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Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

Supine said:
Just shared a train with hundreds of drunk maskless youth. Passing through hotspots like Bolton with everyone seemingly going on the piss in Manchester. Things are going to get bad pretty quickly if this is the new normal.
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Aren't pubs open now, like inside? The messaging is: it's fine now, go and get pissed. And I can understand young people going for it. The government have been too gung ho.
 
Supine said:
I hope I’m wrong but it looks like we’re starting a new wave and we haven’t even done the stage four opening yet. The government haven’t learnt anything.

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Martin McKee agrees:

Martin McKee, a professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said he believed the third wave had begun.

“We can already see that the current measures are not stopping cases rising rapidly in many parts of the country. This looks very much as if we are now early in a third wave,” he said. “Unless there is a miracle, opening up further in June is a huge risk. The rise in cases we are seeing now should cause a reassessment of the most recent relaxation.”
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From the end of Third wave of Covid may be under way in UK, scientists say
 
I went out last night and it was completely like life pre-pandemic here London. I confess I was as guilty as anyone. I've not been properly smashed in a while but I did last night. And watching the night bus stops etc was terrifying, everyone's completely forgotten about it.
 
It's maddening. You can just look at all the countries who thought they had the pandemic beat and opened up too early, and see our future there. And many of those countries were without the increased transmissibility of the Indian variant...

The country that did have that was of course India. And we can look there and...holy fuck what will it take for people to take the situation seriously?
 
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Brainaddict said:
It's maddening. You can just look at all the countries who thought they had the pandemic beat and opened up too early, and see our future there. And many of those countries were without the increased transmissibility of the Indian variant...

The country that did have that was of course India. And we can look there and...holy fuck what will it take for people to take the situation seriously?
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You can also look at literally last year here
 
I’m on a train down to London. It’s very busy in my carriage. A woman has sat down next to me because, well I don’t know why tbh, maybe because I have a table and the other empty seats don’t but she’s not wearing her mask properly, she keeps pulling it down and then putting it back up if she wants to sneeze. Just keep it on ffs. Some wearing masks, a lot aren’t. I’ve been double vaxxed and have an n95 mask on but it doesn’t feel very safe tbh. I’m now wishing I had reserved the seat next to me and pretended someone else was due to sit there. I much preferred it when being as far away from one another was the done thing. 😂🤦🏻‍♀️
 
I have to get a train to scotland next week and am thinking I will try and get one at an ungodly hour of the morning and hope the maskless crowds are still asleep while I travel.
 
At least some are pointing out the bullshit about new variant effects on vaccine protection - positive spin about that has been driving me mad recently.

Dr Deepti Gurdasani, a clinical epidemiologist and senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, said the situation was “entirely predictable”, adding that while many experts have been calling for early action, that window of opportunity has now been missed.

“When government was claiming that these outbreaks were localised, it was very clear that B.1.617.2, while at different frequencies in different regions, was rapidly increasing across all of England, which meant that the variant would become dominant even where it wasn’t frequent in a matter of weeks – and this is exactly what happened,” she said.
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“Now, we have a highly transmissible variant, capable of a significant level of escape from vaccines – especially after a single dose – leading to exponential rise in cases in many areas,” she added.

“While vaccines will help, we need to remember only 38% of our population are fully vaccinated, leaving large numbers unprotected, or with minimal levels of protection. Still, the focus in the media seems to be on 21 June, when the real question is: how do we deal with what is a public health crisis right now?”
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www.theguardian.com

India Covid variant spreading across England, data shows

Scientists say geographical spread ‘entirely predictable’ and window of opportunity has been missed
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
sheothebudworths said:
I am due to have my 2nd AZ vacc on Tuesday (although now only 9 weeks apart from my first).
My daughter's secondary have made the sensible decision to keep the kids wearing masks in all common areas (although a few teaching staff have also never followed the open windows policy in their classrooms).
The school I work in (almost literally next door) has not - and on top of that, on Friday - have also decided to move the tills around in the canteen to get the kids through more quickly but which means we are now even closer to the kids.

We asked from the start that they put up plastic barriers and they did on some of the tills but not all of them (and not mine) because they said they were going to put better ones up instead (the ones they did put up are ridiculous/pointless) but have never done it.
The member of the SLT who was overseeing the change on Friday did voice a vague 'Hmm.. social distancing though?' thought, but they've done it anyway. :mad:

It's also made no difference to the speed because our cook is now manning the food counters on our side and is being totally over the fucking top about insisting on them all queueing when the first place they arrive is the baguettes, where they scan through a huge choice of available options, instead of moving directly on to the hot food points if they DON'T want a baguette, which has been deliberately reduced from the start, so as NOT to give them so much choice/time spent deciding. :rolleyes:

I am sat by an open door (a couple of meters behind me) but they now pass directly by me, along with the queue from the till one of my workmates is on (one of two anti-vaxxers I work with :facepalm: ) via a very narrow gap.

I expect this sort of stuff is going on very widely - how employers choose to interpret and/or ignore exisiting rules, with the changing advice - let alone individuals, cos I imagine there's a huge signal (even more so to the younger, unvaccinated cohorts?) that it's all ok now.
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Just thought I would expand on this.
Last Tuesday, we had four cases amongst one year.
The following day, there were three more cases and the whole year was sent home. I mean :facepalm:

I had my vacc on Tues, which was ok, but started feeling 'normally' ill (as opposed to what happened, and much sooner, with the first vaccination) late on Weds and on Thurs woke up with a sore throat and a muddy head, ears and eyes both affected. No cough, snot and nothing chesty at all - like a bad head cold. Occasional, mild temp fluctuations.
By that afternoon, I noticed a bit of a change in taste and smell, so ordered a home test.

I then remembered that the last time I ordered a test, it didn't come until after the last priority box collection, so booked a walk in apt for the next morning.

Got an email on Friday to say the home test would arrive in time to do it, though, so tried to cancel the (earlier!) walk-in apt but there was no way to do that.
The test DID arrive :thumbs: but... there was no liquid in the vial! :facepalm:

(Can't remember if it was then or the next day that I started to get a cough/snots/sneezes/total loss of appetite - unusual :D - to add to it)

I called 119 to check whether that test would defo not work (lol) and also asked if there was anywhere one of my kids could collect a home test (I don't drive and wasn't up to going to the walk in if I didn't have to) and the advisor said there wasn't, so I ordered a second home test.

Got an email at 4am on Sat morning, from Royal Mail, saying 'Sorry, your parcel from Covid 19 Home Testing Programme needed to be re-routed.
It's now on its way to you.'.

The tracking info showed it had arrived at a Home Counties depot, offered huge apologies and assured it had been immediately sent back out again.
Checked the tracking throughout that morning but it was stuck on having arrived at that (incorrect) depot at 11pm the night before, so I ordered ANOTHER home test. :mad:

Realised a bit later that I wouldn't be able to do a test until Tuesday by then, because none of the priority boxes had collecetions until then, so then booked a walk in for yesterday.

Dragged myself up and down the hills and that was all pretty straightforward - and they told me that you CAN collect home testing kits directly from them.
Have had a neg result today, but taken on Day 5 of symptoms, instead of what would have been Day 3.

I still feel ill. Nothing I'm worried about - I was assuming some level of protection from my first vacc and it does feel like a bad head cold (am currently hacking away, with a very productive cough :D head/ears/eyes still all bad but snot/sneezes have stopped) - but just WTAF?!

It may well be that I have picked up some new bug that's doing the rounds, with the mask removal (and I defo haven't picked it up anywhere but work) or that it IS down to my 2nd vacc, or it may be that it is covid that just hasn't been picked up due to the effectiveness of the test itself and the delay in testing - but how the fuck can you know when there is such a lack of efficiency with the testing system itself, or bloody SENSE (in terms of my workplace!).
I am just going to assume I need to carry on staying at home for now (because I can, because I'm off for half term) - still ill and don't want to pass anything on to add to the bloody confusion at the very least, but I am SO fucked off at being governed, even on a very 'small world' (work) level, by such a bunch of dangerous, thick idiots.

I have sent a shitty response to the 'How did we do?' email, re testing - I mean maybe I just had an especially bad experience but it seems to be the assumption that people drive (or that they are capable of driving if they do, when they are ill), when I can only think it would all work better if it was set up for people who DON'T, even if the testing kits are actually fit for purpose.
 
sheothebudworths said:
That sounds like a monumental, personal moan (and is tbf :D ) but I don't mean that to have been the point - just thought it might be interesting to record my experience there, re the testing system (along with the school stuff)...
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Very interesting posts. I hope you recover asap with nothing long term.

And I've just noticed your family planning tip. Reminds me of a gf who used to say "one up the bot saves one in the cot".
 
Also to add - I'm not sad about it, I'm angry!
It has caused some friction in my home for the first time, too - but I was thinking today, if I wasn't now on holiday anyway, it may have put me in a really difficult situation with work.
For people who are not being paid for any of this and/or don't get sick pay - well, why would you even bother?
 
sheothebudworths - I hope you have a quick recovery after all that hassle !

That symptom list sounds a bit like something my close friends had in January last year (although they had something based around gastroenteritis) and my OH still has currently [also tested -ve, twice so far].
Be warned that it may well knock you for six and expect some serious feelings of tiredness / downright exhaustion. [I got the later from my AZ jabs]
 
sheothebudworths said:
I expect this sort of stuff is going on very widely - how employers choose to interpret and/or ignore exisiting rules, with the changing advice - let alone individuals, cos I imagine there's a huge signal (even more so to the younger, unvaccinated cohorts?) that it's all ok now.
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This is definitely the case in schools. I went for an interview on friday and the school had given up separating the kids into separate year groups but were still making them go round a one-way system so they could spend much more time in confined, unventilated spaces with loads of other kids.

The fact that this stuff is all done via risk assessments, which are not fit for purpose even with known, quantifiable risks, does not fill me with confidence. Everything becomes a question of how do we cover our own arse, not how do we actually minimise harm.
 
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I see a bit more is being done in recent days to alert more of the public to the realities of the current situation. This sort of message wont reach everyone properly at this time, but its a start.

www.bbc.co.uk

Covid-19: Job not done despite vaccination success, scientist warns

Calls to delay ending Covid restrictions in England on 21 June have come amid warnings of a third wave.
www.bbc.co.uk

Of course it still features some idiots with shit pandemic track records. Such as Dingwall. Its only been a few weeks since I moaned about this shithead. This is what he has come out with this time:

Another member of Nervtag, professor of sociology Robert Dingwall, told Times Radio he hadn't seen anything in the latest data to make a case for postponing relaxing restrictions.

He said the younger age groups who were not vaccinated faced "much lower risk", adding that "many of the scientists who've been talking over the weekend simply haven't adjusted their expectations to understand that (for these people) Covid is a mild illness in the community".
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I wont repeat all of my previous complaints, but please note the following sort of thing he was saying in September last year, when a wave had begun but had not yet exploded into horrific numbers that left few in doubt of reality at the time:

In fact, Prof Robert Dingwall, a sociologist and an adviser to the government, believes the public may well be now at the stage where it is "comfortable" with the idea that thousands will die from Covid just as they are that they die of flu.

He believes it is only a particular element of the public health and scientific leadership who worry about driving down the infection level and is critical of politicians for not being "brave enough" to be honest with the public that the virus will be around "forever and a day" even with a vaccine.
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That particular quote is from a post I made last September where I was complaining about Nick Triggles dangerous BBC pandemic shit. Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion
 
I wont spend all day ranting about Dingwall, but I did go back and read a shit article he wrote in late January 2020. The seeds of key themes were certainly present, suggesting it would be more like flu, that our response would be more damaging than the effects of the virus, and a bunch of logic that was used by those who later promoted the doomed herd immunity approach. Sounds like it had to be edited later to correct some basic flaws in risk comparisons used.

www.wired.com

We Should Deescalate the War on the Coronavirus

Fear, finger-pointing, and militaristic action against the virus are predictable, but unproductive. We may be better off adjusting to a new normal of periodic outbreaks.
www.wired.com www.wired.com

My mind does wander to people like Dingwall when I think of the behavioural scientists who complained that they were blamed for the 'lockdown fatigue' shit that was used as an excuse for not taking strong, early action. They said they did not recognise the concept and that it hadnt come from them. I wouldnt be surprised if such things actually came from Dingwall & friends.
 
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Went to a little, 20-25 people party on Sunday night. They deliberately kept the numbers down to that and it was outside so I thought it would be OK. Couple of hours in and people were sharing spliffs and a bit later I counted 7 people share the same rolled up note. Ended up leaving shortly after that as despite it feeling great to be out people seem to be treating covid as if it's over. I just don't understand why someone who greets you with an elbow bump is trying to pass you something they've just had in their mouth half an hour later.
 
Anju said:
Went to a little, 20-25 people party on Sunday night. They deliberately kept the numbers down to that and it was outside so I thought it would be OK. Couple of hours in and people were sharing spliffs and a bit later I counted 7 people share the same rolled up note. Ended up leaving shortly after that as despite it feeling great to be out people seem to be treating covid as if it's over. I just don't understand why someone who greets you with an elbow bump is trying to pass you something they've just had in their mouth half an hour later.
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Try singing 'dont bogart that virus, my friend' and see if the penny drops.
 
Comments from the 15:45 entry of the BBC live updates page https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-57313078

Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London, is one of those who cautions against lifting restrictions in England on 21 June.

He tells BBC Radio 4's the World at One programme: "If we got to a stage where we have a two dose vaccine delivered through the age group, I think we'd be in a fairly safe situation but we're not there yet."
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Asked whether it should be accepted that there will be a constant background level of infection, he says: "That boils down to a profound policy debate maybe we need to have, and can't be whisked through by a sleight of hand, that says what kind of country do we want to be in the next one or two or five years or 10 years.

"And different countries will make different choices about whether they want to try to get as close as possible to elimination or whether they want to tolerate a percolating level of susceptibility to this variant and the next variant forever more and those will have enormous implications."
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