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Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

I'd be happy if they installed them in hospitals instead of the money spunked on track and trace
there was talk about putting something like this in schools....i dont know how common they are in hospitals but some have them for sure. no idea how effective they are either
 
Bath and Somerset highest cases in the whole of the UK. Fuck sake! Rates of 4200 in kids aged from 10-14. Predictably we are wayyy behind with vaccination of the yoot in these parts.

Nor sure whats going to happen in the next week but things seem to be continually worsening. I anticipate some plan B measures soon.. probably too late of course. Imo they should shut schools early until they can get a handle on the insane rates amongst kids.
 
Bath and Somerset highest cases in the whole of the UK. Fuck sake! Rates of 4200 in kids aged from 10-14. Predictably we are wayyy behind with vaccination of the yoot in these parts.

Nor sure whats going to happen in the next week but things seem to be continually worsening. I anticipate some plan B measures soon.. probably too late of course. Imo they should shut schools early until they can get a handle on the insane rates amongst kids.

Half term is imminent for quite a lot of places (and the likes of Leicestershire are already on half term this week). And the expected seasonal shift in mood music and messaging has begun. Certain future possibilities in terms of hospitalisation figures might leave me able to make predictions about restrictions etc that I've felt unable to provide for months, whilst some other scenarios will maintain my existing degree of uncertainty.
 
Oh and I think there has started to be talk in the press about the rates of people coming forward for booster shots not being high enough. And thats just the sort of thing that I think will make authorities nervous and have them seeking to change perceptions back towards 'this isnt over and people need to do their bit', a mission that will probably involve an accelerated change to the mood music.

I know I've been saying mood music a hell of a lot recently. If there is a less wanky term I could use that still works as convenient shorthand then I'm open to suggestions.
 
Bath and Somerset highest cases in the whole of the UK. Fuck sake! Rates of 4200 in kids aged from 10-14. Predictably we are wayyy behind with vaccination of the yoot in these parts.

Nor sure whats going to happen in the next week but things seem to be continually worsening. I anticipate some plan B measures soon.. probably too late of course. Imo they should shut schools early until they can get a handle on the insane rates amongst kids.
This is a consequence of people getting false PCR tests and being told to get on with their lives/send their kids to school etc. It‘s everywhere around here at the moment unlike any of the previous waves.
 
Oh and I think there has started to be talk in the press about the rates of people coming forward for booster shots not being high enough.

I hadnt realised when I wrote the above that the tabloids have gone for full on front page booster pleas stuff.

Another newspaper notes on its front page that SAGE are only meeting once a month these days because ministers arent seeking their input much.

 
But the significance of this intervention by the NHS Confederation is that it came just hours after Downing Street had ruled out Plan B at this stage and said it had not been discussed by the cabinet.

The confederation is, in effect, taking issue with ministers by suggesting the key government test for implementing Plan B in England - the likelihood of the NHS coming under unsustainable pressure - has already been met.

 
I hadnt realised when I wrote the above that the tabloids have gone for full on front page booster pleas stuff.
As you say above, the mode music is changing at last, and the government really should be getting on with 'plan B' now, but they will probably leave it too late again, resulting in stricter measures over a longer period, than would otherwise be needed.

It's the main story on Sky News this morning, who have also churned out a number of articles on their website too, couple of interesting graphs in the one linked below.

Business Secretary now being interviewed, started off with an appeal for people to have the booster jabs, certain restrictions are likely to be coming back, but he thinks we can rule out a complete lockdown.

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And, short video report here:

 
And that means that it isn’t really a question of whether or not long COVID ‘exists’. To ask whether it exists is to view reality in the wrong paradigm. It always does damage, the question is only how much damage it has done and what impact that damage has for that individual both in the short and long term.

Whilst this perspective does make a lot of sense, I do think it should come with a caveat along the lines of '...but the experiences people have which are collectively referred to as long covid are real'. I'm sure you weren't trying to suggest otherwise but there are a lot of fuckwits out there who have already decided that they don't give a shit about covid and who will seize on anything that they think gives some kind of rational basis for that attitude.

I definitely agree that covid and long covid in particular forces us to ask some questions about what we actually understand by the term 'disease'. And of course our present social conditions mean that illness can result in material uncertainty and hardship for many people, and that alone has numerous physical symptoms as anyone who has spent an extended period in a state of anxiety or distress will know.
 
I just heard (on Classic FM) a clip of the Business Secretary.
All that bit I heard seems to say was keep the economy booming, no way will there be another lockdown.

That's really soured my mood.
I'm beginning to agree that this attitude of let it rip & hope the vaxx ameliorates the worst affects is deliberate murderous bullshit.
It seems obvious to me that this third wave is already out of control, and the only thing stopping bodies being piled high has been the vaccine. But we know that the effectiveness is dropping, especially in the older & more vulnerable age groups - that's why the booster jags are being given.

Apart from pushing the boosters and teenager's jags, looking at the daily cases - something(s) need to be done sooner rather than later ... such as ...
significantly extending half term as a fire-break, re-introducing the mask mandates, self-isolation when pinged(*)
[I quite liked the hands:face:space+fresh air mantra]
and that (*) needs to be supported by proper funding to pay wages / realistic sick pay

/derail but point of info - It used to be that a business could set their sick pay [SSP] costs against tax liabilities ; that option no longer exists ! and the scandal of zero hours not covering sickness ... /derail
 
Apparently press conference today at 5 - announcing masks and more work from home? If so, probably starting in 2 weeks' time or something. :facepalm:
BBC trailing it as to do with booster jabs. Only Javid doing it, not sure if that means Johnson doesn’t want to be giving out bad news; or just doesn’t care enough to do so.
 
BBC trailing it as to do with booster jabs. Only Javid doing it, not sure if that means Johnson doesn’t want to be giving out bad news; or just doesn’t care enough to do so.

If the usual pattern holds then this means it will indeed mostly be about boosters and perhaps a few other bits and bobs and setting a slightly more sombre tone. Heavier measures are usually reserved for Johnson to announce and arent likely to be on the cards at this particular moment. But there are certain early versions of bad news that arent always left to Johnson, eg in the past it was sometimes Hancock who spoke about new variants in the early stages of revelations about those. But it was Johnson who would do the talking when the time came for the full implications of the new variant to be revealed in the form of fresh restrictions. Milder rule changes and 'recommendations' may be left to others though.
 
Well it remains very hard for me to predict how far they will have to go this autumn/winter, because that depends just how bad hospitalisation rates get.

Certainly given that they were so slow to act even in the era before vaccines were available, we should probably expect them to be even slower and more resistant to imposing heavy stuff this time round. Especially as the political consequences for them are probably worse this time, and plenty of people expected too much from vaccines. But there are limits as to how far even they can push things. Since we are almost into the half term holiday zone (already there in some places), they can also use that as an excuse to wait and see what difference it makes.

Since a lower than necessary uptake of boosters is one of their concerns that could threaten their entire approach, they may feel the need to be quite heavy with the amount of concern and fear they put in the messaging now, in order to push more people out of the complacency zone and into the booster queue. But given how deliberately weak and irregular their messaging has been for months, even bothering to hold a single press conference probably qualifies as getting tough by their standards.
 
Another grim set of figures today, but despite that, the bloody government will continue to delay reintroducing some measures.

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Patients actually in hospital are up around 10% in the last week, even in the unlikely circumstances they are kept to that level of increase, rather than the percentage increase continually to go up, in 10 weeks, those numbers will be matching the peak in the first wave.
 
Bath and Somerset highest cases in the whole of the UK. Fuck sake! Rates of 4200 in kids aged from 10-14. Predictably we are wayyy behind with vaccination of the yoot in these parts.

Nor sure whats going to happen in the next week but things seem to be continually worsening. I anticipate some plan B measures soon.. probably too late of course. Imo they should shut schools early until they can get a handle on the insane rates amongst kids.

Things were bad (we thought) last Christmas when cases in the area I work were at around 800 per 100K.

Today? 12,000 per 100K.
 
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