Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

[cupid_stunt]

Cos many people will come down with it, and will need to get tested

The current testing capacity is over 526k, and only 265k tests carried out were reported yesterday, so there's plenty of capacity ATM.

 

[Thora]

Even if you're negative on the day of the test during the incubation period, you could still become positive later, so you don't particularly gain anything from a negative.

 

[Orang Utan]

I’m very very reluctant I have to say. Official advice is not to, so I won’t

 

[editor]

So rehearsal rooms and studios can stay open

 

[IC3D]

it isn't. We'd literally only just brought staff back off furlough about 3 weeks ago from the first lockdown. It takes a long time for demand to bounce back

Its a lot of time off for a 4 week partial lockdown

 

[elbows]

I didn't think there was any conclusive proof about having it giving any immunity either.

A view from the frontlines that is well worth reading for those who havent spotted it because its in a different subforum: #1,579

 

[Helen Back]

So - lockdown 2.0 is here. How are the streets round where you live? Any different? Any quieter? Are people respecting it this time round?
Ipswich here. I have been out myself but Mr Back has and says the town centre is not as empty as it should be.

 

[elbows]

Its a lot of time off for a 4 week partial lockdown

It would be absolutely fucking stupid not to have extended the furlough for that length of time. Everyone knows that the period of increased danger doesnt pass till spring and as others have pointed out, there is a big difference between lockdown formally ending and customers returning in sufficient numbers. Get the timing wrong and employers equations will change, leading to lots more unemployed people more quickly than will be the case with an extended furlough.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

So - lockdown 2.0 is here. How are the streets round where you live? Any different? Any quieter? Are people respecting it this time round?
Ipswich here. I have been out myself but Mr Back has and says the town centre is not as empty as it should be.

My town's much busier than during lockdown 1, but quieter than of late, but the local schools partnership has an inset day for all primary & junior schools in the area, so tomorrow will give a more realistic picture.

 

[Steel Icarus]

So rehearsal rooms and studios can stay open

What's the justification here?

 

[Steel Icarus]

Downing Street press briefing at 5 pm today.

Or 6. Or 6.35. Or 7.10...

 

[scifisam]

Does getting the test really make any difference if you're isolating for 14 days anyway?

I didn't think there was any conclusive proof about having it giving any immunity either.

If you test positive without symptoms then you're supposed to isolate from the date you took the test.

I think the consensus is that it's extremely unlikely that you can catch it twice.

Covid immunity: Can you catch it twice?

Immunity is the crucial question and understanding it will tell us how the pandemic will end.

www.bbc.co.uk

There were early reports of people appearing to have multiple coronavirus infections in a short space of time.
But the scientific consensus is that testing was the issue, with patients being incorrectly told they were free of the virus.
Scientists from Hong Kong recently reported on the case of a young, healthy man who recovered from a bout of Covid-19 only to be re-infected more than four months later. Using genome sequencing of the virus, they could prove he caught it twice because the virus strains were different.

Experts say re-infection isn't surprising, but it's likely to be rare, and larger studies are needed to understand why this might happen.

This other article is more circumspect, but still comes down on the side of extremely unlikely to contract it twice.

Why scientists are still divided on immunity to Covid-19 - and what the NHS says

Matt Hancock said in September that 'credible' cases of coronavirus reinfection were being investigated by scientists

inews.co.uk

The uncertainty is because we can't be sure about anything, really, but it doesn't seem likely at all. Also, if you can catch it multiple times, then why bother developing a vaccine?

I wouldn't assume you're completely safe, and I'm still going to wear a mask and so on, especially since the risk seems to be being asymptomatic (therefore able to pass it on), rather than actually getting ill. But what I said to OU was that there is "much less risk." That's definitely true.

 

[Teaboy]

Cos there’s going to be another spike in Leeds soon if this pic from last night is owt to go by:
View attachment 237457

That's basically the same scene that I see every day at 3pm at the local primary school across the way. As a country we gave up on distancing some months ago. At least they are outside.

It'll also be the same scene at every supermarket queue that has one, certainly was yesterday.

Board needs to chill out about this sort of stuff. Its the stuff you don't see which is the real problem, the stuff going on behind closed doors.

 

[Teaboy]

Downing Street press briefing at 5 pm today.

The usual process is to end up having to do something which was obvious weeks ago.

Schools and Uni's? More likely just some waffle about extending furlough.

 

[killer b]

Its a lot of time off for a 4 week partial lockdown

the original lockdown was only supposed to be for three weeks, the original furlough period was for three months, so it's in line with the spring scheme. I don't think you can necessarily read anything into the length of time the scheme is initially running for, although it's obvious lockdown may need to be intensified or extended this time, same as it was then.

 

[scifisam]

Even if you're negative on the day of the test during the incubation period, you could still become positive later, so you don't particularly gain anything from a negative.

Well, you're not going to become positive from that particular exposure, if you isolate. You could still develop symptoms or be exposed another time, and that's when you'd get another test.

 

[IC3D]

Everyone knows that the period of increased danger doesnt pass till spring

Do you mean increased respiratory illness in general or c19 as I was under the impression its not a seasonal virus at all.

 

[killer b]

What's the justification here?

it's a place of work that can't be done from home I suppose.

 

[elbows]

I think the consensus is that it's extremely unlikely that you can catch it twice.

No, I do not in any way support the idea that there is a real consensus behind that issue. In part because its on the list of things that would be very inconvenient, and every step of the way authorities have resisted inconvenient pandemic truths. The quantity and role of asymptomatic cases and spread, the ability of children to spread the virus, the benefit of masks for the public are other examples.

Which is not to say that I have fixed negative expectations about what the full immunity picture is really like. I will have a better idea at some point, but now is still too soon.

And certainly have a look at the post I linked to earlier #1,579

 

[sojourner]

And the one announced on Saturday was too late for everyone made redundant at the end of October's furlough, their redundancies were processed and can't be reversed...

Says on the BBC article - As part of the revised scheme, anyone made redundant after 23 September can be rehired and put back on furlough.

Whether that will actually happen or not...

 

[elbows]

The usual process is to end up having to do something which was obvious weeks ago.

Schools and Uni's? More likely just some waffle about extending furlough.

Probably furlough and in any case I would always have expected a press conference around this time to underline the fact we are now under new national restrictions.

They will likely be dangling the hope carrots again. More stuff about mass testing where I will have to unpick the hype from the real stuff, since this is still a key area no matter how much Johnson uses it for booster shit purposes.

 

[sojourner]

You should, though. It's not a pleasant test - you're not going to be doing it often for fun.

This. I just went for one after a fella in work tested positive, who I have walked past many times in work and who has 3 staff stuffed into the one windowless office (they're still in there).

Proper retched doing the test. And Orang Utan , I lied and said the Zoe app told me to get one. Well, we're due to be under the pilot scheme soon anyway.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Says on the BBC article - As part of the revised scheme, anyone made redundant after 23 September can be rehired and put back on furlough.

Whether that will actually happen or not...

Hmm, I've just paid my man over £10k for his redundancy + unused holiday...

 

[klang]

What's the justification here?

rec studio here and I can honestly say that I have to work.I will take precautions and limit the number of people indoors but I'm glad I will make some money over the next few weeks.

 

[LDC]

OK. But it would be more responsible to get the test. Then if you test positive you know you need to stay at home for longer. You'll also know that you are much less at risk for future infections, either getting them or passing them on.

It's not crying wolf.

It is a little odd that an anarchist board actually has so many people very much in favour of blindly following rules.

No, you're not supposed to get the test, as has been pointed out, and there's some very good reasons for it that have been explained.

I think you have an odd understanding of anarchists and anarchism if you think it's about following rules or not, especially in a public health emergency.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Let's hope we can repeat the success of Ireland, which went into lockdown 2 weeks ago, with the schools still open, and daily reported cases have basically halved in those 2 weeks.

 

[scifisam]

No, I do not in any way support the idea that there is a real consensus behind that issue. In part because its on the list of things that would be very inconvenient, and every step of the way authorities have resisted inconvenient pandemic truths. The quantity and role of asymptomatic cases and spread, the ability of children to spread the virus, the benefit of masks for the public are other examples.

Which is not to say that I have fixed negative expectations about what the full immunity picture is really like. I will have a better idea at some point, but now is still too soon.

And certainly have a look at the post I linked to earlier #1,579

Why don't you support that idea, when experts who work in this area do? Why should I believe you over all of them?

Even articles with scary headlines, like this one, end up admitting that there have only been a few cases of reinfection found out of 37 million.

Covid reinfection: Man gets Covid twice and second hit 'more severe'

The report raises questions about how much immunity can be built up to the virus and how long it may last.

www.bbc.co.uk

Do you actually, seriously, disagree that having it once means you're "much less likely" to get it again?

If you do it would mean that a vaccine is pointless. So maybe we shouldn't bother with that.

 

[scifisam]

No, you're not supposed to get the test, as has been pointed out, and there's some very good reasons for it that have been explained.

I think you have an odd understanding of anarchists and anarchism if you think it's about following rules or not, especially in a public health emergency.

Nope, the reasons have not been explained.

I did kinda think anarchism was about not blindly following government dictats, yes.

 

[Teaboy]

Let's hope we can repeat the success of Ireland, which went into lockdown 2 weeks ago, with the schools still open, and daily reported cases have basically halved in those 2 weeks.

View attachment 237463

My understanding is that the lockdown is much more severe over there. Construction all closed etc. Can any Irish urbs confirm this?

 

[Orang Utan]

No, you're not supposed to get the test, as has been pointed out, and there's some very good reasons for it that have been explained.

I think you have an odd understanding of anarchists and anarchism if you think it's about following rules or not, especially in a public health emergency.

It’s not an anarchist website anyway. That’s the Mail view of it.