Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

[treelover]

Anything got a decent source for this new test?

is anything based on fact in that rag?

 

[weepiper]

The lives saved are being over-valued.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Anything got a decent source for this new test?

If that is worth anything, presumably the press around the world will be jumping on it as a major step forwards. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised, but currently my money would not be on the UK coming up with the game-changer technology in this thing. Just sounds like chauvinistic fluff from a chauvinistic paper.

 

[smmudge]

One of the funniest moments of my career so far was several years ago when I was doing the sound for a political event of some kind, where Hazel Blears was the keynote speaker. Except nobody had told us that she's only about 5' tall. She walked out onto the stage and was completely obscured by the lectern. You literally couldn't see her, never mind hear her from the mic that was aimed a good 8 inches over the top of her head. A stagehand had to run out with a flightcase for her to stand on.

Feminism and a world designed for men

Following on from JudithB 's thread again. Thanks to Poot for bringing up the subject of how the world is designed for men and and Winot for linking to this book Invisible Women Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez – Invisible Women It’s a smart strategy...

www.urban75.net

5' isn't that short.

 

[Sue]

The lives saved are being over-valued.

Probably people who're not economically active so obvs not worth saving...

 

[zahir]

The Faroes offer help with testing.

 

[elbows]

BBC marking the 20,000 milestone, since Vallance & co were stupid enough to keep using that number a while back. Even though it is freely acknowledged that we actually passed 20,000 deaths some time back, since various deaths are not included in that particular official number and it and the other ways to measure deaths are all subject to lag. At least that detail is mentioned in the article.

Coronavirus: The 'good outcome' that never was

The UK's official coronavirus death tally has passed 20,000. How can we grasp the scale of such a loss?

www.bbc.co.uk

I know some people here were worried that the government would blame the public if that number was exceeded, and I wasnt worried about that. Well, even if the lockdown goes a bit pearshaped now, the 20,000 number has been far exceeded within the period that can very much be pinned on the governments own timing, not our bad behaviour, so even if 'we' can be blamed for some proportion of later death or something else that goes wrong, they cannot pin this original tragedy on us. Some might still try, including in a revisionist way later. But their numbers and timing dont add up, if that claim is made then its bogus.

 

[Mation]

Some more details, including timelines, from lead investigators' comments and the study registration: the phase I/II Oxford trial (COV001) involves random injection with the ChAdOx1 (chimp adenovirus based) nCoV-19 candidate vaccine or a control (actually a standard meningitis ACWY vaccine).

Initial candidates (two) were injected on Thursday. Another six will be injected today (Saturday). They are all monitored for the first 48 hours each. If ok, on Monday the main campaign begins and eventually around 1000 subjects will receive shots.

The earliest they could hope to be able to see any results is July. However if the national campaign to suppress transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is successful, obviously, ironically, this study could have to run till October (or even longer) in order to be able to see any effect the vaccine might be having as regards combatting infections in this cohort. Several months are also required to monitor subjects for adverse reactions, safety, tolerability, and degree and longevity of antibody production.

At any time, if the study appears futile, it could be terminated early.

If this phase shows promise then the next stage would be to carry out a further study abroad (Kenya has been suggested).

The study completion date is currently expected to be May 2021.

Why abroad?

 

[David Clapson]

BBC marking the 20,000 milestone

Yes, but every time they mention 20,000 or whatever the hospital death number is, they should say, in the next fucking clause, that the figure including deaths elsewhere is more than twice as big. Why don't the dickheads do it? It's not just the Beeb, it's all the media except the bleeding paywalled FT. Don't the other 25,000 dead people matter? Maybe a few more journalists' parents need to die.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Fks sake.

View attachment 208975

I am surprised they are only now moving to 7-days a week operation, ours made that move at the start of April, and was even operating on Good Friday & Easter Monday.

 

[andysays]

BBC marking the 20,000 milestone, since Vallance & co were stupid enough to keep using that number a while back. Even though it is freely acknowledged that we actually passed 20,000 deaths some time back, since various deaths are not included in that particular official number and it and the other ways to measure deaths are all subject to lag. At least that detail is mentioned in the article.

Coronavirus: The 'good outcome' that never was

The UK's official coronavirus death tally has passed 20,000. How can we grasp the scale of such a loss?

www.bbc.co.uk

I know some people here were worried that the government would blame the public if that number was exceeded, and I wasnt worried about that. Well, even if the lockdown goes a bit pearshaped now, the 20,000 number has been far exceeded within the period that can very much be pinned on the governments own timing, not our bad behaviour, so even if 'we' can be blamed for some proportion of later death or something else that goes wrong, they cannot pin this original tragedy on us. Some might still try, including in a revisionist way later. But their numbers and timing dont add up, if that claim is made then its bogus.

Also perhaps worth noting alongside passing the 20.000 mark that the official worldwide figure yesterday was given as 200,000 on the BBC website.

Obviously both of those figures are underestimates, but even I can see that it means the UK currently has one tenth of the official total worldwide figure of deaths.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

5' isn't that short.

A quick google says she's actually 4’10”, which is

 

[Mation]

A quick google says she's actually 4’10”, which is

Oh well that's all right then. Hahaha stupid her for being so undeniably short. How can anyone be expected to plan for having speakers whose height can be established by a quick Google?

 

[weepiper]

A quick google says she's actually 4’10”, which is

It's pretty normal for women to be under 5'2". Maybe you all need to adjust your internal bias.

 

[andysays]

Just as well you weren't setting up for Iggy, beesonthewhatnow



(yes, I know that's not his real height...)

 

[wayward bob]

Feminism and a world designed for men

Following on from JudithB 's thread again. Thanks to Poot for bringing up the subject of how the world is designed for men and and Winot for linking to this book Invisible Women Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez – Invisible Women It’s a smart strategy...

www.urban75.net

5' isn't that short.

was literally about to post same thread.

 

[Chilli.s]

The virus doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon and the unreliable gov.co figures don't fill me with any confidence that my chances of survival are any higher than last month. So I'm not lifting any personal lockdown even if I have to try to cope with neighbors gardeners and their interpretation of social distance.

Those poor healthcare workers, their unions and the LP should be starting discussions about payrises now.

Think I'll stay locked down till the pubs open again...

 

[zahir]

And yet, with what we already know, we can surmise that over 60,000 deaths in the UK is a realistic proposition. And, at this stage, it would be unwise to presume that would be the full extent of an epidemic that could easily bounce back if lockdown restrictions are eased.

What makes this a distinct possibility is the way the epidemic has been handled so far, with hospitals having become reservoirs of infection, with staff becoming infected and freely circulating in the community, unwittingly reseeding the population and keeping the epidemic going. Add to that the way the hospitals have passed on infection to care homes, these too have become reservoirs with their staff members also reseeding the population.

EU Referendum

eureferendum.com

 

[quimcunx]

Scotland should consider social and economic reform post-virus, Sturgeon says - The Courier

Scotland should “look seriously at social and economic reform” in its planning for recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

www.thecourier.co.uk

Nice to see this being said.

 

[killer b]

I think this story and this story in the graun today, taken together, are very bad news for the government. As discussed elsewhere, diligent observation of the lockdown is crumbling, but if a) the lockdown has yet to have a significant impact in the hospitalisation figures, and b) trust in the government is plummeting, it's difficult to know what the next steps are.

 

[2hats]

Why abroad?

Well for a start you would want to test the vaccine in numerous other populations (countries) to get as much data as possible. But I would imagine here they have prior, existing relationships with various government and health authorities in other countries where they have previously been involved in vaccination programmes, so those would potentially be fairly easy to spin up quickly.

 

[teqniq]

'Suggests'. Fucking useless.

 

[platinumsage]

I think this story and this story in the graun today, taken together, are very bad news for the government. As discussed elsewhere, diligent observation of the lockdown is crumbling, but if a) the lockdown has yet to have a significant impact in the hospitalisation figures, and b) trust in the government is plummeting, it's difficult to know what the next steps are.

I’m struggling to see how the word “plummets” applies to the graphs in that first article tbh.

 

[elbows]

They are probably only going on about port controls now because Sturgeon was piling pressure on them to have this side of things in the plan for the next stage.

 

[weltweit]

I think this story and this story in the graun today, taken together, are very bad news for the government. As discussed elsewhere, diligent observation of the lockdown is crumbling, but if a) the lockdown has yet to have a significant impact in the hospitalisation figures, and b) trust in the government is plummeting, it's difficult to know what the next steps are.

They are in a bit of a corner (gov) deaths and hospitalisations are still way too high to end the lockdown #1, we haven't supressed it in any significant way yet .. if they lifted lockdown now cases would I think rise quickly which would mean they would be looking at lockdown #2 which would not be popular ..

 

[Mation]

Well for a start you would want to test the vaccine in numerous other populations (countries) to get as much data as possible. But I would imagine here they have prior, existing relationships with various government and health authorities in other countries where they have previously been involved in vaccination programmes, so those would potentially be fairly easy to spin up quickly.

But why not here?

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I think this story and this story in the graun today, taken together, are very bad news for the government. As discussed elsewhere, diligent observation of the lockdown is crumbling, but if a) the lockdown has yet to have a significant impact in the hospitalisation figures, and b) trust in the government is plummeting, it's difficult to know what the next steps are.

It depends where the new infections are coming from. Are they a result of the crumbling lockdown, or are they a result of the ongoing failures of the testing and ppe regimes? Or a combination of both, and if so, what combination?

The next steps the govt needs to take have not changed now for more than a month. They desperately need to sort out ppe and hospital infection control in general, and, related to that because it's impossible to do without it, they need to sort out a test-trace-isolate regime.

I think a focus on the crumbling at the edges of lockdown is a distraction, tbh. Those countries that have seen infection rates drop - what is it they have done that the UK hasn't done? The answer is almost certainly to do with ppe, infection control and testing.

 

[editor]

Depressing. What kind of wanker does this to an ex partner?

The lockdown has caused a surge in the number of people contacting the UK's Revenge Porn Helpline - a government-funded service for adults experiencing intimate image abuse.

Traffic to the helpline's website nearly doubled in the week beginning 23 March and more cases were opened in the following four weeks than in any previous four-week period.

Clare McGlynn, professor of law at Durham University, attributes the rise in cases to "the increased use of the internet and social media, as well as heightened emotions" during lockdown.

Maya, 25, is one of those who has experienced intimate image abuse since the UK lockdown was announced, when nudes taken when she was a teenager were reposted online.

"Every time they come up, I get so worried about someone seeing them, and how that could actually impact my job as a teacher. Now I feel like I have to keep checking it all the time," she told the BBC.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-52424263?fbclid=IwAR0mrcST3Ofeiyh6YkCYsu7sWD8JhN9JY1MbTNeagY4fL9du9j0irHtQQck

 

[2hats]

But why not here?

A study started here (in Oxford, London, Southampton and Bristol) on Thursday just. Runs until May 2021.

 

[little_legs]