Covid-19 the second wave.

[Covrich]

Not really - blaming Bill Gates for this is like blaming the spade maker when someone tries to dig the Channel Tunnel with a spade.

What will have happened is that the people in the testing lab will have received a call at the last moment from PHE saying that they need the data, and whoever was most familiar with "coding" (probably some junior lab rat) will have used the tool they are most familiar with (Excel) to hack up something that's good enough to keep PHE happy whilst they go back to fighting 101 fires in a high-pressure, high-profile environment, with the intention of getting something better sorted when they have time.

And they didn't have time before the number of tests hit the limit of .XLS files.

The real failing here is of management and poor requirements planning, I wouldn't be too hard on the poor sods at the coalface who are trying to do 1001 things at once, with not enough support.

I am pretty sure it was a joke

 

[marshbrewer]

You've got me there @Northern_Brewer ; I didn't read the article properly. But the rest of your points are far to generous to PHE.

The xls file format stopped being used natively in Office 2007. After that, you you have to make a conscious decision to use it , ignore the nag dialogue, etc. Some organisations did this for a while and even enforced xls as the default by gpo to ensure cross compatibility, but Office 2007 went end of life three years ago, and the last version that couldn't use xlsx went end of life in 2014. Not out of production, but end of life. Which means that nobody, anywhere, has any need to use that file format, unless they are still using software that hasn't been supported for six years.

In IT '****' doesn't just happen any more than it does in a lab. Poor decisions are made, often by smart people who think they know loads about IT because they can use mathlab or something and are a bit of a brain. This leads to the type of cluster **** that was described in the article. Finally, the 'look they were busy dealing with a Pandemic' excuse doesn't wash. In logistics, we have put in robust systems and designed previously non-existant supply chains with proper IT to distribute all sorts of things around the pandemic, and we didn't feel the need to spin up some nonsense solution using Excel. There are proper tools available, they should have used them. PHE really are turning out to be a total shambles.

 

[hemanresu]

I was just making a joke about the gates conspiracies

obviously

 

[MickDundee]

Given Sturgeon’s announcement today, I’m going to get a HB order done this week before Bozo follows suit and the online Homebrew shops get overwhelmed again.

 

[samale]

Given Sturgeon’s announcement today, I’m going to get a HB order done this week before Bozo follows suit and the online Homebrew shops get overwhelmed again.

I got an order last week just to be sure

 

[marshbrewer]

I can't understand this demonisation of booze despite the figures, which I appreciate are patchy, not showing pubs as a significant factor in the virus spreading. It's almost like the PHE and equivalent boffins think booze = evil therefore we might as well target it just in case. Restaurants yes but restaurants that serve wine no? I'd like to see the data that backs that decision up......

 

[samale]

I can't understand this demonisation of booze despite the figures, which I appreciate are patchy, not showing pubs as a significant factor in the virus spreading. It's almost like the PHE and equivalent boffins think booze = evil therefore we might as well target it just in case. Restaurants yes but restaurants that serve wine no? I'd like to see the data that backs that decision up......

Social distancing goes out the window once the pints start flowing. The younger brother runs a bar...

 

[marshbrewer]

So the theory goes. But show me the figures that this is contributing to the 2nd wave, because in my local boozer, people are well behaved after a few, so it isn't like your brother's workplace everywhere.

 

[samale]

So the theory goes. But show me the figures that this is contributing to the 2nd wave, because in my local boozer, people are well behaved after a few, so it isn't like your brother's workplace everywhere.

100%
The major issue at the moment in the area I live is house party's. Or even better street party's

 

[samale]

Numbers are through the roof. They have closed bars and restaurants for two weeks. Talks of the schools closing for two weeks on the Halloween break

 

[obscure]

I can't understand this demonisation of booze despite the figures, which I appreciate are patchy, not showing pubs as a significant factor in the virus spreading. It's almost like the PHE and equivalent boffins think booze = evil therefore we might as well target it just in case. Restaurants yes but restaurants that serve wine no? I'd like to see the data that backs that decision up......

The irksome thing is that the pubs seem to have put a hell of a lot of effort into their COVID Secure policies, my local pub is table service only you text your order to the bar and they deliver it taking payment by card. Strict limits on the number of people with tables having to be booked etc. Every pub I go into have had strict rules that contact details have to be provided. Contrast this with my local Costa packed out, only a token effort to get peoples details for track and trace or worst yet some of the independent cafes which don’t even seem to make a token effort.

 

[Gerryjo]

Social distancing goes out the window once the pints start flowing. The younger brother runs a bar...

Is he still in the taphouse where a chef tested positive and 5 or 6 from B shift golf society got sent home last week?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Covid: Pubs and restaurants in central Scotland to close

All pubs and restaurants across central Scotland are to be closed under new measures aimed at tackling a surge in coronavirus cases.

The new rules will apply to licensed premises across the central belt, including Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Pubs and restaurants will be able to open in other parts of Scotland - but can only serve alcohol outdoors.

The new rules, which will be in force from 18:00 on Friday until 25 October, apply to about 3.4 million people.

They cover people living in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Forth Valley, Lothian and Ayrshire and Arran health board areas.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the restrictions were "intended to be short, sharp action to arrest a worrying increase in infection".

She warned that without taking action, the country risks "returning to the peak level of infection by the end of the month".

But she admitted that the new rules would be disruptive to many businesses and would be unwelcome to many people.

Full article - Pubs and restaurants in central Scotland to close

 

[samale]

Is he still in the taphouse where a chef tested positive and 5 or 6 from B shift golf society got sent home last week?

Yep. They have been closed since last week. Not sure about the golf society, is that the boys car sharing. Numbers are that high at the min you wouldn't know where you picked it up.

 

[Gerryjo]

Yep. They have been closed since last week. Not sure about the golf society, is that the boys car sharing. Numbers are that high at the min you wouldn't know where you picked it up.

No there's a few car sharing on A shift got sent home as a few had tested positive. The golfer's were in the bar enjoying a bit of grub and a few bevvies apparently. Scary stuff so will be like a ghost town this week at work.

 

[simon12]

Just some observations from the North West. Hospital admissions are now over what they were going into lockdown and though not increasing as fast they are doubling every just over 4 weeks, if this continues it will be 6-7 weeks until its higher than the previous peek in April. Nearly 3% of all people over 85 have now been in Hospital with Covid and nearly 1.5% of all people have had a positive test result. Nearly 2.4% of men and 1.5% of women over 90 have died from it while only 3 people under 20 have and 29 under 40.
Compared to South East. Hospital admissions are increasing roughly as fast as the north west but are at such a low number we have 12 weeks before we get to there number and roughly January before we exceed the April peek. Under 1.5% of people over 85 have been in hospital. 0.9% of women and 1.4% of men over 90 have died, 3 people under 20 and 34 under 40. Just over 0.5% of everyone has had a positive test.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

The xls file format stopped being used natively in Office 2007. After that, you you have to make a conscious decision to use it , ignore the nag dialogue, etc.

You're assuming that Office is the only software to use XLS - it gets used a lot by other software, as a convenient and widely-supported interchange format. And if you believe the comments on the Reg article, that's what happened here - they suggest that PHE were collating data coming in from the various labs and then having to downgrade to XLS because it was the only format supported by a custom system inside the Track & Trace organisation.

Obviously that's only hearsay, but it suggests the issues were not with lab rats or PHE, but with T&T, which we know was not exactly the most sophisticated organisation. Those same comments suggest that NHSX, the NHS digital people who do generally know their stuff, were warning about this at a high level but because it was within T&T they didn't have any authority to change it.

Also the normal EOL dates don't really apply to the likes of the NHS, for instance in 2014 they paid Microsoft for XP support beyond the plebs' EOL date, because 85% of NHS computers were still running XP in 2013. And even in 2016, 90% of trusts that responded to a FOI still had some XP machines.

Although not relevant here, one issue is health-critical kit only being certified with particular combinations of hardware/software so you can't upgrade it without recertification (for which there's no budget).

In IT 's**t' doesn't just happen any more than it does in a lab. Poor decisions are made, often by smart people who think they know loads about IT because they can use mathlab or something and are a bit of a brain.

I think you're giving them a lot more credit for having a decision-making process than you should. And actually IME the people who use Mathlab etc are rather more aware of the limitations, the problems tend to be more in management who love Excel and don't really understand other options. Again, that sounds closer to what happened here.

Finally, the 'look they were busy dealing with a Pandemic' excuse doesn't wash. In logistics, we have put in robust systems and designed previously non-existant supply chains with proper IT to distribute all sorts of things around the pandemic, and we didn't feel the need to spin up some nonsense solution using Excel.

Logistics has a very different culture though - you're middlemen, so your IT is all about talking to other systems, whereas in the medical world, there's an element of making it difficult for systems to talk to each other, which originates in the culture of medical privacy but which goes rather beyond that in the real world. Don't forget that it's only last year that the NHS was told it had to stop buying fax machines. Couple that with Treasury rules on capex, and a sprawling federal structure...it's a long way from how things work inside a corporate.

I'm not defending any of this, it's a long way from how things "should" be, but that's how it is. And that's the NHS/PHE which is the relatively competent half of this equation, I don't think anyone has much of a good word to say about the T&T mob.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Breaking news.

Employees who work for UK firms forced to shut by law because of coronavirus restrictions will get two-thirds of their wages paid for by the government.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said it was an "expansion" of the Job Support Scheme, which begins on 1 November and will be available for six months.

A Treasury source says it could roughly cost hundreds of millions a month.

A restrictions update, which could see pubs and restaurants shut in the worst-affected areas, is expected on Monday.

Labour's shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said Mr Sunak's "delay in delivering support has caused unnecessary anxiety and job losses".

Regional leaders have called for more help for struggling firms.

The support will be reviewed in January. Until November businesses that are asked to close can continue to use the furlough scheme.

The grants will be paid up to a maximum of £2,100 per employee a month and the Treasury said they will protect jobs and enable businesses to reopen quickly once restrictions are lifted.


Full article -


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54481817

 

[simon12]

Here's my latest observation using yesterdays no's from worldometer I have added column M showing daily cases per 100K population and added the UK 7 day average from 1st sept. Its only 1 days numbers and some countries take a few days to get it right on worldometer but it clearly shows a second wave in the whole of Europe and almost nowhere is doing better than we where in the last week of August.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

77 deaths in the last 24 hours.