average for deaths was 338. The latest 7 day average death figure? 24, a number of which are understood to be Delta, not Omicron. I appreciate this is a small sample, but unless Omicron has a much greater lag between the recording of cases through to death, then it’s certainly indicative of a significant reduction in lethality.

So why would a government that has been famed for acting way, way too late multiple times in the past, suddenly become a world leader in urgency and caution? Why? Simply because it had found itself down political shít creek, and Omicron is its paddle.

I recognise the fact that Omicron’s transmissibility is problematic; I’m not completely dismissing it. But do I believe that all of the fear and panic currently being peddled is for the good of the British people, or for the British government? You can probably work out the answer to that.

Hmmm, yeah I see what you're saying but it's also worth considering that it took well over a month from the first confirmed case of COVID in Wuhan to the first confirmed death, so even in South Africa terms, Omicron is in its infancy and we already know these strains can mutate with devastating consequences.

And while there is some scientific fact behind the article that you posted, one of the main takeaways is that it was also written off the back of someone's opinion that included the phrase "my gut feeling is".

Not sure if you've read the latest statement from the WHO too? They're saying act now and act swiftly if you're in a position to be able to do so. The Netherlands have announced that they're closing schools and it seems like France are getting tetchy too now, so it's not wholly accurate to say that we're the only ones getting worked up. I do agree that there's been a tendency in this country for the media and the government to sensationalise reports though, although the BBC have at least been giving a little coverage to those opinions in the article you linked today.

I hope you're right and that this isn't gonna be as bad as previous variants. Hopefully, two years of lockdowns and working from home with the news on in the background are just finally taking its toll on me and I'm now being overly paranoid but it's too early for me to personally call bullshit on Omicron.