Second home owners on Anglesey ‘brought virus with them’ – Times
Analysis of an app which tracks symptoms of coronavirus has suggested that areas with a high number of second homes, including Anglesey, have become hotspots for the virus.
The Times newspaper found that areas with a high percentage of holiday homes, including the Lake District, Anglesey and the Cotswolds, had above-average rates of the coronavirus infection.
“Britons who fled to their second homes at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic appear to have taken the virus with them,” the Times said.
The virus prevalence data had been collected by the Covid Symptom Tracker app, which allows contributors to track their health.
Between 5% and 6% of people on Anglesey are now infected, according to the app. There are 2,112 second homes in Anglesey, about 7% of residences.
Professor Tim Spector, the lead researcher for the app, told the Times newspaper: “It looks like the coasts are more infected than the inner parts of the UK down in Cornwall and Devon — that may be the Londoners’ second home part.”
The app was developed by a team at King’s College London in association with the start-up Zoe Global, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre.
‘Not legitimate’
Meanwhile, Scotland’s chief medical officer has apologised after she ignored her own advice and visited her second home.
Dr Catherine Calderwood said her reasons for visiting the house in Fife were “not legitimate” and she is “truly sorry for not following advice she gave to others”.
Despite facing calls from politicians to stand down, Scotland’s top doctor said she has spoken to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and will “continue to focus entirely” on her job of advising ministers over the outbreak.
Photos of Dr Calderwood and her family near a coastal retreat in Earlsferry were published in The Scottish Sun late on Saturday.
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Just mind numbing. You maybe cannot blame individuals, it is the whole rotten mechanism.
I can well and truly blame anyone who comes here. Stay home,
Go home,stay home and preferably never come back.
Parasites.
Warthus!! 😬😬😰
Just as the Italians of Milan took it to Southern Italy; The British upper/middle class are way too clever to learn from foreigners.
We have been told this evening how stoic we are yet to read this article on second homes it proves how selfish and idiotic these wealthy people are these regions do no have the emergency services of major city’s and to show there is now a higher percentage of the local population are infected because of the outlanders running away they should be charged for the extra costs this is going to cause the NHS .
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. All holiday homes regardless of whether they are in Wales or not should be banned. The argument that they ‘bring in money’ is a complete non starter when the local economy is largely inactive for eight months of the year and nobody is able to afford a house. It creates a two tier society not only in Wales but also in areas of Cornwall, England and Scotland. The sense of entitlement aside from irritating me immensely is resulting has now resulted in the disease being spread far and wide. The sooner… Read more »
We need Jersey style protection at the very least (so do Yorkshire, Isle of Wight etc, but here we talk of Cymru).
The new forest currently talked about should be a Border one, and the idea sold to the Saes as a “Lung”.
Roads currently used for sneaking in could then be plugged. Don’t think this is the last crisis we will have to
deal with. The “second homes” must go, and if Welsh Labour hasn’t the courage, they must step aside.
So they should be asked to go home immediately.
They should have there homes seized.there are plenty of local people that could have there homes
When the TV news channels featured the new Covid-19 symptom tracker app they happened to show the northern half of Wales. It was immediately obvious that Flintshire – relatively urban and relatively close to even hotter spots across the border in Merseyside – appeared something of a hotspot, that Denbighshire and Conwy had few reports of symptoms, Gwynedd slightly more, and that Ynys Môn looked as if it had an even more reports of symptoms than Flintshire. If, as this newspaper report suggests, similar patterns are also now emerging in comparable very popular leisure tourism areas across England, at the… Read more »
Useful post. Also, the people who do this seem to be a “type”, Not afraid of law or God.
We live in an individualistic era. To judge from their general approach to life and the things which they used to say, my parents – born in 1906 and 1911 respectively – grew up in the ‘age of the herd’ – you noted what others did, what was generally accepted and acceptable, and you went with the flow. Your social betters might sometimes flout the norms, but you weren’t one of them, and you didn’t have their privilege. Thus the widespread public acquiescence, both in war and peace, to some periodic pretty peremptory government edicts. I was born in 1945… Read more »
I was fumbling around for the description, diolch!
😉
The solutions are obvious;
1 Ban fuel sales to motor homes and caravan outfits.
2 Cut off electricity and gas supplies to 2nd homes, caravan parks and chalet parks.
3 Police the Bridges at the weekend.
4 Name and shame.
5 Make your views known, politely, if possible.
Police should fine every person that is breaking the isolation law, going to there holiday homes and going on beaches sunbathing. It’s coming up to Easter and you will still get inconsiderate people going on holiday. Need to get tougher and stop them coming
I am really finding it hard to reconcile figures here. The BCUHB figures for the total of north Wales today is 189 cases. This is considerably less than 6% of the population of Anglesey. Or are there no cases in Wrexham? Can we stop this vaguely racist scaremongering. Remember the economy of north Wales has had a considerable dependence on tourism and temporary residents for 400 years.
Bit of a laugh that, Martin. Today we got the letter telling us we were “Extremely vulnerable” and should stay home for 12 weeks. That nice Mr Atherton sent it. Today we also got a response (at bloody last) from Tesco telling us we could not get a delivery slot because we are not at all vulnerable. “You are not on our list because our list only has English customers on it.” This is either irony or utter imbecility since we have been getting deliveries from the lovely boys and girls up in Ebbw Vale (Wales!) for years but, thanks… Read more »
Good to see you having a crack at the stats, MO. Yes we’re dependent on tourism ie being cheap. It may have lasted 400 years (or 100 years? Or since 1282?) But depending on tourism is very bad for Wales. Isle of Man dealt with root of the problem by getting a decent economy (becoming an off-shore system, like lots of islands). What could Wales do? Estonia invented Skype etc and made billions. Not the same money pulling pints for Mancs and Brummies for 6 months a year if that, or trimming posh gardens in in Newport Pemb, is there?
Read the article again. The analysis is based on data from the symptom tracking app, and not BCUHB. BCUHB figures only include those who have tested positive (i.e. a very small sample size due to the very limited testing regime) whereas the app suggests diagnosis based on reported symptoms (in accordance with NHS and WHO advice) and has a significantly higher sample size. The source article from the Times provides more details.
You forgot coal, lead (some Silver), steel, leather, wood, cloth, farming………………….
Martin, try to look at this from a Welsh perspective. There is nothing’racist’ about condemning a group of people. mainly from over the border, who have ignored requests and sound advice to refrain from coming to rural parts of Wales and bringing a potentially fatal virus with them! They have treated the locals with contempt.
Taw y c**t gwirion, aros adra y fecking llo
Un da rwan 😀
This isn’t racist scaremongering, This is about preserving life When the government says to stay home how plain you want this
Well, if anyone expects to be welcomed here in the future, they need to respect us and not take liberties now.
This needs a little more thought. Anglesey is home to a major port- Holyhead. Disease needs to be introduced in to a community and it might well be passengers and truckers coming throughHolyhead that are playing a role in spreading infection?
A ferry terminal and a ship are obvious places for a respiratory disease to pass from person to person
Yes, it’s perfectly possible that the port initially added to the scale of the virus subsequently brought by caravanners and 2nd-home owners.
Thirty eight percent of so-called experts, give made -up percentages ? Is anyone bothered to prove or dis prove any such claims ?
The hospital here is under great strain, it is down to these thoughtless and selfish people who think they are better than anybody else
you think that coming up here to escape. You not think that you could be killing somebody and passing on this virus,
When this has settled Don’t expect people to forget what you have done
Covid zombies from England should be sent home.
Totally agree with you Phil.i have lived on anglesey for 45 years. I am English, but like most people,I am disgusted with them.cymru am both.
Estate agents are partly to blame for the number of second homes. Lots of adverts for “Weekend retreats”, “Investment property”. Of course the people selling residential homes to the holiday market didn’t turn the money away did they? It’s a pity the housing market is closed while people cannot travel here. If second home or holiday let owners need money due to lack of income, they might want to sell and just local people would be the buyers now. It would have been a great chance to prise some properties out of their hands back to residential use.
Stay home you murderers. Second home owners who persist on ignoring government guidelines are infecting the innocent welsh population. These homeowners are supposedly intelligent so why do they continue to put us at risk through their selfish behaviour. We hear them driving down very late on a Friday night to avoid detection. Pathetic and potentially lethal. Wales is shut !!!!
If when people moved or buy houses in Wales they adapted a little bit to the natural culture. The Welsh would accept people alot easier. It’s because we like to try and bring abit of where we are moving from with us because that’s how we live. Moving to a new place we should adapt to live how it is more natural to them and that’s how you integrate into a society without being pushed out or being discriminated against.
It’s not racism. It’s following legislation. Please don’t come here
I’m English and have lived in Wales half my life! I love Wales and the Welsh but I identify as English and always will. I live in Ruthin but have lived in Menai, Llandegfan and Corwen. Tourists visiting ANY holiday destination or tourist trap when people have been asked to stay at home is irresponsible – without doubt. However – the niche response on this thread from the Racist amongst the Welsh is abhorrent. I’ve lived here for over 17 years, I speak Welsh – all be it with a Yorkshire accent and even I have had people tell me… Read more »
If you have integrated as well as you say you have, then that’s extremely commendable, but you are in a minority among settlers. The supposed ‘racism’ that you refer to is a protest against the kind of demographic change and cultural entropy that was taking place in Latvia before independence. The majority of properties in Abersoch, for instance, are now owned by people from England, including many who have settled there. It is only Welsh-medium education that has helped to prevent the slow eradication of the Welsh language in a place that was majority-Welsh when I was a child. In… Read more »