Coronavirus COVID-19 Thread

[NaffNaffBobFace]

How was that Covid party of his?

They appear to still be running the country.

 

[Aramsolari]

They appear to still be running the country.

Heh. Good one.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Corner - Some reports from some news outlets* from today, Friday 14th of January 2022:
*claims made by headlines or articles are those of the outlets and have not been independently verified, or in some cases even read, by myself.

- World: Global Confirmed 321,752,884 Global Deaths 5,525,560

- US: U.S. Confirmed 64,423,447

- US: Supreme Court blocks Joe Biden's vaccine mandate

- UK: No 10 apologises to Queen over Lockdown parties on eve of Prince Philip funeral

- UK: 'High confidence' Omicron is less severe in UK

- UK: More babies are being admitted to hospital with Covid

- UK: Number of Covid deaths in Scotland passes 10,000

- Australia: Tennis star Novak Djokovic is to be detained following visa revoked again

- Poland: More than two thirds of Poland’s Covid-19 medical advisory body resigns

- Netherlands: restrictions in the Netherlands will be eased from Saturday

- UK: One in 10 people in north-west England had Covid last week, ONS says

- UK: Expect another Omicron wave in early summer, Sage says

- Italy: Italian police object to being sent pink face masks to wear on duty

 

[PeppaPigKilla]

I'd love to see what testies from another part of the world think of the UK/England when you read headlines about England.

I mean I live here and it all screams we don't give a fuck

 

[Aramsolari]

I'd love to see what testies from another part of the world think of the UK/England when you read headlines about England.

I mean I live here and it all screams we don't give a fuck

I would say something but something something those who live in glass houses....lol

 

[Jolly_Green_Giant]

I'd love to see what testies from another part of the world think of the UK/England when you read headlines about England.

I mean I live here and it all screams we don't give a fuck

A lot of the articles you see are from the guardian, which is a UK news source. Being from the US, I see our headlines too and its not much different. Some things anger you, some things make you feel better. Nothing will ever be "enough" so I don't have any expectations for the UK either way. I live in Florida. We're all just chillin and doing our own thing, some weeks we have the highest rates in the country, some weeks we have the lowest. We don't have any sort of mandates other than mandates preventing mandates. So when I look at the UK I just think "well, I hope whatever theyre doing is what the people want".

My grandmother in her late 70s (really healthy for her age) just got COVID, its really kicking her ass and has me worried but shes getting over it. Shes been boosted and vaccinated so I'm sure thats worked in her favor, we can only assume it would be worse without.

 

[Jolly_Green_Giant]

It's not getting any better.

Supply Chain Latest: China’s Covid Fight Risks More Supply Turmoil - Bloomberg

 

[Radegast74]

- US: Supreme Court blocks Joe Biden's vaccine mandate

If you need a good laugh, it should be noted that our Supreme Court knocked down the work-based vaccine mandate, while they (SCOTUS) requires you to have both a COVID vaccine *and* a negative COVID test to enter the court. That was the reason why attorneys with COVID (who were arguing against the mandate) had to participate virtually, lol.

 

[stockish]

I'd love to see what testies from another part of the world think of the UK/England when you read headlines about England.

I mean I live here and it all screams we don't give a fuck

What a bunch of weirdos, they pronounce things funny.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Corner - Some reports from some news outlets* from today, Saturday 15th of January 2022:
*claims made by headlines or articles are those of the outlets and have not been independently verified, or in some cases even read, by myself.

- World: Global Confirmed 325,056,882 Global Deaths 5,533,227

- US: U.S. Confirmed 65,266,281

- UK: Lead or step aside, senior Tory tells Johnson

- UK: Reported UK Covid cases at lowest level for a month

- Australia: Court to decide Djokovic's Australian Open fate

- Iran: Three people are reported to have died from Omicron

- Austria: Thousands protest in Vienna against mandatory vaccination

- US: Texas scientists’ Covid vaccine is cheaper, easier to make and patent-free

- COVAX: Vaccine sharing programme passes 1 billion jab milestone

- Argentina/Mexico/Peru: Daily average infections peak in Argentina, Mexico and Peru

- Philippines: Philippines logs record infections for third day in a row

- China: City of Beijing reports first local Omicron case, weeks ahead of Winter Olympics

- Indonesia: Indonesia logs highest daily infection tally in three months

 

[Vavrik]

US: Texas scientists’ Covid vaccine is cheaper, easier to make and patent-free

I get kind of cynical about claims regarding biologics and vaccines, so when I first heard about this team I wasn't all that impressed. But if they can truly do this without patent protection, and don't even want patent protection - then I am truly impressed. We need more groups like this.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

I get kind of cynical about claims regarding biologics and vaccines, so when I first heard about this team I wasn't all that impressed. But if they can truly do this without patent protection, and don't even want patent protection - then I am truly impressed. We need more groups like this.

I believe something like this desire was behind the Oxford scientists going with AstraZeneca who to this point had relatively little expiriance making vaccines as AZ promised to sell the doses at Cost Price until the main danger of the pandemic passed. The difference between offering at cost price and making it globally available to all manurefacturers with no patent is pretty wide, though.

 

[Vavrik]

I believe something like this desire was behind the Oxford scientists going with AstraZeneca who to this point had relatively little expiriance making vaccines as AZ promised to sell the doses at Cost Price until the main danger of the pandemic passed. The difference between offering at cost price and making it globally available to all manurefacturers with no patent is pretty wide, though.

While I was reading the article, what struck me is the democratization of the science this gives. Enabling the safe sharing and improvement of inventions was the original intent of copyright, and patent laws. This, if it works, is a potentially huge step forward, similar to what we see as mature in software development, other sciences, and various arts.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Corner - Some reports from some news outlets* from today, Sunday 16th of January 2022:
*claims made by headlines or articles are those of the outlets and have not been independently verified, or in some cases even read, by myself.

- World: Global Confirmed 326,958,232 Global Deaths 5,537,995

- Australia: Novak Djokovic deported from Australia hours after losing visa fight

- Italy: Italian nurse accused of faking Covid jabs for anti-vaxxers arrested

- UK: UK records 70,924 new cases

- Thialand: Thailand reports first Omicron death

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

- UK: UK records 70,924 new cases

I'm not sure if this is because there are fewer infections or if this is a result of the rule change that meant people who get a positive Lateral Flow Test no longer have to back it up with a PCR test which is lab conducted and officially logged?

 

[Vavrik]

I'm not sure if this is because there are fewer infections or if this is a result of the rule change that meant people who get a positive Lateral Flow Test no longer have to back it up with a PCR test which is lab conducted and officially logged?

It's kind of a maybe. We have seen weekends cause artificial drops in reported cases. That is one of the reasons we use 7 day moving averages. Single day events tend to get a lot of media attention, while the 7 day moving average will show you what the actual trend is.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

It's kind of a maybe. We have seen weekends cause artificial drops in reported cases. That is one of the reasons we use 7 day moving averages. Single day events tend to get a lot of media attention, while the 7 day moving average will show you what the actual trend is.

A good point, there are a few reports suggesting the UKs Omicron surge may have peaked and plateaued already:

Reported UK Covid cases at lowest level in a month

Will be interesting to see how it pans out, it'd be disappointing to see us going back to 50k cases a day but I can't see how it wouldn't given the current approach.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Corner - Some reports from some news outlets* from today, Monday 17th of January 2022:
*claims made by headlines or articles are those of the outlets and have not been independently verified, or in some cases even read, by myself.

- World: Global Confirmed 328,649,355 Global Deaths 5,541,890

- UK: UK train services cut due to Covid staff absences

- UK: Retired GP broke Covid rules to hug woman at clinic

- UK: Prime Minister not in danger over parties, says Zahawi

- UK: Credit Suisse boss resigns over Covid breaches

- China: Beijing urges end to foreign deliveries over Covid

- Greece: Un-jabbed older people in Greece face penalties starting at a €50

- China: Winter Olympics tickets will not be sold as China seeks to contain Covid

- US: Top US general Mark Milley tests positive for Covid-19

- Israel: Israel cuts Covid isolation to five days for asymptomatic people

- Vaccines: Moderna CEO says data for Omicron-specific jab likely available in March

- France: Teachers in France call for new strike to protest government isolation protocols

 

[Radegast74]

That'll teach those people to work on a Saturday:

Beijing locks down office building with workers still inside after single Omicron case detected | CNN

At an office building in China's capital on Sunday, masked Covid control personnel lugged boxes of pillows and bedding through the closely guarded entrance for white collar workers stuck inside, preparing for what may be days of lockdown as Beijing rushes to prevent the spread of Omicron ahead...

edition.cnn.com

lol, I love how the Chinese state media keeps trying to blame any new cases on international/foreign sources. I guess with the Olympics coming up now, they will only have more ammo...

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

I've decided to stop looking at Deaths and Cases for my local area and I'm just looking at what's happening with staffing with basic services to gauge how well it's going with Omicron.

So, there aren't enough Latteral Flow Tests to go round as everyone wants one now PCR tests aren't required... the trains are on a reduced service because not enough drivers or conductors... The hospitals have had to call in combat medics to cover and they are still short staffed on mainline services because combat metics are great at stopping bleeding but they are not really trained for a tonne of other stuff like strokes, heart attacks, hip replacements etc... the bin collection hasn't been stopped yet but I have seen a couple of collections now going round with one driver and one guy grabbing, where it's usually one driver and three people grabbing...

The headlines of falling cases are encouraging but from the ground it still looks like loads of people are getting sick all at once... Either I'm just in a hold-out zone and it'll start to drop soon or those headline numbers are no longer looking at the big picture...?