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Post by SILENCED on Sept 17, 2020 23:16:31 GMT
I just use my contactless card or phone to pay for things these days. Faster, easier, secure and safer. Oyster cards can always be topped up online and parents should top up their child's oyster if they do not have a bank account. The problem is not everyone carries or owns a card particularly the elderly and what happens in the scenario that the card only machines fail - at least now, you can use an ATM and draw cash out for a cash payment machine Did we not have this same issue brought up about cashless buses? People, quickly learnt Oyster or contact less. Well its seems to have worked OK for buses, why should it not work for the tube?
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Post by greenboy on Sept 18, 2020 6:51:15 GMT
The problem is not everyone carries or owns a card particularly the elderly and what happens in the scenario that the card only machines fail - at least now, you can use an ATM and draw cash out for a cash payment machine Did we not have this same issue brought up about cashless buses? People, quickly learnt Oyster or contact less. Well its seems to have worked OK for buses, why should it not work for the tube? This is getting ridiculous, the dangers of handling cash are no greater than touching a handrail, door handle or even a credit card and it's not as though station staff handle the cash anyway. There is still a significant number of people paying cash, for example Greg's bakers went cashless when they reopened after lockdown but lost so much custom that they soon went back to taking cash. Even now I suspect there is considerable number of people boarding buses without a valid oyster card and the driver has little choice but to let them travel for free.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2020 7:40:20 GMT
Did we not have this same issue brought up about cashless buses? People, quickly learnt Oyster or contact less. Well its seems to have worked OK for buses, why should it not work for the tube? This is getting ridiculous, the dangers of handling cash are no greater than touching a handrail, door handle or even a credit card and it's not as though station staff handle the cash anyway. There is still a significant number of people paying cash, for example Greg's bakers went cashless when they reopened after lockdown but lost so much custom that they soon went back to taking cash. Even now I suspect there is considerable number of people boarding buses without a valid oyster card and the driver has little choice but to let them travel for free. Buses are cashless, most if not all DLR tickets machines are cashless or accept notes only? Do really don't see the problem here, if someone wants to pay chas they can use a Oyster top up shop but in reality how many do pay the higher cash fare You are so frustrating you bang on about making streets safe with widened pavements and think its better to work from because its safer but won't accept handling money has its risks. Most business still prefer people to pay by card where possible.
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Post by Pilot on Sept 18, 2020 10:33:09 GMT
You know what baffles me still is that when the driver tells people that the bus is full and they find reasons to argue with the driver, or look in the bus and say 'look there is space' or they still simply just do not understand what's the fuss about...it happens daily and people act surprised, shocked when they are denied to board and find reasons to try to bully their way onto the bus. Same goes with passengers who get angry when the driver cannot issue them with curtailment transfer voucher because 'OH THE DRIVER YESTERDAY GAVE ME ONE' well the driver yesterday probably just doesn't want conflict and gives the ticket and potentially passes on corona but hey at least that guy has a ticket now hoooray. Passengers act like the driver is having a personal problem with them or something, just no respect whatsoever...but I guess it just depends which area of London you live in, rural places probably handle it better. I won't even go into the whole mask deal as maybe only half of passengers wear one.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2020 11:01:11 GMT
This year's NYE fireworks display has been cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic and possibility of the rule of six still being in place at Christmas.
Also talk of a two week lockdown in October around half term.
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Post by M1104 on Sept 18, 2020 11:06:07 GMT
Will be interesting to see how TfL will handle bus and tube services for New Year's Eve, depending on the manner of difference events play out this year. I reckon NYE will still have fireworks at the London eye but with no spectators and no 24/7 service on the underground. Fireworks now cancelled www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-london-54204929
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Post by Pilot on Sept 18, 2020 11:54:40 GMT
I am not against cancelling, one for not wasting money when money is seriously needed elsewhere now during pandemic, but on otherhand watch how many people will get admitted to hospital as more people will be buying fireworks themselves and not using them properly.
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Post by richard on Sept 18, 2020 14:53:27 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2020 15:18:16 GMT
4322 people tested positive in the last 24 hours! I know testing has been increased but still a worrying increase. But also think how many can't get tests!!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2020 19:12:59 GMT
*Mini Rant*
So Boris has finally realised we on the verge of a second wave! I must say personally I feel disappointed we are heading backwards. I know we have no control on other behavior but just wish people would take this serious. I bet pubs will be rammed this weekend.
We was slowly getting back to normal with people returning to work and schools going back! No doubt we will end up with some restrictions and the infection rate will go down but as soon as the restrictions are lifted it will be back to square one again. This could go on for a long time.
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Post by 725DYE on Sept 18, 2020 21:17:12 GMT
*Mini Rant*
So Boris has finally realised we on the verge of a second wave! I must say personally I feel disappointed we are heading backwards. I know we have no control on other behavior but just wish people would take this serious. I better pubs will be rammed this weekend.
We was slowly getting back to normal with people returning to work and schools going back! No doubt we will end up with some restrictions and the infection rate will go down but as soon as the restrictions are lifted it will be back to square one again. This could go on for a long time.
I did feel the same way when that BBC News notification came through (massive eye roll ), but it was inevitable that there would be a second wave - most pandemics of a highly infectious yet low death rate disease have a second wave. Now whilst that may not sound bad, a second wave isn't necessarily worse than the first. We now know considerably more about the virus than we did six months ago, and so we know better how to control the virus and prevent the spread. In March, as we knew so much less about the virus, it was pretty much entirely necessary that a full nationwide lockdown had to be initiated to prevent the spread and give us time to learn more about the virus and cope. As the government have said (and yes, I know it's practically impossible to take anything they say at face value anymore) a full nationwide lockdown will be the last resort. Now although that still means it could happen I largely believe it won't especially as some parts of the country (particularly the south east) saw far more cases per capita first time round and hence aren't being hit so badly now. Places where a localised lockdown is in force (e.g. Bolton and Birmingham) typically were not hit so hard at first and therefore are seeing their spikes in cases later on. I have tried to remain as realistic as possible for the last six months and from my experience that has been made more difficult by big news articles such as "UK now seeing a second wave." Big, bold, often scary and not the entire story headlines such as these can take its toll on mental health so my advice to anyone struggling is to distance yourselves from the news for a short period
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Sept 18, 2020 21:50:36 GMT
*Mini Rant*
So Boris has finally realised we on the verge of a second wave! I must say personally I feel disappointed we are heading backwards. I know we have no control on other behavior but just wish people would take this serious. I better pubs will be rammed this weekend.
We was slowly getting back to normal with people returning to work and schools going back! No doubt we will end up with some restrictions and the infection rate will go down but as soon as the restrictions are lifted it will be back to square one again. This could go on for a long time.
I did feel the same way when that BBC News notification came through (massive eye roll ), but it was inevitable that there would be a second wave - most pandemics of a highly infectious yet low death rate disease have a second wave. Now whilst that may not sound bad, a second wave isn't necessarily worse than the first. We now know considerably more about the virus than we did six months ago, and so we know better how to control the virus and prevent the spread. In March, as we knew so much less about the virus, it was pretty much entirely necessary that a full nationwide lockdown had to be initiated to prevent the spread and give us time to learn more about the virus and cope. As the government have said (and yes, I know it's practically impossible to take anything they say at face value anymore) a full nationwide lockdown will be the last resort. Now although that still means it could happen I largely believe it won't especially as some parts of the country (particularly the south east) saw far more cases per capita first time round and hence aren't being hit so badly now. Places where a localised lockdown is in force (e.g. Bolton and Birmingham) typically were not hit so hard at first and therefore are seeing their spikes in cases later on. I have tried to remain as realistic as possible for the last six months and from my experience that has been made more difficult by big news articles such as "UK now seeing a second wave." Big, bold, often scary and not the entire story headlines such as these can take its toll on mental health so my advice to anyone struggling is to distance yourselves from the news for a short period The government knew a lot about the Virus when they implemented the initial lockdown, plus understanding hasn't developed a whole lot since then except for the addition of a few extra symptoms. The issue being the information that we have about the virus is what makes a lockdown the most effective. You need to reduce contact as much as possible and a lockdown is the most effective means of doing this. The government say that it's a last resort, well it obviously is because there's not anything else that you can do afterwards except employ martial law. The obvious issue is that the virus isn't going to decide that one day it wants to give up spreading and that we will be able to come out of lockdown. The scientists need to develop a cure to eradicate the disease in the form of a vaccine, until then the virus will continue to spread. Once rules are relaxed it will spread again because people are going to be in close contact - there's no way around this until there's a way to keep the virus at bay. For this reason the testing system needs to be robust, which the government don't seem to be interested in doing. All well and good opening testing centres but it's pointless if there's not enough labs for the samples to be processed in. I did get notified that they would like me to work in one of the coronavirus testing labs to run samples, however it was all the way in Milton Keynes and this is the closest they have to London. With labs far and few between it's impossible to run tests on the scale that we need. A huge issue now is people just are not following social distancing guidelines, people are trying their best but buses and tubes are a breeding ground for it whether people are wearing masks or not. The Eat out to Help Out scheme, while doing wonders for the economy did result in an increase in cases, especially in areas where you have a high population of migrants who like going to restaurants where you can get food cooked from their countries in the most authentic way that may not be possible in a house. Another problem we are now facing is the development of the vaccine, the vaccine is vital. However you cannot rush a vaccine, especially the way they are employing this trial. Currently they are giving people doses and checking if they develop the virus on the odd fact that they are exposed and then checking antibody count to see if antibodies are being produced. This system works but will not provide a definitive answer soon enough, and if it does it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. You can't expect people to take a vaccine that's not been proven and therefore people naturally will not take it.
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Post by YY13VKP on Sept 18, 2020 22:34:48 GMT
*Mini Rant*
So Boris has finally realised we on the verge of a second wave! I must say personally I feel disappointed we are heading backwards. I know we have no control on other behavior but just wish people would take this serious. I better pubs will be rammed this weekend.
We was slowly getting back to normal with people returning to work and schools going back! No doubt we will end up with some restrictions and the infection rate will go down but as soon as the restrictions are lifted it will be back to square one again. This could go on for a long time.
I did feel the same way when that BBC News notification came through (massive eye roll ), but it was inevitable that there would be a second wave - most pandemics of a highly infectious yet low death rate disease have a second wave. Now whilst that may not sound bad, a second wave isn't necessarily worse than the first. We now know considerably more about the virus than we did six months ago, and so we know better how to control the virus and prevent the spread. In March, as we knew so much less about the virus, it was pretty much entirely necessary that a full nationwide lockdown had to be initiated to prevent the spread and give us time to learn more about the virus and cope. As the government have said (and yes, I know it's practically impossible to take anything they say at face value anymore) a full nationwide lockdown will be the last resort. Now although that still means it could happen I largely believe it won't especially as some parts of the country (particularly the south east) saw far more cases per capita first time round and hence aren't being hit so badly now. Places where a localised lockdown is in force (e.g. Bolton and Birmingham) typically were not hit so hard at first and therefore are seeing their spikes in cases later on. I have tried to remain as realistic as possible for the last six months and from my experience that has been made more difficult by big news articles such as "UK now seeing a second wave." Big, bold, often scary and not the entire story headlines such as these can take its toll on mental health so my advice to anyone struggling is to distance yourselves from the news for a short period There has also been a lot of speculation in the news about a two week nationwide lockdown which is apparently due to take place during October half term. I think the media really need to be careful here as such speculation can have a damaging effect on people's mental health, especially how they phrase their headlines. What the media don't seem to report however is what you've mentioned and this is what needs to be reported on rather than speculation about an apparent second lockdown. The second wave is not going to be as bad as the first, not only do we now know more about the virus and its behaviours, we also know how to take precautions to stop us catching it. If there is a second full "lockdown", it wouldn't be as severe as the first since pretty much everywhere seems to be COVID secure now. London was hit hard at the start of the pandemic, now for the time being it has one of the lowest covid rates in the country which is why I also think any further lockdowns will be localised. It's the north that's being hit hardest now, they didn't have it too bad when the first wave was ravaging the country. The local lockdowns appear to be working in most, but not all places such as Huddersfield which has just been placed into its second local lockdown.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2020 22:45:29 GMT
Very balanced posts above. Where I work there is planning for worst case scenarios but thankfully we are not there at the moment. In a building of well over 300 people only one person I know has had it and they recovered. And we have daily contact with many public.
Media sensational headlines do make people anxious. They are used by those in power to gain compliance without actual restrictions. It would be most sensible if people took their own lockdown decisions and are sensible, following guidance etc.
We don't need panic. Past generations have had worse thrown at them.
I don't think we can control a virus. That was a very strange and baffling slogan. We can't control the common cold can we? So why did anyone think we can control covid?
Anyway, stay safe and be sensible.
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Post by vjaska on Sept 18, 2020 23:52:32 GMT
I did feel the same way when that BBC News notification came through (massive eye roll ), but it was inevitable that there would be a second wave - most pandemics of a highly infectious yet low death rate disease have a second wave. Now whilst that may not sound bad, a second wave isn't necessarily worse than the first. We now know considerably more about the virus than we did six months ago, and so we know better how to control the virus and prevent the spread. In March, as we knew so much less about the virus, it was pretty much entirely necessary that a full nationwide lockdown had to be initiated to prevent the spread and give us time to learn more about the virus and cope. As the government have said (and yes, I know it's practically impossible to take anything they say at face value anymore) a full nationwide lockdown will be the last resort. Now although that still means it could happen I largely believe it won't especially as some parts of the country (particularly the south east) saw far more cases per capita first time round and hence aren't being hit so badly now. Places where a localised lockdown is in force (e.g. Bolton and Birmingham) typically were not hit so hard at first and therefore are seeing their spikes in cases later on. I have tried to remain as realistic as possible for the last six months and from my experience that has been made more difficult by big news articles such as "UK now seeing a second wave." Big, bold, often scary and not the entire story headlines such as these can take its toll on mental health so my advice to anyone struggling is to distance yourselves from the news for a short period The government knew a lot about the Virus when they implemented the initial lockdown, plus understanding hasn't developed a whole lot since then except for the addition of a few extra symptoms. The issue being the information that we have about the virus is what makes a lockdown the most effective. You need to reduce contact as much as possible and a lockdown is the most effective means of doing this. The government say that it's a last resort, well it obviously is because there's not anything else that you can do afterwards except employ martial law. The obvious issue is that the virus isn't going to decide that one day it wants to give up spreading and that we will be able to come out of lockdown. The scientists need to develop a cure to eradicate the disease in the form of a vaccine, until then the virus will continue to spread. Once rules are relaxed it will spread again because people are going to be in close contact - there's no way around this until there's a way to keep the virus at bay. For this reason the testing system needs to be robust, which the government don't seem to be interested in doing. All well and good opening testing centres but it's pointless if there's not enough labs for the samples to be processed in. I did get notified that they would like me to work in one of the coronavirus testing labs to run samples, however it was all the way in Milton Keynes and this is the closest they have to London. With labs far and few between it's impossible to run tests on the scale that we need. A huge issue now is people just are not following social distancing guidelines, people are trying their best but buses and tubes are a breeding ground for it whether people are wearing masks or not. The Eat out to Help Out scheme, while doing wonders for the economy did result in an increase in cases, especially in areas where you have a high population of migrants who like going to restaurants where you can get food cooked from their countries in the most authentic way that may not be possible in a house. Another problem we are now facing is the development of the vaccine, the vaccine is vital. However you cannot rush a vaccine, especially the way they are employing this trial. Currently they are giving people doses and checking if they develop the virus on the odd fact that they are exposed and then checking antibody count to see if antibodies are being produced. This system works but will not provide a definitive answer soon enough, and if it does it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. You can't expect people to take a vaccine that's not been proven and therefore people naturally will not take it. Couple that with the findings today where only 6% of the population have antibodies and that they only last 2-3 months max and it's very grim reading at the moment with the track and trace system as well as testing all up the spout alongside the inability of the government to give out a clear message over new guidance and the population ignoring the little bit of guidance that has been clear from day one. As one expert said earlier, you need all these to function - it's no good having just one or two of these things working. As for London itself, it's beginning to rise fast with one doctor in a East London hospital reporting hospital admissions rapidly increasing including people requiring ventilators - in his own words, he said there is signs that East London is beginning it's second wave as evidenced by the fact that the 3 boroughs with the highest rates are in East London with Redbridge unfortunately currently leading that table. The mayor has said yesterday that a meeting will held about potentially introducing similar restrictions to Merseyside & the North East of England in London - mainly, hospitality to shut by 10, no mixing between houses, public transport just for essential travel, etc.
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