Coronavirus (Covid19) Corner

[Stanley]

[plaques]

Just to put things back in prospective, one of the young lads down at the pool who will be 89 next month said that if he hadn't been able to get out and meet people it would have done for him. The risk of being in solitary for months on end is the basic form of torture making some people suicidal. We are after all a social animal and need to get back to normality but with the caveat to balance the risk when doing so.

[Stanley]

We all need a strategy Ken. Mine is the shed and making these wee beasties....



That's why I have just spent over £500 on another set of castings. I have this theory that i can't die while there is an engine unfinished....

[Stanley]

I listened to 'More or Less' last night discussing the figure of 17,000 deaths from Covid that is widely quoted on social media. A very clear and enlightening explanation which shows how perfectly good statistics can be misused.

[Stanley]

I heard a researcher yesterday saying that he had little doubt that someone somewhere is working on a modified virus like Omicron that if released into the community would spread rapidly but be so mild that it was no danger.
Can that be true?

[Big Kev]

This Nature article leans towards it eventually mutating itself to give a weaker impact, it also goes on to say about natural immunity but this could take decades. How I understand it is to protect the older end of the population with vaccinations and let it run its course. I certainly feel comfortable going out and about being fully vaccinated, it's only my offspring who consider me to be old

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00210-7

[Tizer]

I heard a researcher yesterday saying that he had little doubt that someone somewhere is working on a modified virus like Omicron that if released into the community would spread rapidly but be so mild that it was no danger.
Can that be true?

What would be the point of doing that?

Like us, people in the shops here are still wearing masks, they're not taking any chances. I heard it said on the radio that the airlines will be telling passengers to wear masks on board for some years yet. It's in their interest as well as that of their customers and others - if we have another pandemic (and we probably will) they'll lose money again and perhaps even lose their businesses.

[Stanley]

"if we have another pandemic"
Almost certain isn't it? Yet, who is planning today to avoid the pitfalls we encountered two years ago? No attraction for politicians to think long term so perhaps we should be setting up a government department charged with doing nothing but pandemic planning....
(Oh, I forgot. We need to have an enquiry into what went wrong first.....)

[Tizer]

`The forgotten flu epidemic of 1989' BBC video

[Stanley]

And I have good reason to remember the Asian Flu of the 1960s. I've never been as poorly since.....

[PanBiker]

We managed to dodge 1989 but copped for the full blown experience 10 years later over the Millennium. Fell over on the 17th December and didn't eat anything until the 3rd of January. We both felt that it was curtains for us.

[Tripps]

A bit flippant - but as the commentator famously said "They think it's all over. . . " and this thread is having reduced postings. Lots of members' connections have been infected with Covid 19, but it just mainly seems to be a nuisance rather than a disaster.

Deaths in Cambridge
There were 0 deaths within 28 days of a positive test for coronavirus reported on 13 February 2022.
Between 7 February 2022 and 13 February 2022, there have been 1 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test. This shows a decrease of -66.7% compared to the previous 7 days.


Not sure how many hospitals are covered by this statistic, but the size of of Addenbrookes alone has to be seen to be believed.

Back of an envelope - at 200 deaths per day (an over estimate) and say 1000 hospitals (an underestimate) in UK, that means that for every five hospitals, there's one death per day. That's for people who died with the infection, not due to the infection.

"Permission to be optimistic Captain Mainwaring"

[Big Kev]

It's still out there along with a lot of other viruses we live with every day. I'm keeping my distance, from the great unwashed, this week as I have to take a LFT before getting on a ship on Saturday. I will be testing myself before setting off for Southampton as well, be silly not to and my only concern about catching it is testing positive and being refused boarding.

[Stanley]

Exactly what I am doing Kev but no cruise. I am keeping away from everyone indoors except Susan and Mick who are both tested every day as they are carers. Otherwise it's outside and 2 meters distance with a mask.

[plaques]

Nothing wrong with being optimistic but as Stanley touched on in Politics corner with the Buffoon spewing out lies and dodgy statistics followed by Ministers parroting the same blatant nonsense its hard to judge when reality kicks in. Then for good measure or should we say for no measure the funding for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) looks like being withdrawn putting us further in the dark. What we need is some brave elderly guinea pigs with a range of underlying health problems to go out into pubs and clubs, football matches and other perceived high risk areas and see what happens.

Any volunteers?

[Big Kev]

I have an 86 year old aunt who is currently at home for palliative care, failing kidneys being the most recent issue to add to her insulin dependent diabetes and COPD. She tested positive last Tuesday, had a raised temperature on Wednesday and her usual cough was a bit worse for a few days. Latest reports are she is back to 'normal' for her conditions. I understand it impacts people differently but, with the exception of the test for the cruise, I have no concerns about catching it.

My aunt was given 'a few days to live' on January 20th and all medication, except insulin, was withdrawn. She has carers in 4 times a day and my cousin, a nurse, stays overnight so any one of them could have passed it on.

[Tizer]

I know infections seem to be declining in the UK and I'm seeing more people in shops etc without masks but there's one aspect of Covid that's getting neglected in the midst of all the relief. Around the world the covid-19 virus is still rampant in many places and among populations where many are not vaccinated. That means there is a big reservoir of the virus still out there, being transmitted and mutating as it does so. We're seeing a return of international air travel which can carry an infection to the other side of the world in 24 hours and increased migration due to warfare, deprivation, climate change etc. We must try harder in our attempts to vaccinate people worldwide. We must improve our ability to respond instantly to new pandemics. And we must keep up our vigilance for new viruses and variants.

[Big Kev]

I've done my research for the upcoming cruise, the Canary Islands and mainland Spain have a high vaccination level so am comfortable going there. The ship is running at around 60% capacity and it's a boarding requirement to be 'fully vaccinated' and to wear a mask in public areas inside.

[Tripps]

This is concerning. Queen Consort (in waiting)Camilla


"Her husband, the Prince of Wales, tested positive for the virus on Thursday but Camilla, 74, carried out three public engagements on that day after testing negative. Prince Charles met with the Queen two days before he tested positive.
Charles was infected last Thursday - she tested negative so did more public engagements, then was positive today."

I'm trying to be optimistic, but wouldn't it have common sense for her to stay in for a few days?

[plaques]

I'm trying to be optimistic, but wouldn't it have common sense for her to stay in for a few days?

If Big Kev can use common sense to keep away from people in advance of his anniversary cruise one would think it would have been obvious to politely decline these public engagements until she was absolutely in the clear. Now we have dozens of charity workers wondering if they have caught it. I'm sure under the circumstances everybody would have understood and approved of this decision.

[Big Kev]

Is the requirement to isolate only if you test positive? Was she masked and socially distancing at the engagements?
We've been to Boundary Outlet today for some essential shopping, masks were worn and distance was maintained.

[plaques]

Proposals are being trailed to stop testing, remove isolation requirements, test and trace and any other measure designed to slow the rate of infection down. Learning to live with covid is the mantra. I would have thought that the scientific modelling would have been able to predict with reasonable accuracy what would happen if each one of these controls were to be removed. The interaction between the different elements that affect the final R rate are perhaps too complicated for mere mortals to understand but simplified graphs would be enough to assess the risk factor for each change. Why are we not seeing these projections? There are studies showing that one of the long term conditions affecting people who have had covid is confusion in the brain. Didn't Buffoon Johnson catch quite a serious dose of covid on the first outbreak?

[PanBiker]

Didn't Buffoon Johnson catch quite a serious dose of covid on the first outbreak?

I very much doubt it, he was in and out of hospital in a flash compared to folk that were really ill.

On the lifting of all restrictions a doing away with free testing. The medics are not amused, they say doing all the lot at once is a big mistake and the decision could come back to bite us.

[Tripps]

I very much doubt it, he was in and out of hospital in a flash compared to folk that were really ill.

Really? Are you saying he wasn't 'really ill'? Based on any evidence, or just hatred?

Here's a contemporaneous report from the Guardian. Covid Boris Johnson

Take your pick. . . .

[Stanley]

"The medics are not amused, they say doing all the lot at once is a big mistake and the decision could come back to bite us."
That's the bit that concerns me Ian. I couldn't care two hoots about Camshaft or Johnson but I do care about those people at high risk because they have compromised immune systems. Would it hurt anyone to wear a mask and social distance? Incidentally, many people on the autistic spectrum have said that masks have been very liberating for them. I listened to the man from the NHS and he thinks it is a mistake.
I fear it's part of the divert attention from Partygate campaign.