Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

[Numbers]

5 out of 12 in the family have either had it recently or currently have it.

e2a: none of us have seen each other and all in different parts of London or surrounding areas.

I feel ropey as fuck (constant coughing, headache, blocked/runny nose, heavy chest, some aches), been gradually getting worse the last few days, but testing negative.

 

[Cloo]

Got a message from ZOE study saying that, after being told by goverment further funding was 'extremely likely', they've now been told it's being totally pulled in less than a month. I am sadly unsurprised...

 

[elbows]

Maybe there are enough people in the country that remain concerned and want there to be ongoing surveillance of levels of disease that crowdfunding could be considered.

 

[2hats]

Latest REACT 1 results are out (round 18 which covers 8 February to 1 March 2022 consisting of 95k swab tests across England).

BA.2 was just on the verge of becoming dominant (highest incidence in London) with a continuing upward trend.

Overall 1 in 35 people (2.88%) were infected (the second highest levels since the study began, the previous round having been the highest). Higher prevalence seen towards the south of the country (particularly the SW, SE, E and London). Signs of potentially increasing infection rates in older cohorts (55+ years) with high rates in the very young (5-11 years).

Coronavirus infections remain high while Omicron ‘stealth variant’ rises - REACT | Imperial News | Imperial College London

Coronavirus infections have continued to decline in England but remain at a high level, according to new surveillance data.

www.imperial.ac.uk

 

[teuchter]

Interesting to compare the shape of the REACT "real" prevalence graph with the positive tests graph which obviously is very dependant on how much testing is happening.

 

[weepiper]

Covid in Scotland: Hospital patient numbers highest in 13 months

Fewer people need intensive care but large numbers are affecting available beds and other services.

www.bbc.co.uk

Blurgh

Meanwhile I am beginning to notice some pushback against being asked to wear a mask in our shop. Previously people (bar the odd antivaxxer nutjob) have largely been very compliant but in the last week I think there's been at least one person every day who's got pissy to various degrees about it. There was a guy today who huffed 'I thought we were finished with all that nonsense' and when my colleague said he was happy to serve him at the door instead he had a tanty and said he would go elsewhere instead.

 

[emanymton]

I'm about the only person I ever see still wearing a mask. If out shopping I might see 1 or 2 others. But if I do see more than one they are normally together.

 

[muscovyduck]

I see between 5-20% of people wearing masks in shops depending on what shop I'm in locally but also noticed attitudes to masks vary dramatically between different towns and cities as I go about my travels. I have noticed the people left wearing masks seem to be wearing proper decent masks

 

[Artaxerxes]

I see between 5-20% of people wearing masks in shops depending on what shop I'm in locally but also noticed attitudes to masks vary dramatically between different towns and cities as I go about my travels. I have noticed the people left wearing masks seem to be wearing proper decent masks

This is about what I'd say the tube tops out at the moment - max 25% masked but its usually about 10-15%.

Shops is significantly lower I think.

 

[StoneRoad]

OH was in Freeman Hospital yesterday for a pre-op assessment.

Inside the actual buildings, OH didn't see anybody unmasked, although a couple were protecting the chin more than their nose !

 

[gentlegreen]

My sister is at home and has tested positive.
I don't know what this means for BIL and nephew who also live in the house ...
She works in the bakery at a suburban M&S ...

I think she's about 55 - so far nothing very serious in the way of symptoms. I know she's double-vaxxed and almost certainly "boosted".

 

[pogofish]

Several folk at work are down with it, incl one close colleague who tested positive this morning whose whole family is down with it - looks like he was infected via his kids at school and there have been no other likely/risky contacts in the last week or so.

Away to take my laptop home and do some testing myself tonight.

 

[Orang Utan]

My niece has it, first in the family. She’s 7 but she’s been quite poorly.
Cousin’s kids in NZ have it too, but mildly. NZ though.
So is it fuck over as many customers (and some colleagues) seem to believe

 

[Orang Utan]

Several folk at work are down with it, incl one close colleague who tested positive this morning whose whole family is down with it - looks like he was infected via his kids at school and there have been no other likely/risky contacts in the last week or so.

Away to take my laptop home and do some testing myself tonight.

We had 70/80 off staff off last week just in our directorate and it seems even worse this week - we’ve been having serious staffing issues.

 

[pogofish]

We had 70/80 off staff off last week just in our directorate and it seems even worse this week - we’ve been having serious staffing issues.

Yes - we are no longer at the level where we get daily updates on staff absences after positive tests but the amount of stuff being cancelled or moved all-online because pf people being isolated at home suggests there could well be larger problem.

The one person in our office who is on the senior COVID group and probably could give an answer is also currently off!

 

[elbows]

A BBC article that mixes together the hospital situation, Scottish figures, latest ONS survey figures, the timing of the next booster shots, the rise of BA.2 and Harries mentioning a rise in cases in the over 55s.

Covid infections rising again across UK - ONS

A form of Omicron called BA.2 is now the most common variant in most of the UK, figures suggest.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Mation]

Several people I know at work and home have tested positive in the last week or so.

Almost no one at work is even vaguely trying to prevent it spreading.

Is triple-masking a thing? I think it needs to be a thing.

 

[gentlegreen]

Is triple-masking a thing? I think it needs to be a thing.

Perhaps for political reasons...
It's fallen right off in the shops near me, but I don't hang around very long and carry as much home at once as I can manage to minimise visits.

 

[nadia]

Well we gave up masks a week ago in my office, I tested positive this morning I am 90% sure which colleague I caught it off

 

[Puddy_Tat]

 

[Artaxerxes]

"We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas"

 

[ska invita]

The spike is not as big as it looks in that graph, which is showing Monday's reported cases which is effectively 3 days' worth, because they seem to have stopped doing reported cases at weekends.

a few days have passed - how about now?

 

[StoneRoad]

Anecdotally [schools are back], and from looking at the dashboard, I'm pretty sure that, at present. there is an uptick in cases and hospitalisations, although vaccines & drug treatments have largely prevented a similar rise in deaths.

 

[ska invita]

Anecdotally [schools are back], and from looking at the dashboard, I'm pretty sure that, at present. there is an uptick in cases and hospitalisations, although vaccines & drug treatments have largely prevented a similar rise in deaths.

also i think people are socialising a lot more and acting as if its over (that has included me, im not judging)

 

[zahir]

Thread from Deepti Gurdasani

 

[gentlegreen]

Thread from Deepti Gurdasani

"lab reports indicating that BA.1 infection may lead to lower neutralisation against BA.2"

What new horror is this ?

 

[2hats]

"lab reports indicating that BA.1 infection may lead to lower neutralisation against BA.2"

What new horror is this ?

It's not. Has been indicated in several studies over the last few months.

antigenic exposure history may dictate the direction of pathogenesis

 

[gentlegreen]

It's not. Has been indicated in several studies over the last few months.

Is there a simple explanation ?
I never managed to properly watch a video about the "learning" mechanisms involved in B Cell adaptation ...
Is the implication that the process of optimisation for one antigen will mean we're more reliant on T cells for new ones from even very similar viruses ?

 

[teuchter]

a few days have passed - how about now?
View attachment 314025

The diagram you've posted makes it look like there's a spike more than half the height of the one from a couple of months ago. Reported cases are going up again, but not by that much (at this point).



(Reported cases by date reported and by specimen date).

 

[gentlegreen]

Bristol is only a gnat's crotchet from dark purple again - trailing Scotland a little ...