Coronavirus

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

Pierre, since hospitalisation data hasn’t been updated since the 20th December (according to the gov website) I’m interested in understanding how you reach there’s no real problems ?

Well it’s the 29th and I’m of the same opinion, how about you?

[tweetiepooh]

So as as been mooted from the start - Covid caused major issues at the start because it was novel, now with vaccinations and infections our bodies are learning to recognise Covid type attackers and will be able to deal with them more effectively. We can still get new variants pop-up that could cause problems but that's pretty much like typical flu variants that occasionally give a bad season.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Not that simples…

People who don’t/won’t take ‘personal responsibility’ can have a negative impact on those who do - just like drink-driving…

Surely, those who are taking ‘personal responsibility’ have had themselves vaccinated and therefore will only get milder symptoms, if any, if they become infected.

All this hype about the number of infections is an over-reaction that only the unvaccinated should be concerned about. What people also seem to be missing is that the ‘no of infections’ is simply the number of people who have tested positive for the virus. Most have minimal or no symptoms at all.

We seem to have become a nation of babies demanding protection from our parental government against a big bad entity that seems to be creating rather more noise than is justified.

There will be more variants, and those who demand more measures each time this happens for decades ahead are not being realistic.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Surely, those who are taking ‘personal responsibility’ have had themselves vaccinated and therefore will only get milder symptoms, if any, if they become infected.

All this hype about the number of infections is an over-reaction that only the unvaccinated should be concerned about. What people also seem to be missing is that the ‘no of infections’ is simply the number of people who have tested positive for the virus. Most have minimal or no symptoms at all.

We seem to have become a nation of babies demanding protection from our parental government against a big bad entity that seems to be creating rather more noise than is justified.

There will be more variants, and those who demand more measures each time this happens for decades ahead are not being realistic.

Is that right? Isn’t it a case of Guvmin treating us as babies based on the scientists’ paranoia?

As to more variants - isn’t it a case of Omicron has found its optimal survival means?

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by Pierre

Well it’s the 29th and I’m of the same opinion, how about you?

I believe there’s not enough data to warrant a decision yet. To add, I don’t believe we need as many cases to trigger a major issue with the NHS due to the amount of clinical staff needing to either self isolate or being off sick

How did you reach your opinion?

---------- Post added at 17:43 ---------- Previous post was at 17:32 ----------

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Is that right? Isn’t it a case of Guvmin treating us as babies based on the scientists’ paranoia?

As to more variants - isn’t it a case of Omicron has found its optimal survival means?

Possibly, but not definitively

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/7839167002

As has been said before, the greater the opportunity the virus has to mutate, logically, the greater the chance of said mutation becoming more damaging to the host.

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

As to more variants - isn’t it a case of Omicron has found its optimal survival means?

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03619-8

TLDR: We'll have to wait and see.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03619-8

TLDR: We'll have to wait and see.

Excellent article.

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

How did you reach your opinion?.

It wasn’t difficult, deaths are plummeting and hospitalisations are no higher than in July.

Also there is a very valid question around people in hospital “with” covid v in hospital “because” of covid.

From https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59822687

Not all the patients in hospital will have been admitted for Covid - latest data suggests about three in 10 have the virus but were admitted to hospital for something else.

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Paul

From https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59822687

[jonbxx]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03619-8

TLDR: We'll have to wait and see.

Agreeing with Sephiroth here (blimey!) That is good. Always important to note that evolution is a random process. Many mutations will be lethal so we never see them, others are less effective than what is present already and will dwindle in the population and others will be more successful and will dominate.

The virus doesn’t choose what to mutate to do whatever (that article does fall in to that trap a little) Mutations occur spontaneously and then are tested in ‘the wild’. In my old field of HIV, the mutation rate is very high and so is the reproduction rate (new virus made per day) even with asymptomatic patients. This meant that drug resistance pops up very quickly. Luckily, SARS-COV2 has a relatively low mutation rate.

In other news, have we seen the anti-vaccine lads destroying a COVID testing centre in Milton Keynes - https://twitter.com/culladgh/status/1476212244723732486

We demand to be free!!!
Am I allowed to get a COVID test?
No!!!

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by Pierre

It wasn’t difficult, deaths are plummeting and hospitalisations are no higher than in July.

Also there is a very valid question around people in hospital “with” covid v in hospital “because” of covid.

Hospitalisations are at their highest since March according to multiple news sources, not sure where you’re getting July from ?

The deaths plummeting is a red herring due to the many times mentioned lag

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

Hospitalisations are at their highest since March according to multiple news sources, not sure where you’re getting July from ?

The deaths plummeting is a red herring due to the many times mentioned lag

You do realise that we’re now 32 days on from the first identified omicron case in the uk? Passing off the falling death rate as a red herring is rapidly losing credibility. It’s been pretty obvious for about a week now that the death rate is being played down as a matter of public health policy because of the potential risk to the booster campaign. That doesn’t mean we can’t deal frankly with the data here though. There is simply no evidence of omicron killing anyone in any significant numbers in the UK, and the experience in South Africa, where the omicron wave is weeks ahead of ours, suggests that such evidence will not be forthcoming.

[jfman]

There’s no evidence of Covid killing anyone in significant numbers in the UK according to some on here so that, by definition, is a red herring.

It’d take far longer than a few weeks for Omicron to be anything more than a blip on the body count. Now that it’s both dominant and rising in all areas of the UK the likelihood of hospitalisations (and deaths) being from Omicron substantially rises. But with registry offices closed (and ironically, staff isolating!) I doubt there’s much to gleam from last weeks figures.

What will skew the figures though is that Omicron is infecting people that Delta wouldn’t have - due to lower (and waning) vaccine efficacy against infection.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by Paul

From https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59822687

But that would also indicate at least 3 in 10 people are carrying covid, and a substantial number of those are infectious. Those in hospital for whatever reason, are drawn from the general population, therefore their covid rates reflect the general population.