The coronabrexit thread. I mean, coronavirus thread

[rammieib]

1 hour ago, TexasRam said:

There is a company called Project Screen, it’s done through pods in the local area (Sheffield has one and I’m sure Derby does). Easy to book in and drop off, quick turn around also. 

Thanks Texas. We found a company based at East Mids Airport with PCR drive through open on Christmas Day! (Happy Christmas Day!!)

Appreciate the help.

[Gritstone Ram]

25 minutes ago, Unlucky Alf said:

Confusion...for further restrictions

 

Dr Deepti Gurdasani, a clinical epidemiologist at Queen Mary University of London, says it is impossible to predict how high Covid infections will get, but cited modelling that suggested daily positive cases could reach as high two million - a prediction she says is "plausible" given the rapid spread we're seeing.

With limits on testing we're unlikely to get an early indication of how high infections could go until hospital admissions are rising, by which time it would be "far too late to act", she adds.

Dr Gurdasani warns that even if the Omicron variant does turn out to cause less severe illness, the "sheer number" of infections has the potential to overwhelm hospitals.

She urges people to "hunker down" over Christmas and calls on the government to impose further Covid restrictions now.

Against...a lockdown

An epidemiologist and practising GP says the UK government should trust people to manage their own Covid risk rather than impose further lockdowns.

Professor Carl Heneghan, director of the Centre of Evidence Based Medicine in Oxford, says all ministers see is the worst case scenario when looking at modelling.

Speaking to the BBC this morning, he says the number of people testing positive has gone up by about 50% in a week rather than doubling every day.

The number of patients that were admitted to hospital, he adds, "hardly changed over a week" – up 8% - and yesterday deaths went down.

“If you focus on the information that matters you come up with a very different scenario,” he says.

People should be treated like adults as they can be trusted to manage their own risks and moderate their behaviour accordingly, Heneghan argues.

But other experts point out that the real number of people getting Covid will be much higher than the number of positive tests and that even so, confirmed numbers have shot up in recent days.

And it usually takes a lag of around two weeks from someone getting sick with Covid to require hospital treatment.

The number of tests people are doing has increased by 1.5m over a week thus identifying more infections. 
Also is there information about the number of people getting severe disease from this strain and also the length of time people are spending in hospital. The admissions my go up by 8% but is the recovery quicker?

[ramit]

Omicron bypasses vaccinations, they said

All together now

 

[maxjam]

I saw the following tweet a few days ago.

50% have had the booster jab now, as only 80% of people are double jabbed and 90% have had one jab we must be nearing the point its impossible to give out anymore boosters  given you have to wait 3 months following your 2nd jab?

If we can't resist further restrictions at this point, when will we ever?

 

[PistoldPete]

2 hours ago, maxjam said:

Another good piece from the Spectator about the BBCs covid reporting

 

Hardly a surprise . Anyone seeing the bBC website can tell this.

[alexxxxx]

Rumours that 'step 2' restrictions will be reintroduced... That means pubs and restaurants will only be able to serve outdoors, rule of 6, no indoor meeting between households. This would also mean football would be behind closed doors.

In this scenario I can see Derby county being liquidated as we won't be able to borrow enough money to stay afloat with zero income. 

[JoetheRam]

Pretty obvious that if the Torygraph's options are correct then it'll be option 2. Easy to spin as neither too draconian, nor too soft compared to the alternatives.

[PistoldPete]

16 minutes ago, alexxxxx said:

Rumours that 'step 2' restrictions will be reintroduced... That means pubs and restaurants will only be able to serve outdoors, rule of 6, no indoor meeting between households. This would also mean football would be behind closed doors.

In this scenario I can see Derby county being liquidated as we won't be able to borrow enough money to stay afloat with zero income. 

I don’t know what the rumours are but I thought it was only a two week circuit breaker but if anything like previous restrictions that could be the thin end of the wedge.

And football could be put on hold not played behind closed doors . It’s mostly the footballers catching it anyway not the fans.

[alexxxxx]

2 minutes ago, PistoldPete said:

I don’t know what the rumours are but I thought it was only a two week circuit breaker but if anything like previous restrictions that could be the thin end of the wedge.

And football could be put on hold not played behind closed doors . It’s mostly the footballers catching it anyway not the fans.

Yeah it's all coming out of the cabinet meeting this afternoon. Apparently likely to be a month. 

[Gritstone Ram]

2 hours ago, alexxxxx said:

Yeah it's all coming out of the cabinet meeting this afternoon. Apparently likely to be a month. 

Starting when?

[Gone]

Another 8,044 cases of the Omicron variant  have been reported across the UK - a third down on Sunday's figure of 12,133

Wasn’t it 200k cases “doubling everyday” 

[Ram-Alf]

5 minutes ago, Gritstone Ram said:

Starting when?

The PM said they will look at the data then decide what to do, It's changing by the hour...please please get your booster he said, So we're still waiting to see if there's any more restrictions.

[Bob The Badger]

4 hours ago, maxjam said:

Another good piece from the Spectator about the BBCs covid reporting

 

I'm bummed I got into my car just as the guy mentioned in this article had been cut off, but he was called abusive or offensive by Campbell and another guest and I can't remember Nicky Campbell cut ting someone off, or apologising to people over something a caller said and I probably listen 2 or 3 rimes per week.

5 days ago he had a caller on who was super against lockdown measures and said that there was nothing to fear as it was so low a death rate. He also said he thought he may have Covid and was going out socialising anyway. Campbell said on multiple occasions that his opinion should be heard and that many people agreed with him and never came close to silencing a very strong dissenter.

He did toward the end of the section ask him to get tested a couple of times.  I dunno if you could call that bias. Maybe, but the guy must have been on for the best part of 20 minutes and spoke more than anybody.

You can listen here - he comes on at 14.58.

And the fact the article is anonymous is kinda iffy.

 

 

 

[Eddie]

6 hours ago, Eddie said:

 

It's a difficult balancing act. I don't think that we will see any lockdown announced this week - I expect that the cabinet will kick that particular can down the road until 27 December with a 'promise' to monitor the situation at that time.

Edited December 20, 2021 by Eddie

[Gritstone Ram]

It seems like there’s only a problem in London. What happened to local lockdowns or does the whole country have to come out in sympathy for these southerners?

[RoyMac5]

5 hours ago, ramit said:

Omicron bypasses vaccinations, they said

All together now

 

That'll be news to this lot!

[ramit]

Our local Covid guru says Omicron is not just a mutation, but a brand new virus and it must be fought in a new way with new vaccines, but in the meantime it is imperative for everyone to get booster jabbed.

How do folks feel about being two years in and at the starting point again?  People were promised 95% efficacy and a way back to normality.  Was it all a pack of lies, or just widespread medical incompetence?  If the latter, then we cannot trust the words of authorities, if the former, then we cannot trust the words of authorities.

 

[Comrade 86]

10 hours ago, Archied said:

Find that one a bit hard to believe ,I mean there really is nothing to be gained ??‍♂️, just seems to me that we are being played and bombarded from all angles,  I also have to wonder who is behind holding all this evidence of parties back then releasing them a bit at a time when suits ,it’s like one big duck off game

Hardly a game! The press have used this technique for decades. Garner irrefutable proof of wrongdoing, but firstly merely invite accused party to comment. Next stage, run a story citing a 'source close to' said party, alluding to wrongdoing but without outright condemnation or revealing hard evidence. Relevant party, emboldened by mistaken assumption that the press have nothing concrete, issues robust, public denial at which point the media jackals rip their throats out. In doing so, they not only prove the original transgression, they also get the added bonus of revealing the accused as a contemptible, bare-faced liar, generating a gazilion clicks in the process. To understand fully the principle reasoning, since you've asked, one need merely 'follow the money'.

As for the the anti-vaxxer story, it's being reported elsewhere too and may well gather traction over the coming days. No doubt we will now see stories emanating from some quarters suggesting it's a black flag operation designed to discredit the anti-vaxx 'movement' and create further divides.

It'll be interesting to see what degree of sophistication was used; professionally masked digital footprints (especially anything beyond mere VPNs) might add weight to the black-flag argument, though an alternative scenario is that at least some of the bookings were made by individuals who did not bother to spoof their IP addresses, or are unaware that they needed to. If this is the case, I trust the individuals concerned will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Edited December 21, 2021 by angieram
Remove l8bel

[Comrade 86]

2 hours ago, Gritstone Ram said:

It seems like there’s only a problem in London. What happened to local lockdowns or does the whole country have to come out in sympathy for these southerners?

You seem blissfully unaware that not everyone spending their days in London lives there. Perhaps immutable facts rather undermine your argument?

Respectfully yours,

A Southerner.

[Bris Vegas]