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Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

Does the Abbott test data from private tests get recorded on a central database anywhere? So would it be included in '5% of people had it' type headlines?

TDL are processing the superdrug tests so pretty sure their test data will be sent to PHE and therefore included in any stats.

Not sure that all private labs would have to submit that data. Any lab with any scruples should want to!

In terms of COVID being notifiable that generally doesn't cover positive IgG antibodies for the notifiable infectious microorganism however given the novel nature of COVID that might be different!
 
I mean, even in the poisonous band of brothers that makes up the gov, it's jaw dropping that there is so much effort put into protecting him, over the continuing care of the country as a whole, with so much loss suffered already.
It's like the flip of a coin, in how we manage it, when the cause is now wholly driven by the protection of one, scummy individual.
 
The cynic in me speculates that the government won't be too unhappy at the Cummings shitshow.

  • It distracts
  • Individualises
  • ...and if it helps nudge people into collapsing the lockdown, well, ££££, without the government having to explicitly be responsible for lifting it.
The less cynical side of me thinks they just fucked up cos arrogance.
 
I mean, even in the poisonous band of brothers that makes up the gov, it's jaw dropping that there is so much effort put into protecting him, over the continuing care of the country as a whole, with so much loss suffered already.
It's like the flip of a coin, in how we manage it, when the cause is now wholly driven by the protection of one, scummy individual.

The reason he's being protected is that he's our defacto prime minister. Boris is just the chimp who does the podium bits.
 
Ministers are rallying around Dominic Cummings and it's clear the PM does not want to lose a trusted adviser with whom he first worked closely on the Vote Leave campaign.

The hope is that this will be seen as a "Westminster bubble" story and that the bubble will soon burst. Also, after a U-turn on the NHS surcharge for migrants this week, No 10 will not want to look as though it is on the run.

But this is an issue that has resonance way beyond Westminster.

Other parents will have been sick during the pandemic and stuck to what they thought were the guidelines to self isolate for up to 14 days.

So, the danger for the government isn’t just the prospect of political attacks from opponents.

It is the perception the rules that apply in your street don't apply to Downing Street. And if No 10 are interpreting the guidelines flexibly enough to allow people with Covid symptoms to travel substantial distances to isolate away from their principal residence, the wider public may follow suit.

That may, in turn, make the government's task of pushing the reproduction rate of the virus down all the more difficult.

From the BBC live updates page, which also recently shows some of the sacrifices people have made.

Oh and the SNP's Westminster leader:

Dominic Cummings should be sacked by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for travelling almost 260 miles to be near family members during lockdown, says the Scottish National Party's Westminster leader Ian Blackford.

"It is quite shocking. We've had no acceptance that what he did was wrong," Blackford told the BBC News Channel.

"It is obvious this is a journey which was unnecessary and has put at risk the whole public messaging that the UK government has delivered over the past few weeks.

"He should have resigned by now. There is no real defence and Dominic Cummings should be sacked by the prime minister."

 
On another note, just had a little look how things are going in Germany, and posting this here because I guess experiences are pertinent to UK emerging from lockdown. Quick google and two headlines of the day: 7 infected after restaurant visit in the north of Germany, now 50 contact persons in quarantine and rising as more potential contacts are attempted to be notifed and isolated. 40 people infected after a religious service in Frankfurt. Both the restaurant and the church claim that distancing and hygiene rules were followed, which I guess, they would say and it might not be true. But it might be true, and it might just go to show how massive a role aerosol transmission does play, and that just distancing to minimise droplet infection and hand-hygiene to minimise contact transmission (which in my understanding is a fairly low risk anyway) does precious little in enclosed spaces. :(

My brother-in-law's son works on the phones for one of the big banks, not sure which one. He's been classed as an essential worker and been working throughout in socially distanced offices with protocols in place for hand washing and all that stuff. He's just had to get tested after someone in his office got it, he's negative but it turned out 6 people had it. On a related note I got a note through the door this morning from the bus garage at the end of the road warning of disruption this week due to a procession for two bus driver's who've died.

I suspect that whilst we've all been crossing the street to avoid each other and washing our groceries the main, if not more or less the only route of transmission between households has been the workplace, including care homes and hospitals.
 
I suspect that whilst we've all been crossing the street to avoid each other and washing our groceries the main, if not more or less the only route of transmission between households has been the workplace, including care homes and hospitals.
Oh absolutely. We know it spreads much more easily from lengthy close proximity in areas with restricted airflow. Where are the most common instances of that? Commuting, workplaces, schools, just like any other similar virus. Once those were closed down or at least restricted, oh look we get a hugely reduced incidence rate, but apparently that was just because of proper self-discipline or something and it's now vanished so we can all get on the tube again and it's fine and the R rate will definitely not go up again no sir.

ETA: it was always a basically unhealthy setup that regularly spread viruses from one corner of London to another in a day - my kid got it from someone at school, I got it from my kid, I travelled in to work, you got it from me, you gave it to your kid, your kid gave it to other kids at their school - but it was just treated as "one of those things". Not such a joke now.
 
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The new testimony suggests Cummings left the home where he was staying in Durham to visit a town 30 miles away. He was allegedly spotted back in Durham on 19 April, days after he was photographed in London having recovered from the virus.

:D
 
New funding for local authorities to support test and trace.


Hmm... total of 343 in England (there’s additional allocation to devolved regions). So average £875,000ish. I mean clearly I have no idea how it will be allocated, what role LA’s will play etc. But that’s a grand total of 6 failed garden bridges.
 
This is just grimmer than grim (the Cummings debacle). I can't even watch the actual press conference (to protect the old blood pressure), just been reading updates on the other thread. Apart from the general cuntishness, and apart from what this might mean for people's feelings about lockdown rules more widely, it seems to trash any hope of successful contact tracing and isolating. I read an article the other day about some retired doctors who attempted this and who reported how difficult it was to get people to quarantine. How are you going to explain this now, especially to the many people who had contact with a person with the virus who would have to go into preemptive quarantine for 14 days without being symptomatic themselves. :(
 
what was the gist of the update today(not the cummings stuff)? Will the restrictions be eased and if so how?

Apologies but I've said it before and will say it again, I've a terrible attention span.
 
This is just grimmer than grim (the Cummings debacle). I can't even watch the actual press conference (to protect the old blood pressure), just been reading updates on the other thread. Apart from the general cuntishness, and apart from what this might mean for people's feelings about lockdown rules more widely, it seems to trash any hope of successful contact tracing and isolating. I read an article the other day about some retired doctors who attempted this and who reported how difficult it was to get people to quarantine. How are you going to explain this now, especially to the many people who had contact with a person with the virus who would have to go into preemptive quarantine for 14 days without being symptomatic themselves. :(

I know, I'm FUMING. Nobody says whether they're talking about the reporter or Johnson's reply on that thread. I have no idea who said what. Very poor :mad:
 
Small and mostly unimportant stats nerd update, just a little something I only just noticed.

For a very long time the data for hospital deaths in England around the end of March was obviously wrong. The drop on the 31st never showed up in ONS etc figures and its pretty obvious that its incorrect. And what I noticed is that they finally fixed this issue on May 21st.

May 20th:

Screenshot 2020-05-24 at 22.13.18.png

May 21st:

Screenshot 2020-05-24 at 22.14.04.png

From NHS England daily deaths data at Statistics » COVID-19 Daily Deaths
 
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