Coronavirus

[normal rules]

I now know 10 people with covid. More than ever for me. Aged between 23 and 75. All of which have runny nose, headache, tired, with one or two described as being a bit “wheezy”
I hope this is replicated across the whole populous that have covid currently. Because if so, we should be ok. Isolations aside of course.
Just trying to be positive.
All double jabbed, half boosted.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Quite a few I work with picked up recently. They had next to no symptoms, mostly just annoyed they couldn't go out.

Clearly this strain is less severe but much more passable.  It's quite striking that there are more scientists and politicians agreeing with the option to delay any restrictions even some labour politicians.

The point is what is the aim? Live and manage with it or totally suppress it?  Bst clearly favours surpression, he may be right.  I still don't think we know enough but easy for me to say that I don't have responsibility for it.

Lft's all round for us this Christmas, the best way.

[mushRTID]

The above 2 posts along with most the recent news on omicron are very reassuring.
Hopefully light at the end of the tunnel.

[River Don]

The priority remains the hospitals.

They must do enough to ensure the hospitals can cope.

This wave should pass more quickly. It's just unfortunate it's hit right on Christmas but then, that's to be expected, the coldest, darkest part of the year.

[BillyStubbsTears]

BFYP

I don't favour suppression. The economic cost against the health benefit no longer justifies that.


But it's clear that having as many people as possible boosted would enable us to ride this out and I've got to the stage where the ones who refuse vaccination can now take their chances. As long as the illnesses they get don't so stress the NHS that they can't deal with normal serious cases, the unvaccinated can take what's coming.

My argument is that stronger action over these two weeks leading up to Xmas could have kept the virus under control while the boosters took effect. Instead, we are likely to have problems for the NHS, with consequent stronger action coming straight after Xmas, but with a much bigger problem to deal with.

It's not a binary "Total suppression or let it rip" thing, much as some politicians would like you to think it is.

[Axholme Lion]

He might not have too ,we will all be isolating soon if it spreads any faster ,8 out of 30 staff off at the minute at work due to it

You'd think people would get this after 2 years of making the same mistake over and over again.

Delaying lockdown while an epidemic gets out of control doesn't minimise the damage. It maximises it. Either in wrecking the economy when 20 million if us all have the virus at the same time. Or in making the lockdown have to go on for longer when you finally do act. 

Kirk. Lockdown is coming. It's just not coming before Xmas. And it will be longer and harder because it's been delayed. If we had locked down 2 weeks ago and kept the spread under control, giving the brilliant booster programme time to increase defences, we could have controlled this. Instead, as ever, we've crossed our fingers and hoped it would all be fine. And it's not.

I get it now... the booster stops you from getting it. No, just stops you from getting seriously ill. Which is now what they are saying about omicron anyway.

What happens when Pi comes along start all over again?

Your predictions of only a couple of weeks ago are not materialising as you thought?

If lockdown does come let’s hope we take to the streets and show we don’t approve.

This is the last time people will wear it. I will not be having a fourth jab if the strains of covid are weakening, there comes a point where we have to treat it like flu and carry on living our ever shortening lives. The NHS are ALWAYS in crisis and we shouldn't run society around their capacity/staffing levels. Every other business in the country just has to get on with it and play the cards they are dealt.

[idler]

The difference with the NHS though is that their business is a matter of customers’ health and mortality. Not doing without a commodity for a while.
They should get rid of some of the bureaucrats, cut down on waste and spend the savings on more nurses.

[Axholme Lion]

The difference with the NHS though is that their business is a matter of customers’ health and mortality. Not doing without a commodity for a while.
They should get rid of some of the bureaucrats, cut down on waste and spend the savings on more nurses.

Agreed. It is a badly run organisation. It's no good just throwing money at it when the senior management are not willing to change and are happy to use it to fund more of the same. Any other business run like this would have bitten the dust years ago. Get rid of your diversity managers, brainwashers and box tickers and employ some more nursing staff and matrons to crack the whip.

[kirk]

ICU Dr admits some cases in London tested positive after they were admitted.

All most want is the truth and finally  people are speaking out without fear of persecution.

[kirk]

So the figures are stable for the forth day in a row, I was under the impression it doubled every two days?

"Wait two weeks"

No need to be that patient. Give it 24 hours and then see.

24 hrs have passed ?

Still not the figures you were suggesting

[BVB]

If that’s the case then I would hope everyone would be pleased.
You can argue over the reasons why later.

 

[BillyStubbsTears]

Happy to explain it to you Kirk, but not this side of Xmas. Take home is, this IS spreading frighteningly fast but you have to know how to read the numbers. The headline ones won't tell you yet.

[scawsby steve]

Happy to explain it to you Kirk, but not this side of Xmas. Take home is, this IS spreading frighteningly fast but you have to know how to read the numbers. The headline ones won't tell you yet.

BST, do you ever give your kids your version of the future they face? one without any form of entertainment or interaction with others?

[BillyStubbsTears]

SS.
No that would be very silly because that's not the future they face. Merry Xmas.

[Bentley Bullet]

Happy to explain it to you Kirk, but not this side of Xmas. Take home is, this IS spreading frighteningly fast but you have to know how to read the numbers. The headline ones won't tell you yet.

BST, do you ever give your kids your version of the future they face? one without any form of entertainment or interaction with others?

Don't be silly SS, there's always social media for kids to spend their lives on. Entertainment through interaction in the safety of their own bedroom.

[tommy toes]

My wife's best friend lives with her son. He's Ill with the virus.
She's off to the pub tonight, saying she's fully vaccinated so is Ok.
Mrs T tried to dissuade her, to no avail.

[bpoolrover]

No announcement to be made today so can't see lockdown before new year

[BillyStubbsTears]

It was reported last week that the key number was London COVID hospital admissions. They reckoned if that went above 400 per day it was the Canary in the coalmine that would indicate that the NHS was in serious trouble as Omicron spread through the country.

Word from No 10 insiders was that if that number was breached, we would rapidly need to harden the response.

We'll see in 5 mins.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Right on the edge. 390 admitted on 23rd. 364 on 25th.

[kirk]

Right on the edge. 390 admitted on 23rd. 364 on 25th.

And how many were admitted for other things.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Right on the edge. 390 admitted on 23rd. 364 on 25th.

And how many were admitted for other things.

That was taken into account by the people analysing the data. They are clever people you know. Doing their best.

[BillyStubbsTears]

On which point I did say I'd explain why the total COVID cases aren't doubling every two days. There was a far more suitable person than me explained this on R4 this morning and I'd recommend anyone who's interested to listen to it. From 08:35 this morning on the Today programme, they had the Scottish National Clinical Director. He explained that Omicron IS doubling every two-three days or so, but the TOTAL cases are not only Omicron. There's still a lot of Delta cases, which aren't increasing. So to assess the effect of Omicron, you don't look at the change in the total number of cases. You look at how the increase has gone on top of the baseline of 50k or so a day Delta cases.

His team are doing that every day. And they have identified that the doubling rate of Omicron is about 2.6-3.4 days.

[bpoolrover]

It was reported last week that the key number was London COVID hospital admissions. They reckoned if that went above 400 per day it was the Canary in the coalmine that would indicate that the NHS was in serious trouble as Omicron spread through the country.

Word from No 10 insiders was that if that number was breached, we would rapidly need to harden the response.

We'll see in 5 mins.

surley it would also depend on how serious and how long they were in hospital and how many had been released to rather than just how many admitted in 1 day

[drfchound]

Right on the edge. 390 admitted on 23rd. 364 on 25th.

And how many were admitted for other things.

That was taken into account by the people analysing the data. They are clever people you know. Doing their best.

We know, but you haven’t always agreed with them, irrespective of how clever they are, only when it suits.

[Nudga]

Jennie Harris is another lying bitch. She's also clever.

[River Don]

We need to remember that these clever people don't have 20/20 foresight and they will have to give a range of scenarios of what might be happening.

It's always the worst case that gets the attention.

[bpoolrover]

It was reported last week that the key number was London COVID hospital admissions. They reckoned if that went above 400 per day it was the Canary in the coalmine that would indicate that the NHS was in serious trouble as Omicron spread through the country.

Word from No 10 insiders was that if that number was breached, we would rapidly need to harden the response.

We'll see in 5 mins.

is it people on ventilators not people admitted as the 400 marker?

[BillyStubbsTears]

No it was 400 admissions. I haven't seen anything official on that though. It was a "I've been told by insiders" news report.

[bpoolrover]

No it was 400 admissions. I haven't seen anything official on that though. It was a "I've been told by insiders" news report.

I didn't no either it just said on bbc I think was this morning that the 400 figure is for ventilators and at min there at 292

[selby]

400 seems to be a funny number a hospital down Syds way has told 400 they tested negative  when they were positive. I suppose 50/50 whether the test outcome is correct isn't a bad guess.
  Is St Vincent's your local hospital Syd?