Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

[2hats]

Even with high protection some people are going to catch it

Even at three weeks post second dose and beyond the data thus far point to up to one-third of people still getting infected. Just not so severe, less hospitalisations, no clearly directly attributable COVID deaths so far, as far as I know.

It’s still rare here though at the moment so unlikely to be that yet. But you can catch it twice.

It's becoming more common with E484K variants, particularly where accompanied by various deletions in the nucleocapsid.

 

[Mation]

And I suspect the reinfection picture is complicated, and I certainly dont feel like I have an accurate sense of that stuff yet. Especially not for people that may be repeatedly exposed to lots of high viral loads from different strains, such as healthcare workers in certain roles.

Meanwhile I see the BBC has taken another look at PPE and some of the disgraceful decisions that were made on this front last year.

Covid PPE: How healthcare workers came to feel 'expendable'

Almost a year in to the pandemic, concerns remain over personal protective equipment.

www.bbc.co.uk

I'm running late with starting my break but am still planning to have one.

Stop planning when to have it and just start it right now. There won't be a good lull in which you can feel that it's ok to take a break; not for months. You need a break (by your own analysis). Take it. We'll muddle on in the meantime, and be very happy when you return, refreshed

 

[cupid_stunt]

Today's reported figures...

First dose vaccinations now 11,465,210

New cases - 18,262, overall a drop of 25.1% in the last week.

New deaths - 828, which is down 372 on last Saturday's 1,200, that brings the 7-day average down to 932 a day, a drop of 20.9% in the last week.

 

[elbows]

Sounds like the Health and Social Care Act of 2012 has died with Covid.

NHS: Government plans to reverse Cameron-era reforms

The plans, revealed in a leaked document, would reverse changes made under David Cameron.

www.bbc.co.uk

Instead of a system that requires competitive tendering for contracts - sometimes involving private companies, the NHS and local authorities will be left to run services and told to collaborate with each other, says the draft White Paper, designed to set out proposed legislation.

There will also be more focus on GPs, hospitals and social care services working together to improve patient care.

The paper stresses that the Covid pandemic "demonstrated plainly that this broader approach to health and care is not only desirable, but essential".

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Not quite sure why there were two sheep at this party, and why they were described as 'surprised'.

Police break up illegal drinking den with ten people and two 'surprised' sheep

"The obvious line is that the wool wasn't pulled over our eyes," said Sgt Gary Hennighan

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

 

[elbows]

Not quite sure why there were two sheep at this party, and why they were described as 'surprised'.

Police break up illegal drinking den with ten people and two 'surprised' sheep

"The obvious line is that the wool wasn't pulled over our eyes," said Sgt Gary Hennighan

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

They didnt know they'd be baaaaarred due to the pandemic. In their case ignorance is an excuse, especially when lead astray by woolbreakers.

 

[lazythursday]

Not quite sure why there were two sheep at this party, and why they were described as 'surprised'.

Police break up illegal drinking den with ten people and two 'surprised' sheep

"The obvious line is that the wool wasn't pulled over our eyes," said Sgt Gary Hennighan

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Substitute lapdancers? Bacup is an, ummm, interesting place.

 

[Supine]

Sheep are ok. They already have herd immunity.

 

[MBV]

Would have worked better with cows

 

[farmerbarleymow]

They didnt know they'd be baaaaarred due to the pandemic. In their case ignorance is an excuse, especially when lead astray by woolbreakers.

They don't call Lancashire folk woollybacks for nowt I suppose...

 

[belboid]

They don't call Lancashire folk woollybacks for nowt I suppose...

hmm, not really 'lancastrians' just the nearby small town dwellers. A renowned term for wirralites

 

[farmerbarleymow]

hmm, not really 'lancastrians' just the nearby small town dwellers. A renowned term for wirralites

Mebbe - I'm not from that neck of the woods.

 

[existentialist]

Sheep are ok. They already have herd immunity.

That's where the government have gone wrong. They should have aimed for flock immunity.

 

[elbows]

The phrase 'died with Covid' is really doing my head in, have the BBC adopted rules where thats the phrase they have to default to or something?

Estrella Catalan: Hospital nurse dies with Covid-19

Estrella Catalan, who was described as "wonderful, caring", died on Friday evening.

www.bbc.co.uk

A "wonderful, caring" nurse has died with Covid-19 in the hospital she had worked at for nearly two decades.

Li Wenliang: 'Wuhan whistleblower' remembered one year on

Chinese social media remember Dr Li Wenliang, who raised the alarm about Covid-19 and died with it.

www.bbc.co.uk

Tributes have been paid on social media in China commemorating a doctor who raised the alarm about the country's coronavirus outbreak, one year after he died with Covid-19.

Since then, more than 105 million people have been infected with coronavirus and 2.3 million have died with Covid-19 worldwide.

 

[panpete]

Gagging orders on NHS whistleblowers to be banned

‘Making someone choose between the job they love and speaking the truth...is an injustice’

www.google.co.uk

 

[Mation]

Sheep are ok. They already have herd immunity.

Yes, but what did they think it was? National Lambpoon's Lockdown Vacation?

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Sounds like the Health and Social Care Act of 2012 has died with Covid.

NHS: Government plans to reverse Cameron-era reforms

The plans, revealed in a leaked document, would reverse changes made under David Cameron.

www.bbc.co.uk

Oh whatever replaces it will be worse. I am 100% sure of that. The chances of the Tories dumping a system that enriches private contractors from the public purse is zero. What else is the point of the Tories?

 

[Artaxerxes]

Oh whatever replaces it will be worse. I am 100% sure of that. The chances of the Tories dumping a system that enriches private contractors from the public purse is zero. What else is the point of the Tories?

Watch for supply line and sub contractor changes, especially cleaning and food.

 

[panpete]

Watch for supply line and sub contractor changes, especially cleaning and food.

I'm thin enough, no weight loss diet for me.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Oh whatever replaces it will be worse. I am 100% sure of that. The chances of the Tories dumping a system that enriches private contractors from the public purse is zero. What else is the point of the Tories?

I agree - the cunts will always try to fleece and privatise the system.

 

[elbows]

Oh whatever replaces it will be worse. I am 100% sure of that. The chances of the Tories dumping a system that enriches private contractors from the public purse is zero. What else is the point of the Tories?

I am very far from 100% sure of that. In fact I'm pretty sure some aspects will be significantly better than what was done in 2012. Plenty of time to find out, and I do expect there to be some dodgy aspects in there, but I will wait and see what they actually end up doing. I dont blame people for just expecting more shit, but I think thats partly because there hasnt been the sort of reality check that this pandemic offered for a very long time.

Part of the reason I take this stance is that there are aspects of health and social care which, if the system fails, has broader economic consequences. Even without the pandemic, this would eventually have come to a head. This sort of things and some of the politics about the publics views on the NHS mean that there are limits even for tories. And I feel this is an era where globalisation, free trade, free market shit, low tax etc may have reached its limits on some fronts, and people may end up being reminded that other forms of toryism also exist.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I am very far from 100% sure of that. In fact I'm pretty sure some aspects will be significantly better than what was done in 2012. Plenty of time to find out, and I do expect there to be some dodgy aspects in there, but I will wait and see what they actually end up doing. I dont blame people for just expecting more shit, but I think thats partly because there hasnt been the sort of reality check that this pandemic offered for a very long time.

Part of the reason I take this stance is that there are aspects of health and social care which, if the system fails, has broader economic consequences. Even without the pandemic, this would eventually have come to a head. This sort of things and some of the politics about the publics views on the NHS mean that there are limits even for tories. And I feel this is an era where globalisation, free trade, free market shit, low tax etc may have reached its limits on some fronts, and people may end up being reminded that other forms of toryism also exist.

Not to get into an argument because there's nothing more pointless at this stage, but they've shown no sign of caring about "economic consequences" as they are generally understood - their entire covid policy thrust has been disastrous in terms of the general economic health of the country, and yet they carry on. And the previous health policy had already come to a head. Even before the pandemic, primary care was broken, the NHS was increasingly breaking down. But as long as there's a hint of it still operating they continue to pretend it's fine and if attention is drawn to specific parts, it gets ignored or it means it needs "reform" - something that continues now. As long as they can carry on spinning and winning elections, I see no sign of them stopping, and I don't think they have the insight or intelligence to see that that can't last forever, or that they care (how will it affect them?). That's my reasoning really.

Anyway I guess we'll see.

 

[Buddy Bradley]

The phrase 'died with Covid' is really doing my head in, have the BBC adopted rules where thats the phrase they have to default to or something?

Do you actually die from Covid, though, or is it like AIDS and just opens the door to dying from a bunch of other stuff like pneumonia? Maybe they're trying to be technically correct at the expense of clarity, I don't know.

 

[teuchter]

I wonder if there are a few people in government who as a result of the pandemic have had to actually get stuck in to doing stuff 'for real' with the NHS, that is they've had to actually navigate the kinds of systems that have been created, in order to make stuff happen, in a much more direct way than normal. I can see how that might inform what kinds of changes are made. The popular idea on here that the Tories are just interested in making money for their mates always strikes me as simplistic and quite stupid. I think they are driven by ideologies of efficiency and market forces and so on which they in most cases genuinely believe make things run 'better'. Well, if what you want is an efficient health service that doesn't waste money, and then you are thrown in the deep end and get to see that the systems which your ideology has created actually aren't efficient and actually do waste money, then maybe you'll be inclined to come at things from a rather different angle.
I also think it's nonsense that they don't care about disastrous economic consequences. Maybe, make misguided decisions, as a result of all sorts of things, that have disastrous economic consequences, but that's a different thing.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Well, if what you want is an efficient health service that doesn't waste money, and then you are thrown in the deep end and get to see that the systems which your ideology has created actually aren't efficient and actually do waste money, then maybe you'll be inclined to come at things from a rather different angle.

lol wut

 

[Humberto]

misguided

 

[Artaxerxes]

I am very far from 100% sure of that. In fact I'm pretty sure some aspects will be significantly better than what was done in 2012. Plenty of time to find out, and I do expect there to be some dodgy aspects in there, but I will wait and see what they actually end up doing. I dont blame people for just expecting more shit, but I think thats partly because there hasnt been the sort of reality check that this pandemic offered for a very long time.

Part of the reason I take this stance is that there are aspects of health and social care which, if the system fails, has broader economic consequences. Even without the pandemic, this would eventually have come to a head. This sort of things and some of the politics about the publics views on the NHS mean that there are limits even for tories. And I feel this is an era where globalisation, free trade, free market shit, low tax etc may have reached its limits on some fronts, and people may end up being reminded that other forms of toryism also exist.

There is an element of uncertainty about it, its clear from multiple factors that the elites are running scared; of Covid, of the fact people are waking up inequality, I certainly think they will try and make some concessions towards evening things out but I'm not entirely sure the Conservatives have the imagination to plan or create a better world out of this. So many of them are ideologically blinkered into doing things as they always do. Look at Sunaks efforts to maintain the economy as business as usual throughout all this. Look at the various councils pathological fear of bike lanes.

Covid offers the chance to address some deep issues as a country but again and again it has been wasted and used as a way to press the prevailing ideology rather than do something new or repair damage. With the rapid promotion of "getting away on holiday for summer" its clear thats the way certainly the baseline Tories are going to go. Same with Brexit, the legacy of which is now going to inevitably tied in with Covid, I fear structurally the Tories are too fond of centralisation and the habits of maintaining that centralisation within Westminster are to deep for them to change, combine that reluctance to allow disparate parts of the UK to make their own decisions with a marked reluctance to actually lead or regulate.

 

[Cid]

I also think it's nonsense that they don't care about disastrous economic consequences. Maybe, make misguided decisions, as a result of all sorts of things, that have disastrous economic consequences, but that's a different thing.

Er... Yeah, of course they want good economic performance. They are Tories. Thing is, it's generally a bit easier to blame external factors than admit that your entire philosophy is fundamentally flawed.

 

[teuchter]

Er... Yeah, of course they want good economic performance. They are Tories. Thing is, it's generally a bit easier to blame external factors than admit that your entire philosophy is fundamentally flawed.

I don't believe that I have suggested it's likely they are going to 'admit' that their entire philosophy is fundamentally flawed.
Nor would it be necessary for them to do this, in order to come up with some changes to the way the health service operates that many people would agree were improvements.

 

[teuchter]

So many of them are ideologically blinkered into doing things as they always do. Look at Sunaks efforts to maintain the economy as business as usual throughout all this. Look at the various councils pathological fear of bike lanes.

And yet... many of us have been pretty surprised by how strongly this was pushed by central govt. Not only strongly pushed but supported by some completely sensible guidance documents containing loads of good stuff based on what people traditionally on the other side from 'the tories' have been saying for ages.

Of course, they might go back on it all in the next couple of years - we'll see.