Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

[frogwoman]

You're probably getting bored from hearing this now mate but I'm so grateful for your posts on this, its given me a source I can trust for balanced analysis and it's the reason why I got my parents to isolate over a week early which could save their lives.

It also meant I could make out I knew all about this at work and knew what was coming days before it happened which meant they listened when I said we needed to put in place procedures to keep people safe. Wasnt as much fun being right as it usually is for obvious reasons but there you go.

Thanks, after all this we should have an elbows party where everyone buys you a pint

After washing our hands and taking our temperatures 15000000 times.

 

[weepiper]

Scotland to pay student nurses band 4 to tackle Coronavirus

The starting salary for a band 4 in Scotland is £22,700.

nursingnotes.co.uk

 

[blameless77]

They knew before the general election that there would be a global pandemic that would overwhelm our ICU capacity and therefore we should bulk order vents. Is that what you’re saying? (Surely not, thats batshit mate, have I misunderstood ?!!!).

Yes - they did know that, due to 2018 pandemic modeling exercises.

 

[Plumdaff]

Scotland to pay student nurses band 4 to tackle Coronavirus

The starting salary for a band 4 in Scotland is £22,700.

nursingnotes.co.uk

Same thing's happening in Wales. And I'm assuming like the Welsh, Scottish student nurses still have a bursary too.

 

[SpineyNorman]

Friend lives next door to a Tory MP and his wife, who are supposedly self-isolating. On Friday night the MP had visitors who drove over, spent a few hours having dinner and hanging out with them and then left because government guidance on a pandemic can be ignored if you're a smug Tory.

Name and shame please

 

[SpineyNorman]

Its not boring, it helps with my energy levels, but it is embarrassing to me and I think there are a bunch of other people who contributed significantly to the running commentary on this virus since the original thread started on Jan 20th.



If I liked pints then I might have had a social life and wouldnt have ended up learning enough about pandemics in the past to be of some use during this one!

If I make it through this pandemic (I dont like to make assumptions and my own survival is no exception to this) then perhaps I can come up with something that people could do to help me get a life! In the meantime, does anyone know sihhi and what happened to them? They dont seem to have posted for 10 days, and although people may have been inclined to ignore some of the stuff they said because it seemed a bit alarmist, it was correct to raise the alarm about some of the details they kept going on about.

I think butchersapron knows him irl

 

[bimble]

No such thing as irl anymore : (

Yes - they did know that, due to 2018 pandemic modeling exercises.

This has some background on what was known and didn’t get acted upon.

UK strategy to address pandemic threat ‘not properly implemented’

Exclusive: Former government chief scientific adviser says getting the needed resources was impossible

www.theguardian.com

 

[little_legs]

Name and shame please

Have tried to get him to tell me who it is. I think he's worried because there aren't many other homes nearby so he thinks it'll be obvious it was him who passed it on. Have told him that if ever there was an appropriate moment to grass on someone this case qualifies.

 

[little_legs]

Yes - they did know that, due to 2018 pandemic modeling exercises.

It’s like Ebola never happened. Only happens to some far away obscure people.

 

[editor]

The good folks and the scumbags

Which companies are coming through during the coronavirus crisis?

Some firms have stepped up to support employees, key workers and the NHS – but others have fallen well short

www.theguardian.com

 

[little_legs]

The good folks and the scumbags

Which companies are coming through during the coronavirus crisis?

Some firms have stepped up to support employees, key workers and the NHS – but others have fallen well short

www.theguardian.com

There a comprehensive list that is being updated daily about the worker abuse a ton of companies part take in.

Anyone interested it's here: List of scumbags

Edit: should have mentioned that you can filter the list and see those behaving in a decent manner as well

 

[elbows]

You mean the doc on this page?: COVID-19: track coronavirus cases

Thanks for trying to find what I was after. But I was after the daily info that lists deaths per trust, and I cannot find that in any of the data on that page. But I might have missed something, I have been overloaded with info, just not the particular stuff I was after!

eg the stuff listed towards the end of this press article:

Coronavirus death toll rises by 209 in 24 hours - where each patient died

The trust-by-trust breakdown shows deaths at The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Foundation Trust, and Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust

www.birminghammail.co.uk

ie this (that I am only quoting the first few entries for to illustrate what I'm on about):

Every NHS Trust and number of deaths (Date of recent deaths in brackets)

AIREDALE NHS FOUNDATION TRUST: 1 (28.03)

ASHFORD AND ST PETER'S HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST: 2 (16.03; 24.03)

BARNSLEY HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST: 1 (28.03)

BARTS HEALTH NHS TRUST: 15 (25.03; 26.03; 26.03; 26.03; 27.03 x 9; 28.03; 28.03)

BLACKPOOL TEACHING HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST: 1 (28.03)

I would just be content to get it from the press but they vary in quite how they choose to report the detail, its often not a full list like that.

 

[Taphoi]

It is really easy to overstate the impact of smoking. Its likely a factor, but I highly doubt it explains the whole picture or is sufficient to completely explain the age and gender related aspects.

COVID-19 and smoking: A systematic review of the evidence

www.tobaccoinduceddiseases.org

The paper you cite concludes against your own conclusion that "Although further research is warranted as the weight of the evidence increases, with the limited available data, and although the above results are unadjusted for other factors that may impact disease progression, smoking is most likely associated with the negative progression and adverse outcomes of COVID-19."
I would not myself have thought smoking to be a dominant factor, except that it is the only thing that readily explains the two to one male female ratio in severe symptoms for elderly patients in the UK and in Italy.

 

[editor]

This online forum may be of interest to people who want to chat

Zoom online forum: “Lambeth Coronavirus Crisis: Act for People not for Profit,” Mon 30th March, 7pm

An open online forum themed as, “Lambeth Corona Virus Crisis – Act for People not for Profit,” is taking place on Monday, 30th March 2020, and it’s open to anyone wanting to discuss iss…

www.brixtonbuzz.com

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I would not myself have thought smoking to be a dominant factor, except that it is the only thing that readily explains the two to one male female ratio in severe symptoms for elderly patients in the UK and in Italy.

No it's not. There are a few possible explanations kicking around to do with genetics, hormones and other aspects of physiology. Smoking may interplay with that, or it may not. We don't know.

 

[elbows]

The paper you cite concludes against your own conclusion that

You obviously had trouble comprehending what I said. Heres a clue: I did not say it was not a factor at all.

And it certainly doesnt support your contention that smoking is the only thing that explains the male to female ratio.

 

[editor]

Blimey:

Hull Trains will temporarily suspend its services from 00.01 on Monday March 30, the operator has announced. This is to safeguard the future of the business due to ‘unprecedented circumstances’ surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, the company said. Passengers who already have tickets for Hull Trains will be able to travel with alternative services on the same date and route. Hull Trains is one of three open access operators in the UK, meaning it has not been offered additional financial support from the government.

With the country currently on lockdown, ticket sales for the company have dropped.

Hull Trains suspends all services to 'protect business' amid coronavirus crisis

All services will stop running from Monday onwards.

metro.co.uk

 

[Duncan2]

There a comprehensive list that is being updated daily about the worker abuse a ton of companies part take in.

Anyone interested it's here: List of scumbags

Edit: should have mentioned that you can filter the list and see those behaving in a decent manner as well

Thanks for that list @littlelegs.This sort of information-sharing could in future go a long way towards mitigating the effects of Unions having practically disappeared across whole sectors e.g Logistics.

 

[editor]

Another list: Coronavirus: Which shops have treated workers well?

(Wasn't there a dedicated thread somewhere for this?)

 

[Mation]

Has anyone mention the symptom tracker yet? I found out about it by accident. Has to be worthwhile?

UK app aims to help researchers track spread of coronavirus

Covid Symptom Tracker will also help experts understand who is most at risk of disease

www.theguardian.com

ZOE Health Study

Fight major diseases like COVID & cancer logging your health daily with millions of community scientists supporting global health research.

covid.joinzoe.com

I was just coming to post that... I've not used it yet but probably will after I've got over my tinfoil-hattery response.

I don't get how that works. Most people with symptoms will not have COVID-19, so surely it's only useful if used by people who have been tested?

They say explicitly that they can't know whether any reported symptoms are due to Covid-19. I think the idea is just to look at what sorts of 'symptoms' anyone has, where symptoms mean any health stuff you notice about yourself at the moment, regardless of the known or unknown cause. Then they might be able to see whether that's different to whatever data there are on what you might expect for this time of year/ subset of the population etc.

Could non-classic symptoms indicate mild COVID?

Scientists and researchers from Kings College London report the state of the nation’s reported symptoms as of 3pm on 27th March 2020.

covid.joinzoe.com

What we don’t know at this stage is precisely how many of these symptoms are due to COVID-19, as very few people in our sample report are actually being tested for SARS CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19. We are looking at combinations of symptoms to see how they might cluster together. We are passing our analyses on to the NHS so that the anonymised citizen science data can be incorporated into our national understanding.

What is going to be critical is seeing how these symptoms develop over the next few days in the population, and which symptoms are early indicators of future severe disease versus mild COVID-19 or other conditions. If we can do this we might be able to stop the spread. So keep logging!

And, as they say, they're looking at clusters of symptoms. I've seen a few people on here mentioning losing their sense of taste or smell, and that turns up in their app data...

 

[cupid_stunt]

Another list: Coronavirus: Which shops have treated workers well?

(Wasn't there a dedicated thread somewhere for this?)

Yep.

Biggest Covid-19 crisis c-nt

Jesus christ what an arsehole :facepalm:

www.urban75.net

 

[hash tag]

There a comprehensive list that is being updated daily about the worker abuse a ton of companies part take in.

Anyone interested it's here: List of scumbags

Edit: should have mentioned that you can filter the list and see those behaving in a decent manner as well

I hope and suspect that's now out of date by a few days and in any case who will take notice of that? Some people simply don't care enough not to use some of those companies.
Without thinking about it there are 3 companies on the blacklist I have and would never use anyway.

 

[Taphoi]

You obviously had trouble comprehending what I said. Heres a clue: I did not say it was not a factor at all.

And it certainly doesnt support your contention that smoking is the only thing that explains the male to female ratio.

There wasn't enough smoking among elderly Chinese people relative to elderly Europeans to be confident one way or the other. How do you explain elderly males being twice as susceptible? This kind of male : female ratio is very rare except in smoking related disease normally. And this is especially true of diseases with a pulmonary focus (lungs).

 

[Sue]

There wasn't enough smoking among elderly Chinese people relative to elderly Europeans to be confident one way or the other. How do you explain elderly males being twice as susceptible? This kind of male : female ratio is very rare except in smoking related disease normally. And this is especially true of diseases with a pulmonary focus (lungs).

Off the top of my head, autoimmune conditions, for example, are much more prevalent in women than in men so a difference in immune response to covid 19 based on gender doesn’t seem that strange a concept. (Usual not a scientific/medical expert disclaimer.)

 

[little_legs]

I hope and suspect that's now out of date by a few days and in any case who will take notice of that? Some people simply don't care enough not to use some of those companies.
Without thinking about it there are 3 companies on the blacklist I have and would never use anyway.

Sir/ma'am, you can see some cases/responses recorded today, March 29th.

 

[editor]

Yep.

Biggest Covid-19 crisis c-nt

Jesus christ what an arsehole :facepalm:

www.urban75.net

That's not really the same though as these lists also include the good guys. Maybe they could be merged into a heroes and villains thread?

 

[ignatious]

How do you explain elderly males being twice as susceptible?

Exposure to pollutants, asbestos, mining residues etc? Plus smoking obviously; nobody is saying smoking is a non-factor.

 

[hash tag]

Sir/ma'am, you can see some cases/responses recorded today, March 29th.

It doesn't open well on a phone

 

[hash tag]

Friend lives next door to a Tory MP and his wife, who are supposedly self-isolating. On Friday night the MP had visitors who drove over, spent a few hours having dinner and hanging out with them and then left because government guidance on a pandemic can be ignored if you're a smug Tory.

name and shame

Stephen Kinnock targeted by police for visiting father, Neil

South Wales force criticised for tweeting disapproval of MP defying coronavirus rules

www.theguardian.com

 

[Taphoi]

Exposure to pollutants, asbestos, mining residues etc? Plus smoking obviously; nobody is saying smoking is a non-factor.

Exposure to traffic fumes and atmospheric pollutants is the same in men and women. Asbestos and mining are tiny segments of the population. Smoking is not just the biggie, it dominates by orders of magnitude. Social pressure and tobacco profits persuaded two thirds of the entire adult population to commit slow suicide in the forties, fifties and sixties. Normally, the annual flu epidemics would have killed many elderly people with smoking histories in recent years, but the annual flu jabs has saved them in huge numbers. So what happens when a respiratory disease comes along with a similar death rate to flu but with no jab? Cue Covid-19!