to me the 5 day announcement is just another dead cat on the table to distract from the real issues
+1
5 days is just somewhere on the line between 7 and 0, which is where we are headed in short order.
So next follow ikea in reducing sick pay for unvaccinated staff who have to self isolate but haven’t tested positive
This strikes me as a crazy thing to do. Non vaccinated, many of whom by the very fact they aren’t vaccinated have proven they don’t really give a shit about the implications of this virus on society, are hardly going to be encouraged to follow self isolation rules if they ate not being paid enough to do so
I see Scotland has saw sense and allowed crowds back for sports because it made little to no difference whatsoever. There hasn’t even been time for it to work and its been dropped. That tells you everything you need to know.
Here in Wales that business killing doom merchant Drakeford is left looking like the gormless clown he is. Instead of admitting he got it wrong and dropping these ridiculous restrictions, he’s still desperately trying to paint a picture of woe in a feeble attempt to justify his business crippling restrictions on hospitality.
One local pub has said they got £2,000 from the Welsh government recently. Won’t even cover the screens they had to buy in let alone cover lost earnings. An insult.
A nightclub got 15k. They said that’s a fairly poor night’s takings. One night. To cover how many weeks of being forced to close now? Insulting and damaging.
Just wanted to say that WG and the FM can’t and hasn’t got it all right… but I for one am glad I’m in Wales and have a lot more trust in the govt here than I do of for the govt in Westminster. I don’t see Drakeford as a clown and neither do the people in my family working in healthcare (including a doc and nurse working in hospitals).
The problem with this is enforcing it with the f’wits who wouldn’t abide by the rules. ‘Uman rites, init?
There's no real enforcement of the current "rules"... if you don't want to abide them, just don't report any tests and keep your head down. Having rules based on the science informs people of what they can do to help protect others... there is already nothing you can do about those that don't want to do that. Telling someone who isn't vaccinated (for whatever reason, not everyone in that situation is just being awkward) that they need to isolate for a bit longer, as they are likely to be infectious for longer, is telling them the truth for them to use and inform their own choices.
@HarryTuttle there’s definitely something weird going on!
I’m now on day 4 from my first +ve test, no symptoms, LFT is negative again today (was negative yesterday) No-one else in my household has a sign of it either.
I still don’t really fully believe I’ve had Covid. It’s possible I did catch it between my previous test ( which was 6 days before the first positive ) so I’m further along than my testing regime suggests but the pcr tests should still have detected it.
There must be some reason behind it. I know the testail nag isn’t flawless but I’ve either had three false positive lateral flow tests or two false negative PCR, both scenarios are supposedly statistically exceedingly unlikely!
(That includes a positive lft and a negative pcr taken within 90 mins of each other!)
So many people have covid, many without symptoms, that deaths of people with covid may overestimate those in which covid was even a factor: <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Very approximate</span> calculation:
Deaths per year in the UK, about 600 000 - that's about 1600 per day
People with covid over the last fortnight, about 4 million - or about 1 in 16 people
Number of people per day who would typically have died from something else but also had covid = 1600/16 = 100
There are many details on which you can pick holes in that, such as people with covid not going out so not exposed to traffic collisions, or many of those who would have typically died having had medical conditions that covid made worse, but is it roughly valid?
Back to this are we? Well, the death certificate data will tell us one way or the other later... that takes longer to compile though. From what we've learnt from previous waves, we can probably safely ignore the cries of "died with, not from" as same old, same old.
Most people who die don't occupy an ICU bed for weeks. The comparison with a normal flu and pneumonia season is interesting but again the impact on ICU isn't in the same league. Then there's long Covid.
Covid clearly isn't "normal" and can't be treated as such. Thankfully it hasn't been and is only now being "let rip" when vaccinationa and a milder form make that an acceptable option.
to me the 5 day announcement is just another dead cat on the table to distract from the real issues
Although they've been talking about it for about a week....
@greybeard this is quite a good article on the various accounting methods.
but is it roughly valid?
Yes, the weakness with the measure increases when you have a highly prevalent version,although 100 is probably a bit high. Daily deaths (seven day average) are just over 200 I believe Spiegelhalter says well over 20% which would imply at least 40.
Welsh Health Minister saying that they seem to be past the worst - just two days after Drakeford said that cases where getting worse.
He's a bloody idiot and probably scared that his stranglehold over the Welsh population is coming to an end as far as can be seen.
The only purpose his post Xmas restrictions had was to anger a lot of people and put even more businesses at risk of failure.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-59979492
Two days more data. Promising data. By the 18th they’ll know enough to lift restrictions. Looking at reporting from hospitals in Wales from December, avoiding a crisis required action. Drakeford acted.
Looking at UK data… hospitalisations look they have plateaued. Hopefully they won’t stay that high for too long. Deaths over 300 again.
Up to 50 deaths a day in Australia now... what a morbid thing to type (no pun intended).
Slightly strange atmosphere here now. Lots of people doing the get on with life as normal people. "We're jabbed so we're ok". Exemptions coming in thick and fast.
Health service in pretty good shape, locally we're saying we've got pretty good capacity to manage a peak in a couple of weeks' time ... fingers crossed.
Colleague's husband can't get jabbed and would be at serious risk given their health. But even that doesn't seem to concern people.
I just hope there's not a nasty vaccine evading high mortality variant on its way 'cos defences are down.
Have we done these nutters?
Channel 4 recently covered a "military style" anti vaxxer "training camp"
inside-the-military-style-training-camp-for-anti-vaxxers
The group are called "Alpha Men Assemble" (yes really!) and they are part of what seems to be a confused mix of anti-government, Freeman, anti-vaxx, anti-paedophile conspiracy nonsense. Its basically QAnon lite for the UK.
I think laughter is the appropriate response, but part of me thinks its sad and scary that this stuff exists.
Sad little pathetic Incel men obviously enamoured by the likes of Jordan Peterson/Weinstein and their ilk
Confirms my thoughts that if you asked many outspoken anti-covid-vaxxers their opinions on medical research and deveolment 2 years ago there would be a awkward pause, before moving the conversation back to a poorly thought through opinion on Brexit.
They just like to be seen to be different.
Is it a midlife crisis for people who cant afford a porsche and never had a weird/alternative phase in their teens?
part of me thinks its sad and scary
Those hospital clips. A very hard watch.
I think laughter is the appropriate response, but part of me thinks its sad and scary that this stuff exists.
we dismiss these groups at our peril. they might reasonably be described as 'fringe' but you only have to look at what's gone on so far in the US (and i believe the current situation a hiatus at best) to see where this shit leads. the movers and shakers behind qanon haven't disappeared and nor has their grass roots support. if anything they're only doubling down.
richmtb
Full MemberThe group are called “Alpha Men Assemble”
I love "alpha men". Because the thing about "alpha male wolves" is, it's an idea that only took hold because of observing wolves in captivity.
In the wild they're almost always family units and more often than not led by a female. The "alpha male" is extremely rare, if a male leads a pack it's because he's built a succesful family and his overall ability to lead and look after his people, not because he's big and strong.
So if you identify yourself as an alpha male, you're saying that you live in a cage.
I saw that on C4 News last night. Scary and mildly hilarious at the same time
If you test positive but show no symptoms at the time of test are you likely to stay asymptomatic or can it just develop. Dad is in a nursing home and tested positive but not showing any symptoms as yet.
An example of the obvious conflict of interests between the need of private NHS contractors to make healthy profits, and the health needs of patients and staff :
https://www.gmb-southern.org.uk/news/croydon-hospital-workers-stage-protest-to-demand-covid-sick-pay
Porters and cleaners at the south London hospital are angry after their employer - private NHS contractor G4S - stopped paying covid positive hospital worker’s occupational sick pay.
This means staff are forced to come into the hospital with symptoms of covid because they cannot afford to take time off to self-isolate.
“If G4S is not willing to ensure that their staff and patients are as safe as possible during a pandemic they cannot continue to hold the contract.
“We are now calling on Croydon NHS trust to take this contract back in house and pay these workers the sick pay they need and deserve.”
Newspapers reporting all Covid restrictions to end in 10 days.
Part of a slew of announcements aimed at winning his popularity back with the party and the electorate according to those in the know.
Newspapers reporting all Covid restrictions to end in 10 days.
Part of a slew of announcements aimed at winning his popularity back with the party and the electorate according to those in the know.
Scary.
I understand balancing restrictions against the wider societal problems they cause, but blatantly to save your own neck?
Newspapers reporting all Covid restrictions to end in 10 days.
Based on the Trafford centre yesterday a large percentage of the British public already think this is the case. I was surprised at how normal it was. In lots of places mask wearers were the minority and zero social distancing anywhere.
Just read this on reddit, it is a series of posts from nurses dealing with pregnant covid victims and the babies. Particularly horrifying even after all we have seen over the last few years. My initial thought was wtf is covid placenta, but then realised that if course this is a thing from everything we have seen
https://www.reddit.com/r/DeathsofDisinfo/comments/s4zrul/did_youjustsay_covid_placenta_nurses_discuss/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Took son back to uni yesterday, Cambridge remains the most mask wearing place I've seen.
Newspapers reporting all Covid restrictions to end in 10 days.
Isn't that broadly the same as Wales where the decision was made by Labour?
Dad is in a nursing home and tested positive but not showing any symptoms as yet.
I have to say - one of the most relieving things about the vaccine role out and priortising folk in care is how well guys in there are fairing now. There was a fairly nasty presumption that everyone in their is at deaths door anyway which along with a pretty naive understanding of average life expectancy (the average life expectancy in the UK is 81 but that doesn't mean people at 81 are nearly dead, it means half the population can expect to live a fair while longer, most people who reach 80 can expect to see 90). People were more willing to think that the victims of covid were weak than that the disease was serious.
Only a year or so ago you could expect a case of covid in a care home to result in multiple infections and a dozen or so deaths. My mums home managed to keep covid out throughout the first year of covid (partly by locking down on its own initiative well in advance of a belated government response)
Since last summer they've had two episodes of infections getting in and other than being inconveniencing (in that they interrupt the daily schedule in the home and curtail visiting), they've been completely without drama.
Took my wee girl (not so little now, just turned 12) for her first vaccination the other day, zero side effects apart from a very slightly sore shoulder. Just trying to book her second dose and the nearest place is 60 miles away, I did actually wonder at the time whether she’d even get the chance of a second dose, hopefully they don’t just shut the whole thing down now Boris has completed Covid…
Newspapers reporting all Covid restrictions to end in 10 days.
Part of a slew of announcements aimed at winning his popularity back with the party and the electorate according to those in the know.
Hi PS, this rough timescale was already announced at the start of current restrictions - 23rd Jan-ish IIRC.
Hi PS, this rough timescale was already announced at the start of current restrictions – 23rd Jan-ish IIRC.
Yes the review date was well known, its the apparent plan to relax rules for personal political motives rather than public health policy that's the concern.
Any relaxation will lead to an increase in cases, even temporarily, doing so to save his ass and putting the NHS under more pressure than necessary would be disgraceful.
I really hope this is not the case.
They are dangling the big "restrictions ended"
As far as I can see the ending restrictions entails:
1.facemasks (at least for the winter probably most of the people still complying will carry on voluntarily)
2.vaccine passports (I've never done one, what events are big enough to require them? Dont think I've heard any of my friends mention having them either)
3.work from home (most people who are WFH now will likely carry on, either employer or employees choice)
The 2 biggies that arent addressed are
1. restriction free international travel
2. end legally enfored isolation
Theres no way I would call it an end to restrictions while those two things stay.
Much as I'm waiting and longing for that particular freedom day; I think it is a bit early for it.
Re international travel - if I read it correctly, we no longer need a pre-flight boarding test at the airport to visit the UK.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/12/uk-could-be-first-country-to-emerge-from-pandemic-expert-says.html
Professor David Heymann of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said that "the U.K is the closest to any country in being out of the pandemic if it isn't already out of the pandemic and having the disease as endemic.
......estimated that 95% of the population in England have antibodies against infection, either through vaccination or natural infection.
Any relaxation will lead to an increase in cases, even temporarily
I disagree, it will lead to a slightly slower decline but the decline in cases will continue whatever. Have a look at the South Africa graphs, the Omicron wave has had a steeper rise and decline than previous waves, logically given it's so much more infectious.
Edit: David Haymann hasn't looked at South Africa or doesn't know it exists.
Similarly the Omicron wave seems to be dispersing all by itself whether in Wales where restrictions have been tighter, or in England where they have not
Depend where you are in England, of course.
was sent this article by a friend and it has changed my opinion 100%
Someone else can comment in depth on the content at the end of that link, if they have the patience... it's all been addressed pretty well in this thread already, and elsewhere. Some of it is insulting people's intelligence, some of it is just down right insulting. If you want to pay attention to someone seeking to connect/compare wearing a mask in a shop to reduce spread of a virus to, well, the slave trade... well... crack on... but I think it's pretty crass. As is comparing a mask to a noose.
Hi, does anyone know the actual rules/timeline with the 5 day isolation introduction today.
Does it apply to those currently in isolation or just new cases from today?
Daughter tested positive last Tues, passed lateral flows Fri, Sat Sun and this morning (day 6), so we took her to school. School have kicked off, kept her in isolation(we have now collected her) read the riot act to Mrs, saying as she tested positive last Tuesday, she cant come back until this Wednesday (full seven days) according to Public Health guidelines.
All i can find out is statements on gov.uk saying
"17 January , this guidance applies toENGLAND
You can stop self-isolating at the start of day 6 if you get 2 negative rapid lateral flow test results on days 5 and 6 and do not have a temperature. Tests must be at least 24 hours apart. If either test is positive, wait 24 hours before testing again."
Thanks
Anecdotally lots of cases among kids near us, my niece just tested positive, 5 of the cubs in our group positive this week and just had an email to say new cases in kids school.
Mrs Onewheel works in a primary school. Over the weekend they had 11 children and one staff member report positive.
It's worth reading this thread on what Covid becoming endemic actually means
For mask wearing the evidence would seem to be particularly weak. I used to religiously wear a mask but was sent this article by a friend and it has changed my opinion 100%. Makes sense to me.
How many articles have you read that demonstrate mask wearing does work?
Sorry for jumping on this but you're showing some poor reasoning here. There are loads of articles (and scientific papers) suggesting they work at limiting virus spread. I'm assuming you've ignored those, because they tell you something you don't like, but you jump on some random guy's blog post that says you don't have to wear one. That doesn't make much sense. Also it's cherry picked, the blog author is just pulling out the things that agree with him and ignoring those that don't. Sure, he cites Sweden's chief epidemiologist saying they don't do a lot, but he's not citing all the other state epidemiologists from all the other countries that say they do have a worthwhile effect.
There are literally LOADS of experiments on this. Loads of bad science in that blog post - comparing two countries with mask mandates and without, whilst ignoring any other differences in the countries. Correlation is not causation.
No. SARS-CoV-2 is vastly smaller than the holes in your piece of cloth. Did you really think that a bit of cloth placed over your face was going to stop every microscopic virus that is between 60-140 nanometres in length (a nanometre is one millionth of a millimetre)? Pull up your shirt or dress over your eyes – you can literally see the holes with your naked eye.
Virus particle are small but they live and float about in water droplets which are much larger. You mask gets damp after you wear it for a bit. That's because it's catching the water droplets... And he includes a 'just look at it!' type line (in bold) which is used by people trying to convince you of their point of view based on psychological manipulation, which is not science, it's argumentative garbage.
Have a look at this article
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02801-8