I only get a cup of tea at mine ...

Shouldn't tarnish people with the same brush, but one of the reasons perhaps the north west isn't fairing too well in the latest stats.
From the BBC news ticker:
"UK police have arrested 13 people and fined 11 others after raiding two lockdown parties in Liverpool.
A dozen people were arrested on suspicion of burglary at a property in Duke Street where a party was being held at 01:20 BST on Sunday.
Separately, on Saturday, people travelled up to 20 miles from Greater Manchester for a party in Wavertree.
Twins were also stopped in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, on Saturday night after allegedly driving 17 miles to buy a kebab.
Police impounded their VW car for "serious vehicle defects". The driver had no insurance and the pair had travelled from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire to Rochdale, officers said".

Sure it isn't the case, and only what's being reported. Still no reason as to why the north east is a hotspot for new cases?

Seems like the 2m rule is partly based on data from the 1930s. Definitely sounds like changes are on the way. 

In an interview on the Today programme this morning Sir Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust, a medical research charity, and a member of Sage, the government’s scientific advisory group for emergencies, said that there was “nothing magical” about the two-metre rule and that other ways of minimising contact might be as effective . He told the programme:

It’s based on old data about how far when we cough and we sneeze that the droplets and the aerosols that may come from that spread. There’s nothing magical about two metres. Perhaps more importantly is the time you spend in contact with somebody else. Not just the distance but also the time.

(As this BBC analysis by David Shukman explains, some of this “old data” goes back to the 1930s.)[source: Guardian]

Vienna to London on a Whizz Air A320 filmed Saturday May 2nd. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWczZWZHERI

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Bikers travelled 200 mile round trip to Whitby for fish and chips - despite lockdown

Quote

 

Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives - the message couldn't be clearer and has been repeated over and over. But weeks into lockdown, it still isn't computing for some people. Police near Whitby dished out fines to a pair of bikers who'd travelled a long distance - simply for some fish and chips. Unamused officers said the pair had come from Rochdale, near Manchester, to the seaside town in search of a takeaway.

That's a round trip of around 200 miles, which would take around two hours each way on an average journey. The motorcyclists were each issued with fines for breaching the coronavirus lockdown and sent home after they were stopped on the A169, Whitby to Pickering road. Whitby Town Police posted on Facebook: "Whilst Whitby would usually welcome visitors to sample our finest fish and chips, due to the current climate this does not constitute reasonable travel."

 

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/bikers-travelled-200-mile-round-18194168

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As Saint said so eloquently the other day, the North West isn't short of people who'd sell their own granny for a few quid. 

In all seriousness, the North West does have a few pockets of severe deprivation and crime, and you would suspect that the lockdown may not be adhered to as much in said areas (although that could be an unfair generalisation).

I genuinely doubt the NW as a region is "behaving" worse than other sh*thole (sorry) areas across the rest of England, especially in London, the West Midlands & Yorks/the NE.

Yesterday's regional stats were interesting/worrying, will be interesting to see how the NW gets on this week without any weekend data effects. 

Is a hair cut in a lock-down tautology, Gandalf?

R

Also, Yorkshire folk clearly will travel a long way to buy a kebab. 

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Coronavirus: 13 arrested after two lockdown parties

Quote

 

Police have arrested 13 people and fined 11 others after raiding two lockdown parties in Liverpool. A dozen people were arrested on suspicion of burglary at a property in Duke Street where a party was being held at 01:20 BST on Sunday. Separately, on Saturday, people travelled up to 20 miles from Greater Manchester for a party in Wavertree.

Twins were also stopped in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, on Saturday night after driving 17 miles to buy a kebab. Police impounded their VW car for "serious vehicle defects". The driver had no insurance and the pair had travelled from Huddersfield, west Yorkshire to Rochdale, officers said.

Merseyside Police broke up a party in Garmoyle Road, Wavertree just after 20:30 BST on Saturday. Eleven people were issued with "fixed penalty notices for breach of Covid-19 legislation". A 20-year-old woman from Hyde, Greater Manchester was also arrested on suspicion of three counts of assault against police officers. Police said she became aggressive when they arrived at the illicit gathering.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-52527324

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I'm going to be uncharacteristically gammon-like.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/may/04/male-experts-dominate-uk-news-shows-during-coronavirus-crisis

WHO THE HELL CARES. 

I genuinely think the Guardian's coverage is excellent but this is just cringe.

Some arguments are best left for another time. People are dying in their thousands FFS. 

First minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced 169 new cases and 5 new deaths

1,720 in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 up 54 on yesterday

99 in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 no change on yesterday

Counter viewpoint coming up

People are always dying in their thousands, what's the relevance to ignoring inequality? If a crisis reinforces the stereotype that the only people worth talking to are white, middle aged (and generally wealthy) men that's not a good thing and there's no reason it shouldn't be highlighted at this time. 

It's not like highlighting it will cause more people to die. So highlighting it could IMO be viewed as a better course than ignoring it, which also won't make a blind bit of difference to the death rate but does mean letting inequality carry on without being called out. The time to call out inequality is when it's happening, not months or years after the event where it's lost its impact and something else is in the news.

EDIT: On the North West concentration thing doesn't that just reflect the fact there's a fairly large urban area? 

I’m glad you’ve brought me back down to earth with a sensible, intelligent response. 

You are of course absolutely right, and I am simply being grumpy. 🙂 I just couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

As it happens, my favourite expert interviewed by the broadcast media so far has been Sarah Gilbert from Oxford University. 

Probably mutated from the three week cough from hell version !

Indeed. Maybe someone was struggling to find a story.

Actually the reality, as proved by an article I found in the same newspaper from 2015, is that females are getting a disproportionately HIGH representation on news shows relative to their proportion in the sector.

"According to the Women in Science and Engineering (Wise) campaign’s latest analysis of UK labour market statistics, women make up just 12.8% of the Stem workforce. The proportion had increased by only 0.2 percentage points since their analysis in 2012."

https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/jun/13/how-well-are-women-represented-in-uk-science

I do get where you were coming from TBH - I'm naturally drawn to the Guardian as it's closest to my world view but there are articles that I skim past as I know they'll irritate me as they come across as making a point for the sake of it

Is she the cell biologist? I think it was her on the other day with a young epidemiologist and they were very clear thinking.

As I've just posted, the alleged stereotyping is just lazy and not properly researched.

More attractive women experts needed.

I agree on this () and we've mentioned it a few times.  I feel it is a question that nobody seems to try and answer (expert wise, not on here) and is very important to know.

I'd be happy to see more of Maria Van Kerkhove. Exceptional knowledge. 

Speaking of which it appears she has clarified her statement to Marr and added in the word "may" which is significant. 

Thanks for having me on the @MarrShow @AndrewMarr9

Indeed, we have seen reports & been informed of studies from Republic of Korea that dead viral RNA that’s being shed from respiratory epithelial tissue may explain the positive test in those who have recovered#COVID19 https://t.co/dGhjrVClxP

— Maria Van Kerkhove (@mvankerkhove) May 3, 2020