Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[welshbairn]

From today's Observer leader.

Quote

 Boris Johnson was asked last week how many vaccine doses are going to be made available over coming weeks but claimed exact answers would be unhelpful. Nothing could be further from the truth. The nation needs to know - specifically – how many doses are going to be administered week by week. Will it be a million? If so, we will have to wait a long time before lockdown ends. Or is it going to be 2m doses a week? In this case, an enjoyable summer would look a more realistic prospect. (Nor is vaccinating two million people a week that difficult. We inoculate against flu every winter on a similar scale.) A lot depends on these figures and Britain now needs to be told if we have the supply chain to match the efforts of our scientists and doctors. In blunt terms, our hopes of ending our misery rest on being given an accurate account of those numbers.

 

[Gaz]

25 minutes ago, DiegoDiego said:

I'm just thankful there hasn't been a second spike of people making terrible corona beer jokes.

I got Lyme disease last year. The jokes were shit.

[DiegoDiego]

Researchers have estimated that covid deaths in Khartoum have been in the region of 17,000 rather than the official 477. This is allegedly down to the lack of an adequate death registration system. The takeaway being that, rather than escaping it, Africa is probably just as riddled with covid as the rest of the world.

[Suspect Device]

Just now, Gaz said:

I got Lyme disease last year. The jokes were shit.

Still feeling sour about them?

 

(That kind of shit)

[Bairnardo]

3 minutes ago, Gaz said:

I got Lyme disease last year. The jokes were shit.

Was there any about wanting a Lyme in your Corona? #crossover

[D.A.F.C]

Ramping up testing alongside vaccinations should be the way to go.
Even at 2 million a week with two doses its going to take months.
Test all school kids and workers and shut places that have high numbers giving them furlough.
We are going to end up with full lockdown otherwise.

[Guest Jedi]

'If' school pupils and teachers were tested (no plans to do so in Scotland)....what happens next if numbers come back 'high', whether asymptomatic or not....just keep testing?

Also, where do the additional furlough funds come from?

Edited January 3, 2021 by Jedi

[Bairnardo]

2 minutes ago, Jedi said:

'If' school pupils and teachers were tested (no plans to do so in Scotland)....what happens next if numbers come back 'high', whether asymptomatic or not....just keep testing?

Also, where do the additional furlough funds come from?

Furlough is available up until April

[D.A.F.C]

'If' school pupils and teachers were tested (no plans to do so in Scotland)....what happens next if numbers come back 'high', whether asymptomatic or not....just keep testing?
Also, where do the additional furlough funds come from?

Yes just keep testing. Then if all schools really are infested then shut them.
Give effected parents and teachers furlough and perhaps this would be enough to keep other workplaces open at slightly reduced numbers.
If numbers get out of control then schools will shut anyway along with some workplaces.
Where has any of the money for furlough came from? If numbers go above what hospitals can cope with then money should come before leaving people to die without treatment.

[Michael W]

8 minutes ago, D.A.F.C said:

Ramping up testing alongside vaccinations should be the way to go.
Even at 2 million a week with two doses its going to take months.
Test all school kids and workers and shut places that have high numbers giving them furlough.
We are going to end up with full lockdown otherwise.

Before Christmas we were averaging around 500k tests per day. 

Testing school kids I believe is planned planned in England for secondary schools when they go back (due 11th Jan for exam years and 18th Jan for all others) but I'm not confident the tests are particularly accurate. 

[Sergeant Wilson]

Just now, D.A.F.C said:

Yes just keep testing. Then if all schools really are infested then shut them.
Give effected parents and teachers furlough and perhaps this would be enough to keep other workplaces open at slightly reduced numbers.
If numbers get out of control then schools will shut anyway along with some workplaces.
Where has any of the money for furlough came from? If numbers go above what hospitals can cope with then money should come before leaving people to die without treatment.

It's an awful lot of effort and resources. Just shut them until vaccination has been ramped up.

[Guest Jedi]

'If' numbers get out of control?....heading for 60,000 positive cases a day in the UK at the moment...

Furlough has obviously come from record govt borrowing, and banks, pension and insurance companies etc buying up massive reserves of govt bonds....it can't keep going indefinitely though...it is already going to take several years to start paying down the national debt...By April the furlough scheme will have been going for a year....obviously it was (and is) the right decision, in order to keep people in employment....but there has to come a point beyond April, when, enough vaccinations have been carried out to allow people to start returning to offices etc.

Likewise....with another 'March style' lockdown (schools excepted) looking likely to be announced tomorrow in Scotland....how long can it last without seriously ramping up vaccinations as others have said.

If numbers remain high in a 'full' lockdown (but with schools open)...what will be the line on the cause of this?.....presumably just not enough people following the guidelines.

[yoda]

Oh no! Not the national debt! 

[Rugster]

6 minutes ago, Jedi said:

'If' numbers get out of control?....heading for 60,000 positive cases a day in the UK at the moment...

Furlough has obviously come from record govt borrowing, and banks, pension and insurance companies etc buying up massive reserves of govt bonds....it can't keep going indefinitely though...it is already going to take several years to start paying down the national debt...By April the furlough scheme will have been going for a year....obviously it was (and is) the right decision, in order to keep people in employment....but there has to come a point beyond April, when, enough vaccinations have been carried out to allow people to start returning to offices etc.

Likewise....with another 'March style' lockdown (schools excepted) looking likely to be announced tomorrow in Scotland....how long can it last without seriously ramping up vaccinations as others have said.

If numbers remain high in a 'full' lockdown (but with schools open)...what will be the line on the cause of this?.....presumably just not enough people following the guidelines.

Where are you getting this schools are staying open from? Everything is pointing to her announcing an extension of the current school closure. 

[Billy Jean King]

Fraid not...1 week (Jan 11th-18th)

It's two weeks WC 4th and 11th. Schools here were set to return on Tuesday.

[Guest Jedi]

3 minutes ago, Rugster said:

Where are you getting this schools are staying open from? Everything is pointing to her announcing an extension of the current school closure. 

We shall see... NS has constantly said that she is following the 'science' on keeping schools open, and that they are perfectly safe, and its about the mental health of young people etc etc...same lines as Johnson tbh. Would take one massive u-turn to change that now. Return dates for schools vary between local authorities...some were due to return this Thursday 7th, as they were still open on the 23rd.

National debt...not a good thing indeed, but...costs of Covid, and Brexit are not going to be pretty in the next few years. Tories are tied to keeping taxes low, so they will end up pedaling further austerity budgets to try and bridge the gap.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Jedi

[Robin.Hood]

1 hour ago, DiegoDiego said:

I'm just thankful there hasn't been a second spike of people making terrible corona beer jokes.

I get this on a daily bonus.

Oh look their is the corona ( they point to the shelf )

Oh look nobody wants to buy corona 

[Todd_is_God]

3 minutes ago, Jedi said:

If numbers remain high in a 'full' lockdown (but with schools open)...what will be the line on the cause of this?.....presumably just not enough people following the guidelines.

That they don't work?

The first lockdown, and the one in October, came in when the r0 was already dropping, schools were closed, and the average cases by specimen date had plateaued / were falling.

For the first time two of those three don't apply, and they are flapping.

[renton]

1 minute ago, Jedi said:

We shall see... Return dates for schools vary between local authorities...some were due to return this Thursday 7th, as they were still open on the 23rd.

National debt...not a good thing indeed, but...costs of Covid, and Brexit are not going to be pretty in the next few years. Tories are tied to keeping taxes low, so they will end up pedaling further austerity budgets to try and bridge the gap.

Regardless, there will be no students in School until the 18th at the earliest. That was announced prior to Christmas. The current mood music doesn't make a return on that date look particularly likely at this point.

What else is there? Back to 5 mile travel restrictions? 30 mins of outdoors exercise? No meeting up outside?

[Guest Jedi]

I feel a charity bet on my prediction of NS announcing a full school return on the 18th, while keeping the whole country in Tier 4 tomorrow....£10 to the charity of your choice if wrong?