Main Coronavirus / Covid-19 Discussion Thread

[atomised]

Kids sent home cos one has a cold. Handful of tests so see how this goes

 

[darkwolf666]

You’ve gone from trying to claim the deaths at home are mainly covid, to now basically saying they don’t matter.

These are only the people have died so far, doesn’t even take into consideration of those that have missed cancer treatments/diagnoses.

Will you please stop banging on about missed cancer treatments, this is not a metric for measuring how successful or bad the response to Covid has been...

It is undeniable that had we not had a lockdown the death figures from Covid would have been a lot higher and the currently unexplained excess deaths even higher.

PS please show me where I have said the majority of the excess deaths were Covid related? I have consistently asked questions as to what exactly the cause of deaths have been, but no-one seems to know!

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Will you please stop banging on about missed cancer treatments, this is not a metric for measuring how successful or bad the response to Covid has been...

It is undeniable that had we not had a lockdown the death figures from Covid would have been a lot higher and the currently unexplained excess deaths even higher.

PS please show me where I have said the majority of the excess deaths were Covid related? I have consistently asked questions as to what exactly the cause of deaths have been, but no-one seems to know!

So just forget about those people like the NHS and Gov have? Of course it’s a metric of how well we have done

It’s not just covid deaths, it’s jobs/other deaths/national debt/education etc etc.

 

[loz]

in the past 6 months or generally? nothing new that GPs generally hold their role as gatekeeper to healthcare very seriously, keeping the slightly ill out of the system. the whole notion of having "your" GP is archaic idea. we keep talking about covid changing working practice, lets hope also brings change to this part of healthcare too. (it wont).

see also dentists.

My gripe is more about blood tests being cancelled for everyone for 4 weeks because of covid testing. As a simple thing like a blood test can spot things that you didnt know you had...as I found out.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

From what I have heard anecdotally from relatives and others there does seem to be a problem getting an appointment with a GP at the moment. This has puzzled me from the start as anyone with Covid-19 is told to stay at home unless it gets bad enough to need hospital treatment, both of which bypass GPs. If this has an impact on more people dying at home I don't know but it probably doesn't help.

However if people are scared to get medical treatment because of Covid-19 then the only way to solve the problem is get Covid-19 under control so people have more confidence. There seems to be some inference with some that if we just start under playing the possible effects of the virus everyone will relax and go and seek medical treatment if they need it. Problem is if we do this infections will rise and there will be more reason to fear the virus and stay at home.

If hospitals get overrun there will be many more people dying at home.

People are now getting GP appointments via FaceTime - I’m not sure how accurate that can be?


We need to get to the bottom of these hospital numbers

Why is the Gov saying hospitals are getting over run and yet local Mayors/MPs are saying they are not and it’s normal numbers for this time of year?

These are not all labour mayors etc - they are Tories as well

 

[A1X]

These are only the people have died so far, doesn’t even take into consideration of those that have missed cancer treatments/diagnoses.

And how many of those cancer treatments would have gone ahead if the NHS was drowning in Covid patients?

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

And how many of those cancer treatments would have gone ahead if the NHS was drowning in Covid patients?

We were not drowning in covid patients - there was no reason for these to be cancelled.

The whole point was to protect the NHS - They still shut it down.

This is a complete mismanagement -

 

[A1X]

We were not drowning in covid patients - there was no reason for these to be cancelled.

Because we had a lockdown. And that is why we will likely need another one.

 

[darkwolf666]

We were not drowning in covid patients - there was no reason for these to be cancelled.

The whole point was to protect the NHS - They still shut it down.

This is a complete mismanagement -

You really, really don't get it, do you?

 

[sparkie]

241 deaths.

The exponential trajectory is getting nasty now.

The 2nd wave will dwarf the 1st one.

 

[loz]

You really, really don't get it, do you?

Even in the dark days of March and April the hospitals were only about 65% full so they say. Most hospitals were not full in fact far from it.

( My Mum has been in and out of 3 south east London hospitals and is now in her 4th, Sidcup and honestly these have not been full at any time)

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

You really, really don't get it, do you?

Hospitals were not drowning.

 

[darkwolf666]

Even in the dark days of March and April the hospitals were only about 65% full so they say. Most hospitals were not full in fact far from it.

( My Mum has been in and out of 3 south east London hospitals and is now in her 4th, Sidcup and honestly these have not been full at any time)

That can't be right, they were all closed and not offering any treatment other than Covid...

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Because we had a lockdown. And that is why we will likely need another one.

So what’s the excuse for cancellation of ops/appointments then ?

241 deaths.

The exponential trajectory is getting nasty now.

The 2nd wave will dwarf the 1st one.

30 percent of outbreaks in care homes

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

That can't be right, they were all closed and not offering any treatment other than Covid...

You know both those things can be true, right ?


Figures from the national NHS operational dashboard, seen by HSJ, show that 40.9 per cent of NHS general acute beds were unoccupied as of the weekend — 37,500 of the total 91,600 relevant beds recorded in the data. That is 4,500 more than the 33,000 the NHS said had been freed up on 27 March, and nearly four times the normal amount of free acute beds at this time of year.

The need to switch beds to critical care use is underlined by figures also included in the dashboard. The number of patients in critical care within London, for example, already exceeds the pre-pandemic total.

The dashboard figures are marked “unvalidated”, and some believe they are overstating the number of empty beds, but they are based on daily reports and are being used widely in the coronavirus response.

The share of beds unoccupied in London, and Birmingham and the Black Country — where there have been the most serious covid-19 cases — are lower, at 28.9 per cent and 38.2 per cent respectively.

 

[Yoda]

241 deaths.

The exponential trajectory is getting nasty now.

The 2nd wave will dwarf the 1st one.

Don't just look at the reported date, look at the date of death (and for cases, date of specimen). It give a much more accurate trend of how things are progressing. When you look at these, it almost looks like they have held back over 100 from the previous three days. Whether on purpose (for the shock response it clearly got from yourself) or just a lag due to weekend reporting, we will never know.

 

[BLOCK F]

Looking at my area this morning, we have no covid cases...I could only call my GP because I am late with my bi-annual blood test I have for a slight blood disorder that if not checked could turn not nice. No blood tests available for 4 weeks because of Covid I was just told, so thats 2 months late for me.

I don't know where in West Sussex you live, but as far as blood tests are concerned, I ask the GP to do the blood test form and rather than wait for a phlebotomist at the surgery, I go down to St. Richards in Chichester, with the form, where they will take the blood( no appointment necessary, just turn up) and have the results back to the surgery within a day or two.
Works very well.

 

[darkwolf666]

You know both those things can be true, right ?


Figures from the national NHS operational dashboard, seen by HSJ, show that 40.9 per cent of NHS general acute beds were unoccupied as of the weekend — 37,500 of the total 91,600 relevant beds recorded in the data. That is 4,500 more than the 33,000 the NHS said had been freed up on 27 March, and nearly four times the normal amount of free acute beds at this time of year.

The need to switch beds to critical care use is underlined by figures also included in the dashboard. The number of patients in critical care within London, for example, already exceeds the pre-pandemic total.

The dashboard figures are marked “unvalidated”, and some believe they are overstating the number of empty beds, but they are based on daily reports and are being used widely in the coronavirus response.

The share of beds unoccupied in London, and Birmingham and the Black Country — where there have been the most serious covid-19 cases — are lower, at 28.9 per cent and 38.2 per cent respectively.

OK, I'll bite then - exactly why are there so many excess home deaths on a daily basis? What are their causes of death? Are they just all too scare to seek treatment at their doctors/hospital? Why are they dying so quickly?

Someone must know the answer to these questions?

 

[beorhthelm]

We need to get to the bottom of these hospital numbers

Why is the Gov saying hospitals are getting over run and yet local Mayors/MPs are saying they are not and it’s normal numbers for this time of year?

These are not all labour mayors etc - they are Tories as well

Government are giving projected numbers that the science bods extrapolate from their forecasts. Mayors are giving their local numbers from last week most likely.

 

[southstandandy]

This track and trace is now becoming a personal nightmare. We've all heard stories of Bugs Bunny or Lionel Messi signing into a pub that we may have been in for Track and Trace purposes, but today took a weird and very annoying turn for me today.

Some git has obviously made up a contact number and given it when entering a pub in Thirsk on Friday (that number given or made up coincidentally happened to match my mobile)

Today I've had 8 calls in four hours wanting to speak to a Mr Ian Carter (who as you've probably guessed is not me - I think my user ID here gives you a clue), and they have all told me to self isolate for 14 days as I've supposedly come into contact with a positive Covid positive person in Thirsk on Fiday (I don't even know where Thirsk is).

I've tried to explain to all the call handlers that I am not Mr Carter and my number must have been given fraudulently (one agent did seem to agree when I clarified to them where I live in Shoreham, Sussex) although I've still been told to self isolate. Ironically I haven't left the home since last Wednesday (when I went shopping in Worthing), so how I can have been in Thirsk (wherever that is) on Friday is beyond me.

I plan to just carry on but could I now realistically be fined?

The number of calls received has been intrusive this afternoon but I've also been warned I'll be risking a fine if I leave my home in the next 2 weeks.