Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[ToffeeTim]

The calls will grow for this to happen as hospital figures, followed by deaths, begin to follow the insane rise in cases were seeing at the moment. Then, after Christmas and into the New Year when hospitals are at breaking point as we’re back at the rate of deaths we were seeing at the height of the pandemic, we will look back and questions what should’ve been done when the virus was left to spread at rates we have never seen.

I am hopeful this won't happen due to high vaccine rates, and hopefully a less severe illness caused by the variant

But I completely disagree on the circuit breakers point. They were tried before and were total failures.

 

[grandjoeblue]

I’m talking about parties and mass gatherings.

Can't see how a 3 week lockdown with just parties and mass gatherings stopped is going to stop a variant with a 2 day doubling time. That might get it to a 2.2 day doubling time or something.

 

[Seanjd]

I am hopeful this won't happen due to high vaccine rates, and hopefully a less severe illness caused by the variant

But I completely disagree on the circuit breakers point. They were tried before and were total failures.

Lots of hoping in that comment and not much knowing. Which is the point of being cautious now - we don’t know if this variant is milder and there is reason to believe that it mightn’t be.

Ultimately, if the Chief Scientific Advisor is saying that we shouldn’t be gathering and hospital admissions will soar, then something has to be done to slow it down while the booster jabs take effect.

 

[Seanjd]

Can't see how a 3 week lockdown with just parties and mass gatherings stopped is going to stop a variant with a 2 day doubling time. That might get it to a 2.2 day doubling time or something.

I can see how it would curtail it. You’ve been saying yourself how this variant is spreading amongst many people at gatherings at one time. Of course we can’t just lockdown until it goes away, but we have to do something to slow it down while we build immunity.

 

[LinekersLegs]

 

[Ghost Rider]

But then the next variant next winter. We gonna do this every year, life on hold for 6 months of the year?
I know science nwill catch up eventually and nail this thing as best they can. But how long is that, and will people still take any notice?

Science will never catch up , we see that with the flu. Unless it changes in the future then covid will constantly change , if it weakens considerably then great. There will never be a one fix vaccine based on all the information on the changes to it, you would have to predict it.

I'd rather believe that at some point , antibodies will count for something instead. That naturally we can fend off covid after being pumped full of the buggers constantly.

To me , listening to the news it is almost like our antibodies are currently paid for DLC , you don't get them back again until have a booster then you are safe ?

Thing is the flow tests are valid within 48 hours. What if you take a test 48 hours before going to a club or a gig, but unknown to yourself you contract the virus 24 hours later. That means that you gain access to the event but spread the virus around. Same with the passport thing. You can still have a valid covid pass but actually have the virus.

From the governments side they have to do something yet still keep hospitality open hence the current rules. All they’re really doing is risk limitation.

Smart people however will work out that it is probably better if they just swerve these places altogether until everyone is boosted and the case loads start to drop and this strain of the virus starts to die off naturally.

Then the next variant appears and we go again. This is our future I’m afraid

Then the only answer is to shut everywhere down on a cycle. You can test negative and walk out your door and someone breathes on you , it's never going to be a guaranteed thing.

What you say comes really under the common sense remit rather than the restriction one. I mean last year I went into town and wore a mask when walking through crowds. The minute I don't have to wear a mask again I won't but common sense 'should' kick in and think about our actions.

I know the value of that last sentence but there you go!

I don’t know the figures, but I know of people myself who are vulnerable/older than me who haven’t long had their boosters. I can see ourselves in a situation where hospitals are overwhelmed and older people are dying as a result of Omicron spreading like wildfire as it is now through parties, gatherings etc, then passed onto older family members and vulnerable people over Christmas as families get together.

At a time when this variant is spreading so quickly, we need time for the boosters to have the effect we want them to. It’s bad timing it being Christmas, but what can we do about that?

At some point deaths and cases will sever. They have to , literally what the vaccine and antibodies do have to count for something eventually.

That includes elderly. If you keep boosting them up first then why wont they be directly protected? There has been no evidence that age affects their effectiveness.

I don't believe we will see a wave of deaths that are being predicted. We may see hospitalisations but I don't believe deaths will follow suit. Again they may be higher but to some extent the terminology will be a factor there.

I am a believer in the immune system. So 50 million of them packed with antibodies has to count for something.

 

[ToffeeTim]

Lots of hoping in that comment and not much knowing. Which is the point of being cautious now - we don’t know if this variant is milder and there is reason to believe that it mightn’t be.

Ultimately, if the Chief Scientific Advisor is saying that we shouldn’t be gathering and hospital admissions will soar, then something has to be done to slow it down while the booster jabs take effect.

There is some promising looking evidence from S Africa that it could be milder though. We have to get away from case numbers because its hospitalisation numbers that are the key factor. I have confidence in the vaccines that they will work.

The booster programme is very well advanced. I dont see how lowering the eligibility from 30+ into the 20s is going to make a big difference. We need to just keep encouraging people to make their appointment and come forward because most adults are eligible now.

 

[Seanjd]

I don't believe we will see a wave of deaths that are being predicted. We may see hospitalisations but I don't believe deaths will follow suit. Again they may be higher but to some extent the terminology will be a factor there.

I am a believer in the immune system. So 50 million of them packed with antibodies has to count for something.

Why don’t you think we will?

 

[peteblue]

I met an anti-vaxxer yesterday, a complete and utter @rsehole……….

 

[Seanjd]

There is some promising looking evidence from S Africa that it could be milder though. We have to get away from case numbers because its hospitalisation numbers that are the key factor. I have confidence in the vaccines that they will work.

The booster programme is very well advanced. I dont see how lowering the eligibility from 30+ into the 20s is going to make a big difference. We need to just keep encouraging people to make their appointment and come forward because most adults are eligible now.

I think the problem with the S Africa data and the mildness of the new variant is that the comparisons are being made to the effects of the Delta variant in S Africa (when there wasn’t much by way of immunity) and so Omicron appears to be milder but that could be more to do with wider immunity since Delta.

In this country, we are yet to really find out.

 

[LinekersLegs]

Hospitalizations rates of over 50s, and the breakdown of with/from Covid and whether boosted/double vaxed/unvaxed will soon give us a much clearer picture.

 

[Jebus_lives]

The need for them is a determining factor , otherwise you are implementing measures without justification.

Remember the crazy conspiracy theory , making people wear masks is an element of controlling the population. If you are implementing those measures as mandatory without scientific input then that crazy theory doesn't sound as crazy in comparison.

We don't need to talk about the benefits of masks and certainly there is nothing stopping anyone wearing them either. But there is a difference between making people wear them and they simply being an option. So the reason for them has to be science based , not politician based.

I think two different points are being discussed here. It's not about whether politicians follow the rules , it's about whether the rules are based on science or not. If they aren't then they shouldn't be implemented. Nothing should be imemented unless science has dictated it during a pandemic.

All of the measures I mentioned and prescribed within pandemic plans are scientifically based.

Respiratory infections - masks, space, ventilation.

Outbreak management - test, trace, isolate

Hygiene measures - hand washing is well known in infection control (shouldn't need to remind people of that).

The rationale for tightening of restrictions is because scientists do not know how deadly this variant might be, so while they gather data, they want to limit spread and reduce community transmission.

All science based decision making.

 

[Ghost Rider]

All of the measures I mentioned and prescribed within pandemic plans are scientifically based.

Respiratory infections - masks, space, ventilation.

Outbreak management - test, trace, isolate

Hygiene measures - hand washing is well known in infection control (shouldn't need to remind people of that).

The rationale for tightening of restrictions is because scientists do not know how deadly this variant might be, so while they gather data, they want to limit spread and reduce community transmission.

All science based decision making.

Then that is a different point from the original one from earlier in the day then! ??

Why don’t you think we will?

Vaccines, antibodies , boosters.

 

[efcfanwirral]

I am a believer in the immune system. So 50 million of them packed with antibodies has to count for something.

Some people talk about deeper protection than just antibodies but it seems the decision has been made its antibody focus only

 

[Jebus_lives]

Then that is a different point from the original one from earlier in the day then! ??

Vaccines, antibodies , boosters.

How so?