Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[parsforlife]

1 minute ago, Left Back said:

Not happening.

I know,  which is why I said with any sense.  We all know that a sensible approach to give us our lives back as quick as possible has been given up on.  It’s a complete joke.

[Aladdin]

5 minutes ago, parsforlife said:

Personally level 0 would be a huge step forward for me in getting back to early 2020 life.  Probably the biggest step within the levels.

Obviously I want all restrictions gone,   But moving to 0 would be great,  and with any sense we’ll have huge parts of the country in it next week. 

Like most people, I am worried about the lack of commitment by the SG that we will return to the position pre-pandemic.  Whilst I could live with some measures, such as masks on public transport (which, regardless if they stop COVID, probably protect against some of the exotic diseases some of the populace appear to be carrying, especially in winter), I don't like the precedent it sets.

I want the SG to accept that this disease is now endemic and, beyond offering a yearly booster vaccine and accepting that there will be a number of cases and deaths, there isn't a place for permanent restrictions.  Rather, the focus needs to be on increasing wages in the NHS and boosting capacity, which is going to involve a serious conversation about the level of taxation.

[anotherchance]

24 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

Yeah let’s not listen to the experts.  That makes sense.

The early exposé of the government failure to take the findings of Operation Cygnus seriously shouldn’t be forgotten.  If we’d listened to the experts then we’d probably be in a better place now.

Another feature of the pandemic is "the experts" being proven wrong - in many cases said "experts" get a narrative in their head, double down on it no matter what, and then block anyone and everyone who questions them with valid, logical arguments which are actually based on something.

All sorts of unquantifiable shit has and will continue to hit the fan - think mental health, delays in cancer screening/treatment, job losses in vulnerable sectors - as a result of governments taking an overly cautious approach. These things won't be quantified on the news every night like the COVID numbers are, and these are things that the COVID "experts" don't really give a f**k about, because by the time these things do get attention, they'll be away punting their new book or whatever.

[Granny Danger]

7 minutes ago, anotherchance said:

Another feature of the pandemic is "the experts" being proven wrong - in many cases said "experts" get a narrative in their head, double down on it no matter what, and then block anyone and everyone who questions them with valid, logical arguments which are actually based on something.

All sorts of unquantifiable shit has and will continue to hit the fan - think mental health, delays in cancer screening/treatment, job losses in vulnerable sectors - as a result of governments taking an overly cautious approach. These things won't be quantified on the news every night like the COVID numbers are, and these are things that the COVID "experts" don't really give a f**k about, because by the time these things do get attention, they'll be away punting their new book or whatever.

Yeah, listening to the P&B ‘experts’ is a far better idea.

[vikingTON]

1 hour ago, oaksoft said:

It's a restriction whether you like it or not. I'm not getting caught up in an argument over semantics.

It quite clearly isn't, given that other GP practices in the same tier level are doing the exact same procedure for consultation as before instead.

A quite obvious logical fallacy then, but feel free to keep digging that enormous hole for yourself.

Edited June 15, 2021 by vikingTON

[Todd_is_God]

Glorious scenes in Budapest

[Bairnardo]

Want to see Hingary at least get a goal here tbh. Just be reminded of proper #limbs

Glorious scenes in Budapest

[The Master]

I couldn’t help but think Nicola Sturgeon’s response to DRoss about 10 weeks (basically, “don’t put words in my mouth) was also a veiled slap-down of Jason Leitch. 

[AMMjag]

5 minutes ago, Todd_is_God said:

Glorious scenes in Budapest

More than a tad painful at the same time when you think what Hampden could have been like yesterday.

I'm all for us punting control of our government out to some Bolsonaro type nutter on an emergency one month basis, just to put a swift end to this nonsense.

[Bairnardo]

I couldn’t help but think Nicola Sturgeon’s response to DRoss about 10 weeks (basically, “don’t put words in my mouth) was also a veiled slap-down of Jason Leitch. 

Its entirely on her that he has become the mouthpiece of the "recovery". Thats meant to be Swinneys job. A veiled slapdown is a shitebag move anyway. Get him dragged into fucking line if he is stepping outwith the agreed comms

[Distant Doonhamer]

1 hour ago, craigkillie said:

Is the discrepancy between these numbers perhaps down to the case numbers being the number of "new cases". Anyone who takes a follow-up test and is still positive would be included in the test positivity but not the number of new cases.

Might well be. As you've possibly guessed I'm now at stage where I'm suspicious of anything that seems to have a discrepancy to my eye. 

[sparky88]

9 hours ago, Steven W said:

But social distancing will presumably impact upon the amount of people allowed to attend?

The news re weddings yesterday isn't quite what it's being portrayed as.

Right enough, reception has been completely cancelled because they don't have enough staff to COViD marshal it 

Edited June 15, 2021 by sparky88

[The Master]

11 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

13 minutes ago, The Master said:

I couldn’t help but think Nicola Sturgeon’s response to DRoss about 10 weeks (basically, “don’t put words in my mouth) was also a veiled slap-down of Jason Leitch. 

Its entirely on her that he has become the mouthpiece of the "recovery". Thats meant to be Swinneys job. A veiled slapdown is a shitebag move anyway. Get him dragged into fucking line if he is stepping outwith the agreed comms

In think the public inquiry should have a strand that focuses on the role of experts and advisers and how they communicated directly with the public. 

Yes it’s right they should be available to answer questions, but this should have been limited to questions of fact about the current state of the pandemic, and what the trends are in data etc. 

They absolutely shouldn’t have been answering questions about or making comments on policy. 

Edited June 15, 2021 by The Master

[sparky88]

1 minute ago, The Master said:

In think the public inquiry should have a strand that focuses on the role of experts and advisers and how they communicated directly with the public. 

Yes it’s right they should be available to answers questions, but this should have been limited to questions of fact about the current state of the pandemic, and what the trends are in data etc. 

They absolutely shouldn’t have been answering questions about or making comments on policy. 

That's something that is more specific to Scotland I think, given the profile of Leach and Sridhar. You don't see Patrick Vallance on Match of the Day 

[Left Back]

12 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

Want to see Hingary at least get a goal here tbh. Just be reminded of proper #limbs

Hungary should be given a 2 goal start here for no other reason than the Portugal strip is bogging.

[Left Back]

2 minutes ago, sparky88 said:

That's something that is more specific to Scotland I think, given the profile of Leach and Sridhar. You don't see Patrick Vallance on Match of the Day 

Bauld as well is on BBC Scotland on a daily basis chipping in with her hot takes on what the government should be doing.

[Benidorm]

28 minutes ago, Todd_is_God said:

Glorious scenes in Budapest

Shocking scenes of people appearing to be enjoying themselves.

Edited June 15, 2021 by Benidorm

[Lyle Lanley]

2 minutes ago, Benidorm said:

Shocking scenes of people appearing to be enjoying themselves.

Expecting a statement by JL later this evening due to these shocking scenes. 

[parsforlife]

So vaccines work,  people aren’t getting severely ill and very few are dying.

Remind me why we are pursuing longer restrictions?

[Ron Aldo]

Its been up already but worth repeating - this time from GovUK.
Has to be a good thing that the government acknowledge what most of us already are seeing.
 
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant

Vaccines highly effective against hospitalisation from Delta variant

New analysis by PHE shows for the first time that 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective against hospitalisation from the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant.
The analysis suggests:

• the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 96% effective against hospitalisation after 2 doses
• the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is 92% effective against hospitalisation after 2 doses

These are comparable with vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation from the Alpha variant.
Further work remains underway to establish the level of protection against mortality from the Delta variant. However, as with other variants, this is expected to be high.
The analysis included 14,019 cases of the Delta variant – 166 of whom were hospitalised – between 12 April and 4 June, looking at emergency hospital admissions in England.
Public Health England (PHE) has previously published analysis showing that one dose is 17% less effective at preventing symptomatic illness from the Delta variant, compared to Alpha, but there is only a small difference after 2 doses.
 
Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock said:

Our UK vaccination programme continues at pace and has already saved thousands of lives. It is our way out of this pandemic.

This evidence of the effectiveness of 2 doses against variants shows just how crucial it is to get your second jab.

If you have had your first dose but haven’t booked your second yet – please do so. It will help save lives and boost us on the road to recovery.

 
Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at PHE, said:

These hugely important findings confirm that the vaccines offer significant protection against hospitalisation from the Delta variant.

The vaccines are the most important tool we have against COVID-19. Thousands of lives have already been saved because of them.

It is absolutely vital to get both doses as soon as they are offered to you, to gain maximum protection against all existing and emerging variants.

Public Health England (

PHE

) has

previously published analysis

showing that one dose is 17% less effective at preventing symptomatic illness from the Delta variant, compared to Alpha, but there is only a small difference after 2 doses.

Vaccines Minister, Na***** Zahawi said:

It is extremely encouraging to see today’s research showing that vaccines are continuing to help break the link between hospitalisation and the Delta variant after one dose, and particularly the high effectiveness of 2 doses.

If you’re getting the call to bring forward your second dose appointment – do not delay – get the second jab so you can benefit from the fullest possible protection.

Separate 

PHE

 analysis indicates that the COVID-19 vaccination programme has so far prevented 14,000 deaths and around 42,000 hospitalisations in older people in England, up to 30 May.

Over to you Jason and your 30%.

I am shocked at the revelation that the vaccines have been proven to work against yet another shan variant.

I await the imminent announcement of the Echo variant (which will probably origininate from a football stadium in Hungary) so that they can keep their shitey restrictions in place a few weeks longer.