SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

Oh dear. New strain is causing carnage, 70% more transmissible.

Seems to me with last 10 months is whenever we get a little shred of good news it's immediately cancelled out by an even bigger f*** off from covid and looks like this will be the next two months of terrible news.
The f*** off is from our incompetent govenrment. Can't ease lockdown and have Christmas. They were too lax in their earlier announcement, trying to have their cake and eat out. It is one out the other, Germany are a prime example of good decision making.
 
The f*** off is from our incompetent govenrment. Can't ease lockdown and have Christmas. It is one out the other, Germany are a prime example of good decision making.

I get all that but cases were rising here anyway because xmas became a thing so seems this new form has just accelerated things. Winter was always going to be a terrible period and here we are.
 
This is down to the new variant spreading rapidly in these areas, he says. It doesn’t seem to be more dangerous but does seem to spread more easily and could increase the R by 0.4 or more and up to 70% more transmissible than the original disease, he says.

If this is the basis for the new mutation being 'more transmissible' could it not simply indicate that thanks to, say, governmental incompetence leading to general fatigue with the tier system and with government diktats that people just aren't socially distancing properly anymore?
 
I get all that but cases were rising here anyway because xmas became a thing so seems this new form has just accelerated things. Winter was always going to be a terrible period and here we are.
So why announce only a few weeks ago that Christmas is back on AND we will ease the lockdown from the 2nd December. It was all so predictable. There was no trade off. Terrible leadership in the UK.

For example, Germany has a 3 week national lockdown around Xmas day, allowing a small number of households to meet for Xmas day.
 
If this is the basis for the new mutation being 'more transmissible' could it not simply indicate that thanks to, say, governmental incompetence leading to general fatigue with the tier system and with government diktats that people just aren't socially distancing properly anymore?
I may have missed it so apologies if I have but have they produced the scientific evidence for this new strain?
 
Absolutely embarrassing especially after the press conference the other day about Christmas. He's got to go, awful leadership, he'll never pull this back. It is the right call but it's too late.
 
Unfortunately the local lockdowns have only achieved in breeding resentment and resultant non compliance as a result. Time to bite the bullet and go back to what we had in March, UK wide.
Why should people in Cornwall lose the livelihood they have built for decades because of something that's a problem 500 miles away?
 
Is there any information when they may be able to detail if the vaccine efficacy is affected by this new strain?
 
It doesn't impact flights at all. It will after the December 30th update I bet.

Inbound? What was the situation like in November?

It's selfish, but my fiance is moving here in early January and really can't have that delayed
 
Absolutely embarrassing especially after the press conference the other day about Christmas. He's got to go, awful leadership, he'll never pull this back. It is the right call but it's too late.

They know January is going to be carnage, but they haven't got the smarts, or balls, to go full lockdown like Germany. Boris sees himself as Santa.
 
Boris said this just a few days ago, so I wouldn't bet against further changes before Christmas

 
So why announce only a few weeks ago that Christmas is back on AND we will ease the lockdown from the 2nd December. It was all so predictable. There was no trade off. Terrible leadership in the UK.

For example, Germany has a 3 week national lockdown around Xmas day, allowing a small number of households to meet for Xmas day.

Oh they messed up the November period for sure. And just insisting all Uni and schools went back as normal in September was a massive super spreader that also could've been halted with some tweaks.

Ultimately though there's no method that will result in 0 covid cases and 0 covid deaths anytime soon. Germany daily cases are miles higher than in March-April although of course they've done the best of all the major countries. Same for Italy. That's just a consequence of winter I'm afraid whatever the restrictions. More people just get ill compared to June-August when things cooled down despite lack of social distance on beaches and everywhere else.
 
Absolutely embarrassing especially after the press conference the other day about Christmas. He's got to go, awful leadership, he'll never pull this back. It is the right call but it's too late.
At some point people have to get past lashing out at Boris and address the elephant in the room that many people in this country put their trust in him not once but twice.
 
Why should people in Cornwall lose the livelihood they have built for decades because of something that's a problem 500 miles away?
Because it’s only a matter of time before that problem also becomes their problem? Completely different topic but why should the people of Northern Ireland have to deal with the Brexit shitshow? Life just isn’t fair sometimes.
 
If the strain is so much more transmissible how has the South East avoided tier 3 until the start of December despite it being around for over 3 months? I’m not one for conspiracies but it does seem slightly disingenuous to blame this all on a mutation.
 
I know he's PM (somehow) but come on anyone can't still be taking Johnson at face value...guy's got over 30 years of public lies and incompetance as case study.

He's just bluffed his way through this all the way through. Hope the eventual inquiry hammers him out of office although he'll probably have quit long before.
 
What's the chance that this mutated strain has vaccine escape potential?

Slim.

Don’t let them gaslight you though. This strain has been around since August. They’re using it as cover for fcuking everything up. The ‘New’ strain has been in Science for months. It’s in the media now as the government finds it politically helpful.
 
Oh they messed up the November period for sure. And just insisting all Uni and schools went back as normal in September was a massive super spreader that also could've been halted with some tweaks.

Ultimately though there's no method that will result in 0 covid cases and 0 covid deaths anytime soon. Germany daily cases are miles higher than in March-April although of course they've done the best of all the major countries. Same for Italy. That's just a consequence of winter I'm afraid whatever the restrictions. More people just get ill compared to June-August when things cooled down despite lack of social distance on beaches and everywhere else.
His, yes, universities returning was a joke. The Winter was airways going to be bad.

It isn't the latest guidelines I am against, it is the mixed messaging and changing message from government. Complete turn after U turn, and this is not unforeseen change or unpredictable events, it is totally predictable.
 
This new variant must be a real concern.

In some ways, at least the data suggests it’s transmissibility that is a concern. There is a real risk that as the vaccine begins to suppress the virus, the mutation may circumvent the vaccine.

I guess the overarching positive is that a virus aims to reproduce which typically aligns with > transmission at the cost of < mortality. So I guess the hope is any future mutations also make it more mild.
 
This new variant must be a real concern.

In some ways, at least the data suggests it’s transmissibility that is a concern. There is a real risk that as the vaccine begins to suppress the virus, the mutation may circumvent the vaccine.

I guess the overarching positive is that a virus aims to reproduce which typically aligns with > transmission at the cost of < mortality. So I guess the hope is any future mutations also make it more mild.

I'm not one for Covid conspiracies but I'm sceptical of this one. It's been around for months and caused no problems, yet all of a sudden it's become a critical issue. I think they're just using it as an excuse for cocking up keeping London open for so long and promising everybody they could have Christmas off.
 
This new variant must be a real concern.

In some ways, at least the data suggests it’s transmissibility that is a concern. There is a real risk that as the vaccine begins to suppress the virus, the mutation may circumvent the vaccine.

I guess the overarching positive is that a virus aims to reproduce which typically aligns with > transmission at the cost of < mortality. So I guess the hope is any future mutations also make it more mild.

See three posts up.

Don’t buy in to their lies. It’s not some magical new strain. That’s their narrative cover.
 
Well that’s Xmas cancelled for me, went from Tier 2 to Tier 4, great timing.
 
Is anyone else getting tired of journalists trying to make all the questions that ask a stick to beat the decision makers with?

I didn't vote Tory but I get that these are really difficult decisions and the government aren't making them to be christmas killjoys.

I feel sorry for people not getting to share Christmas with their families but in our family we have one side who've contracted the virus in the last week so are out regardless. The rest of us have tests next Wednesday but if anyone has it they're out. Safety first!
 
I'm not one for Covid conspiracies but I'm sceptical of this one. It's been around for months and caused no problems, yet all of a sudden it's become a critical issue. I think they're just using it as an excuse for cocking up keeping London open for so long and promising everybody they could have Christmas off.

Sorry but this is ridiculous.
 
Is anyone else getting tired of journalists trying to make all the questions that ask a stick to beat the decision makers with?

I didn't vote Tory but I get that these are really difficult decisions and the government aren't making them to be christmas killjoys.

I feel sorry for people not getting to share Christmas with their families but in our family we have one side who've contracted the virus in the last week so are out regardless. The rest of us have tests next Wednesday but if anyone has it they're out. Safety first!

Not really, if anything I'm sick of the easy ride the Tories have gotten for overseeing one of the world's most shambolic responses to the pandemic.
 
Why should people in Cornwall lose the livelihood they have built for decades because of something that's a problem 500 miles away?

Because they have one hospital which will get overloaded with very few hospitalisations.
 
Im as skeptical of a Tory government as the next man but seriously, this kind of thought is a bit silly.

It’s not. The new strain gives them an out. They frame all changes with it.

They’re gaslighting you.

I’m not suggesting there’s not a new strain. I’m not even suggesting it’s not easier transmitted.

What I am saying is that anyone with half a brain can see its being used as cover for incompetence. It’s not even up for debate. We were the only country running full speed into a complete removal of any preventative measures, for 5 days, actively advising people to gather in homes in groups.... As we are experiencing record hospitalisations and death.
 
I'm not one for Covid conspiracies but I'm sceptical of this one. It's been around for months and caused no problems, yet all of a sudden it's become a critical issue. I think they're just using it as an excuse for cocking up keeping London open for so long and promising everybody they could have Christmas off.

Where was this documented about it being around for months? Curious to see where this was reported back then.