Main Coronavirus / Covid-19 Discussion Thread

[beorhthelm]

The last announcement from the government scientists and politicians has demonstrated clearly there is no plan here. No strategy that will get us back to where we need to be. It’s basically let’s batton down every time we get a spike and pray a vaccine arrives at some point in the future. If this is similar to flu it will be seasonal, never be eradicated and there will never be a fully effective vaccine.

if you want to play what ifs, in that case we'll have to accept a tens of thousands dieing a nasty respiratory every year, hundreds of thousands very sick, and have to uprate welfare and healthcare for them. or we'll have to get used to masks.

 

[sydney]

of course they are, creating economic recession to profit...

clearly you know nothing ...do some research , look into Serco , look into how much money the American elite have made in the last 6 months ....billions...!!

its not the elite that suffer in a recession .

 

[sydney]

if you want to play what ifs, in that case we'll have to accept a tens of thousands dieing a nasty respiratory every year, hundreds of thousands very sick, and have to uprate welfare and healthcare for them. or we'll have to get used to masks.

like they do every year you mean....ffs

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Well the free ride was always going to end at some point. I think people can now finally see what the horrific consequences of carrying on like this will be on all of us eventually. It’s been very easy for the middle classes to sit on the sidelines supporting all the restrictions without fully having the foresight that no one except the super rich are immune to the financial disaster that’s coming and the implications to the very fabric of our society and how we live forever.

The last announcement from the government scientists and politicians has demonstrated clearly there is no plan here. No strategy that will get us back to where we need to be. It’s basically let’s batton down every time we get a spike and pray a vaccine arrives at some point in the future. If this is similar to flu it will be seasonal, never be eradicated and there will never be a fully effective vaccine.

It looks like they are bringing in a part time Furlough scheme - you work 50 percent and the rest Gov pays the rest

I think that will open a few more eyes to the damage, I went back to Virgin last month and knew it was bad, but **** me- it’s worse than I could imagine. - Lots more will be facing that reality when they are back.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

It’s difficult to know what the biggest scandal will be

Care homes
Disabled
Self employed
Testing/tracing
Bungs for mates

 

[Albion Dan]

if you want to play what ifs, in that case we'll have to accept a tens of thousands dieing a nasty respiratory every year, hundreds of thousands very sick, and have to uprate welfare and healthcare for them. or we'll have to get used to masks.

Well the fact the disease seems to be getting stronger as we head into the Autumn season would suggest it has Flu like transmission characteristics.

I think hundreds of thousands have always got very sick from flu each year and a vulnerable group have then died. 10’s of 1000’s in bad years. You’ve never probably really thought about it much because there has t been a running count on every news item every single day.

NINE million people die a year of hunger. Because they actually can’t get food. I don’t see us devastating economies and societies to fix that problem. Puts all this into some perspective eh?

 

[LamieRobertson]

I said it was a joint impact. No SD and no mask would be bad. Either one seems to reduce viral load when you look at case severity / death rate since their introductions.

Just a post about my own experience..nothing more

 

[Albion Dan]

A very sobering article on the effect on our rights from the Guardian.

Do anyone really trust this government to not abuse these powers?


https://www.theguardian.com/comment...police-powers-laws?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

 

[e77]

I’m talking about the 800 or so people on my Facebook page, a very wide mix of demographics, political beliefs, attitudes.

People that have been totally silent or pro covid measures up to now.

There is an undeniable shift. That’s encouraging.

So what are they actually going to do?

Unless you run a business you can't ask people to come to work.

Pubs and restaurants will be shutting at 2200 (if they don't they will be shutting full stops)

You can not wear a mask but prepare to be fined as it sounds like enforcement is being ramped up.

 

[Jim in the West]

Well the fact the disease seems to be getting stronger as we head into the Autumn season would suggest it has Flu like transmission characteristics.

I think hundreds of thousands have always got very sick from flu each year and a vulnerable group have then died. 10’s of 1000’s in bad years. You’ve never probably really thought about it much because there has t been a running count on every news item every single day.

NINE million people die a year of hunger. Because they actually can’t get food. I don’t see us devastating economies and societies to fix that problem. Puts all this into some perspective eh?

A significant proportion of the population is quite happy to devastate our economy for other reasons, though. For example, late last year nearly half the UK population supported a No Deal Brexit, despite the Government's own figures showing that it would massively damage the UK economy. I'm not sure what the latest views are, but the impact of a No Deal Brexit will hugely out-weigh the impact of Covid. Unfortunately, we are likely going to get both. One way or another, this winter is going to be VERY bleak for millions of British people. Yet I'm sure there will be some sort of huge celebration on 1st January to mark the fact that we are no longer "oppressed" by those horrible Europeans.

 

[Albion Dan]

Wait. What? [emoji848][emoji848]

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

A very sobering article on the effect on our rights from the Guardian.

Do anyone really trust this government to not abuse these powers?


https://www.theguardian.com/comment...police-powers-laws?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Quite. I for one have significant reservations regarding handing my data to the government. For me it’s mainly my details regarding my movements etc if I fly to the U.K. Nothing was checking last weekend anyway; I won’t do this next time.

 

[e77]

Wait. What? [emoji848][emoji848]

This is caused by people having been infected by the disease but not yet with the viral load to give a positive result on a test (although I am no expert) but would do a few days afterwards.

Any inference that tests are only 7% accurate with someone showing symptoms is incorrect.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/...il-introduces-long-term-coronavirus-strategy/

Belgium are using hospitalisation as the main judge of levels.

Just reading through that and realising how much more organised the are is annoying.

 

[The Wizard]

Neil Warnock having the virus and having no symptoms and being fine was the final straw for me

 

[beorhthelm]

NINE million people die a year of hunger. Because they actually can’t get food. I don’t see us devastating economies and societies to fix that problem. Puts all this into some perspective eh?

what in the UK? is anybody looking into that?

 

[beorhthelm]

A very sobering article on the effect on our rights from the Guardian.

Do anyone really trust this government to not abuse these powers?


https://www.theguardian.com/comment...police-powers-laws?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

seriously, the Guardian, socialist cheerleaders that would have everything run and controled by the state?

here's a checkpoint, the same government that is supposed to be taking rights it wont confine the elderly and vulnerable. they enact few of the powers given in legislation, have allowed lax enforcment of rules, rely on people to follow the rules. so no, dont expect this government to abuse these powers.

 

[The Wizard]

So what are they actually going to do?

Unless you run a business you can't ask people to come to work.

Pubs and restaurants will be shutting at 2200 (if they don't they will be shutting full stops)

You can not wear a mask but prepare to be fined as it sounds like enforcement is being ramped up.

By that reckoning, people have no power anymore... If the consensus does start shifting, it will make a difference IMO, it’s the same as anything, it’s impossible to enforce rules if enough people disregard them. Not saying that is what we should do, but we are edging more and more towards living in a controlled state and I for one, will not be locked down again.

As an aside, I think making pubs close early is an absolutely disastrous move, people will just go to each other’s houses... at least pubs or bars are a relatively controlled environment? Can anyone explain it to me because, I’m really struggling to understand pubs having to close at 10PM, how will that help?

 

[Bozza]

Well the fact the disease seems to be getting stronger as we head into the Autumn season would suggest it has Flu like transmission characteristics.

I have no interest in engaging with almost everything you write, but I will pick this one up.

I don't know if by stronger you mean "more infectious" or "more harmful", not that it matters, as neither seem to the the case.

There is absolutely nothing, anywhere, that suggests the virus is getting stronger. Scroll back a page or two and you'll find a link I posted to a detailed article that goes over the genetic analysis of the virus and concludes no mutation has taken place. Bizarrely, this piece was actually written to counter the suggestion/hope that the virus has got weaker.

What is the case is we drove the prevalence of the virus down to very low levels - pushed it way back down that exponential growth curve due to the raft of measures we put in place - most of which you seem to hate and think were completely unnecessary.

Having achieved this low level of virus amongst the community, we've gradually allowed more and more economic, social and educational activity to take place, each of them increasing the social interactions that take place and that the virus needs to thrive and spread. From the low base of mid-Summer, the virus has started working its way up the exponential curve to where we are today, where there is a lot more infected and contagious people out there. We took our foot off the metaphorical brake for too long, and we now need to apply it again before things completely run away from us.

In one regard we are fortunate in that much of the virus spread has been amongst the low-risk demographic, largely the young, which means few suffering the worst effects, but that can't and won't last forever and now we see hospitalisations on the rise with deaths seemingly going the same way, although from a low base, thankfully.

 

[Bozza]

https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/...il-introduces-long-term-coronavirus-strategy/

Belgium are using hospitalisation as the main judge of levels.

Just reading through that and realising how much more organised the are is annoying.

I'll post it again. I can't imagine details on UK hospitalisations is on the desks of Whitty and Vallance hidden under piles of graphs detailing positive cases.