Forum Topic

South African variant in Wandsworth and Lambeth.

the Dept of Health and Social Care advises residents of Wandsworth and Lambeth to have a PCR test as 44 positive and 30 probable cases have been identified in these boroughs

Barbara Shillabeer ● 1841d45 Comments

Adrian same position.I hope the people that hand delivered it have been tested :)Queues for the Putney Leisure Centre testing site have looked empty for the last few days.

Ed Robinson ● 1831d

Amazingly, this morning, days after the SA variant thread was last added to on here, a council letter has been hand delivered asking us to get tested. I had my test more than a week ago because it seemed urgent at the time.  Clearly it wasn't...

Adrian Pearce ● 1831d

Thanks a clip came up on after another couple of searches.

Martine Guy ● 1837d

Thanks a clip came up on after another couple of searches.

Martine Guy ● 1837d

Martine: It should have led you to a video with the following dialogue:"Peter Cook: I want you to lay down your life, Perkins. We need a futile gesture at this stage. It will raise the whole tone of the war. Get up in a crate Perkins, pop over to Bremen, take a shufti, don't come back. Goodbye Perkins. God, I wish I was going too.Jonathan Miller: Goodbye sir - or is it “au revoir"?Peter Cook: No, Perkins".No Alan Bennett I'm afraid!

Caroline Whitehead ● 1837d

Caroline, I googled the quote and it gave Alan Bennett’s name and his photo.

Martine Guy ● 1837d

Well, actually it is Peter Cook and Jonathan Miller - butI know what you mean.

Caroline Whitehead ● 1837d

Thanks Caroline, so it is marvellous Alan Bennett.  Why doesn’t David Ainsworth put who he is quoting?  I find David’s posts hard work to read.

Martine Guy ● 1837d

Martine: Try googling "I want you to lay down your life Perkins".

Caroline Whitehead ● 1837d

Beyond the Fringe — Alan Bennett is one of my comedy heroes.  He’s “Marvellous, Marvellous, Marvellous” (look it up if you don’t know it).  What has this got to do with David’s posts? 

Martine Guy ● 1837d

Beyond the Fringe.

Caroline Whitehead ● 1837d

Life’s too short, imo, can’t he just speak in plain English without quotation marks?  Is he trying to be clever?  

Martine Guy ● 1837d

One has to tune into his wavelengths of satire, sarcasm and cynicism to appreciate David's wit 😸

Michael Ixer ● 1837d

I’ve got no idea what David Ainsworth is talking about.  

Martine Guy ● 1837d

Hilarious.  Not.🙄

Sue Hammond ● 1838d

"Johnson is scheduled to visit India next month heading a trade mission.  Might just be better to postpone it ...""I want you to lay down your life, Johnson. We need a futile gesture at this stage. It will raise the whole tone of Brexit. Get up in a crate, Johnson, pop over to New Delhi, take a shufti, don’t come back."

David Ainsworth ● 1838d

Johnson is scheduled to visit India next month heading a trade mission.  Might just be better to postpone it ...

Jonathan Callaway ● 1838d

"Is India on the red travel list? No it is not."Personally, if I could summon up the energy to get organized, I'd get the long waiting-list of important jobs around the house done. Sounds like there could be an Autumn lockdown.

David Ainsworth ● 1838d

Having watched the news last night it sounds like the Indian variant is much more risky. Infections are totally out of control, seems to be able to defeat the vaccine, much more infectious and dangerous. Plus as an added bonus it hits kids hard.Is India on the red travel list? No it is not.

Matt Palmer ● 1838d

Its very easy to do these tests at home.

Lucille Grant ● 1838d

Testing now at Putney Leisure Centre and loads of other places including some chemists.Used Town Hall site yesterday.  No queue for drive-in's but walk in and you had to wait around 30 mins.  My negative result arrived overnight.

Adrian Pearce ● 1839d

Listening to the BBC yesterday it appears to have been brought in from an African country not on the red list at that time and then transmitted to a care home, possibly by a family member of the traveller. It then seems to have been transmitted to a couple of schools. It was unclear to me whether it was transmitted to the schools via the care home or from the home of the original source from Africa. All the reports I've heard have been careful not to name the African country, care home or schools.

Michael Ixer ● 1840d

@Jane OI heard on LBC that the source was traced back to a care home. So many rumours.

Sue Hammond ● 1840d

Has anyone had one of the PCR tests in the latest testing surge? Are they the ones manufactured by the Anglo-French company Novacyt or a Chinese import? (Novacyt is making the world's most accurate PCR tests) thx.

Adam Tripp ● 1840d

Does anyone know which Wandsworth primary school is the centre of the outbreak?

Jane O'Callaghan ● 1840d

Who would have thought?"Covid: South Africa variant surge probably due to person travelling from Africa"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-56729607

Ed Robinson ● 1840d

Fair comment, Matt, as long as they don't continue the celebrations with some bottles inside somewhere?

Michael Ixer ● 1841d

being optimisic it would seem like the risk of being infected when you are outside is very low so maybe the Soho situation wasnt so bad?The inbound holiday makers thing is shocking though :(

Matt Palmer ● 1841d

Sue, my guestimate about a year ago was 12-18 months but looking at the pictures of crowds in Soho last night and the loose controls on travellers from abroad maybe that was too optimistic?

Michael Ixer ● 1841d

I think if people are well disciplined - mask wearing, social distancing, self isolating if any symptoms - then risks in lifts are minimised but personally I'd stick to stairs unless it's over six or seven floor ...

Michael Ixer ● 1841d

Apparently there are 650,000 residents across both Boroughs that need to be tested for the new variant. When will this bloody nightmare end!? 🙀

Sue Hammond ● 1841d

In a word Barbara, no. I live in a block of flats and somehow we've managed to keep apart from each other. Social distancing you know. Can't speak for other blocks of flats, obv.

Lucille Grant ● 1841d

A friend had hers at Mount Clare in Roehampton.

Caroline Whitehead ● 1841d

I know you can no longer book in at Wandsworth town hall as it's full until at least 25th April [yesterday you could book for 15th onwards].

Gabrielle OMahony ● 1841d

LBC have been monitoring this outbreak for two days. Their reports today have been concentrating on Lambeth Town Hall and apparently there have been hundreds of people queuing to either collect the lateral flow home test kits or to have the PCR test done on sight. This is laudable action by the Lambeth residents, does anybody know if there is a similar response happening in our Borough?

Sue Hammond ● 1841d

I wasn't 'looking for' anything, just idle curiosity  Having lived for 60 years north of the river and being pretty immobile and not getting around, I don't drive, my geography of'foreign land' as we north of the river used to call it, is pretty scant.  I had toyed with the idea it was probably hospitals or prisons or somesuch but hadn't researched it knowing someone on the forum would be bound to know, which you did .  Thanks

Barbara Shillabeer ● 1841d

The common denominator is they are adjoining Boroughs in south London. What else are you looking for? Apparantly it centres around 24 cases in a care home probably introduced by a traveller in February.

Andy Pike ● 1841d

I did wonder what was the common denominator between Wanndswort and Lambeth.  Also no ratio given between the 2 boroughs

Barbara Shillabeer ● 1841d

Elderly would use the lifts, they would probably hold germs. I do find some of Supermarkets younger staff tend to congregate near each other. But how can we stop somebody having a laugh, no we shouldn't.

Barbara Stevens ● 1841d

I suspect new variants are going to be a big issue unless we tighten up on the quarantining of foreign arrivals - perhaps quarantine hotels should be mandatory for all? Countries that are out of control, like Brazil, will keep breeding new variants and Europe may incubate them if their vaccine programme isn't helped. No point in being smug about the UK's so far successful vaccine measures if one wants a holiday by the Mediterranean, and get ready for jab number 3 sooner rather than later to avoid another lockdown from the new variants?

Michael Ixer ● 1841d

I would have thought it possible but no more so than a walk round the local supermarket.

Andy Pike ● 1841d

Was just thinking, does anybody else think that all the blocks of flats and closer contact between residents could be contributing to the spread of the virus. Stairways and lifts continually being used.

Barbara Stevens ● 1841d

I do believe Covid in its many forms is going to be with us for years to come.  The question is whether it can be controlled well enough for some semblance of normality to return to our lives.  A number of medics and scientists believe our third wave will come in September or October.  This despite the massive success of the vaccination programme.

Jonathan Callaway ● 1841d

COVID-19: 'Biggest surge testing operation to date' under way as dozens of South African variant cases found in south Londonhttp://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-biggest-surge-testing-operation-to-date-under-way-as-dozens-of-south-african-variant-cases-found-in-south-london-12273904

Sue Hammond ● 1841d

Amazing :(

Matt Palmer ● 1841d