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Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

What troubles me the most about this is your insistence that "GPs were told to resume face to face consultations".

As has already been pointed out, GP services were on their knees before the pandemic, and the people ordering them around are doing this in full knowledge of that fact - these are political decisions, aimed to please the unthinking masses, not the complex risk-based decisions they should be. GPs, remember, are far more at risk than the general population, given that they are much more likely to encounter someone with Covid in the line of their work, and a GP succumbing to illness has a knock-on effect within the service, so they've got every reason to be extra-cautious about exposing themselves to risk.

I do think that it is inevitable that more will go wrong during a time such as this, simply because of the sheer workload it imposes, meaning that the chance of something important being missed is rather greater. But it is not reasonable - or accurate - to lay that at the door of the medical profession. To be fair, it can't all be laid at the door of the government, although there is a great deal they could have done a lot better.

Simply because your own personal views happen to align with those being trumped up against the medical profession in general, you should be careful not to inadvertently further their agenda by adding fuel to their bonfires.
What troubles me is your inability to differentiate between GPs and the medical profession as a whole, actually I think you can differentiate you just choose not to so you can make out that im having a go at the whole medical profession..frankly you can fuck right off
 
What troubles me is your inability to differentiate between GPs and the medical profession as a whole, actually I think you can differentiate you just choose not to so you can make out that im having a go at the whole medical profession..frankly you can fuck right off
You don't think that GPs are part of the medical profession? Or is this just some artificial distinction you've made so you can ride your own personal hobbyhorse in on the coat-tails of those who would attack them for political reasons, or for gain?
 
I think they'll be some further changes in the next 7 days tbh. Although we need better language to them being described as 'restrictions' and 'lockdowns'.

Public health measures, protection measures...?

I know that the 'protect the NHS' mantra/focus is problematic in some ways, but I dread to think what will happen to other types of medical care if the NHS has to cope with a wave of unwell people the next 2 months. They don't have to end up in ICU to collapse normal healthcare services.
 
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Well non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) has been the jargon since the start but obviously the press and people are less inclined to use that sort of jargon. This time around the press are more likely to refer to 'plan C' and so on, but beyond a certain strength of measures they may well resort to saying lockdown again.
 
What troubles me is your inability to differentiate between GPs and the medical profession as a whole, actually I think you can differentiate you just choose not to so you can make out that im having a go at the whole medical profession..frankly you can fuck right off

I did try and be more sympathetic in an earlier post, but really you need to get over yourself, you're just coming across as a bitter and irrational old man on here at the moment.
 
The UK case rates don't currently look entirely alarming (upward trend but not looking exponential-ish)
Screenshot 2021-12-11 at 22.51.22.jpg

However these are the two south London boroughs I live on the border between.

Screenshot 2021-12-11 at 22.50.31.jpgScreenshot 2021-12-11 at 22.50.57.jpg
 
the purple is getting darker

1639264532767.png

slightly surprised that bits of more urban / densely populated Reading is still blue.

data is based on positive tests divided by population, not by number of tests taken.

are people in more urban / working class areas testing less? more people in casual employment / jobs without sick pay a factor?
 
the purple is getting darker

View attachment 300354

slightly surprised that bits of more urban / densely populated Reading is still blue.

data is based on positive tests divided by population, not by number of tests taken.

are people in more urban / working class areas testing less? more people in casual employment / jobs without sick pay a factor?
I imagine people are testing less and less as time goes by
 
Why would you get tested unless you had to for work or were going to visit vulnerable people. It’s not like theres furlough if you need to self isolate from work.
 
Why would you get tested unless you had to for work or were going to visit vulnerable people. It’s not like theres furlough if you need to self isolate from work.
We're being advised to do a lateral flow twice a week in Scotland regardless of any 'reason'. Lots of people I know are actually doing it (myself included).
 
The UK case rates don't currently look entirely alarming (upward trend but not looking exponential-ish)


However these are the two south London boroughs I live on the border between.

Plus the existence of a large delta wave means that we shouldnt really expect to see exponential Omicron growth showing up in the overall figures until Omicron has grown large enough that it can more obviously escape the data shadow of the substantial delta wave.

Anyway you are correct to look at more localised data too. Even if we only go down to the regional level a bunch of different patterns are seen. To give just one example, looking at the North East daily positive test figures, the picture has stayed rather flat. But I still presume thats mostly telling a story about the ongoing Delta wave, and not much at all of the story of Omicron yet.

I expect I'll be doing cases for England by age group graphs again quite soon.
 
We're being advised to do a lateral flow twice a week in Scotland regardless of any 'reason'. Lots of people I know are actually doing it (myself included).
I think the advice has since been ramped up further beyond that.

Even back in November it was evolving into stuff like this:

November 23rd: People in England and Scotland urged to take more lateral flow tests :
In an update to official guidance, people in England are now advised to take a lateral flow test (LFT) if they expect to be in a “high risk situation” that day, such as spending time in “crowded and enclosed spaces” and where “there is limited fresh air”.

Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, called on Tuesday for people to take a test whenever they planned to socialise with others, whether at home or out, or if going shopping somewhere crowded. “The most precious gift we can give anyone this Christmas is to be fully vaccinated or tested before we meet, hug or spend time with them,” she told MSPs in her regular Covid update.

November 30th: Nicola Sturgeon says testing to be ramped up as fears grow over Omicron variant

Sturgeon told MSPs: "I can confirm today that, in the run up to the festive period, lateral flow tests will be made available by local authorities in many more locations.

"Locations will obviously vary in different parts of the country, but will include shopping centres and supermarkets, garden centres, sports grounds and Christmas markets. We are also working with transport partners to provide access to tests in transport hubs.

"So while it is already easy to get lateral flow tests, we are taking steps to make it easier still.

"Please make sure you get a supply and keep it topped up.

"It is also worth mentioning that the newer lateral flow devices are much easier to use than the older ones – they require nasal swabs only rather than nasal and throat swabs.

5 days ago: Covid in Scotland: Take a test every time you leave home, says Swinney

People should take a lateral flow test for Covid every time they leave home, according to the deputy first minister.

John Swinney urged everyone to take the tests more frequently than twice a week as previously suggested.

He was speaking as new rules come into place meaning people can show a negative Covid test result to get into clubs, concerts or large events.
 
We're being advised to do a lateral flow twice a week in Scotland regardless of any 'reason'. Lots of people I know are actually doing it (myself included).

I don’t think I know anyone doing it other than it being a requirement for work.
Or they are visiting friends or family. perhaps. But not just as a matter of course with no symptoms.
 
I think the advice has since been ramped up further beyond that.

Even back in November it was evolving into stuff like this:

November 23rd: People in England and Scotland urged to take more lateral flow tests :


November 30th: Nicola Sturgeon says testing to be ramped up as fears grow over Omicron variant



5 days ago: Covid in Scotland: Take a test every time you leave home, says Swinney

Yes. I'm doing one every two days at the moment. Chiefly because I want to protect my work colleagues as much as anything (one of them is my brother and one of them is a type 1 diabetic)
 
Why would you get tested unless you had to for work
Before social visits/occasions?
that’s what I do.

But employers expect their staff to test at least twice a week or even more.

People will eventually get bored of doing it and forget though. I forget every now and then already.
 
Quite a few of my colleagues haven’t been wearing masks but will be from Monday.
It was announced last week. What I don’t get is why they’re waiting til then before donning a mask. Can they not think for themselves?
 
Weekly testing isn't a requirement at most/many workplaces though.

And I still know a lot of people who'd just do a LFT rather than risk a PCR (for which you have to give contact details) even after prolonged contact with someone who has Covid. (eg living with someone who's isolating due to actually having it)
 
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The UK case rates don't currently look entirely alarming (upward trend but not looking exponential-ish)

But isn't that one of the things with exponential growth, it goes from numbers that aren't huge, to numbers that are very quickly, and in the early stages it doesn't look anything to worry about? Have you done the back of a fag packet maths for it, it's quite interesting/scary.
 
Quite a few of my colleagues haven’t been wearing masks but will be from Monday.
It was announced last week. What I don’t get is why they’re waiting til then before donning a mask. Can they not think for themselves?
If this whole pandemic has shown us nothing else, it’s shown us that an awful lot of people are stupid, selfish, arseholes.
 
I was in ASDA (for the first time in a year, and for the same reason) yesterday, nearly half half had no masks, including a lot of the staff.
Where i work all staff (unless exempt) are wearing them but a significant amount of customers are still not...still getting people that express suprise that they're expected to...we are no longer giving out free masks and people are not buying their own so they take their chances as far as we're concerned...if the police come in to spot check they risk a fine :rolleyes:
 
Where i work all staff (unless exempt) are wearing them but a significant amount of customers are still not...still getting people that express suprise that they're expected to...we are no longer giving out free masks and people are not buying their own so they take their chances as far as we're concerned...if the police come in to spot check they risk a fine :rolleyes:
Do the police ever do that?
 
But isn't that one of the things with exponential growth, it goes from numbers that aren't huge, to numbers that are very quickly, and in the early stages it doesn't look anything to worry about? Have you done the back of a fag packet maths for it, it's quite interesting/scary.
Well yes, the fact that it's not obvious yet doesn't mean it's not happening.
 
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