Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

[Supine]

Just wait until the Valneva vaccine shows to be the best against this strain. The gov will have real egg on their face over saying the contract was cancelled as they didn’t think it would get mhra approval.

 

[elbows]

The changes to the self-isolation rules for vaccinated contacts are going to need a lot more attention in the press etc in order for people to notice the change and act accordingly. I suppose they might not be in a huge rush since this will apply to cases where Omicron is suspected, so it will be a slow build in terms of the numbers affected by the change.

 

[elbows]

Susan Michie from Indy Sage?

The communist

She is part of the official SAGE too, well the behavioural psychology bit of it.

 

[teqniq]

 

[Cloo]

Brother in law is trying to find somewhere he can isolate on return from Malawi If sister in law doesn't have a flatmate at the moment, easiest thing might be for her to move in with her parents and give him her flat for duration I guess - I think he'll be back before full protocol in place

 

[elbows]

James Gallagher of the BBC managed to put two and two togther:

The issue is that this variant will have the potential to spread in the UK as we have been “running hot”. Cases of Covid have been climbing except for a lull over the October half term. They topped 50,000 in yesterday’s figures and the R number is just above that crucial threshold of one.

The success of boosters means the number of people needing either hospital treatment or dying is actually falling.

But it does tell us that the overall package of measures, our behaviour and levels of immunity, are not enough to contain the current Delta variant.

But in some other areas I dont agree with what he is saying:

The measures announced this evening are aimed at preventing Omicron getting a foothold while scientists work to find the answers.

The measures are not designed to prevent it getting a foothold, just like how on previous occasions the use of the word 'containment' was bullshit. At best the measures are designed to somewhat slow its ability to gain a foothold.

Quotes are from the 19:03 entry on the BBC live updates page. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-59443504

 

[cupid_stunt]

Brother in law is trying to find somewhere he can isolate on return from Malawi If sister in law doesn't have a flatmate at the moment, easiest thing might be for her to move in with her parents and give him her flat for duration I guess - I think he'll be back before full protocol in place

Malawi is now on the red list, so he needs to get back before 4 am tomorrow, otherwise I think he'll have to pay over £2k for hotel quarantine & testing.

From 4am on Sunday, non-UK and non-Irish residents who have been in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola in the previous 10 days will be refused entry into England, officials said. This does not apply to those who have stayed airside and only transited through any of these countries while changing flights.

UK and Irish residents arriving from 4am on Sunday must isolate in a government-approved facility for 10 days. During their stay, they will be required to take a PCR test on day two and day eight.

UK travel red list to include Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola

From 4am on Sunday, UK and Irish residents returning to England must isolate in an approved facility for 10 days

www.theguardian.com

 

[elbows]

The changes to the self-isolation rules for vaccinated contacts are going to need a lot more attention in the press etc in order for people to notice the change and act accordingly. I suppose they might not be in a huge rush since this will apply to cases where Omicron is suspected, so it will be a slow build in terms of the numbers affected by the change.

Ah the BBC noticed, from the live updates page I linked to several times already:

Tracking back to the prime minister's comments - there was a significant update to the self-isolation rules.

Fully vaccinated adults in the UK currently do not have to self-isolate if they are told they have been in close contact with a person who has Covid.

But Boris Johnson said contacts of people who test positive with a suspected case of the Omicron variant in England will need to self-isolate for 10 days regardless of their vaccination status.

"We need to slow down the spread of this variant here in the UK, because measures at the border can only ever minimise and delay the arrival of a new variant rather than stop it all together," he says.

 

[tommers]

I've organised a get together at work in a couple of weeks. Got some people travelling from Sweden, Ireland, France etc. They're arriving on the day of the event going to it, staying overnight and then going home. Do they need to now isolate until they've had a negative PCR result? Cos that kind of fucks things up.

 

[Supine]

I've organised a get together at work in a couple of weeks. Got some people travelling from Sweden, Ireland, France etc. They're arriving on the day of the event going to it, staying overnight and then going home. Do they need to now isolate until they've had a negative PCR result? Cos that kind of fucks things up.

Basically yes, it ain’t happening

 

[tommers]

Basically yes, it ain’t happening

Shit.

 

[cupid_stunt]

I've organised a get together at work in a couple of weeks. Got some people travelling from Sweden, Ireland, France etc. They're arriving on the day of the event going to it, staying overnight and then going home. Do they need to now isolate until they've had a negative PCR result? Cos that kind of fucks things up.

I think coming from Ireland is OK, because of the common travel area, but if coming from Sweden and France they are buggered.

 

[Southlondon]

I think the thin is with masks, they only offer a small amount of protection to wearer and others, but along with hand washing, vaccines and social distancing they help to slow down the rate of infection which in turn helps to slow pressure on NHS. None of the measures are to finish off the pandemic merely to slow down the infections to a ‘manageable’ level. By raising awareness of the new variant and it’s associated potential to fuck us up, lots of us will take personal responsibility to increase our mask wearing and many others will do so because they are the kind of people that make a point of obeying orders from on high. It’s never been about getting 100% compliance because short of massively increasing numbers of bus inspectors and council enforcement officers it won’t happen. Plus of course big chunk of his party don’t believe in infringing on the rights of the individual to exercise choice etc etc. As long as majority of us comply and do what we can to influence or intimidate the reticent minority then we have to hope it’s enough to bring r rate down and If they’re not then it’ll be lockdown Xmas
None of these measures are designed to stop it in its tracks that window of opportunity went 3 years ago

 

[cupid_stunt]

I think the thin is with masks, they only offer a small amount of protection to wearer and others...

You think over 50% is a small amount?

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Overview

COVID-19 is a new type of coronavirus that causes mild to severe cases. Here’s a quick guide on how to spot symptoms, risk factors, prevent spread of the disease, and find out what to do if you think you have it.

www.webmd.com

None of these measures are designed to stop it in its tracks that window of opportunity went 3 years ago

It's only been around for 2 years.

 

[elbows]

None of these measures are designed to stop it in its tracks that window of opportunity went 3 years ago

If China had acted 3 years ago they would have been a year early!

 

[Southlondon]

If China had acted 3 years ago they would have been a year early!

Ha ha - 2 years even . Whenever it was the WHO was first begging the world to take action to contain it before it reached pandemic status.

 

[elbows]

Ha ha - 2 years even . Whenever it was the WHO was first begging the world to take action to contain it before it reached pandemic status.

Unfortunately the WHO at the time provided early examples of how to mount a slow and inappropriate response (although China was first). Some of my earliest pandemic rants were about that, including reappropriating the red dwarf red alert, are you sure sir, it does mean changing the bulb joke.

 

[two sheds]

It's only been around for 2 years.

I think you're forgetting the preparation that was needed for the plandemic

 

[Southlondon]

Unfortunately the WHO at the time provided early examples of how to mount a slow and inappropriate response (although China was first). Some of my earliest pandemic rants were about that, including reappropriating the red dwarf red alert, are you sure sir, it does mean changing the bulb joke.

They’re are grossly under resourced to be as effective as they could be but somehow the world was saved from MERS, SARS1 plus they keep managing to contain the EBOLA outbreaks in West Africa. All the aforementioned managed to go relatively unnoticed over here and perhaps if more attention had been paid to these past epidemics there would have been more pressure applied to our governments to update the WHO resource and we might have escaped this pandemic

 

[elbows]

Its not just a question of resources, but priorities, politics, 'diplomacy' and neoliberal shit.

 

[cupid_stunt]

They’re are grossly under resourced to be as effective as they could be but somehow the world was saved from MERS, SARS1 plus they keep managing to contain the EBOLA outbreaks in West Africa. All the aforementioned managed to go relatively unnoticed over here and perhaps if more attention had been paid to these past epidemics there would have been more pressure applied to our governments to update the WHO resource and we might have escaped this pandemic

None of those were anywhere near as infectious as SARS-Cov2.

 

[Southlondon]

Its not just a question of resources, but priorities, politics, 'diplomacy' and neoliberal shit.

Obviously. But most people are only truest concerned about health issues even they feel they are directly affected/at risk. HIV is a prime example. Never classified as a pandemic despite the fact that it still kills close to a million a year, and compromises the lives of many millions more. All despite the fact that we have the resources to hand to fully defeat that I articulate virus if the will was there. Most people didn’t give a shit here when it was only killing gays and drug users and Africans. Likewise it was hard to find much in the msn about the last big EBOLA outbreak a few years ago.

 

[Southlondon]

None of those were anywhere near as infectious as SARS-Cov2.

Sure if you say so but the point remains we could have massively slowed its advance saving many lives if the will had been there at the start, and it’s not inconceivable it coukd have been geographically contained for a period allowing for the concentration of resources

 

[Artaxerxes]

Sure if you say so but the point remains we could have massively slowed its advance saving many lives if the will had been there at the start, and it’s not inconceivable it coukd have been geographically contained for a period allowing for the concentration of resources

It was geographically contained for a time because the Chinese government quietly locked up and shot those who tried to point out there was a novel new disease.

Eventually of course, as all diseases do, it broke out of the cordon.

 

[Southlondon]

It was geographically contained for a time because the Chinese government quietly locked up and shot those who tried to point out there was a novel new disease.

Eventually of course, as all diseases do, it broke out of the cordon.

It did and the do but the WHO was warning governments to prepare and were ignored.

 

[Southlondon]

It was geographically contained for a time because the Chinese government quietly locked up and shot those who tried to point out there was a novel new disease.

Eventually of course, as all diseases do, it broke out of the cordon.

And you’re wrong because geographical containment can and does work in sone circumstances with some diseases if enacted early enough and hard enough

 

[elbows]

Just wait until the Valneva vaccine shows to be the best against this strain. The gov will have real egg on their face over saying the contract was cancelled as they didn’t think it would get mhra approval.

Check this out:

Boris Johnson ‘ignored’ my plan to tackle deadly Covid variants – senior official

Former head of vaccine taskforce says No 10 has not acted on his blueprint to prepare UK for new strains

www.theguardian.com

In an interview with the Observer, Clive Dix, a leading figure in drug development who chaired the taskforce until April, said that he believed the UK was no longer “on the front foot” in tackling the pandemic. “I wrote a very specific proposal on what we should put in place right now for the emergence of any new virus that escaped the vaccine,” he said. “That was written and handed into the [vaccine taskforce] at the end of April when I left. I haven’t seen a sign of any of those activities yet.

Under Dix’s strategy, a coordinating team would seek out new vaccines, give the company involved a “fast track” to a swift trial, access to the data and regulatory approval, in return for early access to new vaccines. He said this system worked at the start of the pandemic and should be repeated.

He warned that by simply waiting to buy vaccines once they had been developed, Britain would find itself at the back of the queue because bigger customers would be prioritised. “If we leave it to the industry to do, they’re going to go to the highest bidder, and the UK won’t be at the front of that queue any more, because it’s not a big market. Whereas if you act as a partner, you get things done. It’s not rocket science, and the infrastructure is there.”

He said that he had envisaged the French company Valneva as a key part of this process. However, he said the government’s “ridiculous” decision to scrap its existing contract with the company had damaged that approach.

 

[Supine]

It did and the do but the WHO was warning governments to prepare and were ignored.

Which governments ignored it? North Korea, Tanzania. Any others?

 

[elbows]

Most countries didnt ignore it, they just responded to it inappropriately and too slowly, didnt take it seriously enough, and the WHOs advice was also not that great in the first place. I dont want to go over all this history again right now, I spent too long talking about it at the time. I do remember that some people didnt like me referring to this as a pandemic before the WHO finally got round to doing so, but by the time they did most people understood where I was coming from. And its not like my initial response in January 2020 was the most appropriate either, at least not in mid January.

 

[zahir]

Thread from Deepti Gurdasani