Day 138 of self-isolation - A bit more lockdown

A bit more lockdown

In parts of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire, the lockdown has been tightened up, in response to an increase in the virus.

You can no longer meet with people at home or in your garden. That's exactly what we did last Tuesday! And there's other restrictions, see the link.

This is, of course, somewhat inconvenient for the people in those areas. But it's better than applying it over the whole country.

And it creates a good precedent - if people violate the rules (and of course they do) to the extent that the virus starts spreading again, then we have to re-apply the lockdown. And that isn't punishing the people, it's punishing the virus.

But why are pubs still open? I haven't been to a pub recently, but I would guess that they make ideal places for people to spread the virus. You can't drink with a mask on. I wonder how many people in pubs are masked most of the time? And whether they keep their distance?

I think what happened was that the "track and trace" data told the trackers that the infections were happening  between people who knew each other and were in each others homes or gardens. But if I go to a pub, shop or restaurant, I simple don't know the names or addresses of all the other people there, whereas if I visit someone's home, I do know who they are. So I'm wondering if maybe this is an artifact of the data collection method?

It's sad that we didn't have the app that we were promised, because our incompetent government went in a direction that everyone (Google, Apple, me) told them would not, could not, work. And wasted millions of pounds and several months, going in the wrong direction.

Baroness Dido Harding was in charge. No surprise, then. She was in charge of TalkTalk when they had hack after hack, so she knows all about IT failures.

I think they should have also closed pubs and restaurants. The main way you get infected, is by breathing in what an infected person breathed out. Pubs are closed public spaces, and are much more conducive to virus spread than half a dozen people meeting in someone's garden.

So what will you do if your family wants to get together with another family? Not outdoors in your garden where the wind disperses the virus. Oh no. You all go down to the nearest boozer and cram into the bar along with dozens of other people.

I get the impression that someone isn't thinking this through.

. I expect she's good with horses.