Coronavirus Thread

[Super_horns]

Well you can enjoy your Christmas Day !

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59747966

[Daggers]

7 hours ago, Izzy said:

See @Daggersand @tom27111on the Christmas dinner thread as a classic example 

Oh no - I absolutely don't drink too much, I only ever drink enough.

[Facecloth]

29 minutes ago, Super_horns said:

Well you can enjoy your Christmas Day !

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59747966

Apparently minister discussed 3 options at the cabinet meeting earlier.

 

Wensleydale, Stilton or Cheddar.

[CosbehFox]

 

Also see they reckon 1 in 3 Covid cases in Paris is omicron. Just another example where a travel ban is a waste of time, money and effort. Go hard or not bother

[CosbehFox]

Another bit good news albeit Delta only regards the booster 

 

 

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, Legend_in_blue said:

What will become a major issue is the cost that this testing is having.

 

The UK in the past week has tested more people than anywhere else in the world, including India and the US.  Ridiculous.

Denmark have abandoned testing - accepted that the ability to test and trace/track is impossible (their testing capacity can not get higher).  They are now prioritising hospitalisations; that’s the key factor there which decides it all - the data so far which is very minimal like the UK looks okay. 

Edited 21 December 2021 by Cardiff_Fox

[filbertway]

I genuinely can't see a lockdown happening in England, unless data shows that it's imperative for the NHS to not be overwhelmed. Turning a country upside down based on some worst case scenario projections is mental. Sure, if you start seing cases rise rapidly over a week then go hard and short with a lockdown. People are used to it now anyway so it's not gonna throw people off. 

 

Deciding to have an arbritary period of 3 weeks of restrictions on a "maybe" seems mental to me though.

 

I do enjoy people repeatedly showing off how good they are working out 1% of a big number. Cus 1% is apparently the magic number.

[Facecloth]

2 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Denmark have abandoned testing - accepted that the ability to test and trace/track is impossible (their testing capacity can not get higher).  They are now prioritising hospitalisations; that’s the key factor there which decides it all

Only way forward isn't it. We can keep chasing the virus, but we're forever trying to block its path when we're 2 steps behind all the time. Concentrate on getting hospital capacity up and treating those effected by it. Jab the old and vulnerable each year as priority and move on.

[Legend_in_blue]

 

If Boris is looking at the data hour by hour then this is quite conclusive.

 

As is this:

 

 

Sage will be disappointed however as it would appear that cases have peaked without restrictions being imposed.  

[grobyfox1990]

So another £1bn lifeline thrown at businesses today lol. Our great great grandchildren will be paying this off given rates worldwide are rising. Hopefully inflation can cure a lot of the debt. Good news for the accountants though, the revenue will keep flowing as businesses use them to apply for the grants 

[CosbehFox]

31 minutes ago, Facecloth said:

Only way forward isn't it. We can keep chasing the virus, but we're forever trying to block its path when we're 2 steps behind all the time. Concentrate on getting hospital capacity up and treating those effected by it. Jab the old and vulnerable each year as priority and move on.

The ideal goal in the medium term is exactly as your bottom line says. 
 

On my drive back today (2 hours) and seeing this about testing whilst on a comfort break did me think a little. It’s a question for behavioural scientists really but does the availability of free testing actually makes us more slack with COVID? 
 

I think most of us have had a sniffle and do a LFT. Come back clear and carried on. And we repeat. But as my own experience and in recent examples here, we re test until we become positive. Yet we’ve probably been infectious for at least two days before. 
 

Now if we took away the option of a test (I know germany charge - more of a tactic to get vaccinations up), at the moment would we just accept that we’ve got covid and just quarantine appropriately? 

[CosbehFox]

8 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

So another £1bn lifeline thrown at businesses today lol. Our great great grandchildren will be paying this off given rates worldwide are rising. Hopefully inflation can cure a lot of the debt. Good news for the accountants though, the revenue will keep flowing as businesses use them to apply for the grants 

At £6k a business, it’s a bloody insult to most above board businesses 

[Parafox]

1 hour ago, adam said:

But if these infections prove to not increase the amount of people in ICU is it a major issue? 

It becomes an issue when general or surgical (non ICU/Specialist) beds are occupied by Covid patients needing the level of care they can't get at home. That's when the knock-on effect is serious delays in A&E and in planned non-emergency treatments or operations, for example certain cancers, orthopaedic surgery, Gynae surgery, ENT surgery, all the "little" surgeries that will make a persons life better. That's the concern when they talk about the NHS "being overwhelmed". Those people needing surgery won't suddenly get better. If anything, they will get worse without treatment. The NHS can't play catch-up whilst beds are unavailable due to Covid patients. And as long as there continues to be fluctuating level of admissions, the NHS has no slack in the system and will struggle severely if there's a proportionate increase in admissions.

[fox_favourite]

8 minutes ago, Parafox said:

It becomes an issue when general or surgical (non ICU/Specialist) beds are occupied by Covid patients needing the level of care they can't get at home. That's when the knock-on effect is serious delays in A&E and in planned non-emergency treatments or operations, for example certain cancers, orthopaedic surgery, Gynae surgery, ENT surgery, all the "little" surgeries that will make a persons life better. That's the concern when they talk about the NHS "being overwhelmed". Those people needing surgery won't suddenly get better. If anything, they will get worse without treatment. The NHS can't play catch-up whilst beds are unavailable due to Covid patients. And as long as there continues to be fluctuating level of admissions, the NHS has no slack in the system and will struggle severely if there's a proportionate increase in admissions.

Also with the rise of infections would lead to staff shortages in hospitals. I would imagine this would be a consideration?

[fox_favourite]

11 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

The ideal goal in the medium term is exactly as your bottom line says. 
 

On my drive back today (2 hours) and seeing this about testing whilst on a comfort break did me think a little. It’s a question for behavioural scientists really but does the availability of free testing actually makes us more slack with COVID? 
 

I think most of us have had a sniffle and do a LFT. Come back clear and carried on. And we repeat. But as my own experience and in recent examples here, we re test until we become positive. Yet we’ve probably been infectious for at least two days before. 
 

Now if we took away the option of a test (I know germany charge - more of a tactic to get vaccinations up), at the moment would we just accept that we’ve got covid and just quarantine appropriately? 

This is a good question you raise. It would be interesting to find out. 

[Corky]

Had my booster dose, was queueing up for over 30 minutes. It was very busy.

 

Rare time I've been fine with being late/ held up. People are doing what was asked of them.

[The Horse's Mouth]

3 hours ago, Finnaldo said:

Data today looks positive again in my opinion. 

It's really starting to look like Omicron could really be the first step out of this *touch wood*

[GingerrrFox]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10329221/amp/Swedish-startup-unveils-rice-sized-microchip-implant-stores-COVID-vaccine-passport.html

 

Where’s the tinfoil hat? 

[st albans fox]

1 hour ago, Legend_in_blue said:

 

If Boris is looking at the data hour by hour then this is quite conclusive.

 

As is this:

 

 

Sage will be disappointed however as it would appear that cases have peaked without restrictions being imposed.  

That drop on 19th isn’t feasible though …..

Is that because data isn’t available ? 
 

the drop offs on previous days could be explained by people unwilling to test or report positives but we are expecting the numbers to be going up so it’s certainly a very positive indicator .

[Leicester_Loyal]

6 hours ago, Line-X said:

At least you did the responsible thing and tested. Sorry to hear that. I hope you're not feeling too unwell and can still enjoy your Christmas. 

 

It's highly likely to be omicron, which is why it's got past the double vaccination - but do bear in mind the reason the booster campaign was rolled out before that is because we know that your immunity to delta waned over time. Oxford/AZ in particular was offering very little in the way of antibody protection which is why people were being encouraged to have the booster. 

Went for PCR today so waiting to hear the results.

 

Felt freezing last night even with my heating on high, then was freezing but also sweating throughout the night. Today I feel absolutely fine, only a slightly sore throat. Annoyingly missing Liverpool away, everything over xmas and my birthday, but oh well Hopefully the PCR is negative

[Farrington fox]

2 hours ago, Legend_in_blue said:

 

If Boris is looking at the data hour by hour then this is quite conclusive.

 

As is this:

 

 

Sage will be disappointed however as it would appear that cases have peaked without restrictions being imposed.  

Ferguson &co have been wrong on so many occasions they’re completely discredited. 

[grobyfox1990]

Quite a good article:

 

https://www.ft.com/content/eb6f32c0-36fa-4933-9a51-8bebef8e414f

The emergence of Omicron makes it particularly tempting to feel miserable right now, but in the long perspective, Covid-19 could be far worse. First, after decades with no great pandemic, what emerged could have been more infectious and more lethal — plenty of diseases in the past, including Sars in 2003, killed more than 10 per cent of those infected. What we have is survivable for most. Second, the development of vaccines was a spectacular success. Doctors pioneered the new technology of mRNA and administered almost 9bn doses in just 21 months since the outbreak began. Covid-19 is horrible, yes, but it is no cataclysm. Third, it is important to note that our very prosperity is what makes the virus so disruptive. Advanced countries are willing and able to pay a high price to save a small number of lives. Fifty or 100 years ago, life would have gone on as normal while the disease ripped through a much younger population. Whether lockdowns were good or bad, we could afford to make the choice.

[CosbehFox]

All the virologists seemed to be very smug and I told you so about a new strain of Omicron found in Germany. Fingers crossed it doesn’t transpire. We’ve been here before 

[grth2004]

So after the wedding being cancelled over a year ago we decided to book it way in advance to this February, everyone thought it was hilarious at the time as Covid would obviously be gone by last summer. 
And here we are again possibly about to cancel it again the way things are going ? 
can’t work out which way this is going to go but trying to reassure my other half. 

[WigstonWanderer]

Starting to think that we are getting nearer to the end of this with Omicron. As long as:

 

- The anecdotal evidence that it is less severe holds out.

- It transpires that having had Omicron provides a decent degree of protection against both Delta and Omicron reinfection.

- No more lethal variants evolve while it rips through.

 

I dare say there’ll be some pandemonium to endure as it passes through, but hopefully that will be of short duration.

 

Edit: Still glad to be in WA watching the whole thing play out from afar for now (the last bastion of zero Covid), particularly over Christmas/New Year.

Edited 21 December 2021 by WigstonWanderer