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I don’t know to what extent people are following Covid advice and, whilst I believe the majority of people are doing so, some never will. The fear (and likelihood) is that many will relax and gather together over Christmas and that we are all in store for a major Tier 4 Lockdown in January/February, as cases are bound to soar. I agree with the advice that we should all maintain our self-discipline to see this through. There will be light at the end of the tunnel by Summer hopefully, so let’s try and ensure we are still here to enjoy it.
What I don’t understand is why Mr Drakeford isn’t adopting a targetted approach to the pockets of known Covid high cases problem-areas?
If you look at the Covid cases across Wales, as provided by the BBC, the average number of cases for Wales per 100,000 is 450. The highest number in North Wales is Wrexham, with 249 cases per 100,000. These figures are rising. Some areas are obviously causing the average figure for Wales to rise out of proportion.
If you look at the current MSOA tag of the NHS site, which provides figures of new cases per district over 7 rolling days, from 3rd to 9th December, you can see where these areas are.
It is not my intention to get bogged down with statistics here, mainly because they change so much from day to day. But the below is meant to provide a sample snapshot for information.
New cases in areas in Wrexham County over this period were in the 20’s at the highest. And I’m not sure if this includes HMP Berwyn and the Maelor Hospital. That’s still too high, and is currently rising, but the following new cases are the highest areas in Wales over the same 7-day period, and are also still rising:
Bridgend 149
Swansea 134
Caerphilly 125
Rhondda Cynon Taf 110
Merthyr Tydfil 106
Port Talbot 102I accept that more testing has taken place in these areas and that where tests are carried out, cases will inevitably rise as a consequence. But this is clear evidence of identified, and rising, Covid problem areas and surely requires urgent direct intervention, right now. Why doesn’t he target these specific areas and adopt the approach we see in Germany and enforce an immediate district Lockdown? Surely this will save lives. He doesn’t seem to wish to admit that the main problem is in the South East of Wales. Some are calling for an all-Wales Lockdown now and whilst I can see the argument for that, particularly in the build up to Christmas, I would prefer a targetted approach. We should have a weekly ‘new cases per 100,000’ target and if reached in any Council area, then they too should go into Tier 4 to improve social distancing and practices until reduced. There is no sense in waiting until after Christmas, it should start now. This might help encourage a greater community focus and collective effort. Doing nothing can’t be an option.
Why should someone face a Lockdown in areas of low cases because Covid is out of control in some parts of South East Wales?
I no longer have any children in school these days, so perhaps I am not as well-informed or involved as those who do. However, as a member of the local community, we are all affected by the Covid policies and procedures practised by local schools.
To the best of my knowledge, as uninformed as anyone else’s, children may not suffer the ill-health consequences of the virus as profoundly as older generations, particularly those age groups categorised as being vulnerable, but they are still capable of carrying (and pass on) the virus the same as anyone else of any age. They may present some symptoms, or they may be asymptomatic, the same as anyone else. When schoolchildren leave school they return home, where they may pass on the virus to their family, who may then go about their lives without knowing that they have the virus at that stage, and thus the cases do become linked and do enter a wider community transmission status. It is for this reason that I have concern over some school covid practices.
During the current circumstances I, like many people apparently, have taken to exercise more in the form of regular walking around my local area. In doing so, I could not help noticing something of concern. Apart from the ever-increasing presence of Post Office elastic bands on pavements and the occasional discarded face mask from passing motorists, I can’t help but notice the close contact behaviour of some school children during breaks. They play their games outside as normal and have physical contact as they do so. But these are not normal times and I can’t help think that they should have an adult member of staff supervising the way they interact and prevent avoidable incidents of close physical contact as much as possible. I appreciate that in the case of younger children, a member of staff will be present to supervise, but it requires a more pro-active intervention than that, and should apply to older students also. Young students are not immune from the virus. You can’t just turn out all the children and expect them all to self socially distance when playing. And I see this in schools with students of all age groups.
How many of these children have the virus, how many are unwittingly passing it to others in close-contact circumstances, and how many are then returning home spreading the virus to family members and beyond?
It is important that schools must remain open as much as possible, and a great deal of collective thought has clearly gone into introducing excellent measures of good practice. I also appreciate that it is extremely complex to account for the behaviour of children during break times, but surely more can be done to control their physical contact through greater supervision and staggering break times to reduce group numbers.
This is based solely on my personal observation, and if I am being unfair I am happy to be reassured. But I know what I see.
Yes, Ifor Williams Trailers have certainly hit the jackpot with their Wrexham AFC shirt sponsorship. Best of luck to them I say, you had to be in it to win it, and it’s great to see local businesses win global recognition (even with a dodgy pronunciation of the name ‘Ifor’). The brand has certainly received massive publicity from the famous film-star owners-elect ‘Wrexham is the Name’ brand-backing video post, already viewed 4.6 million times, and growing – all putting the town on the map too. I now look forward to seeing the benefits from investment in the football ground (Internation games?) and the progress to be achieved by the football club. The shirts are already flying off the shelves. The club has come a long way from the dark days of the Hamilton involvement 18 years’ ago. Anyone connected with the town, and old enough to remember, whether they supported football or not will recall those days as a depressing time for the town.
Between the excitement generated from the impending acquisition of the club and the airing of ‘I’m a Celebrity’, north Wales as a whole is certainly getting a welcome boost of positive publicity at the end of a gloomy 2020.
What this shocking incident does is to demonstrate to us all how low spontaneous thieves will stoop. We would do well to take a positive from this by reflecting on our own security, especially at this time of the year. This is precisely why we have to secure our belongings today, taking objects out of sight and make things difficult for opportunist thieves in order not to become a victim. If they will do this to an Ambulance on a call at the side of the road outside a house during a pandemic when everyone knows how stretched all NHS resources are right now, they will not hesitate to take something of yours – if they can.
Clearly, they have no scruples or moral compass. They were probably young men / boys, now proud of how daring they were, what a fun adventure it was and basking in the temporary boost it has given to their local street-cred. I’ll wager that if you had caught them and returned them home, you would not be thanked by parents who expressed horror, deep regret or contrition with profound embarrassment. You would probably get an earful of verbal abuse for your trouble and sent on your way being told to mind your own business. That is why they turn out like this, and the rest of us do not.
I am not saying any of us are perfect, I bet we could all think of some examples, where on reflection, we wish we had done things differently, especially in our youth. Thankfully, the vast majority of people are honest and decent people, and would never contemplate for one second stealing an Ambulance – at any stage of our lives.
Whether you’re a fan of Marcus Rashford or not, he has triggered a nationwide debate on FSMs. Some may not like him personally because of their football club allegiance, others may begrudge his personal wealth or just plain disagree with his principles, but he has highlighted a worthy cause that would otherwise not be being debated. It is gathering support and may yet just force another embarrassing U-turn by the Government following the shameful outcome of the ‘opposition motion’ Parliamentary vote on the topic. It seems to me that so many people and businesses throughout England are now filling the void created by this vote that Rashford’s determination may yet show it for what it is: an ‘own goal’. It may yet gather sufficient momentum to force through permanent changes the length and breadth of the country – there seems plenty of support in Wales too. And this at a time when the country is grappling with a viral pandemic.
Arise Sir Rashford? And no, I do not support ManU.
