The number yesterday was about double the seven-day rolling average. That increase is staggering.
Of course, this does not prove causation. But if, as seems likely, the school holidays caused the tumble in the number of cases (they start school holidays at the end of June in Scotland) then it seems very likely that schools reopening is now causing the new spike.
Hmm.
Term, holiday and closure dates
Monday 16 Aug 2021 – Staff resume, in service day.
Tuesday 17 Aug 2021 – In service day.
Wednesday 18 Aug 2021 – Pupils resume.
Schools going back on 18 Aug causes spike in cases on 19 Aug in a disease that takes a few days to take hold and be tested for.
OK, yes, I’ll believe that.
Perhaps the kids are back at school so the testers are now back at work?
The sheer ignorance of the media classes (who’s knowledge of science or maths is minimal) beggars belief. My favourite was Piers Morgan claiming he caught COVID from an England match 3 days before symptoms, from the “great unwashed” obviously, despite them usually manifesting themselves *5* days later. Thankfully he mentioned that he’d been to Amanda Holden’s birthday party then, when all those doubtless masked celebs were being “careful”. It gets better: since infectivity starts 3 days after infection, there’s a good chance he was a superspreader infecting those great unwashed 🙁
Of course there’ll be a rise in cases, there’s always a rise in respiratory viruses when kids go back to school, but that’s not the only cause.
Adults start going back to work in greater numbers (teachers can be spreaders too), taking public transport, going in to shops and cafe’s for lunches, going to meetings at other companies etc. (Yes I know we’re still working from home but that’s a subset of workers).
Furthermore, social groups start up again, not just for children but also for adults, including mothers who no longer have kids to look after during the day.
And lets not forget those great super spreader events known as Freshers’ Fairs that bring us Freshers’ Flu.
In other words, there’s a great big jumbling of the herds that have been static for a number of weeks and respiratory viruses have a field day.
The secret of Scottish school rugby was to try to arrange your fixtures against English schools as early in September as possible. They didn’t all fall for it, mind.
Meanwhile, he’s also offering to help Scotland’s books. Several people replying have brought up his performance at the Numptorium on the subject of GERS..
What’s fascinating is that “cases” (read positive tests) are increasing, hospitalisations are increasing, deaths are increasing – but Professor Lockdown and his friends are silent, there’s no propaganda about it on the BBC, no scaremongering from Boris et al, in fact nobody seems to have noticed. Except that they must have done, obviously.
Is this a change of tack from the nanny-statists? Have they finally realised this is here to stay and we just need to get on with life?
One can hope.
Peter,
I put it down, in part, to that nasty little authoritarian Hancock no longer being Health Secretary. Hopefully Sajid Javid is listening to Anders Tegnel and not Ferguson or Idiot SAGE, who appeared to have a hold over Hancock.
A change of nameplate on the door also gives Boris & co the cover to start quietly changing direction and fitting Hancock up to take the blame for extending lockdowns for far longer than “necessary”. (Whether they will take that chance remains to be seen.)
Following up on what TomJ said about Mr Murphy’s kind offer to sort out GERS, Murphy’s main piece on that subject is here: Why GERS is wrong yet again.
All their figs are lying shite based on inaccurate–known inaccurate–garbage tests that that throw up legions of “cases” who have no symptoms because they aren’t infected. So the lying bastards came up with their “asymptomatic” equals you are Typhoid Mary bollocks.
All to serve a tyrannical powergrab.
I doubt that there are more infected–they are just testing more at higher cycles. I doubt the increased numbers in hospital have anything to do with con-vid. 14 million give or take waiting list=more going in and more shite tests. More so-called “delta variant” infections=lying bullshit.
And I esp doubt more con-vid deaths. Usual relabeling of mostly old/ill dying + numbers of ordinary deaths relabelled also by bogus tests. Increased by deaths resulting from 18 months of LD neglect of conditions that could have been resolved if d/w in time. More victims of Johnson’s LD antics.
That is why those opposed to the vax pass–and no one more so than I–should not get their knickers in a twist about “double-jabbed” mugs supposedly catching and dying from con-vid. That should invalidate the vax pass. But the pass is about Blojob J getting his first step to CCP-style social credit tyranny–nothing to do with health. Thinking that the x2 jab is useless against the virus allows The Frighteners a second bite at the cherry of claiming con-vid is a deadly disease. Which it really isn’t.No more than a bad winter flu lied to the skies.
The x2 vax “infected” are likely more false positive casedemic crap and the deaths will be again mostly old/ill dying anyway despite the jabs. Indeed for all we know the vax might cause more false positive results.
Aside from large numbers of nasty side effects –compared to ANY other vax so far-there is no basis to say the vax does anything for or against the virus as the figs in use are a pack of deceitful casedemic lies produced to support a worldwide powergrab. Only con-vid deaths that should ever be accepted as con-vid should be those publicly post-mortem’d and definitely confirmed. And since con-vid kills via pneumonia it is difficult to be sure with old/ill people even then.
@Ecks… Even if they actually are “infected” we’re talking about young people making up a massive percentage of the “diseased” – virtually none of whom will display any symptoms whatsoever, and those that do will merely be inconvenienced by a slight cough and runny-nose.
That is also true Baron. Indeed the Delta variant tripe is probably mostly summer colds and hay fever weaponised in the service of power-grabbing bullshit.
Just had a look at the latest testing figures for Scotland. Pillar 2 testing has increased from -12k per day to x20k per day, coinciding with that increase in cases.
(pillar 2: swab testing for the wider population, as set out in government guidance)
Is it just me or are the tectonic plates shifting on the vaccines? The BBC website (of all places) today had an article right at the top (just under headline articles) entitled ‘Is catching Covid now better than more vaccines?’
Does this presage a shift in government policy? I can’t believe the BBC is freelancing with stuff like this, there will undoubtedly be a line they are being told to take.