Sweden, who didn’t have a strict lockdown are still recording large daily cases and have an upward trend in active cases
Ireland and Italy active cases with a strict lockdown, considering Italy was fucked at one stage
Italy
Ireland
So you can visibly see the effects of the lockdown containing the virus. So the thing they implemented to suppress it actually worked.
But wait, Sweden must be winning on the economic front, surely?
No, no they aren’t. Their economy is equally fucked
Our numbers are in a place now where we can look to manage our way out of it.
What can Sweden do? Fuck all. They are stuck in a limbo state where they can’t go into lockdown now and they can’t open it up more. They are on a path they have no control over.
People saying that XYZ can get their hair cut. They can but with very strict rules on distance and even talking to each other
Germany’s new rules:
Cuts are by appointment only to avoid customers waiting in the salon
Customers and hairdressers must keep a 1.5m distance except when the haircut is taking place
Customers and hairdressers must wear face masks
“Direct communication” is not permitted - discussion about hair style, colour etc must be done via a mirror and kept to a minimum
No blow-drying, if possible
Fresh air must be circulated, which the rules specify should be 100m3/h per hairdresser
Scissors and other tools must be thoroughly disinfected between uses, as well as hairdressing chairs
Hairdressing cloaks must be washed after each use and, if possible, a disposable cloak should be worn over the top
Customers must wash their hands when entering the salon
We haven’t enough PPE for the hospitals and lads want it given to their barber so they can get their short back and sides.
Also, the people using things like, but you can get a haircut in Italy and we can’t sound like petulant little bitches
It may be economically viable to open a salon in Milan or Rome with the very strict restrictions, it may not be so in Ireland with Breda coming in for her monthly perm. Some business would be crippled (even more so) trying to open up with the recommended restrictions.
Both pubs in my village wouldn’t be able to do it for instance
No mate, they are a struggling small business owner. And they’ll still struggle to break even when it’s OIUTF.
Guarantee you now, the same whiny bitches on here moaning about not being able to get a haircut or a pint will be the very same one’s moaning about the cost of it when it is OIUTF as the cost is offset on the customer.
They were given no chance to make their business viable, no matter how many precautions they took. Ditto pubs. I think people are fully entitled to ask why people can crowd into a tesco for 2 slabs of beer but not sit at a safe distance from one another in a pub.
Because supermarkets were deemed essential services - they don’t just do beer you know, they do other things.
If you’re asking why we had a lockdown, or didn’t follow Sweden, I refer you to my post above.
What can they do now? Nothing.
We are in a place where we are trying to manage our way out of it and recover, slowly and safely. Is it happening too slowly, in my opinion, yes, with the numbers falling the way they are, they could possibly merge phases, but again, they’ll need to prepare for that too, so will SME’s. I hope if the numbers are still good at the end of phase 1 that they’ll merge phases 2&3.
“Early figures for Sweden’s gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2020, released this week, suggested that at least in March it had performed better than much of the EU as it recorded a decline of just 0.3 per cent, compared with a 3.8 per cent fall for the eurozone.”
Now how they’ll fare long term is anyone’s guess and they may well struggle as much as the rest of Europe. But I highly doubt they’ll have the same number of lockdown related issues we’ve had, particularly when it comes to mental health issues. Their kids remained in schools, people kept up their routines etc.
Again, only time will tell. I’ve said from the outset I reckoned this lockdown would cost more lives, long term, than it would save. Again, hopefully I’m proven wrong on that.
The Swedes unemployment rate is 7.8% at the moment. What’s ours? Deaths per million aren’t far apart either. They have twice the population and a little over twice our number of deaths from covid19. The health and economic impact of measures taken won’t really be known for at least another several months at the minimum.
Sweden have done relatively well … Denmark , with the same population, have made a show of us… they’re open a month now and drinking away with fresh hair cuts.
So the cost of the crisis is falling on business rather than the state? In a declining economy the business are paying employees with falling incomes.
There is no economic silver bullet.
How will it look in a months time if the virus is still spreading in Sweden and the rest of Europe is opening up safely and securely, albeit with strict restrictions?
That’s the great unknown isn’t it. Lots of what ifs. What if we open up and see a surge what do we do then! What if lockdowns prove to just be kicking the can down the road and next winter it blows up again and the Swedish approach means it won’t be as severe there! Or not as the case may be. The answer is we dont know. What we do know is that opening up a bit quicker here doesn’t seem to pose much risk at the moment judging by the experience of other countries. There’s lots of capacity in the hospitals at the moment which is the reason given for the need for lockdown. We also know that the risk of death for anyone under the age of 60 from this is miniscule.
