SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

[hobbers]

I also heard that Government would consider not allowing students home for 4 weeks of Xmas holiday if Covid-19 numbers are out of control.

It’s insane. Especially as they could all have stayed home at their parents and received exactly the same level of digital learning.

first time living alone, no mates and feeling homesick and geographically displaced .... and Then getting forced into self isolation in tiny student bedrooms. It is going to cause a whole new set of health and societal issues for a group of people who already Endured a crazy time because of Covid.

Yeah I would be absolutely livid if in that position. And now their social lives are all at the mercy of the flat allocation lottery. Being stuck in your room for all your lectures will be bad enough, but imagine getting stuck in a flat full of arse holes. And then a full lock down in the run up to Christmas to top that all off. Nightmare.

And I've seen quite a few unis now are playing the "we encouraged them to come for the sake of their mental health" bullshit. They'd all have been much better off spending the first semester at home for the sake of their mental health and their education. The drop out rates for this years intake are gonna be huge.

 

[finneh]

Absolutely not. Positive cases do give us vital information so the primary goal of testing is to miss as few as possible. The higher the positivity % the more cases are being missed. And missed cases are petrol on the fire.

I think we're agreeing, albeit in a roundabout way?

My point was if we tested 300,000 and were able to do it in such a targeted manner that the % was much higher, not because of a greater prevalence of the virus, but because we were capturing more of the positive cases, it would tell us more.

So for example if there are currently 15,000 daily cases in the UK but only 6000 are being captured (out of 300000 tests) then actually a 5% positivity would tell us every positive case and would help us far more than a 2% positivity.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I think we're agreeing, albeit in a roundabout way?

My point was if we tested 300,000 and were able to do it in such a targeted manner that the % was much higher, not because of a greater prevalence of the virus, but because we were capturing more of the positive cases, it would tell us more.

So for example if there are currently 15,000 daily cases in the UK but only 6000 are being captured (out of 300000 tests) then actually a 5% positivity would tell us every positive case and would help us far more than a 2% positivity.

Well we both agree we want to pick up as many cases as possible. Where we disagree is that I think it’s important to do this with a very low positivity rate, because that means we’re missing much fewer cases than we would be with a higher positivity rate. Don’t want to be a dick but I l know I’m right here. This is a black and white issue. Virologists are in 100% agreement.

 

[finneh]

Well we both agree we want to pick up as many cases as possible. Where we disagree is that I think it’s important to do this with a very low positivity rate, because that means we’re missing much fewer cases than we would be with a higher positivity rate. Don’t want to be a dick but I l know I’m right here. This is a black and white issue. Virologists are in 100% agreement.

Again I think we agree. My point was theoretical.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Again I think we agree. My point was theoretical.

Fair enough.

 

[CassiusClaymore]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

FML. Can these idiots do anything right? What's the point of it then?

 

[F-Red]

But it’s always easier to blame students, I’ve not read about the house parties. But this would’ve regardless of that because students can still go out in groups to bars and pubs and catch it from there too.

You’ve not heard about house parties? For someone for such a strong view on universitities, you must have been living under a rock. There’s some coverage below at a variety of universities.

Bars and pubs wouldn’t have caused it, considering the measures they need to have to retain their licenses. The cases for Manchester were linked to house parties.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/covid-wah-snapchat-videos-show-18995171

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-54233381

Over 170 cases in Glasgow linked to house parties - https://www.heraldscotland.com/news...y-glasgow-student-discusses-lockdown-parties/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...ingham-police-lenton-coronavirus-b431569.html

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/campus-ban-issued-loughborough-university-4524987

 

[Stactix]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

FML. Can these idiots do anything right? What's the point of it then?

You can't fecking make it up

 

[Habs]

You’ve not heard about house parties? For someone for such a strong view on universitities, you must have been living under a rock. There’s some coverage below at a variety of universities.

Bars and pubs wouldn’t have caused it, considering the measures they need to have to retain their licenses. The cases for Manchester were linked to house parties.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/covid-wah-snapchat-videos-show-18995171

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-54233381

Over 170 cases in Glasgow linked to house parties - https://www.heraldscotland.com/news...y-glasgow-student-discusses-lockdown-parties/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...ingham-police-lenton-coronavirus-b431569.html

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/campus-ban-issued-loughborough-university-4524987

None of the above links have a clear link to the 1700 lockdown in Manchester unless I’m missing something? They’re completely different halls.

I’ve no idea what measures you’re talking about at Bars and pubs, most have been have been rammed without proper social distancing measures. Yet you seem to think it’s not possible for people to catch it there?

I see you avoided the rest of the post though. Like I said, easier to blame students for this mess, rather than the people who should’ve put measures in place to avoid this.

Maybe everyone should’ve followed your solution and put they’re life on hold for a year and sat at home not studying or working

 

[F-Red]

None of the above links have a clear link to the 1700 lockdown in Manchester unless I’m missing something? They’re completely different halls.

First link has lead to the lockdowns, students from different halls have mixed and they have wider outbreaks now. Really struggling to see how anyone can pass off the actions as someone else's issue, it's clear that the students haven't been responsible here. Or do they have to follow a different set of rules to the rest of the public, because of the risk damaging their university experience?

I’ve no idea what measures you’re talking about at Bars and pubs, most have been have been rammed without proper social distancing measures. Yet you seem to think it’s not possible for people to catch it there?

I would hazard a guess that there is probably more covid cases from student house parties than there has been in pubs. It's not impossible to catch it from pubs, that's not my point. There is, however, much more stringent regulation for those establishments to open up and follow compared to house parties. More so, in the last week.

I see you avoided the rest of the post though. Like I said, easier to blame students for this mess, rather than the people who should’ve put measures in place to avoid this.

Maybe everyone should’ve followed your solution and put they’re life on hold for a year and sat at home not studying or working

I don't think they should have gone back to be honest. Like I said in my previous post, I personally would have taken a year out till covid calmed down before going forward on education. You talk about measures should have been put in place? Aside from security dispersing parties, what other approaches do you think should have been in place to ensure that interaction levels between student 'households' would be kept to a minimum?

I think everyone's life has been on hold for a year. Some have bigger issues, like losing jobs or family members in this pandemic. Universities will still be there next year.

 

[noodlehair]

What do you suggest they should have been doing exactly? I'm in that category, and while I have clearly seen there was an iceberg on the horizon, I'm not part of the crew. There's absolutely nothing people in my position (most of us, really) can do but hope for the best.

Were you helping deliver food or medicine to vulnerable people? Helping them keep in contact with the outside world? checking on and making time for work colleagues for who working at home on their own could be causing severe anxiety and depression? Helping out and checking on neighbours? Not going round telling everyone who was suffering or may have lost their livellyhood, loved ones etc. how great your life is now because you can work from home and how much you want it stay as it is, like so many fecking idiots have been?

Revelling or taking advantage in other people's misery isn't a particularly attractive human trait but unfortunately over the past 5-6 months there's been an awfull lot of it, albeit a lot of it is unknowing/accidental. Although I think I'm being kind there as the idea anyone can't see that what is going on is ruining people's lives is laughable.

You might not be part of the crew but when the ship is sinking you can choose to help people survive or you can choose to leave them stranded. What you choose to do or not do has an effect on other people a lot more at the moment than in normal times.

 

[Dancfc]

Seeing new daily cases topping what was estimated in mid April is pretty sobering, deaths going up now gradually, all ominious.

Will still get the Vallance-Whitty show in early January saying only 8.1% of the population have encounter the disease though.

I'm no scientist but I'm really struggling with the notion that only 8.1% of the country have had it.

If it's as contagious as we're being told it is I just can't forsee how, especially given there's been complete normality (January-early March) or relative normality (Mid June onwards) which has given this thing a chance to do it's thing so to speak.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm no scientist but I'm really struggling with the notion that only 8.1% of the country have had it.

If it's as contagious as we're being told it is I just can't forsee how, especially given there's been complete normality (January-early March) or relative normality (Mid June onwards) which has given this thing a chance to do it's thing so to speak.

Well the attack rate within a household is around 15% so stands to reason it’s going to take a hell of a lot less than a few months to get a similar % of the whole country infected.

 

[decorativeed]

Were you helping deliver food or medicine to vulnerable people? Helping them keep in contact with the outside world? checking on and making time for work colleagues for who working at home on their own could be causing severe anxiety and depression? Helping out and checking on neighbours? Not going round telling everyone who was suffering or may have lost their livellyhood, loved ones etc. how great your life is now because you can work from home and how much you want it stay as it is, like so many fecking idiots have been?

Revelling or taking advantage in other people's misery isn't a particularly attractive human trait but unfortunately over the past 5-6 months there's been an awfull lot of it, albeit a lot of it is unknowing/accidental. Although I think I'm being kind there as the idea anyone can't see that what is going on is ruining people's lives is laughable.

You might not be part of the crew but when the ship is sinking you can choose to help people survive or you can choose to leave them stranded. What you choose to do or not do has an effect on other people a lot more at the moment than in normal times.

For the bolded, no, I didn't do any of those things, because I was still having to do my job for 37.5 hours per week, like many other people. In the other hours, I was often looking after my kids, again, like many others. In the other hours, I trained to be a union rep to help my colleagues better.

I did enjoy not having to spend thousands of pounds on commuting to my office though. It meant I could set up a direct debit to a charity supporting people who need to use food banks. Is that so morally reprehensible?

I think you're being a tad over-dramatic, to be honest.

 

[bonothom]

So one persons anecdotes means this is the situation around the country? I know plenty of medical professionals with their own views and stories, most saying they have never been quieter at work, even during lockdown where they were preparing for high numbers of COVID patients. It never happened.

There's no point having a difference of opinion in here, it's not allowed.

 

[Grylte]

This looks smart

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Sandikan]

This looks smart

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Barely anyone wearing a mask either.

Bet any of them who don't get Covid symptoms will use that as "evidence" that the whole thing is some sort of hoax or massive over reaction, rather than pure luck.

 

[Stactix]

This looks smart

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

That explains Brexit, bunch of dumb fecking cnuts.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Barely anyone wearing a mask either.

Bet any of them who don't get Covid symptoms will use that as "evidence" that the whole thing is some sort of hoax or massive over reaction, rather than pure luck.

They’re partly protesting against wearing masks. The ones wearing masks are the weird ones.

 

[Irrational.]

This looks smart

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

You'd like to think the Darwin Awards would sort these cnuts out, but these twats almost always survive and end up infecting the most vulnerable.

 

[Sandikan]

They’re partly protesting against wearing masks. The ones wearing masks are the weird ones.

I've seen a few people on fb doubting them having any use.
But surely they remember when they sneezed as a kid they'd use their hands to stop it going all over the place, so a mask serves in a similar barrier method!

 

[Classical Mechanic]

I've seen a few people on fb doubting them having any use.
But surely they remember when they sneezed as a kid they'd use their hands to stop it going all over the place, so a mask serves in a similar barrier method!

I don’t disagree. I wear a mask where required but mask scepticism is one the core tenets of these protestor‘s ideology. The ones wearing masks are odd.

 

[F-Red]

This looks smart

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Like a group of lemmings.

 

[Jazz]

https://docs4opendebate.be/en/open-letter/

 

[hmchan]

This looks smart

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

They can only learn the lesson when there's an outbreak among them.

 

[Fluctuation0161]

Universities have absolutely pulled off a massive scam en masse encouraging/rushing their new students to sign up for halls, knowing full well the courses would be mostly online by default, with the option for almost every course to be fully online. And they did it purely for financial gain since they either own their freshers' accommodation or have big stakes in the companies that provide it.

Students turning up for this semester in brand new cities with no on-site learning, no in-person contact time, student unions basically shut, no night clubs and pubs shut at 10pm. There's gonna be a tsunami of depressed students trapped in their dorms by November.

Absolutely. They wanted that rental income.

 

[Fluctuation0161]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[NinjaFletch]

Universities have absolutely pulled off a massive scam en masse encouraging/rushing their new students to sign up for halls, knowing full well the courses would be mostly online by default, with the option for almost every course to be fully online. And they did it purely for financial gain since they either own their freshers' accommodation or have big stakes in the companies that provide it.

Students turning up for this semester in brand new cities with no on-site learning, no in-person contact time, student unions basically shut, no night clubs and pubs shut at 10pm. There's gonna be a tsunami of depressed students trapped in their dorms by November.

Absolutely. They wanted that rental income.

Obviously, they would all go bankrupt en masses without them.

The sector asked for extra funding back in April to avoid this though and the government told them to get fecked, leaving universities with two really shit options: get students in knowing this would happen or go bust.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

https://docs4opendebate.be/en/open-letter/

Staggering quantities of horseshit in that letter. Ticks all the corona bullshit boxes, apart from 5G. Obviously being a doctor doesn’t protect people from sucking up any old nonsense on Facebook. I would be very surprised if the signatories hold reputable positions at any academic institutions.

 

[Sultan]

Very clever this virus is.

It won't infect people at a wedding... unless there's more than 15 people. But it also won't infect anyone at a funeral, as long as there's no more than 30 people. So not only can the virus count, it can also differentiate between a wedding and a funeral.

It does spread in pubs, but only after 10pm and not before. It also only infects if you're in a group of more than 6... but not at weddings or funerals, obviously. Masks do work, that's why people will be fined for not wearing them... but not in pubs, because as already discovered. The virus doesn't infect pub goers until after 10pm.

Cinemas, gyms, etc are also immune from the virus because the virus can't afford cinema tickets or gym memberships. Schools where kids gather in large groups are also immune as the virus doesn't like learning... but those same large groups of kids can't meet up outside of school because that's when the virus will get them as it waits outside the school gates.

The elderly should be isolated and protected from the virus... unless they're needed to babysit. So grandparents can't see their grandkids socially as it's not safe, but can babysit them because the virus knows the difference between wanting to see grandkids because you love and miss them (which the virus hates) and having to see your grandkids out of obligation (which the viurs is fine with).

The virus will definitely get at you at home too if you meet up with family and friends in a controlled environment, but not in a pub where you can meet up with those same family and friends in an environment you can't control with many other strangers... well at least up to 10pm anyway.

The virus also sticks to specific postcodes, this is why some areas have stricter rules than others. Oh, and grouse hunting is perfectly fine in large groups regardless of any rules. TOTAL MADNESS!!!

I received the above on WhatsApp. Understandable people are confused. However, there needs to be some balance needed for the economic reasons.

 

[redshaw]

Another 6042 cases today and 34 deaths for UK. France 14k new cases.

We've seen protests in Madrid and they may decided to increase the restrictions there so it could get nasty.

 

[Pexbo]

Went for a walk today and admittedly I’ve got a shitty old iPhone 6S and use an app which tracks our walks. Starting with a full charge it’s usually on around 50% by the end of the walk. I was about half way through the walk today and noticed my battery was down to ~20%. I had to download the NHS COVID app a couple of days ago and realised that had been absolutely chewing my battery. Deleted the app and made it most of the rest of the walk before it dropped out.

I can’t imagine many people are going to keep it installed when it’s absolutely ripping battery like that. I know my phone is old and shit but thats ridiculous.

 

[Wibble]

I would be very surprised if the signatories hold reputable positions at any academic institutions.

If they do they should be sacked.

Love that they used a Bill Gates conspiracy theory video as a reference to show a vaccine will seriously harm 700,000 people.

 

[DatIrishFella]

Went for a walk today and admittedly I’ve got a shitty old iPhone 6S and use an app which tracks our walks. Starting with a full charge it’s usually on around 50% by the end of the walk. I was about half way through the walk today and noticed my battery was down to ~20%. I had to download the NHS COVID app a couple of days ago and realised that had been absolutely chewing my battery. Deleted the app and made it most of the rest of the walk before it dropped out.

I can’t imagine many people are going to keep it installed when it’s absolutely ripping battery like that. I know my phone is old and shit but thats ridiculous.

Same thing happened with the HSE app in Ireland. Thought my phone was on its way out, turned out to be the app overheating my phone.

 

[Sweet Square]

This looks smart

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Good Twitter thread for the tedious false positive bores.

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Wibble]

Victoria has withdrawn the curfew from midnight as they have got their 14 day rolling average down to just over 20 a day and declining. NSW had zero new infections today for the first time since early June. Good news but not over by a long shot yet in Victoria.

The Victiria health minister got thrown under the bus yesterday for aklowing the hotel quarantine breechs that set this outbreak in motion. Probanly mainly to save Dan Andrews who is under pressure from the far right and the Mudoch press despite doing a great job IMO.

I think international borders will remain shut well into 2021 though. Possibly until a vaccine is widely distributed.

 

[Stack]

Victoria has withdrawn the curfew from midnight as they have got their 14 day rolling average down to just over 20 a day and declining. NSW had zero new infections today for the first time since early June. Good news but not over by a long shot yet in Victoria.

The Victiria health minister got thrown under the bus yesterday for aklowing the hotel quarantine breechs that set this outbreak in motion. Probanly mainly to save Dan Andrews who is under pressure from the far right and the Mudoch press despite doing a great job IMO.

I think international borders will remain shut well into 2021 though. Possibly until a vaccine is widely distributed.

Good news, hopefully the coming summer will help with keeping it under control. I think you guys have a big enough internal economy to cope with a lack of tourists, it wont be nice for the tourism industry but it wont be armageddon like some think.
We had another cluster appear a week ago with someone coming out of the 14 day isolation and 2 negative tests then showing as infected a week later. The family also spent a week travelling around the North island but reports have said they were really great with using the covid tracking app so the authorities have found it a much easier task to contact trace. So far so good as only immediate family members have caught it. If this works out I would have to say the health dept here deserve a pat on the back for the amount of effort they are putting in with contact tracing etc. We should see Auckland drop down to lowest level 1 by the time the election arrives in a few weeks time.
On a side issue I am over the next two weeks doing the product photography for Linen House Australia because their photographers arent able to open their studio till the 16th October. Im doing all this via LH NZ a sister company. It makes me wonder if many other types of work has been farmed out over the Tasman to NZ as well.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

My eldest just had his second covid test (poor bastard!) Very high fever through the night on Friday. Phone GP out of hours service Sat morning. Tested at noon on Saturday (10 minutes from where we live). Result back this evening (negative) Very impressive turnaround. System in Ireland still working very well despite current surge.

 

[Stack]

My eldest just had his second covid test (poor bastard!) Very high fever through the night on Friday. Phone GP out of hours service Sat morning. Tested at noon on Saturday (10 minutes from where we live). Result back this evening (negative) Very impressive turnaround. System in Ireland still working very well despite current surge.

Thats really really fast, helps reduce stress levels.