"We are forced to act and we are acting now," Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday at a press conference. The only shops allowed to open in Germany until 10th Jan will be supermarkets, pharmacies and weekly markets.

Just got an email from the packet shop I use that they will stay open until 24th Dec.

I have to say...I really like that senstence.

I also doubt it, but its undeniable that Bern has had a tidal wave of Romandie flooding the streets during the last few Saturdays. The only language I would hear on the streets was French and the streets have been absolutely packed like no other time of year.

Although now that the situation has reversed, I kinda doubt the Bernese will be making their trips out to Fribourg for some Sunday milk shopping.

i reluctantly agree. the middle path they're trying to trod isn't really working. seems they either need to let things open up or go into lockdown.

Lol. I just imagined Olygirl getting busted for sneaking into a farm and trying to milk somebody's cow.

Olygirl, if you have any friendly neighbors, I bet they'd be more than happy to give you a liter of milk -- and then you can return one to them once you get to the store. (I've done that with my neighbor a couple of times). Or if you live anywhere near Greifensee, come ring my doorbell.

Wallisellen here, happy to give you some milk Olygirl, it‘s only H Milch though?

More on those travel restrictions as it affects Scottish Expats

As you know there's a number of travel restrictions still in force during the upcoming festive
season and here we see Scotlands first minister, Nicola Sturgeon answering questions on whether
people living in Scotland, can visit their 2nd homes in Spain or elsewhere during the
Christmas period.

Nicola Sturgeon's morning briefing regarding travel & 2nd homes

Nonsense, but even if true, that means that they also died because of COVID.

Because of government interference, plenty have starved to death as a result of COVID, you just care about people on your doorstep, I would rather stand back & look at the global cost of lockdowns. It's alright for you you drive a Ferrari so are not concerned for people who live on $1 a day, if your happy with that then it's OK for you.

Do you have a link to that?

PS do not have a Ferrari, just an old A3 (and some Fundsmith stock :-) )

Which bit, living on $1 a day, or starving to death? I have a 10 year old A3 Sportback & Fundsmith stock. Terry Smith has an old Volvo bought second hand.
https://www.wri.org/resources/charts...-day-1981-2004

Oxfam warns that more people could starve to death than dye of COVID in
https://reliefweb.int/report/world/1...y-more-disease

FMF is too humble, he also has a property in Chamonix that he has permanently donated to me as a Christmas present I will treasure it and look after it for rest of my life

Is it your goat shed now?

Are there ski slopes nearby?

I don't drive a Ferrari. I don't even own one anymore. But I had a good laugh at the idea of money-obsessed FMF being concerned about Third World people. How much have you ever done for them? How much time have you given, how much money have you donated?

Virtue signalling at its finest.

And I really wouldn't put too much stock in Oxfam's alarmist marketing. They have a bit of a reputation for that sort of behaviour.

I haven't seen it yet and my goats require premium accommodation FMF said that if it is not good enough he will buy a better property for me

Regarding Corona, some rules seem to be mix and match, not based on real science or any common sense!

I just spent about half an hour trying to research whether or not more people have indeed died of starvation due to lockdowns than due to having COVID. And what I've found is that the hunger problem has increased in the world primarily due to airlines no longer operating as before, which has caused a break in the supply chains (i.e. getting food to third world countries).
https://unglobalcompact.org/take-act...than-the-virus

But the majority of articles that I've come across talk more about the fact that people were not going to the emergency room for heart attack symptoms, etc. during the lockdown, which I find odd since the ER's were still open for them. It was their choice to not go.

But regarding the Oxfam report that more people would die of starvation than COVID, that was based on hypothesis and prediction rather than actual fact, and that report was published last July.

"Disruption to food production and supplies due to COVID-19 could cause more deaths from starvation than the disease itself, according to an Oxfam report published Thursday.

The report found that 121 million more people could be “pushed to the brink of starvation this year” as a result of disruption to food production and supplies, diminishing aid as well as mass unemployment. The report estimates that COVID-19 related hunger could cause 12,000 deaths per day: the peak global mortality rate for COVID-19 in April was 10,000 deaths per day."

https://time.com/5864803/oxfam-hunger-covid-19/

So that is their prediction (or was). What the actual facts are, at this point, I am not so sure.

Bait and switch?

Nice calculations, but for them to make sense you would have to compare the number of extra deaths resulting from the measurements taken to contain the pandemic to those that would happen if we'd let it run lose. Let's assume an IFR globally of 0,5% (higher in rich, ageing populations (https://www.economist.com/graphic-de...le-to-covid-19, closer ro 1% here). As it's a novel Coronavirus there is at best limited pre-existing immunity, so let's assume 80% end up infected. 0.005*7'800'000'000*0.8 equals 31 Mio deaths. Of course, run lose only a small minority would receive adequate care and an ICU. Without the constraint of a functioning health care system the IFR roughly trebles (gh.bmj.com/content/bmjgh/5/9/e003094.full.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjs7qTO9svtAhUSMewKHfii AWMQFjAAegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw3Vg479rXaAm5Maw-FbZ6Od&cshid=1607895934731). So we're already near 100 Mio deaths. Naturally, overloaded hospitals would lead to extra non-covid fatalities, but calculating those is above my pay grade. Sadly, selfish old us would probably start being more careful in absence of guidelines without hospital beds and people coughing and dying left right and center, so the death toll wouldn't reach that number, at the cost of - ta da - the economy.
Also, while we are already delving deep into whataboutism, continuing by that logic, every penny you have ever spent on anything above your immediate survival instead of donating to those in need has caused starvation. Heck, we should all be jumping off bridges and bequeathing oxfam. Or, on a government scale, imagine all the starving caused by the economic fallout from Brexit!
People starving is always a tragedy, when the world has a caloric surplus it's a calamity. Yet surely we'd rather fight it by aid, fairer economic policies and protecting the immediate and future environment of those suffering than by letting a virus kill us.

Berset making an announcement today at 1230 following discussions with the Kanton's Health Ministers, who are asking for a lockdown and possibly the closure of ski lifts. Reported in 20 Minutes.

Is it you who drives that black Mercedes SLR?