Corona virus and its effects on GLA

[sunflyer]

Ryanair also May

[Clive]

Surely this is a case of 'look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves' ? I'd have thought getting the populace vaccinated and safe would drive demand for airport activity, not really rocket science is it ?

Yeah what do they want - a half arsed spring break with more dead and future lockdowns or a near 100% mid to late summer onwards with customers who are still alive?

I cannot stand hearing from any of the vested interests who think their line of business trumps life itself. And I say that as someone who is desperate to travel, see family and friends, go to bars and above all go back to gigs.

[Clive]

I cannot stand hearing from any of the vested interests who think their line of business trumps life itself.

Except no industry is saying that. GLA, and the aviation industry as a whole, simply want the government to engage with them and come up with a sensible plan for recovery. They want to know what the data needs to look like so they can have some sense of when operations can ramp up. They want to protect the thousands and thousands of jobs in the industry and the thousands and thousands of connected non-aviation jobs. If the government continue to ignore the aviation industry (or worse, continue to demonise it), there's going to be thousands of people unemployed, a mountain of mental health issues and long queues at the foodbanks and soup kitchens. That doesn't sound like utopia to me!

Yup and the same for every other business in every other industry. See what I mean about vested interests?

BTW, if all goes well we will be flying again sooner than you think. The Scot Gov just will not give false promises or dates which might not be able to be kept to. Boris has made a rod for his own back. Yet again.

[Clive]

Yup and the same for every other business in every other industry. See what I mean about vested interests?

BTW, if all goes well we will be flying again sooner than you think. The Scot Gov just will not give false promises or dates which might not be able to be kept to. Boris has made a rod for his own back. Yet again.

Of course it's the same for every industry. I'm talking about GLA and the aviation industry because this is a GLA forum. At the moment, the Scottish Government aren't even engaging with the aviation industry. The industry just wants to know what the plan is and what the data needs to look like to begin opening up. Ignoring the industry, as well as demonising it, is just going to result in thousands and thousands of lost jobs and livelihoods. At the moment we're getting the worst of both worlds - no real benefit to public health (people will travel via England + mental health problems + other health issues) and the imminent collapse of the aviation industry in Scotland.

Unfortunately unrestricted international travel is the viruses best friend. It just is. We need to beat it. So does the destination country.

All different industries think the government is out to punish them. Nothing could be further from the truth. The sooner we beat the virus the sooner everything gets back to normal.

Today was good news about the route out of lockdown because measures since Xmas are working and the vaccine is a game changer.

[atuk]

[quote=Clive post_id=3243 time=<a href="tel:1614116149">1614116149</a> user_id=2]Unfortunately unrestricted international travel is the viruses best friend. It just is. We need to beat it. So does the destination country.

No one's talking about going from where we are today, straight to unrestricted travel. GLA, and aviation in Scotland, simply wants the government to engage with them and tell them what the plan is so that thousands and thousands of jobs and livelihoods aren't lost. No plan = no aviation industry in Scotland.
[/quote]

Absolutely couldn’t agree more. With more and more folks being vaccinated, I had mine today, the chances are that there will be more protection against Covid. In fact there was press yesterday stating that early results are encouraging. What folks need is a degree of certainty of how things can start up again.

I personally see lots of pent up demand for holidays. Many folks are desperate to be able to look forward to positive news not simply being told, or ignored, that you won’t be able to do this, that or the other.

This isn’t selfishness it’s human need. As weefraz has said job losses, mental health, food banks, and there is every chance that large businesses will simply not survive this lockdown.

Who then will pay for the Public Sector? If England succeeds with June 21st and we are kept in lockdown in Scotland, being unable to move from Tier 3 then there won’t be rumblings if discontent there will be civil unrest.

We live in a democracy. It’s about time our Government understood this and engaged with business bosses to ensure we have a successful outcome, not just for health but for people’s wealth too.

[buddyboy]

Yesterday the first minister had the chance to offer a wee bit of hope and put her money where her mouth is re being "data driven not dates driven". Why she didn't actually use data such as when we hit
X figure for infections we will look to release y, when the transmission rate drops below X we will do y is beyond me. Instead we basically were promised a return to the tiers for who knows how long. It would allow people to have some idea of where we are going rather than essentially never ending restrictions.

In terms of differences between Scotland and England. We currently have a lower infection rate. The public will find the restrictions impossible if England open at a faster rate. That's just human nature.

Finally the positive news. There have been 2 studies in Israel (most vaccinated country) showing that the vaccines are reducing transmission by around 90%. That's the important bit. If data in the UK backs this then I imagine things will speed up.

[Clive]

Yesterday the first minister had the chance to offer a wee bit of hope and put her money where her mouth is re being "data driven not dates driven". Why she didn't actually use data such as when we hit
X figure for infections we will look to release y, when the transmission rate drops below X we will do y is beyond me. Instead we basically were promised a return to the tiers for who knows how long. It would allow people to have some idea of where we are going rather than essentially never ending restrictions.

In terms of differences between Scotland and England. We currently have a lower infection rate. The public will find the restrictions impossible if England open at a faster rate. That's just human nature.

Finally the positive news. There have been 2 studies in Israel (most vaccinated country) showing that the vaccines are reducing transmission by around 90%. That's the important bit. If data in the UK backs this then I imagine things will speed up.

Well after admitting it’s beyond you, as it is for all of us if we’re honest, you nailed it in the last sentence. The easing of restrictions will indeed accelerate if the figures allow. And it stands to reason that the virus will be largely defeated as the vaccine reaches the majority of people in Scotland.

Yesterday’s announcement of timescales was cautious rather than unrealistically gung-ho. Remember Boris’s Xmas free for all only to be changed to total lockdown the day after? Remember seeing Xmas shopping the crowds in Oxford Street? A lot of those in the pictures died as a result of those decisions and 3 or 4 months of lockdown resulted.

But personally I’m no more interested in the way out for Scotland. It’s what happens here that is important to us IMO, not what what governments in other countries are doing.

[Ekally1]

Sorry clive you cant say boris had a free for all , nic had the same , i work in retail now and it was just as mental . Think your being selective to suit your own agenda there

[Clive]

Sorry clive you cant say boris had a free for all , nic had the same , i work in retail now and it was just as mental . Think your being selective to suit your own agenda there

The figures speak for themselves. It’s ten time worse in England than it is in Scotland. That’s why we don’t follow the lead of Boris and his crew here in Scotland. Our government has its own expert advisors. Ergo we will be opening up the economy more cautiously as the virus prevalence dictates.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

[Exasperated]

Sorry clive you cant say boris had a free for all , nic had the same , i work in retail now and it was just as mental . Think your being selective to suit your own agenda there

The figures speak for themselves. It’s ten time worse in England than it is in Scotland. That’s why we don’t follow the lead of Boris and his crew here in Scotland. Our government has its own expert advisors. Ergo we will be opening up the economy more cautiously as the virus prevalence dictates.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I just can't let this go without comment

How about looking at the numbers properly rather than the party line

Last week reported (to 23 Feb)

Cases per 100k population by date reported

England 95.89
Scotland 90.57

It should be noted that England carried out nearly 3 times as many tests per 100k population as compared with Scotland. This will pick up many more asymptomatic cases so the England number is inflated.

Deaths per 100k population by date reported

England 4.85
Scotland 4.43

England is worse but is within the margin of error so not significant.

Ten time worse claim completely rubbish

Ex