Coronavirus discussion thread

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anthonyj89 Jan 2021 10:09am, 21 Jan 2021 97 posts	0 anthonyj89 Happy to be corrected by doctors in here, but surely how deadly the virus is depends somewhat on how busy ICUs are? I know during wave 1 there were strict scoring systems on who received what treatment. I guess now that hospitals are full, that's why the mortality rate may be increasing.
EvilPixie Jan 2021 10:27am, 21 Jan 2021 22,493 posts	0 EvilPixie good point
ChrisHB Jan 2021 10:46am, 21 Jan 2021 20,460 posts	0 ChrisHB What upsets me - or my own little world of one - is that we have a noticeably worse outcome than the USA where they've had far worse political conditions than we have. I wonder if it can be attributed to population density. But Brazil ought to have been worse as well, if you look at the politics and what I guess is a densely-packed population.
Dibble Jan 2021 10:47am, 21 Jan 2021 770 posts	0 Dibble Going back a bit to the comment about a 50 year old being vaccinated in the US. I was wondering how the vaccination program was being organised there without a national health service. I seem to recall seeing something about the roll out being not as strictly organised nationally by age as in the UK.
Bazoaxe Jan 2021 10:49am, 21 Jan 2021 18,660 posts	0 Bazoaxe The numbers really are depressing right now and I wonder where we are going and when. Personally I am ok mostly with the restriction but I do worry about my daughter who is cooped up with her parents and has no social life out with that which cannot be good.
HappyG(rrr) Jan 2021 10:54am, 21 Jan 2021 37,199 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Hi Dibble, that might have been me (my US friends). They are a teacher and transportation manager, and they are on the "priority 1b list" (after health workers and emergency services). I suppose cynically, with their two tier system (those with health insurance and those without), the have-nots won't get vaccines, so that means more vaccine for the haves?
Johnny Blaze Jan 2021 10:59am, 21 Jan 2021 24,585 posts	0 Johnny Blaze I thought that as well, Chris. We are told the US responses have been poor in a political sense and poor in terms of the response of the population to appeals for mask-wearing etc, but we are doing a worse job of it than they are in terms of fatality rates. I do feel that one factor in our poor response is the tension between the libertarian instincts of the govt, its economic focus and the need to protect the populace. The govt has been persistently late with lockdown and the initial response in March was complacent. Unprepared and slow out of the blocks. TTI and the app failed to get on top of things in the summer when we had a shot at getting down to very low case levels, and the failure to test travellers has been a weakness. Our PM's inclination towards empty optimism rather than hard analysis and difficult choices hasn't helped.
larkim Jan 2021 11:08am, 21 Jan 2021 13,301 posts	0 larkim In the US it has been a politicised debate too, so compliance (or non-compliance) has been vigorous as part of a political statement. There's less of that here I think. Population density definitely makes a difference, and if you went state by state through the US you'd find plenty of states that have had much worse outcomes than the UK is currently seeing (and plenty with much better). One phrase used on a news report last night on US vaccinations was the "can-do" mentality of the US. I'm loathe to stereotype a whole nation, but there is something about that underlying "americanism" that will create pockets of innovation, enthusiasm, etc that we don't see (to the same extent) here.
ChrisHB Jan 2021 11:10am, 21 Jan 2021 20,461 posts	0 ChrisHB Forgive my ignorance, but does the US even have TTI? We did have "Eat out to help out" to help spread infection, and there was a government wish for people to return to offices. One factor allegedly is that people in the UK cannot afford to stop working just because they're ill and infectious. Is the US or Brazil any better in that respect? Do our cities rely on public transport very much more than others?
geordiegirl Jan 2021 11:21am, 21 Jan 2021 13,215 posts	0 geordiegirl When lockdown ended I do think the briefings should have gone weekly rather than stopped completely as the message then was it’s over crack on. Following that with eat out to help out, go to work and support your high street was totally the wrong message.