Coronavirus COVID-19 Thread

[Aramsolari]

Thanks @Aramsolari, I needed that.

@Bambooza:

• In the last 2 weeks, I have lost a grandson to COVID. Life is not fair, I understand that but I never got to meet him because of my own medical condition and then COVID travel restrictions.
• My oldest son (Navy, and not the parent of the above) is being discharged for medical reasons. He has had COVID twice, both in the line of duty. He cannot be vaccinated either right now because of the risk, and he can catch it again if exposed.
• My wife lost an uncle this past winter. He was 66.

My condolences on your losses.

 

[Montoya]

In the last 2 weeks, I have lost a grandson to COVID.

Fuck..

So sorry to hear that, terrible news.

 

[Aramsolari]

Loss cannot be quantified. You cannot bring in charts, statistics, and raw numbers to assuage someone of their loss. When something as devastating as COVID hits you or your loved ones, you’ll move heaven and earth to make things right. Commentary about perceived loss of personal liberties or abstract discussions on the effect that the virus has on our economy is at the end of the day meaningless to those affected.

I think most of us here just want all of this to go away. Until that happens, I hope all of us are patient with each other and our loved ones. Compassion for all.

My condolences to everyone affected, I understand a lot of us aren’t comfortable with sharing our loss/experiences with this community. Know that many of us view this as more than a gaming community.

 

[Bambooza]

Loss cannot be quantified. You cannot bring in charts, statistics, and raw numbers to assuage someone of their loss. When something as devastating as COVID hits you or your loved ones, you’ll move heaven and earth to make things right. Commentary about perceived loss of personal liberties or abstract discussions on the effect that the virus has on our economy is at the end of the day meaningless to those affected.

I think most of us here just want all of this to go away. Until that happens, I hope all of us are patient with each other and our loved ones. Compassion for all.

My condolences to everyone affected, I understand a lot of us aren’t comfortable with sharing their loss/experiences on this community. Know that many of us view this as more than a gaming community.

So very well said.


We are family above all else.

 

[Vavrik]

Know that many of us view this as more than a gaming community.

I know that, and I'm sorry too. I exploded from some stress that had been building, I guess I needed to vent more than I knew. I have made a lot of good friends in TEST, and they include @Bambooza. I am not sure what it was about what you wrote that started to bring me back to reality, but my thanks were genuine.

 

[August]

Thanks @Aramsolari, I needed that.

@Bambooza:

• In the last 2 weeks, I have lost a grandson to COVID. Life is not fair, I understand that but I never got to meet him because of my own medical condition and then COVID travel restrictions.
• My oldest son (Navy, and not the parent of the above) is being discharged for medical reasons. He has had COVID twice, both in the line of duty. He cannot be vaccinated either right now because of the risk, and he can catch it again if exposed.
• My wife lost an uncle this past winter. He was 66.

That's just family.

I worked in the Life Sciences industry for 25 years before I had to leave 3 years ago do to disability. Do you want an enumeration of the losses?

I don't fear death, in part because of my disability, or rather the way I became disabled. But I don't relish the idea of dying the way someone dies with COVID. You're in an ICU, alone except for medical staff who monitor your condition through a window. When one of them needs to come in to check on you, they are dressed like you're a biohazard, and not a human. And you are a biohazard. Then, at some point if they have one they insert a ventilator. They normally sedate you, and push a tube up your nose and down your throat. You're sedated so you don't squirm like a stuck pig or scream in agony. No worries, it's over pretty quickly, then it's just the sound of the ventilator. Once things have gone that far, you have a 30% chance. And no family or friends around. You're a biohazard.
Trust me, you don't really want to know how someone dies if they don't have any ventilators left.

I've watched someone getting ventilated. It was back in 2018. I was in the room that shared the same nurses. He didn't make it. Not a great memory.

I’m so sorry for your loss, Vavrik.

 

[Vavrik]

- Spain: Announces it has vaccinated 70% of the adult population.

- Cuba: To vaccinate children from the age of two years in attempt to hit 90% vaccination rate.

Anyone who is vaccinated, they're OK so far. The data shows that while you can be infected with COVID, you are still being protected from serious disease. However, this may change or challenge some world views, as if they haven't been challenged already.

"Herd immunity" is no longer at 70% that was the estimate for the original (wild) variant. For Alpha the number was estimated at a bit over 80%, and up until now Delta was calculated at somewhere between 90 and 95% (didn't have enough data to be sure). It appears that might need further adjustment, and the direction is currently not in a downward direction.

A growing number of researchers are using the word "endemic" rather than pandemic. That indicates a change from novel to routine (something @Bambooza predicted some time last year.) It is currently only a prediction some researchers are making, but... don't look at the news. It will depress you. Remember those who are vaccinated are currently OK.

By the way, Pfizer has not yet made a booster for Delta, such as the one they said would only take weeks to create. I'm certainly not going to pay for corporate noise, and I sincerely hope the US Government doesn't intend to spend our tax dollars on a promise the company can't deliver. They want to raise the price of the current vaccine to somewhere between $150 and $200 per dose from their rhetoric. Now we've gone through the first two doses, I think maybe it might be cheaper to keep one of our nieces or nephews for a weekend once/month. Some hotdogs and maybe some cookies and ice cream (especially when it's "go home" time seem like a small price to pay in comparison.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

That calculates out to having to know over 500 people before you know one who has died. The average social circle size is 150 which translates to about 1 in 4 social circles have had a covid related death or 25% of the population has lost someone they know about. It's not insignificant but it's also important to realize that a significant part of the population will not be impacted by a covid related death.

That's an interesting concept, that the death rate to make everyone personally expiriance a death has to hit 1 in 150 based on average social size... Personal example: the supermarket I shop at the most popular, friendy and engaging staff member died from COVID-19 and then their car was stolen by grave-robbing thieves days after they passed knowing their estate was now left undefended. 10k people must have known and had a positive personal impression of that person and the robbery amplified their passing in the local papers and news. Very few will have been under the assumption they may have just left that job.

That kind of consideration, though, sounds like a political issue...? I can't think of any other use for a metric like that other than to be used to guage public opinion and the optics on a governance reaction to a situation? Thinking of another example, relying on personal impact it would be like ignoring the AIDs epidemic in the 80's because they were under the naieve and wrong impression that it only effected gay men and... oh... no, that didn't go well at all did it...?

An incumbent government needs a majority vote to stay at the controls, so to guarantee that, to put a number on it, lets say they desire and aim for 50.1% of the vote. Back of envelope calculations assuming someone who loses a loved one equates it to a failure of government and solomely swears not to vote for the people who lost them that person, and a lost voter, a death rate of 1 in 299 would need to be avoided to assume a 50.1% return at the polls.

I know its not exactly as simple as that, social circles can overlap and one person can be known by many more than just 150 people, there is the infection rate, there is the long term illness rate, the rate of children becoming sick Infront of their parents eyes etc but I can only see death rate based on impact at personal level being used to balance political concerns?

Government wants to keep the economy running because what is more important than indevidual lives? The Greater Good in keeping everything running and functioning to a level where people are kept comfortable enough to keep voting for the incumbents to keep them at the helm too, so...

Is what we are saying here, basically, that a Capatalist Democracy's rulers reaction to a pandemic can only ever be a politically driven socialist response of encouraging personal sacrifice of one's potential/saftey/life for The Greater Good of keeping the economy ringfenced, with the limit on how how fast the crisis can be allowed to unfold being that of how big the average social size is so it can restrain negative optics to keep the electorate at a realistic potential for the next election?

If so, one thing has not been taken into account: Time.

If the crisis continues long enough (indefinately) the chance of being personally effected increases to the point of it being a 100% certainty.

It's probably why there is now a narrative to 'live with covid'. Yeah it took them 40 years to get people to wear seatbelts its going to take more than one term to get that into the collective consciousness.

 

[Bambooza]

Anyone who is vaccinated, they're OK so far. The data shows that while you can be infected with COVID, you are still being protected from serious disease. However, this may change or challenge some world views, as if they haven't been challenged already.

"Herd immunity" is no longer at 70% that was the estimate for the original (wild) variant. For Alpha the number was estimated at a bit over 80%, and up until now Delta was calculated at somewhere between 90 and 95% (didn't have enough data to be sure). It appears that might need further adjustment, and the direction is currently not in a downward direction.

A growing number of researchers are using the word "endemic" rather than pandemic. That indicates a change from novel to routine (something @Bambooza predicted some time last year.) It is currently only a prediction some researchers are making, but... don't look at the news. It will depress you. Remember those who are vaccinated are currently OK.

By the way, Pfizer has not yet made a booster for Delta, such as the one they said would only take weeks to create. I'm certainly not going to pay for corporate noise, and I sincerely hope the US Government doesn't intend to spend our tax dollars on a promise the company can't deliver. They want to raise the price of the current vaccine to somewhere between $150 and $200 per dose from their rhetoric.

No clue what is going on with Delta and Pfizer (sort of not liking the greek naming as it makes it hard to find which variants are associated with which research strain). My hope at this point is that it just becomes part of the yearly flu shot and hopefully the uptake will be similar to the flu shot and ignored as to who has and as not. This division over the vaccine is not a good thing for future stability.

Now we've gone through the first two doses, I think maybe it might be cheaper to keep one of our nieces or nephews for a weekend once/month. Some hotdogs and maybe some cookies and ice cream (especially when it's "go home" time seem like a small price to pay in comparison.

You should. For me, this is the most painful part of this pandemic is the separation of the family. My wife and I were unable to say goodbye to grandparents who passed away in the last two years nor were they allowed to see their great-grandkids due to restrictions. Even their funerals have been put on hold because of concern over the virus and gatherings. In some ways, it's almost like they are Schrödinger's cat. The one who died most recently their VA doctor blames it on the vaccine due to it causing stress on the immune system that allowed brain tumors to quickly develop and grow at a quick pace. While I am rather skeptical of the diagnostic there is a fair number of the family who firmly believes it and so it's easy to see how people simply are trying to make some understanding of the chaos. For me, it really enforces the idea of don't put off spending time with friends and family. Try and mitigate the risk but don't put it off for life is far too short and death far too random to protect against every possibilty. After all, one just needs to look at a children's hospital to see just how unfair it all is.

That's an interesting concept, that the death rate to make everyone personally expiriance a death has to hit 1 in 150 based on average social size... Personal example: the supermarket I shop at the most popular, friendy and engaging staff member died from COVID-19 and then their car was stolen by grave-robbing thieves days after they passed knowing their estate was now left undefended. 10k people must have known and had a positive personal impression of that person and the robbery amplified their passing in the local papers and news. Very few will have been under the assumption they may have just left that job.

That kind of consideration, though, sounds like a political issue...? I can't think of any other use for a metric like that other than to be used to guage public opinion and the optics on a governance reaction to a situation? Thinking of another example, relying on personal impact it would be like ignoring the AIDs epidemic in the 80's because they were under the naieve and wrong impression that it only effected gay men and... oh... no, that didn't go well at all did it...?

An incumbent government needs a majority vote to stay at the controls, so to guarantee that, to put a number on it, lets say they desire and aim for 50.1% of the vote. Back of envelope calculations assuming someone who loses a loved one equates it to a failure of government and solomely swears not to vote for the people who lost them that person, and a lost voter, a death rate of 1 in 299 would need to be avoided to assume a 50.1% return at the polls.

I know its not exactly as simple as that, social circles can overlap and one person can be known by many more than just 150 people, there is the infection rate, there is the long term illness rate, the rate of children becoming sick Infront of their parents eyes etc but I can only see death rate based on impact at personal level being used to balance political concerns?

Government wants to keep the economy running because what is more important than indevidual lives? The Greater Good in keeping everything running and functioning to a level where people are kept comfortable enough to keep voting for the incumbents to keep them at the helm too, so...

Is what we are saying here, basically, that a Capatalist Democracy's rulers reaction to a pandemic can only ever be a politically driven socialist response of encouraging personal sacrifice of one's potential/saftey/life for The Greater Good of keeping the economy ringfenced, with the limit on how how fast the crisis can be allowed to unfold being that of how big the average social size is so it can restrain negative optics to keep the electorate at a realistic potential for the next election?

If so, one thing has not been taken into account: Time.

If the crisis continues long enough (indefinately) the chance of being personally effected increases to the point of it being a 100% certainty.

It's probably why there is now a narrative to 'live with covid'. Yeah it took them 40 years to get people to wear seatbelts its going to take more than one term to get that into the collective consciousness.

It is an interesting concept and while it does not take into account the human toll at the micro-level it does attempt to address the needs of the majority at the macro level. The other thing to remember its is based upon averages and so there will be those with both larger and smaller social circles and those who have had more of an impact than 1 known death from covid. As for your supermarket example, it does ask far more questions. Is it truly 10k unique visitors as most supermarkets have a smaller patron size than take into consideration a 35-hour workweek and it's easy to see the number of people they interact with over a given month is far smaller. Of those how many actually took the time to say more than a few words or even think of them after the brief interaction? How many would even realize they were gone or why they were gone if not for an outside news source like the paper, radio, or television? Often times you can use these new sources as an inverse indication as they report on something that is rare or unusual. The prime example is any plane crash is covered by the media for days if not weeks and spread far and wide, not because most of the people on the plane were well known but because the event itself is unique. Even more saddening is how well-known serial killers are, as I am sure most of us know a few names and possibly even a few faces and while we would not count them as part of our social circle they are still known. And as much as celebrities have a wide reach into social circles their impact on passing is fairly short-lived most of us would not even be aware of their departure if not for the media.

Beyond public opinion its useful on an economic scale to determine the impact on the markets and if handled correctly steps taken to mitigate the long-term effects. After all, there is no use in a lockdown to save the people if it results in no fields being planted, no harvest to be reaped, and no food to feed the masses. For some will argue that even if we did not plant this year there is enough stockpiled food to carry us over a year and while it is true the meaning in the words tells the tale of how fragile the world economy is. Recent history has countless examples of economic disruption leading to widespread famines that easily wipes out millions of people. So it's more a question of where is the balance between the needs of the few vs the needs of the many? And that is where social circles and the percent of the population impacted comes into play as much as it's also a very real political calculation. As much as an incumbent government needs the majority vote to stay in control government they also need the majority of the people themselves to follow the rules of goverment push too far and lose too much support even if you still have the biggest support of the fractured political landscape and society grinds to a halt. A great example of economic disruption is the current gas prices within the USA and as much as some like to blame the current president for it has nothing to do with him and how quickly they forgot the significant disruption to gas demand lead to crude oil prices going negative because there was no place to store it. This forced producers to cut output and now we are demanding far more than what is being produced and there is a significant lag between ramping up production and filling the demand. The farmers are going to feel the higher fuel prices shortly come harvest time and will either need to absorb the costs resulting in lower profits or pass on the higher costs to the downstream demand. (there is also an issue with drought and crop yield this year within the midwest corn belt so it's going to be interesting to see what the yield ends up being even with the heavy use of hybrids) Two other pandemic implemented policies the rent and mortgage moratorium are soon to be phased out and it's anyone's guess as to the impact it's going to have on the housing market which has lots of knock-on effects. The end question has always been. Did any of these measures lead to a reduction in the number of covid related deaths and was that reduction worth the economic hardships we will be feeling for years to come. One final thought is the last two world wars were caused by economic depression and that lead to millions of lives lost. Sometimes the best course is to do nothing beyond the sorrow for those who have passed on. Of course, impact too many social circles with sorrow and things break down anyways.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Thursday 2nd of September:

- World: 218,814,466 confirmed cases and 4,548,237 confirmed deaths.

- Variants: WHO adds mutant B.1.621 to the list of Variants of Interest giving it the 12th letter of the Greek alphabet "Mu" designation.

- Africa: The African COVID enjoy announces that doses manufactured in South African plant will no longer be exported to Europe and will be distributed in Africa, with millions of doses to be returned to the continent.

- UK: Research suggests risk of Long COVID 50% lower in those who have been double-jabbed who then contract the virus anyway, with symptoms for most not lasting more then 4 weeks.

- UK: Cases and deaths begin to creep upwards again, having plateaued at around 30k new daily cases saw a slow climb upwards and now sees today's new cases standing at 38,154.

- US: GM to put eight factories across the Americas into idle as chip-shortage hampers production.

- US: To invest $3 billion in vaccine supply chain.

- Movies: Mission Impossible 7 and Top Gun: Maverick postponed due to surge in US COVID cases likely to hamper box-office attendance.

- Tanzania: President confronts colleague politician who had been vocal against vaccination, using a nickname to call him out: “Gwaji-boy, are we vaccinating or are we not vaccinating?”

- India: Sees largest rise in new cases in two months.

- Bulgaria: Brings in new precautions as forecasts of a new wave on the horizon emerge.

- France: Children returning to School for the new academic year are greeted with the following message from the President: "You need to keep getting vaccinated, and you need, even if I know it’s a bit unpleasant, to continue wearing a mask in the classroom, wash your hands and keep your distance."

- Cypress: To begin Booster program for the vulnerable.

- Belgium: Doctors in Brussels to be given the option to prescribe visits to museums as part of a trial to counter burn-out and mental anguish caused by the pandemic.

 

[Vavrik]

Variants: WHO adds mutant B.1.621 to the list of Variants of Interest giving it the 12th letter of the Greek alphabet "Mu" designation.

Note not yet a Variant Of Concern, but it has properties that could make it so if it demonstrates it can survive against Delta. It has been reported in quite low numbers in the US.

We're going to run out of letters in the Greek alphabet then just to confuse everyone they're going to add numbers again and even the statisticians are going to go nuts.

 

[CitizenDad]

View: https://youtu.be/IZrNenQHklM

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Friday 3rd of September:

- World: 219,401,052 confirmed cases and 4,546,936 confirmed deaths.

- EU/AstraZeneca: Court action everted with agreement reached in wrangle between the vaccine maker and the EU - AZ will deliver 200 million doses to the Bloc by March 2022.

- Australia/UK: Australia obtains an additional 4 million Pfizer doses in swap agreement with the UK.

- UK: Police prevent Anti-Vax protestors from invading the headquarters of Britain’s medical regulator during violent clashes.

- UK: Knock on effect of lorry driver shortage caused by the pandemic emerges as Seasonal Flu vaccine maker reveals they are 2 weeks behind on deliveries due to lack of transport. "General practice and the entire NHS is dependent on the smooth roll-out of the winter flu vaccination programme. It cannot fail,"

- UK: Multiple areas suffer refuse collection issues as shortage of lorry drivers effects bin collection capacity.

- UK: Vaccines watchdog rules out vaccination for the 12 to 15 age band but children with underlying health conditions will receive one, about 200,000 people.

- Israel: Booster program is beginning to show signs it is working in the age groups it has been implemented in, with one doctor saying "The triple dose is the solution to curbing the current infection outbreak." The world watches with interest.

- New Zealand: Infection continues to fall with 28 new daily cases.

- Denmark: Elderly in care homes will receive a booster starting next week.

- Hawaii: Concerns are raised that a lack of government action is worsening the COVID situation on the islands: “Soon we’re going to be in a situation where we’re going to ration health care,”

 

[Aramsolari]

View: https://youtu.be/IZrNenQHklM

So we immediately threw the kitchen sink at it — all kinds of meds: monoclonal antibodies, ivermectin ... everything. And I also got an NAD drip and a vitamin drip, and I did that three days in a row.” Monoclonal antibodies are authorized treatments for COVID-19, but the others are not.

What a clown. He basically threw money at the problem. What about the millions of people who don't have access to his level of health care?

Never understood why people like Joe Rogan so much. He's basically Oprah for dudes. Broprah Winfrey.

 

[CitizenDad]

So we were leaning towards putting CitizenGunnar into in-person school at Chinook for obvious social and educational reasons.

Then today we got an alert, and were called, emailed, etc and saw on the local news that our school was infiltrated by some "Proud Boys" or some stupid shit.

3 Vancouver schools placed on lockdown after Proud Boys try to enter during masks protest

Vancouver Public Schools officials confirmed on Friday that Skyview High School, Alki Middle School and Chinook Elementary were put in lockdown.

www.opb.org

WATCH: Proud Boy gives 'disturbing' prayer for maskless girl at rally that caused 3 school lockdowns

Vancouver Public Schools put three Washington schools on lockdown on Friday.Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the district put Skyview High School, Alki Middle School, and Chinook Elementary School on lockdown "after members of the far-right Proud Boys tried to gain access to school...

www.rawstory.com

I think this is a clear sign that we should probably just get out kids out of this stupid area full of wackos and crazies because it's just absurd that kids have to put up with this and become political pawns for their shitty parents.

All this over masks? What the fuck is wrong with people? Maybe 5G is a real problem. Maybe along with turning frogs gay and causing biden to eat babies or whatever it is just melting all of these idiots brains. That would make some sort of sense.

Sigh.

Rant over I guess.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/phe4iz View: https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/phe4iz/3_vancouver_schools_placed_on_lockdown_after/

http://imgur.com/a/u1T61QL

View: https://imgur.com/a/u1T61QL

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Apologies for late entry, was wrapped up on Saturday with working on Mrs 'BobFace's orders.

COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Saturday 4th of September:

- World: (at time of writing) 220,239,588 confirmed cases and 4,560,851confirmed deaths.

- New Zealand: Movie Max Cinema in Timaru goes viral after a worker set an answerphone message advising they were closed until the COVID alert level dropped to Level 2, but didn't realise their failed attempts at recording the message, including frustrated expletives, were left in the recording played to the public.

- New Zealand: New daily cases drop to 20 in latest wave.

- US: Oklahoma Doctor pleads with public not to take Horse de-wormer Ivermectin following multiple overdoses disrupt hospital ER operations: "Some people taking inappropriate doses have actually put themselves in worse conditions than if they'd caught Covid. You have to ask yourself, 'If I take this medicine, what am I going to do if something bad happens?' What's your next step, what's your back-up plan? If you're going to take a medicine that could affect your health, do it with a doctor on board." The local health board released a statement on Facebook saying "NHS (Northeastern Health Service) Sequoyah has not treated any patients due to complications related to taking ivermectin. This includes not treating any patients for ivermectin overdose." and the doctor was only indirectly employed in the Emergency Room via a contractor and had not been in the setting for over 2 months, however that doesn't mean he is not employed/in touch with places elsewhere that have.

- US: Arizona man threatens a school principle with Citizens Arrest and restraint by zip tie, after becoming upset that his child may miss a school trip after needing to self isolate due to possible COVID-19 exposure. Police called, man arrested. It is not known if he was restrained with cuffs or zip ties.

- UK: Following Fridays Vaccines Watchdog advising that children ages 12 to 15 should not be vaccinated as medically speaking there would be minimal benefit, politicians insist they should be vaccinated, asking the regulator to reconsider by taking in to account non-medical aspects such as impact on a childs schooling if they are taken out of education due to Long COVID.

- UK: Reports emerge suggesting tax hikes are on the way to pay for crumbling social care infrastructure, which had its funding systematically reduced over the course of the last decade or more through Austerity measures, but was critical to the UK's COVID response.

 

[Bambooza]

- US: Oklahoma Doctor pleads with public not to take Horse de-wormer Ivermectin following multiple overdoses disrupt hospital ER operations: "Some people taking inappropriate doses have actually put themselves in worse conditions than if they'd caught Covid. You have to ask yourself, 'If I take this medicine, what am I going to do if something bad happens?' What's your next step, what's your back-up plan? If you're going to take a medicine that could affect your health, do it with a doctor on board." The local health board released a statement on Facebook saying "NHS (Northeastern Health Service) Sequoyah has not treated any patients due to complications related to taking ivermectin. This includes not treating any patients for ivermectin overdose." and the doctor was only indirectly employed in the Emergency Room via a contractor and had not been in the setting for over 2 months, however that doesn't mean he is not employed/in touch with places elsewhere that have.

How is this news? We have a Dr who is saying one thing but the regional hospital service is saying no such event has happened in their system? While one shouldn't take the livestock version of Ivermectin as it's not a very controlled or safe way to administer the drugs the drug has been administered for countless years for a number of ailments (dubious as to the effect it would have on a virus but we daily see how fear incites actions of questionable logic). Truthfully the title should be "Oklahoma doctor lies about Ivermectin usage leading to hospital ER disruption" while I would strongly not taking Horse de-wormer I have known several ranchers who did when working around the pens before shipping the livestock to the spring grazing fields.

- UK: Following Fridays Vaccines Watchdog advising that children ages 12 to 15 should not be vaccinated as medically speaking there would be minimal benefit, politicians insist they should be vaccinated, asking the regulator to reconsider by taking in to account non-medical aspects such as impact on a childs schooling if they are taken out of education due to Long COVID.

Wait how is the impact on child schooling now a consideration went they shut down schools and tried distance learning last year and this year? And it's a fair point that if the vaccine is of minimal benefit and there is more risk from complications from the vaccine than getting sick from Covid then it should be taken into account.

- UK: Reports emerge suggesting tax hikes are on the way to pay for crumbling social care infrastructure, which had its funding systematically reduced over the course of the last decade or more through Austerity measures, but was critical to the UK's COVID response.

We are all going to pay the piper for the actions taken over the past two years. Nothing is free.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

How is this news?

Not being a journalist, I wouldn't know how this became international news.

Wait how is the impact on child schooling now a consideration went they shut down schools and tried distance learning last year and this year?

Alas, not being either the UKs national vaccination authority or a politician, I'm not placed to answer that one either.

We are all going to pay the piper for the actions taken over the past two years. Nothing is free.

As a tax payer, I can tell you the raise in tax to support the Social Services will not cover the impact of the austerity measures that have been in place since the financial crash of 2008. For example, 20,000 more police officers were promised in the 2019 general election but that still wasn't enough to cover the loss of officers over the last decade so we were not even put back to where we were 10 years ago - which was, argueably, an inadequate position to begin with.

 

[Bambooza]

Coronavirus Mu variant discovered in the US

wait until we have Mu2. :)

 

[Bambooza]

Not being a journalist, I wouldn't know how this became international news.

True but you still filter what news you put up here and summarize it.

Alas, not being either the UKs national vaccination authority or a politician, I'm not placed to answer that one either.

The will of the people still get a voice and asking questions like this and voting on policies or for politicians who ask sound questions is the responsibility of the people. As for me its a question worth asking even if we do not have enough information to answer.

As a tax payer, I can tell you the raise in tax to support the Social Services will not cover the impact of the austerity measures that have been in place since the financial crash of 2008. For example, 20,000 more police officers were promised in the 2019 general election but that still wasn't enough to cover the loss of officers over the last decade so we were not even put back to where we were 10 years ago - which was, argueably, an inadequate position to begin with.

Not trying to pick on the UK. I think at this point in time most if not all countries are in the same boat. We had not fully recovered from 2008 most countries have a huge amount of debt going into this and it's only gotten worse. We know that hyperinflation is real we just don't know what the tipping point is nor at what point too much taxation will cause an active revolt and destabilization of the government.