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

[prateik]

USA is going to accept travellers vaccinated with WHO approved vaccines from next month.

Has there been an update or is it the press briefing from a couple of weeks ago..
They said early Nov back then.. waiting for a date.

edit: checked.. news from today. no date yet.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us...9-vaccines-international-visitors-2021-10-08/

"Six vaccines that are FDA authorized/approved or listed for emergency use by WHO will meet the criteria for travel to the U.S."

----------------

7 Vaccines Approved for Use by WHO
https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/agency/who/


which one isnt making the cut?

 

[Ecstatic]

Our former PM John Key last week said that our Govt were using fear tactics to get people vaccinated. Anyone with an ounce of sensibility will recognise that one of the reasons we were able to keep our death rate so incredibly low was because the Govt used clear and coherent explanations of what they were trying to do and why. They openly changed policy if they felt their original mandates were wrong ( mask advice being a good example of them changing advice, given with clear explanation).
John Key then used fear tactics himself in trying to sell the idea that NZ had a massive problem with the Govt borrowing huge amounts of money which future generations would suffer from. Only the week before he made these comments the OECD GDP figures came out and showed NZ as having the highest growth of any OECD country.
Amusingly when John Key became PM NZ had a debt ratio of 0% of GDP and when he left power it was at 29% of GDP. When NZ entered this pandemic our govt debt to gdp ration was 27% and after the first lockdown it had grown to 33%. Because we spent less time with lockdown type restrictions we ended up seeing business flourish here and we had a large tax take which in turn meant our Govt debt ratio to GDP had dropped very slightly to 32% of GDP. John Key took our Govt debt up to 45% because he had to deal with a GFC and 2 major earthquakes, he was able to bring the debt levels down but it is massively dishonest of him to make an allegation even when figures the previous month showed the exact opposite.
Another major lie was that our Opposition party were claiming the Govt had no plan of what to do over the next year and how to exit the closed border issues. Amusingly again back in June the Govt published exactly that type of plan with very clear steps to opening up.
The leader of our main opposition party accused one of our epidemiologists of breaking lockdown restriction rules last month and that was subsequently completely debunked, yet just a week later she actually broke the restriction rules and had to apologise for doing so.
I could carry on but you get the idea.

Thanks for your time.

John Key is obviously a public enemy in the sense he made your country significantly indebted in a short period of time, the opportunity for him to earn obscure commissions surely.

This political game you are describing happen everywhere, with oppo leaders saying one thing and the opposite.

There is no denying fear tactics are used to get people vaccinated, wearing masks and panicking: nothing controversial there.

 

[Bosws87]

Has there been an update or is it the press briefing from a couple of weeks ago..
They said early Nov back then.. waiting for a date.

edit: checked.. news from today. no date yet.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us...9-vaccines-international-visitors-2021-10-08/



----------------

7 Vaccines Approved for Use by WHO
https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/agency/who/


which one isnt making the cut?

The Chinese, if the political agendas keep into play.

 

[Penna]

So, my sister tells me no-one's talking about Covid now (she lives near Bolton), and the restrictions that were in place have by and large disappeared. Whereas here in Italy I feel it's still very much at the forefront of people's minds, partly because we still have to wear masks in shops etc.

Do other British posters feel that Covid is becoming old news?

 

[Pexbo]

So, my sister tells me no-one's talking about Covid now (she lives near Bolton), and the restrictions that were in place have by and large disappeared. Whereas here in Italy I feel it's still very much at the forefront of people's minds, partly because we still have to wear masks in shops etc.

Do other British posters feel that Covid is becoming old news?

Where I live in Bristol took it seriously up until around August I’d say. Mask wearing was probably at around 70% in shops and 40% (walking into) Pubs and restaurants.

Since the students have flooded back in it’s dropped to around 20% in shops and nobody seems to wear one into a pub anymore. People follow the crowd I guess, you don’t really wear a mask for your own benefit, it’s so you stop spreading it to others and when the majority of people aren’t bothering then why should you?


I’ll admit my mask wearing has slipped this last fortnight but I still carry one with me all the time and I’ll always make a point of trying to judge whether I should wear one before entering and if there’s any older people still wearing their masks then I’ll do the same.

 

[Penna]

Where I live in Bristol took it seriously up until around August I’d say. Mask wearing was probably at around 70% in shops and 40% (walking into) Pubs and restaurants.

Since the students have flooded back in it’s dropped to around 20% in shops and nobody seems to wear one into a pub anymore. People follow the crowd I guess, you don’t really wear a mask for your own benefit, it’s so you stop spreading it to others and when the majority of people aren’t bothering then why should you?


I’ll admit my mask wearing has slipped this last fortnight but I still carry one with me all the time and I’ll always make a point of trying to judge whether I should wear one before entering and if there’s any older people still wearing their masks then I’ll do the same.

Seems like a similar situation in your part of the country, then. I think it's risky, with the numbers still being so high in the UK.

 

[Garethw]

Seems like a similar situation in your part of the country, then. I think it's risky, with the numbers still being so high in the UK.

I think I’m right in saying that the UK has one of the highest infection rates in Europe right now, yet the PM is pushing to get everyone back into offices.

Surely the push to get everyone filling trains and tubes would be better placed in the spring?

 

[jojojo]

Seems like a similar situation in your part of the country, then. I think it's risky, with the numbers still being so high in the UK.

I think it's inevitable with the way the official messaging has gone. I think the assumption in the UK is now, "everyone is going to catch it," with a few provisos about luck and vaccines. Rather than responding by wondering how to vaccinate more of the highest risk groups or how to protect those who can't take or don't respond to the vaccine - people have opted for "if we get it out of the way now, we'll all be safer in a few months."

Massive gamble of course, and utterly dependant on vaccine efficacy and the vulnerable hiding while the virus runs through the population. If it "works" then the hospitals don't get (much) busier than they are now through the winter, leaving enough capacity to handle the winter flu if not the full reinstatement of normal healthcare. Deaths should start falling as vaccine boosters and new vaccinations kick in.

If the theory is right then covid will become a "flu-like" problem this winter and into the future, and we have years of experience of ignoring those deaths. The calculation leaves out the human factor of all the people who will be in that new statistic and the fact that a lot of medical staff have been running on empty for a while.

Ultimately though, as crass and impersonal as the statistics sound - the one that will count for most will be excess deaths (covid and otherwise) over the next couple of years. Will the "all catch it at once" approach leave the UK worse off overall than countries reopening more cautiously? I've seen statistical models that suggest it won't make much difference (only vax rates really make a difference in those models).

At any rate, the UK are currently heading into "herd immunity by infection" for kids in particular. No masks in shops etc are no surprise given that there's basically no mitigation effort at all in schools now, and the case rate amongst the 12-18s is through the roof.

 

[Stanley Road]

So, my sister tells me no-one's talking about Covid now (she lives near Bolton), and the restrictions that were in place have by and large disappeared. Whereas here in Italy I feel it's still very much at the forefront of people's minds, partly because we still have to wear masks in shops etc.

Do other British posters feel that Covid is becoming old news?

Not old news for me in NL. Still mask up on the train and keep my distance. Cases up 30% on the week earlier, thats what happens when you open up too much. Hospitals calling on government not to relax further as they can't cope. So yeah, covid hasn't gone anywhere

 

[Mb194dc]

I think it's inevitable with the way the official messaging has gone. I think the assumption in the UK is now, "everyone is going to catch it," with a few provisos about luck and vaccines. Rather than responding by wondering how to vaccinate more of the highest risk groups or how to protect those who can't take or don't respond to the vaccine - people have opted for "if we get it out of the way now, we'll all be safer in a few months."

Massive gamble of course, and utterly dependant on vaccine efficacy and the vulnerable hiding while the virus runs through the population. If it "works" then the hospitals don't get (much) busier than they are now through the winter, leaving enough capacity to handle the winter flu if not the full reinstatement of normal healthcare. Deaths should start falling as vaccine boosters and new vaccinations kick in.

If the theory is right then covid will become a "flu-like" problem this winter and into the future, and we have years of experience of ignoring those deaths. The calculation leaves out the human factor of all the people who will be in that new statistic and the fact that a lot of medical staff have been running on empty for a while.

Ultimately though, as crass and impersonal as the statistics sound - the one that will count for most will be excess deaths (covid and otherwise) over the next couple of years. Will the "all catch it at once" approach leave the UK worse off overall than countries reopening more cautiously? I've seen statistical models that suggest it won't make much difference (only vax rates really make a difference in those models).

At any rate, the UK are currently heading into "herd immunity by infection" for kids in particular. No masks in shops etc are no surprise given that there's basically no mitigation effort at all in schools now, and the case rate amongst the 12-18s is through the roof.

What makes you think it'll only be a couple of years?

Most likely it's seasonal and permanent, like Influenza there will be never be an end, some years will be worse than others. Depending on vaccines and what evolves in response to them.

 

[jojojo]

What makes you think it'll only be a couple of years?

Most likely it's seasonal and permanent, like Influenza there will be never be an end, some years will be worse than others. Depending on vaccines and what evolves in response to them.

I don't, I agree with you - it's here now, the way flu is, though it remains to be seen if it will be as deadly as flu, or better/worse. Whichever way it goes, I think it will be endemic everywhere in a couple of years. Inevitably, it will be the vaccines, the past infections and the variants that will see how that plays over time.

It's the number of deaths and how much disruption we go through in getting to that new equilibrium that will vary between countries. In other words, will saving more lives now (which continuing non-vaccine controls can do), translate into saving more lives overall during the next year or so.

 

[Buster15]

Has anybody else caught this nasty cold that is going round. I have and it resembles the same symptoms Covid. But I have done 3 lateral flow tests and all were negative. I will do another tomorrow. Breathing is absolutely fine but I have a headache and feel lethargic which is unusual for me.

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

Has anybody else caught this nasty cold that is going round. I have and it resembles the same symptoms Covid. But I have done 3 lateral flow tests and all were negative. I will do another tomorrow. Breathing is absolutely fine but I have a headache and feel lethargic which is unusual for me.

Yeah, me and my 2 kids all had it, lasts a while as well.

we all did test and all negative.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Has anybody else caught this nasty cold that is going round. I have and it resembles the same symptoms Covid. But I have done 3 lateral flow tests and all were negative. I will do another tomorrow. Breathing is absolutely fine but I have a headache and feel lethargic which is unusual for me.

If you’re sick with symptoms like covid then get a proper (PCR) test. Lateral flow tests are often wrong.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Has anybody else caught this nasty cold that is going round. I have and it resembles the same symptoms Covid. But I have done 3 lateral flow tests and all were negative. I will do another tomorrow. Breathing is absolutely fine but I have a headache and feel lethargic which is unusual for me.

Flemmy cough?

RS Virus, our littlest end up spending 14 days in hospital, 5 of them in intensive care. Horrendous.

Hospitals all over Sweden sounding the alarm as they are full already, and the peak normally comes in Jan. My little gal had to share an ICU, usually for one baby, with 3.
Scary shit the way it’s going, reading news it’s a massive problem Worldwide for small ones due to lack of normal immunity in population (Covid restrictions).

https://www-aftonbladet-se.translat...sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=sv&_x_tr_pto=nui

 

[Pexbo]

Has anybody else caught this nasty cold that is going round. I have and it resembles the same symptoms Covid. But I have done 3 lateral flow tests and all were negative. I will do another tomorrow. Breathing is absolutely fine but I have a headache and feel lethargic which is unusual for me.

Two people from my partners work have the same cold as do their partners. They’ve all had LF and PCR tests and all came back negative but they’ve had full covid symptoms.

One of them wanted to come back into work when he’d got his negative PCR I thought covid would put an end to people trying to be heroes and dragging themselves into the office to work.

 

[golden_blunder]

Flemmy cough?

RS Virus, our littlest end up spending 14 days in hospital, 5 of them in intensive care. Horrendous.

Hospitals all over Sweden sounding the alarm as they are full already, and the peak normally comes in Jan. My little gal had to share an ICU, usually for one baby, with 3.
Scary shit the way it’s going, reading news it’s a massive problem Worldwide for small ones due to lack of normal immunity in population (Covid restrictions).

https://www-aftonbladet-se.translat...sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=sv&_x_tr_pto=nui

Jesus, hope your little one is recovering well

 

[gormless]

Has anybody else caught this nasty cold that is going round. I have and it resembles the same symptoms Covid. But I have done 3 lateral flow tests and all were negative. I will do another tomorrow. Breathing is absolutely fine but I have a headache and feel lethargic which is unusual for me.

yeah. Picked it up at work from people who have tested negative - as have I (lat flow). I feel like absolute shit though

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Jesus, hope your little one is recovering well

Thanks pal, she’s been home since Tuesday and is doing well.
Seeing her spend 2 days with great difficulty breathing and then having to take regular 20 seconds pauses from breathing because she was too tired was the worst thing I’ve experienced in my life.

 

[golden_blunder]

Thanks pal, she’s been home since Tuesday and is doing well.
Seeing her spend 2 days with great difficulty breathing and then having to take regular 20 seconds pauses from breathing because she was too tired was the worst thing I’ve experienced in my life.

Having young kids myself can only imagine what you guys went through. Horrendous. Last time we went in hospital with one was when the littlest one stuck a rubber dinosaur leg up his nose, which sounds funny but had me worried sick cos they couldn’t get it. I’d be in bits with what yours went through. Where did she catch it?

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Having young kids myself can only imagine what you guys went through. Horrendous. Last time we went in hospital with one was when the littlest one stuck a rubber dinosaur leg up his nose, which sounds funny but had me worried sick cos they couldn’t get it. I’d be in bits with what yours went through. Where did she catch it?

Yeah it’s insane the devastation looking at your own kids suffering, just horrific.
She caught it from our two year old who brought it home from pre-school, I was running in Copenhagen the weekend the oldest started with symptoms so the girls and mom were all in the same bed, 2 year old was really poorly. Poor lil thing had no chance, it’s apparently as contagious at chicken pox.

 

[owlo]

Yep got the sneezes, flemmy cough like a 40 a day smoker, and blocked/stuffy nose needing 2 boxes of tissue a day myself. Not pleasant!

@Regulus Arcturus Black thank heavens she’s fine now!

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Having young kids myself can only imagine what you guys went through. Horrendous. Last time we went in hospital with one was when the littlest one stuck a rubber dinosaur leg up his nose, which sounds funny but had me worried sick cos they couldn’t get it. I’d be in bits with what yours went through. Where did she catch it?

Bit random but my sister once brought her youngest to the GP after she’d jammed a bead out of sight in her ear. The GP was having a look and asked the kid what colour the beed was. “It’s blue”. “Are you sure?” “Yes, the yellow one’s in my other ear”

 

[groovyalbert]

So, my sister tells me no-one's talking about Covid now (she lives near Bolton), and the restrictions that were in place have by and large disappeared. Whereas here in Italy I feel it's still very much at the forefront of people's minds, partly because we still have to wear masks in shops etc.

Do other British posters feel that Covid is becoming old news?

In part people - from the top down - are accepting that Covid is here to stay and with the very high uptake of the vaccine amongst the more vulnerable groups, there isn't realistically a lot more this government will achieve. So there's that side of things.

Then there's also the issue of their seemingly being far more pressing issues re access (or lack of) to natural resources and those implications, fallouts from Brexit, climate issues...

Basically, there's so much going wrong right now, I don't think people really have the energy for Covid to be one of them anymore!

 

[decorativeed]

So, my sister tells me no-one's talking about Covid now (she lives near Bolton), and the restrictions that were in place have by and large disappeared. Whereas here in Italy I feel it's still very much at the forefront of people's minds, partly because we still have to wear masks in shops etc.

Do other British posters feel that Covid is becoming old news?

Certainly. Nobody gives a shit, it appears. I'm very much in a minority when I go into a shop or bar wearing a mask.

 

[golden_blunder]

Bit random but my sister once brought her youngest to the GP after she’d jammed a bead out of sight in her ear. The GP was having a look and asked the kid what colour the beed was. “It’s blue”. “Are you sure?” “Yes, the yellow one’s in my other ear”

Thanks I needed that!

 

[King Eric 7]

Certainly. Nobody gives a shit, it appears. I'm very much in a minority when I go into a shop or bar wearing a mask.

I do ask myself what use is putting on a mask to go into a bar/pub/whatever, only to then take it off when you're sat down. I must say, I just don't bother, but then again I limit my indoor socialising anyway.

 

[golden_blunder]

In ireland, ICU cases rise by 20% in a week with 67% being unvaccinated

https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2021/1010/1252794-coronavirus-ireland/

probably Calum Robinson getting round the fans

 

[Buster15]

If you’re sick with symptoms like covid then get a proper (PCR) test. Lateral flow tests are often wrong.

I had checked the NHS website and it clearly states take a lateral flow test.
I have just done a 4th this morning and it was negative. Very much doubt that all 4 tests would be wrong.

 

[Buster15]

Flemmy cough?

RS Virus, our littlest end up spending 14 days in hospital, 5 of them in intensive care. Horrendous.

Hospitals all over Sweden sounding the alarm as they are full already, and the peak normally comes in Jan. My little gal had to share an ICU, usually for one baby, with 3.
Scary shit the way it’s going, reading news it’s a massive problem Worldwide for small ones due to lack of normal immunity in population (Covid restrictions).

https://www-aftonbladet-se.translat...sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=sv&_x_tr_pto=nui

I am really sorry to hear of that and trust that they will recover completely.

 

[Buster15]

Two people from my partners work have the same cold as do their partners. They’ve all had LF and PCR tests and all came back negative but they’ve had full covid symptoms.

One of them wanted to come back into work when he’d got his negative PCR I thought covid would put an end to people trying to be heroes and dragging themselves into the office to work.

I really don't believe that it is Covid and have just done a 4th LFT, which is what the NHS recommend and again it was negative.
Feels just like a pretty traditional flu like condition, although I have previously had my flu vaccination.

 

[Buster15]

yeah. Picked it up at work from people who have tested negative - as have I (lat flow). I feel like absolute shit though

You have my sympathy. The only positive thing is that it makes you feel so awful, you just cannot do anything but rest. Hope you feel much better soon.

 

[decorativeed]

I do ask myself what use is putting on a mask to go into a bar/pub/whatever, only to then take it off when you're sat down. I must say, I just don't bother, but then again I limit my indoor socialising anyway.

Yeah, i get that. Especially when you'd be in a tiny minority doing so anyway. As someone pointed out earlier, we're wearing masks for everyone else's benefit, so when it's less than 1 in 10 wearing one, any benefit is minimal.

 

[Sarni]

So, my sister tells me no-one's talking about Covid now (she lives near Bolton), and the restrictions that were in place have by and large disappeared. Whereas here in Italy I feel it's still very much at the forefront of people's minds, partly because we still have to wear masks in shops etc.

Do other British posters feel that Covid is becoming old news?

I’ve been in a small town south of Kraków for the last weekend and it almost felt dumb wearing a mask in closed spaces as virtually nobody else was doing that. They have less than 40% of population vaccinated here and were one of the regions of Poland hit hardest by cases wave last year but it certainly doesn’t feel like it bothers them. If our government attempts to enforce any restrictions in the Winter it will be an uphill battle. And we have just about 50% of general Polish population vaccinated, with the elderly being amongst the lowest…

 

[Penna]

I’ve been in a small town south of Kraków for the last weekend and it almost felt dumb wearing a mask in closed spaces as virtually nobody else was doing that. They have less than 40% of population vaccinated here and were one of the regions of Poland hit hardest by cases wave last year but it certainly doesn’t feel like it bothers them. If our government attempts to enforce any restrictions in the Winter it will be an uphill battle. And we have just about 50% of general Polish population vaccinated, with the elderly being amongst the lowest…

I'm surprised that the old folk are so reluctant. Is it mistrust of the government or something like that?

 

[Sarni]

I'm surprised that the old folk are so reluctant. Is it mistrust of the government or something like that?

There is significant amount of propaganda on the side effects of the deadly vaccine spread around in social media and outside of it. Many people here do not believe covid even exists and think it’s part of NWO. Much higher proportion than anywhere else I’ve seen.

 

[Penna]

There is significant amount of propaganda on the side effects of the deadly vaccine spread around in social media and outside of it. Many people here do not believe covid even exists and think it’s part of NWO. Much higher proportion than anywhere else I’ve seen.

What a shame. Well, all you can do is protect yourself and get a booster when you can.

 

[fergieisold]

So, my sister tells me no-one's talking about Covid now (she lives near Bolton), and the restrictions that were in place have by and large disappeared. Whereas here in Italy I feel it's still very much at the forefront of people's minds, partly because we still have to wear masks in shops etc.

Do other British posters feel that Covid is becoming old news?

People are definitely relaxing a bit more - I'm definitely in the minority as a mask wearer in shops now. The vaccine has been a game changer, I know a fair few that have got covid after being double jabbed but they don't get that sick.

 

[golden_blunder]

I had checked the NHS website and it clearly states take a lateral flow test.
I have just done a 4th this morning and it was negative. Very much doubt that all 4 tests would be wrong.

You’re probably right but lateral flow tests are as useful as chocolate fireguards. I don’t know why they persist with them

 

[djembatheking]

You’re probably right but lateral flow tests are as useful as chocolate fireguards. I don’t know why they persist with them

They can`t be that bad , surely. They are talking about stopping requirement for PCR tests for overseas travel and only needing a lateral flow. Mind you do we really need to worry about testing anyone coming in to the UK with cases so high here compared to most other countries.