Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

[Teaboy]

To the untrained eye, it does look as though the month of August took us from low fluctuating flat-lining to the "preconditions got take-off". The Sunak legacy?

Holiday season will absolutely play a big role as well.

 

[xenon]

That's the crematiorium where we had my mum's funeral - it looks a bit different there now.
I don't recall anyone there being anything other than respectful then, so I'd guess they were just trying to get everything right.

I hope they do change the rules for funerals - if six people from different households are allowed to sit next to each other in a pub, it seems particularly cruel that two or three family members from different households can't sit closer than 2m at a funeral. (if indeed those are rules, and not insensitively interpreted 'guidance').

This is very much a er, live issue, for me as I'm sad to say my dad passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning.

It's going to be particularly shit if I can't sit next to my sister. Which is what the crem, Croydon in this case, information suggests. Mourners must wear masks and stay 2M apart for the duration of the service.

 

[brogdale]

Goodall picking up on the rise in those on ventilators:

 

[Ms Ordinary]

This is very much a er, live issue, for me as I'm sad to say my dad passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning.

It's going to be particularly shit if I can't sit next to my sister. Which is what the crem, Croydon in this case, information suggests. Mourners must wear masks and stay 2M apart for the duration of the service.

So sorry to hear that your dad has passed away, Xenon.

Looking closer at the Rule of six guidance (& see cupid_stunt's post above) it does seem like crematoriums are enforcing more social distancing than they are actually required to. I can only hope that that the publicity given to the case above, means they decide they can interpret it more sensitively after all.

Exemptions include cases where a single household or support bubble is larger than six people. The rule also does not apply to gatherings for work or education purposes, and to other gatherings including weddings, funerals, and team sports organised in a COVID-19 secure way.

Venues following COVID-19 secure guidelines – such as places of worships, gyms, restaurants and other hospitality venues – can still hold more than six people in total. But within those venues, there must not be individual groups larger than six, and groups must not mix socially or form larger groups.

 

[elbows]

Admissions went up by a fair leap too:

The number of people admitted to hospital with coronavirus has jumped by a quarter in England in a day.

There were 478 people admitted to hospital on Sunday - the largest daily figure since early June - up from 386.

More than two-thirds of the new admissions in England (334) were in the North West, North East and Yorkshire, according to the government's coronavirus dashboard.

Covid hospital cases jump nearly 25% in England

There were 478 people admitted to hospital on Sunday - the largest daily figure since early June.

www.bbc.co.uk

By the way I dont think the admissions number are literally the number of Covid patients that were admitted on a particular day, for several reasons including that the number includes people who werent already confirmed positive when admitted but tested positive later.

To quote from an NHS document:

Worked example: the estimated admissions figure for 10 Sept is calculated by adding admissions collected on 11 Sept (because they are admissions that took place on 10 Sept) to diagnoses collected on 12 Sept (because diagnoses reported on 12 Sept took place on 11 Sept and we assume the all diagnoses on 11 Sept relate to admission that took place the previous day, i.e. on 10 Sept).

In fact they are aware that the assumption that all diagnoses on a particular day relate to admissions that took place the previous day is not actually safe, there is a longer lag between admission and diagnosis at times, very much including times where the person caught it while in hospital. So they try to make the picture clearer bu also offering some other data but the differences are pretty tedious so I dont go on about these alternative figures much. But here is the relevant NHS webpage anyway. Statistics » COVID-19 Hospital Activity

 

[elbows]

Oh and this is a graph showing the regional hospital picture for England since the start of June. Its Covid-19 patient numbers in hospital, not admissions per day, because I havent had a chance to update my admissions graph yet.

 

[elbows]

Quick stab at an admissions by region of England graph turned out a bit messy but I ran out of time to do any better so here it is. Again, only shows from June onwards. Also colours are not mapped to the same regions that they were in the previous graphs, sorry.

 

[elbows]

Remdesivir rationing:

Global shortage of key Covid drug leads to NHS rationing

Pressure mounts on manufacturer to allow other companies to supply remdesivir

www.theguardian.com

Dr Andrew Hill, senior visiting research fellow at Liverpool University, said the crisis was predicted in June, when the US secured all production of the drug until October. He had heard, he said, that some UK hospitals were down to their last few doses of the drug. Others were figuring out how to ration it, for instance by giving fewer than five doses if a patient seemed to be doing well.

 

[frogwoman]

Scientists call for Covid herd immunity strategy for young

Critics describe proposal to isolate vulnerable, disabled and older people as ‘grotesque’

www.theguardian.com

Somewhat irresponsible reporting by the guardian here

 

[elbows]

Scientists call for Covid herd immunity strategy for young

Critics describe proposal to isolate vulnerable, disabled and older people as ‘grotesque’

www.theguardian.com

Somewhat irresponsible reporting by the guardian here

Whats wrong with the article? It spends most of its time quoting people who are pissing on the foul ideas of the dangerous pandemic clowns.

For example:

William Hanage, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard, said the declaration seemed to be attacking a position of mass, ongoing lockdowns that nobody was taking. “After pointing out, correctly, the indirect damage caused by the pandemic, they respond that the answer is to increase the direct damage caused by it,” he said.

Work by Hanage and others suggests that Covid becomes more lethal than flu from the mid-30s and climbs exponentially from there, meaning that great swathes of the population, who are not in nursing homes, would need protecting. “Stating that you can keep the virus out of places by testing at a time when the White House has an apparently ongoing outbreak should illustrate how likely that is,” he said.

Tweeting in response to the declaration, Gregg Gonsalves, an epidemiologist at Yale University, said shutdowns and other interventions would have to happen to get rates of infection down. With nearly half of the population having some underlying health risk for Covid-19, he said herd immunity strategies “are about culling the herd of the sick and disabled. It’s grotesque.”

The headline doesnt begin to do the story justice but I'm used to that.

 

[frogwoman]

Whats wrong with the article? It spends most of its time quoting people who are pissing on the foul ideas of the dangerous pandemic clowns.

For example:







The headline doesnt begin to do the story justice but I'm used to that.

On the guardian front page it says 'Scientists call for herd immunity strategy for young' and the opening para gives the impression their ideas have credibility outside a fringe, whereas in fact it's just Gupta and a few others

 

[elbows]

Only 17 votes against the rule of 6 etc in the end:

Coronavirus: 'Rule of six' doesn't make sense, say rebel Tory MPs

The government wins a vote to keep the restriction in England despite rebels clashing with a minister.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[elbows]

On the guardian front page it says 'Scientists call for herd immunity strategy for young' and the opening para gives the impression their ideas have credibility outside a fringe, whereas in fact it's just Gupta and a few others

I shall be keeping an eye on signatories of the 'Great Barrington Declaration'.

Great Barrington Declaration and Petition

As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection

gbdeclaration.org

Most of what else I could say is probably redundant at this point. Fuckwits.

 

[elbows]

There are warnings that my town might end up with extra restrictions.

And I have noticed a trend towards more public health officials conceding that pubs and restaurants are implicated in some infections.

Rapid rise of coronavirus cases could lead to mini local lockdown

Health bosses say the borough could become an 'area of concern'

www.coventrytelegraph.net

"Household transmission has been identified as the main cause of the increase in cases in the borough, so keeping to the rule of six is essential," she said.

"We have also seen an increase in cases in people visiting public houses and restaurants and we have been working closely with local businesses to ensure that people visiting the premises are adhering to the rules.

 

[frogwoman]

3000 people now in hospital

 

[Oula]

This is very much a er, live issue, for me as I'm sad to say my dad passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning.

It's going to be particularly shit if I can't sit next to my sister. Which is what the crem, Croydon in this case, information suggests. Mourners must wear masks and stay 2M apart for the duration of the service.

So sorry to hear this xenon. I hope you are able to sit together and support each other.

 

[Supine]

On the subject of funerals try to be careful. At my aunties funeral last month everyone seemed fine but 8 people out of 17 came down with bad colds within a couple of days. Luckily is wasn't covid but the event was definately a superspreader event.

 

[elbows]

3000 people now in hospital

The official number is still below 3000 unless I missed something, but in terms of actual current reality at this moment, as in actual reality not just that which we've deduced via testing and added to the data, it may well be over 3000.

Meanwhile, oh shit:

Patients' access to vital NHS tests delayed by warehouse failure

Covid swabs and key tests for cancer could be unavailable after problems at diagnostics firm Roche.

www.bbc.co.uk

Coronavirus swabs and other key NHS tests are under threat after a supply chain failure at a major diagnostics company.

Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche said problems during a move to a new warehouse had caused a "very significant drop" in its processing capacity.

A spokesperson said Covid-19 tests would be prioritised.

One NHS trust has already advised its GPs to stop all non-urgent blood tests.

 

[elbows]

In a letter sent to NHS trusts, seen by the BBC, Roche said: "In September we moved from our old warehouse to a new automated warehouse capable of much higher volumes.

"However, during the transition we encountered some unforeseen issues and a very significant drop in our processing capacity. Since then we have worked around the clock to prioritise and manage orders as well as increase this capacity".

The letter went on to advise local NHS services to "activate [their] local contingency plans" and "look to prioritise essential services only".

It wasnt capable of higher volumes then was it. Automated clusterfuck.

 

[William of Walworth]

This is very much a er, live issue, for me as I'm sad to say my dad passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning.

It's going to be particularly shit if I can't sit next to my sister. Which is what the crem, Croydon in this case, information suggests. Mourners must wear masks and stay 2M apart for the duration of the service.

Biggest sympathies xenon !

 

[Mation]

This is very much a er, live issue, for me as I'm sad to say my dad passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning.

It's going to be particularly shit if I can't sit next to my sister. Which is what the crem, Croydon in this case, information suggests. Mourners must wear masks and stay 2M apart for the duration of the service.

Sorry for your loss, xenon. It must be especially hard, now. I hope you're able to do what you need to, to get through the funeral. x

 

[frogwoman]

This is very much a er, live issue, for me as I'm sad to say my dad passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning.

It's going to be particularly shit if I can't sit next to my sister. Which is what the crem, Croydon in this case, information suggests. Mourners must wear masks and stay 2M apart for the duration of the service.

I'm so sorry

 

[miss direct]

I'm really sorry xenon
At my Dad's funeral in August, there was a limit on numbers and masks had to be worn unless you were speaking, but no enforced distancing. How are they to know who's in your household? I hope they are understanding given the circumstances. Funerals are hard enough.

 

[elbows]

On the guardian front page it says 'Scientists call for herd immunity strategy for young' and the opening para gives the impression their ideas have credibility outside a fringe, whereas in fact it's just Gupta and a few others

Oh you should see what the Daily Mail have done with it on their front page. The pandemic clowns have been elevated to worlds top scientists.


From Newspaper headlines: Let life 'return to normal' and lockdown 'row'

 

[frogwoman]

The official number is still below 3000 unless I missed something, but in terms of actual current reality at this moment, as in actual reality not just that which we've deduced via testing and added to the data, it may well be over 3000.

Meanwhile, oh shit:

Patients' access to vital NHS tests delayed by warehouse failure

Covid swabs and key tests for cancer could be unavailable after problems at diagnostics firm Roche.

www.bbc.co.uk

Sorry, yes, I think that the post I saw was someone who had approximated it. The number I saw quoted in the guardian was 2783.

 

[xenon]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

This year has been stressful, like for many others I know, worrying how social care would continue, regarding staff off sick potential short staffedness (SP) re coronavirus.

Won't go into details here but it wasn't covid he died of FWIW. But he would have been highly vunrible to it anyway, had he got it.

 

[elbows]

I was very sorry to hear of your loss.

 

[Wilf]

This is very much a er, live issue, for me as I'm sad to say my dad passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning.

It's going to be particularly shit if I can't sit next to my sister. Which is what the crem, Croydon in this case, information suggests. Mourners must wear masks and stay 2M apart for the duration of the service.

So sorry to hear your bad news Xenon. That's an awful thing to cope with at the best of times, but this makes it so much worse. My Mum died in May and nobody was that sure about the funeral regs for mourners. I hope that at least runs as smoothly as it can for you and your family.

 

[Wilf]

I'm really sorry xenon
At my Dad's funeral in August, there was a limit on numbers and masks had to be worn unless you were speaking, but no enforced distancing. How are they to know who's in your household? I hope they are understanding given the circumstances. Funerals are hard enough.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss too miss direct Hope you are coping as well as can be.

 

[xenon]

I'm really sorry xenon
At my Dad's funeral in August, there was a limit on numbers and masks had to be worn unless you were speaking, but no enforced distancing. How are they to know who's in your household? I hope they are understanding given the circumstances. Funerals are hard enough.

Thank you. And sorry, yes and condolences to you too miss direct. I've seen some of your posts regarding having to move back to the UK but missed this bit. Hope you're doing OK yourself.