Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[Neiler]

There's no doubt in my mind that was the case.

They keep saying they're guided by science but the science simply gave choices - they made a political decision to follow one thing over another.

They only changed course when told bluntly that their course of action would mean around 500000 deaths.

It would be a suspicion, maybe fair or unfair. I tend to agree, i dont see scientists getting it so badly wrong and changing so quickly, i think there was a suite of options available to politicians and they went with the gung ho one or what they thought looked like the clever political one with all the potential political collateral and grandstanding there was there, it backfired horribly and the wrong one taken initially from a public health perspective, but thankfully got there in the end.

That period though i think is one that needs to be scrutinized, perhaps independently, as either the politicians or the scientists made a massive impactful error and here we are, cant see it happening though.

You get the feeling that Boris's high profile early media stuff initially in this crisis will haunt him for a long time, if and hopefully when he makes a full recovery.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I wonder if as a consequence to this, vaccines will be made compulsory (both for covid and regular flu/mmr etc)?

 

[Tubey]

It would be a suspicion, maybe fair or unfair. I tend to agree, i dont see scientists getting it so badly wrong and changing so quickly, i think there was a suite of options available to politicians and the went with the gung ho one or what they thought looked clever politically with all the potential political collateral and grandstanding there was there, it backfired horribly and the wrong one taken initially politically, but thankfully got there in the end.

That period though i think is one that needs to be scrutinized, perhaps independently, as either the politicians or the scientists made a massive impactful error and here we are, cant see it happening though.

You get the feeling that Boris's high profile early media stuff initially in this crisis will haunt him for a long time, if and hopefully when he makes a full recovery.

Special Report: Johnson listened to his scientists about coronavirus - but they were slow to sound the alarm

It was early spring when British scientists laid out the bald truth to their government. It was "highly likely," they said, that there was now "sustained transmission" of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.

www.reuters.com

Worth a read.

 

[Walken]

I wonder if as a consequence to this, vaccines will be made compulsory (both for covid and regular flu/mmr etc)?

I know a lad who takes his kids out of school on vaccine days (loves a conspiracy theory), it will be curious to see how anti-vaxxers respond to a vaccine being on offer for COVID 19

 

[Neiler]

I wonder if as a consequence to this, vaccines will be made compulsory (both for covid and regular flu/mmr etc)?

Was thinking just that and has all this had an impact on the thinking of anti vaxers and their ideology.

Hopefully it is compulsory.

I get the flu shot in work every year its gift and id encourage anyone to get to it, young, but certainly older people. The Mrs got a horrible dose of flu in Nov, lasted for a few weeks and didnt touch me at all. There is usually a drive in the health service for everyone to get the flu shot in the winter and they often struggle to hit the target of 60% health service guideline. Id say there will be no problem this year. even in the community i think people will actively look and buy a flu shot.

In regard to this virus, i was reading a bit about what might happen when a vaccine is developed, might be a while before the chain of distribution actually meets the need, billions to be vaccinated.

 

[witchdoc187]

What was planned? China releasing a virus to get rid of ethnic minorities?

Dunno mate. Just always makes me suspicious. Just how my mind works. No real reasoning

 

[Barnfred 55]

Eu on the ball as usual.

Coronavirus: A test of the West

We are experiencing the first global pandemic unfolding in the 24/7 news cycle and taking its toll, in real time, on our daily lives, our financial security and the global economy.

euobserver.com

Think this is one for the CV-19 politics thread in fairness Pete

 

[witchdoc187]

I can only speak from my experience mate. I don't live in London and I'm thankful that I don't in this situation. I agree it seems silly to reopen the park for this weekend but if I lived there I'd probably want to be able to get an hour in the park in too.

Me too. Just strikes me as odd to tell people to social distance then reopen a park where social distancing is going to be impossible to achieve.

 

[Barnfred 55]

On average 1300 people die each day in the UK. Give or take figures each day, winter being higher per day compared to summer I would imagine.

What I would find interesting that if average 500000 people die each year , how will covid 19 affect this come December?

Relatively unknown at this point but with an increased number of deaths now in a short space of time, you would expect that to average out as we isolate and reduce infection rate.

So come December , will we see a massive spike in statistics in the country? The narrative that many people who have died from the virus would have died anyway , with underlying health issues being the main reason which would attribute to the former statistics minus a pandemic.

Also if average 1300 die a day now , has there been a spike there also? Are we seeing significant increase in deaths as the hospitals are reporting increased capacity due to the virus. We are reporting hundreds of deaths a day right now , is that pushing the average death rate above 2000 a day? Or are many of the hundreds from covid-19 being seperated from what would have been part of that number anyway?

Probably mundane for most people , just curious as to how all of this will affect everything going on given the perspective figures in the UK are only around 60000 from covid-19 which would not increase the yearly average by much

It's not just about the numbers mate. It's about how they die. If we did nothing and just let this thing spread, literally hundreds of thousands will endure horrific deaths and probably as many will surimi even with vivid memories of what they went through

 

[peteblue]

I wonder if as a consequence to this, vaccines will be made compulsory (both for covid and regular flu/mmr etc)?

I think the world is going to change in many ways as a result of this virus....

 

[Hickson9]

Hundreds flock to London's parks on sunny Saturday

As the capital’s Victoria Park reopens its gates after two weeks, the rules on exercise and social distancing remain blurred

www.theguardian.com

This is what I was talking about yesterday. All day just hundreds of people if not more walking around the park. Presumably infecting each other. There's no way you can avoid each other on these paths. This park was closed last week so madness to reopen on sunny Easter weekend in my humble opinion

I used to live near Victoria park.

Much of the surrounding area is really poor, with lots of high density housing with no outside space.

The benefits of giving poor people access to public, outside space needs to be given a fair bit of weight.

By deploying marshals and having some police patrols, enough social distancing can be achieved to suppress the transmission risk enough to make those benefits worthwhile.

 

[peteblue]

Special Report: Johnson listened to his scientists about coronavirus - but they were slow to sound the alarm

It was early spring when British scientists laid out the bald truth to their government. It was "highly likely," they said, that there was now "sustained transmission" of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.

www.reuters.com

Worth a read.

I read this the other day and of the many things included was one of absolute dishonesty by China “Edmunds remembers that early in the outbreak, the data from China were sketchy, in the period “where the Chinese were trying to pretend that this wasn’t transmissible between humans.” ...

 

[Deleted member 48881]

The problem is, covid-19 is not well understood, only that it's a very infectious virus. What really scares the people is the way the really sick people die from it. If you are one of the poor folks who get more than mild symptoms, there's nothing anyone can do to help you, you will either ride it out or die.

It doesn't even appear that the lockdowns are particularly good at controlling the spread, probably because they all happen after the virus has already arrived. I also hear, the vast majority of people who get infected, recover just fine.

I don't know about what the data really looks like (the reporting worldwide seems rather inconsistent, though), but if you consider the only a small percentage of the population get sick enough to be at risk of dying and an even smaller percentage die from coronavirus, you do have to wonder if the economic damage that comes from extended general lockdowns would be worth it. It is just thinking out loud, I am not suggesting ending the lockdowns or vice versa. It just looks like this could go on for months at the moment.

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

The chinese regime operate a sort of points system wherein families who toe the line are rewarded with social benefits such as freedom to travel / study abroad and so on, while those who dont toe the line are left behind as punishment. Its extremely dodgy territory in my opinion.

Not much different here we just do it by wealth and assets. If we are cooped up in a high rise flat and are seen in a park we find ourselves plastered across various media platforms to be condemned. However, going to second third home largely ignored. Horses for courses.

And still they come! And when we do get the unmodled spike in deaths in Wales, it will be the Welsh Government fault, not the do as I like [Poor language removed].

Dyfi Valley doctors say 'temporary residents' will risk local lives during coronavirus

DOCTORS in the Dyfi Valley are calling for restrictions on people registering as 'temporary residents' during the coronavirus pandemic.

www.countytimes.co.uk

 

[mill]

Sweden is still running at 10% of the U.K. numbers even though it has 15% of the U.K. population. Sweden is not in lockdown, its economy is not overly being harmed and people are getting on with their lives. If the numbers are correct, and they certainly seem consistent, then Sweden are being smart, but we will see.....

Are you looking at the numbers on the same day? Because you can’t do that. Track their numbers from the day they got 10 cases.

In the interests of fairness, here’s that chart:


View attachment 83291

You are correct, although i would suggest the Sweden curve shows they are on course to be as badly effected as those nations.

You have to be massively careful. Sweden are about 7 days behind us. You need to compare where we were 7 days ago.
You also need to be conscious of demographics, urbanisation etc.