Re: Coronavirus
 

That it might not be such a fantastic year after all :shrug:

Re: Coronavirus
 

Senior Downing Street advisor Dominic Cummings has developed symptoms of coronavirus over the weekend and is now self-isolating.

Re: Coronavirus
 

1) If that's the case then why is AustralisThailand staring to struggle, if you're claim is due to temperature then consider the temperature of the human body.
2) I highly doubt it

Re: Coronavirus
 

Let's hope he has a speedy recovery.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Indeed as l would not wish Coronavirus on any one.



In lighter news.:D

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...oronavirus-bbc

Re: Coronavirus
 

He was seen running out of Downing St. after Boris's diagnosis the other day. Seems he didn't run fast enough.....
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dai...ronavirus.html

This really could be an episode of 'The Thick of It'....

Re: Coronavirus
 

One thing politicians of all persuasions should do is practise what they preach as Steven Kinnock is another is another one who seems to be ignoring GOVUK instructions as yes its a lovely thing to do in wishing his Dad a Happy Birthday but are we all not in the same boat and that includes us all accepting we all have a part to play in all this.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Actually, I disagree, Stephen Kinnock did nothing wrong, he gave supplies to a vulnerable group of people, which is allowed, albeit they were his parents. He complied with social distancing when he was there and kept apart from them at all times.

He did nothing wrong but the police did with their smart arse reply to him on his twitter feed, saying his journey was not essential, yes it was, as I have outlined why.

A police officer issued a fine at the weekend for a shop keeper who applied chalk lines outside her shop so customers knew where to stand during social distancing, that video went viral, the fine has since been waived and police spokesperson said officers need to apply common sense approach.

My brother was stopped the other day by the police, he was just returning from doing some shopping, when they asked him why he was not at home, he told them, they were not satisfied with his answer and asked to see his shopping in his boot. Unacceptable over zealous policing.

The Police need to be very careful here because this is a temporary measure, usually we live in a State where it is policed by consent. If they start acting like the Gestapo, civil unrest will grow, as it is already doing so in Italy.

Re: COVID 19 Question
 

I can chip on this too...

For a vaccine, there are three options;

1. Grow the virus, kill it and inject that (see Salk Polio vaccine and flu vaccine)
2. Weaken the virus to give a low level infection (see Flumist flu vaccine, MMR)
3. Produce virus components and inject this (see hepatitis B vaccine)

Option 1 is the easiest to do and pretty cheap. The downside is that the inactivation process might make the vaccine less effective as your immune system will recognise inactivated virus and not active.

Option 2 is an excellent choice as weak virus are excellent to stimulate the immune system and give a good response. However, there are safety concerns that the virus might go back to being active

Option 3 will take the longest time but the components can be engineered to give a very strong immune response. It is also the safest as no virus is used during the manufacture of the vaccine

Vaccine design is tough as you need something that is strong enough to'tickle' the immune system in to making a response but not so strong that it can cause strong responses such as anaphylactic shock. You don't want to end up killing someone who is already immune for example. Ideally, the vaccine shouldn't need boosters when you want to vaccinate whole populations.

Vaccines aren't 100% effective - they won't make every person who has the vaccine immune. However, as long as you have enough people vaccinated, the chances of an unvaccinated person meeting someone who is infected AND that person spreading the diseaseto them willeventually shrink to very low levels. Herd immunity...

On the antibiotics - bacteria can do their own chemistry using their own metabolism. Virus needs a host cell and uses a lot of the host cells metabolism to survive. Antibiotics attack the bacterias own metabolism. For example, penicillin affects a bacteriums ability to make cell walls. As virus uses the host cell metabolism, you would need to block the host cells metabolism to stop the virus.

There are a few antivirals out there that will attack the few chemical reactions unique to virus or stop the virus entering cells but these are sill few and far between.

Re: Coronavirus
 

The UK wide lock down will not be lifted any time soon with scenes like this from this morning...

https://twitter.com/itvlondon/status...70789044723718

Seriously, what is the actual fecking point of introducing social distancing measures, a nationwide lock down when you see the above happening daily...?

Re: Coronavirus
 

That's unbelievable. Has it really got to the stage that we now need to get people to show their work passes before being let onto the platforms?

Re: Coronavirus
 

Where is the picture of the supplies? Why did it need both him and his wife to attend? If they only stayed long enough to sing "Happy Birthday", why did they both need to sit down for it?:rolleyes: They spent enough time there to put some items on the doorstep, move them out of the way, move a couple of chairs outside, and take various photos. Not an essential brief flying visit.:mad:


The evidence strongly suggests that the prime method of distribution is with social gatherings and interactions. Where people are confined in a situation like on a cruise ship, one group will interact together then those people will interact with other groups. Similarly at a conference over several days, groups of people will get together to talk, and then go off and interact with other groups. That will be how it spreads. You have clear examples where people have gathered for things like funerals or religious gatherings and a virus has run rampant in those attending. I see little evidence of problems arising from many people going for a walk in the park, as long as they don't interact(eg talk to one another). There isn't an infectious aura surrounding people, it is more directional in nature.

In all of these examples of gatherings, how many people are infected by coughs, sneezes, surface contacts? Should be simple to examine what people did at those gatherings in order to try and understand transmission methods. Is it talking(expelling droplets of saliva) to one another, or just breathing in the vicinity?

Link

Re: Coronavirus
 

Was reading some interesting material that in a situation like this the science is changing rapidly and good scientists will change their position as new evidence comes in and is proven. So sniping at individuals who now say different things isn't helpful.

What will be interesting is how things progress in Sweden where the lockdown doesn't seem to be as firm but the demographics are very different - in Sweden most people live alone where as in Italy (and other Mediterranean countries) there is a much higher incidence of multigenerational households.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Yes, the Swedish approach is interesting as it seems to be following the original British approach https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...and-carries-on

Re: Coronavirus
 

I think London should be isolated to protect the rest of us. no one in no one out, it must be spreading at an uncontrollable rate due to the madness of cramming people into the tube etc.