Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1
---------- Post added at 21:18 ---------- Previous post was at 21:13 ----------
Some may be tempted to dismiss it as it's not their favourite publication but this intervention looks quite significant to me.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...e_iOSApp_Other[COLOR="Silver"] |
The trouble with that is the hospitalisations are by no way rising out of control, over the last few months they've been relatively static, still mirroring the new infections but further behind and a lot lower than before.
There are also a couple of main issues I can see with this:
1. That the infections now are largely speaking spill over effects from it ripping through unvaccinated secondary school kids, and the kids themselves. If a +ve child is in contact with an unvaccinated adult even with mild or no symptoms it's likely they will spread it and depending on age and underlying conditions this may be more severe but if the adult was vaccinated they may well escape completely or just get an illness like a cold for a few days. Bristol, which seems to be one of the more severely affected areas right now, is also one of the lowest vaccinated places. Of course, there's nothing stopping anyone over 12 from getting a jab now, so, these people really only have themselves to blame, so why should those who have suffer because of those who are denying covid and refusing the vaccines for some reason Karen off facebook said. It's perhaps unsympathetic to suggest they should just get it and face the effects but actually that's probably what's going to happen anyway.
2. That what the actual concern is, is clearing the backlogged non-covid procedures, which they have had basically since March to make a decent fist at, and because the NHS is fundamentally woefully dysfunctional at an organisational level, hasn't made hay whilst the sun shone, despite the worst-case predictions we'd see a wave of covid or flu or noro or all three in the winter. So we should, of course, introduce covid restrictions to try and save their woeful planning, without looking into why and stopping this happening again? I do admire the NHS but the idolatry of the last 20 months is almost Orwellian.
The other point worth raising about "Plan B" is that, it is not a single set of measures which will be all implemented, but a set of things which are mooted to try and get covid infections down. So not all of it may be introduced if the government decided to tighten things; and without bringing back furlough, at even more cost to the taxpayer and national debt which still has to be paid back, it would not have to be too excessive otherwise you'd see more companies fold or job losses etc etc because of distancing or disproportionate responses.
Mask wearing is utterly pointless and ridiculous in its current form. Neither the masks people have been told to wear (I recall when they started to make them common last year, some of the rags were basically showing how you could make a face covering out of a kitchen towel paper) nor the way people use them (wearing them over their chin, not over mouth and nose, not touching the mask or taking it on and off without washing it and your hands) make it fit for purpose, and that's even if it worked at all; insistence on surgical N95 type masks would probably help, but no doubt they would then be the next thing ripped off the shelves in large quantities by a few panic buyers depriving the general public of fair supplies, so that probably isn't workable either right now. So it needs to stay as it is. If it's crowded it's best to wear one but ultimately choice of the individual (and Hugh - it is a term from the media, and South Park pandemic special used the US equivalent... it's comical, but I guess it serves a similar purpose...)
The one mitigation I can see actually being effective is the WFH recommendation, for tasks which don't require being in the workplace, and aren't better done 1:1 face to face, it limits the casual mixing and extra journeys in the workplace, and saves on transport emissions too. But then how many school age children are in offices?
Figures are useless without analysing the reasons behind them and looking at the causes and where they sit. As I mentioned the other night the infections are largely in school age children so what's the point restricting adults who aren't getting it?