While I generally agree with that sentiment (which is why I used the word seems rather than a more absolute rhetoric), there have been enough observations and reports that it does seem rather credible.
I think there's probably quite a few of us thinking back to just before all of this kicked off and remembering having what we thought was a chest or throat infection which may have a been a mild case of the virus (which would now be a blessing).
This video is a really good watch. Found the graph at the end oddly mesmerising.
Yeah my employer was offering antibody tests a couple of weeks ago so I was curious to find out but in the end decided to stay home thinking its not worth taking the public transit and risking the virus to get a test for the virus.
I really can't see how HMRC can just change the rules for the self-employed. There will be a huge uproar given that they have stated that self-employed people can make a claim and continue to trade.
Hope she pulls through.
I don't know too much about Spain's spread. A third of the Valencia team did catch it on that trip despite being totally isolated from the general public the whole time.
Been that way from day one. Which is why comparing the number of cases between countries is completely pointless.
It’s natural to think that but that would ignore the fact that people catch a load of different viruses in December/January ever year and they haven’t gone away. With barely a handful of confirmed cases of covid in Europe at that time the odds are tens of thousands to one against any individual picking it up.
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And the vast majority of people tested during what is considered a peak have been negative even though those people were for a large part filtered and needed more than one matching symptom to be tested.
That's hardly news is it? As Germany are opening up society, their disease control and prevention unit were much more explicit about it yesterday:
Exactly. Thinking about it, millions to one would probably be more accurate odds. Won’t stop people thinking/hoping they’ve got the winning covid lottery ticket though. That’s human nature.
This is a bit misleading. The aim of lockdowns and reopenings is not to stop transmission totally, it is to keep it under the limits of healthcare capacity. That applies anywhere in the world and everybody accepts there will be a second wave.
The same thing is said in France, the country is partially reopening May 11th and the PM warned that the risk of a second wave was serious.
This just isn't going to happen. HMRC do not have the resources to investigate the volume of businesses who are making claims. There is nearly a quarter of the population on furlough.
That is not what they have said. If your income has been affected by the coronavirus then you can make a claim for loss of earnings, it's not in addition to what you can earn. And this is the problem lots of people are seeing this as free money, in a lump sum potentially of £7,500. As I said the scheme was poorly designed.
Self employed cannot furlough themselves and continue to trade . Ive furloughed and categorically i must not do anything other than the legal minimum from a paperwork point of view . I cannot prospect for work , undertake any work or invoice for any work .
That's great. I was actually planning to visit Vilnius last August. It was between Vilnius and Riga but decided for Riga in the end because of flight times/prices (don't remember) but it's still on the list. It's been recommended to me by few people.
I somewhat agree. Scientifically speaking I know very little about the whole thing, but in my opinion a lockdown just for the sake of locking down is pointless. It's only effective when coupled with an aggressive testing, tracking and isolating regime, in other words the enemy needs to be made visible. As a matter of fact I don't necessarily feel you need a lockdown if you go gung-ho on those three aspects (as shown by Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea), but this is hard.
None of the sole traders and guys in the trades i work with have had a lump sum of 7500 @ Josep Dowling . Most of us are out of pocket big time , though all that i speak to are very accepting the system cannot protect everyone
In this instance, they will be saying publicly that it’s not so bad and the rise in cases will mostly be due to improved testing. As some states are reopening before they’ve peaked, this is a dangerous mindset to encourage.
Self employed people cannot make a claim yet - I can make claims for family members on 13th and 14th May.
Oh man. That diary. Reflects what I’m hearing from friends working in ITU in the uk but still manages to shock
Honestly you should of stopped here.
Harsh but fair.
Definitely, that's a bigger rate limiting step than the swabs which will have to be overcome if this antibody test comes through. From the phleb clinics I've seen in most GP practices and in hospital outpatients or cancer units they can do blood sampling remarkable quickly and see a lot of patients but its trickier I think with PPE etc.
I think Australia and NZ have a slight hope they can eliminate it and then only travel between each other until a vaccine is available.
Yes he should. Feelings don't top science.
Anything lead by Boris is going to be a shambles.
I don't think the lockdown was for the sake of it, it has reduced community spread and saved a lot of lives. I'd love to have it coupled with aggressive testing, tracking and quarantining as you mentioned but that takes time and competence to set up. And a lockdown is better than half-arsed delay measures which government was insisting on during delay phase which did absolutely nothing really.
I can sort of get why people are making generalisations but sometimes it's best to say we know feck all and leave it at that.
Its not open yet thats why. The portal for self employed to claim opens next week
Fair enough which is why I said so, but you don't think my opinions hold any merit at all? The fact of the matter is, there are countries where a lockdown hadn't been imposed and are doing well due to a solid testing, tracing and isolating regime, although admittedly this is easier said than done.
Good points, thank you. I was actually thinking more of the situation in many developing countries, where governments are often a bit too zealous in wanting to impose a lockdown just for the sake of it without providing its citizens, many of them are living in poverty, basic needs and necessities.
There's also this publication/advice to government about potential downsides of testing including "gaming" the system and unintended behaviour consequences especially in the event of re-infection for those who may be falsely told reassured that they are antibody positive
