Coronavirus

[Nemo]

I got tested yesterday and got the result today, but a couple of others I know have not, so it's clearly not always within 24 hours. We were told not to chase until 4 days had elapsed.

Now locked in an absolute farce of NHS bureaucracy to prove to Test and Trace Wales that we've been vaccinated by NHS Scotland. Called five different agencies today and none of them seem to have the slightest idea how to let eachother know anything.

Generally painfully rule following but pretty close to just giving up and going about my life. I have the Covid pass to prove my status, but for whatever reason the test and trace people can't see that on their computers and have, as you'd expect, zero ability to work with anything outside their normal process.

[Ardiles]

If this trend continues much longer and there’s proof it is a mild variable it will be interesting to see at what point we are happy to just let it rip without any restrictions and hope it becomes the endemic strain.

I know the usual suspects would probably cry it might mutate again and become more dangerous but that could effectively be true for the rest of time so we can’t just continue on that basis.

Keeping it all crossed.  If true, this is how pandemics usually resolve themselves.  Mutation to a less harmful variant (as predicted by laws of natural selection) which we all then get exposed to & immunised against.  That's certainly how the Spanish Flu epidemic finished up.

Still to early to say for sure, but let's hope the early data stands up.

[Berniman]

yeah, what's a 'freedom pcr'

has she been abroad or something?

It's not a thing, just a term of phrase I used to say that she would be finally free from isolation

[michael]

Some good news is that some brands of the Lateral Flow tests now come with the fluid already dispensed into the test tube/pipette. To my eye it looks like a bit more fluid as well. Great innovation. They still haven't sorted out the problem where the hole (in the box) to put the test tube/pipette in only really works if you empty the box completely, but at least progress is being made.

[horlock07]

Some good news is that some brands of the Lateral Flow tests now come with the fluid already dispensed into the test tube/pipette. To my eye it looks like a bit more fluid as well. Great innovation. They still haven't sorted out the problem where the hole (in the box) to put the test tube/pipette in only really works if you empty the box completely, but at least progress is being made.

Some of them have been like that for ages.

[Batch]

yeah, it's moved on from making me gag on throat swabs to now making me sneeze with nose only swabs

much better now tbf

[Batch]

no covid announcements before Christmas. ... in England

so one assumes 27th then, given Johnson isn't going to work on a Sunday

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

South African cases are coming down rapidly. Hoping they hold off long enough to see the same happen here. If they don't they'll just claim it was because they locked us down.

[Batch]

South African cases are coming down rapidly. Hoping they hold off long enough to see the same happen here. If they don't they'll just claim it was because they locked us down.

yeah. hopefully we follow SA and we get to carry on BAU

[Bob's Orange]

yeah, it's moved on from making me gag on throat swabs to now making me sneeze with nose only swabs

much better now tbf

ha - yeah they are sneeze inducing aren't they!!

[theakston2k]

South African cases are coming down rapidly. Hoping they hold off long enough to see the same happen here. If they don't they'll just claim it was because they locked us down.

That’s the key, we really need it to spike and fall before they put anymore NPI’s in place so that the likes of ‘Independent SAGE’ can’t claim credit and future calls for restrictions will be even less likely to be acted on.

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

That’s the key, we really need it to spike and fall before they put anymore NPI’s in place so that the likes of ‘Independent SAGE’ can’t claim credit and future calls for restrictions will be even less likely to be acted on.

I mean they're wrong on virtually everything. At this point I'm not sure how they have any credibility left. My personal favourite was when they gave about 6 different options of modeling and we were better than the best case scenario and they still delayed removing restrictions by two weeks.

[theakston2k]

I mean they're wrong on virtually everything. At this point I'm not sure how they have any credibility left. My personal favourite was when they gave about 6 different options of modeling and we were better than the best case scenario and they still delayed removing restrictions by two weeks.

The modelling is an interesting one, it came out the other day that SAGE only model scenarios where a decision needs to be made. JP Morgan did a model that assumed the virus had lower virulence and SAGE were asked why wasn’t that model included for completeness to give a full range of results. Their response was that there is no point as people aren’t interested in scenarios where no decisions need to be made.

So it appears the decision makers only get scenarios that have bad outcomes with no context of probability so it’s hardly surprising we keep lurching towards restrictions if decision makers only ever see ‘bad’ models. At the start modelling was much more accurate as the virus behaviour was more predictable, but with vaccinations and natural immunity it’s now much harder to predict and the ‘modellers’ admit this. I think that is why this time there has been a push back from some of the cabinet as to the accuracy of the models.

It’s also a sad reflection of the media that they’ve used these models to spread doom and gloom with headline grabbing figures but haven’t provided the context that these are just scenarios and not necessarily high probability scenarios.

[SleafordRobin]

So been extremely careful in recent weeks as my son & his missus are over from the States for Christmas, he's not been home for 3 years & desperate to be here for the festive period. Today get a message from someone my missus & I met up with briefly on Tues to say she'd returned a possitive LFT & off to do a PCR.

We all took LFT's & I have come back positive! To reduce the risk to my son & his wife and my missus they've all gone to stay with my daughter (same village) so at least my wife can spend some time with our son, but I'm sat at home on my own, PCR booked for tomorrow morning, but unlikely to get result til boxing day, so braced for Christmas on my own! Shit times indeed.

[Private Fraser]

So been extremely careful in recent weeks as my son & his missus are over from the States for Christmas, he's not been home for 3 years & desperate to be here for the festive period. Today get a message from someone my missus & I met up with briefly on Tues to say she'd returned a possitive LFT & off to do a PCR.

We all took LFT's & I have come back positive! To reduce the risk to my son & his wife and my missus they've all gone to stay with my daughter (same village) so at least my wife can spend some time with our son, but I'm sat at home on my own, PCR booked for tomorrow morning, but unlikely to get result til boxing day, so braced for Christmas on my own! Shit times indeed.

That’s rotten luck SR!