nick hall

China? Nothing to see here, carry on.

I would contest that any increase in transmission has very little to do with overseas travel. At the same time as travel was allowed much of the UK was allowed out of lockdown. The numbers of people that travelled abroad are minimal compared to the numbers who, in no particular order, returned to work, returned to school, started going to the pub/restaurants, started visiting friends, going to parties, using buses/trains, going shopping, betting shops, going to hospital. I’m not suggesting air travel hasn’t increase infections but the numbers are really very small.

Marketing departments always feature highly in my Top 10 Waste of Space charts.

That was Stena Baltica, ex Koningen Beatrix of Zealand Steamship Company operating for Sealink.

Albeit probably true, if he’s referring to planet Earth. Now I’ve got the closing credits to Dr Strangelove flashing through my mind. 🤔

On the Stena version there's a sizable area behind the Stena plus lounge on the port side which they call the living room. I haven't seen what BF are using this space for which leads me to believe it will just be a seating area with little imagination put in. The space looks big enough for a bar or cafe type outlet which would be a useful addition to a fairly basic fit out.

Like dispense with the lifeboats. 🙂

Good question. As they’ve made no effort to provide double deck link spans in Spain I think they’ll use her as a stern loader only, like Cap.

Having flown with Air France, and been stranded due Air France staff striking, I’m not sure French Government support is particularly good. Businesses that rely on state support to exist generally aren’t that good, although I fully accept that short term support due to extreme circumstances, like BF are in, is a good thing.

With previous comments in mind I would add that what I’ve written above, although accurate, is a view from someone who has done everything possible to travel this summer on a booking made last September. We’ve assessed the risks and believe them to be minimal.

One article in the Telegraph, it’s paywalled so I won’t link, states that most of Europe has seen increasing infection since the middle of June yet death rates haven’t increased. The article states three possible reasons for this, a) the virus is mutating to a less virulent form, b) the infection rate hasn’t increased but more testing has increased known infections, c) we are now able to treat severe cases better. Who knows but I’d suggest maybe a combination of all three, plus other unknown factors. But if the article is correct this alone should be cause for optimism.

Currently in Cyprus and I don’t believe I’m increasing the risk of infection here or back in the UK. Before travelling we had to have a test within 72 hours of travelling and the results had to state the type of test and the time & date, something the NHS are unwilling to do, so we went private at a cost of £600 for four. We flew from Manchester where everyone had masks and also on the flight everyone hade masks on. Compared to our local supermarket where mask use is at best 75%. Here in Cyprus businesses are taking it very seriously, so seriously that my sister in law was threatene

Drinking the Brooklyn because I’ve destroyed my stock of Pelforth.

And talking of risk, as I sit outside the risk of rain is pretty low so I’m more than happy to stay here. On the other hand, as I open another Brooklyn Lager, the risk of missing my flight to Cyprus tomorrow rises exponentially.

Younger people are more reckless, hasn’t that always been the way? Plus people react according to risk, and unfortunately for those of advanced years the young are calculating the risk to themselves and acting accordingly. Not an opinion, just an observation.