Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[Wizard]

That is why I highlighted the high positivity rate, that isn’t affected by testing as such as it more accurately reflects how many have the virus in the community at that time.

10% isn’t the highest I’ve seen by a long chalk (Delhi had an eyepopping over 40% during Delta wave) but is first indication I’ve seen that transmission worries may have some grounding.

As ever it is only one data point though and I’m unclear about how bad Delta wave has been in SA plus a host of other things needed to put it in the right context - overall need to wait for more info.

Exactly, we need to wait for more info. It’s good that countries have reacted quickly (albeit rubbish for the countries being red listed). If it’s an overreaction then fine. But better to overreact and get that wrong than take no action and deal with the consequences of that

 

[BlueToff]

It’s difficult I agree. But I’d rather have table service in a pub than suffer the impact of the pub being shut.

As for nightclubs, I don’t think masks would work so you either have to shut them completely or put measures in place to mitigate the risks like reducing capacity, proof of lateral flow tests, proof of vaccination etc

At the end of the day you are never going the eliminate the risk completely you simply need to mitigate the risk as much as possible without having an ultimately disastrous impact on the business itself.

well, precisely, which is why the argument against restrictions or measures of any sort comes into place, because this is two years in now (let's face it, COVID was around in November 2019, no chance that case zero was actually case zero), so what difference is another year going to make? None. More people vaccinated/boosted, yes maybe, but there'll still be new variants, it's still going to be here...

It's very difficult and there's no country or government that has come up with an answer. Really, there probably isn't one other than just get on with it (and I'm not advocating that that should happen as it could be reckless).

 

[ArtetaMoney]

 

[LinekersLegs]

Exactly, we need to wait for more info. It’s good that countries have reacted quickly (albeit rubbish for the countries being red listed). If it’s an overreaction then fine. But better to overreact and get that wrong than take no action and deal with the consequences of that

The 10% positivity would seen a good fit for this although tbh I’d expect the passengers to have a lower rate

 

[BlueToff]

Exactly, we need to wait for more info. It’s good that countries have reacted quickly (albeit rubbish for the countries being red listed). If it’s an overreaction then fine. But better to overreact and get that wrong than take no action and deal with the consequences of that

I suppose, and I am totally 100% against this btw, and I hate the idea we need any form of restrictions two years or nearly two years into this, but if the UK government had a track record for acting sooner, then they'd probably go with a 'circuitbreaker' lockdown now. I'm glad they aren't, it'd be crap, but I suppose they could argue 2-3 weeks now would really lower the risk - you'll probably get some people calling for it.

However, then again, you'd probably just have a massive spike whenever it opened up again, as we have seen every time stuff has opened in any country.

 

[Wizard]

oh yeah I'm well aware of the nonsense he's said, and he's said he's against mandatory vaccinations (hence his disagreement with Australia's policy and I don't actually mind someone sticking up to some of the policies made by premiers in Aus as I think that has gone mad, tbh).

But, we can assume - and I do assume, btw - that he's unvaccinated, but we don't know for sure unless he says, which so far he hasn't. Even if he doesn't go to the Aus Open, it wouldn't definitely mean he isn't vaccinated - he'd probably say he's taking a stand against mandatory ones or whatever.

I guess the thing with Djokovic is that he has been pretty anti-vax even before mandates came in. I can completely understand why people don’t support vaccination mandates. But from everything I’ve seen and read from him it’s not the mandate he has the issue with

 

[BlueToff]

It is , that's not the part I'm questioning. I expected this to come in waaaayyyyy back when the road map was announced. The fact the restrictions are announced aren't really a shock at all, it just defies logic.

But here is the kicker. Another proven piece of information is that covid rates are higher in the 18-25 type of age groups. It's lowest in the older age groups.

What age groups are generally going to nightclubs where you don't have to wear a mask in greater numbers than a supermarket?

That is why it makes absolutely no sense. They know vaccinated are safe and they know what age groups have a higher rate of covid. So these measures are completely the wrong way around. The masks are in the wrong places if the design is to stop spreading.

It's lip service.

but it is true that the vast majority of people of any age spend more time in a supermarket than a nightclub

Bloody hell, I'm 26 and even before COVID hadn't been in a club in about 3 years.

 

[BlueToff]

I guess the thing with Djokovic is that he has been pretty anti-vax even before mandates came in. I can completely understand why people don’t support vaccination mandates. But from everything I’ve seen and read from him it’s not the mandate he has the issue with

hmm, I think he's changed his stance a bit recently on that - but maybe that was just a PR ploy to try and come across as not a lunatic

 

[LinekersLegs]

 

[LinekersLegs]

This person has been pretty reliable on US Covid reporting data and its weird quirks that sometimes distort data.

 

[BlueStevie35]

View attachment 146956

The disrespect to Luurr and his people is saddening

 

[Ghost Rider]

Ok. Say you have a 20 year old that has been out to a club and has been exposed to covid for obvious reasons (proximity to people, less likely to be vaccinated etc).

Next day they wake up and need to go to the shop (next day is a bit silly as they wouldn’t be infectious by then but I hope you get my point). They have made the choice to go out and be somewhere without restrictions, which I am fine with. I do it myself. But when they go into the shop, or get on public transport they are around people that haven’t made that choice. And you don’t know who those people are or what their situation is. So is it that much of a hinderance to your life to simply put a mask on?

Again it's not about wearing the mask, it's about who has to and where.

Telling people to wear a mask on buses and shops does nothing to reduce the spread of the virus to begin with. Because they know for a fact it's younger people who have the highest rates. So not having masks in places that young people generally gather indoors does nothing to stop the spread.

So say this version is worse , say it does bypass the vaccines altogether. What this mask thing does , is absolutely nothing. It means that new variant will spread extremely quickly around the country like delta did because the highest rates of infection will continue to gather in their numbers indoors without a mask letting it spread quicker.

You see what I mean now? It's not about catching it in Asda , it's a preventable measure that will not prevent anything from happening because it doesn't address the known factor already, it caters more to the lower spreaders. Because if it was about potentially reducing spread , you would attack it at its source, not it's end product.

 

[Ghost Rider]

but it is true that the vast majority of people of any age spend more time in a supermarket than a nightclub

Bloody hell, I'm 26 and even before COVID hadn't been in a club in about 3 years.

And people don't all gather together in a supermarket , it was a known fact 12 months ago that supermarkets weren't a high source of spreading covid. Plus you don't spend more time in a supermarket , 4 hours in Tesco? Are you buying the shop? ?

If you went into town right now , the place would be crawling with young people. Especially concert square and places like that.

So if it's been a known factor for 18 months that covid spreads quicker In groups indoors , hence the cancelling Christmas last year. What impact to reduce spreading would happen if the most popular way of gathering indoors in large numbers by the biggest rate of infection age group is allowed to continue?

Buses and supermarkets don't spread covid anywhere near as much as a nightclub would , because..... Well logic.

 

[BlueStevie35]

Btw masking up again might be good for me in the run up to Christmas, been very close to letting out some expletives in the past couple of weeks (outside of masking anyway when I was ill) the way customers have been behaving with stock

 

[BlueToff]

And people don't all gather together in a supermarket , it was a known fact 12 months ago that supermarkets weren't a high source of spreading covid. Us you don't spend more time in a supermarket , 4 hours in Tesco? Are you buying the shop? ?

If you went into town right now , the place would be crawling with young people. Especially concert square and places like that.

So if it's been a known factor for 18 months that covid spreads quicker In groups indoors , hence the cancelling Christmas last year. What impact to reduce spreading would happen if the most popular way of gathering indoors in large numbers by the biggest rate of infection age group is allowed to continue?

Buses and supermarkets don't spread covid anywhere near as much as a nightclub would , because..... Well logic.

Sorry, but you make more visits to a shop than you do a nightclub, on average. Not time as in actual time spent there, but you are more likely to go to a shop than you are a nightclub, or a gig.

I see your point, I don't even disagree with it, but if you implement masks at nightclubs or gigs or in bars, pubs etc, then you are basically mothballing those sectors. You can wear a mask on a bus or a train or in a shop and it doesn't impact you at all, or the ability of those sectors to keep on going. That's the logic.