I think you either have to go full lockdown or nothing at all. Can’t see the new “measures” being enough.
Sad truth. The only wavebreaker that works is a fullblown lockdwon. We saw it in Austria.
I think you either have to go full lockdown or nothing at all. Can’t see the new “measures” being enough.
I think you either have to go full lockdown or nothing at all. Can’t see the new “measures” being enough.
I think you either have to go full lockdown or nothing at all. Can’t see the new “measures” being enough.
The trouble is they know that the majority of people will not adhere to another lockdown Christmas. It will also do untold damage to Johnson within his own party.
Premier League clubs have chosen to fulfil festive fixtures despite ongoing disruption caused by Covid-19 cases.
The league's 20 clubs met on Monday to discuss how they could deal with the challenges faced after six fixtures were postponed because of Covid-19 numbers over the weekend.
The postponement of a round of games over Christmas was a possibility.
No vote took place and so two rounds of fixtures are in place across five days from 26 December.
Good news or are they being creative with data like Pfizer?
I think people cancelled bookings pre-Xmas because they wanted to spend it with families. I don’t think therefore that the same level of impact should be expected as that when considering how compliant people would be with Xmas lockdowns.I don't think this is true. People may not adhere strictly to it (they never did anyway) but representatives of the hospitality sector have said the bottom has fallen out of the sector with mass cancellations. That's without lockdowns. I guess that a lot of people don't want to catch Covid. Im sure plenty will see family but will be doing a lot less than usual.
And on a more holistic note, I would be disgusted if decisions are taken based on “what would the impact on Conservative party polling and on Boris be”. The decision has to be based on what is best for the overall health of the population, balanced with impact on the economy.
Yeah. Isn’t it ironic that the whole “fake news” trend which they relied on for Brexit and eroded faith in scientists and experts, is now ultimately what is causing issues with doing what’s necessary for his image.If it was, the restrictions would have been in place a week ago. It's all about how it looks with Boris.
He's not going to close anything now; he doesn't want his name all over the news on Christmas Day and he's definitely not going to shut anything down in the busiest shopping week of the year. I'll be surprised if he even announces anything now.
He'll start it from the 26th or 27th and it will be 'guidance' rather than law.
I don't think any of them are being creative with the data. They're making a relatively simple observation: another dose equals several times more antibodies, and that's really positive.
There's a couple of things they're leaving out, but they're not being shady about it.
Antibodies decline over time, and we know after these vaccines they decline at a relatively rapid rate, so they aren't a good measure of long-term protection. B-cells are the better indicator of long-term protection and very little evidence has been shared on how good the vaccines are at stimulating them, but initial evidence suggests they're worse than natural infection. On the flip side, natural infection generally produces much lower volumes of antibodies, and even though they decline at a slower rate, they fall below the threshold of protection much quicker than any of the multi-dose vaccines.
There isn't much real-world evidence on how effectively these antibodies are against the omicron variant, that's just the reality everyone's working within. The assumption that because they match up to 80% of the epitopes on the Omicron variant means they should be very good at neutralising the variant is sound, especially when the antibodies are present in much higher volumes, it's just unproven.
What I find hilarious is that he diagnosed himself not only that he had covid, but also what variant of covid he had.This is the premise for a story that ends up with me gleefully posting a tragic article in the covidiots thread.
The trouble is they know that the majority of people will not adhere to another lockdown Christmas. It will also do untold damage to Johnson within his own party.
Think it's been mentioned in here before but Delta is the most dominant and Omicron is catching up I would assume.Just out of interest- how much of the old covid is getting to people vs this new variant?
Think it's been mentioned in here before but Delta is the most dominant and Omicron is catching up I would assume.
Just another glimmer of hope from people looking at London hospital numbers. Hospitalisations are rising, and they're rising fast but there are other pieces in the puzzle including the background rate of covid in the city means that the numbers of patients "with covid" is currently a lot higher than those who are in there "because of covid." In terms of pressure on the hospitals the distinction isn't always the key thing, but in terms of understanding omicron it's important. I'll also throw in the fact that a lot of hospital staff are now off having tested positive for covid.
However, if you still want to see what a glimmer of hope looks like and the kids of stats the government say they're looking at hourly, here are some of the stats that get published open access daily:
London is now reckoned to be around 80% omicron. Across the UK as a whole it's now around 50%.Think it's been mentioned in here before but Delta is the most dominant and Omicron is catching up I would assume.
We want to believe!Just reading that thread. The rate of growth in London has been slowing and cases may have already peaked…it is looking similar to Gauteng.
I wouldn't take it too seriously until we see what happens at Christmas, but I'm still firmly on Team Boosters side on cases and hospitalisations.Early days but if it has peaked already in London then that’s astonishing
Another study giving a scientific reason for why Omicron could be less pathogenic
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news...ine-induced-immunity-but-less-likely-to-cause
Also the very early signs from London that it isn’t resulting in the number of admissions you’d have expected with Delta:
I think they’re doing the right thing in waiting until the last moment to get as much data as necessary before deciding if a circuit breaker is necessary.
It’s truly amazing if it has peaked but It’s following Guateng - which had 1800 cases today - it was over 7000 last week. I’m choosing to be positive - we’ve got the scientific basis for why it would be super transmissible but also milder plus on top of that a huge amount of vaccine/natural induced immunity in London. This is also very encouraging - I don’t see how you can lock down (yet) with this data coming through - obviously it’s very early but what happened in SA is holding here!We want to believe!
It would be a really weird outbreak if it's true. It would suggest that it circulates in a very narrow group of people (basically 20-40 year olds!) or it needs particular conditions (humidity/temp aircon?) to circulate best, which might explain the superspreader events. To me, it seems more likely that having taken out a big chunk of people - positive tests or as contacts - it's got stalled, probably by other people deciding to stay home until Christmas. Another possibility is that now the students have gone home, the cases have left London and will appear in a town near you shortly.
As I say, these are scraps of data. But they're basically the same kind of stats that are saying to some scientists - "lock down quick," and to others, "let's wait a couple of days and have another look."
+1 @WolverineJust want to say my thanks to you and others who are doing this kind of work, and who are living with the impact of covid itself and it's knock-on into the rest of healthcare every day.
Thanks also for giving up your annual leave to help push the booster program forward. I'm grateful for your efforts.
It’s truly amazing if it has peaked but It’s following Guateng - which had 1800 cases today - it was over 7000 last week. I’m choosing to be positive - we’ve got the scientific basis for why it would be super transmissible but also milder plus on top of that a huge amount of vaccine/natural induced immunity in London. This is also very encouraging - I don’t see how you can lock down (yet) with this data coming through - obviously it’s very early but what happened in SA is holding here!
We want to believe!
It would be a really weird outbreak if it's true. It would suggest that it circulates in a very narrow group of people (basically 20-40 year olds!) or it needs particular conditions (humidity/temp aircon?) to circulate best, which might explain the superspreader events. To me, it seems more likely that having taken out a big chunk of people - positive tests or as contacts - it's got stalled, probably by other people deciding to stay home until Christmas. Another possibility is that now the students have gone home, the cases have left London and will appear in a town near you shortly.
As I say, these are scraps of data. But they're basically the same kind of stats that are saying to some scientists - "lock down quick," and to others, "let's wait a couple of days and have another look."
You just can't tell. I'm reasonably sure there'll be some kind of lockdown in place after Christmas in England, but who knows for sure? If you have to quarantine when you get back, so be it - the schools may not even be open.
It's unlikely that anything will be announced tomorrow, and then you'll be travelling on Tuesday. I'd be more concerned about whether Belgium will impose restrictions on you when you arrive.
Yeah, difficult one, you don't want to disappoint your family, but also don't want to let your children down when you could have avoided it. Technically correct to go of course, but fair? not sure.
Could Mrs Super go on her own? Some would see that as the right thing to do and some wouldn't, and you've not really been married long which won't help.
The hard thing is dragging out making a decision, you could always toss a coin!
Nobody knows?
My guess would be no. Returning tourists are the least of the UK's worries.
That said, is there maybe a way for you to get back early if there was a sudden announcement? There's usually at least 24 hours notice, which might be long enough for you (alone or together) to get back as long as you're prepared for it.
There won't be restrictions before Christmas because Boris is too much of a cultural traditionalist for that. There likely won't even be official news about it until Boxing Day at the earliest because he won't want it to be in the headlines on the 25th.
So new rules are probably going to start on the 28th or 29th.
But I'm not sure you'll be necessarily need to quarantine on the way back. That only makes sense if the country you're coming from has a higher prevalence than the country you're going to. And the UK is already one of the global hotspots. A Covid Passport or negative test should likely be enough to get you out and about again on your return.
I think you'll end up being right about the timings. But the actual restrictions probably won't impact your job either way. If it were me, I'd chance it. Happy wife happy life.
The government is already reducing border restrictions and Sajid Javid admitted the other day Omicron is everywhere so no longer any point trying to keep it out.
I think there is a very small chance of you having to quarantine on your return. I think your bigger risk is not being allowed in to Belgium, but there's only another couple of days left to find out about that.
@Pogue MahoneHi Pexbo,
Please accept my apologies for the direct approach.
I use the sars cov2 thread as a huge source of info. I live alone, and don't use social media at all (I don't consider selective global forums to be social media)
Obviously I chat with my friends and family about Covid etc., and often I'm able to add a bit more insight to the discussion as a direct result of info I've obtained from the caf.
As such, I was hoping you'd pass my genuine and sincere thanks to the following posters (not exhaustive and not in order):
pogue Mahone
jojojo
wolverine
golden blunder
wibble
arruda
Pexbo
There are many many more who contribute to the threads I rely on, and I'm embarrassed that I can't name them all off the top of my head. You are all so valuable
The way you guys have worked with conspiracists and deniers is amazing - it's the right way to go, but must be frustrating as hell.
Thanks again!
Ian
Hats off to you and others on the front lines of this. I honestly don't know how you do it.We have a separate issue with omicron compared to previous waves. Firstly we have no idea how it will play out, best estimates is for it to be "milder" clinical sequalae, because rather than a covid-naive population its been reintroduced into a part booster/part partially vaccinated/part previously infected population.
I don't honestly know how epidemiologists make some of the models they do, I don't pay too much attention to specific numbers.
What I have absolutely little doubt about is the importance of the booster programme. There are suggestions that this vaccination isn't so much a booster but essentially the third part of what might be a three-part vaccine
This is with precedence to other vaccinations. In addition to things like flu which need annual jabs adjusted sometimes to what is going around.
The booster is tolerated well, we have the logistics to administer it and gives everybody an enormous boost in neutralising antibody titres, especially relevant to elderly and those with underlying medical conditions. In addition to potentially reducing severe infection risks, catching covid, even with a vaccine-evading new variant.
And barring feeling a bit shit for a few days, despite what anti-vaxxers say it is remarkably well-tolerated.
I'm happy to see so many people coming forward for it in my vaccination clinics. Gladly given up my annual leave to be vaccinating daily till the new year.
We have logistics for mass vaccination programme. Rest of your suggestions pertaining of increasing hospital capacity to cope. More staff, more ITU beds are something NHS frontline workers are calling for ages but those are long term investments. In the interim, I want to get back to treating chronic illness better, to be monitoring my chronic kidney, diabetic, hypertensive patients, to have lower cancer waiting times (especially head and neck cancer diagnosis clinics), for my stage IV cancer patients to have beds available for post-operative care for those that are anaesthetic risks.
But with a massive covid spread, and if our beds are taken up by double pneumonia patients with suspected long clots on regular, prolonged hi-flow oxygen, all of that is not possible. Mass vaccination drive is a good way to prevent that from happening. Presently we have duty emergency GPs taking phone calls, I drew the short end and am doing that today with my colleagues jabbing, but we know the value of getting as many people jabbed as possible will bring
Another study giving a scientific reason for why Omicron could be less pathogenic
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news...ine-induced-immunity-but-less-likely-to-cause
Also the very early signs from London that it isn’t resulting in the number of admissions you’d have expected with Delta:
I think they’re doing the right thing in waiting until the last moment to get as much data as necessary before deciding if a circuit breaker is necessary.
Oh sorry. I was speaking globally.In Ireland today they said omicron has taken over and accounts for 55% of new cases. It only took two weeks.
Same as above.London is now reckoned to be around 80% omicron. Across the UK as a whole it's now around 50%.
Oh sorry. I was speaking globally.