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

Volumiza said:
Oh well, so far so safe but the first of our household has now tested positive. LFT and PCR. Let a nervy week commence.
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Good luck mate, my daughter and I had it, was rough as he'll for a few days even having been jabbed, but in the bright side it lasted less than a week.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
New Zealand officially giving up on zero covid strategy. Sensible decision now delta has taken root.
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Still going pretty hard with lockdowns to keep cases very low until vaccination is very high. In practice I don't think much will change but they are just trying to take the wind out of the sails of the right wingers who want to open up and bugger the consequences.
 
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Wibble said:
Still going pretty hard with lockdowns to keep cases very low until vaccination is very high. In practice I don't think much will change but they are just trying to take the wind out of the sails of the right wingers who want to open up and bugger the consequences.
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Its quite amazing what Im watching from our right wing right now. There are legitimate things to complain about with respect to labour and Jacindas approach to this virus but our right wing are focussed on simply lying and spreading complete untruths to unsettle the population. I understand they have a job to do with respect to trying to become the governing party but they are taking no part in actively helping with driving the vaccination push. Unfortunately our media seem to be fully on board with their approach, its like the switch has been flicked to go into tall poppy syndrome. I really do wonder if Murdoch has snuck in here in disguise its got that bad. I work as an advertising photographer and one of my clients is NZME our biggest media outlet, they own TVNZ our biggest TV network and the NZ Herald our biggest newspaper. The NZ Herald has a bunch of right wing political journalists and every single day there has been an anti Govt/Jacinda story since the beginning of the Pandemic. I was in at NZME doing a couple of days photography for an ad campaign 3 months ago and noted while working that that set of journalists share a group of desks, probably not really surprising but it did explain why so many stories appeared that were similar but written by different journalists. It feels like an orchestrated campaign or attack. The last 3 months has seen my trust in NZ journalists drop to an all time low.
I acknowledge I have a bias but whats happening presently in our own media really rides past my own bias and shows a massive lack of honesty and ethical direction from our media. Welcome to the real world I guess.
 
Stack said:
Its quite amazing what Im watching from our right wing right now. There are legitimate things to complain about with respect to labour and Jacindas approach to this virus but our right wing are focussed on simply lying and spreading complete untruths to unsettle the population. I understand they have a job to do with respect to trying to become the governing party but they are taking no part in actively helping with driving the vaccination push. Unfortunately our media seem to be fully on board with their approach, its like the switch has been flicked to go into tall poppy syndrome. I really do wonder if Murdoch has snuck in here in disguise its got that bad. I work as an advertising photographer and one of my clients is NZME our biggest media outlet, they own TVNZ our biggest TV network and the NZ Herald our biggest newspaper. The NZ Herald has a bunch of right wing political journalists and every single day there has been an anti Govt/Jacinda story since the beginning of the Pandemic. I was in at NZME doing a couple of days photography for an ad campaign 3 months ago and noted while working that that set of journalists share a group of desks, probably not really surprising but it did explain why so many stories appeared that were similar but written by different journalists. It feels like an orchestrated campaign or attack. The last 3 months has seen my trust in NZ journalists drop to an all time low.
I acknowledge I have a bias but whats happening presently in our own media really rides past my own bias and shows a massive lack of honesty and ethical direction from our media. Welcome to the real world I guess.
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What angle are they going for? Lockdowns not needed now we have vaccines? Or zero covid strategy the wrong one from the outset?
 
Stack said:
Its quite amazing what Im watching from our right wing right now. There are legitimate things to complain about with respect to labour and Jacindas approach to this virus but our right wing are focussed on simply lying and spreading complete untruths to unsettle the population. I understand they have a job to do with respect to trying to become the governing party but they are taking no part in actively helping with driving the vaccination push. Unfortunately our media seem to be fully on board with their approach, its like the switch has been flicked to go into tall poppy syndrome. I really do wonder if Murdoch has snuck in here in disguise its got that bad. I work as an advertising photographer and one of my clients is NZME our biggest media outlet, they own TVNZ our biggest TV network and the NZ Herald our biggest newspaper. The NZ Herald has a bunch of right wing political journalists and every single day there has been an anti Govt/Jacinda story since the beginning of the Pandemic. I was in at NZME doing a couple of days photography for an ad campaign 3 months ago and noted while working that that set of journalists share a group of desks, probably not really surprising but it did explain why so many stories appeared that were similar but written by different journalists. It feels like an orchestrated campaign or attack. The last 3 months has seen my trust in NZ journalists drop to an all time low.
I acknowledge I have a bias but whats happening presently in our own media really rides past my own bias and shows a massive lack of honesty and ethical direction from our media. Welcome to the real world I guess.
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What are the lies?
 
New Delta strain in the community in NSW
The CHO, Dr Kerry Chant says the state identified a new strand of the Delta variant in the community.
"New South Wales Health is continuing to investigate the source of the Delta strain. I should - so this is a new Delta strain identified through genome sequencing.
"As a routine, we progressively do special testing on all the isolates and we've detected a genome of the Delta strain which is different from that that was previously transmitting in our community.
"We've linked that back to a person who returned from overseas but the exact mechanism of how that strain emerged and got into the community in western Sydney is still under investigation. So we will update you as those investigations continue. But I want to reassure you that there's nothing about this Delta strain from looking at the genomics that suggested it's any more transmissible."
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10...ases-vaccinations-press-conferences/100526130
 
Ecstatic said:
What are the lies?
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Our former PM John Key last week said that our Govt were using fear tactics to get people vaccinated. Anyone with an ounce of sensibility will recognise that one of the reasons we were able to keep our death rate so incredibly low was because the Govt used clear and coherent explanations of what they were trying to do and why. They openly changed policy if they felt their original mandates were wrong ( mask advice being a good example of them changing advice, given with clear explanation).
John Key then used fear tactics himself in trying to sell the idea that NZ had a massive problem with the Govt borrowing huge amounts of money which future generations would suffer from. Only the week before he made these comments the OECD GDP figures came out and showed NZ as having the highest growth of any OECD country.
Amusingly when John Key became PM NZ had a debt ratio of 0% of GDP and when he left power it was at 29% of GDP. When NZ entered this pandemic our govt debt to gdp ration was 27% and after the first lockdown it had grown to 33%. Because we spent less time with lockdown type restrictions we ended up seeing business flourish here and we had a large tax take which in turn meant our Govt debt ratio to GDP had dropped very slightly to 32% of GDP. John Key took our Govt debt up to 45% because he had to deal with a GFC and 2 major earthquakes, he was able to bring the debt levels down but it is massively dishonest of him to make an allegation even when figures the previous month showed the exact opposite.
Another major lie was that our Opposition party were claiming the Govt had no plan of what to do over the next year and how to exit the closed border issues. Amusingly again back in June the Govt published exactly that type of plan with very clear steps to opening up.
The leader of our main opposition party accused one of our epidemiologists of breaking lockdown restriction rules last month and that was subsequently completely debunked, yet just a week later she actually broke the restriction rules and had to apologise for doing so.
I could carry on but you get the idea.
 
USA is going to accept travellers vaccinated with WHO approved vaccines from next month.
 
Foxbatt said:
USA is going to accept travellers vaccinated with WHO approved vaccines from next month.
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Has there been an update or is it the press briefing from a couple of weeks ago..
They said early Nov back then.. waiting for a date.

edit: checked.. news from today. no date yet.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us...9-vaccines-international-visitors-2021-10-08/

"Six vaccines that are FDA authorized/approved or listed for emergency use by WHO will meet the criteria for travel to the U.S."
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----------------

7 Vaccines Approved for Use by WHO
https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/agency/who/

:nervous:
which one isnt making the cut?
 
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Stack said:
Our former PM John Key last week said that our Govt were using fear tactics to get people vaccinated. Anyone with an ounce of sensibility will recognise that one of the reasons we were able to keep our death rate so incredibly low was because the Govt used clear and coherent explanations of what they were trying to do and why. They openly changed policy if they felt their original mandates were wrong ( mask advice being a good example of them changing advice, given with clear explanation).
John Key then used fear tactics himself in trying to sell the idea that NZ had a massive problem with the Govt borrowing huge amounts of money which future generations would suffer from. Only the week before he made these comments the OECD GDP figures came out and showed NZ as having the highest growth of any OECD country.
Amusingly when John Key became PM NZ had a debt ratio of 0% of GDP and when he left power it was at 29% of GDP. When NZ entered this pandemic our govt debt to gdp ration was 27% and after the first lockdown it had grown to 33%. Because we spent less time with lockdown type restrictions we ended up seeing business flourish here and we had a large tax take which in turn meant our Govt debt ratio to GDP had dropped very slightly to 32% of GDP. John Key took our Govt debt up to 45% because he had to deal with a GFC and 2 major earthquakes, he was able to bring the debt levels down but it is massively dishonest of him to make an allegation even when figures the previous month showed the exact opposite.
Another major lie was that our Opposition party were claiming the Govt had no plan of what to do over the next year and how to exit the closed border issues. Amusingly again back in June the Govt published exactly that type of plan with very clear steps to opening up.
The leader of our main opposition party accused one of our epidemiologists of breaking lockdown restriction rules last month and that was subsequently completely debunked, yet just a week later she actually broke the restriction rules and had to apologise for doing so.
I could carry on but you get the idea.
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Thanks for your time.

John Key is obviously a public enemy in the sense he made your country significantly indebted in a short period of time, the opportunity for him to earn obscure commissions surely.

This political game you are describing happen everywhere, with oppo leaders saying one thing and the opposite.

There is no denying fear tactics are used to get people vaccinated, wearing masks and panicking: nothing controversial there.
 
So, my sister tells me no-one's talking about Covid now (she lives near Bolton), and the restrictions that were in place have by and large disappeared. Whereas here in Italy I feel it's still very much at the forefront of people's minds, partly because we still have to wear masks in shops etc.

Do other British posters feel that Covid is becoming old news?
 
Penna said:
So, my sister tells me no-one's talking about Covid now (she lives near Bolton), and the restrictions that were in place have by and large disappeared. Whereas here in Italy I feel it's still very much at the forefront of people's minds, partly because we still have to wear masks in shops etc.

Do other British posters feel that Covid is becoming old news?
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Where I live in Bristol took it seriously up until around August I’d say. Mask wearing was probably at around 70% in shops and 40% (walking into) Pubs and restaurants.

Since the students have flooded back in it’s dropped to around 20% in shops and nobody seems to wear one into a pub anymore. People follow the crowd I guess, you don’t really wear a mask for your own benefit, it’s so you stop spreading it to others and when the majority of people aren’t bothering then why should you?


I’ll admit my mask wearing has slipped this last fortnight but I still carry one with me all the time and I’ll always make a point of trying to judge whether I should wear one before entering and if there’s any older people still wearing their masks then I’ll do the same.
 
Pexbo said:
Where I live in Bristol took it seriously up until around August I’d say. Mask wearing was probably at around 70% in shops and 40% (walking into) Pubs and restaurants.

Since the students have flooded back in it’s dropped to around 20% in shops and nobody seems to wear one into a pub anymore. People follow the crowd I guess, you don’t really wear a mask for your own benefit, it’s so you stop spreading it to others and when the majority of people aren’t bothering then why should you?


I’ll admit my mask wearing has slipped this last fortnight but I still carry one with me all the time and I’ll always make a point of trying to judge whether I should wear one before entering and if there’s any older people still wearing their masks then I’ll do the same.
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Seems like a similar situation in your part of the country, then. I think it's risky, with the numbers still being so high in the UK.
 
Penna said:
Seems like a similar situation in your part of the country, then. I think it's risky, with the numbers still being so high in the UK.
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I think I’m right in saying that the UK has one of the highest infection rates in Europe right now, yet the PM is pushing to get everyone back into offices.

Surely the push to get everyone filling trains and tubes would be better placed in the spring?
 
Penna said:
Seems like a similar situation in your part of the country, then. I think it's risky, with the numbers still being so high in the UK.
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I think it's inevitable with the way the official messaging has gone. I think the assumption in the UK is now, "everyone is going to catch it," with a few provisos about luck and vaccines. Rather than responding by wondering how to vaccinate more of the highest risk groups or how to protect those who can't take or don't respond to the vaccine - people have opted for "if we get it out of the way now, we'll all be safer in a few months."

Massive gamble of course, and utterly dependant on vaccine efficacy and the vulnerable hiding while the virus runs through the population. If it "works" then the hospitals don't get (much) busier than they are now through the winter, leaving enough capacity to handle the winter flu if not the full reinstatement of normal healthcare. Deaths should start falling as vaccine boosters and new vaccinations kick in.

If the theory is right then covid will become a "flu-like" problem this winter and into the future, and we have years of experience of ignoring those deaths. The calculation leaves out the human factor of all the people who will be in that new statistic and the fact that a lot of medical staff have been running on empty for a while.

Ultimately though, as crass and impersonal as the statistics sound - the one that will count for most will be excess deaths (covid and otherwise) over the next couple of years. Will the "all catch it at once" approach leave the UK worse off overall than countries reopening more cautiously? I've seen statistical models that suggest it won't make much difference (only vax rates really make a difference in those models).

At any rate, the UK are currently heading into "herd immunity by infection" for kids in particular. No masks in shops etc are no surprise given that there's basically no mitigation effort at all in schools now, and the case rate amongst the 12-18s is through the roof.
 
Penna said:
So, my sister tells me no-one's talking about Covid now (she lives near Bolton), and the restrictions that were in place have by and large disappeared. Whereas here in Italy I feel it's still very much at the forefront of people's minds, partly because we still have to wear masks in shops etc.

Do other British posters feel that Covid is becoming old news?
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Not old news for me in NL. Still mask up on the train and keep my distance. Cases up 30% on the week earlier, thats what happens when you open up too much. Hospitals calling on government not to relax further as they can't cope. So yeah, covid hasn't gone anywhere
 
jojojo said:
I think it's inevitable with the way the official messaging has gone. I think the assumption in the UK is now, "everyone is going to catch it," with a few provisos about luck and vaccines. Rather than responding by wondering how to vaccinate more of the highest risk groups or how to protect those who can't take or don't respond to the vaccine - people have opted for "if we get it out of the way now, we'll all be safer in a few months."

Massive gamble of course, and utterly dependant on vaccine efficacy and the vulnerable hiding while the virus runs through the population. If it "works" then the hospitals don't get (much) busier than they are now through the winter, leaving enough capacity to handle the winter flu if not the full reinstatement of normal healthcare. Deaths should start falling as vaccine boosters and new vaccinations kick in.

If the theory is right then covid will become a "flu-like" problem this winter and into the future, and we have years of experience of ignoring those deaths. The calculation leaves out the human factor of all the people who will be in that new statistic and the fact that a lot of medical staff have been running on empty for a while.

Ultimately though, as crass and impersonal as the statistics sound - the one that will count for most will be excess deaths (covid and otherwise) over the next couple of years. Will the "all catch it at once" approach leave the UK worse off overall than countries reopening more cautiously? I've seen statistical models that suggest it won't make much difference (only vax rates really make a difference in those models).

At any rate, the UK are currently heading into "herd immunity by infection" for kids in particular. No masks in shops etc are no surprise given that there's basically no mitigation effort at all in schools now, and the case rate amongst the 12-18s is through the roof.
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What makes you think it'll only be a couple of years?

Most likely it's seasonal and permanent, like Influenza there will be never be an end, some years will be worse than others. Depending on vaccines and what evolves in response to them.
 
Mb194dc said:
What makes you think it'll only be a couple of years?

Most likely it's seasonal and permanent, like Influenza there will be never be an end, some years will be worse than others. Depending on vaccines and what evolves in response to them.
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I don't, I agree with you - it's here now, the way flu is, though it remains to be seen if it will be as deadly as flu, or better/worse. Whichever way it goes, I think it will be endemic everywhere in a couple of years. Inevitably, it will be the vaccines, the past infections and the variants that will see how that plays over time.

It's the number of deaths and how much disruption we go through in getting to that new equilibrium that will vary between countries. In other words, will saving more lives now (which continuing non-vaccine controls can do), translate into saving more lives overall during the next year or so.
 
Has anybody else caught this nasty cold that is going round. I have and it resembles the same symptoms Covid. But I have done 3 lateral flow tests and all were negative. I will do another tomorrow. Breathing is absolutely fine but I have a headache and feel lethargic which is unusual for me.
 
Buster15 said:
Has anybody else caught this nasty cold that is going round. I have and it resembles the same symptoms Covid. But I have done 3 lateral flow tests and all were negative. I will do another tomorrow. Breathing is absolutely fine but I have a headache and feel lethargic which is unusual for me.
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Yeah, me and my 2 kids all had it, lasts a while as well.

we all did test and all negative.
 
Buster15 said:
Has anybody else caught this nasty cold that is going round. I have and it resembles the same symptoms Covid. But I have done 3 lateral flow tests and all were negative. I will do another tomorrow. Breathing is absolutely fine but I have a headache and feel lethargic which is unusual for me.
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If you’re sick with symptoms like covid then get a proper (PCR) test. Lateral flow tests are often wrong.
 
Buster15 said:
Has anybody else caught this nasty cold that is going round. I have and it resembles the same symptoms Covid. But I have done 3 lateral flow tests and all were negative. I will do another tomorrow. Breathing is absolutely fine but I have a headache and feel lethargic which is unusual for me.
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Flemmy cough?

RS Virus, our littlest end up spending 14 days in hospital, 5 of them in intensive care. Horrendous.

Hospitals all over Sweden sounding the alarm as they are full already, and the peak normally comes in Jan. My little gal had to share an ICU, usually for one baby, with 3.
Scary shit the way it’s going, reading news it’s a massive problem Worldwide for small ones due to lack of normal immunity in population (Covid restrictions).

https://www-aftonbladet-se.translat...sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=sv&_x_tr_pto=nui
 
Buster15 said:
Has anybody else caught this nasty cold that is going round. I have and it resembles the same symptoms Covid. But I have done 3 lateral flow tests and all were negative. I will do another tomorrow. Breathing is absolutely fine but I have a headache and feel lethargic which is unusual for me.
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Two people from my partners work have the same cold as do their partners. They’ve all had LF and PCR tests and all came back negative but they’ve had full covid symptoms.

One of them wanted to come back into work when he’d got his negative PCR :lol: I thought covid would put an end to people trying to be heroes and dragging themselves into the office to work.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Flemmy cough?

RS Virus, our littlest end up spending 14 days in hospital, 5 of them in intensive care. Horrendous.

Hospitals all over Sweden sounding the alarm as they are full already, and the peak normally comes in Jan. My little gal had to share an ICU, usually for one baby, with 3.
Scary shit the way it’s going, reading news it’s a massive problem Worldwide for small ones due to lack of normal immunity in population (Covid restrictions).

https://www-aftonbladet-se.translat...sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=sv&_x_tr_pto=nui
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Jesus, hope your little one is recovering well
 
Buster15 said:
Has anybody else caught this nasty cold that is going round. I have and it resembles the same symptoms Covid. But I have done 3 lateral flow tests and all were negative. I will do another tomorrow. Breathing is absolutely fine but I have a headache and feel lethargic which is unusual for me.
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yeah. Picked it up at work from people who have tested negative - as have I (lat flow). I feel like absolute shit though
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Thanks pal, she’s been home since Tuesday and is doing well.
Seeing her spend 2 days with great difficulty breathing and then having to take regular 20 seconds pauses from breathing because she was too tired was the worst thing I’ve experienced in my life.
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Having young kids myself can only imagine what you guys went through. Horrendous. Last time we went in hospital with one was when the littlest one stuck a rubber dinosaur leg up his nose, which sounds funny but had me worried sick cos they couldn’t get it. I’d be in bits with what yours went through. Where did she catch it?
 
golden_blunder said:
Having young kids myself can only imagine what you guys went through. Horrendous. Last time we went in hospital with one was when the littlest one stuck a rubber dinosaur leg up his nose, which sounds funny but had me worried sick cos they couldn’t get it. I’d be in bits with what yours went through. Where did she catch it?
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Yeah it’s insane the devastation looking at your own kids suffering, just horrific.
She caught it from our two year old who brought it home from pre-school, I was running in Copenhagen the weekend the oldest started with symptoms so the girls and mom were all in the same bed, 2 year old was really poorly. Poor lil thing had no chance, it’s apparently as contagious at chicken pox.
 
Yep got the sneezes, flemmy cough like a 40 a day smoker, and blocked/stuffy nose needing 2 boxes of tissue a day myself. Not pleasant!

@Regulus Arcturus Black thank heavens she’s fine now!
 
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