Main Coronavirus / Covid-19 Discussion Thread

[LamieRobertson]

I am not necessarily disagreeing, but what do you think 'a new normal' acceptable to most would look like? For instance, will we be allowed to visit each others houses and cuddle our loved ones? Will people be allowed to form new relationships? Will shops, hotels , pubs and restaurants still be required to limit capacity? The list goes on re schools, unis, industry, hairdressers..........etc.
What I am really saying is, if there isn't a vaccine, which is a distinct possibility, how long do you think it will be before a decision is either made to 'take it on the chin' or the general public rise up and say f--k it, we can't live any longer in this new normal?

Exactly....it will be a change in mindset ..people will weigh up the risks (remembering that there is always a risk of sorts) and make their own decisions where they can.....its happening already ..and will continue to happen..inevitably some will struggle and its those who we should be looking to help.
The problem will be with those situations where we wont have that choice ....public opinion may change that

 

[beorhthelm]

new normal needs to strike a balance. 1m distancing, hand washing, increased cleaning of surface areas, dont cough on people. we've gone too far to santize everything and distance, when probably one or other is sufficient in most scenarios. most situations we stay a meter away from others anyway. and with at high risk shielding, the rest of the population can get on with some sense of normality. otherwise the effects of lockdown/semi-lockdown will be worse than the disease.

 

[loz]

Between December 2014 and March 2015 there were 44,000 excess winter deaths, 2.5 times higher than the record low of the previous winter, and the highest number since the winter of 1999/2000 when flu levels were very high and around 46000 people died...I am not really sure why this current virus is being treated so differently ? BTW I am no conspiracy theorist. Just a bit confused by it all.

 

[Birdie Boy]

On my way back from London (Bridge) on the train, first time since week before lockdown. London and the train are dead still. Way way more quiet than Brighton, shoreham etc. Strange.

Just had covid test and negative. Also had anti body test, a couple of days wait for that result. Swab test not particularly pleasant.

I'm hoping for a positive anti body test but I think it is unlikely even though I had flu type symptoms back in February but you never know.

Sent from my WAS-LX1A using Tapatalk

 

[Yoda]

As for schools, they can often be a hotbed of transferrable infections, no matter how you try, kids, especially the young ones will always be at risk of passing the infection on even if they don't develop the full conditions. You can never social distance kids.

I think I read somewhere a few weeks ago that Sweden hadn't reported a single case of Child to Adult transmission of CV19 despite their Schools remaining open throughout.

 

[vegster]

On my way back from London (Bridge) on the train, first time since week before lockdown. London and the train are dead still. Way way more quiet than Brighton, shoreham etc. Strange.

Just had covid test and negative. Also had anti body test, a couple of days wait for that result. Swab test not particularly pleasant.

I'm hoping for a positive anti body test but I think it is unlikely even though I had flu type symptoms back in February but you never know.

Sent from my WAS-LX1A using Tapatalk

It would be nice if you found out you have the antibodies, lots of speculation that if you test positive for the antibodies and re-infection can be ruled out that is a handy thing to have on your CV.

 

[nwgull]

I'm sorta with you and sorta not.

I certainly believe that falling infection rates, hospitalisations and death rates are a direct result of the action that most of us have taken for the past few months, many of which we are still adhering to as you say.

However, I'm not convinced there will be a second peak (I know you said second wave), because many of the measures introduced will be here for some time and we all have acute awareness of the risks, and do our best to minimise our exposure to them.

I think we'll be living in a "new normal" that is acceptable to most until such time as a vaccine is available and/or there is a groundbreaking development in therapeutics.

What I'm struggling to see is how "old normal" can return until either of the remedies are available and deployed at scale. By that I mean schools and other educational settings operating at regular attendance levels, indoor venues such as cinemas and theatres operating at full capacity and even sporting events with full crowds. The latter will be primarily due to transit and concourse arrangements as much as the event itself.

For example, I don't see how schools can fully return in September as things stand.

I agree with you; it's very likely going to be all down to the development of vaccine and/or therapeutic treatments. My post you replied to may be out of context as it's moved from the good news thread, but it was in response to a post suggesting that we're already in the second wave and that things are getting better in terms of deaths and infection rates because the virus is somehow running our of steam. That suggestion is just a load of bollocks; it's all down to the measures that we've been taking for the last 12 weeks getting the R to <1.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Not to get too personal here but I think the opposite, being cooped up has made me less rabbit like and more want to bury my partner under the patio like.

So this wasn’t you then


https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/18504668.warning-public-sex-lockdown-couple-caught/

 

[Bozza]

I am not necessarily disagreeing, but what do you think 'a new normal' acceptable to most would look like? For instance, will we be allowed to visit each others houses and cuddle our loved ones? Will people be allowed to form new relationships? Will shops, hotels , pubs and restaurants still be required to limit capacity? The list goes on re schools, unis, industry, hairdressers..........etc.

What I am really saying is, if there isn't a vaccine, which is a distinct possibility, how long do you think it will be before a decision is either made to 'take it on the chin' or the general public rise up and say f--k it, we can't live any longer in this new normal?

Frankly I don't know, and what is acceptable to one person will not be to others. Maybe my "acceptable to most" wasn't the right words to use.

The evidence seems to suggest that this is spread predominantly indoors by people spending a reasonable amount of time close to someone/some people who are infected and spreading the virus, which is why I mentioned schools, cinemas, theatres and large sporting venues, but as you indicate, the list goes on and on.

 

[Birdie Boy]

It would be nice if you found out you have the antibodies, lots of speculation that if you test positive for the antibodies and re-infection can be ruled out that is a handy thing to have on your CV.

Here's hoping. [emoji106]

 

[ManOfSussex]

We have taken a formal decision today as a company (we're listed on The LSE) that our offices will now remain closed until the end of September at the earliest.

 

[BLOCK F]

Frankly I don't know, and what is acceptable to one person will not be to others. Maybe my "acceptable to most" wasn't the right words to use.

The evidence seems to suggest that this is spread predominantly indoors by people spending a reasonable amount of time close to someone/some people who are infected and spreading the virus, which is why I mentioned schools, cinemas, theatres and large sporting venues, but as you indicate, the list goes on and on.

Yup, it's a real bugger!

 

[Guinness Boy]

We will see

91% of the uk said in a survey they would have it, far less in other countries as we are generally very compliant and do as we are told

We already have a compulsory mask or muzzle is a better expression on transport with no real evidence it does any good and does harm to the wearer brought in 3 months after all this started. The track and trace or monitoring will be ratcheted up soon as well

Social distancing will be here to stay until a vaccine is rolled out. They have pretty much said it time and again in all the briefings

I'm sorry to have to (re) introduce politics into another thread but I simply do not believe a word these people say and neither should you. When they've been proven to lie over and over and over again they are the worst people to have telling the public what they should and should not do.

WRT to what has been achieved thus far by lockdown and distancing, whilst I agree that is what has put the virus in retreat, it doesn't fully explain why cases continue to reduce as lockdown eases and people become less careful - and from my own observation people are already a lot less careful.

 

[Bozza]

WRT to what has been achieved thus far by lockdown and distancing, whilst I agree that is what has put the virus in retreat, it doesn't fully explain why cases continue to reduce as lockdown eases and people become less careful - and from my own observation people are already a lot less careful.

My assumption is that it's just that there are fewer people who are infected, there are still a significant number of measures in place that mean people are not mixing with others, for significant periods of time indoors and most people are taking precautions when in settings where they do get close to others.

Regarding "being careful", I see a lot of people who are considerably less careful than I am, but I'm seeing them outdoors - and I'm guessing you are, largely too.

I think the outdoors v indoors thing, for the spread of infection, is a key factor.

 

[Bozza]

In the US, where I regularly see people ignoring social distancing, infections are rising in many states...

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/10/health/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html

 

[Guinness Boy]

My assumption is that it's just that there are fewer people who are infected, there are still a significant number of measures in place that mean people are not mixing with others, for significant periods of time indoors and most people are taking precautions when in settings where they do get close to others.

Regarding "being careful", I see a lot of people who are considerably less careful than I am, but I'm seeing them outdoors - and I'm guessing you are, largely too.

I think the outdoors v indoors thing, for the spread of infection, is a key factor.

Largely, mostly, but not exclusively.

Some people in our road appear to be letting friends indoors and others not. Social distancing in my local Tesco is immaculately oberved by about 80% of people but the other 20% or so are shockers. My daughter will be going back to school in a couple of weeks (ours is taking back years 4, 5 and 6 rather than little ones) and has seen her friend outside from 2 metres a few times but now wants to know when can they have a hug and when can they have a sleepover.

Then there's Project Restart. Given it is only on satellite TV and the title and relegation are in play it's not unreasonable to assume that people will a) sneak off to a friend's to watch it b) consume alcohol and, as a result c) fail at social distancing in the unlikely event (for us) of a goal.

 

[BBassic]

We have taken a formal decision today as a company (we're listed on The LSE) that our offices will now remain closed until the end of September at the earliest.

I think a lot of offices will be announcing something similar in the coming weeks. My office has given people the choice - stay WFH if you want to or come in when (if) the office is open again.

I was talking to some friends about it the other day. We're all in tech, can work from home comfortably and general consensus is between us is that because we can work from home we should work from home, a civic duty kind of thing. Fewer people out and about likely means higher chance of there not being a second wave.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I think a lot of offices will be announcing something similar in the coming weeks. My office has given people the choice - stay WFH if you want to or come in when (if) the office is open again.

I was talking to some friends about it the other day. We're all in tech, can work from home comfortably and general consensus is between us is that because we can work from home we should work from home, a civic duty kind of thing. Fewer people out and about likely means higher chance of there not being a second wave.

Lots will be making the call on job losses as well, cut of for furlough is today I believe?

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Professional number guesser Neil Ferguson laying into the Gov.

 

[CHAPPERS]

The thing I don’t quite get about schools is that there are hundreds of classrooms sitting empty in this town alone in the closed university buildings. Surely these could have been utilized and still could be in the next 3 months.