O/T. The Government's handling of Covid

[macstheman]

Play away MA, hope the body holds up.
For me, it's the body that's gone, even dog walking is hard work. The left leg only comes along for the ride whilst beating an egg knackers me up!
I hit a few airflow balls in the garden but that's it nowadays! I played almost daily for 30 years so can't complain......... on second thoughts yes I ducking can!!!!
Enjoy.

[MadAmster]

Play away MA, hope the body holds up.
For me, it's the body that's gone, even dog walking is hard work. The left leg only comes along for the ride whilst beating an egg knackers me up!
I hit a few airflow balls in the garden but that's it nowadays! I played almost daily for 30 years so can't complain......... on second thoughts yes I ducking can!!!!
Enjoy.

Thanks mac. It's only the shoulder that might be a problem. The rest of the body is fine apart from arthritic knees but they don't stop me reffing so should be OK for golf.. Did 53Km on the bike yesterday in under 2 hours so the stamina is there too. Lost 5 Kg since March and am looking to lose another 5 but no mad rush to do it. That extra 5 Kg would see my BMI at around 26.5 (over 25 is overweight, over 30 is obese although mine has never been that high). Losing enough to get under 25 would be fine but I'd be happy enough at 26.5 BMI. I'm looking more at the fat % which is now down to 24%. At my age and height anywhere between 18 and 23 is deemed fine and is, IMO, a better indicator than BMI.

[MadAmster]

Back to COVID. Latest Dutch figures show 4013 new cases last week. Down 23 on the week before. Hospitalisations 50, up 12. Deaths 16, up 7.

How they got the %s I'm not sure but the PM said at a press conference yesterday that 68% of the new cases were infections in the home. Following the most recent relaxations people have been having birthday and other parties at home, inviting friends and relations......

To combat this you may now have no more than 6 adult visitors at any one time. No limit on the number of children. If you want a party, hire a hall/room where social distancing is enforced was the message.

Meanwhile in Amsterdam, the figures are rising out of the home as well. Bars, restaurants etc have been told to enforce distancing much better. The authorities will be monitoring SD in bars etc far more frequently and stringently. First offence, a warning. Second offence, a forced 4 week closure. If offence numbers are high and/or "outside of the home" infections continue to rise, all bars will be forced to shut early, maybe as early as 22:00. Next step after that would be to shut all the bars 24/7. Hopefully people will start respecting the rules again now they have been warned of the consequences.

[Andy_Faber]

Back to COVID. Latest Dutch figures show 4013 new cases last week. Down 23 on the week before. Hospitalisations 50, up 12. Deaths 16, up 7.

How they got the %s I'm not sure but the PM said at a press conference yesterday that 68% of the new cases were infections in the home. Following the most recent relaxations people have been having birthday and other parties at home, inviting friends and relations......

To combat this you may now have no more than 6 adult visitors at any one time. No limit on the number of children. If you want a party, hire a hall/room where social distancing is enforced was the message.

Meanwhile in Amsterdam, the figures are rising out of the home as well. Bars, restaurants etc have been told to enforce distancing much better. The authorities will be monitoring SD in bars etc far more frequently and stringently. First offence, a warning. Second offence, a forced 4 week closure. If offence numbers are high and/or "outside of the home" infections continue to rise, all bars will be forced to shut early, maybe as early as 22:00. Next step after that would be to shut all the bars 24/7. Hopefully people will start respecting the rules again now they have been warned of the consequences.

'Here' in Spain it seems to be all kicking off again big style, SIX**** THOUSAND new cases yesterday. I pray for two things: that they can get it back under control: that the deaths dont start rising like they did last time: and that HMG do the necessary to avoid it happening in UK. In hindsight the quarantine thing from Spain was a good thing, I've changed my opinion on that. Locally, I'm in Northern Mallorca, its a ghost town, but I am aware through the local paper of massive flouting of the rules, mainly by tourists and those who service them (bar owners, boat cruises etc). IMO HMG should stop any transit in and out of Spain (after friday when I come home obvs!)

[ramAnag]

'Here' in Spain it seems to be all kicking off again big style, SIX**** THOUSAND new cases yesterday. I pray for two things: that they can get it back under control: that the deaths dont start rising like they did last time: and that HMG do the necessary to avoid it happening in UK. In hindsight the quarantine thing from Spain was a good thing, I've changed my opinion on that. Locally, I'm in Northern Mallorca, its a ghost town, but I am aware through the local paper of massive flouting of the rules, mainly by tourists and those who service them (bar owners, boat cruises etc). IMO HMG should stop any transit in and out of Spain (after friday when I come home obvs!)

You don’t recommend I drive to a quiet part of southern Spain in four weeks then, Andy? (Serious question.)

[Andy_Faber]

A quiet part, yes. We are in a part of a resort that, whilst always quiet has never been THIS quiet. We see maybe two people passing per day, I've seen no-one today. We've been super careful, seen no-one for 22 hours of each day, then only really been close to anyone for 90 mins in a restaurant every other day and maybe 15 mins a day in the shops, and we mask up all the time apart from when eating. Shopkeepers/restaurant/bar staff have been very mask-compliant, and there aren't enough folk here to cause crowding on the beaches. It's totally down to your own standards, there's no reason why you can't walk away from situations, which we (led by paranoid Mrs F) have.

[Geoff Parkstone]

What does Swale advise?

[ramAnag]

Thanks...there’s also the issue of getting there too, but what you have described doesn’t sound that dissimilar from our current UK lifestyle...just with better weather.

The worrying thing is that from what you in Spain and MA in Holland have suggested it’s all kicking off again and we in the UK might just, inevitably, be four or five weeks behind again as we were earlier in the year. Strange that Italy still remains the exception. Thoughts?

P.S. Haven’t asked him GP. Don’t think it’s his area of expertise...but should I ever need any guidance with my maritime insurance I’ll know where to come.

[Andy_Faber]

Thanks...there’s also the issue of getting there too, but what you have described doesn’t sound that dissimilar from our current UK lifestyle...just with better weather.

The worrying thing is that from what you in Spain and MA in Holland have suggested it’s all kicking off again and we in the UK might just, inevitably, be four or five weeks behind again as we were earlier in the year. Strange that Italy still remains the exception. Thoughts?

P.S. Haven’t asked him GP. Don’t think it’s his area of expertise...but should I ever need any guidance with my maritime insurance I’ll know where to come.

yes the journey is tricky. We were planning to take a ferry to toulon, drive back through France in a day (I've done it before, actually Barca to home) with a van full of furniture and a big wad of cash but unfortunately our buyer, after shaking hands on a deal last friday, has refused to take our calls and blocked us from messaging apps, so we assume he has changed his mind without having the courtesy to tell us - so we are flying home. NB he was also a Covid denier, proudly refusing to wear a mask, and believes the whole thing is an invention to persuade the world's population to be microchipped.

[ramAnag]

yes the journey is tricky. We were planning to take a ferry to toulon, drive back through France in a day (I've done it before, actually Barca to home) with a van full of furniture and a big wad of cash but unfortunately our buyer, after shaking hands on a deal last friday, has refused to take our calls and blocked us from messaging apps, so we assume he has changed his mind without having the courtesy to tell us - so we are flying home. NB he was also a Covid denier, proudly refusing to wear a mask, and believes the whole thing is an invention to persuade the world's population to be microchipped.

Sorry to hear that. Must be deeply frustrating and upsetting. He sounds like a total d**k but that won’t help.

I’ve driven home from the Spanish/French border in one go before, but it was 16 years ago. Was thinking two carefully chosen hotels, one in central France and one in northern (non Catalan) Spain. They’re booked, but that was before the situation changed. Might come down to a last minute decision. Very annoying but it’s only a holiday.