Coronavirus

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by pip08456

You have a link for that or are you just making it up? As we have been told ad nauseam the reason for lockdowns was to flatten the curve (when it was already heading down) to protect the NHS. Never once has prevention or reduction in mutation been mentioned.

That’s absolutely right. Some people really believe that lockdowns kill off the virus. How many waves after lockdowns do they have to witness before joining the dots?

There is only one way to see off the virus - herd immunity. Fortunately we now have a vaccine to bring that about more nicely.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

The Reading article came courtesy of Spiderplant.
Pleased you're not impacted.

Thanks. I wonder whether Spiderplant is based out of Boulton Road?

[jfman]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

That’s absolutely right. Some people really believe that lockdowns kill off the virus. How many waves after lockdowns do they have to witness before joining the dots?

At £400bn+ how many more lockdowns do you need to witness before joining the dots that there is no normal economy for the foreseeable?

The public have resoundingly endorsed this Conservative Government's intention to stand behind flailing businesses. Stand behind employees.

There is only one way to see off the virus - herd immunity. Fortunately we now have a vaccine to bring that about more nicely.

See Lancet on Pfizer. General consensus v Oxford.

We will be in this for a long while yet Old Boy.

Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.

---------- Post added at 20:05 ---------- Previous post was at 19:48 ----------

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

I never shop at Aldi, Seph - I don't know where that rumour emanated from. I don't go anywhere near discount shops and I would be appalled if one opened in my neck of the woods!

OB's contempt for the key worker plebs who work in retail knows no bounds.

[Carth]

Originally Posted by jfman

Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.

I'd rather not 'stay home' any longer, I am a Free Man

NHS is coping ok, apart from the backlog of 'normal' admissions that was caused by the initial Covid mess.

We're already saving lives, we could save even more by banning cars if you like

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by jfman

<SNIP>

OB's contempt for the key worker plebs who work in retail knows no bounds.

You're being harsh on OB, my friend. Anyway, he "hovers" around ASDA where the "key worker plebs" prolly do their shopping.

That said, I see a lot of key NHS workers flashing their ID cards and going straight into Waitrose while I'm standing in the nanny state queue.

[jfman]

Once more I extend my sympathies, Seph.

Stay home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.

[Carth]

Originally Posted by jfman

Once more I extend my sympathies, Seph.

Makes me wonder how many 'fingers' of sympathy you're extending

[Mad Max]

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

The daily figure of hospitalisations UK-wide as of now is 123, and it is stable, despite the number of cases rising. Why? The vaccination programme, which, like it or not, is the game changer that will enable the government to remove restrictions on 21 June. There is no case for delay. Time to move on and get our lives back to normal.

And if one of your nearest and dearest succumbed to one of the variants no doubt you'd feel differently and demand to know why we'd been so lax in the face of rising infections.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by Mr K

And if one of your nearest and dearest succumbed to one of the variants no doubt you'd feel differently and demand to know why we'd been so lax in the face of rising infections.

Now is not the time, Mr K. OB is in an area being prioritised for testing due to the increased risks of the variant. He deserves our hopes and prayers at a minimum, after all that's all we had from 23 March 2020 in his view.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by jfman

Now is not the time, Mr K. OB is in an area being prioritised for testing due to the increased risks of the variant. He deserves our hopes and prayers at a minimum, after all that's all we had from 23 March 2020 in his view.

You're a pixie, my friend! He needs to keep away from ASDA, though!

In many ways, OB is right, but all based on the one big IF concerning the ratio of hospitalisations to infections. That, in turn, depends on the number of double-doses administered, competing with the possibility of vaccine-resistant variants. This latter point is impacted by the time it takes to understand how a new variant behaves.

For what my opinion is worth, we are so close to 21-June but without the key inputs needed for freedom day to be fully realised.

Unless the inputs are convincingly definitive by 14-June, it would seem prudent to take both of the following actions:

1 Not to implement any further relaxations;
2 To lock down any hotspot areas until favourable inputs are observed.

[jfman]

Very prudent my good man.

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

You're a pixie, my friend! He needs to keep away from ASDA, though!

In many ways, OB is right, but all based on the one big IF concerning the ratio of hospitalisations to infections. That, in turn, depends on the number of double-doses administered, competing with the possibility of vaccine-resistant variants. This latter point is impacted by the time it takes to understand how a new variant behaves.

For what my opinion is worth, we are so close to 21-June but without the key inputs needed for freedom day to be fully realised.

Unless the inputs are convincingly definitive by 14-June, it would seem prudent to take both of the following actions:

1 Not to implement any further relaxations;
2 To lock down any hotspot areas until favourable inputs are observed.

Sorry to shock you, but I (mostly) agree with you.

Except for (2) - how do we/the country manage a local lockdown without martial law? We keep being told by HMG to use "common sense", but, as we’ve seen, it’s not that common…

[jonbxx]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Yes, but it should be by individual choice.

By all means but people who choose not to vaccinate should be big enough to own the fact that they have chosen not to protect themselves and others around them.

[Pierre]

The NHS doesn’t need saving. If the NHS is not under pressure - which it isn’t, and deaths remain low - which they are.

Then there is no need to change course.