Coronavirus discussion thread

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jda Jul 2021 3:48pm, 21 Jul 2021 10,532 posts	0 jda I think 12-15k is probably on the high side, especially now vaccination is so routine, but the idea of abolishing death is pretty silly and once covid is no longer an epidemic threat there will be much less reason to be concerned about it.
HappyG(rrr) Jul 2021 3:49pm, 21 Jul 2021 39,271 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) But I would challenge that article's premise CStar - we don't "accept" those vehicle related deaths. We have seat belts speed limits safety cages and crumple zones in cars etc. And we are striving for more safety: 20 mph zones, pedestrian only etc. So we are constantly putting in MORE restrictions to reduce the number of deaths. Actually, it's a great argument for MORE coronavirus protections: * masks * vaccination checks * infection (non-infection I mean) tests ... and anything else they can develop to help to minimize severe illness and deaths. Or am I misuderstanding the argument of the piece?
MH Jul 2021 3:55pm, 21 Jul 2021 866 posts	0 MH I think you can 'accept' a certain amount of deaths if those people have been given access to the right treatment. If someone still dies after all the appropriate and right treatment then we probably have to live with that - as we do with many other diseases - but the more we save the better, of course.
fuzzyduck79 Jul 2021 4:24pm, 21 Jul 2021 397 posts	0 fuzzyduck79 Air pollution thought to be a factor in 28-36k deaths in the UK each year: gov.uk A bad flu season can see 25-30k deaths in the UK, if the vaccine given largely misses the strains that show up. But that's with most people making no effort to limit spread.
HappyG(rrr) Jul 2021 4:32pm, 21 Jul 2021 39,274 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) And again, my point would be that we need to do a huge amount to try and improve air quality and reduce deaths and serious debilitation like asthma and chronic respiratory problems. Might even become legislation soon, following the coroner's verdict on that girl's death in London. And diesel and petrol cars being phased out. Again, apart from flu, I think we would usually say we do a lot to try to prevent death and disease from these sorts of causes that people are citing. So having in place protections to minimize disease and death from CV-19 would be my thinking.
Fellrunning Jul 2021 4:32pm, 21 Jul 2021 3,131 posts	0 Fellrunning I was under the impression that we are embarking on an exercise in "Getting on with our lives" with the lifting in restrictions. I guess we'll find out quite soon how that works out. We accept a certain level of risk in life. We mitigate that risk according to our own personal tolerances. For example: I spent yesterday and part of today working in 30c heat loading hay bales into storage. I wore a mask (to avoid breathing in dust and spores) and a hard hat (because even small bales of can cause injury if they land on your head). There's no law that says I have to use that equipment, although I do have to provide it for any workers I may employ (and the terms of my insurance as an employer make it clear that I am liable if I fail to provide it, or if they fail to use it) I understand the risk and choose to mitigate it for myself, and as an employer I can hardly insist on my employees using it when I do not. So I do - both for my own good and for theirs. (and no I don't consider that a particular intrusion on my "rights" or theirs.) With Covid we don't really understand the risk well enough and it's fair to say that some people who catch Covid will die anyway, whatever we do. In the same way some road traffic accidents are simply not survivable and will always be so, no matter what mitigation we put in place. Eventually we will reach a point where we understand the risks of Covid much better, and we will learn how to live with it and manage it. The idea that we can simply jump back into 2019 ways of conducting ourselves without that understanding seems, to me, to be foolish and unwise. It may take a little longer to reach that point than some would prefer, but with patience we will, and probably quite quickly.
EvilPixie Jul 2021 4:39pm, 21 Jul 2021 26,705 posts	0 EvilPixie we will never or should never be like 2019 for starters the simplest things like not going to work when obviously ill and spreading stuff
um Jul 2021 4:53pm, 21 Jul 2021 4,942 posts	0 um Ditto going into hospitals or care homes when ill (whether 'sniffles' or full blown flu). And maybe, face coverings becoming the norm in dense indoor venues - airports, transport etc. Like some other cultures have been doing for many years. And maybe stocks and supplies ready & available of PPE ...
Weath Jul 2021 5:04pm, 21 Jul 2021 725 posts	0 Weath "Air pollution thought to be a factor in 28-36k deaths in the UK each year" 🤣🤣🤣 PHE overstating statistics
DocM Jul 2021 6:05pm, 21 Jul 2021 42,559 posts	0 DocM Now we have vaccination and some successful treatment for Covid, providing we are at a point where NHS can cope with providing that treatment we do have to get on with things, not sure we are quite at that point with NHS being able to cope or completing our vaccinations, but it has to come soon