General Coronavirus (COVID-19) chat

[elbows]

Makes sense, and of course in terms of establishment attitudes and public pandemic perception, the longer term consequences are easier to brush under the carpet. At least when it comes to short-term demands to respond strongly to a large, rapidly growing threat that manifests itself quickly.

 

[MrCurry]

Took a photo of me and told me she would let the public know what type of man I am.

All good fun

You mean somewhere on the internet there‘s a forum thread where Ms unsatisfied customer is ranting about you? I was about to go to bed, but that’s ruined my plans.

Gotta hit up Mumsnet and start searching. Or maybe I’ll cheat and use pimeyes

 

[Badgers]

 

[cupid_stunt]

View attachment 305137

It's a non-story - SEE THIS POST and the one below it.

 

[Badgers]

It's a non-story - SEE THIS POST and the one below it.

It has been discussed a lot in meetings

 

[cupid_stunt]

It has been discussed a lot in meetings

Well, it's bound to happen at some point, I remember this first coming up in a news report 2 or 3 months ago, but I doubt it's going to happen anytime soon, not with the current level of cases.

 

[cupid_stunt]

It was in the Guardian back in mid-November, it was based on a discussion document for a 'exit strategy' at some point.

UK officials have compiled ‘Covid exit strategy’ from April – report

No 10 sources say ministers had not seen leaked plan to wind down testing and self-isolation

www.theguardian.com

 

[Badgers]

Well, it's bound to happen at some point, I remember this first coming up in a news report 2 or 3 months ago, but I doubt it's going to happen anytime soon, not with the current level of cases.

The smart money is on 31/03

 

[cupid_stunt]

The smart money is on 31/03

That was the date suggested in the Guardian article, before omicron arrived, so I guess it'll depend on how things play out over the coming weeks.

 

[Badgers]

That was the date suggested in the Guardian article, before omicron arrived, so I guess it'll depend on how things play out over the coming weeks.

I guess it will depend on how the government fuck up over the coming weeks.

 

[komodo]

very hard for them to stop the free LFTs without kicking off a load of panic ordering and hoarding by the great British Public

 

[Carvaged]

PCR result also came back negative. So it seems I probably do just have a regular cold. First in over 2 years!

 

[blameless77]

Yes, you are correct.

However since there is only so much capacity to do genomic tests on PCR swabs in the first place, the proportion of positive tests that are evaluated in this way already drops to a much lower fraction at times when the number of people testing positive becomes very large.

The other way they have been able to monitor for a particular new variant becoming dominant is to check PCR samples for S gene dropout, but since we'e already reached the point where Omicron is shown to be totally dominant using this method, such results are less important right now.

So you are correct to mention this issue, but the implications are of more concern if we are talking about the longer term, eg if they permanently change the PCR testing regime at some future point beyond the current Omicron wave.

PCR post-lfd was suspended last year when cases were very high, and then restarted once prevalence was lower.

 

[AmateurAgitator]

This might have been posted already. Some were saying this ever since Omicron reared its ugly head and the media became fixated on calling it mild despite there not being any evidence to back up their claim :

Covid: Deadly Omicron should not be called mild, warns WHO

The WHO cautions that just like previous variants, Omicron is hospitalising and killing people.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[danny la rouge]

I’m feeling very despondent about the pandemic at the moment. I can see me having to stop reading about it.

 

[AmateurAgitator]

I’m feeling very despondent about the pandemic at the moment. I can see me having to stop reading about it.

Sorry Danny. On reflection maybe it was insensitive of me to post that, and not at all thoughtful.

 

[MrCurry]

I’m feeling very despondent about the pandemic at the moment. I can see me having to stop reading about it.

That’s the approach I used during the second half of 2020. I stopped reading about it, checking stats, etc. Was just too depressing. Take a break from it and I’m sure your resilience will return

 

[zahir]

A study on the promotion of the idea of herd immunity

Analyzing natural herd immunity media discourse in the United Kingdom and the United States

Natural herd immunity, where community-acquired infections in low-risk populations are used to protect high risk populations from infection–has seen high profile support in some quarters, including through the Great Barrington Declaration. However, this approach has been widely criticized as...

journals.plos.org

 

[NoXion]

You know when you hear idiots talking about how Covid has a 99% survival rate? Well...

Some COVID Patients Need Amputations to Survive

Impaired blood flow leads to loss of limbs

www.scientificamerican.com

I guess losing a limb or two counts as surviving.

 

[Ming]

We’ve Covid on a majority of my units now. Code blue yesterday. Don’t underestimate Omicron. To paraphrase an expert ‘if your opponents‘ guns are 1/3 as lethal as they were but you’ve now got 4 times as many opponents more people are going to die’. Can’t remember who the expert was (Guardian?) but it makes a fair analogy.

 

[Dogsauce]

We’ve Covid on a majority of my units now. Code blue yesterday. Don’t underestimate Omicron. To paraphrase an expert ‘if your opponents‘ guns are 1/3 as lethal as they were but you’ve now got 4 times as many opponents more people are going to die’. Can’t remember who the expert was (Guardian?) but it makes a fair analogy.

I believe it’s still worse than the original version from early 2020, which bumped off a lot of vulnerable people. Only vaccines and improved hospital care have kept the numbers down, but for the unvaxxed it’s still a big risk.

I was reading some proper harrowing accounts from nurses working in maternity units in the US dealing with unvaxxed cases, mums being kept alive on ECMO machines long enough to deliver the baby, then bringing the babies in to take a picture of the nipper next to mum on the machine for the memory before they switch it off. This shit isn’t nice.

 

[Ming]

It's nowhere near over. This is an endemic. Unfortunately. Got my booster shot today. Probably have to get another one.

 

[Mation]

Got yesterday's PCR test result (negative) back just now. First time it's been under 24 hours for several months. Some were around a week, and some never arrived.

 

[Ming]

I believe it’s still worse than the original version from early 2020, which bumped off a lot of vulnerable people. Only vaccines and improved hospital care have kept the numbers down, but for the unvaxxed it’s still a big risk.

I was reading some proper harrowing accounts from nurses working in maternity units in the US dealing with unvaxxed cases, mums being kept alive on ECMO machines long enough to deliver the baby, then bringing the babies in to take a picture of the nipper next to mum on the machine for the memory before they switch it off. This shit isn’t nice.

Yeah. People are comparing it to the Delta varient. Which has a higher fatality rate.

 

[Aladdin]

Ireland has suddenly decided to drop a number of restrictions.
1. Pubs clubs and restaurants can open as usual. No 8pm curfew anymore.
2. Covid passes .. gone.
3. Outdoor and indoor events now can have full capacity

Masks still advised for indoor gatherings, public transportat and in schools.

Close contact rules still apply but duration of isolation is less and antigen tests are key.

People are going round like the rug has been pulled. Many still wearing masks because the covid numbers are still high every day.
It's quite surreal.

Some drs saying its too soon to drop covid passes. And immunologists warning the elderly amd very vulnerable to be very cautious.

It looks like the government wants to let omicron rip through the country quickly.

 

[T & P]

Currently with Covid and have just failed my Day-5 lateral flow test, albeit only just as the dreaded second red line was much, much weaker than that in my first test.

Oh well, at least I won’t have to go into work tomorrow

 

[Thaw]

Has anyone used a covid recovery certificate, for travel or anything else, instead of showing a negative PCR test? I have my positive Day 2 PCR certificate that I think has all the relevant details but I'm not sure if I need some sort of official 'Proof of Recovery' certificate instead. I see some companies offering them for about £99 online

 

[Dogsauce]

Aren’t proof of recovery certs used instead of vaccine proof rather than PCR? Wouldn’t think it could supplant a test, especially now people are getting reinfected in as little as six weeks.

 

[LDC]

Has anyone used a covid recovery certificate, for travel or anything else, instead of showing a negative PCR test? I have my positive Day 2 PCR certificate that I think has all the relevant details but I'm not sure if I need some sort of official 'Proof of Recovery' certificate instead. I see some companies offering them for about £99 online

What kind of travel and where to/from?

 

[Thaw]

What kind of travel and where to/from?

From UK to Canada.
The proof of recovery is used instead of a negative PCR test because PCR tests will likely continue to give positive results for ~90 days even after you have recovered.

"If you are now symptom-free, you can provide proof of a positive COVID-19 molecular test when crossing the border, instead of a negative one.
When you arrive at the border, you must present an accepted negative molecular test result (paper or electronic proof) or proof of a previous positive molecular test result taken between 15 and 180 days (starting January 15, 2022, between 11 and 180 days ago) that includes:

• traveller name and date of birth
• name and civic address of the laboratory/clinic/facility that administered the test
• the date on which the test was taken
• the type of test taken
• the test result"