Thanks - but predeparture for Scotland, ie qured, doesn't matter and can be any?

Stop the filthy English crossing the border then why didn't you?

In a sense, with nearly 90% of the adult population vaccinated, and 98% of those over 50 vaccinated, that would still be progress. But I think Sir Patrick misread his Flyertalk feed.
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Except so far Boris only accepts NHS paperwork - for example, the exemption from track-and-trace will be for UK-jabbed people only. Boris doesn't trust the Greek vaccination service. Kind of says it all really....

Not true, I gave the NHS my paperwork and im
‘On the system now’.

anyway in practice do you really think clubs will be checking the vaccine certificates carefully? It’s like with ID’s, all sorts of different types.

anyway for me this is more of a bluff to blackmail the youth as they are angry at falling vaccination numbers

sorry for the tangent, but was there ever any news on the primary vectors of transmission in the UK?

i know home gatherings were discussed a bit but what about supermarkets? i was just reading a telegraph article (yes, i go to the dark side on occasion) about the number of complaints about sainsbury staff not wearing masks, and give how small and poorly ventilated these shops can be in city centers, naturally i had to wonder.

It's very difficult to establish infection routes, and when we do the most effective lines tend to be within families. So indoors, close up, without masks, reunions with friends and family. Now this is probably the main cause anyway, but if you think about it, the most reliable information about chains of transmission will be within families - inside the family the data is quite reliable and well shared. Outside then privacy and other factors breaks the information flow.

If you look at the professions most likely to be hospitalised and / or dead, supermarket workers are not high on the list, but catering and hospitality staff are, along with factory workers, taxi related professions, and bus drivers. So my suspicion is that hospitality and taxi trips are risky. But I don't think shopping is too bad an activity overall. Some supermarkets are better ventilated than others, and some cornershops have family members working in poorly ventilated, and often quite cluttered spaces.

thanks and that is very interesting re the data by professions. i can understand hospitality and taxi staff being hit very hard, but it surprises me that supermarket workers are not that high up. of course if i look beyond the city bubbles i suppose i could see why given my context for markets are the tiny tesco/sainsbury/waitrose locals in the center of london v the larger shops outside city centers. meanwhile taxi drivers and hospitality workers are almost always in much more confined spaces regardless of geography.

Ah this is good news! I know of people who've been refused this by their (small-minded) GP.

seriously?? i cannot see how that is a responsible thing to do.

unless it is down to a person not providing sufficient information or proof.

my paper says I have been administered a J and J vaccine on a certain date, I gave my GP my European vaccine certificate to
prove it. Now it’s not an NHS Covid pass, but I cannot see how authorities in UK would reject a paper from my GP and my NHS number with a UK approved vaccine

Never underestimate the ability of a government to tie itself up in complex bureaucracy when common sense could be applied!

Your optimism is commendable, but if this becomes law (as opposed to guidance) I imagine the proof will be similarly tightly defined and proscribed - most likely the NHS app or the letter you can request from it, not forgetting that those routes also provide an expiry date which rolls forward.

Re: Masks on the tube

I now have the pleasure of commuting along the Northern line from High Barnet to Bank each morning and the reverse in the evening.

In the carriage that I am currently sitting in, mask compliance is 100%. It was around 80% on the same time tube yesterday morning and was about 70% on my tube home last night.

It was a bit odd popping to Tesco to get some soy sauce yesterday evening and being the only one in a mask!

Here is a better caputre of the information, courtesy of the ONS: I think it captures that profession question when you submit a Lateral Flow test.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/dhvthW.jpg

So the top one is doorstaff - bouncers in other words - and obviously you can't do that job without getting up close and personal, plus it's often in the hospitality sector. It also covers security guards, town stewards, Covid marshalls. All of these probably get asked to do LFTs. Now this then overlays with the realistic point that this area of employment doesn't require academic qualifications, and education achievement is a big marker for practically every healthcare issue. On the other hand the best profession for avoiding COVID is my own trade of farming, which also doesn't require academic qualifications, but certainly involves plenty of social distancing outdoors.

Now your question was whether supermarket visiting was risky, and that's a different aspect altogether, but you can see sales professions in mid table. If people who spend all day in a supermarket aren't particularly at risk compared to other professions then I would suggest quickly nipping in for a pint of milk and pack of biccies isn't going to be risky, particularly if you wear a mask and pay by the self service machine. The brackets on the sides indicate that there is sufficient overlap on the margin of error that you can more or less regard them as the same in terms of risk profile.

I seriously have to question your judgement.

Several million people are currently in forced self-isolation. That is one of the harshest restrictions of personal liberties in all of Britain's post-WWII history.

Yet the closure of nightclubs for another two months or so is too draconian? That's so much less invasive than putting millions under house arrest for 10 days at a time.

You know, there are alternatives to clubbing indoors in the summer. Why not do it similar to how they do it in party central Berlin? Like, outdoor parties/ravies only. One guest per 5 m^2. Contract tracing app mandatory. Lateral-flow test no older than 24 hours required. Free rapid testing stations outside the venue so people can get a test prior to queuing.