Coronavirus

Originally Posted by spiderplant

Actually it doesn't make any direct difference to the virus whether you die.

Of course it does.
If you die before its had chance to pass on, it dies as well.
Its in its own interest not to kill its hosts.

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Originally Posted by Chris

I really hate sounding like a conspiracy nut so let me be as charitable as I possibly can be and suggest that the BBC no longer considers itself to be an impartial news-gathering service when it comes to covid, and is instead committed to full integration with the government’s messaging strategy. It is more interested in helping secure desired behaviours from the population than simply doing what it is chartered to do.

Yesterday they had a couple of items about how Omicron was milder.
Today its back to the fear factor "Half of colds will be Covid, warn UK researchers"

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That said, this just appeared on the BBC site.

Breaking : People catching Omicron are 50% to 70% less likely to need hospital care compared with previous variants, a major analysis says.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59769969

The latest analysis is based on all cases of Omicron and Delta in the UK since the beginning of November, including 132 people admitted to hospital with the variant. There have also been 14 deaths in people within 28 days of catching Omicron.

The report shows people catching Omicron are:

31% to 45% less likely to go to A&E
50% to 70% less likely to be admitted to hospital for treatment

However, a milder virus could still put pressure on hospitals.

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by jfman View Post
78,610 new cases reported in the last 24 hours.

Originally Posted by Pierre

It will be genuinely interesting to see how that transposes into hospital admissions in the next 7 days or so.

Well now we know the answer!

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Originally Posted by Pierre

I predict a rise in infections.

But no real discernible rise in deaths or hospitalisation above levels in we saw in late Aug / late Oct.

Infections will of course be the metric we terrify everyone with, although with vaccines it’s the least important.

I claim my £5

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Originally Posted by pip08456 View Post
The fear mongering has started.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...ay-says-sajid/

Originally Posted by Pierre

I'm just waiting for around the 20th December.

Yep.

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by Pierre

Well now we know the answer!

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I claim my £5

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Yep.

Talking to yourself now !

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by Paul

Of course it does.
If you die before its had chance to pass on, it dies as well.
Its in its own interest not to kill its hosts.

But it doesn't work like that. It's the body's own immune reaction that kills you, not the virus. By the time of death, the virus is long gone. So it makes no difference to the virus whether you die or not.

Originally Posted by spiderplant

But it doesn't work like that. It's the body's own immune reaction that kills you, not the virus. By the time of death, the virus is long gone. So it makes no difference to the virus whether you die or not.

Might we have a link to that about the immune reaction. Me and my Human Biology GCE O-level am having a hard time with the idea that it’s not the virus that kills you but your own body’s defences that does.

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by Maggy

Might we have a link to that about the immune reaction. Me and my Human Biology GCE O-level am having a hard time with the idea that it’s not the virus that kills you but your own body’s defences that does.

Google "covid disease progression", and you'll find plenty of articles of varying readability.

This one is a good place to start:
https://viralzone.expasy.org/9116

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Maggy

Might we have a link to that about the immune reaction. Me and my Human Biology GCE O-level am having a hard time with the idea that it’s not the virus that kills you but your own body’s defences that does.

I believe he is correct. I listened to a radio interview months ago, it was said it was a bodily reaction (not sure if “immune” reaction is the correct term) of the lungs that caused death. That’s why if you have drugs that can reduce the lung inflammation ( ivermectin was mooted, but that would seem to have been debunked now) that would make the illness much more survivable.

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Originally Posted by Mr K

Talking to yourself now !

No one else listens to me.

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by Pierre

That’s why if you have drugs that can reduce the lung inflammation ( ivermectin was mooted, but that would seem to have been debunked now) that would make the illness much more survivable

That's how dexamethasone works

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53077879

[Taf]

Originally Posted by Paul

So basically, they are saying its milder ?

That makes it sound like Delta is "mild".

It's not "as nasty" is more accurate.

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Taf

That makes it sound like Delta is "mild".

Without coming across as flippant or heartless COVID, of any known variant, in the great scheme of things is mild.

170,000 deaths in the U.K. over two years against 11.7 M “recorded” infections, the actual figure is probably at the very minimum 3x that, almost certainly more.

On the “recorded” infections alone that is a 98.5% survival rate.

Obviously, vaccines, have had a major influence on that, but bottom line is………..stop being scared.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by Pierre

Without coming across as flippant or heartless COVID, of any known variant, in the great scheme of things is mild.

170,000 deaths in the U.K. over two years against 11.7 M “recorded” infections, the actual figure is probably at the very minimum 3x that, almost certainly more.

On the “recorded” infections alone that is a 98.5% survival rate.

Obviously, vaccines, have had a major influence on that, but bottom line is………..stop being scared.

Well, there Pierre has it.

There are no "recorded" influenza infections bar those that end up in hospital; there is no Flu Test. You get bad flus, mild flus; you get Coronavirus colds. Now we're getting mild Covid-19.

So, the day the Guvmin takes away the Daily Stats is the day that normality will happen.

[nffc]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Well, there Pierre has it.

There are no "recorded" influenza infections bar those that end up in hospital; there is no Flu Test. You get bad flus, mild flus; you get Coronavirus colds. Now we're getting mild Covid-19.

So, the day the Guvmin takes away the Daily Stats is the day that normality will happen.

You can presumably do a PCR test for any virus, though this doesn't show that there's an infection, just that the gene sequence you're looking for is in the sample you have.

Originally Posted by Pierre

Without coming across as flippant or heartless COVID, of any known variant, in the great scheme of things is mild.

170,000 deaths in the U.K. over two years against 11.7 M “recorded” infections, the actual figure is probably at the very minimum 3x that, almost certainly more.

On the “recorded” infections alone that is a 98.5% survival rate.

Obviously, vaccines, have had a major influence on that, but bottom line is………..stop being scared.

Not sure if it’s the best description of the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.K. for the last four months* as "mild"?

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulat...s/november2021

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulat...es/october2021

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulat.../september2021

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulat...les/august2021

Number 1 is Dementia and Alzheimer’s, & number 2 is ischaemic heart diseases, neither of which is infectious…

*And the leading cause of death for the year so far…

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Not sure if it’s the best description of the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.K. for the last four months* as "mild"?

And, yet it is. Funny that.

I’ll play a game with you Hugh, from the following what would rather have?

1. Lung cancer, Bowel cancer, (other cancers)
2. Motor Neurone Disease
3. Parkinson’s Disease
4. Dementia
5. COVID
6. Death from old age having escaped the previous 5.

I’d take 6, and 5 would be a very close second. Before you trot out the « you can’t catch cancer » trope. At least 30% of people in the country will get cancer and the survival rate isn’t 98.5%. Dementia is fast becoming even worse.

So focus on the things, and fixing the things, that will really kill you. Also possibly don’t ride motorbikes either. I got rid of mine 8yrs ago and my life chances improved greatly.

[pip08456]

This is interesting.

US Army Creates Single Vaccine Against All COVID & SARS Variants, Researchers Say

Within weeks, scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research expect to announce that they have developed a vaccine that is effective against COVID-19 and all its variants, even Omicron, as well as previous SARS-origin viruses that have killed millions of people worldwide.

The achievement is the result of almost two years of work on the virus. The Army lab received its first DNA sequencing of the COVID-19 virus in early 2020. Very early on, Walter Reed’s infectious diseases branch decided to focus on making a vaccine that would work against not just the existing strain but all of its potential variants as well.

https://www.defenseone.com/technolog...riants/360089/

UKSHA releases omicron risk assessment.