(Chess) Life Returning To Normal

[Stephen Westmoreland]

It is mission creep. More on the 18th I expect.

[Matt Mackenzie]

But every day, more and more good news (relatively speaking) about the seriousness (as opposed to infectiousness) of Omicron is revealed. And parliament is rising for the Xmas recess by Wednesday, so if there is going to be anything like a lockdown they will have to get a move on.

[NickFaulks]

And parliament is rising for the Xmas recess by Wednesday, so if there is going to be anything like a lockdown they will have to get a move on.

On the contrary, he has emergency powers to do anything he likes, that's the point. Thursday would therefore be ideal.

However, the new lockdown measures will be passed on Tuesday, and he will be counting the number of rebels in his own party. If it is enough to get rid of him, given that a section of the Cabinet is known to have had enough...

[Matt Mackenzie]

Full lockdowns (which Tuesday's measures are some way short of) have always required parliamentary approval in practice, whatever the theory - and of course BoJo is now far too weak to try that sort of thing as diktat in any case.

[NickFaulks]

and of course BoJo is now far too weak to try that sort of thing as diktat in any case.

He may be so weak that he has no alternative. We shall find out soon enough.

[Matt Bridgeman]

Typical UK. Shortly after getting the first report of Omicron hospitalisations (majority doubled jabbed and 18-85 years old), we get the first official Omicron death in Europe; https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-at- ... s-12494875

The issue for Boris this week is probably the studies showing that 1% of those infected with Omicron need hospitalisation. Come January that’s likely to be a huge number of people.

[NickFaulks]

Shortly after getting the first report of Omicron hospitalisations (majority doubled jabbed and 18-85 years old), we get the first official Omicron death in Europe; https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-at- ... s-12494875

Read the first line. "At least one patient has died with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the prime minister has said."

"With", not "of", although our mendacious PM went on to use this as proof that the variant is lethal.

Every day, about 1,500 people die in the UK in the normal way. You may think this is a national scandal and the Government should put a stop to it, but they will keep dying. Given that Omicron is obviously going to spread widely, even though most sufferers will only discover they have got it by being tested, post-mortems will reveal that many of these 1,500 died with Omicron. So what?

[Joseph Conlon]

Shortly after getting the first report of Omicron hospitalisations (majority doubled jabbed and 18-85 years old), we get the first official Omicron death in Europe; https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-at- ... s-12494875

Read the first line. "At least one patient has died with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the prime minister has said."

"With", not "of", although our mendacious PM went on to use this as proof that the variant is lethal.

Every day, about 1,500 people die in the UK in the normal way. You may think this is a national scandal and the Government should put a stop to it, but they will keep dying. Given that Omicron is obviously going to spread widely, even though most sufferers will only discover they have got it by being tested, post-mortems will reveal that many of these 1,500 died with Omicron. So what?

Quite. If about ten thousand people typically die in a week, and currently there are around 7000 omicron cases in the UK (which would be around 1 in 10,000 of the population) then purely on statistics you would have expected someone to have died with omicron.

If the person who died was 35, double-vaccinated and otherwise healthy, then the data point is very significant. if the person who died was 85 and already in hospital with multiple pre-existing health conditions, then the data point tells us nothing. But presenting the information in the way the PM and BBC have done it is either ignorant or dishonest.

[David Williams]

It seems to be widely reported that the U.K. Health Security Agency has said that there are currently 10 patients in hospitals across England, aged 18 to 85, diagnosed with omicron on or before admission, with the majority having received two doses of coronavirus vaccine. Can we assume that those numbers will double every two to three days if nothing is done? Seems significant to me.

[NickFaulks]

It seems to be widely reported that the U.K. Health Security Agency has said that there are currently 10 patients in hospitals across England, aged 18 to 85, diagnosed with omicron on or before admission, with the majority having received two doses of coronavirus vaccine. Can we assume that those numbers will double every two to three days if nothing is done? Seems significant to me.

If the reason they are unwell and entering hospital has nothing to do with Omicron, then I say again, so what?

[Stephen Westmoreland]

On a more cheerful subject, I was pleased to see Huddersfield taking on Hebden Bridge B tonight at Lindley. Two full squads with some tight and friendly games.

[Roger de Coverly]

Full lockdowns (which Tuesday's measures are some way short of) have always required parliamentary approval in practice, whatever the theory - and of course BoJo is now far too weak to try that sort of thing as diktat in any case.

The killer for the chess season would be a reimposition of a "rule of 6". Many leagues, but not most county matches could survive a rule of thirty. Congresses other than the very smallest would be cancelled.

Events like the Hastimgs Congress have been suspected by arbiters and participants as having been mass spreaders of colds and flu. That's never been a reason for cancelling them on public health grounds.

[Matt Bridgeman]

It’s apparently more than 250 Omicron patients in hospital according to Raab.

[Tim Spanton]

It’s apparently more than 250 Omicron patients in hospital according to Raab.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab also tells BBC Breakfast there are now nine people in hospital in the UK with the Omicron variant.
The figure is a lower one than Raab gave earlier this morning on Sky News, when he said there were 250 people in hospital with Omicron.

[Tim Spanton]

Hastings announcement:

Online entry to the HICC is suspended for the next 48 hrs or so – please bear with us at this difficult time.