They say a stopped clock will be right once a day, but somehow Yeadon has managed to prove the exception to that rule.

It goes to show that a phd in pharmacology confers no immunity against the onset of delusionary beliefs and self-aggrandising bullshit.

haggis1978
Full Member

The point I was trying to make was that the media have, for the large part, not mentioned hee haw about the vast majority of people who having died from Covid having had underlying conditions.

So why were they telling vulnerable people to shield? For a laugh?

Concern for vulnerable populations has been a constant since the pandemic began.

It was the reason we had lock downs, it was so we could get transmission down as low as possible to protect the vulnerable. We’ve since been able to basically live with none to very little restrictions since spring/summer last year because the vaccines are doing their job.

I thought everyone was well aware of this? It’s never been a secret and has been a central message from government and in the media since March 2020.

And also, age data has been available to anyone with an internet connection since almost the start too.

Apropos the ‘debate’ from our friends in the CRG, the BlagArtistsFormerlyKnownAsERG, it was on BBC Parliament yesterday, so i watched it by accident.

It’s worth skipping to the SNP fellow roasting the absolute sh!t out of them, but it has also been a bit of a slow burner.

Thinking about it, it strikes you that this is absolutely perfect follow-on for the Brexit headbangers. They have lived in an imagined UKIParadise for so long, that the brutal reality of the clusterfarce it has become is something to be escaped.

As if by magic, a new hope, an imagined reality that can never be disproved – if we had done nothing we’d have been better off, it was the Modellers that were wrong. If you had only listened to us everything would be better.

There is no Sliding-Doors-control-Nation that we can point to, and crucially there never will be. Rather than seeing their promised lands turn to ash, we see their what-would-have-been argued over and over without end. They will always have a point, regardless of how diminished it might be.

At least Bob Seely had the good grace to acknowledge he’s a clueless tw@, even if it was only in relation to the towering intellect that is Steve Baker.

what is its aim?

I have seen suggestions its to deal with the climate change “hoax” although of course that raises the follow up question of what is the aim of the climate change “hoax”?
Sadly though I think it is turtles all the way down.
Its just like the claims about the moon landings being a hoax which skips over the minor detail that the Soviets would have been able to easily disprove it.

The only really true were-all-going-to-die-conspiracy theories that have any merit, are that Chinese and Russian bot farms have manipulated the ‘conversation’ of Western Allies to sow the sort of division that has got to this exact point.

Quite what the conspiracy nuts think about their participation in this manipulation will be *fingers in ears* Nya Nya Nya

https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine/qa-why-history-suggests-covid-19-here-stay

Thought this was interesting, never knew there’s a suspicion the Russian flu of the 1890s might have been a coronavirus.

CG – everyone’s entitled to an opinion but with a medically identified and acknowledged pandemic virus your assertion needs some supporting evidence.

I believe the evidence has been posted but quite some time ago. But it wasn’t actually evidence of the media being paid to tow the line but evidence that the government has spent an awful lot of money on public health information advertising which are two very different things. But in practice for your run of the mill conspiracy theorist it’s proof that journalists are near universally being paid to say what “they” want them to say. Even the fact that pre-pandemic spending was far lower seemed to be some sort of evidence.

Quite who is paying for the unprecedented multi media health information campaigns remains a mystery, must be a package deal…..

I must say the MSM Omertà is remarkably robust on the matter. Especially as there’s apparently 73,000 journalists in the U.K. alone.

Especially as there’s apparently 73,000 journalists in the U.K. alone.

Indeed and if you want to wipe a percieved dissident out….even as a sneaky closed country doing it within your embassy grounds…..

It makes the main pages.

Quite how you’d get all the journos under the kosh is beyond me….especially when you have outlets spouting utter shite like gbnews…..surely they would blow the gig wide apart with clear and open evidence……that than the spurious and coincidental nonsense from anyone who doesn’t mind with no/losing all credibility they champion as facts.

As an aside I was surprised how long partygate took to break cover, but assuming that Tiktoc and youtube are the only free guardians of truth 🙂

Diabetes is the most prevalent precondition in uk covid deaths I think?

There’s also a lot of undiagnosed people with it as well.

I remember doing some calcs on a fag packet when we still joking bout it, with the wuhan data that made me think ‘not-good’ if this got a hold. Back in the day that washing your hands to happy birthday was the government solution.

If you’re government can lie to you about some things, what else can they lie to you about.

Punctuation.

So are you isolating for 10 days then?

Nope

Nor me…

“World beating” test and trace system… I’m presuming the app is wrong, and the txt message correct. Not that I can get 7 LFT (I have one test left)… I’ve been trying to get them all month. pic.twitter.com/aOUSFYWBLH

— Kelvin Owers (@spittingcat) January 23, 2022

🤷🏻‍♂️

The txt is right as it’ll have used your vaccination history, the app says 10 days not sure if it has the exemptions on there.

better mask skills that folks on public transport in london
https://twitter.com/anecdotesdefou/status/1484864917446569990

Friend just sent this:
BREAKING
Vaccine mandates have been delayed for NHS workers for six months.
Tory back benchers insist they should be scrapped.

BREAKING
Vaccine mandates have been delayed for NHS workers for six months.
Tory back benchers insist they should be scrapped.

Accepting TJs ethical concerns, I think this would send the wrong message and seriously undermine the important public health message which is that vaccines are our only chance of returning to a new normal

its also the practical concerns – the NHS cannot afford to lose 70 000 front line staff.  2 weeks to the deadline and all thats happened is attitude have hardened.  No significant change in the numbers vaccinated since the policy was announced

However this will be a sop to the tory “covid recovery group” rather than one based on the ethics or the practicalities its based on  capitulating to the tory right to bolster Johnsons position

BREAKING
Vaccine mandates have been delayed for NHS workers for six months.
Tory back benchers insist they should be scrapped.

Doesn’t seem to on any news pages.

A note of caution chaps – discussing the mandate has been testing the patience of the mods.  Lets not get into the rights and wrongs of it again  ( says he without a trace of irony 😉  )

It deserves its own thread…

🏃🏻‍♂️

Drac – Friend is at hospital now (working). I can’t comment.
However she did say it would affect her team by one person.

I expected the cases to have fallen further by now than they have, especially for a Sunday considering we’ve completed Covid…

The fall in cases has been arrested… but then we’ve had a week of signalling to the public that it’s all over… and changes to measures in schools, so it would be surprising if cases keep falling as fast as they were… but they are still falling… as are hospitalisations… all good news. Deaths… well, if I comment on that, people get angry with me, so someone else can do so instead if they want.

A 13% fall in the number of tests carried out has resulted in a 15% fall in the number of cases reported. Hmmm….

Yeah a fall in cases is not surprising when people are being told to use LFTs then report back the result if it’s positive. Meanwhile deaths are staying fairly high, but it’s Ok as they’re old or had hypertension.

A 13% fall in the number of tests carried out has resulted in a 15% fall in the number of cases reported. Hmmm….

My Surrey based test centre has had a 75% drop in tests over the last 9 days or so.

Drac – Friend is at hospital now (working). I can’t comment.
However she did say it would affect her team by one person.

We just did it in Queensland – to perhaps one of the most highly paid, unionised healthcare workforces in the world – i don’t think it’s made a huge difference despite the whinging.

We’ve also delayed kids returning to school after summer hols by two weeks as it coincides with the expected peak in cases for the current wave. Hopefully it helps keep a lid on things.

I think we had 15,000 cases in NSW today – we are being told that this is the plateau. I have my doubts!

The schools go back this week- my daughter is starting at Kindie next week. The rule seems to be: Rapid Antigen Test twice a week for the first 4 weeks. If your kid has symptoms then they need 2 negative RATs to go back to school – I think she has to wear a mask in the classroom – but that’s not clear….. should find out at a school zoom tonight though.

Yeah a fall in cases is not surprising when people are being told to use LFTs then report back the result if it’s positive.

Tim Spector just made this point on Radio4 Today, when comparing with the ZOE app data. Not attributing all the fall to that, just some. But enough for the ZOE data to now show an uptick in cases, when official figures still falling (just more slowly). Was cautioning that official testing figures now not good enough to inform actions. ZOE date shows a rise in infections driven by schools (he’s a scientist, so said in children, rather then deducing without evidence that it’s happening in/at/to/from schools… that’s my interpretation… it’s not a huge leap though… and I’ve just taken breakfast up to my ill for the second time teacher positive tested isolating primary teacher other half, so forgive me for the conjecture).

Let’s see if our wonderful government manages to turn SA’s spike and rapid fall into a plateau that grinds out 300 deaths a day for the next month.

Removing restrictions (to distract from his partying) while cases still hadn’t peaked in some parts of the country…

There’s evidence to support some restrictions being reduced. But the changes to when you can get tests, and immediately removing measures in schools, feel like they are either part of a deliberate infection strategy, or “got Covid done” messaging (whether that “moving on” messaging is for economic or political reasons, or if those can even be separated… that’s a long discussion).

There’s evidence to support some restrictions being reduced.

Absolutely, but the suspicion has to be that the timing (when case numbers were still rising in the NE of England) was driven more by Johnson’s urgent need to shore up support with his sceptic backbenchers. The removal of the mask mandate for public transport so soon is particularly annoying – many of the most vulnerable people have no option but to use it to get to shops/doctors etc.

Wasn’t it always so, though?

Omicron creeping up here in WA.

Today is Australia Day – public holiday. Perth usually runs a huge fireworks festival for thousands of people. They were going to msje it a covid passport event but they scrapped the idea. Now it’s a free for all…. I don’t really understand why they don’t cancel the event. (as our borders remain closed but clearly oni is here now and soreadibg across the state).

Today we have 115 active cases. Will check back in a couple of days after the event (assuming they don’t cancel 1000s of people going to a huge even on public transport… Durr) and will see how the numbers rocket.

Also pressure on 3rd dose 3 months after 2nd and talks of a fourth dose soon. Kids back to school wearing masks and they’ve spent a fk load on air purifiers for schools which I don’t imagine will actually do anything?

Crazy.

Its just like the claims about the moon landings being a hoax which skips over the minor detail that the Soviets would have been able to easily disprove it.

Indeed, if it was a hoax every Russian comedian since 1970 would have been starting their set with ‘Hey, do you remember when the Americans landed on the moon ? ‘

On Monday, I went with my Dad to see an ENT specialist (poor fella can’t swallow food due to a phallangial pouch). He told us that they were working 7 days a week to catch up but that part of the problem in Bradford, was that ‘men in suits’ came along during covid and shut down 4 out 5 theatres, due to the ventalation missing the spec by a tiny amount. They have had a lot of extra work done on the ducting, etc, and are now thankfully back up to speed.

He didn’t actually say how long they lost them for but that can’t have helped the situation. I guess the BRI being such an old building is part of the problem.

Indeed, if it was a hoax every Russian comedian since 1970 would have been starting their set with ‘Hey, do you remember when the Americans landed on the moon ? ‘

*Tries to work this round to a “Live at the Apollo” quip*

More or Less currently addressing the “only 17,000 people have died OF covid in the UK” message that seems to be ******* everywhere right now…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0013r9w

Good twitter thread on the “only 17000” bs:

I've seen a few people recently shouting about how new ONS data shows that the "true" death toll from COVID in England & Wales is only 17,371, rather than the ONS figure of 157,816.

This is obviously nonsense, but evidently still needs debunking, so here goes…

— Colin Angus (@VictimOfMaths) January 24, 2022

Two notable developments this week. First, Pfizer are testing an omicron specific mRNA vaccine. Given the reduced protection against symptomatic infection, this is welcome. Cases have peaked and now are flattening here, but elsewhere they are rising, despite vaccination (e.g., Israel). A more potent response to the omicron spike is the first step to really catching the virus. The pathway to approval may be interesting – superiority to WT mRNA based on infections? Antibody response in a modest population? Something in between?

The second less welcome development is that the FDA have withdrawn both Regeneron and Lilly antibody combinations due to omicron being resistant to these two combinations. If omicron passes and something like delta comes back, they will be back on the menu.

That Dr John Campbell is up to his old tricks. Putting out that line about “deaths with no other cause” being only 17000.

Not going to link to his shonky video so that he can get more of those sweet advertising dollar$, but there’s this one instead:

As face coverings are no longer legally required in England as of today, I really hope we don’t see a ‘spike’ of cases in the coming weeks.
I personally shall continue to wear one, keep distance (where possible) and wash hands properly, as this is what doctors and scientists are still advising.