Coronavirus discussion thread

12 lurkers | 136 watchers

um Jul 2021 8:38am, 13 Jul 2021 4,908 posts	0 um I suspect we won't, or shouldn't be 'free' until the world is fixed. Vaccinated and to the level Turtlemama describes. I would hope and expect some precautions & changed behaviours to contine indefinitely - like we accept road rules, bike helmets etc. And increase 'responsibility to and for others' rather than just 'personal freedom'. But I think we also need progess on testing, eg the 'breathalyser' approach as in Singapore for 'instant' mass testing - straitstimes.com Not seeing any such strategy, development or testing in UK? Is there any?
EvilPixie Jul 2021 8:41am, 13 Jul 2021 26,443 posts	0 EvilPixie I'm changing nothing ... but I can also totally understand the question posed above How do we get out of this "safely"? I think part of the issue is that as a world community we have got used to medicine coming to our rescue, to people living into old age and surviving things that would have in, decades gone by, taken them. As such we find it hard to comprehend this unseen force making people ill and dying and it seems unacceptable whereas in years gone by it would have been sad but inevitable as we were unable to do much. Now we can do so very much more. Our scientists and medical staff have performed miracles (and by ours I mean the world not just UK based). They have sacrificed so very much so we can continuing. For some that continuing is existence not living, and being more fearful than ever before. This is very sad. But how do we solve this? I have no idea. I can offer no solutions
Non-runner Jul 2021 8:58am, 13 Jul 2021 1,040 posts	0 Non-runner Um, agree with you on the need for a quicker, less invasive test, but my cynical side suspects that too much money is tied up in contracts for the current regime for anyone to prioritise something better.
EvilPixie Jul 2021 9:01am, 13 Jul 2021 26,444 posts	0 EvilPixie New 'mega lab' opens to speed up Covid-19 testing The UK's first testing "mega lab" has opened and is expected to be capable to processing hundreds of thousands of samples a day. The government says automation and robotics at the Rosalind Franklin laboratory in Leamington Spa will help increase the UK's daily coronavirus testing capacity. The centre is expected to create up to 1,500 jobs.
Johnny Blaze Jul 2021 9:03am, 13 Jul 2021 25,445 posts	0 Johnny Blaze I think one thing we can say is that the next wave - however large it is - will be uncontrolled, because restrictions have been lifted. That scares me somewhat and I imagine it is causing sleepless nights in Whitehall as well. The govt have had a date in mind since Feb and have largely stuck with it - despite the emergence of the DV and a huge and presumably unexpected rise in infections. It's uncontrolled and we are in the lap of the Gods now. Have the modellers got it right? Have they factored in what will happen at peak if the R is 3,4,5 or 6 with super-spreader events a-gogo? Will the virus behave itself and answer Chris Whitty's prayers not to spawn a vaccine resistant variant? How will people behave post-19th? Is this actually just a big roll of the dice from a known risk taker, with the lives of the country's citizens being collateral damage? We'll soon find out...
Non-runner Jul 2021 9:07am, 13 Jul 2021 1,041 posts	0 Non-runner So it looks like mass testing is here to stay EP, although hopefully when we are out of this the lab can be repurposed for other tests. But I do comeback to my original point; assume that 20% of the population is infected. Test ten and find two, test a hundred, find twenty, test a thousand find two hundred, test a million find... the percentage remains the same but the number of positives increases and gets scary. Case numbers should only be presented in the context of who is being tested or they are worthless and frighten people unnecessarily.
HappyG(rrr) Jul 2021 9:10am, 13 Jul 2021 39,147 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) I don't want to be a harbinger of doom, but it is possible that there isn't an "out of this" at all. It is perfectly possible that human kind - huge population, lots of dense living, huge movement of people, our massively altered environment (pollutants in air, water, food), climate change etc. (and that's without any horror story of deliberate or accidental drug/disease creation or manipulation) will at some time create a world where a type of disease runs rampant, which we can't eradicate and we can't vaccinate against. Hopefully this isn't that time.
EvilPixie Jul 2021 9:13am, 13 Jul 2021 26,445 posts	0 EvilPixie Trump said "you test more you find more" and as you say it is true but then without the data we can't "plan" as we don't know if things are progressing it really is a tough one I don't envy anyone in politics these last 18+ months anywhere in the world and the scary thing is that they say there will be another pandemic in our life times
runningmumof3boys Jul 2021 9:13am, 13 Jul 2021 4,272 posts	0 runningmumof3boys I agree non runner.
EvilPixie Jul 2021 9:14am, 13 Jul 2021 26,446 posts	0 EvilPixie daily numbers may scare some people but those same people will probably be more worried and concerned if the numbers stopped! "what are they covering up?!"