itisme

To be fair many just let someone else take the home day 2/8 test tho. Loads hate to do it so just ask a friend or family member to do the test for them if they don't mind it. So still loads that could go undetected. The testing at home is just a farce and hardly anyone get's checked.

itisme

Seems like West End is def. gonna open up around may 20 as many shows announcing comeback now on this date. Starting to sell tickets and all. But nowhere can i find what the conditions are going to be? Social distancing seems in place: yes. Masks 100% needed yes. But what about else? Do we need a test to get in? Or need to be vaccined? Anyone seen any info about this?

Dan1113

They're all selling without any distancing though so it'll certainly be interesting.

corporate-wage-slave

As you know, I am an advocate of using 14 day data, since something like Easter pushes data to the end of the week and on 7 day trends it has odd results. On a 14 day basis the death rate has fallen by 34%, so let us say that is 17% per week. That is a halving on the rate of reduction for March for both 7 and 14 day basis, but still a downward trend. The rolling 7 day average is 30 fatalities a day and on 14 days 31 fatalities a day. Whereas the 7 day figure has gone up and down, the 14 day so far has only reduced every day.

itisme

When booking for may 20 i only got this e-mail after:

This is not a ticket, your ticket will be emailed to you by Nimax Theatres before the performance.

To assist with test and trace the venue are introducing an airline-style check-in
- 48 hours before your performance you will receive a pre-visit email with a check-in link from Nimax Theatres
- You will be required to confirm that members of your party do not have Covid-19 symptoms - if you cannot confirm this you will be given details on how to exchange (this must be completed no later than 10am on the morning of your performance)
- Nimax Theatres will provide you with contactless e-tickets upon completion of “check-in”
- The venue will only accept e-ticket for admittance
- Please note face masks must be worn at all times whilst in the theatre.

So guesing only track/trace and telling them your healthy.

HB7

I don't think Boris has a clue what he is doing. If you had a competent opposition, he might have been in trouble, however Keir Starmer (Labour leader - opposition to the ruling Tory/Conservative party), is even worse than Boris. He has no backbone, and has basically backed up Boris at every turn or 'gently objected' if he disagreed with Boris on anything. Absolutely pathetic, however, that is enough politics from me. I think it is more right now that economists have basically been completely shut out or are not talking loud enough.

The issue is that many people think that we need to have zero covid cases and every man and his dog vaccinated before we allow anyone out of the country. I don't understand how people don't see that as long as aviation/travel/tourism is shut, that has effects on so many other sectors and people losing work. This in turn results in more handouts from government and more money that needs to be borrowed. Unemployment will increase, and then those who are employed will be facing higher taxes. In fact, business tax rates over the next few years are rising over 30%! That will mean businesses will compensate by increasing prices or reducing services etc (they need to cover their profit margin somehow), severely increasing CPI.

We made huge mistakes last year, leading to the deaths we have now - however we had no vaccines last year. We had no therapeutics. We had less understanding of Covid than we do now. With all what we have available to us now, including half the country vaccinated, we are in a better position. We need to manage the risk and re-open the borders. People are getting tested before coming here and on arrival. We keep seeing positive news about the vaccines.

If we want 0-Covid, we can get that - just put us all back into lockdown now, shut the borders and lets wait 6-12 months. Is that really a feasible argument? I would argue not.

And the constant rubbish from some judging people because they want to travel is just bad form, selfish and childish. Travel is an important part of life for many people. Travel is not just for people going to "party at exotic locations" (even though, after the year we have all had - why is that such a horrible thing?).

ahmetdouas

For me London feels completely normal right now its packed everywhere. Many places have their windows wide open and call themselves a 'garden', one place I go to even has a retractable roof that they partly open to make the outdoors indoors so top marks for creative thinking to go around the rules and be within them. With the heaters it feels warm enough to be pleasant, but I am sure the weather will improve over the coming day.s

Thank god for no curfew anymore, that was a terrible idea (makes me cringe when Boris was saying other European countries were doing it so we should try it as well, I guess he is not so big on following Europe now!).

The only thing I can't do that I want to do domestically is go out to bars and clubs late at night, otherwise I can do as I please.

13901

Public service announcement: a friend yesterday told me that the Hammersmith Novotel is vaccinating walk-ins that are younger than the official age, however it seems you need to be a local resident in H&F/Kensington & Chelsea. He is in his early 30s, him and his wife (teacher) took there her mom and dad (support bubble, in their 60s, dad has health issues) and all of them got vaccinated. They did check that they weren't from other boroughs though.

IAN-UK

This peevish response has had many airings. Truth is I've not seen any suggestion that we wait for zero-covid to initiate phased releases from restrictions. Indeed it seems widely accepted that we'll learn to live with some form of background-covid, but one where protection and treatment render the disease less virulent, its longer-term effects less damaging.

In the meantime, the vaccine programme has placed us among the few islands with control of infections, in a sea of pestilence. It's a shaky position to be in. Tides turn quickly.

The strategy of phased lifting of restrictions, with intervals permitting the effects of new freedoms to be assessed, is eminently sensible; as is wariness about opening borders to the threat of novel versions of the virus.

VSLover

regardless of opinions on hotel quarantine, why would anyone ever think that once they had their claws into you (by driving you TO THE HOTEL) that you stood a chance of not being caught? lol, people.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b1831779.html

13901

First he flew from Bahrain (one of the few places in the ME with no quarantine and direct flights) to Abu Dhabi and then he doubled down by not respecting hotel confinement. A genius, really.

Misco60

So, not quite the "police state" that has been claimed elsewhere in this thread?

London is undoubtedly more open than it has been for months, which I welcome, but still nowhere near "completely normal" unless one's normal consists solely of shopping and sitting outside pubs with a drink. You can't go to the cinema or theatre, can't visit a gallery or museum, can't have a drink or meal indoors and can't visit friends and family at home or have them visit you. And, of course, you have to wear a face covering in all enclosed spaces.

We're getting there, but we're still quite a long way from "normal". And the spread of the South African variant in south London (in my borough, in fact) shows just how easily everything could go into reverse again.

HB7

The idea that "tides turn quickly" is just ignorant. A large proportion of the population is now vaccinated. When it comes to travel, every traveler is tested before they get on a plane here and within 2 days of arrival. Controlled measures work, as they have shown in Dubai. By your logic, vaccine don't work, which we now have significant data proving otherwise.

dnajockey

Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia are still pretty quiet (with no tourists or students) but with the changes on Monday, Covent Garden/Seven Dials and Soho are 50-60% "normal" in terms of numbers of people. Plenty of tables set up outside and pubs with no beer gardens serving take aways as before.

DaveS

Some data for today:

Cases 2,596 (3,150 last Friday)
Deaths 34 (60)
Patients admitted to hospital 204 (235 on the 5th)
Patients on ventilation 329 (421 on the 8th)
Patients in hospital 2,291 (3,019 on the 7th)
People vaccinated up to and including 15 April 2021
First dose: 32,574,221
Second dose: 8,931,547

The rolling 7 day daily average is down 8.5% on the previous week. Elsewhere, about 130,000 people are estimated to have had coronavirus in the week to 10 April, down from 185,000 people the previous week according to data from the Office for National Statistics.