Corona Virus main thread

[sonyc 5,491]

Talk of an end seems very premature reading about Beijing. The Chinese authorities have stated that the outbreak is "extremely severe" which ought to strike a strong note of caution.

[Norfolk Dan 308]

320 pages? Worth a read ? 

[Aggy 752]

4 hours ago, Essjayess said:

When thinking the end may  be in sight when dealing with this virus i think caution is the right word Ricardo. Maybe it is a lot less lethal in our neck of the woods right now, can only hope it stays that way. But China has a sudden new batch of positives in Beijing....and today India recorded 1,526 deaths in a single day...so the virus is still out there,  waiting on human failure to not take notice.

Where have you got those figures from? Only sources I can find suggest no more than 400 have been reported on any given day in India. Today was 380.

India has also not managed to ever really slow it down - the new daily cases have only really dipped for the first time in the last couple of days. It would appear from the evidence everywhere that it’s much harder to get it under control once it’s out of hand than keep it under control once you’ve slowed it down.

1 hour ago, sonyc said:

Talk of an end seems very premature reading about Beijing. The Chinese authorities have stated that the outbreak is "extremely severe" which ought to strike a strong note of caution.

The BBC reports 27 new infections today bringing it to 106 in five days. In one of the 5-10 biggest cities in the world. Obviously not to be ignored and forgotten about, but if a city that size can keep an “extremely severe” outbreak down to c.20 new cases (not deaths) a day over a five day period then that suggests a lot to be positive about to me rather than negative. 

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,181]

On one hand, This Global Health Security Index assessment from last October would appear to have a lot of sound advice regarding  prevention and dealing with a pandemic

On the other hand, it ranks the USA first and the UK second in a list of countries most prepared to deal with such a pandemic

[Bill 1,788]

12 hours ago, Aggy said:

The BBC reports 27 new infections today bringing it to 106 in five days. In one of the 5-10 biggest cities in the world. Obviously not to be ignored and forgotten about, but if a city that size can keep an “extremely severe” outbreak down to c.20 new cases (not deaths) a day over a five day period then that suggests a lot to be positive about to me rather than negative. 

or 27 persons identified as being infected - not the same

that is why the R rate is pretty meaningless, as it is backdated data x guesswork

when every single person in the UK is tested in a very short time span, then we will know the number of (new) infections etc

what is known however is that we are seeing a slowdown in the known cases of death and infection

how much is that down to -  more outdoor activity, sun killing off the virus or the number of those susceptible diminishing is not known - some combination of all three would be the most likely

[Surfer 1,547]

First of all let me say I am glad to see this thread relocated to "non football" and second that the death rate in the UK and notably the East of England has declined, super news. Wish I could pass on the same sentiments here in the US, the Federal Government has just shown up it's arms and moved on .. meanwhile, in the real world some States are in real trouble, and no this issue is not caused by the mass street protests.... the positive test rates in these four States are off the charts bad, and similar to NYC at the worst. The US average is 5% of those tested test positive - here it's up to 20%

And all four of these States are in the sunbelt - so it's already hot there.... then there is Florida and Texas, two very big States, Texas is BANNING wearing masks, and in Florida - even the Governor is confused about what is going on there based on today’s press event.

Apart from being in the sunbelt, the other constant factor is - a Republican Governor in each State. It's what your risk happening if you choose to politicize what should be a bi-partisan public health response. 

 

Edited June 17, 2020 by Surfer

[T 190]

There are existing open source corona virus apps already available in other countries. Why on earth doesn't the UK use them. There doesn't appear to be any logical reason than yet again political ideology being more important than people's lives and the  economy in the UK. Not as fundamental as the inability to sort out PPE test, track and trace, schooling  etc but just more of the same government incompetence. 

[Aggy 752]

7 hours ago, Bill said:

or 27 persons identified as being infected - not the same

 

Think it was 27 newly identified. 
 

Bbc today saying 31 new cases in Beijing - total of 137 new in the past week. Yesterday it was 27 and 106 new in five days. So the lower figures must be accumulative rather than total identified.

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,181]

App expected "before winter"

Is this a joke? Why the hell can't they get an app out sooner than that?

[Bill 1,788]

39 minutes ago, Aggy said:

Think it was 27 newly identified. 
 

Bbc today saying 31 new cases in Beijing - total of 137 new in the past week. Yesterday it was 27 and 106 new in five days. So the lower figures must be accumulative rather than total identified.

I stand correct on the wording

my point being though this is pretty meaningless as that number is only out of those tested, so there could be thousands more around the country..... but have not been tested, so don't get counted

[Aggy 752]

19 minutes ago, Bill said:

I stand correct on the wording

my point being though this is pretty meaningless as that number is only out of those tested, so there could be thousands more around the country..... but have not been tested, so don't get counted

Yes agreed and on the R number generally.

This figure was an isolated outbreak in Beijing though, which they appear to have kept under control (as South Korea did with their small outbreak at a warehouse recently ). Yes there might be more infections in the community as a result of the same outbreak but presumably not affecting people enough for them to bother getting a test and certainly not causing many deaths.  point really in response to a couple of others’ posts above about the threat of a ‘second wave’ which we just aren’t seeing anywhere.

[Surfer 1,547]

More on the politicization of mask wearing ... many Republican led States have not recommended wearing them or outright banned them, but even in California there are Counties showing big pushback... for example Orange County between LA and San Diego. OC used to be very Republican - it was a major surprise when the Democrats picked up all of the Congressional seats last time. Well, to cut a long story short, the chief medical officer got death threats and the Sheriff refused to enforce the mask requirement she put in place; so she resigned and OC dropped it. Now the cases are spiking..... 

https://twitter.com/MeetThePress/status/1273327116185145345

Edited June 17, 2020 by Surfer

[Herman 9,713]

14 hours ago, How I Wrote Elastic Man said:

App expected "before winter"

Is this a joke? Why the hell can't they get an app out sooner than that?

Something rather dodgy about this. A lot of money went on a shady procurement and it doesn't work. Corruption?? 

[Van wink 2,994]

 

7,000 people quarantined in German state after local outbreak

Kate Connolly

In Germany’s western state of North Rhein Westphalia, around 7,000 people have been placed in quarantine and schools and kindergartens have been closes after an outbreak of Coronavirus.

The spread is believed to have come from Tönnies, a meat processing plant in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, where there have been 657 confirmed cases of the virus.

Elsewhere, Martin Hikel, mayor in the southern Berlin district of Neukölln, has said authorities are trying to trace the origins of a worrying new spread of the virus there, which has so far infected around 70 local residents. 

Police are reportedly guarding seven neighbouring residential blocks , in which over 370 separate households, many of them living in very cramped conditions, are currently under quarantine.

Hikel said the incidences were extremely concerning, not least because “we still don’t know the full extent of it,” he told Der Spiegel in an interview. 

Hikel said social workers were helping out the families, informing them of the importance of the quarantine and assisting them where possible. A group of locals has formed a network of volunteers, providing the affected residents with packages of food and toys, and going shopping for them.

Hikel said many of those in quarantine are Roma families “who already struggle on a daily basis to make ends meet” and for whom the current situation is a “catastrophe”.

It is believed the spread might have happened during a religious gathering, possibly at a picnic organised by the church. “It is proof that the pandemic is still very much alive,” Hikel said.

The latest scandal at the meat processing plant which has been closed down by authorities, is one of several similar incidents over the past few weeks, to have thrown light on the precarious working conditions of many of the industry’s workers, mainly from southern and eastern Europe, who typically work cheek by jowl, live in close quarters, and regularly travel in large groups to visit their families in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria in particular. As well as concern over the workers’ welfare, the outbreaks have triggered a renewed debate over the meat industry, amid widespread calls for an improvement in standards, including better wages and the introduction of a minimum price policy for meat, particularly in supermarkets.

A video put on YouTube a month ago, from the campaign group Arbeitsunrecht (unfair work) which allegedly shows Tönnies workers sitting in their works canteen shoulder to shoulder even as company bosses insisted they were abiding by physical distancing rules, has gone viral as a result of the latest coverage. 

Updated at 12.02pm BST

 Facebook  Twitter

11.28am 11:28

[Bill 1,788]

1 hour ago, Herman said:

Something rather dodgy about this. A lot of money went on a shady procurement and it doesn't work. Corruption?? 

Incompetence would be the more likely cause

Though with that Jenrick fellow's dodgy doings and the allegation that Johnson is involved, you could be right

[Van wink 2,994]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-cases-new-world-data-second-wave-a9570446.html

Really pleasing to see new infection levels continuing to fall in UK, we need to be keeping a very close eye on whats happening in the rest of the world however.

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by Van wink

[Herman 9,713]

54 minutes ago, Bill said:

Incompetence would be the more likely cause

Though with that Jenrick fellow's dodgy doings and the allegation that Johnson is involved, you could be right

Aye, I just remembered it was outsourced to Serco. So your first sentence is probably correct. 

[Barbe bleu 814]

1 hour ago, Van wink said:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-cases-new-world-data-second-wave-a9570446.html

Really pleasing to see new infection levels continuing to fall in UK, we need to be keeping a very close eye on whats happening in the rest of the world however.

 

Yes, long way to go yet.   We wont be back to a globalised world anytime soon.  

[Herman 9,713]

NHS to now go with the Apple Google track and trace app. 🤨

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

NHS to now go with the Apple Google track and trace app.

What happened to the world beater? Did it lose on penalties again? Did the 1922 committee tell him to dump it before they dump him?

[Herman 9,713]

The government hadn't had a U-turn for over 24 hours and they had to do something. Still, what's another wasted £100 million amongst friends?

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Boris was distracted having to speak to two digital meerkats about getting some work done on his car. I wonder how many quotes he got for the respray of the aeroplane? The one that won't need radar to spot it.

[Bill 1,788]

have we reached 2,000 tests a day yet ?

 

 

ps I wonder how many kids could be fed, instead of painting a plane ?

 

[Van wink 2,994]

1 hour ago, Herman said:

NHS to now go with the Apple Google track and trace app. 🤨

Neither apps seem to work properly.

[Van wink 2,994]

Mortality data now not showing excess deaths according to Hancock, more good news

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

6 hours ago, Herman said:

Something rather dodgy about this. A lot of money went on a shady procurement and it doesn't work. Corruption?? 

Well that has clearly been the case in some of the other contracts, so why not this one?

Having said that it has become absolutely crystal clear that the government are incompetent in nearly everything they touch, so very hard to say at times whether the root cause of many of these huge blunders is utter incompetence or corruption, or indeed a bit of both.

Whatever the cause it is simply incomprehensible how we can have failed so miserably to deliver what is actually a pretty simple app - this is supposed to be one of the business areas that this country is still good at, for crying out loud, and yet once again we have made a global laughing stock of ourselves.

[BigFish 1,986]

3 hours ago, Creative Midfielder said:

Well that has clearly been the case in some of the other contracts, so why not this one?

Having said that it has become absolutely crystal clear that the government are incompetent in nearly everything they touch, so very hard to say at times whether the root cause of many of these huge blunders is utter incompetence or corruption, or indeed a bit of both.

Whatever the cause it is simply incomprehensible how we can have failed so miserably to deliver what is actually a pretty simple app - this is supposed to be one of the business areas that this country is still good at, for crying out loud, and yet once again we have made a global laughing stock of ourselves.

What is worse it was obvious since it was announced to anyone who knew anything that the app wouldn't work. Probably why the rest of the world went for a distributed model, still they are not world beating like us.

The cherry on top was putting the woman responsible for one of the UKs biggest data breaches in charge of the data (because she was a Tory Peer).

Genius.

[sonyc 5,491]

I'm still worried that the track and trace system won't be up to scratch come September, given the way things are going.

It needs to be robust so that any new outbreaks (once this main 'wave' is through ....and it appears there are going to be outbreaks looking at the experience of other countries) can be locked down tightly. If new localised infections are not managed it will create a hellish situation again.

I remain distinctly unconvinced in the management of it all. I'm more encouraged though by the talk and reporting of a vaccine. I wish it was the other way round.

Edited June 18, 2020 by sonyc

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Grandson's girlfriends antibody result says she had it. So we assume our Grandson had it. So, as he lives with us, I assume we had it.

[Bill 1,788]

What is now apparent is that the country is running itself obvious to absurd pronouncements from the government.

People are deciding themselves what distancing they will observe, likewise with masks.

Volunteers have been doing a magnificent job organising a distributing food, The whole health service right across the board have shown commitment and dedication that speaks volumes for them and the human spirit in general.

Widespread and peaceful protests show that voters want  a better society than what the last ten years have dumped on us. And it has been people like Marcus Rashford to put into words what so many know is right.

This horrific killer virus has s seen so many 'ordinary' folk rise to the fore - against so many politicians who have been found wanting.

Bob Dylan may have sung about the 'times they are a changin' - but we have to make that change happen. It is in our hands how we go from here. Royal yachts and painted planes, or schools and nurseries. Do we listen to Jacob Rees-Mogg, or Marcus Rashford ?

Embrace the future or cling to te past. Share our wealth and knowledge with the youth, or resent what they have.... their live ahead of them.

Greta Thurnberg, or Pritti Patel - who best represents your position on the future will tell you all you need to know ......................... .....................mostly about yourself