[COVID-19] General Discussion

[Bada-Bing!]

More peeps I know from work and their relatives catching it. This is learning to live with it it seems.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

More peeps I know from work and their relatives catching it. This is learning to live with it it seems.

yeah, pretty rampant in Aus at the moment, people getting it everywhere but doing their 7 days iso and then moving on, no new restrictions, chief health officer came out last week and just said they havent seen a significant increase in hospalisations or deaths and those were the only metrics for reintroducing restrictions

I just need to stay free for another week as we're finally getting back to NZ next week

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Ros Atkins on… the UK’s rising Covid infections

As Covid infections continue to rise again, Ros Atkins assesses the government’s current plans.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Gavin]

Well after 2 years I now have Covid.

Was to be expected really. Went on a stag in Dublin over the weekend.

Had a scratchy throat and put it down to singing in the pubs, as I had negative lateral flow tests on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning... But did a test on Wednesday afternoon after a big sneeze and now positive

 

[Bada-Bing!]

So sat next to my work colleague who i am on good terms with. Then overhear her that she hasn't had her booster yet. I ask her why. She says because I have been double jabbed.

I said to her you do realise that has now waned next to zero now (10% supposedly after two Pfizer jabs). "Oh no I didn't realise." I told her to get boosted. She's got the next 3 weeks off after tomorrow so has no excuse.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Well after 2 years I now have Covid.

Was to be expected really. Went on a stag in Dublin over the weekend.

Had a scratchy throat and put it down to singing in the pubs, as I had negative lateral flow tests on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning... But did a test on Wednesday afternoon after a big sneeze and now positive

I'm on day 5 of testing positive - 2nd day was the worst, fever and ridiculously exhausted, other than that it's been like a mixture of hayfever and a cold, I'd have never guessed it was COVID without the tests

 

[Which Tyler]

Why is the UK seeing near-record Covid cases? We still believe the three big myths about Omicron | Christina Pagel

People are desperate to return to life as normal, but the rising number of infections is a reminder that this pandemic isn’t over, says Christina Pagel, the director of UCL’s Clinical Operational Research Unit

www.theguardian.com

.... The pandemic has changed, but the idea that it is over is false. Omicron represents a major variant, taking over in the UK in a similar way to Delta last summer and Alpha last winter. The ubiquitous narrative that the pandemic is over exists because most people (including the government) now believe at least one of the three big myths of the Omicron age. We need to move past these myths to firstly anticipate the future, and secondly do something to prepare for it.

The first myth is that coronavirus is now endemic, and just another disease we have to live with. We do, unfortunately, have to live with Covid. But the word "endemic" is commonly used in epidemiology to describe a disease that does not spread out of control in the absence of public health measures – in some sense, it means a predictable disease. ...

.... Next, we have to debunk the myth that coronavirus is evolving to be milder, and each new variant will be milder than the last until it becomes a common cold. New variants of Covid have arisen rapidly over past two years. Each variant of concern has spawned several offshoots – like our current BA.2 wave – but most gamechanging new waves we've seen have come from variants that have evolved completely independently from each other. Omicron did not evolve from Delta and Delta did not evolve from Alpha, Beta or Gamma. Rather, they came from different earlier strains. There has been no progression through successive variants, and no building towards "mildness"....

.... Finally, there is the pernicious myth that we've somehow "finished" our vaccination programme, and there is no point in waiting to return to normal. ...

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Why is the UK seeing near-record Covid cases? We still believe the three big myths about Omicron | Christina Pagel

People are desperate to return to life as normal, but the rising number of infections is a reminder that this pandemic isn’t over, says Christina Pagel, the director of UCL’s Clinical Operational Research Unit

www.theguardian.com

.... The pandemic has changed, but the idea that it is over is false. Omicron represents a major variant, taking over in the UK in a similar way to Delta last summer and Alpha last winter. The ubiquitous narrative that the pandemic is over exists because most people (including the government) now believe at least one of the three big myths of the Omicron age. We need to move past these myths to firstly anticipate the future, and secondly do something to prepare for it.

The first myth is that coronavirus is now endemic, and just another disease we have to live with. We do, unfortunately, have to live with Covid. But the word "endemic" is commonly used in epidemiology to describe a disease that does not spread out of control in the absence of public health measures – in some sense, it means a predictable disease. ...

.... Next, we have to debunk the myth that coronavirus is evolving to be milder, and each new variant will be milder than the last until it becomes a common cold. New variants of Covid have arisen rapidly over past two years. Each variant of concern has spawned several offshoots – like our current BA.2 wave – but most gamechanging new waves we've seen have come from variants that have evolved completely independently from each other. Omicron did not evolve from Delta and Delta did not evolve from Alpha, Beta or Gamma. Rather, they came from different earlier strains. There has been no progression through successive variants, and no building towards "mildness"....

.... Finally, there is the pernicious myth that we've somehow "finished" our vaccination programme, and there is no point in waiting to return to normal. ...

I agree with all that except being concerned about new variants. Obviously a new bad variant cannot be ruled out but I'm fairly optimistic on that front and don't see much point in changing public health approaches in the face of hypothetical future variants (particularly as we can have confidence we will pick up on new variants quite quickly).

Face coverings have been extended up here in shops and public transport until at least the 18th of April, which is sensible. Cases and hospitalisations do seem to have peaked and observing the Southern hemisphere I think the pressure on hospitals will fall substantially once we are out of colder weather (snow again here today). That is the point at which I hope to have more sympathy with the blind optimism brigade. I've been a big optimist since Omicron but always on condition of us managing to negotiate our way out of winter. I'm still confident it will be sensible for an elderly relative to travel and socialise by late April.

Unfortunartely the slapdash and irreversible reduction in restrictions in the face of rising deaths in Scotland (wilfully ignoring the data) has made me less optimistic for future years. If a not particularly right wing government that isn't pro private healthcare does this then the rest of the UK will be equally screwed.

I think the main thing public health policy will make us 'learn to live with' is the largely self generated issue of overwhelmed hospitals and excess deaths in winter due to a lack of backbone around face coverings. Plus massive sickness absence rates across all sectors causing ongoing economic issues around productivity. Maybe if they time the winter boosters right for the most vulnerable or a new vaccine comes across health staff (and patients) won't have another horrific winter next time around, but I wouldn't be betting on that at this stage.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Covid: Sacked test centre staff 'thrown to wolves'

Staff at Covid test centres say were given very little notice that their jobs would disappear.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Failure to consider long Covid impact will hit UK economy, says expert

Dr Nathalie MacDermott says policymakers are not accounting for condition that will be ‘our downfall’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Neggy test. New York imma have ya

 

[Reiser99]

Failure to consider long Covid impact will hit UK economy, says expert

Dr Nathalie MacDermott says policymakers are not accounting for condition that will be ‘our downfall’

www.theguardian.com

I wonder if I have long covid. Every week since I've had it I've had at least one day where I consistently cough.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

 

[saulan]

Joining the positive for the first time after two years crew. Had a scratch in the throat in the evening and got a negative result. Next few days not so lucky. Mainly just had a very cloudy head and congestion which evolved into a cough, so not the worst.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Neggy test. New York imma have ya

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Covid: Record 4.9 million people have the virus in UK

The latest data from the ONS suggests some 4.9 million people in the UK are infected with the virus.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Covid vaccines now available for five to 11-year olds in England

The expansion comes as officials estimate nearly five million people in the UK now have the virus.

www.bbc.co.uk

'I've had long Covid for two years now'

Why are so many people still living with long Covid after two years and are there any hopes for treatment?

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Indeed NHS England figures show that on 22 March, 5,409 patients were primarily being treated for Covid in hospitals in England, up from 4,475 the week before and 3,661 a fortnight previously. That is a rise of almost 50% in two weeks.

Should rising Covid infections in England, Scotland and Wales cause concern?

Analysis: link between infections, hospitalisations and deaths has weakened but it has not been severed

www.theguardian.com

 

[Gavin]

It will be interesting to see how the UK progresses with the increasing rates of infection and the removal of the need to isolate.

I must admit Covid has hit me hard. I haven't had any fever or loss or smell or taste, but it's definitely been worse than any cold or flu I've had previously.

How companies deal with people who have covid will be very important

 

[Bada-Bing!]

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-022-00373-7.pdf