Mask adherence was 100% when I had mine done but there was this old boy in the waiting room after with a broken mask, he’s was talking and coughing with his mask flapping about in the air. Some people are just bit dim.
SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)
- Thread starter Don't Kill Bill
- Start date
Mask adherence was 100% when I had mine done but there was this old boy in the waiting room after with a broken mask, he’s was talking and coughing with his mask flapping about in the air. Some people are just bit dim.
Omicron could have been here for much longer than we know but before last week who was getting a test for headache and a runny nose?
You would think that logic tells you to wear a mask when you’re going to be jammed in a queue with hundreds of others
We know from the ONS, React and Siren surveys that it wasn't around in large amounts. They all do population sampling, mostly of asymptomatic people. We know from school kids and others who do weekly lateral flow tests, followed by PCR if positive, that it wasn't common. Waste water sampling suggests we had our first cases just before w/c 22 November.
There might have been the odd case earlier but it's not that we missed spotting it a lot of cases just because of the difference in symptoms.
My kids as covid is rife amongst some of the classes
But would they have been looking for a variant? Would positive tests just have been counted as ‘normal’ covid?
Makes sense, despite those refusing to wear a mask also being those most in need of the jab/boost.
It's an odd stance to take though isn't it (unless you're exempt from wearing a mask) - I need to get my booster jab, but I draw the line at wearing a mask in a crowded space.
Exactly, you'd think people realising the importance of the vaccine and booster would be the ones understanding the need for a mask.
Sorry, should have said, queue was initially outdoors as it was around 600m long but it wasn’t remotely socially distanced. There were two lines, maybe 2ft from each other, going in opposite directions. I kept my 2m from the guy in front but no one else was, including the guy behind me. Then when it went indoors I only saw a few without masks. Not to mention Fag Ash Lil.
Positives on the sampling surveys get retested for variants. LFTs not necessarily, though enough go for the kind of PCR test that can give a possible result that we'd see it if it was a big proportion of cases. We might be a week slow but I doubt it would be more than that.
Denmark, who do a lot of testing and sequencing, see it in samples starting at about the same time as the UK. It will have been here, but at low levels, that's the nature of exponential growth though, it builds.
Yeah, my queue was outside too. At first everyone was 2m apart, but as more turned up there were about 200 in the queue, so they made everyone stand closer together. A bloke a few people behind me then lit a joint.
In Italy some regions (ours included) are going back into yellow measures from tomorrow. It's not a big deal for those of us who have the Super Green Pass, we'll have to wear masks outside again but then, they help keep your face warm in winter.
As it happens, a lot of people have been choosing to wear masks on the streets for a long time now. I don't, as I can't see the value when you're walking alone in the fresh air and not stopping to talk to anyone - but I will from tomorrow.
There are 5 cases in the village right now, it's not a lot but they've all appeared in one week. Our permanently-resident population is only about 700 people. We've not had any deaths here from Covid throughout the whole pandemic, which is impressive seeing as we have so many extremely elderly people.
As it happens, a lot of people have been choosing to wear masks on the streets for a long time now. I don't, as I can't see the value when you're walking alone in the fresh air and not stopping to talk to anyone - but I will from tomorrow.
There are 5 cases in the village right now, it's not a lot but they've all appeared in one week. Our permanently-resident population is only about 700 people. We've not had any deaths here from Covid throughout the whole pandemic, which is impressive seeing as we have so many extremely elderly people.
There’s no vaccine against being an absolute legend.
As @Pogue Mahone said, we don't really have much we can do about viruses. We have a few things to make it easier - paracetamol/ibuprofen, keep hydrated, rest etc.
We also have some treatments coming, we think. They've been through clinical trials and they seem to reduce the likelihood of it getting serious. We're now looking at who should get them and when, and whether they're safe for everyone.
So with that in mind ...
You have to act fast though, as soon as you get a positive PCR test. There are other trials underway, again targeted at stopping severe disease and trying to decide who would benefit from the drug - similar timeline involved.
If we can crack the who needs what bit, hopefully we'll be able to give some vulnerable people prescriptions to keep in their cupboard (or for same day Amazon prime delivery!) ready for a positive PCR or LFT. Like all drugs the side effects might outweigh the benefits for some people. They're still working it out.
They announced pubs would close and we were entering lockdown again on January 30th last year. But we were already empty because he had that moronic rule where you could only drink if you had a meal.
The first lockdown Boris told people not to go to the pubs on Monday then announced on Friday that lockdown would start Saturday.
They don't give a feck.
New Years Eve is the 2nd biggest day for us outside of our Pirate Festival (that's been cancelled the last two years)
I think there is a high probability new years eve is cancelled as well... hopefully there is business support announced that will lessen the blow
That said I think lots of people will have parties at home and the government has very little chance of controlling that
The government, MET and by extension all UK police have zero capital in policing public actions on this issue.
Out of interest is there any data for flu deaths so far this winter? Or is it a bit too early and that only becomes available from Feb onwards?
Just wondering if it has come back with a vengeance so far or the Omicron has effectively written it off for second winter running.
Just wondering if it has come back with a vengeance so far or the Omicron has effectively written it off for second winter running.
I wonder, in addition, if those who were likely to be susceptible to a particularly vicious flu cycle are instead succumbing to Covid?
Also, is it possible to contract both simultaneously?
https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-r...r-and-biontech-provide-update-omicron-variant
Are the neutralisation claims in this press release not contradicted by other studies?
Are the neutralisation claims in this press release not contradicted by other studies?
I got absolutely nothing for the two previous lockdowns because I don't pay the business rates. Even worse was the ridiculous rules last December where you could only have alcohol while you were eating. That nearly bankrupted me. It would have been better if he just shut the pubs.
I have already accepted we won't have a NYE again. If we do it's a bonus, but I doubt it.
PHE provide weekly surveillance reports on flu in here and incidence is much lower than normal. I wouldn’t think that has much to do with the variant displacing it, mostly due to all the preventative measures for covid + record fly vaccine uptake.
They’re being a bit sneaky here.
They confirm that there is a big (25 fold) reduction in neutralising antibody titres against omicron after two dose vaccine, compared to wild type. Which is consistent with other studies.
They have separate data showing that a booster can increase serum antibodies by up to 25 times.
They therefore conclude that a boosted vaccine gives you the same protection as two doses vs wild type.
What they don’t have is any direct evidence on efficacy of a boosted vaccine vs omicron. Either good or bad. Like most things to do with this variant, we’ll know more in a few weeks.
Cheers.
First estimates from UK HSA are around 75% infection effectiveness following the booster (AZ or Pfizer as first series) Big error bars of course - range about 55 to 86% they think.
That's based on SGTF positive results not sequenced cases, but it's a starting point.
Aren't most reports so far on the positive side? Saying that it's a mild varient?
I do understand that any mutation isn't good though as one could be like this one and another could easily be the opposite which I presume is where most of the worry is stemming from.
Him disappearing straight after that was so weird.
It was like the classic Alistair's (spelling?) "try walking a mile in a middle class person's shoes" but on steroids. Beautiful.
Wasn't that Erica? It was a goat among caf quotes
Wasn't that Erica? It was a goat among caf quotes
Ah, that sounds right now that you mention it. I'm sure Alistair had a take on a similar scale, but it was probably something else.
Wasn't that Erica? It was a goat among caf quotes
No paedophile or rape jokes before anyone thinks of posting one. Should go without saying really but have to post it as I know what some are lik
It's so frustrating in the UK. I was happily going about daily life back in Italy, cases were not high and with the vaccine pass everything was normal.
Yet again I fly back to the UK and everything is going nuts, borders are being closed as yet again the UK is the epicentre of Europe. Why can't the government understand their plan A, B, whatever else don't work and start following their neighbours instead of pretending Britain knows best? This is the third time the UK has been responsible for spreading Covid around the continent.
Rant over.
Yet again I fly back to the UK and everything is going nuts, borders are being closed as yet again the UK is the epicentre of Europe. Why can't the government understand their plan A, B, whatever else don't work and start following their neighbours instead of pretending Britain knows best? This is the third time the UK has been responsible for spreading Covid around the continent.
Rant over.
Will this madness never end?! What's next? Gnats?
The thing is, the Uk is literally the epicentre of Europe. Compared to Italy anyway. Gatwick is the UK’s second busiest airport and it has more passengers each year than Italy’s busiest. Heathrow has almost twice as many passengers each year on top of that.
I do think that the rise of alpha could, in part, be attributed to the Uk not doing enough to control spread but the way it acted as a gateway to so many delta and omicron cases is just a function of its role as an international travel hub.
It's simply hard to understand that while matches across the country are getting cancelled left, right and centre due to Covid positive cases at clubs and there are record high positive cases in UK, the games that are on are still being played with full spectator capacity and that to without a mask mandate.
What do you expect from the people who said you could only drink alcohol with a meal?
They haven't got a clue. They never have. I feel some shmpay as it's unprecedented times, but some of their decisions have been moronic and completely senseless.
It’s also partly because they are trying to be as lenient as possible at every turn because they fear the public backlash when in reality everything right now should be closed.
Why not blame Denmark, they've got higher rates of omicron? Or look at the death stats for the past month in Austria, Germany, Czech republic or even Italy - trying to deal with delta. I know the UK is famed as plague island but Europe is struggling to manage reopening and that's because it's hard.
Paris CDG has overtaken Heathrow as the busiest airport in Europe, at least during Covid, but I get your point.
Still, the lack of rules is the main reason. I flew in and was allowed to stay in a hotel, catch the Heathrow Express, get the tube, hang out at Euston for a couple of hours and catch a train to Manchester, all in my isolation period, all with no distancing and barely any mention of a mask.
The big airports spread it but the lack of rules is why there are so many cases to spread in the first place. Any new variant that arrives has the perfect conditions to get a foothold.