[News] The Coronavirus Good News thread

[Machiavelli]

Couldn't agree more, why do people need to travel 90 mins into London each way to work when they can do it at home for example.

Even working at the hospital here at PRH I can see a high percentage of non clinical staff working from home going forward

It just makes sense. Using Microsoft teams has really taken off.

MS Teams is really easy to use, even for a techno-ignoramus like me. I hadn't used it beforehand, but I can see all sorts of ways it can become incorporated into working practices from hereonin.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Aye. And some companies that had no home working policy or IT infrastructure to allow home working have now created those. Hopefully that will mean more time at home, less hours of travelling to empty offices and brief meetings.

And turn those offices into accommodation

 

[Mellotron]

Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI), official public health agency reports continuing fall in new coronavirus cases. German reproduction rate – R rate – falling to 0.71. There were fears that easing lockdown would have to stop when it crept to 1 a few days ago.

 

[dazzer6666]

More from the Voice of Balance and Reason

https://twitter.com/ProfKarolSikora/status/1257676421981507587?s=20

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

More from the Voice of Balance and Reason

https://twitter.com/ProfKarolSikora/status/1257676421981507587?s=20

One of the replies to the prof's tweet sounds like a potential good news story also...

'Rebecca Hale
[MENTION=17490]Geo[/MENTION]_Rebs
3h
Replying to
@ProfKarolSikora
Could this be linked to the research done in Israel by a Professor showing the virus peaks at about 40 days and declines to almost nothing after 70 days? No matter what methods of lockdown/social distancing are put in place by the government? Is the virus mutating to an end?'

 

[dazzer6666]

One of the replies to the prof's tweet sounds like a potential good news story also...

'Rebecca Hale
[MENTION=17490]Geo[/MENTION]_Rebs
3h
Replying to
@ProfKarolSikora
Could this be linked to the research done in Israel by a Professor showing the virus peaks at about 40 days and declines to almost nothing after 70 days? No matter what methods of lockdown/social distancing are put in place by the government? Is the virus mutating to an end?'

Didn't spot that one.........fascinating. If that's the case, an immediate and total lockdown would have been the answer I guess though ?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Didn't spot that one.........fascinating. If that's the case, an immediate and total lockdown would have been the answer I guess though ?

Just did a quick google and sadly the researcher 'is not a medical expert', rather he's a mathematician who, so far as I can make out, appears to have done little more than extrapolate the graphs of known cases to reach his conclusions

https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-i...ts-show-virus-plays-itself-out-after-70-days/

 

[Mellotron]

Partly just to bump this thread back up.

I mentioned a couple of days ago that the Worldometers measure of Global Serious or Critical CV cases had dropped under 50,000 for the first time. It's now about to drop below 48,000.

The first wave of this virus appears to be slowly leaving us.

 

[highflyer]

Partly just to bump this thread back up.

I mentioned a couple of days ago that the Worldometers measure of Global Serious or Critical CV cases had dropped under 50,000 for the first time. It's now about to drop below 48,000.

The first wave of this virus appears to be slowly leaving us.

The Covid-19 symptom study app (now with nearly 3 million contributers) is showing overall numbers of predicted symptomatic cases continuing to drop. Now at 266,000 in total, down from an early April peak over 2 million.

The rate of reduction has slowed, no doubt reflecting that there is a core group (key workers + idiots mainly i'd imagine plus, sadly, care home residents who are both vulnerable and hard to protect, but hopefully that will be improving) amongst whom transmission continues, but the overall levels of infection in the wider population are now low and continuing to drop.

This isn't going away any time soon, and we cannot be complacent, but it seems to be manageable.

 

[Mellotron]

The Covid-19 symptom study app (now with nearly 3 million contributers) is showing overall numbers of predicted symptomatic cases continuing to drop. Now at 266,000 in total, down from an early April peak over 2 million.

The rate of reduction has slowed, no doubt reflecting that there is a core group (key workers + idiots mainly i'd imagine plus, sadly, care home residents who are both vulnerable and hard to protect, but hopefully that will be improving) amongst whom transmission continues, but the overall levels of infection in the wider population are now low and continuing to drop.

This isn't going away any time soon, and we cannot be complacent, but it seems to be manageable.

Once it is down to a much lower level - i.e. 50,000 and below - it should be possible that new outbreaks can be managed/restrictions re-tightened locally, with far less cross-country travel occurring now and in the near future.

 

[blue-shifted]

Taken from a BBC article, arguing that the lockdown should be lifted for non vulnerable groups.

Researchers from Stanford University in the US have been trying to count the risk another way - equating it to that which we face from dying while driving.

In the UK, they calculate that those under the age of 65 have faced the same risk over the past few months from coronavirus as they would have faced from driving 185 miles a day - the equivalent of commuting from Swindon to London.

Strip out the under-65s with health conditions - about one in 16 - and the risk is even lower, with deaths in non-vulnerable groups being "remarkably uncommon".

 

[Postman Pat]

They appear to be dismantling the temporary mortuary at Sussex University and a lot of the army that were there have now left. Seems it wasn't needed, but some army remain I assume to help with setting up testing sites and help with mobile testing facilities.

My wife works in the student accommodation at the University.

 

[Medwayseagull]

My wife tells me that it has been reported that Kent hospitals reported no deaths yesterday for the first time since the early days. Although not relevant to a lot of you it is a milestone for those that live here.

 

[essbee1]

My wife tells me that it has been reported that Kent hospitals reported no deaths yesterday for the first time since the early days. Although not relevant to a lot of you it is a milestone for those that live here.

I live there (here!). Good news.

 

[Mellotron]

[TWEET]1258372436535410688[/TWEET]

 

[Uter]

Hospital deaths in England continuing their downward trend.

 

[The Wizard]

Number of people in hospitals down from in excess of 20k to 11k, we are getting there slowly but surely. Also 18% down in the last week.

 

[Mellotron]

Number of people in hospitals down from in excess of 20k to 11k, we are getting there slowly but surely. Also 18% down in the last week.

Yeah I noticed the quicker drop.

I suspect there will only be a minor easing of lockdown for next 2-3 weeks, then we can start looking at slightly more substantial easing, if the app is looking like proving effective and testing is continuing to grow.

 

[Mellotron]

Austria, Denmark, Germany - all looking fairly solid after some easing of lockdown, all at present are proceeding to further easings in the coming weeks.

 

[The Wizard]

Yeah I noticed the quicker drop.

I suspect there will only be a minor easing of lockdown for next 2-3 weeks, then we can start looking at slightly more substantial easing, of the app is proving effective and testing is continuing to grow.

Yes, the number of deaths is still terrible and the situation in care homes unfortunately seems to be similar to the rest of Europe but the positives are, we are winning this battle the numbers across the board are coming down. I think it would help the government if they reviewed the lockdown on a weekly basis, three weekly at this stage is too long.

My biggest worry with the app is that people won’t download it, I know data protection is a big deal to many but it’s so important that as many people as possible download it. Apparently over 50% of the IOW population have downloaded it so let’s hope the trial is successful, assurances must be made to people about their data because I do understand the paranoia around it.