Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[D.A.F.C]

1 minute ago, Elixir said:

Shutting the borders really helped protect against the strain that arose in err... Kent. Maybe it was those pesky people arriving on dinghies who brought it here. We should sink them in the Channel, just to be safe.

They didn't shut the borders though.

That was one variant, yes it can happen but then we had Brazil and South African. Yes let's let everyone in and out until it mutates beyond control of our vaccine meaning that all the hard work is out the window.

As long as I can sink a few pints beside a swimming pool f**k everyone else.

Lalala what do the scientists know

[Michael W]

1 minute ago, Dons_1988 said:

Good luck developing a vaccine guaranteed to work against all future undiscovered strains.

 

Exactly. This is an impossible bar to clear. 

We can take action against new strains where necessary by developing the vaccines we now have with boosters etc. That's as good as we can manage and I'm confident with even what we have at the moment that this is achievable. Might mean focused travel bans etc whilst we work it all out, but no need for blanket bans at that stage. 

In the meantime, the important thing is we keep sequencing. The current vaccines have been shown to reduce infection and so hopefully will also reduce chances of 'mutations of concern' by reducing the overall amount of infections. 

[madwullie]

24 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Meanwhile hospitalisation rates are dropping like a stone in the UK due to vaccination despite having one of these variants being prevalent, and South Africa is easing restrictions after cases dropped rapidly there despite having one of the new variants prevalent and having very little vaccination completed:

Viruses mutate. That's pretty much a given. There is nothing so far that suggests the trajectory we are on will be derailed by that. Bear in mind that the UK, South Africa and Brazil have been used frequently in vaccine trials, so the vaccines currently in use are already known to be effective against these variants where severe symptoms are concerned. The drops in efficacy that have been reported have related primarily to mild or asymptomatic cases.

Yeah that's what I said in my post. 

[D.A.F.C]

Sorry for going off on one, just can't face another lockdown caused by stupidity.

[Gaz]

25 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

A year ago today the first confirmed case of Covid 19 was diagnosed in Scotland.

This means it's 18 months today since yer auntie on Facebook had a bad flu-like illness that the doctors just couldn't diagnose.

[ICTChris]

 

[accies1874]

This means it's 18 months today since yer auntie on Facebook had a bad flu-like illness that the doctors just couldn't diagnose.

"Was anyone else really ill last winter? [emoji848]" posts were, without exception, 0/10 content.

[Detournement]

27 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

You don't have that multiplier effect without the mixing on Christmas Day though.

What was the multiplier between the two weeks?

Supermarkets were heaving and barbers were staying open late to fit everyone in. I'd say that would be at least as big an issue as family gatherings.

[Marshmallo]

Just now, Detournement said:

What was the multiplier between the two weeks?

Supermarkets were heaving and barbers were staying open late to fit everyone in. I'd say that would be at least as big an issue as family gatherings.

Barbers with masks/PPE as much of an issue as multi generational households of people from all over the country mixing indoors for a full day?

You've had a few this morning?

[madwullie]

Anyone know if other countries are upping their sequencing programs, and are we still essentially the world leaders? Do we sequence samples from elsewhere or just UK tests? 

[madwullie]

7 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

 

She is an absolute fucking nutcase. Among the (if not THE) most unhinged of all the grifters and limelight whores that have surfaced in the past 12 months. And so many moonhowling simpletons lap up every single word

[madwullie]

34 minutes ago, Elixir said:

What's this nonsense?

 

[DeeTillEhDeh]

This variant thing will be never ending until they either close borders or have a vaccine that works against all future strains.
Closing borders makes sense but yet again the uk is penny wise pound foolish. 
Personally I think holidays are a no go outside the UK this year unless something changes. Seems like a variant can develop anywhere which could change things at short notice.
A lockdown because someone wants to get pissed in the sun. f**k right off
 

Congratulations on making your most stupid post yet - and that takes some doing.

Closing borders is almost impossible because you still need people to move goods in and out of country - the only reason Australia and New Zealand have done is because they don't have access to the vaccine in large numbers.

As for the supervaccine? [emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]

[madwullie]

1 minute ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

 

 

Congratulations on making your most stupid post yet - and that takes some doing.

Closing borders is almost impossible because you still need people to move goods in and out of country - the only reason Australia and New Zealand have done is because they don't have access to the vaccine.

As for the supervaccine?

 

Is this true? I thought NZ already had the Pfizer vaccine 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/12/new-zealand-covid-vaccines-to-arrive-one-month-early-border-staff-to-be-inoculated-next-week

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/16/australias-covid-vaccine-rollout-how-will-it-happen-and-when-can-you-get-it

And the border closing stuff was more to do with their zero covid policies? 

 

[Gaz]

48 minutes ago, D.A.F.C said:

This variant thing will be never ending until they either close borders or have a vaccine that works against all future strains.

Closing borders makes sense but yet again the uk is penny wise pound foolish. 

Personally I think holidays are a no go outside the UK this year unless something changes. Seems like a variant can develop anywhere which could change things at short notice.

A lockdown because someone wants to get pissed in the sun. f**k right off

The UK doesn't even produce enough food. About half our food comes from other countries.

I asked the question a few pages back about which countries are entirely self-sufficient. Russia was the only one IIRC.

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Is this true? I thought NZ already had the Pfizer vaccine 
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/12/new-zealand-covid-vaccines-to-arrive-one-month-early-border-staff-to-be-inoculated-next-week
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/16/australias-covid-vaccine-rollout-how-will-it-happen-and-when-can-you-get-it
And the border closing stuff was more to do with their zero covid policies? 
 

I meant when they first closed borders and the continuation of that while they roll out their vaccine programme.

New Zealand only just received their first batch of Pfizer so are behind the curve compared to other countries fur vaccinations.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/12/new-zealand-covid-vaccines-to-arrive-one-month-early-border-staff-to-be-inoculated-next-week

As of Friday, Australia had only administered 23,000 vaccines.

https://amp.abc.net.au/article/13193794

Even they will lift borders eventually when they realise that zero-Covid is no more than the leprechaun's pot of gold - completely unobtainable.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

52 minutes ago, D.A.F.C said:

This variant thing will be never ending until they either close borders or have a vaccine that works against all future strains.

Closing borders makes sense but yet again the uk is penny wise pound foolish. 

Personally I think holidays are a no go outside the UK this year unless something changes. Seems like a variant can develop anywhere which could change things at short notice.

A lockdown because someone wants to get pissed in the sun. f**k right off

 

Virus will mutate borders open or not. Closing borders won’t work, there would be nothing that allows for a short to medium terms return to normality in anything you propose. 
If a more infectious vaccine resistant strain emerges in the UK and is linked back to an event permitted by the relaxation of lockdown then your ‘pissed in the sun’ argument looks kinda daft. All variants are currently dealt with by the vaccines to prevent severe disease/hospitalisation in a vast majority of cases. This is very positive. No one ive seen or heard is proposing any ‘holidays in the sun’ until everyone is vaccinated, thats reasonable. But beyond that, are we all just to stay home because you’re a wee bit scared? Really? 

[super_carson]

7 minutes ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

Even they will lift borders eventually when they realise that zero-Covid is no more than the leprechaun's pot of gold - completely unobtainable.

 

To be fair to NZ, they are held up as the shinning example of "zero-covid" but Ardern did say the plan is to keep the border closed until they have vaccinated their population.  After that, the intention is to manage it like they do with flu and monitor for any large-scale outbreaks.  

There seems to be some revisionism from those advocating zero-covid recently; "Oh, we say zero-covid but it's not actually zero".  Almost as if there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of support for the policy so they are adapting their stance to save face.  

[Left Back]

Seeing as there's a reasonable chance holidays abroad could be a pain this summer that's us started sorting out things to do in the UK.  Already had tickets to an open air gig booked for July and we've now bought some T20 tickets for the end of June.

If things settle down we might look to go abroad in the Autumn.

[The Moonster]

2 minutes ago, super_carson said:

To be fair to NZ, they are held up as the shinning example of "zero-covid" but Ardern did say the plan is to keep the border closed until they have vaccinated their population.  After that, the intention is to manage it like they do with flu and monitor for any large-scale outbreaks.  

There seems to be some revisionism from those advocating zero-covid recently; "Oh, we say zero-covid but it's not actually zero".  Almost as if there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of support for the policy so they are adapting their stance to save face.  

To be fair though, zero covid was a poorly named strategy because it never actually was about achieving zero. People take it literally (rightly IMO) and it creates this divide that isn't actually there. The messaging and phrasing from many experts and politicians throughout this has caused about half the problems IMO.