Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[DuuuncanHadaPigeon]

75 cases, 0 deaths, China reports today ?

Their numbers are a bit strange, remember that time early on in the pandemic when they went from thousands of cases a day to zero overnight.

Another thing I find interesting is that China are one of the few countries not to approve an mRNA vaccine and have gone down the 'traditional' route for creating their vaccine - anyone have any reasons for this? I'm curious

 

[BlueToff]

Its just respecting each other isnt it? And the staff at the shops. If they are wearing masks to protect their customers, its really not on to not reciprocate.

No idea about pubs though, although my local seems to be SD as far as I can see. Few masks though, but its only the outdoor drinkers I see, so no big deal really.

Yeah I mean hardly anyone else wore one in the boozer but I don't care, I probably won't do next time I go in , I just did it because even though I'm negative and the isolation has ended, I thought it was at least courteous to do.

I mean, there's a barmaid I'm trying to chat up there atm but she wasn't working last night so the mask wasn't a hindrance (maybe it'd help, like)

 

[peteblue]

Their numbers are a bit strange, remember that time early on in the pandemic when they went from thousands of cases a day to zero overnight.

Another thing I find interesting is that China are one of the few countries not to approve an mRNA vaccine and have gone down the 'traditional' route for creating their vaccine - anyone have any reasons for this? I'm curious

They are a bunch of liars. Don’t believe anything they say……

 

[roydo]

They are a bunch of liars. Don’t believe anything they say……

You reckon? Brand new news that.

 

[LinekersLegs]

Yes it's important to break it down like you have into age groups. It is clear that to those most vulnerable from the virus, the elderly, the vaccine is clearly working. It is interesting in that over 50s group though that there has been roughly 6x as many cases.

I think the point I was trying to highlight was that while those videos can be useful, they also don't paint the full picture, it's easy to make a point when he pulls numbers out of his arse like he did, but the real story is much more nuanced.

Yeah there is a lot of nuance involved and tbh I’m not particularly confident on all the denominators in any case.

I’m sure that there is some data collection going on in the background that will eventually give a more accurate estimate of comparative risk of hospitalization (both overnight and icu) for vaccinated/unvaccinated by age grouping and hopefully also broken out with other Covid risk factors (diabetes, obesity, cancer treatment) etc.

The amount of under 50s ending up in ICU for this wave is a lot higher than I would have anticipated tbh

 

[tsubaki]

It's not going to happen though. Because it's draconian and ludicrous.

They're developing boosters for vulnerable groups. And if there is a variant that develops that is completely immune to vaccines, then it would mean COVID is unlike any virus ever, which would lead you to believe that it's not natural, would it not?

While we'e still getting out of COVID, then absolutely, but when we aren't out of it, then we shouldn't have restrictions.

And a country that handled it so well like Aus initially should have been able to get their vaccine rolled out to avoid having to lockdown anywhere at all.

You keep saying "ludicrous", but the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

 

[roydo]

You keep saying "ludicrous", but the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

But we are doing the same thing over and over and expecting the same results.

Every single thing the virus experts told us would/could happen, have happened. The multiple waves, having to live with it, vax is the #1 way to get living again.

There is not a silver bullet in this; its nature v bio science.

 

[Toffee in Jandals]

And probably stuck in a perpetual cycle of lockdowns due to your blasé attitudes to vaccinating the general public

Have you not considered that maybe getting vaccine supplies for a couple of countries at the bottom of the world in the middle of a pandemic, when there is a more urgent need in virtually every other corner of the earth, is rather problematic?

Or perhaps even allowing those to be vaccinated first in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and parts of the Pacific where COVID is raging is even perhaps the morally correct thing to do?

 

[tsubaki]

But we are doing the same thing over and over and expecting the same results.

Every single thing the virus experts told us would/could happen, have happened. The multiple waves, having to live with it, vax is the #1 way to get living again.

There is not a silver bullet in this; its nature v bio science.

Roydo there are many, many countries who have suffered far less damage than we have. They locked down less than us, restricted their populations less (and for less time) than us, and did far better than we did.

So there might not be a silver bullet in this, but there are far better methods of dealing with these sort of things. If another virus comes along in five years, do you have any confidence that our government will respond better next time?

 

[roydo]

If another virus comes along in five years, do you have any confidence that our government will respond better next time?

Not really, no. But I do have faith in the bio industry that the UK are pretty good at.

Problem, spread wise, we have in the UK is that it is a hugely connected place. Folk in that paragon of virtue in Australia dont bounce between the centres of population anywhere near we do. We are also a global hub, by accident of geography.

So we got hit hard, were quick, in relative terms, to get vax's made, and were fantastic at the roll out. I am nervous/careful still going out, but thats my life now. It seems, touch wood, that a decent version of normality is creeping back.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Roydo there are many, many countries who have suffered far less damage than we have. They locked down less than us, restricted their populations less (and for less time) than us, and did far better than we did.

So there might not be a silver bullet in this, but there are far better methods of dealing with these sort of things. If another virus comes along in five years, do you have any confidence that our government will respond better next time?

True but its largely over now for us.

 

[tsubaki]

Not really, no. But I do have faith in the bio industry that the UK are pretty good at.

Problem, spread wise, we have in the UK is that it is a hugely connected place. Folk in that paragon of virtue in Australia dont bounce between the centres of population anywhere near we do. We are also a global hub, by accident of geography.

So we got hit hard, were quick, in relative terms, to get vax's made, and were fantastic at the roll out. I am nervous/careful still going out, but thats my life now. It seems, touch wood, that a decent version of normality is creeping back.

You can say those things (and more) about places like South Korea, Singapore, HK, Taiwan etc. They controlled this before vaccines were out, and had far better outcomes. Why don't we want to do the same thing?

 

[Martin Alvito]

Covid will still be here in 50 year times. Its now very clear that life has to return to normal and that the zero covid policies are impossible.

The problem with this is that we're not dealing with the flu. We're dealing with a disease that puts somewhere between 1 in 6 and 1 in 2 that catch it into a debilitating funk for months, depending on who you ask and how you define 'Long COVID'.

Add in the fact that this type of virus defeats vaccines fairly quickly, and we're looking at long-term changes to our way of life. I agree that zero-COVID is a pipe dream. This is not SARS.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

You can say those things (and more) about places like South Korea, Singapore, HK, Taiwan etc. They controlled this before vaccines were out, and had far better outcomes. Why don't we want to do the same thing?

Because those Asian countries get a killer respiratory virus rock up every couple of years we've had one in a century.

 

[grandjoeblue]

The problem with this is that we're not dealing with the flu. We're dealing with a disease that puts somewhere between 1 in 6 and 1 in 2 that catch it into a debilitating funk for months, depending on who you ask and how you define 'Long COVID'.

Add in the fact that this type of virus defeats vaccines fairly quickly, and we're looking at long-term changes to our way of life. I agree that zero-COVID is a pipe dream. This is not SARS.

Where have you seen that 1 in 2 have long covid? I know at least 20 people who have had it and only 1 person who has had long covid. 1 in 2 seems a bit high?