Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

[existentialist]

Many years ago Gove wrote an article about Frank Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life'. He claimed he hated the friendly small-town Bedford Falls but loved the cruel, corrupt alternative world of Pottersville because the latter had potential for change and growth.

That man clearly has some unresolved issues...

 

[Doodler]

That man clearly has some unresolved issues...

I bet Gove has practised this speech in front of the bathroom mirror.

 

[existentialist]

I bet Gove has practised this speech in front of the bathroom mirror.

Yup. I imagine he ended up with the face he's got as a result of spending hours getting "Cuckoo" just so.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Still early days, so no guarantees that the trials will give us the results we are all hoping for, but this seems some positive news on the Oxford vaccine. If it is proven to work, there could be 30 million doses available in the UK by September.

Oxford scientists believe they have made a breakthrough in their quest for a Covid-19 vaccine after discovering that the jab triggers a response that may offer a "double defence" against the virus.

Phase I human trials of the world-leading Oxford vaccine have shown that it generates an immune response against the disease. Blood samples taken from a group of UK volunteers given a dose of the vaccine showed that it stimulated the body to produce both antibodies and ‘killer T-cells’, a senior source said.

The discovery is promising because separate studies have suggested that antibodies may fade away within months while T-cells can stay in circulation for years.

How far away is a coronavirus vaccine? Latest news on UK and US trials

Latest news on the search for a vaccine against the new coronavirus

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[littlebabyjesus]

That man clearly has some unresolved issues...

He fancied himself as a daring iconoclast and "wit" in his youth. It's all pretty painful to watch.

 

[elbows]

Finally:

The government is to publish postcode-level data of how many people have tested positive for coronavirus.

The public will be able to use the data and an interactive map to look at figures for their area, although homes of individuals with Covid-19 will not be identifiable from the data.

The figures, for England, will be published weekly at first with the aim of updating them daily.

Public health professionals across each region will also be given positive test data and contact tracing figures every day.

from 14:51 of BBC live updates page https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-53426297

 

[Smangus]

Finally:



from 14:51 of BBC live updates page https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-53426297

Lets see how this affects house prices

 

[weltweit]

My camera club are talking about face to face meets in September. If things haven't significantly improved from now there is no way I will be attending. The virus is still out there and I don't want to infect others or be infected.

 

[brogdale]

Apologies for (possibly?) being a bit late to this story, but I've just been made aware of how difficult it is to access Covid testing. My eldest's partner, (vulnerable person) attempted to get a Covid test today after running a temperature. My boy followed the advice and went online but their request was rejected. He then rang the helpline and was informed that TransUnion could not verify that they existed (they have no credit or credit card) and therefore can't be given a test. For those not willing or able to present a credit history, the option of a drive through test is suggested. Like a lot of people without a credit history, I'm sure, they have no car.

I know I shouldn't't be surprised, but really? No credit history, no testing. What could go wrong?

Government Silent On Involving Credit Firm in COVID-19 Testing

Stephen Delahunty reports on concerns about credit agencies being used by health bodies when processing patient data.

bylinetimes.com

 

[Cloo]

I always feel regarding vaccines that we know nothing without context - I mean, if Vaccine 53 is looking really positive at stage D, that's great if 95% of vaccines that work at Stage D turn out to be effective, but not so good if 95% of vaccines fail at Stage E and seeing as I have no idea about that I can't really tell what any of it means.

 

[zahir]

Apologies for (possibly?) being a bit late to this story, but I've just been made aware of how difficult it is to access Covid testing. My eldest's partner, (vulnerable person) attempted to get a Covid test today after running a temperature. My boy followed the advice and went online but their request was rejected. He then rang the helpline and was informed that TransUnion could not verify that they existed (they have no credit or credit card) and therefore can't be given a test. For those not willing or able to present a credit history, the option of a drive through test is suggested. Like a lot of people without a credit history, I'm sure, they have no car.

I know I shouldn't't be surprised, but really? No credit history, no testing. What could go wrong?

Government Silent On Involving Credit Firm in COVID-19 Testing

Stephen Delahunty reports on concerns about credit agencies being used by health bodies when processing patient data.

bylinetimes.com

View attachment 222568

There are some walk-in testing centres but I’m not sure how widespread they are. I went to one and I can confirm there was no mention of credit checking.

I’ve seen the issue mentioned before on twitter, by a Brazilian in London (I think) who was struggling to arrange a test for an increasingly ill friend, the kind of demographic that you might expect not to have a credit history and not to have a car.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Finally:



from 14:51 of BBC live updates page https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-53426297

I wonder if its this one because its apparently not showing cases with 1-2 people affected which must surely mean its not showing a fair bit?

ArcGIS Web Application

phe.maps.arcgis.com

 

[brogdale]

There are some walk-in testing centres but I’m not sure how widespread they are. I went to one and I can confirm there was no mention of credit checking.

I’ve seen the issue mentioned before on twitter, by a Brazilian in London (I think) who was struggling to arrange a test for an increasingly ill friend, the kind of demographic that you might expect not to have a credit history and not to have a car.

Yeah, AFAIK, no walk-in option was offered.
It sounds like a system that was simultaneously designed to exclude marginalised demographics whilst data harvesting from the rest.

 

[zahir]

It also sounds like it would exclude anyone visiting the country and getting symptoms from being tested. Unless they were willing to hire a car.

 

[Supine]

I always feel regarding vaccines that we know nothing without context - I mean, if Vaccine 53 is looking really positive at stage D, that's great if 95% of vaccines that work at Stage D turn out to be effective, but not so good if 95% of vaccines fail at Stage E and seeing as I have no idea about that I can't really tell what any of it means.

There is no easy answer to that. The old adage I remember is that 1 in 10,000 active ingredients discovered make it to commercial product. There is some data around historical results but I’m not sure about for vaccines in particular.

Here is a chart by disease grouping but vaccines are a different kettle of fish.

 

[brogdale]

None of this makes any public health sense; it only stacks up if you start to think like a neoliberal, consolidator state and see every crisis as an opportunity to outsource and monetise.

 

[zahir]

I wonder if a last resort for getting a home test would be to order it in someone else’s name.

 

[brogdale]

I wonder if a last resort for getting a home test would be to order it in someone else’s name.

There is that; in Tory Covid Britain to get a test you have to persuade someone else with a credit history to give over their data to a US corp.

 

[brogdale]

Anyways...as of...she's not got a test &, being overly honest, the boy has told his employers so he's now off losing pay.

Feels like I'm going to have to step in to help and I really resent having to do that with grown adults.

 

[zahir]

Their main concern is probably to ensure they get a confirmed identity for contact tracing. I had to show ID at the walk-in centre but obviously that can’t happen with a home test. Hence the credit checking nonsense.

 

[brogdale]

Their main concern is probably to ensure they get a confirmed identity for contact tracing. I had to show ID at the walk-in centre but obviously that can’t happen with a home test. Hence the credit checking nonsense.

Incidentally, what ID do they accept at the drive through...assuming I can get them to one?

 

[brogdale]

Yeah, credit checking fucking nonsense; FFS the state know who she is; they send her her PIP & ESA every month....arghhh.

 

[zahir]

Incidentally, what ID do they accept at the drive through...assuming I can get them to one?

I showed a passport. No doubt a driving license would do, but presumably that doesn’t help. If she doesn’t have a passport you might need to phone them to check what ID is needed. Of course while you’re all trying to sort this out the timing of the test remains critical. It’s supposed to be done within the first five days of symptoms. If it’s done later a negative result can’t be relied on.

i don’t know what the rules are on driving someone else to a drive through centre. You might need to check on this as well.

 

[brogdale]

I showed a passport. No doubt a driving license would do, but presumably that doesn’t help. If she doesn’t have a passport you might need to phone them to check what ID is needed. Of course while you’re all trying to sort this out the timing of the test remains critical. It’s supposed to be done within the first five days of symptoms. If it’s done later a negative result can’t be relied on.

i don’t know what the rules are on driving someone else to a drive through centre. You might need to check on this as well.

Thanks; clusterfuck, innit?

 

[LDC]

Thanks; clusterfuck, innit?

I know loads of people that have had tests brogdale (both drive through and walk-in) and none have had that problem or mentioned anything approaching it. Seems quite odd, I'll ask about and see what's going on.

 

[brogdale]

I know loads of people that have had tests brogdale (both drive through and walk-in) and none have had that problem or mentioned anything approaching it. Seems quite odd, I'll ask about and see what's going on.

What seems, perhaps naively, odd to me is that faced with the need to scale up mass testing for its citizens, the tories decide to outsource the ‘gatekeeping’ to a Goldman owned, US credit rating agency.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I showed a passport. No doubt a driving license would do, but presumably that doesn’t help.

I got ID'ed at the supermarket the other day (I am 34) and the driving licence I showed could have been anyone's because I was wearing a mask

 

[cupid_stunt]

If only the bloody government had listened.

The UK's chief scientific adviser has said the government was urged to impose full lockdown measures around a week earlier than they were introduced, as he admitted the country's coronavirus outcome has "not been good".

Sir Patrick insisted the experts realised "we were further ahead in the epidemic than had been thought" in mid-March as soon as the data was available. He said SAGE's modelling sub-group saw at that point that the number of days over which COVID-19 cases were doubling had gone down to three.

"That's when the advice that SAGE issued was the remainder of the [lockdown] measures should be introduced as soon as possible," he said. "That advice, I think, was given on the 18th of March or the 16th of March." Full lockdown measures were not imposed in the UK until 23 March.

Worth reading the full report, including his thoughts on possible future waves.

Coronavirus: SAGE urged government to lockdown a week earlier, UK's chief scientific adviser says

"There will be decisions made that will turn out not to be the right decision at the time," Sir Patrick Vallance says.

news.sky.com

 

[brogdale]

Maybe the people getting tests sent to them have basically all ‘passed’ the credit check run by TransUnion and, in the process become the crop of the data harvesting?

 

[SpookyFrank]

What seems, perhaps naively, odd to me is that faced with the need to scale up mass testing for its citizens, the tories decide to outsource the ‘gatekeeping’ to a Goldman owned, US credit rating agency.

There's a similar system for applying for UC online only they give you a range of possible ID check providers. Well, they let me choose from two; of which neither thought I existed but which now probably have enough data about me to spoof my identity