Coronavirus

[G STAR RAM]

2 stats I've heard in the last couple of days:-

1 - There are currently 124 Covid patients in Derby and Burton hospitals compared to a high of over 250 during the first wave (source Derby Telegraph)

2 - There are currently circa 700 patients across Englang on  ventilators compared to circa 2500 during the first wave (source Andrew Marr show)

Does make you wonder where these stories of the NHS being overwhelmed are coming from?

 

[Albert]

4 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

2 stats I've heard in the last couple of days:-

1 - There are currently 124 Covid patients in Derby and Burton hospitals compared to a high of over 250 during the first wave (source Derby Telegraph)

2 - There are currently circa 700 patients across Englang on  ventilators compared to circa 2500 during the first wave (source Andrew Marr show)

Does make you wonder where these stories of the NHS being overwhelmed are coming from?

 

Why is the Andrew Marr show your source on this? The UK provide their Covid dashboard which gives you all this information straight from them. You can get to it here.

As to why you'd start hearing sources of the NHS being overwhelmed. Well, it's a system that's already been under strain, and being so prevents vital treatments for other conditions being carried out. This was seen in the first wave too. If this isn't arrested soon, this wave could well end up being worse, which is a terrifying thought. 

[i-Ram]

10 hours ago, 86 Schmokes & a Pancake said:

 

Well thank you 86P.  Apologies to @ariotofmyown too. @reverendo de duivel if you were disappointed with me, what do you think of these two and their actual knowledge of Dido lyrics ?

[GboroRam]

2 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

2 stats I've heard in the last couple of days:-

1 - There are currently 124 Covid patients in Derby and Burton hospitals compared to a high of over 250 during the first wave (source Derby Telegraph)

2 - There are currently circa 700 patients across Englang on  ventilators compared to circa 2500 during the first wave (source Andrew Marr show)

Does make you wonder where these stories of the NHS being overwhelmed are coming from?

 

You know, I service my car and change the timing belt every 50,000 miles and the engine has never blown up.

Does make you wonder where these stories engineers having to rebuild engines are coming from? 

[G STAR RAM]

6 minutes ago, Albert said:

Why is the Andrew Marr show your source on this? The UK provide their Covid dashboard which gives you all this information straight from them. You can get to it here.

As to why you'd start hearing sources of the NHS being overwhelmed. Well, it's a system that's already been under strain, and being so prevents vital treatments for other conditions being carried out. This was seen in the first wave too. If this isn't arrested soon, this wave could well end up being worse, which is a terrifying thought. 

Nope the NHS was never really under strain even during the first wave, thousands of empty beds waiting for Covid patients that never arrived.

[G STAR RAM]

4 minutes ago, GboroRam said:

You know, I service my car and change the timing belt every 50,000 miles and the engine has never blown up.

Does make you wonder where these stories engineers having to rebuild engines are coming from? 

Excellent comparison, not sure why I didnt think of that one myself ?

[jimmyp]

17 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Nope the NHS was never really under strain even during the first wave, thousands of empty beds waiting for Covid patients that never arrived.

Go say that to a room full of critical care nurses, hell any type of nurse. 

If your able to still walk afterwards, report back with what they say. 

 

[Rev]

32 minutes ago, i-Ram said:

Well thank you 86P.  Apologies to @ariotofmyown too. @reverendo de duivel if you were disappointed with me, what do you think of these two and their actual knowledge of Dido lyrics ?

Let us move on.

[Albert]

4 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Nope the NHS was never really under strain even during the first wave, thousands of empty beds waiting for Covid patients that never arrived.

Bed usage is more complicated than you're suggesting. With patients going to the nearest hospital, and inability to evenly spread load, there will always be empty beds, even when the system is at breaking point. For Q1 2020/21, the NHS reports there as being 118,451 beds, down from 128,935 beds in Q4 2019/20. Thousands of beds free against those kinds of numbers isn't exactly unusual. What's more, the occupancy has been down in Q1, as would be expected, but the NHS usually flies dangerously close the Sun, often around 90% occupancy. During Q1 (ie before this surge) it was indeed running at lower occupancy, with 79.3% reported, down from an average of 89.3% over the previous 4, while also being down some 10,484 beds. It's also worth noting that 85%+ occupancy rate is unusually high in its own right, but that's a different story all together. 

The other issue is, of course, as the system comes under strain you have the added burden of losing beds as staff become ill as well, which can quickly spiral out of control in the circumstances. 

In any case, if you're actually interested in what's going on, maybe have a read of this from the Biomedical Journal: link. Short sound bites about 'thousands of free beds' really is just playing on the uneducated about the medical field, and unfortunately there are plenty out there who want those easy answers to try to downplay this all. Make no mistake, the NHS was already under strain before all this, and while if controlled from here they should be able to manage, it is and will be put under significant strain. 

[G STAR RAM]

51 minutes ago, jimmyp said:

Go say that to a room full of critical care nurses, hell any type of nurse. 

If your able to still walk afterwards, report back with what they say. 

The same ones that were happily dancing around hospitals doing Tik Tok videos when the numbers were at the peak?

The ones flooding out on to the streets to clap themselves on a Thursday night during the first wave?

Let's be honest it didnt look like that the NHS was under massive strain compared to other countries like Spain and Italy did it?

As great as the NHS were during the first wave, isnt that what they are paid to do?

Whether they are paid what they deserve is a completely different matter altogether of course?

[maxjam]

On 23/10/2020 at 15:06, maxjam said:

WTF, Scotland now have 5 tiers?!?

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-scotlands-new-five-tier-system-revealed-heres-what-each-level-means-12112175

Not to be outdone Boris is working on our new 7 tier system as we speak...

Told ya ?

 

 

[Guest]

A damning report in the Sunday Times today about how the NHS managed COVID in the first couple of months. Appalling and frightening if anywhere near true 

[maxjam]

Meanwhile are we in the grip of pandemic fatigue?

According to the article;

Professor Susan Michie, director of the centre for behaviour change at University College London and a participant in the government’s scientific committee Sage, rejects the idea that “pandemic fatigue” has set in. But she believes there is a real compliance problem that is of the government’s own making.

Cheap shot at the Government?  Personally, given what happening here and in the US, France, Italy, etc I'd argue that people were very willing to give up their freedoms to begin with when everything was very uncertain - but now there is no real end in sight and we know more about the virus and its effects, peoples patience is starting to wear a little thin.

 

[G STAR RAM]

Anyone else still getting regular notifications from the Test and Trace app to say they've been exposed to someone reported having Covid?

When I try and read the notification it just disappears. 

[Sith Happens]

2 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Anyone else still getting regular notifications from the Test and Trace app to say they've been exposed to someone reported having Covid?

When I try and read the notification it just disappears. 

I haven't had it but my wife did, I looked into it and apparently its nothing to worry about,  only messages in the app are ones you need to be concerned about. 

hopefully its something that will be sorted soon as its bound to create confusion. 

 

[maxjam]

American stats but I'd assume its very similar in the UK;

I saw a tweet from Neil Oliver earlier, 'Our countries are being wrecked by people who will take no financial hit. Jobs secure. Expense accounts. It’s supposed to be gov’s job to protect our rights not ruin us.' which I think is pretty fair comment. 

Whilst Government think its a good idea to accept another £3k pay rise they are inflicting life changing debt and misery on the rest of us.  Ah well, at least the media classes can work from home as well and go along with the Govt, all whist sneering at people that live in blocks of flats for daring to get some fresh air in a park or trying to go about their daily lives knowing that they are accepting a risk simply to try and stay afloat.

 

[B4ev6is]

Well I think people in the uk rose up against protest against these resitions maybe govermemt would think twice about putting them In.

[Comrade 86]

1 hour ago, reverendo de duivel said:

Let us move on.

Indeed. We're in danger of going down with the ship here.

[Andicis]

1 hour ago, maxjam said:

Cheap shot at the Government?  Personally, given what happening here and in the US, France, Italy, etc I'd argue that people were very willing to give up their freedoms to begin with when everything was very uncertain - but now there is no real end in sight and we know more about the virus and its effects, peoples patience is starting to wear a little thin.

 

What they're asking is for many people to live a miserable existence for the indefinite future with no light at the end of the tunnel or no hope. Hardly a surprise many are starting to ignore many of their stupid, arbitrary rules. I saw a doctor on social media suggesting even if we get an effective vaccine, that they would still enforce masks. It's crazy talk. 

[Cardinal]

3 hours ago, Albert said:

Why is the Andrew Marr show your source on this? The UK provide their Covid dashboard which gives you all this information straight from them. You can get to it here.

As to why you'd start hearing sources of the NHS being overwhelmed. Well, it's a system that's already been under strain, and being so prevents vital treatments for other conditions being carried out. This was seen in the first wave too. If this isn't arrested soon, this wave could well end up being worse, which is a terrifying thought. 

 

2 hours ago, jimmyp said:

Go say that to a room full of critical care nurses, hell any type of nurse. 

If your able to still walk afterwards, report back with what they say. 

 

Just to add a personal perspective to this. 

As previously mentioned my sister is a GP and her husband is COVID lead at his hospital. Neither said they were overwhelmed. They are based in the North East. In fact I am about to go for a week away with them in Norfolk. If they were that overwhelmed would they be allowed time off? 

Spoke to two friends in South west. One a nurse and one works in HR in the hospital. Neither of them said they were overwhelmed. 

My mums firebds daughter is a urse and was in maternity leave during the first pandemic. She asked if they would like her to go back early and cut her leave short. They said no they didn't need her. She lives in Derby. 

Let's just take a breath and not believe all the horror stories that the press focus on. After all telling us all its under control is not going to sell papers or get clicks. 

To add to this. Know that if we didn't lockdown the first time around we could have been in a situation where the NHS was overwhelmed so fully backed the idea.