jasonb
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,206
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Post by jasonb on Jul 19, 2021 12:52:20 GMT
Latest from meridian via MTM
Cancellation of 2021 Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition.
It is with deep regret that due to the ongoing uncertainties of Covid-19 pandemic; we have to announce the cancellation of the 2021 Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition which was due to be held at the Warwickshire Event Centre on the 14th-17th October. >>
This difficult decision is taken despite a real determination by the Meridienne Exhibitions team, trade, clubs, societies, exhibitors and other supporters, all striving to continue to deliver the usual high quality and successful event during this very difficult time. >>
Over the past few weeks, we have been in the excruciating position of considering every possible scenario to see how we might be able to proceed, but sadly the risks of holding the event now far outweigh the reasons for going ahead. The core decision is based on the escalating cases of COVID-19, and the risks that widespread illness and self-isolation could have on everyone involved. We have navigated our way over the past 16 months through obstacles, but now feel that the odds are stacked against us and we are no longer in a position to be able to proceed safely with the unknown government Covid-19 requirement for Autumn/Winter ahead.
It follows that with our decision to cancel the Midlands Exhibition we have also, again regretfully, decided that it is not practical nor financially viable to proceed with the London Model Engineering Exhibition at Alexandra Palace in January 2022.
Having presented model engineering and other exhibitions for well over 40 years these decisions represent a tremendous disappointment for all but hopefully the situation will be different in later 2022 and we may again present a model engineering exhibition.
We look forward to seeing you all again soon.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2021 13:21:30 GMT
This is very sad and worrying too because if they don't feel safe to hold the exhibition this year, I doubt they ever will? Covid is now part of everyday life, there will be ups and downs but it is here and it's here to stay. What's really bad is I've had a £50 note sitting in a draw for 2 years waiting for the opportunity for me to spend it at an EX..... Pete
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Post by cplmickey on Jul 19, 2021 14:35:02 GMT
As I've just said on the MEL facebook page, the irony is that the news comes on the day all restrictions are lifted and the day after 180,000 people attended Silverstone, not to mention the thousands that went to the football, Donington Rock concerts etc. With some traders not attending exhibitions before Covid due to costs and perceived lack of benefit I suspect many more will now follow suit having managed (in some cases very well by all accounts) with not attending exhibitions for 2 years. Ian
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gwr7800
Part of the e-furniture
Member of Portsmouth mes
Posts: 384
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Post by gwr7800 on Jul 19, 2021 14:44:40 GMT
This is very sad and worrying too because if they don't feel safe to hold the exhibition this year, I doubt they ever will? Covid is now part of everyday life, there will be ups and downs but it is here and it's here to stay. What's really bad is I've had a £50 note sitting in a draw for 2 years waiting for the opportunity for me to spend it at an EX..... Pete Pete never had a “spare” £50 note!! Mind you if it’s an old one aren’t they changing to a new design soon!, plastic type? Unless it’s a white one!! Take care Chris
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2021 14:52:37 GMT
This is very sad and worrying too because if they don't feel safe to hold the exhibition this year, I doubt they ever will? Covid is now part of everyday life, there will be ups and downs but it is here and it's here to stay. What's really bad is I've had a £50 note sitting in a draw for 2 years waiting for the opportunity for me to spend it at an EX..... Pete Pete never had a “spare” £50 note!! Mind you if it’s an old one aren’t they changing to a new design soon!, plastic type? Unless it’s a white one!! Take care Chris One of my boys was over to show off the cash his boss had given him for Xmas.. all in fifty-pound notes.. £15k.. all old notes.. he gets a large Xmas cash gift each year and it's always more than the year before. he gave me 1 note as a joke, I kept it to use at an ME EX when next open. I still have a year to spend it, IIRC it's Sept 22 when it's no longer legal tender. Mind you considering how things are going I best find something else to spend it on... Pete
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Post by ettingtonliam on Jul 19, 2021 17:36:21 GMT
Quite a few of my local shops have signs up 'We no longer accept £50 notes'
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Post by Roger on Jul 19, 2021 21:03:52 GMT
It seems entirely sensible to me, this epidemic is just entering its first uncontrolled wave without any intention of lockdown to slow the spread. Sure you may not get it quite as badly if you've had the vaccine, but do you want it at all? I certainly don't. It's still a dangerous illness that's killing people in large numbers, and some folk are behaving recklessly, taking risks on our behalf. In our area, one in every 300 people is infected. Just take a trip to the Supermarket, and you're likely to be there are the same time as someone who has it. I'm not risk averse, but you have to appreciate that this is around you all the time, and it's a real threat. With several thousand visitors a day at an exhibition, it becomes almost a certainty that someone is going to pass it on there.
I too would love things to return to normal, but I think we've got another year of pain before we find out what that new normal is.
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Post by norfolkandgood on Jul 19, 2021 22:04:03 GMT
Can't really say 'uncontrolled wave' with so many millions having had two vaccinations or have natural antibody protection. What will another 12 months wait bring us before we make an attempt at a return to normal socially interactive life? With the R number now being withheld form us it is very hard to assess the risk of possible infection so, instead, we have to rely on anecdotal accounts of hospital case numbers and the number of those who have been 'pinged' and in self isolation to gauge the actual chance of being infected. At least when playing Russian roulette we know that there's a 1 in 6 chance! Not even an actuary could possibly calculate the level of risk from just the information we are supplied with.
Guy
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2021 22:18:33 GMT
The R number is still being announced...IIRC this week it's 1.2 to 1.4 which is a very slight drop from last week's 1.2 to 1.5
Yes over the last 3 days we have had the highest new cases across the world but when you look at serious illness and death, it's very little, very little indeed. I keep expecting the bubble to burst and the deaths to skyrocket but I have to admit, I think the vaccine has cracked it in as far as the variants that we currently know off.
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dscott
Elder Statesman
Posts: 2,437
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Post by dscott on Jul 19, 2021 23:48:13 GMT
Quite a few masks at the Bluebell over the 2 days but these got dropped as the temperatures went up. Even hotter on the footplate as the rest of the crew got off to have a cool down. Enclosed cabs and rocking ashpans indeed.
Just got an update on Dreaming Spires with the use of the local cafe which made me ponder. I will unbolt the WARCO mill motor and cook on that!!!!
David attending the Midlands since the second one. And Lily helping fish out bits of dropped regulator from a Hunslet Boiler.
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Post by Roger on Jul 20, 2021 7:31:40 GMT
Can't really say 'uncontrolled wave' with so many millions having had two vaccinations or have natural antibody protection. What will another 12 months wait bring us before we make an attempt at a return to normal socially interactive life? With the R number now being withheld form us it is very hard to assess the risk of possible infection so, instead, we have to rely on anecdotal accounts of hospital case numbers and the number of those who have been 'pinged' and in self isolation to gauge the actual chance of being infected. At least when playing Russian roulette we know that there's a 1 in 6 chance! Not even an actuary could possibly calculate the level of risk from just the information we are supplied with. Guy By uncontrolled, I mean that there's no enforced lockdown to reduce the R number to less than 1. Judging by how rapidly the cases are increasing, the number of people with the vaccine cleary isn't sufficient to control it at the moment. Another 12 months will have made a big difference to the numbers of people who have been vaccinated, or many who haven't had the vaccination will have contracted it and either gained some immunity or passed away. Millions of people are still unprotected at the moment. We will also have the data on whether a top up vaccine is going to be necessary to control the virus. Since the cases are rising rapidly, you know the R number is more than 1. All the time it is, the numbers will continue to climb exponentially. If we weren't seeing large numbers of vaccinated people being infected, I would take a different view. At the moment, I don't see any reason to be optimistic. People are fed up with being couped up, and the risk takers among us will just do as they please, and to hell with everyone else.
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timb
Statesman
Posts: 511
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Post by timb on Jul 20, 2021 7:43:32 GMT
Vaccines do not stop you catching a disease, just reduce the effects by making your immune system better able to fight it. It would appear we are attempting heard immunity, the benefits of which can be argued either way, however my understanding is that any newcommers to the heard can upset the balance, ie travellers to or from other countries bringing the virus back with them.
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Post by Boadicea on Jul 20, 2021 7:53:16 GMT
Indeed, it is regrettable the two exhibitions have been cancelled - they are not vital but a reasonable day out.
That I can take. However, I think the letter from Meridienne is just over-sentimental claptrap. I haven't seen anything quite like it since I retired from work.
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Post by Roger on Jul 20, 2021 8:25:09 GMT
Vaccines do not stop you catching a disease, just reduce the effects by making your immune system better able to fight it. It would appear we are attempting heard immunity, the benefits of which can be argued either way, however my understanding is that any newcommers to the heard can upset the balance, ie travellers to or from other countries bringing the virus back with them. Indeed, the vaccine primes you for a rapid response. However, it would appear that although it does reduce the severity of the illness, it doesn't seem to act aggressively and quickly enough to prevent people passing it on. Its's far from certain how effective herd immunity is going to be. That's why it's possible that a further vaccination might be required to suppress it even more. The odd traveller is always going to bring it back, after all, that's how we got it in the first place. In the end it's probably the severity of the illness that will decide what happens in the long term. As long as the severity can be reduced to the level of seasonal flu, then we'll just have to live with it. At the moment, that's not the case. Anyone can still catch it, and it's a lottery as to how ill you will be. Only time will give us the data to know what the true level of risk is. Until then, I'm remaining extremely vigilant. It's no good being wise after the event when it could be life changing.
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Post by cplmickey on Jul 20, 2021 9:36:51 GMT
Another 12 months will have made a big difference to the numbers of people who have been vaccinated, or many who haven't had the vaccination will have contracted it and either gained some immunity or passed away. Millions of people are still unprotected at the moment. It's a good point but I'm not totally convinced by that argument. Those who planned to get vaccinated have started down that road - a big problem now is those who chose not to be vaccinated and I'm not convinced they ever will. From the BBC News page - As in many other hospitals, the number of patients being treated for Covid-19 in Bradford Royal Infirmary is sharply rising. About half of them had chosen not to be vaccinated, says Dr John Wright - which many now deeply regret.As far as immunity is concerned I haven't heard anything lately but the suggestion was that immunity from a vaccine or from actually catching it only lasted a couple of months so I'm not sure things will be any better in 12 months time, they could be much worse.
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Post by John Baguley on Jul 20, 2021 10:47:23 GMT
It seems obvious to me from the rapidly rising number of cases again over the last month that the last Lockdown failed miserably to control it so what would the point of having another one or extending the last one. The problem is no doubt due to the fact that people are totally fed up with it all and have been ignoring the so called rules imposed by the Government. As for the 'anit-vax' brigade, if they get it and die then tough. It's their own stupid fault. The only downside is that they will be cluttering up hospital beds that should have been available for others.
Covid is going to be with us for a long time just like flu and no amount of Lockdowns, Social Distancing, vaccines etc. is going to make it go away. Just get on with your life and enjoy it while you can. There's no point whatsoever in losing sleep over it. What will be will be.
Personally, I think the whole thing has been extremely poorly handled. It was downright stupidity to send the kids back to school and the students back to University etc. last year. Things were going well until then. Would it have really mattered if the kids had lost a year of school? The schools could have just added another year on to compensate. There's no jobs for them when they leave anyway. Kids should have been made to wear masks no matter what their age. What was the point in adults having to wear them when kids could wander around freely without them. Outsiders should not have been allowed into the country at all etc. etc. I could go on but rant over!
John
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Post by Roger on Jul 20, 2021 11:18:30 GMT
Another 12 months will have made a big difference to the numbers of people who have been vaccinated, or many who haven't had the vaccination will have contracted it and either gained some immunity or passed away. Millions of people are still unprotected at the moment. It's a good point but I'm not totally convinced by that argument. Those who planned to get vaccinated have started down that road - a big problem now is those who chose not to be vaccinated and I'm not convinced they ever will. From the BBC News page - As in many other hospitals, the number of patients being treated for Covid-19 in Bradford Royal Infirmary is sharply rising. About half of them had chosen not to be vaccinated, says Dr John Wright - which many now deeply regret.As far as immunity is concerned I haven't heard anything lately but the suggestion was that immunity from a vaccine or from actually catching it only lasted a couple of months so I'm not sure things will be any better in 12 months time, they could be much worse. Looking at today's figures, out of a total population of 68,263,000 there are just over 20% who are 18 and under. That means straight away that are 13,652,000 sub 18 year olds who are unvaccinated. There are 12% of the over eighteens who haven't had their first jab, so that's another 6,553,000. So that gives up a total of 20,176,000 who are completely unprotected which is roughly a third of the population. Obviously, there are a lot of people who have had the illness included in that number, but even if you conservatively say that's a third, you still have about 20% of the population unprotected. The young may not get it as badly, but they are almost certainly living with older people and passing it round. So you've got all of those people spreading the virus, and we're seeing hospitals with half of those being vaccinated. To me, this ought to sound alarm bells. According to this article, link, you need anywhere between 50-90% immunity to achieve herd immunity. That seems to assume that you can't catch it twice, or catch it badly enough to pass it on. We're possibly at the 80% level now, but it's hard to be sure. If these new variants (that the vaccines weren't designed for) aren't suppressed sufficiently by the vaccine, all bets are off. I try to be realistic rather than alarmist, but it seems to me that the general concensus is too rosy in my opinion. It's based on hope rather than solid data. I suggested that we've got another year of pain because I just don't think what's been done is enough to suppress the virus. At least they seem to be testing more now, so we have a better picture of what's going on. Whether the government will let the science lead the response is another thing. Personally, I would be very surprised if another round of vaccinations isn't necessary, hopefully a single shot next time.
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Post by Roger on Jul 20, 2021 11:24:35 GMT
It seems obvious to me from the rapidly rising number of cases again over the last month that the last Lockdown failed miserably to control it "
The lockdown was surely only done to contain the virus to the point where the NHS could cope? It also bought valuable time for the rollout of the vaccine. I agree that lots of things have been badly handled. However, if you look at places such as Brazil or India where next to nothing was done, you can see the level of carnage that would have surely happened here without the lockdowns.
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smallbrother
Elder Statesman
Errors aplenty, progress slow, but progress nonetheless!
Posts: 2,268
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Post by smallbrother on Jul 20, 2021 11:37:17 GMT
Over the weekend a desperately ill friend of ours was sent home from the local hospital because there are lots of new cases of Covid being admitted and they think he will be at less risk of death at home. I don't know how he has clung to life this far to be honest and they don't send people like him home for no good reason.
The hospital is also procuring more ventilators for infants, which I think sounds very concerning.
I'm glad to live in Wales where we are taking things a bit slower as far as easing restrictions goes.
Pete.
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oldnorton
Statesman
5" gauge LMS enthusiast
Posts: 688
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Post by oldnorton on Jul 20, 2021 13:41:30 GMT
Lockdowns have saved lives, an essential feature, but they will never provide a 'solution' to the virus. Covid is with us forever (probably), just like flu, and every nation will have to learn to manage it. Lockdowns only delay the inevitable once you have got as many as possible immunised.
We are entering a big experiment to see if all the non-vaccinated, and a proportion of the vaccinated, can gain further immunity from infection and the (current strain of) virus has a smaller population to infect (R much less than 1). Meanwhile a few tens of thousands will succumb and die. All of us over 60s need to keep away from hot spots and anyone under 30 for several months until it (hopefully) starts to burn out.
I wonder if NZ and Australia will have to come out of lockdown at some point and go through something similar to what we are about to.
To get back to the Meridiene decision and cancelling MMEX, we all know it was a barely profitable venture and with the prospect of fewer traders, fewer clubs willing, and smaller numbers attending, it all becomes financially non-viable. Yes, Covid has caused the cancellation but it was not an infection risk decision I would suggest.
Norm
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