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Omicron restrictions in Wales

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Signal_Box

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I’ve not discussed regional assemblies, just National Parliaments. Although whatever your views on the National Parliaments or the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales (either personally or in relation to their policys on wearing masks) surely you agree that comparisons with Putin are neither justified or reasonable?

When I compared Putin to Drakeford I was comparing that they have both taken the country of which they are leaders down paths which will and have destructive and long lasting effects on the populations of each country.

A government in mg eyes at least has overall control of every aspect of their countries, I know for sure Welsh Chimphouse doesn’t have as much power as Scotland, which is also limited as well.

Like I say Covid was a national emergency which required a national and overall strategy to overcome and safeguard, having three sets of rules in one country (the U.K.) was and is redicolous and probably cost lives, an spread the virus as people where confused about what applied to where.

I’m lucky I live circa 10 miles from England so whenever I wanted to do something which required a restriction in Wales but not England I popped across the border to spend my money.
 
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102 fan

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I’ve not discussed regional assemblies, just National Parliaments. Although whatever your views on the National Parliaments or the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales (either personally or in relation to their policys on wearing masks) surely you agree that comparisons with Putin are neither justified or reasonable?

Politicians are like nappies, and require changing for the same reason.

Regional assemblies are to me, little pretendy parliaments, and their leaders are to be held to account like any other. It's all a matter of scale. Putin is to be condemned for invading Ukraine Johnson, Sturgeon, Drakeford & Givan are to be condemned for a pointless mask ruling, which did nothing to reduce cases or transmission.
 

Signal_Box

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Politicians are like nappies, and require changing for the same reason.

Regional assemblies are to me, little pretendy parliaments, and their leaders are to be held to account like any other. It's all a matter of scale. Putin is to be condemned for invading Ukraine Johnson, Sturgeon, Drakeford & Givan are to be condemned for a pointless mask ruling, which did nothing to reduce cases or transmission.

I can’t agree with this more!

1 in 16 have covid today though, so I’m surprised he’s still going ahead Monday.

Although you can tell he’s not happy, saying businesses it up to you but if your staff all go sick tough luck.
 

Dai Corner

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Like I say Covid was a national emergency which required a national and overall strategy to overcome and safeguard, having three sets of rules in one country (the U.K.) was and is redicolous and probably cost lives, an spread the virus as people where confused about what applied to where.
Four sets including Northern Ireland.

If there's one thing that is best dealt with on an island-wide basis it's a pandemic. There should have been one for Great Britain and one for Ireland.
I’m lucky I live circa 10 miles from England so whenever I wanted to do something which required a restriction in Wales but not England I popped across the border to spend my money.
Remember the times when we weren't allowed out of our local authority area, or more than five miles from home?
 

Bikeman78

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I can’t agree with this more!

1 in 16 have covid today though, so I’m surprised he’s still going ahead Monday.

Although you can tell he’s not happy, saying businesses it up to you but if your staff all go sick tough luck.
I wonder how many of those 1 in 16 actually feel unwell? My little boy had Covid last weekend. He had a headache for a day and a high temperature. When I was a kid, we'd have thought nothing of it and I'd have been back in school on day two, maybe three at a push. Much to the irritation of my ex wife, he's tested positive long after feeling perfectly fine.

Well well from Monday masks on public transport and shops no longer mandatory. Stay mandatory is health and care for now. Self Isolation no longer mandatory from Monday. All about elections on May 5th I reckon!

As usual the comments section has provided plenty of entertainment.
 

Signal_Box

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Four sets including Northern Ireland.

If there's one thing that is best dealt with on an island-wide basis it's a pandemic. There should have been one for Great Britain and one for Ireland.

Remember the times when we weren't allowed out of our local authority area, or more than five miles from home?

Thankfully Mr Johnson classified me as key worker so I wasn’t restricted to 5 miles, although our local police force didn’t operate road blocks on the city limits.

I wonder how many of those 1 in 16 actually feel unwell? My little boy had Covid last weekend. He had a headache for a day and a high temperature. When I was a kid, we'd have thought nothing of it and I'd have been back in school on day two, maybe three at a push. Much to the irritation of my ex wife, he's tested positive long after feeling perfectly fine.


As usual the comments section has provided plenty of entertainment.

I had covid in Jan, aside from 24hrs of feeling drained I was okay. Triple jabbed so it could of been worse perhaps.
 

takno

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Politicians are like nappies, and require changing for the same reason.

Regional assemblies are to me, little pretendy parliaments, and their leaders are to be held to account like any other. It's all a matter of scale. Putin is to be condemned for invading Ukraine Johnson, Sturgeon, Drakeford & Givan are to be condemned for a pointless mask ruling, which did nothing to reduce cases or transmission.
As annoying as I've found the additional restrictions in Scotland, and much as I dislike the current Scottish Government in general, I find these weird little temper tantrums about the devolved parliaments pretty laughable.

Germany, and various other European countries, have managed to operate for most of the period since the second world war as federal structures, with fairly powerful regional assemblies controlling all sorts of issues including public health. As ridiculous and overbloated as Germany's response was in many ways, it was muted compared to what could have been put in place, and that was entirely due to the need to agree a position across a good number of regional governments. The Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly are pretty cheap - much more so than Westminster, and they cost nothing compared to the money which Westminster wasted through a general lack of planning and then preposterous campaign of grift around Track and Trace.

If the UK prime minister had the backbone, intelligence and personality to deal in a sane way with the devolved assemblies then the UK could have held a uniform position. The UK government has been treating the whole thing from the start as some kind of pathetic bun-throwing contest, and in the circumstances it's not entirely surprising to find the devolved governments throwing some buns back.
 

MikeWM

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It'll be a bit odd if they keep this massive regulation (currently due to expire on Monday) just for that though, as the existing regulation still covers all manner of things (such as all the details of their old 'alert level' system, rather like the English 'tier' system, even though none of the 'alert levels' are currently applicable). This specific regulation has been around in some form or other since December 2020...

Well, they have, my objections above about it being odd having clearly been ignored!

They've knocked out lots of the regulation (masks in most places, self-isolation, etc. as announced yesterday) but extended the bits that remain, though only until April 18th.
 

duncanp

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As usual the comments section has provided plenty of entertainment.

Including this one

Why can't we wear masks forever? Respiratory infections other than covid are way down, norovirus is way down. Seems like a sensible health precaution for almost no inconvenience.

I can't say on here what I really think of this, not without getting banned anyway.
 

102 fan

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As annoying as I've found the additional restrictions in Scotland, and much as I dislike the current Scottish Government in general, I find these weird little temper tantrums about the devolved parliaments pretty laughable.

Germany, and various other European countries, have managed to operate for most of the period since the second world war as federal structures, with fairly powerful regional assemblies controlling all sorts of issues including public health. As ridiculous and overbloated as Germany's response was in many ways, it was muted compared to what could have been put in place, and that was entirely due to the need to agree a position across a good number of regional governments. The Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly are pretty cheap - much more so than Westminster, and they cost nothing compared to the money which Westminster wasted through a general lack of planning and then preposterous campaign of grift around Track and Trace.

If the UK prime minister had the backbone, intelligence and personality to deal in a sane way with the devolved assemblies then the UK could have held a uniform position. The UK government has been treating the whole thing from the start as some kind of pathetic bun-throwing contest, and in the circumstances it's not entirely surprising to find the devolved governments throwing some buns back.


How much did Holyrood cost? 414 million. And you think 600 million, the cost of running the Scottish government is cheap? The problem with regional assemblies is the nationalist parties that populate them. How did providing dual language Road signage cost? It may swell the heart of the particular nationalist party behind it, but it doesn't help the majority one iota.
 

Watershed

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Germany, and various other European countries, have managed to operate for most of the period since the second world war as federal structures, with fairly powerful regional assemblies controlling all sorts of issues including public health. As ridiculous and overbloated as Germany's response was in many ways, it was muted compared to what could have been put in place, and that was entirely due to the need to agree a position across a good number of regional governments.
However, it has led to wildly inconsistent rules across states, which, as with the response here in the UK, makes very little sense. Devolution is good to a point, but is pretty useless for dealing with a virus that doesn't respect artificial boundaries.
 

Eyersey468

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Including this one



I can't say on here what I really think of this, not without getting banned anyway.
If whoever wrote that wants to wear a mask forever then let them, but dont expect me to follow suit
 

danm14

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If whoever wrote that wants to wear a mask forever then let them, but dont expect me to follow suit
Perhaps it should become a legal requirement not to wear a face covering, with exemptions for those who have a "reasonable excuse" to wear one.

Of course, nobody would be required to provide proof of their "reasonable excuse" - but as is human nature not everyone would understand this, so some may feel the need to wear lanyards stating "I am exempt from not wearing a face covering", and sadly, people may on occasion be refused service as they are unable to supply unobtainable evidence of it.
 

Bikeman78

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Including this one



I can't say on here what I really think of this, not without getting banned anyway.
Yeah that one made me chuckle too. I'm not a people person by any stretch of the imagination but I can't see how anyone would want masks forever. I've made a point of smiling at people when out and about in recent months. I get quite a few in return which is nice.
 

35B

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As annoying as I've found the additional restrictions in Scotland, and much as I dislike the current Scottish Government in general, I find these weird little temper tantrums about the devolved parliaments pretty laughable.

Germany, and various other European countries, have managed to operate for most of the period since the second world war as federal structures, with fairly powerful regional assemblies controlling all sorts of issues including public health. As ridiculous and overbloated as Germany's response was in many ways, it was muted compared to what could have been put in place, and that was entirely due to the need to agree a position across a good number of regional governments. The Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly are pretty cheap - much more so than Westminster, and they cost nothing compared to the money which Westminster wasted through a general lack of planning and then preposterous campaign of grift around Track and Trace.

If the UK prime minister had the backbone, intelligence and personality to deal in a sane way with the devolved assemblies then the UK could have held a uniform position. The UK government has been treating the whole thing from the start as some kind of pathetic bun-throwing contest, and in the circumstances it's not entirely surprising to find the devolved governments throwing some buns back.
That particular mud about politicians' conduct can be thrown in all directions, and my recollections of March-April 2020 were of significant gamesmanship from Scotland at least.

As for the role of devolution in the pandemic response, the inability of the English in particular to cope with the idea that powers can be devolved and different places act differently is a bigger problem than the pandemic response. As an English voter, that is especially sharply felt as Covid has demonstrated the weakness of a devolved settlement that leaves most of the UK without devolved powers.

The above is without comment on the quality of any of the specific responses to Covid.
 

Bikeman78

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Took the kids swimming again this week. Last week there were still quite a few masks visible in the cafe and seating area. Today there was not a single one.
 

Furryanimal

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I popped out to the local Wetherspoons for lunch today and it felt great leaving the house without a mask....although mask wearing on the bus put me very much in the minority.
 

pdq

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Having not worn a mask at all for a few weeks now, I remembered to bring a few while visiting relatives in Wales this week.
Observations have been mixed: on Friday nearly everyone in Morrisons, Welshpool was wearing a mask, as they were when entering and ordering at a small independent cafe there. At a garden centre many were wearing masks even though it was semi-outdoors! But when I filled up with fuel in Tenby the cashier commented that very few people had worn masks that day when paying.

On to today (Monday). I would say 90% of people in Tesco, B&M and Wilko in Pembroke Dock were wearing masks. Granted, it's a working day so most of those shopping during working hours would have been retired but it didn't feel like there was any panic to ditch them.

Just like when the restrictions were lifted in England, it will take a few weeks for mask wearing to ease off.
 

VauxhallandI

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Having just come back from 2 weeks in France I’d say I. The area I was in the majority have given up their masks quicker than here. I’d say it was down to 15%
 

Markdvdman

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I am off work this week and because I am at the backend of a cold (yes a proper cold like I used to have) - I have worn a mask in the shops. However, once it clears I am guessing tomorrow or Thursday goodbye mask - you will not be missed!
 

102 fan

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I am off work this week and because I am at the backend of a cold (yes a proper cold like I used to have) - I have worn a mask in the shops. However, once it clears I am guessing tomorrow or Thursday goodbye mask - you will not be missed!


Just curious, but will you wear a mask every time you get a cold from now until the day you die?
 

LNW-GW Joint

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I'll just observe that the TfW web site says you must still wear a mask on their trains, and Arriva Buses in Wales were running around yesterday with the scrolling message "You must wear a face covering on this bus".
Mask wearing in Tesco/Sainsburys is not 100% any more, but still higher than 50%.
Noticeable that all staff were wearing masks.
Tesco have done away with the one way setup at entry/exit.
 

Dai Corner

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I'll just observe that the TfW web site says you must still wear a mask on their trains, and Arriva Buses in Wales were running around yesterday with the scrolling message "You must wear a face covering on this bus".
Mask wearing in Tesco/Sainsburys is not 100% any more, but still higher than 50%.
Noticeable that all staff were wearing masks.
Tesco have done away with the one way setup at entry/exit.

B amd M in Cross Hands stated over the Tannoy it is Mandatory to wear a mask unless you are exempt! Me and another customer shook our heads at the inability to change this!
There's nothing to stop train and bus operators, shops or other organisations making masks, or any other precautions, compulsory if that's what their mandatory risk assessment has determined is there?

(Not saying that's necessarily what's happened).
 

Markdvdman

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Tesco in Merthyr have FINALLY taken away Entrance and Exit signs away as of yesterday! Also, no more socially distanced stickers. One particular 150 train though keeps on banging on 'You must Wear a facemask' - it was annoying when you had to - even more so now! However, otherwise, it seems like normality is getting there!
 

kristiang85

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No just until my cold is over! I have had it with the masks that have no scientific basis to be in use anyway!!!

Why did you wear it for a cold though if you believe there is no scientific basis? They aren't mandatory. Just sneeze into a tissue like you used to do...
 

Markdvdman

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I used to get real bad colds! In fact they were three days of hell of nose blocks, sneezing etc! Without a mask I could have sneezed over people! As it turned out the cold was more milder and drawn out and I did not know that from past experiences so I was just cautionary. As it is not worn a mask since and will not either - cannot understand youngsters still wearing the masks though!
 

Snow1964

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First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed the ending of the last of Wales' Covid rules, which have been in place in some form since March 2020.
The wearing of face masks will no longer be legally required in Welsh health and social care services from Monday.

First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed the ending of the last of Wales' Covid rules, which have been in place in some form since March 2020.
Ministers said the public health situation had continued to improve over the last few weeks.
Wales was the last part of the UK with Covid restrictions still in place.
However most of the rules that affected people's day to day lives, such as wearing face masks in shops and on public transport and self-isolation rules, ended in March.

 
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