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

Solius

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Cool. It’s an interesting idea. Just struggling to see what will motivate people to do it on a regular basis. Especially after the initial novelty wears off. Unless you’re visiting vulnerable friends/relatives anyway (which might still make it a worthwhile initiative)
Yeah you get seven in a pack which is pretty good. We can just use them as and when we need them. My gf has to go back to work soon so it will be nice to have that peace of mind I guess now that one of us is 'mixing' again.
 

berbatrick

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A bit of good news on the early treatment front. A clinical trial run in Oxfordshire has found a type of asthma inhaler helps people to recover faster (when given soon after covid positive test) and reduces instances of serious disease. The thing that triggered the trial in the first place was that certain groups of asthmatics and people suffering from COPD seemed to be coping better with covid infections than their doctors had expected.

https://www.gponline.com/common-ast...k-patients/respiratory-system/article/1712535

Small scale trial and not enough hospitalisations in the trial to say how effective it is with severe cases, but enough to be statistically convincing that it helps people recover faster. And it's (relatively) cheap, available and they already have safety data for it.
formonide is the long-term inhaler for asthmatics. dexamethasone, which is used for emergency treatment during an asthma attack, is one of the main anti-covid drugs. interesting!
 

Rado_N

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Cool. It’s an interesting idea. Just struggling to see what will motivate people to do it on a regular basis. Especially after the initial novelty wears off. Unless you’re visiting vulnerable friends/relatives anyway (which might still make it a worthwhile initiative)
I can see it forming part of the H&S guidance in offices.

We have to submit a form every day to confirm we’ve not had any symptoms or come into contact with anyone blah blah, with these now being free and readily available I wouldn’t be surprised to see a “date and result of last lateral flow test” section added.
 

Sparky Rhiwabon

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Sparky Rhiwabon

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Jericholyte2

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Whenever I go to the shops I still see a bunch of people (I think the average is about 8 per trip) who are wearing masks below their nose!

FFS children can be potty-trained faster than that!
 

Ady87

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A bit of good news on the early treatment front. A clinical trial run in Oxfordshire has found a type of asthma inhaler helps people to recover faster (when given soon after covid positive test) and reduces instances of serious disease. The thing that triggered the trial in the first place was that certain groups of asthmatics and people suffering from COPD seemed to be coping better with covid infections than their doctors had expected.

https://www.gponline.com/common-ast...k-patients/respiratory-system/article/1712535

Small scale trial and not enough hospitalisations in the trial to say how effective it is with severe cases, but enough to be statistically convincing that it helps people recover faster. And it's (relatively) cheap, available and they already have safety data for it.
Really good news. My mum has bad COPD/Asthma and I remember cheering her up probably 9-12 months ago now after reading that asthmatics were doing better than expected considering it was all about the cough at that time and it looks like there is a good chance those early observations had something to do with the asthma medicines being taken.
 

finneh

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Very interesting to see the difference is mask usage in the UK and Oregon. I'm in Portland at the moment and mask usage here is flawless.

I haven't seen a single person wear one incorrectly or not at all inside or even queuing outside, having been in the city for 3 days in shops, restaurants, bars etc.

Not only that but a large % of people put their masks on when outside if someone is 10 metres away and walking towards them; lowering them when 10 metres past.
 

djembatheking

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Some crowds out last night in the U.K. almost like it was all over.
It is mad busy here in Anglesey , all the holiday homes filled up yesterday. I went to Tesco this morning, bad mistake , it was manic there so I didn`t bother going in as I wasn`t going to queue . Pubs and cafes are still closed in Wales for 2 more weeks so all the tourists were stocking up on supplies . Looks like we are in for a busy summer.
 

Pogue Mahone

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Very interesting to see the difference is mask usage in the UK and Oregon. I'm in Portland at the moment and mask usage here is flawless.

I haven't seen a single person wear one incorrectly or not at all inside or even queuing outside, having been in the city for 3 days in shops, restaurants, bars etc.

Not only that but a large % of people put their masks on when outside if someone is 10 metres away and walking towards them; lowering them when 10 metres past.
I’d imagine there’s as big a variety within the US as there is between where you are now and the UK.
 

djembatheking

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Very interesting to see the difference is mask usage in the UK and Oregon. I'm in Portland at the moment and mask usage here is flawless.

I haven't seen a single person wear one incorrectly or not at all inside or even queuing outside, having been in the city for 3 days in shops, restaurants, bars etc.

Not only that but a large % of people put their masks on when outside if someone is 10 metres away and walking towards them; lowering them when 10 metres past.
Totally different here , didn`t see 1 mask outside Tesco this morning , Brits don`t wear them on holiday.
 

finneh

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I’d imagine there’s as big a variety within the US as there is between where you are now and the UK.
That's definitely true. Speaking to some people here they say it's markedly different dependant on states and regions.

I was naively expecting the US to range between really poor and similar to the UK dependant on region. However as you say it seemingly ranges from worse than the UK in some areas to far better in others.

I can't recall anyone ever putting a mask on when crossing my path outside in the UK and even queuing outside a takeaway is very rare.
Totally different here , didn`t see 1 mask outside Tesco this morning , Brits don`t wear them on holiday.
It isn't a legal require in the UK, but it also isn't here. I get the feeling that mask wearing in the UK is done to comply legally whereas here it's done to as a social courtesy.
 

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I was literally in a giant Tesco as big as they come 30 minutes ago. Every single customer was in a mask, worn correctly. I can't disbelieve the other posters here, but it does seem there are parts of the country where people are stupider than others. Maybe our water is better in Lancashire, who knows?
 

golden_blunder

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I got a text message from Connolly hospital saying that they are updating lists for vaccination and if I hadn’t already been I would be called in the next few weeks. All I had to do was reply yes

please please please please please make it so

@Pogue Mahone
 

Berbaclass

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Very interesting to see the difference is mask usage in the UK and Oregon. I'm in Portland at the moment and mask usage here is flawless.

I haven't seen a single person wear one incorrectly or not at all inside or even queuing outside, having been in the city for 3 days in shops, restaurants, bars etc.

Not only that but a large % of people put their masks on when outside if someone is 10 metres away and walking towards them; lowering them when 10 metres past.
Does that include the mean streets of West Linn?
 

Penna

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Italy seems to be heading towards re-opening things from May - the latest emergency measures expire on 30th April. All regions will possibly return to "yellow" status, which means we can move around far more freely.

Outdoor dining is of course reasonably easy to do here in May, as it's generally getting quite warm by then.

I know we have to get back to normal for the sake of the economy and people's livelihoods, but with the vaccination rate crawling along so slowly I do wonder what the result of it all will be. Still, we can't have a whole country confined to their towns and villages for ever.
 
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Vidyoyo

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It's an interesting topic. Suicides are most likely to happen in the Summer months from what I remember, which makes me think that a collective feeling of being battered by this thing might have taken some weight off people - the feeling we're all in it together, etc.

Admittedly it's a total assume on my part of course but I know from work that the line coming from psychologists has been more concerned with general mental health/wellbeing of people, especially those in the frontline, as well as development of children.
 

Massive Spanner

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I know we have to get back to normal for the sake of the economy and people's livelihoods, but with the vaccination rate crawling along so slowly I do wonder what the result of it all will be. Still, we can't have a whole country confined to their towns and villages for ever.
Oh, I don't know about that, the Irish government are doing a decent job of it so far!

We still haven't gotten any dates for when things will open.
 

Pogue Mahone

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Oh, I don't know about that, the Irish government are doing a decent job of it so far!

We still haven't gotten any dates for when things will open.
Eh? Restrictions were loosened literally 48 hours ago. And we have dates for future changes too. Outdoor sports starting up again on April 26th (big one for me)
 

Massive Spanner

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Eh? Restrictions were loosened literally 48 hours ago. And we have dates for future changes too. Outdoor sports starting up again on April 26th (big one for me)
That's feck all though isn't it? What about retail? Hospitality? Weddings? Even outdoor dining? Inter-county travel? Anything there? Every other country in Europe has given dates for them, why can't we?

I know your response will be "we need to wait and see what happens" but I don't buy it. Hospitalisations and ICU numbers are at their lowest since October, and vaccinating the vulnerable has clearly worked well. So why can't we be given the same sort of rollout plan every other country has been given?

But no, instead we'll be drip fed leaks to the media to test the waters rather than getting any semblance of a plan, as usual.
 

golden_blunder

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That's feck all though isn't it? What about retail? Hospitality? Weddings? Even outdoor dining? Inter-county travel? Anything there? Every other country in Europe has given dates for them, why can't we?

I know your response will be "we need to wait and see what happens" but I don't buy it. Hospitalisations and ICU numbers are at their lowest since October, and vaccinating the vulnerable has clearly worked well. So why can't we be given the same sort of rollout plan every other country has been given?

But no, instead we'll be drip fed leaks to the media to test the waters rather than getting any semblance of a plan, as usual.
Vaccinating part of the vulnerable has happened but not all. My group was next but given what’s happened with AZ I imagine that will set us back a bit. There are thousands of people like me who have had to stay in their own home for a year. I guess that’s what they want to change
 

Pogue Mahone

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That's feck all though isn't it? What about retail? Hospitality? Weddings? Even outdoor dining? Inter-county travel? Anything there? Every other country in Europe has given dates for them, why can't we?

I know your response will be "we need to wait and see what happens" but I don't buy it. Hospitalisations and ICU numbers are at their lowest since October, and vaccinating the vulnerable has clearly worked well. So why can't we be given the same sort of rollout plan every other country has been given?

But no, instead we'll be drip fed leaks to the media to test the waters rather than getting any semblance of a plan, as usual.
The leaks are a pain in the hole but I don’t know what you mean about not getting “any semblance of a plan, as usual”. We’ve already had one very detailed road-map for a return to normality. The fact it ended up being torn up almost immediately explains the reluctance to go down the same path again.

The current idea seems to be complete a stage of reopening (this first stage primarily around reopening schools, so understand why you didn’t seem to notice it :smirk:) then assess where we are and plot out the next big set of changes. We definitely need an update to the current plan within the next couple of weeks, giving more detail about May/June. I’m sure we’ll get one.

At the end of the day, our cautious approach has got our cases down to some of the lowest in Europe. In theory this should make the “vaccine effect” much more impactful than it would if community transmission was very high and make the final stages of reopening both easier and quicker. Another backward step would be catastrophic for the morale of the country. We really need this reopening to go smoothly. If that means keeping ambitious plans under wraps for now then so be it.
 

Massive Spanner

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The leaks are a pain in the hole but I don’t know what you mean about not getting “any semblance of a plan, as usual”. We’ve already had one very detailed road-map for a return to normality. The fact it ended up being torn up almost immediately explains the reluctance to go down the same path again.

The current idea seems to be complete a stage of reopening (this first stage primarily around reopening schools, so understand why you didn’t seem to notice it :smirk:) then assess where we are and plot out the next big set of changes. We definitely need an update to the current plan within the next couple of weeks, giving more detail about May/June. I’m sure we’ll get one.
In fairness the reopening of schools has gone well, though a lot of that is due to vaccinating the most vulnerable in tandem right? I still think click and collect should be open by now, too, though. I also think we're not being remotely ambitious enough with low spreaders like outdoor dining.

We got a plan last summer that largely went well until September, no? Also this year would surely be different given the vaccine ramp up? I don't see why we couldn't get a similar plan to be honest. I think if people were given a June date for a drop to level 3, July for level 2 etc. there would be far less angst over all of this.

I think overall where we differ is that you think a full on, six month lockdown is perfectly fine as long as it leads to an eventual reopening society at some point. I don't, I think it's mental seeing as even then it doesn't guarantee shit not hitting the fan once we get closer to Christmas again! I think we should be taking the same approach as other European countries, which is to open up and close up depending on cases going up/down. This lockdown is just stagnating at this point really, people have stopped caring, nobody is adhering to restrictions anymore.
 

Massive Spanner

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Vaccinating part of the vulnerable has happened but not all. My group was next but given what’s happened with AZ I imagine that will set us back a bit. There are thousands of people like me who have had to stay in their own home for a year. I guess that’s what they want to change
Well obviously not all have been but a good proportion have been, and it's had a noticeable impact. We've gone from completely stagnating numbers to a massive drop in hospitalisations and ICU's, even with schools and some construction opening, so it's fair to say, it's working.

It's still shit, mind, the numbers are a load of shite. My 73 year old father can't even get a date for his first dose from his GP yet. End of April my hole.
 

Pogue Mahone

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In fairness the reopening of schools has gone well, though a lot of that is due to vaccinating the most vulnerable in tandem right? I still think click and collect should be open by now, too, though. I also think we're not being remotely ambitious enough with low spreaders like outdoor dining.

We got a plan last summer that largely went well until September, no? Also this year would surely be different given the vaccine ramp up? I don't see why we couldn't get a similar plan to be honest. I think if people were given a June date for a drop to level 3, July for level 2 etc. there would be far less angst over all of this.

I think overall where we differ is that you think a full on, six month lockdown is perfectly fine as long as it leads to an eventual reopening society at some point. I don't, I think it's mental seeing as even then it doesn't guarantee shit not hitting the fan once we get closer to Christmas again! I think we should be taking the same approach as other European countries, which is to open up and close up depending on cases going up/down. This lockdown is just stagnating at this point really, people have stopped caring, nobody is adhering to restrictions anymore.
That’s definitely where we disagree alright. I think closing down again from here would be an absolute disaster. Woeful mismanagement of the situation. I’ve friends in the hospitality industry. They can handle delaying their opening for another month or two providing that’s the end of it. Going through all the effort of getting open again, only to have the rug pulled out from under them, would break them completely. We’re so close to the end of this nightmare. From now on the only changes we make should be for the better. IMHO.
 

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That’s definitely where we disagree alright. I think closing down again from here would be an absolute disaster. Woeful mismanagement of the situation. I’ve friends in the hospitality industry. They can handle delaying their opening for another month or two providing that’s the end of it. Going through all the effort of getting open again, only to have the rug pulled out from under them, would break them completely. We’re so close to the end of this nightmare. From now on the only changes we make should be for the better. IMHO.
I don't get why you think that though. Every European country has been doing it? Opening hospitality followed by a brief, sharp, strict lockdown when it looks like things could go wrong. I also don't see how it makes any sense by your logic that someone working in a pub would prefer to be out of work longer than in work as long as it wasn't just for a few weeks at a time.

But uh.. yeah.. maybe NPHET are seeing something that no other country is, right?

Also how do you know we're close? That's not a trick question. I just don't know how anyone can be so certain. The vaccines haven't been working well in Chile, the Brazilian variant looks like an absolute nightmare that will likely get here eventually, and cases will obviously go back up again as it gets colder. How can you say for certain we are near the end of this nightmare? How do we know that Christmas won't be a total shitshow again and this brutally long lockdown will have been completely pointless?

I really hope the vaccines are as great as you and NPHET and our government are so certain they will be!
 

Pogue Mahone

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I don't get why you think that though. Every European country has been doing it? Opening hospitality followed by a brief, sharp, strict lockdown when it looks like things could go wrong. I don't see how it makes any sense by your logic that someone working in a pub would prefer to be out of work longer than in work as long as it wasn't just for a few weeks at a time.

But uh.. yeah.. maybe NPHET are seeing something that no other country is, right?
I’m talking about people who own/run pubs/restaurants and I can assure that what you describe is their worst nightmare. I also don’t think that what you describe is a) as common as you think in the rest of Europe and b) the preferred approach for the people that live/work there
 

Massive Spanner

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I’m talking about people who own/run pubs/restaurants and I can assure that what you describe is their worst nightmare. I also don’t think that what you describe is a) as common as you think in the rest of Europe and b) the preferred approach for the people that live/work there
it's all just our opinions and thoughts on what people are thinking really. Let's be honest, Covid hasn't really been that bad for either of us in contrast to all the people who lost their jobs, loved ones, and have been stuck on PUP. If anything lockdown has been fine for me. I love WFH, we've saved a fortune and it's been a godsend with our puppy. I even got a new, better job with a bigger wage. I miss travel and seeing the family but that's about it. I'm weirdly dreading society opening up fully to a point, it's going to be a huge shock to the system for me (and many others like me). Believe me when I say that coming out of lockdown isn't a big priority for me (though I would love a pint of Guinness!).

I'm so far detached from the people who are really suffering from this that it's almost unfair. Some of the stories I've seen and read from them are horrendous, which is why, for their sakes, I want some shit to be open, and I want a plan for them, so they at least know when it's going to end. I don't see what's so radical about that.
 

golden_blunder

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Well obviously not all have been but a good proportion have been, and it's had a noticeable impact. We've gone from completely stagnating numbers to a massive drop in hospitalisations and ICU's, even with schools and some construction opening, so it's fair to say, it's working.

It's still shit, mind, the numbers are a load of shite. My 73 year old father can't even get a date for his first dose from his GP yet. End of April my hole.
Should come quicker now with AZ restricted to over 60s surely?
How come he hasn’t been done already? I thought the 70s were done