Coronavirus Super Thread ( merged )

[Footballfirst]

From the Beeb

 

South Africa's health minister says his government believes vaccines and a high level of prior Covid-19 infection are contributing to the wave of milder disease caused by the Omicron variant.

There have been some early suggestions that the Omicron variant driving the country's fourth wave is causing a less severe illness than previous variants in South Africa.

But Joe Phaala told reporters on Friday that the government does not believe the variant is necessarily less virulent than previous waves of the virus.

He said the country was benefiting from the combination of vaccinations and the "natural immunity of people who have already had contact with the virus".

Michelle Groome, from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, added that there had been an uptick in Covid-19 hospital admissions and deaths in recent days.

Vaccination levels in South Africa are high by continental standards, with 44% of the population having received at least one jab, though this is below the government's target to vaccinate 67% of the population by the end of 2021.

[Ray Gin]

18 minutes ago, JamesM48 said:

Forget that its Wooton.

 

But listen to what she says, She should be on  the telly at 12 today with this message and not Elsie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is her advice. Not all that different from ours tbh.

 

Q. What recommendations will you give to the population as a doctor?

A. I will just keep on saying wear a mask, make sure that you’ve got a good mask, and wash it every day. Don’t use a dirty mask and stay away from groups of more than 10 or 15 people, and get your vaccine or your booster, whatever your guidelines for your country are around vaccines.

[Seymour M Hersh]

5 minutes ago, John Gentleman said:

She can "believe" all she wants, but that doesn't make her an epidemiologist. I'll run with what they have to say about it.

 

Trouble is you ask six the same question and you'll get six different answers. 

[JudyJudyJudy]

1 minute ago, Ray Gin said:

 

 

 

This is her advice. Not all that different from ours tbh.

 

Q. What recommendations will you give to the population as a doctor?

A. I will just keep on saying wear a mask, make sure that you’ve got a good mask, and wash it every day. Don’t use a dirty mask and stay away from groups of more than 10 or 15 people, and get your vaccine or your booster, whatever your guidelines for your country are around vaccines.

oh well my staff night out tonight is low numbers so certainly under 10...the brave souls not being swayed by Sturgeon et al. 

[Maroon Sailor]

15 minutes ago, Japan Jambo said:

 

Caught QT by accident last night, thought Nandy handed him his arse on more than one occasion.

 

 

She did

 

One thing I didn't agree with the audience is that people from Stoke on Trent are viewed upon as being friendly. Anybody that has been to a Stoke match or worked with somebody from Stoke might have a different opinion.

[Seymour M Hersh]

6 minutes ago, Ray Gin said:

 

Sadly not found any with a decent resemblance.  

 

Well that comes as no surprise but check out the Krankies website. There's a strong resemblance there and they are rumoured to like a bit of "swinging".  I hope that the image of the three of them in situ has thoroughly ruined your lunch. 

[JudyJudyJudy]

Just now, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

Well that comes as no surprise but check out the Krankies website. There's a strong resemblance there and they are rumoured to like a bit of "swinging".  I hope that the image of the three of them in situ has thoroughly ruined your lunch. 

So true lol...yuck imagine meeting the Krankies when you go out for  a " walk " on a frozen Scottish night . 

[Maroon Sailor]

Nice to see her wearing Scotland blue for a change as opposed to her usual Russia red

[JudyJudyJudy]

Just now, jonesy said:

Gotta love how certain politicians describe restrictions as ‘inevitable’ and ‘unavoidable’ when it’s their decisions that make them reality or not. The language used suggests it is out of their hands when the truth is the opposite.

I  refuse to listen or watch her now but what you are saying is correct.  Shes playing the blame game. 

[Samuel Camazzola]

2 hours ago, Jambo 4 Ever said:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1537300/covid-news-face-mask-uk-american-journal-of-infection-control/amp

 

[Enzo Chiefo]

So hospital numbers continue to fall in Scotland.  Well well well.🤔. 522 and falling, merely a quarter of the peak figure. ICU at 33, down from around 200 at the peak. 

Probably because of, not despite, Omicron. ...yet the political and scientific pant-wetting continues unabated.

[Maroon Sailor]

Interesting how the darts at the Ally Pally is still going on with full crowds in a booze filled atmosphere but most Scottish gigs have been cancelled by the SNP supporting acts or artists.

[JudyJudyJudy]

2 minutes ago, Enzo Chiefo said:

So hospital numbers continue to fall in Scotland.  Well well well.🤔. 522 and falling, merely a quarter of the peak figure. ICU at 33, down from around 200 at the peak. 

Probably because of, not despite, Omicron. ...yet the political and scientific pant-wetting continues unabated.

I know. But "its going to happen"  isn't it. That's now 3 weeks plus we have had omicron in the UK. 

[cannonfoda]

1 minute ago, Enzo Chiefo said:

So hospital numbers continue to fall in Scotland.  Well well well.🤔. 522 and falling, merely a quarter of the peak figure. ICU at 33, down from around 200 at the peak. 

Probably because of, not despite, Omicron. ...yet the political and scientific pant-wetting continues unabated.

Omicron's not really hit the hospital stage yet.  Most of the hospital cases are delta.  It takes 2-3 weeks for the unsurge to mirror onto the hospital figures then onto the deaths.  

[JudyJudyJudy]

1 minute ago, Maroon Sailor said:

Interesting how the darts at the Ally Pally is still going on with full crowds in a booze filled atmosphere but most Scottish gigs have been cancelled by the SNP supporting acts or artists.

I know. Shows how much respect they have for their fans.  Most of those acts are dire anyway... Deacon Blue ? boak

[Savage Vince]

Just now, cannonfoda said:

Omicron's not really hit the hospital stage yet.  Most of the hospital cases are delta.  It takes 2-3 weeks for the unsurge to mirror onto the hospital figures then onto the deaths.  

 

You're wasting your time here. 

[JudyJudyJudy]

Just now, cannonfoda said:

Omicron's not really hit the hospital stage yet.  Most of the hospital cases are delta.  It takes 2-3 weeks for the unsurge to mirror onto the hospital figures then onto the deaths.  

Its been here over 3 weeks and probably much longer before they started looking for it in the tests. 

[Victorian]

3 minutes ago, Enzo Chiefo said:

So hospital numbers continue to fall in Scotland.  Well well well.🤔. 522 and falling, merely a quarter of the peak figure. ICU at 33, down from around 200 at the peak. 

Probably because of, not despite, Omicron. ...yet the political and scientific pant-wetting continues unabated.

 

Arising out of the current smaller numbers.  What's being warned is the hospital numbers arising out of much larger numbers of cases.

 

Milder?  Maybe.  Reduced rate of hospitalisation?  Maybe.  But the questions are :

 

How many cases?

What are the percentages going to be?

 

 

[Unknown user]

2 hours ago, JamesM48 said:

Please refrain from saying I am anti women. I find it homophobic.  

 

Shan post James, nothing homophobic about it and it cheapens the whole thing when you call wolf.

[Enzo Chiefo]

2 minutes ago, cannonfoda said:

Omicron's not really hit the hospital stage yet.  Most of the hospital cases are delta.  It takes 2-3 weeks for the unsurge to mirror onto the hospital figures then onto the deaths.  

It's been circulating here for weeks. The average time from positive test to hospitalisation is 3 - 10 days. We should have seen an impact by now but, thankfully, haven't. 

[Enzo Chiefo]

1 minute ago, Victorian said:

 

Arising out of the current smaller numbers.  What's being warned is the hospital numbers arising out of much larger numbers of cases.

 

Milder?  Maybe.  Reduced rate of hospitalisation?  Maybe.  But the questions are :

 

How many cases?

What are the percentages going to be?

 

 

Yes, fair points. But tbh, the faux certainty of "overwhelmed hospitals " from the politicians and scientists does make it sound as if they're willing it to happen.  I'm sure they're not but,as I said previously,  if the Govt were seriously as worried privately, as they are publicly,  the cup final on Sunday would not be going ahead in front of 50k fans. That tells us all we need to know imo.

[Footballfirst]

2 minutes ago, JamesM48 said:

I know. But "its going to happen"  isn't it. That's now 3 weeks plus we have had omicron in the UK. 

How many hopitalisations with Omicron would you have expected by now?

 

The percentage of PCR tests showing the "S gene dropout" was 4.2% just 10 days ago. 

There were 3,060 positives of all variants reported 10 days ago, so around 130 would have been Omicron. 

[hughesie27]

What was the point in that Covid update from her. No no restrictions and no major change in what we expected cases to be at.

[Ray Gin]

7 minutes ago, JamesM48 said:

Its been here over 3 weeks and probably much longer before they started looking for it in the tests. 

 

3 weeks ago here there were only a handful of cases.

[Jambo 4 Ever]

14 minutes ago, Samuel Camazzola said:

 

Yawn all you want but if selfish people don’t wear them then it just keep spreading 

[hughesie27]

1 minute ago, Ray Gin said:

 

3 weeks ago here there were only a handful of cases.

Basic maths is a struggle for some.

 

When the hospital numbers do increase they will just deflect to other shite.

Edited December 17, 2021 by hughesie27

[manaliveits105]

but Omicron has been a hammer blow and  theres hard times ahead  apparently - its the Tories fault if businesses go belly up not hers 

 

 

 

[Footballfirst]

1 minute ago, hughesie27 said:

What was the point in that Covid update from her. No no restrictions and no major change in what we expected cases to be at.

Perhaps it is the media who has asked for the briefing and the opportunity to question her.

[Japan Jambo]

26 minutes ago, Maroon Sailor said:

 

She did

 

One thing I didn't agree with the audience is that people from Stoke on Trent are viewed upon as being friendly. Anybody that has been to a Stoke match or worked with somebody from Stoke might have a different opinion.

 

It was noticeable how many folks in the crowd that spoke weren't actually from Stoke in the first place. Doesn't help cure my perception of BBC bias.

[Victorian]

3 minutes ago, Enzo Chiefo said:

Yes, fair points. But tbh, the faux certainty of "overwhelmed hospitals " from the politicians and scientists does make it sound as if they're willing it to happen.  I'm sure they're not but,as I said previously,  if the Govt were seriously as worried privately, as they are publicly,  the cup final on Sunday would not be going ahead in front of 50k fans. That tells us all we need to know imo.

 

Partly agree on measures.  There is a contradiction.  

 

But looking at today's clinical picture is more or less irrelevant.  We'll know soom enough.

[Ray Gin]

5 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

What was the point in that Covid update from her. No no restrictions and no major change in what we expected cases to be at.

 

She did announce £100 million support for hospitality

[hughesie27]

Just now, Ray Gin said:

 

She did announce £100 million support for hospitality

She announced that the other day. Today she updated the specific breakdown of where it will go.

[Dennis Denuto]

4 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

How many hopitalisations with Omicron would you have expected by now?

 

The percentage of PCR tests showing the "S gene dropout" was 4.2% just 10 days ago. 

There were 3,060 positives of all variants reported 10 days ago, so around 130 would have been Omicron. 

Agreed, but the total number of cases was going up 10 days ago so it is still a bit surprising that hospital numbers are dropping.

 

In London they are still only going up slowly.

 

There does look to be more positive signs that negative - I agree we need to be cautious but Tsunami/Tidal Wave/Storm etc all seem to be the wrong kind of messaging.

[1874robbo]

1 minute ago, Ray Gin said:

 

She did announce £100 million support for hospitality

More money found down the back of the couch I assume? 

[theshed]

7 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

What was the point in that Covid update from her. No no restrictions and no major change in what we expected cases to be at.

 

Is she finished? 

 

No no changes and football ect still to go ahead?

[hughesie27]

Best metric to look at regarding cases is thr % of positive tests against total number tested. That figure is sticking g around the 10% figure. You'd expect that to be going up given Omicron is supposedly 3 times more transmittable. 

[Ray Gin]

2 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

She announced that the other day. Today she updated the specific breakdown of where it will go.

 

👍 Only caught a wee bit yesterday.

[hughesie27]

1 minute ago, theshed said:

 

Is she finished? 

 

No no changes and football ect still to go ahead?

Correct.

 

Said its hard to cancel these big events without financial support to compensate those impacted.

[Victorian]

1 minute ago, hughesie27 said:

Best metric to look at regarding cases is thr % of positive tests against total number tested. That figure is sticking g around the 10% figure. You'd expect that to be going up given Omicron is supposedly 3 times more transmittable. 

 

PCR test results data will be redundant fairly soon.  Test capacity is around 800,000 per day.  As soon as demand goes beyond the capacity,  the results of tests done will not reveal a true representation.

[hughesie27]

1 minute ago, Victorian said:

 

PCR test results data will be redundant fairly soon.  Test capacity is around 800,000 per day.  As soon as demand goes beyond the capacity,  the results of tests done will not reveal a true representation.

Sure but if that was the case you'd still expect the ones we can process to show a significant increase?

Wonder if we will see 2 or 3 day wait for a result soon. That will bugger a lot of folk.

[been here before]

28 minutes ago, Samuel Camazzola said:

 

 

Is that that Cherry lassie from Inside The Factory?

[Samuel Camazzola]

1 minute ago, been here before said:

 

Is that that Cherry lassie from Inside The Factory?

👍 

 

15 minutes ago, Jambo 4 Ever said:

Yawn all you want but if selfish people don’t wear them then it just keep spreading 

I'm sure folk can make an informed choice without the need of your constant trolling. 

 

If you want to wear a specific standard of face covering, pee on folk or be pee'd on, that's your choice. 👍 

[been here before]

20 minutes ago, Jambo 4 Ever said:

Yawn all you want but if selfish people don’t wear them then it just keep spreading 

 

5 minutes ago, been here before said:

 

Is that that Cherry lassie from Inside The Factory?

 

1 minute ago, Samuel Camazzola said:

👍

 

 

 

Its not him thats yawning Gumbo, its the Cherry lassie from Inside The Factory.

[Don Dan]

I suspect todays Nicola Show was more about this weekend. This will be the big weekend for Christmas Nights Out etc and she will be want to emphasise the fear factor and the vaccine uptake.

[Mysterion]

On 14/12/2021 at 23:32, Ked said:

I will be honest here.

I wear a mask in the concourse the toilets and everywhere until I sit in my seat.

And it makes feel stupid.

I do it out of respect.

I wear mask in shop out of respect.

I'm not convinced of the science but I do it.

I do it out of respect to shop workers

Those that serve bovril 

Those that drive buses.

 

I've many doubts about government and their intentions .

But let's show respect to folk our side of the street just in case.

If nothing else.

 

Respect is important and often dismissed. 

Good post btw.

[Maroon Sailor]

13 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

Correct.

 

Said its hard to cancel these big events without financial support to compensate those impacted.

 

Didn't bother the multiple loaded Deacon Blue or Amy MacDonald who made that decision for her

[Victorian]

4 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

Sure but if that was the case you'd still expect the ones we can process to show a significant increase?

Wonder if we will see 2 or 3 day wait for a result soon. That will bugger a lot of folk.

 

It might,  but there should be a much larger proportion of asymptomatic prevalence and of those with mild symptoms not coming forward.  I think it will take a bit of sorting out to be able to provide reliable figures.  For a while.

[Dennis Denuto]

There are actually fewer reported cases of Omicron today than yesterday, now that can all change when it is adjusted to day of specimen date rather than reported date, but it doesn't suggest to me that we are now in the middle of Tsunami, barely even a wave or a spike.

 

That's not to say it isn't coming though.

[theshed]

16 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

Correct.

 

Said its hard to cancel these big events without financial support to compensate those impacted.

So why was it announced earlier as an emergency press conference if she just waffled on for 30 mins 🤷‍♀️

 

Boris probably got 75 missed calls from her and a 50 WhatsApp’s asking for a loan of some money before she went on air 

[Fire_At_The_Disco]

 

1 hour ago, Maroon Sailor said:

Nice to see her wearing Scotland blue for a change as opposed to her usual Russia red