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Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

RT-PCR gives false negatives anyway but this would add to it.
And unless the virus shifts from the lungs to the throat in time, a second test wouldn't necessarily give the greater confidence levels a second negative would suggest.
 
I must say, I am utterly confused by what's going on atm with regards to a strategy, and also how to evaluate the situation for myself. Until quite recently, I had some ideas about the handling by the goverment (incompetence, evil, poor resourcing of the health service and other public services making a better response impossible, we were in deep shit and I better made sure that I stayed the fuck at home etc etc.) Today it's being reported that the Science and Technology committee levels at the government that "capacity drove strategy, rather than strategy driving capacity", and that rings very true for me from what I have seen.
But still, now I am even more "just what the hell are they playing at for this next phase?" Does the government just want to pretend it's gone away, with the allowance of a few more tests and occasional bits of PPE and social distancing amongst primary age children whatever that might look like, or do they actively want more infections to continue throughout the summer so that those people who have already had it won't get it in the autumn so that the shit won't hit the fan even more then than it will do anyway because they know they will still be woefully unprepared, or are they just as clueless as before..? I am completely at a loss now what to make of it all, and also feel I have no basis for any informed risk assessment for myself any more.

Eta: Just seen the Devi Sridhar article someone linked to, so I am glad I am not alone in my confusion!
 
Interview with Devi Sridhar


Still can’t get over how odd it is seeing stuff like this in the telegraph... I mean ‘I think here it just came to, probably, British arrogance - that we knew better than WHO’.

And again, the total reliance of this government on one of the most heavily centralised responses in the world.
 
Arse ...

My neighbour opposite asked me to help him with his bike and I found I couldn't refuse going inside his house :(

But they seem healthy enough ...

So I can't claim to be disease-free ...
 
Just heard a Mental Health Awareness type on the radio, quoting research that shows UK has the greatest FOGO (fear of going out / fear of returning to the outside world) of the countries studied.

No shit, maybe it's because most of us have zero confidence that people's lives* matter more than the economy/ wealth generation to the people telling us to get back out there :rolleyes:

("Peoples lives" meaning our own, but also & mainly people vulnerable due to age, underlying conditions, poverty, overcrowding... )
 
you wouldn't want to sit at the back of the bus where everyone else's exhalations would be driven by the air from the open windows.

Allbeit cases here are relatively low, I'm avoiding the bus for this reason. Well, I don't have much call to get on one anyway TBF. This is also a big concern regarding when I can next visit my dad, being as it normally involves trains and the tube.
 
It is startling how much we've managed to go from "we've had enough of experts" to "we're following the best (most amazing, absolutely best, so much scientific) advice"

Well they've realised they need to start shifting the blame. See the questions about early response to what unfolded in care homes. As zora mentions, it also now s being openly talked about that the scientific advice was tailored to the political situation. The political situation that has meant fuck all was done in preparing for this in January, the ignoring warnings from Operation Signus and so on. Which if true speaks of a wreking contaminated mess within SAGE.
 
Just seen on the news is passing that Jeremy Hunt is doing a bit of a mea culpa in regard to pandemic planning. Basically confirming what several people have been saying here which is that all the planning was for a flu epidemic and they'd not really prepared for a sars virus.

Hardly surprising news but at least its a tiny bit of acknowledgement.
 
The uncertainty and consternation caused by Covid-19 has pretty much left us defenseless and shown the ruling class as inadequate bagmen. It has revealed, to an extent, that we ARE all in it together. That ought to change the political landscape and the valuation put on teaching, nursing, refuse collection and so on. Inequality just looks more of a bad joke than ever to more people than for a long time.
 
Just seen on the news is passing that Jeremy Hunt is doing a bit of a mea culpa in regard to pandemic planning. Basically confirming what several people have been saying here which is that all the planning was for a flu epidemic and they'd not really prepared for a sars virus.

Hardly surprising news but at least its a tiny bit of acknowledgement.

Yeah but hunt is positioning himself for a potential backlash against the current leadership.
 
Just seen on the news is passing that Jeremy Hunt is doing a bit of a mea culpa in regard to pandemic planning. Basically confirming what several people have been saying here which is that all the planning was for a flu epidemic and they'd not really prepared for a sars virus.

Hardly surprising news but at least its a tiny bit of acknowledgement.

I've said before that I consider it to be a partial red herring though, because I think that their influenza planning would also have been a poor fit for a really bad influenza pandemic, and dont get me started on funding priorities over many years.
 
That must have been quite a row he had with the misses. Why the fuck else would you move from New Zealand, a country who seem quite on top of dealing with this, through the US and to the UK.
:facepalm:
Some sort of non-resident tax dodge ruse was the first thing that came to mind.
 
Does the government just want to pretend it's gone away, with the allowance of a few more tests and occasional bits of PPE and social distancing amongst primary age children whatever that might look like, or do they actively want more infections to continue throughout the summer so that those people who have already had it won't get it in the autumn so that the shit won't hit the fan even more then than it will do anyway because they know they will still be woefully unprepared,
My impression for what it's worth is they are pursuing both of those points above. A bit more protection and a bit more cases so the winter spike isn't quite as high
 
If you assume that two-thirds of them are the result of COVID actually killing the person and that the infection rate is 8%, you get a death rate of 0.67%.

that’s the problem with back of the envelope calcs. They give you a wide range of possible answers.
 
In that case, two-thirds feels a bit fruity. Make it half. So 50,000 deaths. Could be that 10% of the population has been infected, mind — who’s to say what the true figure is? That would make it 0.74%.

Anything in the region of 0.6%-1.2% continues to feel entirely appropriate. And it could comfortably be either side to that too.
 
It feels as if the govt , realising how badly they’ve fucked this up, and with nowhere else to go, are now relying on the public to demonstrate good old fashioned apathy and resignation, a smattering of Blitz spirit, a fall back position of chippyness, and boisterous rebelliousness in order to get people back to “normal”, with the virus sort of hanging around in the background.
 
My word I'm reassured by this, signing up for a couple of doses in the morning :thumbs:


Ministers are seeking 16m tablets in packets of up to 100 as part of a £35m contract put out to tender on Friday.

The drug is being tested by government scientists, health officials said. They are securing additional supplies so it can be distributed among the population if required.

We'll have to wait a while to confirm but this will likely be added to the list of faulty ppe equipment, non-working tests, ...

Buying 16 million tablets before they've been tested :rolleyes:
 
My word I'm reassured by this, signing up for a couple of doses in the morning :thumbs:




We'll have to wait a while to confirm but this will likely be added to the list of faulty ppe equipment, non-working tests, ...

Buying 16 million tablets before they've been tested :rolleyes:

I actually thought that results where it had been used in severe cases looked like it wasn't a goer as a potential treatment :confused:
 
My word I'm reassured by this, signing up for a couple of doses in the morning :thumbs:




We'll have to wait a while to confirm but this will likely be added to the list of faulty ppe equipment, non-working tests, ...

Buying 16 million tablets before they've been tested :rolleyes:
LOL, this country is getting chuddier by the day
 
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