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

Vidyoyo

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Sure, there will be a lot of long-term negative health consequences as a result of the pandemic. Which is what those experts you’re citing weighed up when implementing the measures they recommended, with the intention of minimising the total effects, considering all the scenarios, and recognising the limitations of their estimates. Teasing apart cause and effect in that will involve quite a bit of speculation even years afterwards. Attributing suicides to single events many years earlier isn’t normal, in any case. It’s not usually how suicides are understood.

I’m not now predicting how many suicides will come about as a result of the pandemic, or the lockdown, or the tangled web of events that surround both. I’m not saying look, here’s proof there is no increased suicide risk from these choices. It seems a little foolish to do so if you spend any time thinking about the complex nature of suicides. There are a lot of paradoxes in that particular problem. Which is what made it odd how easily some people found it proclaim months ago how it would certainly lead to x, y and z. And stranger still how they all seemed to share motivations more aligned with their own self interests. Given the subject matter, it might even seem a little callous.
Completely agree. It shows our lack of understanding about the complex nature of suicide and what factors lead to it, which will hopefully be an important lesson learned.
 

finneh

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Suicides were supposed to be one of the less complicated situations. The virus doesn’t cause suicidal tendencies, it’s the social isolation, the economic devastation, and they are only caused by the lockdown, that’s plain to see. Supposedly. So if that simple attribution of cause and effect is already looking tenuous, what about the more complicated ones? Somehow the way the evidence develops doesn’t lead to any questions of those assumptions.
The report I posted stated 19,700 years lost as a result of adult self harm. Is that not the exact point that was being made?

This was of course one of many examples of not only life but quality of life lost. So was alcohol abuse, spousal abuse, child abuse, loss of education, self harm, delays in court proceedings meaning children who would be adopted instead have a childhood in foster homes, delays in court proceedings meaning innocent people are imprisoned without trial for years, deaths due to cancer going undiagnosed, heart disease, businesses bankrupted, dementia, loss of life due to children that would have been born that haven't and won't as a direct result of lockdown. The list is nearly endless.

I don't think it's even slightly controversial to state that the global measures introduced to combat Covid will cost tens of millions of years of life; which was the point being made.
 

Brwned

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The report I posted stated 19,700 years lost as a result of adult self harm. Is that not the exact point that was being made?

This was of course one of many examples of not only life but quality of life lost. So was alcohol abuse, spousal abuse, child abuse, loss of education, self harm, delays in court proceedings meaning children who would be adopted instead have a childhood in foster homes, delays in court proceedings meaning innocent people are imprisoned without trial for years, deaths due to cancer going undiagnosed, heart disease, businesses bankrupted, dementia, loss of life due to children that would have been born that haven't and won't as a direct result of lockdown. The list is nearly endless.

I don't think it's even slightly controversial to state that the global measures introduced to combat Covid will cost tens of millions of years of life; which was the point being made.
Almost. It also included the clause that it was a result of the lockdown, not the pandemic. That isn't what the report states.

Specfically what they say about Category D impacts - including mental health and economic impacts - is...

We are also unable to provide quantified estimates for Category D, impacts on the wider population living through a pandemic and from the recession. As discussed below, under a counterfactual we would expect some levels of voluntary behaviour change and social distancing, and wider health impacts (e.g. mental health consequences of experiencing living through a pandemic) to exist. We would also expect more of an impact under a situation of NHS capacity breach as the population will likely take more drastic measures to protect themselves against the virus; however, we are unable to quantify these impacts due to difficulty in determining the degree of voluntary behaviour change and social distancing in the absence of government intervention and the impact of this on the economy.
https://assets.publishing.service.g...aths-morbidity-sage-december-update-final.pdf

Because actual experts on complicated subjects don't just make big claims and wave their hands. They don't just see social isolation = depression = suicides go up, without considering effects going the other way. Pogue has already given one example, that report provides others. And as you've now noted, perhaps the environment people are in - however glibly you want to describe it - doesn't exacerbate suicidal tendencies, because it depends a lot on the social context. And the social cues that contribute to suicide aren't quite that simple. For example, that simple link between economic harm and self-harm...they don't think it's simple.

Several studies have recently evaluated the relationships between suicide and economic crisis but this association is often unclear and may be mediated by the development of psychiatric disorders or other factors (29–31).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5839093/

That general principle applies to all these things you happily list, with no examination, no expertise, and no sense of responsibility for their veracity. They just enable you to feel the way you want to feel, to fit into the ideology you couldn't possibly second-guess.

Completely agree. It shows our lack of understanding about the complex nature of suicide and what factors lead to it, which will hopefully be an important lesson learned.
Totally! I have had a couple of experiences with suicide, one when I was quite young and another which I mostly experienced at a distance, through a friend, and so in both cases I wasn't left with that sense of guilt that people talk of. But it was unavoidably clear in others who were more mature, or closer, and the complicated feelings still kind of haunt me. I can't claim to understand what those people went through, but on some level I could feel the depth of it, and I found the casual way it was talked about here painfully direspectful to the people it purported to represent. I don't have the stomach to read through something like this but I'm sure this covers it in detail.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3384446/

So if this helps us be a bit more thoughtful about the subject, that'd be great!
 

finneh

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Almost. It also included the clause that it was a result of the lockdown, not the pandemic. That isn't what the report states.

Specfically what they say about Category D impacts - including mental health and economic impacts - is...



https://assets.publishing.service.g...aths-morbidity-sage-december-update-final.pdf

Because actual experts on complicated subjects don't just make big claims and wave their hands. They don't just see social isolation = depression = suicides go up, without considering effects going the other way. Pogue has already given one example, that report provides others. And as you've now noted, perhaps the environment people are in - however glibly you want to describe it - doesn't exacerbate suicidal tendencies, because it depends a lot on the social context. And the social cues that contribute to suicide aren't quite that simple. For example, that simple link between economic harm and self-harm...they don't think it's simple.



https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5839093/

That general principle applies to all these things you happily list, with no examination, no expertise, and no sense of responsibility for their veracity. They just enable you to feel the way you want to feel, to fit into the ideology you couldn't possibly second-guess
The original post you quoted literally said "there should have to be ironclad and irrefutable evidence that a lockdown is going to save a substantial amount of years of life." I did not say "there is ironclad and irrefutable evidence that lockdowns do cost more years of life than they save".

My point was that if a government says they're going to strip citizens of their most basic of rights then the onus is on them to prove the measures they propose have a benefit that clearly and significantly outweigh the drawbacks.

Did the government prove this prior to implementing Covid restrictions? Has the government provided that irrefutable evidence a year later? Have they provided ongoing clear evidence regarding each restriction imposed. Have they for example proven that the negatives of schools being closed are outweighed by the positives? Have they proven that the resulting poverty is justifiable? Have they provided the cost benefit analysis dependant on transmission and fatality levels, so that we can judge whether the decisions are merely political or go far deeper?

The answer is no and that was the whole point. If government said tomorrow that we're locking down indefinitely due to knife crime it would be obvious that the benefits are outweighed by the drawbacks. Likewise if the government said we're going to lockdown for 4 months every year as the benefits are clear (less road accidents, less deaths from pollution, less influenza deaths).

Covid is obviously less clear cut than these examples as the death rate far exceeds flu or knife crime but the evidential burden should still be the same.
 

BlueHaze

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My brother works as a subway train driver and those environments are the paradise for this germ. Ever since the pandemic started I knew we were destined to get it sooner or later and we were lucky not to have gotten it sooner. However he got infected March 7th and I got infected by him March 9th. We were both lucky to get relatively mild symptoms but let me tell you this is the most absurd illness I've ever gotten.

It started of with an exploding headache and the fever only lasted 3 days for me which is not much but it still affected me pretty bad since I havn't had a fever since I was maybe 6 or something but it was tolerable with insane amount of fluid and pills. However I got other symptoms and some of them I still have today. First few days I had severe testicle pain. Electrical buzzing sensations all over my body and severe muscle and joint pain everywhere.

Some days even today while walking around it feels as if every bone in my feet is broken and I limp as if I've gotten shot. I still have problems with annoying headaches which has never been an issue for me prior to this. I also run out of breath much faster than I used to. This is some bizarre shit and I can totally see why the virus have gotten the better of so many fragile people and even some fully healthy people. I fear for what may happen if I get reinfected now with so many different mutations around.

Stay safe people, wear masks and be really careful around your older loved ones.
 

finneh

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We were both lucky to get relatively mild symptoms but let me tell you this is the most absurd illness I've ever gotten.
So true. I'm told I must have had it March 2020 (makes sense as I was in airports 6 times in that period), the symptoms I experienced being loss of smell (not one at the time) and fatigue for a few days.

For the following 12 months my sense of taste and smell have been all over the place (cow manure smells like metal and popcorn tastes awful). That's subsided slightly but still off now.

I've also had a weird "burning tongue" ever since. Any time I eat spicy food or drink lots of carbonated drinks my tongue starts to feel like it's touched lava. All very bizarre.
 

golden_blunder

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My brother works as a subway train driver and those environments are the paradise for this germ. Ever since the pandemic started I knew we were destined to get it sooner or later and we were lucky not to have gotten it sooner. However he got infected March 7th and I got infected by him March 9th. We were both lucky to get relatively mild symptoms but let me tell you this is the most absurd illness I've ever gotten.

It started of with an exploding headache and the fever only lasted 3 days for me which is not much but it still affected me pretty bad since I havn't had a fever since I was maybe 6 or something but it was tolerable with insane amount of fluid and pills. However I got other symptoms and some of them I still have today. First few days I had severe testicle pain. Electrical buzzing sensations all over my body and severe muscle and joint pain everywhere.

Some days even today while walking around it feels as if every bone in my feet is broken and I limp as if I've gotten shot. I still have problems with annoying headaches which has never been an issue for me prior to this. I also run out of breath much faster than I used to. This is some bizarre shit and I can totally see why the virus have gotten the better of so many fragile people and even some fully healthy people. I fear for what may happen if I get reinfected now with so many different mutations around.

Stay safe people, wear masks and be really careful around your older loved ones.
“Yeah but it’s just the flu”
 

Sparky Rhiwabon

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Anyone think it’s going to be weird at first when (if all goes to plan) all social distancing is removed on 22 June?
 

Snowjoe

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For the following 12 months my sense of taste and smell have been all over the place (cow manure smells like metal and popcorn tastes awful). That's subsided slightly but still off now.
My mum had it a similar time and she said onions now taste like metal
 

Grinner

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I was just reading about the huge disparity in Covid testing prices around the world. I paid 20 euros to get my Antigen test at Florence airport and 70 for the PCR test at a Florence lab.
 

Wibble

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Although you can still get Covid after having the vaccine can’t you?
Less often, far less severely and it is also likely that if you do you will be far less infectious (lower viral load and not coughing and sneezing which is a very significant way of spreading it).
 

Penna

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I was just reading about the huge disparity in Covid testing prices around the world. I paid 20 euros to get my Antigen test at Florence airport and 70 for the PCR test at a Florence lab.
When we got back last year from the UK, it was free at Rome airport.

I think the cost of tests in the UK for people entering the country is disgraceful. I know they want to deter people from travelling, but it really just stops people who can't afford it, who may have a legitimate need to fly.
 

BlueHaze

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So true. I'm told I must have had it March 2020 (makes sense as I was in airports 6 times in that period), the symptoms I experienced being loss of smell (not one at the time) and fatigue for a few days.

For the following 12 months my sense of taste and smell have been all over the place (cow manure smells like metal and popcorn tastes awful). That's subsided slightly but still off now.

I've also had a weird "burning tongue" ever since. Any time I eat spicy food or drink lots of carbonated drinks my tongue starts to feel like it's touched lava. All very bizarre.
I had that same shit. Legit couldn't smell or taste absolutely anything for 1 week. Happy it went away so quickly because my dad makes some incredible food and everything just tasted bland. It's crazy how so many people get different bizarre symptoms. I've heard about that tongue symptom on forums.
 

golden_blunder

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Advice please

my parents-in-law have a vague plan of flying over from U.K. to ireland at end of May to visit. They plan to stay 4-5 days. They are both fully vaccinated. They haven’t seen their daughter or grand kids in person for over a year so this would mean the world to them.

what are the restrictions for this return trip?
 

Sandikan

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Anyone think it’s going to be weird at first when (if all goes to plan) all social distancing is removed on 22 June?
No, but only because we'll have eased up to that over 3months.
If it went from the first lockdown to total removal overnight maybe.
 

Penna

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jojojo

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So it’s still illegal?
There's a rule change expected mid-May. Hotels, restaurants etc reopening. There's expected to be a change in the rules on travel at the same time.

The question will be will be - are there quarantine requirements at either end of the trip, and what tests are needed. All still up in the air really - but the end of May is a possibility. Provided they can cancel/postpone, I can see why they might want to start making plans.

There's a good chance that family visits will get priority from the UK side over general tourism. It's all anybody's guess though.
 

golden_blunder

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There's a rule change expected mid-May. Hotels, restaurants etc reopening. There's expected to be a change in the rules on travel at the same time.

The question will be will be - are there quarantine requirements at either end of the trip, and what tests are needed. All still up in the air really - but the end of May is a possibility. Provided they can cancel/postpone, I can see why they might want to start making plans.

There's a good chance that family visits will get priority from the UK side over general tourism. It's all anybody's guess though.
Thank you @jojojo and @Penna
 

zing

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I was overly paranoid last year when it all happened which is why I stayed away from this thread. I'm calm on the entire situation now but I don't go out and have been extremely careful this last year.
Glad you’re better now.
 

Wibble

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When we got back last year from the UK, it was free at Rome airport.

I think the cost of tests in the UK for people entering the country is disgraceful. I know they want to deter people from travelling, but it really just stops people who can't afford it, who may have a legitimate need to fly.
When my son had to fly from the US to Croatia in the middle of last year you had to have a test conducted in the last 72 hrs to get in to Croatia and maybe to transit through Germany. Given the flight time and the normal 2/3 day turnaround for tests at that time we had to pay US$200 for a 24hr express service or it was impossible to comply.
 

Wibble

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No not yet, ireland is sloooow
We may have no community transmission but we are even slower. 100th in the word just after Jordan, Guyana and Nepal. The plan was for the whole country to have both shots by October. Then the plan was to have everyone with at least 1 shot by the end of the year, now the plan is not to have a plan or at least not to tell anyone what the plan is so we don't notice when they feck it up again.

We are now seriously worried that we won't be able to get to see our son at Christmas and that would mean over 2 years without seeing him in person :(
 

golden_blunder

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We may have no community transmission but we are even slower. 100th in the word just after Jordan, Guyana and Nepal. The plan was for the whole country to have both shots by October. Then the plan was to have everyone with at least 1 shot by the end of the year, now the plan is not to have a plan or at least not to tell anyone what the plan is so we don't notice when they feck it up again.

We are now seriously worried that we won't be able to get to see our son at Christmas and that would mean over 2 years without seeing him in person :(
Awful Wibbs, I’m sorry for you all.
As he is Australian can he not return home and go in the quarantine?
 

Wibble

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Awful Wibbs, I’m sorry for you all.
As he is Australian can he not return home and go in the quarantine?
It is so hard to get back that he hasn't even registered to try to get back. There are over 30k in a queue to get home with only low numbers allowed back each week. There are another 100,000-300,000 who are just not trying until things improve. Some are lucky and get back first try and others are cancelled repeatedly. We recently had a terminally ill guy return who had tried to get back from Ireland for 12 months and has just got home a few weeks ahead of his death.

And to get home you have a far higher chance if you buy a 1st class or Business Class ticket as airlines prioritise them to try to make partially full flights economic. Add on the cost of quarantine and it can cost $15,000 or more for a round trip. And he may even not be allowed out which would invalidate his scholarship. So better to stay put sadly. If we can get him home for Christmas we will be happy. It is just so enraging that #scottyfrommarketing and his evil clown posse are such a bunch of cnuts.
 
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golden_blunder

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It is so had to get back that he hasn't even registered to try to get back. There are over 30k in a queue to get home with only low numbers allowed back each week. There are another 100,000-300,000 who are just not trying until things improve. Some are lucky and get back first try and others are cancelled repeatedly. We recently had a terminally ill guy return who had tried to get back from Ireland for 12 months and has just got home a few weeks ahead of his death.

And to get home you have a far higher chance if you buy a 1st class or Business Class ticket as airlines prioritise them to try to make partially full flights economic. Add on the cost of quarantine and it can cost $15,000 or more for a round trip. And he may even not be allowed out which would invalidate his scholarship. So better to stay put sadly. If we can get him home for Christmas we will be happy. It is just so enraging that #scottyfrommarketing and his evil clown posse are such a bunch of cnuts.
Man that’s shit