July. Clapping. Local lockdowns. Going to the pub ... or not?

And suddenly it’s July! Which is making a rather dull and dismal start on the North West of England. Nonetheless I managed to walk to the market in Uppermill and back without being rained on. It did rain here later but friends comments suggest that it’s raining more in other parts of Greater Manchester. But we just have to make the best of it as there is precious little we can do about it. 

Apparently Boris Johnson says Britain should clap for bankers in the same way they do for NHS nurses. They may be good for the economic health of the nation, depending of course on which bankers they are I suppose, but they don’t really put their lives at risk to save the economy. And Mr Johnson wouldn't promise to give NHS staff a pay rise as part of his 'new deal' plan to recover from coronavirus. But did we really expect him to do so?

As Leicester adjusts to being locked down again, Australia re-locks down 36 suburbs of Melbourne because of local spikes. This looks like being part of the new normal all over the world as countries try to control what is going on. Small localised quarantine areas will pop up and down everywhere.

In relation to that a friend sent me this warning that things are not looking good for the North:

 "New figures show where most cases are being found Public Health England has released a weekly snapshot of new Covid-19 cases in England, by local authority.

The snapshot shows the rate of new cases in each area, based on tests that have been carried out in laboratories (‘pillar 1’ of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (‘pillar 2’). As such it gives a more comprehensive overview of the country than the daily figures for local areas that are published on the Department of Health website, which are based only on pillar 1 testing.

The latest Public Health England snapshot is for the week ending June 21, and shows four areas in the top category of 45 or more cases per 100,000 population:
Barnsley
Bradford
Leicester
Rochdale

There are six areas in the next category (30 to 44.9 cases per 100,000 population):
Bedford
Blackburn with Darwen
Kirklees
Oldham
Rotherham
Tameside

A new snapshot for the week ending June 28 is due to be published on Thursday, as part of Public Health England’s weekly coronavirus surveillance report."

I guess we’ll have to continue to be vigilant.

The pub next door to us appears to be making progress in its preparation for reopening on Saturday. We won’t be rushing out for a pint but some people clearly feel that having a pint is one of man’s inalienable rights. I came across this story about a man from Leicester, a little peeved that his local is not going not open after all:-

“Leicester City fan Colin Browning heard rumours of the new rules over the weekend and decided to use his experience organising coachloads of fans to away fixtures. “I asked the company I use if they would supply us a coach to take us to another city if needed,” he said.

Hours before Matt Hancock, the health secretary, announced the new measures on Monday, Browning posted a callout on Twitter urging men to book £15 tickets, which he later said would have included “free hand sanitiser, masks and gloves”, for a 48-seater and a 32-seater coach and join him on a trip to the pubs of Nottingham or another town on 4 July. “They won’t stop us having a beer on the 4th like everyone else,” he tweeted. “Women need not apply.”

He said the first bus almost sold out within two hours and that by 7pm on Saturday the second coach was also full. But on Tuesday morning Browning claimed the trip was cancelled.

“In hindsight, we may have gone a little over the top with two coaches, and we are now only taking a minibus. All are wearing the correct PPE and social distancing will remain at all times,” Browning said. “The whole nation has a chance for a release of frustration at the weekend and for a minority to spoil this for the rest of the city who have stuck to the lockdown measures is a real kick in the teeth. I live in a suburban Leicestershire village. Why should my local pub have to stay closed because of an outbreak 14 miles away?”

So he’s doing a scaled down version of his (all male) charabanc idea - still possibly taking the virus for a ride!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!