General / Off-Topic The safest place

[Arry]

In the U.K. the taboo subject is the schools etc.. No one is allowed any information about the rates of spreading within schools. Yet a number of schools have a:- Had lots of kids and staff going sick and b:- a number of school heads, have asked permission to close; which has been refused. This has been going on for months now; yet it is a subject, not up for discussion, as far as ministers etc,. are concerned.

A specialist who was fired from SAGE, who stated he recommended a number of things, back in the spring. Test and trace, to be kept within the NHS, not put out to private companies. Earlier and longer lock-downs. All education to be closed down. He was fired, because of his vocal opposition, to the current policies.

 

[Barking_Mad]

If the hundreds / thousands of people contaminated with the new strain, have respected the barrier gestures (mask, physical distancing ...), this means that the new strain has found other ways to enter the host.

All of those things aren't 100% effective on their own, or together, so the 'gaps' the transmission are just more likely to be found out.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

In the U.K. the taboo subject is the schools etc.. No one is allowed any information about the rates of spreading within schools. Yet a number of schools have a:- Had lots of kids and staff going sick and b:- a number of school heads, have asked permission to close; which has been refused. This has been going on for months now; yet it is a subject, not up for discussion, as far as ministers etc,. are concerned.

A specialist who was fired from SAGE, who stated he recommended a number of things, back in the spring. Test and trace, to be kept within the NHS, not put out to private companies. Earlier and longer lock-downs. All education to be closed down. He was fired, because of his vocal opposition, to the current policies.

This happened in Florida.

 

[Patrick_68000]

All of those things aren't 100% effective on their own, or together, so the 'gaps' the transmission are just more likely to be found out.

In the coming weeks, no doubt.

 

[metatheurgist]

The UK has a variant of covid in the south that is more infective (70% more transmissible) and just as dangerous - I guess that's evolution.

That's another one those hoaxes. Good thing we taught the valid alternative to that load of whack-a-mole.

 

[Factabulous]

That's another one those hoaxes. Good thing we taught the valid alternative to that load of whack-a-mole.

Not sure what you mean by hoax:

Covid: WHO in 'close contact' with UK over new virus variant

The variant spreads more rapidly but there is no evidence it is more deadly or vaccine resistant.

www.bbc.co.uk

Though I agree that the whole 'let people get infected until the health services are nearly overwhelmed' tactic isn't the one I would have chosen.

 

[Patrick_68000]

Covid: WHO in 'close contact' with UK over new virus variant

The variant spreads more rapidly but there is no evidence it is more deadly or vaccine resistant.

www.bbc.co.uk

Though I agree that the whole 'let people get infected until the health services are nearly overwhelmed' tactic isn't the one I would have chosen.

As said in your link, the Netherlands plans to restrict the arrival of the British pending more information about this variant.

This reading made me think that last night on TV a doctor said that the Eurostar could be a big source of the spread of this variant.

 

[metatheurgist]

Not sure what you mean by hoax:

Covid: WHO in 'close contact' with UK over new virus variant

The variant spreads more rapidly but there is no evidence it is more deadly or vaccine resistant.

www.bbc.co.uk

Though I agree that the whole 'let people get infected until the health services are nearly overwhelmed' tactic isn't the one I would have chosen.

I didn't think I really needed the /s. (also bolded the relevant word).

 

[Factabulous]

I didn't think I really needed the /s. (also bolded the relevant word).

Just checking ... there are people with strange beliefs out here on the internet

 

[Banana's_Are_Good_For_You]

Just a l'il update from N.Ireland.
So, for a while we've been borderline coping with it but last month or so we've been at 100% occupancy, give or take a few percent and pretty much just holding it together.
At that time, they tried to open the hospitality sector and others which failed, thankfully.
We have restrictions but shops are open and cases are rising, school kids are spreading it from some.local sources but closed now and i can't confirm, from concerned parents. We get better news from the community than news sources as schools are rarely mentioned.
Meanwhile, the politiicans have devolved into a blame game citing public trust was broken over a funeral, while forgeting their members broke the rules as well. .
So, now we have 6 week lockdown coming with an 8pm curfew after christmas...we have an R rate of 1.
Should also say they blamed society as a whole, rather than those that have had no respect for those around them.
That does more damage to those who had been keeping it together.

 

[ianw]

Regarding the schools the gov does seem to be determined to keep them open as much as possible. Ours went to remote learning for the last week of term - we got the text Sunday night - was okay for us but no doubt some had problems organising childcare with no notice. They remained open for kids of key workers etc. As it stands our year is due back in on the 11th Jan - but that was pre the latest developments so who knows..

It wasn't a general thing locally, the email said it was based on PHE advice after a sharp rise in positive test results the previous week and that weekend. Some other parents we know locally from another school had both their kids off after testing positive - at the time of speaking the parents were negative. They said there were something like 30 teachers off as well.

On the test and trace front anecdotally there was anarticle involving one of the people making phone calls to close contacts, she said at times she'd been personally threatened, was told where to get off, told the person wasn't available etc. and a large number of calls just went to voicemail to be ignored. Whilst it may not be ideal I don't think putting it out to private companies causes those types of responses and realistically does the NHS have staff capacity to do test and trace anyway on the scale needed?

They're now talking about getting parent volunteers to help test students because the teachers already have enough to deal with.

Logistically this whole thing is ridiculously complex now - especially with the herculean task of actually rolling out the vaccine...

 

[Arry]

Regarding the schools the gov does seem to be determined to keep them open as much as possible. Ours went to remote learning for the last week of term - we got the text Sunday night - was okay for us but no doubt some had problems organising childcare with no notice. They remained open for kids of key workers etc. As it stands our year is due back in on the 11th Jan - but that was pre the latest developments so who knows..

It wasn't a general thing locally, the email said it was based on PHE advice after a sharp rise in positive test results the previous week and that weekend. Some other parents we know locally from another school had both their kids off after testing positive - at the time of speaking the parents were negative. They said there were something like 30 teachers off as well.

On the test and trace front anecdotally there was anarticle involving one of the people making phone calls to close contacts, she said at times she'd been personally threatened, was told where to get off, told the person wasn't available etc. and a large number of calls just went to voicemail to be ignored. Whilst it may not be ideal I don't think putting it out to private companies causes those types of responses and realistically does the NHS have staff capacity to do test and trace anyway on the scale needed?

They're now talking about getting parent volunteers to help test students because the teachers already have enough to deal with.

Logistically this whole thing is ridiculously complex now - especially with the herculean task of actually rolling out the vaccine...

I think it was more about responsibility, effectiveness and accountability, the ex-SAGE guy was talking about. Let the NHS run it and they will know 100% what is happening where and in real time. Then be able to respond accordingly. Handing out million pound 'contracts' to just who ever is in favour, from the old boys club, is just throwing money away, with little workable results. So now we have a 'world beating' screw up, that makes the U.K. look like the world's idiot brother.

 

[ianw]

I think it was more about responsibility, effectiveness and accountability, the ex-SAGE guy was talking about. Let the NHS run it and they will know 100% what is happening where and in real time. Then be able to respond accordingly. Handing out million pound 'contracts' to just who ever is in favour, from the old boys club, is just throwing money away, with little workable results. So now we have a 'world beating' screw up, that makes the U.K. look like the world's idiot brother.

Can't argue with that.

There certainly does seem to be some questions to answer about how some of those contracts were handed out.

 

[Arry]

Can't argue with that.

There certainly does seem to be some questions to answer about how some of those contracts were handed out.

I want the government job, where I am paid to remove all of this information from the web.

 

[Patrick_68000]

The information "on this new strain is very worrying", according to Professor Peter Openshaw, immunologist at Imperial College London, quoted by Science Media Center. Notably because "it seems 40% to 70% more transmissible".

"This is very bad news", adds Professor John Edmunds, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine: "It seems that this virus is much more infectious than the previous strain".

On his Facebook page, the French geneticist Axel Kahn recalled that to date, "Three hundred thousand mutants of CoV-2 have been sequenced in the world".

The new strain carries a mutation, named N501Y, in the protein of the coronavirus "spicule", the tip that is on its surface and allows it to attach to human cells to penetrate them.

"Coronaviruses mutate all the time and it is therefore not surprising that new variants of Sars-CoV-2 are emerging," recalls Professor Julian Hiscox of the University of Liverpool. "The most important thing is to find out if this variant has properties that have an impact on human health, diagnostics and vaccines."

"The more viruses there are produced, the more people infected, the more random mutations there are, and the greater the frequency of beneficial mutations for the virus", Professor Axel Kahn says.

 

[Arry]

Here is the frightening question for today:

Do viruses have the potential, of being able to create, a hive mind?

 

[Stealthie]

35,000 new cases of coronavirus in the UK, overall, in the last 24 hours.
900 new cases in Scotland.
Scotland subject to similar restrictions as England.

Nah, sorry.
Not playing any more.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

I think it was more about responsibility, effectiveness and accountability, the ex-SAGE guy was talking about. Let the NHS run it and they will know 100% what is happening where and in real time. Then be able to respond accordingly. Handing out million pound 'contracts' to just who ever is in favour, from the old boys club, is just throwing money away, with little workable results. So now we have a 'world beating' screw up, that makes the U.K. look like the world's idiot brother.

I'm sorry to say that we hold Number One in that category.

 

[ianw]

I want the government job, where I am paid to remove all of this information from the web.

Well providing you have no experience whatsoever I'll see what I can do!

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

35,000 new cases of coronavirus in the UK, overall, in the last 24 hours.
900 new cases in Scotland.
Scotland subject to similar restrictions as England.

Nah, sorry.
Not playing any more.

It's probably due to the presence of the new mutant strain?

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MINIibH2Iaw


According to Dr. Campbell's update today, it increases the R0 by 0.4.
No increase in deadliness reported, which is pretty good.