Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[WhiteRoseKillie]

29 minutes ago, Paco said:

Would you swap it for normal life here? I would.

My concern in the UK would be a two-tier approach where it’s banned for the peasants but the ultra-wealthy and those deemed ‘essential’ by the government fly around as they wish, importing the virus anyway.

You mean exactly like it is at the moment?

[WhiteRoseKillie]

18 minutes ago, MP_MFC said:

36 minutes ago, Erih Shtrep said:

1260 deaths in English care homes last week.  

Only going one way now that they're discharging covid patients into them.

Yep. Again.

When the dust settles, and the "well, Boris and his circus are doing the best they can" brigade have shut the fúck up, serious time needs to be served for this disgrace. And I only say that because I am strongly opposed to Capital Punishment - ironically, it is the current gang of cúnts in the Tory party who are testing my conviction as never before.

[ICTChris]

2 minutes ago, WhiteRoseKillie said:

You mean exactly like it is at the moment?

You don't need to be ultra-wealthy to travel abroad.

[super_carson]

I suspect that February will be exactly the same as January has been, save for the schools perhaps going back in mid-Feb (perhaps primary only?).  After that, I think March onwards will see a return to the tier system that we slowly work our way down over the summer.  That allows an element of controlled reopening, keeping an eye on the impact of this lockdown and vaccinations.  It probably won't be as fast as some of us would like, and I don't doubt SAGE and the like will be screaming to carry on with restrictions, but I think this is what they mean when they talk about a gradual rolling back of restrictions.   The pessimist in me says we probably won't see crowds at the Euros and the SG may well insist on the start of next season being BCD - although as I say that may just be a reflection of my gloomy outlook at the moment.  

Of course, the big question will be whether or not furlough carries on beyond April - it's already been extended a few times but I'm not convinced Sunak will want to see it extended again. I got the impression from various reports that he didn't like the attitude it created among some of the population.   It might be scaled back, or aimed at specific sectors, but if it does end when it is scheduled to then I think both governments will be forced into lifting a lot of the restrictions. 

[mizfit]

My suspicion is end of Feb will see a return to the tiered system with a clear end date for the tiered system being removed when we achieve herd immunity (70%).

However I do wonder if Sunak will extend furlough.

[ICTChris]

There's a story in the Time saying that Australia plan to keep border closures in place until 2022.

[Todd_is_God]

2 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

There's a story in the Time saying that Australia plan to keep border closures in place until 2022.

They, like NZ, really have little choice on that tbh.

They are going to be months behind the likes ok the UK & EU in terms of vaccinations, and will have a much more susceptible population anyway.

[effeffsee_the2nd]

27 minutes ago, WhiteRoseKillie said:

Yep. Again.

When the dust settles, and the "well, Boris and his circus are doing the best they can" brigade have shut the fúck up, serious time needs to be served for this disgrace. And I only say that because I am strongly opposed to Capital Punishment - ironically, it is the current gang of cúnts in the Tory party who are testing my conviction as never before.

maybe one for unpopular opinons? lockdowns, shutdowns , closures and travel bans all have very  serious adverse effects in their own right, when considering one or all of those measures at any time during a situation like this you have ask the question,  is this response proportionate to what we know this virus is capable of? 

For the most part I can sort of forgive them for not getting a lot of it right.

But the care homes just sticks out like a sore thumb, discharging patients into a carehome the it was already known as far back as late January that;

the elderly were the most at risk,

there was a long incubation period that would not show up in a test

That asymptomatic persons could spread the disease

Those suffering degenerative cognitive diseases would not understand the need for physical distancing or increased hygiene nor would they necessary be capable of practicing it in any case

how could there not be any checks and balances or risk assessments against the order to " clear hospitals of bed blocking elderly patients"  That is a serious flaw in the operations of the public health protocols

Edited January 19, 2021 by effeffsee_the2nd

[Distant Doonhamer]

The average age of the occupant of an ICU bed in the current wave is 60, I think.

Out of interest, what was it before?

The average age for admissions to critical care units in Scotland in 2019 was 59.7 years (median 64 years).

https://www.sicsag.scot.nhs.uk/publications/_docs/2019-Web-Tables.xls?1

[Todd_is_God]

Just now, Distant Doonhamer said:

The average age for admissions to critical care units in Scotland in 2019 was 59.7 years (median 64 years).

https://www.sicsag.scot.nhs.uk/publications/_docs/2019-Web-Tables.xls?1

 

That doesn't sound like much of a story then, other than to promote the "everyone is at risk" line.

[effeffsee_the2nd]

8 minutes ago, Snafu said:

China is building a massive Covid-19 quarantine centre on the outskirts of Shijiazhuang city, AFP is reporting, to curb the city’s growing Covid-19 outbreaks.

The facility, which will be ready in a matter of days, will be large enough to move entire villages into if there are any localised resurgences of the virus.

China has largely brought the virus under control but still experiences spates of small, localised outbreaks. The scenes outside Shijiazhuang, northern China, are reminiscent of Beijing’s efforts early last year to build makeshift field hospitals in Wuhan – the central city where Covid-19 cases first emerged – within days of the virus’s appearance.

Test , trace, truncheon to face an whole family off to the concentration camp. that ought to do the trick

[Elixir]

1 hour ago, Paco said:

Would you swap it for normal life here? I would.

My concern in the UK would be a two-tier approach where it’s banned for the peasants but the ultra-wealthy and those deemed ‘essential’ by the government fly around as they wish, importing the virus anyway.

 

38 minutes ago, Scosha said:

I'd be all for a travel ban if it meant normality for us. 

 

But then where does that leave people like my partner who are isolated across borders from family and friends? When does it end? I know a similar argument can be made about people within borders right now, but it's not the same in reality. There are hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals in Scotland, and millions in the wider UK.

Europe will get this under control around the same time as we will. I don't believe there should be travel restrictions between here and the continent.

[Dons_1988]

8 minutes ago, Snafu said:

New variant discovered in Germany

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/19/germany-new-covid-variant-discovered-extended-lockdown-looms

The new variant was detected in 35 people at a hospital in the southern German town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Monday after 73 patients and staff members at the Bavarian facility tested positive for COVID-19.

Hospital authorities confirmed the mutation was different from the two highly infectious mutations causing concern.

Deputy medical director Clemens Stockklausner told reporters it was not yet clear whether the new strain in Germany was any more deadly or infectious.

“We cannot say at all at the moment whether this [mutation] has any clinical relevance,” he said. “We have to wait for the complete sequencing.”

Samples of the variant have been sent to Charite Hospital in the capital, Berlin, for further examination, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.

I know it's just part of the news cycle but it doesn't feel particularly healthy for it to be newsworthy every time a new variant is identified. Viruses mutate.

 

[101]

1 minute ago, Elixir said:

 

 

But then where does that leave people like my partner who are isolated across borders from family and friends? When does it end? I know a similar argument can be made about people within borders right now, but it's not the same in reality. There are hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals in Scotland, and millions in the wider UK.

Europe will get this under control around the same time as we will. I don't believe there should be travel restrictions between here and the continent.

Tbf I don't believe the borders will ever close but you should have to quarantine 10 days before you go and 10 days once you come back, I don't see that as unreasonable at the moment.

[The Moonster]

25 minutes ago, super_carson said:

The pessimist in me says we probably won't see crowds at the Euros and the SG may well insist on the start of next season being BCD - although as I say that may just be a reflection of my gloomy outlook at the moment.  

Of course, the big question will be whether or not furlough carries on beyond April - it's already been extended a few times but I'm not convinced Sunak will want to see it extended again. I got the impression from various reports that he didn't like the attitude it created among some of the population.   It might be scaled back, or aimed at specific sectors, but if it does end when it is scheduled to then I think both governments will be forced into lifting a lot of the restrictions. 

On crowds, I just can't see that flying. By August you should have pretty much everyone who might be at risk vaccinated (if all goes to plan). There would be no good reason to have games behind closed doors when distancing is simple at just about every ground.

On furlough, I can't see Sunak extending again. The "attitude it creates among the population" line is code for "we're fucking sick of giving people free money, this has to stop". 

5 minutes ago, Snafu said:

"We cannot say at all at the moment whether this [mutation] has any clinical relevance,” he said. “We have to wait for the complete sequencing.”

Yet another "PANIC! MUTATION!" article that isn't required.

[MP_MFC]

284,582 people have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination and 3, 886 have received their second dose

Today's figures, just under 20k done.

The figures are increasing as we move away from care homes which is good and expected.

Hopefully hit about 25k per day by the end of the week.

[Dons_1988]

1 minute ago, Snafu said:

This goes also for the one from Brazil or the Kent one included?

I wouldn't mind knowing what's going on.

I'm not an expert in any shape or form but my understanding is that the virus will have already been through several mutations and there will be more to come. 

Clearly clinicians need to be on top of how the virus is evolving but it wouldn't be healthy for anyone if every mutation became part of the daily news cycle.

[Todd_is_God]

An extension to mid-Feb seems, even now, to be relatively optimistic.

For me it would be better to just say end of February just now as we know it will in all likelihood be at least then anyway.

[super_carson]

3 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

On furlough, I can't see Sunak extending again. The "attitude it creates among the population" line is code for "we're fucking sick of giving people free money, this has to stop". 

Absolutely - I'm surprised it was extended into April so far in advance to be honest.  

I sincerely hope you are right about crowds, of course.  Like I say, I'm a bit scunnered with all the constant goalpost shifting chat.  

[The Moonster]

Just now, Snafu said:

This goes also for the one from Brazil or the Kent one included?

I wouldn't mind knowing what's going on.

Well you've been misled. The virus that started in China wasn't the same variant that hit Italy. The variant that hit Italy wasn't the same one that hit Brazil. And so on. It's been mutating since it left China early last year, but it's only since December that news agencies have taken any notice. Of course if we have evidence that a new variant is more transmissible and more deadly then it's news worthy, but we don't really have evidence supporting that.

The flu virus mutates every year, people still get a vaccine for it and it still works. The stuff being pumped out daily now every time a slight mutation happens is there to scare rather than inform, as evidenced by the scientists saying "we don't know anything yet".