SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

Sarni said:
It's so out of control here. According to the numbers we've got 'only' 150-200 people dying per day due to covid the last few weeks but excess deaths last week were over 3k. Our government has also decided it's good time to ban abortion now, which has prompted protests and people on the streets so they can blame the outbreak of covid-19 on the pandemic (shifting the blame is their only goal because hospitals are done for anyway). Our death toll for yesterday was 236, on all Facebook posts about that people are laughing all over the place about fake pandemic and how all those people died from other causes for sure, and that we should all go out and protest against government taking away our freedom by forcing us to wear masks (same shit different day).

UK, Spain and Italy in Q2 will look wonderful compared to what we are going to have here and the worst thing is, people will still be laughing about all these deaths. I feel like crying. My mate's friend had his mother, father and grandpa infected within a few days. His grandfather and father died the same week. We are going to have so many more of these soon and there's nothing we can do because nobody here thinks it's issue, or that it's even a real virus.
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Sounds like things are really tough for you. Can I suggest you take a break from Facebook? This pandemic is tough on everyone’s mental health and I’m convinced that spending any time immersed in all the bullshit and negativity it provokes on social media will only sour your mood even further. I deleted Facebook years ago (because it’s awful) but got quite addicted to Twitter. I’ve cut my Twitter use right down and notice a very obvious downturn in my mood for an hour or two after spending any time on there. I think I might keep off it altogether.

Everything will turn out ok in the end. Eventually. All pandemics burn out. That’s what they do. Stay focussed on that and try to only think about the things within your control. Such as your own use of social media and trying to find stuff to enjoy in your day to day life. Best of luck.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Sounds like things are really tough for you. Can I suggest you take a break from Facebook? This pandemic is tough on everyone’s mental health and I’m convinced that spending any time immersed in all the bullshit and negativity it provokes on social media will only sour your mood even further. I deleted Facebook years ago (because it’s awful) but got quite addicted to Twitter. I’ve cut my Twitter use right down and notice a very obvious downturn in my mood for an hour or two after spending any time on there. I think I might keep off it altogether.

Everything will turn out ok in the end. Eventually. All pandemics burn out. That’s what they do. Stay focussed on that and try to only think about the things within your control. Such as your own use of social media and trying to find stuff to enjoy in your day to day life. Best of luck.
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Yeah I think this is great advice. My mental health definitely took a boost when I deleted FB. Since got rid of Instagram which helped further and I perhaps spend between 45 minutes and an hour on Twitter across a day, which is OK (but a definitely noticeable dip in mood similar to Pogue).
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Everything will turn out ok in the end. Eventually. All pandemics burn out. That’s what they do. Stay focussed on that and try to only think about the things within your control. Such as your own use of social media and trying to find stuff to enjoy in your day to day life. Best of luck.
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Well said, and important to remember this.

I think as humans we suffer from mental biases which tend to make us overly optimistic about the short-term, and overly pessimistic about the long-term.
 
UnrelatedPsuedo said:
Because they’re fcuking stupid.

We have solutions to the stupidity of the British condition.

Have a National ‘Zoom Christmas’. Get a throng of 10,000 celebrities, sports people, politicians, and encourage people to have Virtual Xmas days online. Have celebrities Zoom-Bomb those family fun times throughout the day.

That’s an arse fart of an idea that would probably placate people while still being additive. People would love it. Nobody will act responsibly unless they have reason to.

Everyone staying home, hoping to get David Beckham or Adele dialling in as they open their Xmas presents with Mum and Nan... ending up with Joey Essex.

We can find ways to solve problems without throwing our arms in the air saying ‘Ah feck it’
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Zoom is not the answer to everything.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Sounds like things are really tough for you. Can I suggest you take a break from Facebook? This pandemic is tough on everyone’s mental health and I’m convinced that spending any time immersed in all the bullshit and negativity it provokes on social media will only sour your mood even further. I deleted Facebook years ago (because it’s awful) but got quite addicted to Twitter. I’ve cut my Twitter use right down and notice a very obvious downturn in my mood for an hour or two after spending any time on there. I think I might keep off it altogether.

Everything will turn out ok in the end. Eventually. All pandemics burn out. That’s what they do. Stay focussed on that and try to only think about the things within your control. Such as your own use of social media and trying to find stuff to enjoy in your day to day life. Best of luck.
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I think that's a sound advice. Gonna take a break from FB, will only keep Messenger. This won't make all the idiots go away though, the last three times I went to a shop to buy food there was police arguing with an anti-masker.
 
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I took a break from Facebook 2 weeks ago, the kind of idiots @Sarni describe, perpetuate my feed, some of them family.

feel so much better staying away from that shit
 
I also deleted Facebook a couple of years ago, and would strongly recommend it to anyone!

The caf more than satisfies my appetite for bullshit.
 
Sarni said:
I think that's a sound advice. Gonna take a break from FB, will only keep Messenger. This won't make all the idiots go away though, the last three times I went to a shop to buy food there was police arguing with an anti-masker.
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It must be very hard when you're a sensible, rational person to see this on a significant scale in your own country. I'm really sorry. All you can do is protect yourself as much as possible when you have to go out and make sure your family are protected, too.
 
MikeUpNorth said:
I also deleted Facebook a couple of years ago, and would strongly recommend it to anyone!

The caf more than satisfies my appetite for bullshit.
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Yeah. Facebook is a cesspool of scum, deleted it years ago. I've stopped using Reddit and unfollowed everything political on Instagram as well. Too much negativity on the internet now.
 
I’m all for free speech, but there are people like that idiot from right said Fred on Facebook spouting some really stupid shit.

There is also a young girl called Ellie Grey on Facebook that is really pushing the anti vaccine agenda and people are lapping it up.
 
Garethw said:
I’m all for free speech, but there are people like that idiot from right said Fred on Facebook spouting some really stupid shit.

There is also a young girl called Ellie Grey on Facebook that is really pushing the anti vaccine agenda and people are lapping it up.
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So you’re all up for free speech as long as it’s the same as your opinion?
 
Garethw said:
I’m all for free speech, but there are people like that idiot from right said Fred on Facebook spouting some really stupid shit.

There is also a young girl called Ellie Grey on Facebook that is really pushing the anti vaccine agenda and people are lapping it up.
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If everyone deleted Facebook the world would be a better place. What value does it add to people’s lives? It’s come a long way from being a better version of friends reunited.
 
Sparky Rhiwabon said:
So you’re all up for free speech as long as it’s the same as your opinion?
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Anti vaccination stuff isn’t just people’s opinion though. It’s a concerted effort to undermine one of the worlds most important public health measures based on disinformation. The platform given by social media has taken it into the mainstream at a time where uptake of immunisation is going to be really important. I’m of the opinion that social media platforms should have responsibility for the content that they allow to be spread.
 
Tony Babangida said:
If everyone deleted Facebook the world would be a better place. What value does it add to people’s lives? It’s come a long way from being a better version of friends reunited.
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I keep in touch with my widely scattered family and friends but don't get news from it, so I find it much better than Twitter which I largely avoid.
 
Sparky Rhiwabon said:
So you’re all up for free speech as long as it’s the same as your opinion?
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Freedom of speech doesnt mean you can say anything. Hate speech or saying things that would incite actions that harm people isnt covered under any freedom of speech right.

People often use it as an excuse to spout a lot of nonsense..
Anti vaxxers with their pseudo science cant claim to be protected under freedom of speech.
 
Tony Babangida said:
Anti vaccination stuff isn’t just people’s opinion though. It’s a concerted effort to undermine one of the worlds most important public health measures based on disinformation. The platform given by social media has taken it into the mainstream at a time where uptake of immunisation is going to be really important. I’m of the opinion that social media platforms should have responsibility for the content that they allow to be spread.
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prateik said:
Freedom of speech doesnt mean you can say anything. Hate speech or saying things that would incite actions that harm people isnt covered under any freedom of speech right.

People often use it as an excuse to spout a lot of nonsense..
Anti vaxxers with their pseudo science cant claim to be protected under freedom of speech.
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I'm just not sure there are enough “absolutes“ or knowns with this novel virus or potential vaccines to be saying one set of people is “right” or “wrong” and that one set of people shouldn’t be allowed a say.

For the record, I don’t agree with them and will be happy to be vaccinated once a safe vaccine is available
 
11101 said:
:lol: so they only put the new tier system in two weeks ago and already they need to change it. No wonder nobody listens to them.
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I'm not sure that's what's happened here. It just seems like the mayor's own branding, possibly to displace the blame to make it sound like a central government move. They're still in tier 1 at a national level and the local council has voted to add in extra measures. Which is supposed to happen in all 3 of the tiers anyway.
 
Social media is the fecking problem.
Too many arseholes with too much airtime and exposure when they actually have no fecknig clue about actual facts. Thats what makes me so angry.
Without social media the world would be a better place
 
Wibble said:
I keep in touch with my widely scattered family and friends but don't get news from it, so I find it much better than Twitter which I largely avoid.
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Buy wibcafe.net, create a forum, have them all sign up, delete Facebook, problem solved. Could even have a private sub-forum for complaining about the in-laws.
 
Sparky Rhiwabon said:
I'm just not sure there are enough “absolutes“ or knowns with this novel virus or potential vaccines to be saying one set of people is “right” or “wrong” and that one set of people shouldn’t be allowed a say.
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Not knowing is totally fine.. Claiming to know better than the scientists, when one has no data to back it up, is not.

Anything that will be approved will meet the safety standards and the data will be verified and peer reviewed. There is no room for conspiracy here.
 
Sparky Rhiwabon said:
I'm just not sure there are enough “absolutes“ or knowns with this novel virus or potential vaccines to be saying one set of people is “right” or “wrong” and that one set of people shouldn’t be allowed a say.

For the record, I don’t agree with them and will be happy to be vaccinated once a safe vaccine is available
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I agree with you, there are understandable worries about the speed with which these vaccines are being developed and there should be debate about covid. I don’t have any problem with people expressing those opinions. I think it’s good that it’s talked so people can get genuine information about how the vaccine trials are being conducted and make informed decisions. For the record the trials are being conducted extremely rigorously and time isn’t being saved on the phase 3, it is being saved by overlapping all the phases, regulatory approval, and manufacture. I personally would be happy to take any vaccine that makes it through the phase 3. Vaccines also have an extremely good track record of safety. So although worrying about speed of development is understandable, it is ultimately unfounded.

But that is not the same as the organised anti-vaccination movement, who trot out pseudoscience and lies. That is what I think shouldn’t be given a platform. I have seen a family member take up this line of thinking and it’s pretty distressing watching them essentially get radicalised by Facebook and YouTube.
 
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Tony Babangida said:
If everyone deleted Facebook the world would be a better place. What value does it add to people’s lives? It’s come a long way from being a better version of friends reunited.
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Without a shadow of a doubt.

Arguably the greatest positive contribution to society any one individual could make would be if Zuckerberg pressed the giant red “off” button hidden in his desk and shut down FB/Instagram permanently. All the better if he could get Jack Dorsey on board and simultaneously kill Twitter. That’s the Nobel Peace Prize right there.
 
I do think the whole take action so Christmas isn't cancelled is daft, what lockdown now so we can all just mingle for 1 day and spread the virus again so we have to lockdown again! utterly mental!

The approach needs to be about the long term not just so people can have a jolly up to celebrate a fictional character's supposed birthday!
 
I am home from work to self isolate as my son has tested positive. Test and trace doesn't accept his test code as positive because his wife booked the tests and she has tested negative. they were only given one code? Grandson is also unwell and I would book a test for all of us as we are child minders for him and have been exposed but I should only get one if I have symptoms which no one in our house has.

We were all at my dads funeral on Monday as well.

Bit stressed at the moment.
 
Don't Kill Bill said:
I am home from work to self isolate as my son has tested positive. Test and trace doesn't accept his test code as positive because his wife booked the tests and she has tested negative. they were only given one code? Grandson is also unwell and I would book a test for all of us as we are child minders for him and have been exposed but I should only get one if I have symptoms which no one in our house has.

We were all at my dads funeral on Monday as well.

Bit stressed at the moment.
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Sounds rough mate, hope your feeling better soon
 
Today's UK figures:

Deaths - 310
Positive Cases - 24,701
Patients in Hospital - 9,520
Patients admitted in last 24hrs - 1,227
Patients on ventilator beds - 902

fecking grim! There surely has to be a full 2nd lockdown. I remember when Valance was laughed at for suggesting deaths could go back to over 200 by mid-November.
 
Jericholyte2 said:
Today's UK figures:

Deaths - 310
Positive Cases - 24,701
Patients in Hospital - 9,520
Patients admitted in last 24hrs - 1,227
Patients on ventilator beds - 902

fecking grim! There surely has to be a full 2nd lockdown. I remember when Valance was laughed at for suggesting deaths could go back to over 200 by mid-November.
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Where did you get the hospital stats from?
 
Jericholyte2 said:
Today's UK figures:

Deaths - 310
Positive Cases - 24,701
Patients in Hospital - 9,520
Patients admitted in last 24hrs - 1,227
Patients on ventilator beds - 902

fecking grim! There surely has to be a full 2nd lockdown. I remember when Valance was laughed at for suggesting deaths could go back to over 200 by mid-November.
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Yep, and people laughed when they said ~50,000 confirmed cases by mid November, saying that would only be the outcome if there were zero policies in place to help stop the spread, and it's only worst case scenario via modelling etc.

Yet here we are...

What I struggle to comprehend is the sheer amount of people I know that are just getting along with their life as normal, going out to places to eat and drink indoors etc. Starting to hear a lot of people around getting positive tests for the virus, so I wouldn't be so blase.
 
Don't Kill Bill said:
I am home from work to self isolate as my son has tested positive. Test and trace doesn't accept his test code as positive because his wife booked the tests and she has tested negative. they were only given one code? Grandson is also unwell and I would book a test for all of us as we are child minders for him and have been exposed but I should only get one if I have symptoms which no one in our house has.

We were all at my dads funeral on Monday as well.

Bit stressed at the moment.
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Sorry for your loss. May he RIP
 
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