Coronavirus

[1andrew1]

Another day, another leaving party. With their Boozeter jabs, Johnson and chums seem to have developed immunity to Coronavirus legislation.

The Mirror can reveal that the Prime Minister attended a leaving do for his defence adviser Captain Steve Higham in the run-up to Christmas 2020 and gave a speech

As the heat grows on Boris Johnson over a string of No10 lockdown parties the cowardly PM looks set to shift the blame away from himself in a desperate bid to save his own skin.

Rather than accept any responsibility for the scandal engulfing Downing Street, he is instead likely to throw a bunch of civil service flunkies under the bus, who could now face the axe.

But it comes as the Mirror can reveal Mr Johnson attended a leaving do for his defence adviser in the run-up to Christmas 2020 and gave a speech.

And fresh doubts were raised on the PM’s claim he did not know in advance about the No10 garden bash on May 20 of that year after Sunday Times columnist Dominic Lawson claimed at least two people had warned him the email invite to staff made it clear it was a party and it should have been stopped.

If true, it blows his half-hearted apology for *Partygate last week out of the water and means he faces claims he breached the ministerial code by misleading the Commons.

To add further pressure on Mr Johnson, his wife Carrie was photographed breaking Covid social distancing rules in September 2020.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politi...boris-25962670

[Sephiroth]

I liked the observation made somewhere that Boris will lie to whatever extent is necessary to get through the day.

[nffc]

Originally Posted by Paul

In other news, the self-isolation has now gone down to 5 days.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60011276

Surely the common sense way to do it is a test every day, unless you have symptoms, in which case you start testing when the symptoms have stopped. 2nd successive day of negative tests you can end self isolation.


Given that you have to test negative on both the 7 and 5 day periods, it will probably amount to the same, though in reality there's still the issue with people who don't have any symptoms of the virus at all testing positive just because they happen to do a test if they were seeing someone or if their work wanted them to, the fact this has only recently become a thing and that they aren't requiring the follow up PCR test as often for positive LFTs seems to demonstrate that the LFT is the only way these know they have the virus.



There do also appear to be a fair number of examples I've heard of where people test negative on LFTs but a PCR test comes back positive - surely this can't be that all of them aren't doing the LFTs properly, potentially not swabbing enough or the right areas? That could still leave a fair amount of people going around with covid believing they haven't as they have a negative test. And you'd probably expect any "follow up" LFTs to be negative...

[Sephiroth]

We are prolly at or very near the stage where people don't bother with the test at first sight of symptoms, preferring to see if it goes away. With Omicron dominating, you don't know if it's an ordinary cold or Covid, and if it's Covid if your symptoms get worse, then you might do a test or report your illness to the doctor. You'd think about whether or not to go to Waitrose or wherever!

I've had two colds in the last 9 months and didn't take a test; who knows what the symptoms of Covid really are when you haven't lost your sense of taste.

We're at the end of the tight measures and need to get back to normal, Boris or not.

[tweetiepooh]

We can't and shouldn't make masks normative. It is a huge obstacle to those who rely on lip reading (yes those with them may have appropriate mask/screen/visor) but what about all those around? But generally we like to see faces to read expressions and the like.


It's generally hoped that it will become endemic and like flu/cold etc most of the population will only normally suffer minor symptoms even with more virulent strains as our bodies will recognise the type of virus even if not the specific strain.


On a related but different topic, health workers are going to have to be able to take leave soon, just to take leave, rest, have a holiday and that too will affect capacity to treat patients. It is going to take time to recover and for some that may have very sad outcomes. Commentators are going to have to be quite sensitive over this, probably won't be but one can hope.

[heero_yuy]

Originally Posted by tweetiepooh

We can't and shouldn't make masks normative. It is a huge obstacle to those who rely on lip reading (yes those with them may have appropriate mask/screen/visor) but what about all those around? But generally we like to see faces to read expressions and the like.

I struggle to hear what people say in noisy environments and didn't realise how much I lip read until masks came in. It's very frustrating.

Given that the omicron variant is spread by viral particles rather than water droplets it's said that ordinary cloth masks are largely ineffective anyway.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

I struggle to hear what people say in noisy environments and didn't realise how much I lip read until masks came in. It's very frustrating.

Given that the omicron variant is spread by viral particles rather than water droplets it's said that ordinary cloth masks are largely ineffective anyway.

I haven't caught Covid yet, Heero

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

I struggle to hear what people say in noisy environments and didn't realise how much I lip read until masks came in. It's very frustrating.

Given that the omicron variant is spread by viral particles rather than water droplets it's said that ordinary cloth masks are largely ineffective anyway.

Analytical hat popped on. Passive tense noted. Who says this?

[heero_yuy]

Here's one source:

"Cloth masks are not going to cut it with omicron," says Linsey Marr, a researcher at Virginia Tech who studies how viruses transmit in the air.

Omicron is so much more transmissible than coronavirus variants that have come before it. It spreads at least three times faster than delta. One person is infecting at least three others at a time on average, based on data from other countries.

Source

A quick Google reveals plenty more

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

[COLOR="Blue"]
We are prolly at or very near the stage where people don't bother with the test at first sight of symptoms

Why would you? unless you needed a test for specific reason.

I've had COVID symptoms several times over the past two years and never tested. The only time I tested was when I needed to on return from holiday.

[nffc]

Originally Posted by Pierre

Why would you? unless you needed a test for specific reason.

I've had COVID symptoms several times over the past two years and never tested. The only time I tested was when I needed to on return from holiday.

The thing is, what are exactly "covid symptoms", it does seem to change a fair amount, because they are nonspecific to begin with.


Right at the start of the pandemic it was a new cough and fever, they added loss of taste a bit later, they have been the main ones since, but there are also others, for example diarrhoea, runny nose, headache, tiredness, joint pains... Basically not a lot different from any other virus really.


With the omicron variant we also have a situation where the symptoms are very much easily confused with a cold though this could be simply that in vaccinated or previously infected people the virus is milder.


Really the only way to know if you have covid or a cold/flu virus now is to take a test. And of course, other coronaviruses can cause colds in humans.

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

I struggle to hear what people say in noisy environments and didn't realise how much I lip read until masks came in. It's very frustrating.

Given that the omicron variant is spread by viral particles rather than water droplets it's said that ordinary cloth masks are largely ineffective anyway.

Then people should were surgical/N95 masks.

---------- Post added at 12:24 ---------- Previous post was at 12:23 ----------

Originally Posted by nffc

The thing is, what are exactly "covid symptoms", it does seem to change a fair amount, because they are nonspecific to begin with.


Right at the start of the pandemic it was a new cough and fever, they added loss of taste a bit later, they have been the main ones since, but there are also others, for example diarrhoea, runny nose, headache, tiredness, joint pains... Basically not a lot different from any other virus really.


With the omicron variant we also have a situation where the symptoms are very much easily confused with a cold though this could be simply that in vaccinated or previously infected people the virus is milder.


Really the only way to know if you have covid or a cold/flu virus now is to take a test. And of course, other coronaviruses can cause colds in humans.

It's almost as if it were a novel virus, and we were discovering new things as time progressed, then updating people with the new information...

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

We are prolly at or very near the stage where people don't bother with the test at first sight of symptoms, preferring to see if it goes away. With Omicron dominating, you don't know if it's an ordinary cold or Covid, and if it's Covid if your symptoms get worse, then you might do a test or report your illness to the doctor. You'd think about whether or not to go to Waitrose or wherever!

I've had two colds in the last 9 months and didn't take a test; who knows what the symptoms of Covid really are when you haven't lost your sense of taste.

We're at the end of the tight measures and need to get back to normal, Boris or not.

Let’s hope the virus agrees with you. Although having said that if the virus decides not to play ball you’ll more than likely call it ‘French’ refuse to be infected by it, and carry on as normal

[nffc]

Originally Posted by Hugh

It's almost as if it were a novel virus, and we were discovering new things as time progressed, then updating people with the new information...

Well, yes. And the symptoms have changed over time too.


Doesn't really change the point that other things can cause these symptoms too.

So people could equally have a runny nose and sore throat and think it's cold because they don't have a fever or cough when it's actually covid, or have a bad cough/fever which turns out to be a cold or flu and think it could be covid (such as people with that in the early days when they couldn't get a test).


With testing at the scale it's been it's clear a lot of people have positive tests but no/minor symptoms.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

Let’s hope the virus agrees with you. Although having said that if the virus decides not to play ball you’ll more than likely call it ‘French’ refuse to be infected by it, and carry on as normal

Please, MrM, stay at home, love the French and stay well.