Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[random]

The Tories and Captain Calamity in particular are too cowardly to instill a full lockdown because of one thing, money. A competent government would, right now, not mess about with silly tier systems and instead close everything down (airports, train stations, coach stations included) bar supermarkets for a 2-3 month period until the vaccines were on a regular roll out

It's farcical and risking peoples lives.

The whole country should be in whatever level lockdown and enforce the rules.

Having some areas allowed to do stuff and others right next to them not allowed is ridiculous, not to forget having certain aisles closed in supermarkets it's absolutely bonkers

 

[tsubaki]

We live with loads of things and get on with them and don't have people having to isolate

yes, and the outcome is a few thousand dead a year. If that can be prevented, shouldn't we?

 

[widnesblue]

I don't know why they keep banging on about "the risk to children is small" - that's obviously not the issue and never has been. It's the fact they're super spreaders to more vulnerable people.

Just keep them closed for a month or two, it's not going to kill kids to miss that time but it would kill many others if they don't.

Sadly, it’s not as simple as that. Although I agree with what you’re saying, it will have an effect on kids not been in education.


The is many reasons why they won’t shut schools and education down. A lot of kids rely on schools for meals, parents will have to miss work due to childcare issues, a lot of kids might not have any internet or computers to complete work, government won’t wanna spend money on the school vouchers, a lot of schools will lose more funding due to been shut. They will say kids not been in a routine and education will have an effect on their mental health.

Working in education, we make sure each learner is temperature checked once arrived on premises, try keep them to social distance, make sure they use hand sanitiser and they always have to wear a mask. Once they finish with the tools, they are sprayed straight away with anti-bacteria spray. Once they are out of school hours, they are spending time with different groups and roaming the streets, that’s one of the biggest issues and what’s causing this to spread. Unfortunately been out of education, won’t stop kids from been on the streets. The is nobody to supervise them once they are out of education.

 

[BlueToff]

yes, and the outcome is a few thousand dead a year. If that can be prevented, shouldn't we?

I've expanded on my post.

If we can try and help, yes, but thousands die of flu which spreads like a common cold - and comes with the seasons.

Improved hygiene, hand washing, social distancing. Guess all these measures (and rightly so in regards the first two) will be in place for a long time yet, and that should help bring the spread of stuff like flu down too. Having people having to be tested and traced for stuff like that is a bit much to me.

Anyway, it's common sense? If you get ill, you don't tend to grub about everywhere do you? You're usually in bed and isolating that way.

Of the people that die every year of flu, I imagine it's generally the older, more vulnerable people. Will testing and tracing prevent them from being more susceptible to something like the common cold?

 

[PhilM]

I don't know why they keep banging on about "the risk to children is small" - that's obviously not the issue and never has been. It's the fact they're super spreaders to more vulnerable people.

Just keep them closed for a month or two, it's not going to kill kids to miss that time but it would kill many others if they don't.

My wife made a good point before regarding the potential reluctance from the government to close all the primary schools across Tier 4 or beyond.

If they close now, with the current rate, how could they justify reopening until the rate is lower? The projection is that the rate will continue to rise for a while.

Maybe they're simply drawing the process out so when they do decide to close, as hinted with more stringent restrictions, the threshold for reopening is higher.

A numbers game.

I've expanded on my post.

If we can try and help, yes, but thousands die of flu which spreads like a common cold - and comes with the seasons.

Improved hygiene, hand washing, social distancing. Guess all these measures (and rightly so in regards the first two) will be in place for a long time yet, and that should help bring the spread of stuff like flu down too. Having people having to be tested and traced for stuff like that is a bit much to me.

Anyway, it's common sense? If you get ill, you don't tend to grub about everywhere do you? You're usually in bed and isolating that way.

Of the people that die every year of flu, I imagine it's generally the older, more vulnerable people. Will testing and tracing prevent them from being more susceptible to something like the common cold?

Like it's been mentioned before, comparing flu and COVID-19 is false equivalence.

More people have died this year from COVID, with stringent restrictions, than the worst year for flu in recent decades - the number is about 22,000 from 17/18.

Yes there is the flu vaccine, which will play a part, but if you removed all the restrictions from this year then the COVID-19 deaths would be horrendous!

 

[BlueToff]

Sadly, it’s not as simple as that. Although I agree with what you’re saying, it will have an effect on kids not been in education.


The is many reasons why they won’t shut schools and education down. A lot of kids rely on schools for meals, parents will have to miss work due to childcare issues, a lot of kids might not have any internet or computers to complete work, government won’t wanna spend money on the school vouchers, a lot of schools will lose more funding due to been shut. They will say kids not been in a routine and education will have an effect on their mental health.

Working in education, we make sure each learner is temperature checked once arrived on premises, try keep them to social distance, make sure they use hand sanitiser and they always have to wear a mask. Once they finish with the tools, they are sprayed straight away with anti-bacteria spray. Once they are out of school hours, they are spending time with different groups and roaming the streets, that’s one of the biggest issues and what’s causing this to spread. Unfortunately been out of education, won’t stop kids from been on the streets. The is nobody to supervise them once they are out of education.

The last bit of your post. I keep wondering this...

I haven't been in a school, I have no need to. But surely they're very, very safely maintained. I keep seeing all this about a danger to teachers etc, but surely with everybody wearing masks/visors, every student getting temp checked, entire year groups getting sent home if one or two pupils test positive. Surely they're actually one of the safest places to be? Surely much safer than a supermarket, for example?

As you say, the issue then is outside of the school and then they come in and mix, but if they are all wearing protection and checked, then surely in theory the spread should be reduced?

 

[anxiouswarrior]

Maybe Starmer is correct here calling for full lockdown , i am Labour but not a massive fan of him but Bullingdon is a complete idiot and not trustworthy at all

 

[Tubey]

My wife made a good point before regarding the potential reluctance from the government to close all the primary schools across Tier 4 or beyond.

If they close now, with the current rate, how could they justify reopening until the rate is lower? The projection is that the rate will continue to rise for a while.

Maybe they're simply drawing the process out so when they do decide to close, as hinted with more stringent restrictions, the threshold for reopening is higher.

A numbers game.

It's more about gaining time for the vaccine for me. As soon as the most vulnerable are vaccinated, all schools and everywhere else should be opened.

 

[davek]

Blood on their hands;

Boris Johnson
Richi Sunak
Matthew Hancock
Michael Gove
Priti Patel
Gavin Williamson

Murdering lying scum the lot of them.

There's now been more British people killed in the last 9 months than civilians killed in the 5 years of WWII.

 

[PhilM]

It's more about gaining time for the vaccine for me. As soon as the most vulnerable are vaccinated, all schools and everywhere else should be opened.

But again, can the government be relied upon to have the most vulnerable vaccinated by the end of January or February?

Perhaps their inaction is because they know that the likelihood is that they can't or won't.

 

[Tubey]

But again, can the government be relied upon to have the most vulnerable vaccinated by the end of January or February?

Perhaps their inaction is because they know that the likelihood is that they can't or won't.

No, but a lockdown - a proper one - would ensure the exponential growth of the virus doesn't kill thousands unnecessarily. It then buys down before it gets exponential again.

Plus, this is the time of year where the virus will be at it's absolute worst. In April/May, it might spike but not to this degree. The NHS doesn't face the same natural burden at the start of spring that it does in winter too.

There's hundreds of reasons a proper lockdown makes sense now.

 

[Tubey]

Sadly, it’s not as simple as that. Although I agree with what you’re saying, it will have an effect on kids not been in education.


The is many reasons why they won’t shut schools and education down. A lot of kids rely on schools for meals, parents will have to miss work due to childcare issues, a lot of kids might not have any internet or computers to complete work, government won’t wanna spend money on the school vouchers, a lot of schools will lose more funding due to been shut. They will say kids not been in a routine and education will have an effect on their mental health.

Working in education, we make sure each learner is temperature checked once arrived on premises, try keep them to social distance, make sure they use hand sanitiser and they always have to wear a mask. Once they finish with the tools, they are sprayed straight away with anti-bacteria spray. Once they are out of school hours, they are spending time with different groups and roaming the streets, that’s one of the biggest issues and what’s causing this to spread. Unfortunately been out of education, won’t stop kids from been on the streets. The is nobody to supervise them once they are out of education.

Yeah but again, all pales in comparison to a massive pandemic overloading the NHS in the middle of winter.

As for the bold bit, give police the power to beat the crap out of them if they do - that'll soon stop it. We won't, but that's the answer - it's the reason China are controlling it much better; simply taking it seriously. There's an actual need for a bit more authoritarianism here; anti-vax and anti-lockdown protesters should be getting their heads caved in.

 

[davids]

Modes of transmission of virus causing COVID-19: implications for IPC precaution recommendations

Scientific brief

www.who.int

It's probably worth considering the possibility that the new strains' higher level of infection and the worry about the protection offered by masks might indicate that it is fully airborne thus transmissible through the eyes etc.

It was always going to mutate the longer it bounced around. Just might have helped if they'd come out and said it's now aerosol spread.

 

[tsubaki]

I've expanded on my post.

If we can try and help, yes, but thousands die of flu which spreads like a common cold - and comes with the seasons.

Improved hygiene, hand washing, social distancing. Guess all these measures (and rightly so in regards the first two) will be in place for a long time yet, and that should help bring the spread of stuff like flu down too. Having people having to be tested and traced for stuff like that is a bit much to me.

Anyway, it's common sense? If you get ill, you don't tend to grub about everywhere do you? You're usually in bed and isolating that way.

Of the people that die every year of flu, I imagine it's generally the older, more vulnerable people. Will testing and tracing prevent them from being more susceptible to something like the common cold?

Loads of people still go into work whilst ill; many of them because they have to / because there are financial penalties if they don't (especially with gig labour).

My point though is whether those thousands of deaths that we treat as just one of those things are preventable, and specifically whether if we had a proper test and trace system (like SK and Taiwan) whether we'd be able to use it to prevent those deaths. If we could, without any economic penalty (beyond the cost of maintaining the system) then I think its something we absolutely should do.

 

[gonetomorrow]

Starmer - Bring in restrictions now.

Johnson - Curbs are probably about to get tougher.

Who's the daddy here?