U.K. government not going to require testing from those arriving from China for now.
SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)
- Thread starter Don't Kill Bill
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No that’s right, then when you surge and it’s too late, introduce measures. Sensible approach
These measures aren’t about containing this surge though. Which has nothing to do with (recent) Chinese tourists.
Then blame us and cycle repeat. But really with reports that 50% tested on a flight to Italy were positive and no idea what the variant is in China surely common sense is to be cautious.
Surely as we don’t really know where China is at in terms of variants it makes common sense to be cautious? As the poster below says, 50% tested bound on flight for Italy were positive.
You would think so. But maybe that’s just me
How can these things be so confusing for you guys still? No, there's no point in mandatory testing for travellers from China. No, there's no reason to think they have anything else than omicron going there. And yes, deaths in China will be in thousands per day, if not 5 figs.
Move on already
Move on already
Yeah, I’ve no problem with these measures. With China apparently not even screening for new variants it seems a sensible approach. Plus there’s no real downside.
I’m just saying the decision isn’t a late reaction to the ongoing local surge. It’s more about prevention of a future surge due to a new, imported variant.
My brother and his family flew from Atlanta to Dublin for a Christmas catch-up, then 2 days in Derry before a few days in Belfast meeting old friends. He came back to Dublin as sick as a dog, all the family. Tested positive. My younger brother who was putting them up in Dublin also got infected.
reckons he got infected by a pair of non vaxxing friends who were barking like dogs with a cough when they came for dinner.
had to suffer long flight back & many on the plane were coughing apparently.
both brothers have ICDs implanted. Both complaining of breathing issues when they have to bend down.
still a virus that needs to be treated with some common sense imo. I think my brother was too lax in meeting so many old friends this time of year, it was almost inevitable
reckons he got infected by a pair of non vaxxing friends who were barking like dogs with a cough when they came for dinner.
had to suffer long flight back & many on the plane were coughing apparently.
both brothers have ICDs implanted. Both complaining of breathing issues when they have to bend down.
still a virus that needs to be treated with some common sense imo. I think my brother was too lax in meeting so many old friends this time of year, it was almost inevitable
Sorry to hear that geebs. I’m sure they’ll be fine though. It really isn’t that bad a dose these days. Catching up with old friends and family is important. Especially as you start to get on a bit. There’s only so many more opportunities left. I wouldn’t be giving them a hard time about it.
Oh I’m not giving them a hard time, they’ve been through hard enough times this year. My brother is pissed that the pair who were coughing didn’t at least pre-warn him though before meeting
Ah, ok. Yeah, that was a dick move from them. We are very reliant on other people being considerate with all the bugs flying round this winter. Even if there’s no long term damage done it’s fecking inconvenient being sick for a week or two.
China has recently (the last few days really) started uploading COVID sequences again after a long period when they went silent. The sequences aren't based on mass testing anymore (because there isn't any) but on limited hospital/research lab testing etc.
It's thought that the Chinese authorities expect around 60% of the population to have been infected by the end of February. It's going to lead to a massive number of deaths, most of which will be registered as "not COVID" due to the way they've drawn their definitions.
For the rest of the world, where the virus has already raced through and where most people have had covid and/or been vaccinated it won't change much unless a new (deadlier) variant does emerge from the sheer number of infections.
Will testing travelers give us that information? Basically no - we'd have to wait a few weeks to see if it hospitalises/kills any of them - and the chances are that the travellers won't be in a high risk group, and will be people who are up to date on jabs etc.
It might make us feel safer, as if we're doing something, but unless it's combined with a week or so of post-arrival quarantine of all travellers from China, it won't do much. It will give us new sequencing data, but in itself that's mostly meaningless - we aren't that good at judging the severity of the disease from the "look" of the mutation.
And if that all sounds rather fatalistic - it is! A complete ban (or enforced quarantine) on travellers could slow the spread of a new variant. Testing - particularly in the form of a pre-flight test - will do next to nothing on spread. Post arrival testing and proper support/advice for self quarantine (and a week's supply of LFTs for everyone on the flights) might do a little more.
It's thought that the Chinese authorities expect around 60% of the population to have been infected by the end of February. It's going to lead to a massive number of deaths, most of which will be registered as "not COVID" due to the way they've drawn their definitions.
For the rest of the world, where the virus has already raced through and where most people have had covid and/or been vaccinated it won't change much unless a new (deadlier) variant does emerge from the sheer number of infections.
Will testing travelers give us that information? Basically no - we'd have to wait a few weeks to see if it hospitalises/kills any of them - and the chances are that the travellers won't be in a high risk group, and will be people who are up to date on jabs etc.
It might make us feel safer, as if we're doing something, but unless it's combined with a week or so of post-arrival quarantine of all travellers from China, it won't do much. It will give us new sequencing data, but in itself that's mostly meaningless - we aren't that good at judging the severity of the disease from the "look" of the mutation.
And if that all sounds rather fatalistic - it is! A complete ban (or enforced quarantine) on travellers could slow the spread of a new variant. Testing - particularly in the form of a pre-flight test - will do next to nothing on spread. Post arrival testing and proper support/advice for self quarantine (and a week's supply of LFTs for everyone on the flights) might do a little more.
“Italy didn’t find any concerning mutations in recent arrivals from China who had tested positive for the virus” (Bloomberg 1 hour ago )
Good news. And a sign that working early can pay off.
I've got it again. Only tested yesterday out of curiosity as it's quite different to the last time, I was convinced it was just a heavy head cold. All snotty, sneezing and coughing a bit but nothing on my chest.
Oh well bang goes New Year's Eve. At least I think it's on the way out now.
Oh well bang goes New Year's Eve. At least I think it's on the way out now.
Been strange. I had two viral incidents in the past 3 months (first time since 2020) . Both were 24/48 hour issues that went away, first was minor and second took me out badly for 24 hours.
Now for the past 2-3 days I feel fine, but feel like I have something. It’s hard to explain. A slight sore throat, runny nose, but mostly when I wake up I wake up with the same sweaty feeling and “Ill smell” that I do when I have a flu/virus
Ah yes I forgot the sore throat - that's been gone a couple of days now.
U.K. set to announce negative covid test for arrivals from China.
We all probably guessed this was going to happen. But the no, the yes. Just looks indecisive. Was it to do with the border force strikes?
We all probably guessed this was going to happen. But the no, the yes. Just looks indecisive. Was it to do with the border force strikes?
I've read the news so understand the first sentence at least
Just yesterday the British government said they had no plans to require negative covid tests for arrivals from China. Obviously, most people knew it would change. But to change within a day, although the right call, just makes the government look fickle.
I just wondered if it was anything to do with the border strikes? Because maybe I’m being stupid and forgive me if I am but implementing that and denying people entry is easier when you have a border force.
Apologies, I was a bit blunt there. I didn't get your point initially but I see where you're coming from now. I don't think the Border Force strikes have anything to do with policy. The Border Force have little to do with anything meaningful really.
"The right call" isn't that simple. This is more about politics and looking like they're doing something than actual science.
Testing people a day before they fly means that you catch only some infectious cases - and you'll catch a lot of people who are already past the infectious stage. Meanwhile the people who were infected in the previous few days, who are about to hit their most infectious phase, will get missed.
If you want to address actual caseload you need to test before and after the flight, and keep testing in quarantine conditions for at least a week. As it happens, numerically speaking, for the UK (like most countries) the extra cases will be a drop in the ocean.
If you want to look for variant data - because you don't trust what China is saying - it would be the post flight tests that matter. Because those you can run through your own, trusted labs.
Right now, the most startling growth in a single variant of unknown severity is coming from the US. If we want to go back to flight controls shouldn't we start with those travellers? Personally, I don't want to see border controls make a comeback - I think they're irrelevant given vaccination and past infection levels in the UK - and I don't think these are more than a PR exercise.
You make a good point about the USA. Read they recorded highest numbers in x amount of time, didn’t know it was an unknown variant.
I think with the USA we have trusted data. Whereas with China the data they give seems to put image first. If the numbers numbers in the USA came close to what was speculated to be the case in China I would want the same applied to US flights. If this US variant turns out to be more dangerous or vaccine immune then i would want the same also.
I really hope that in countries with decent vaccination rates this is heading to a slow end. My experience in my hospital, where I work in A/E admitting patients since the start of pandemic, we can't wait for them to phase out the Covid area, or, what would make a fecking load more sense, turn it into an area for both Covid and Flu. More and more it seems to be that they're indistinguishable in population at risk, seriousness, complications, etc, except Flu is becoming a lot more prevalent again. Which is more or less back to business as usual (still awful this time of year). Covid will become something like Syncytial Respiratory Virus, and other viral differential diagnosis of Flu.
(Mostly as a response to @Pogue Mahone post in previous page).
It makes every sense that if China kept too hard restrictions for too long, and if the elderly are undervaccinated, it would paint a poor scenario. Where is their immunity?
I don't really follow Covid news for the past two years so the second paragraph is genuine questioning. By the way, there's no way it is possible this could be deliberate, is there? Please tell me there isn't.
(Mostly as a response to @Pogue Mahone post in previous page).
It makes every sense that if China kept too hard restrictions for too long, and if the elderly are undervaccinated, it would paint a poor scenario. Where is their immunity?
I don't really follow Covid news for the past two years so the second paragraph is genuine questioning. By the way, there's no way it is possible this could be deliberate, is there? Please tell me there isn't.
update, this is probably the worst cold/flu I’ve ever had. Started with the fever and sinus headaches and severe body aches that kept me out of action for around 4 days. Started feeling a bit better but was still coughing slightly and had a constant runny nose. That was around a week and thought i was improving until yesterday I started feeling severe body aches again and woke up with a stinking blocked nose and sore throat. Went to the toilet this morning and ungodly fluids were flying out of my nose and mouth. Really nasty. Been about 2 weeks now sick, fed up with it.
I'm reading the news about China complaining about anti-COVID curbs imposed by a number of countries (US, UK, Australia, India, Japan, Canada, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Morocco, Qatar) upon travellers from China. I swear it's pathetic for Beijing to complain when they already have fecked up so badly after going from an extreme to another with zero methodical approach.
This. It is outright pathetic that China cares about their image while people are dying because of reckless negligence.
China was given a chance (3 years) to be as scientifically transparent as possible about the origins of COVID-19, given a chance to buy the best vaccines on the market, given a chance to learn from others on how to reopen as safely as possible, and THEY BLEW IT! They blew it, and it's about time they get told the part in the face.
This. It is outright pathetic that China cares about their image while people are dying because of reckless negligence.
China was given a chance (3 years) to be as scientifically transparent as possible about the origins of COVID-19, given a chance to buy the best vaccines on the market, given a chance to learn from others on how to reopen as safely as possible, and THEY BLEW IT! They blew it, and it's about time they get told the part in the face.
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We talk about protecting people in the midst of a serious health crisis, and they have the nerve to behave like a petulant child?
Don't they (the Chinese government) have any shame? This is the reality on the ground and it is what it is. Wake the feck up, fecking children.
Don't they (the Chinese government) have any shame? This is the reality on the ground and it is what it is. Wake the feck up, fecking children.
Since the outbreak I’ve thought the government of China’s response has been needlessly childish & petty. It’s not s competition, it’s not a shame or source of pride, it’s just a global catastrophe that requires nations to share information, be honest, and occasionally take proactive measures.
Even the way China just took its foot off the breaks and abandoned covid zero seemed to be more about punishing protestors. (Bordering tin pot so I’ll delete if asked to) but to me it defies belief that they didn’t know that cases would sky rocket, we’ve all seen that gradual easing is the best way to go from lockdown to normal.
Basic sense of humanity and/or oaths of service (if there is such in the Chinese government) demand that this issue is treated with no bullshit (sharing information, being honest, be proactive, etc.) indeed. I just don't understand how any government can even air grievances at a time when millions of their constituents are suffering at the moment.
I also hope to not go near tin foil hat territory regarding the decision to go from an extreme to another by the Chinese government either, but I can't do otherwise to ask "What if?". Whoever works in public health or the equivalent of the NIH in China cannot be anything but mad at their government's lack of basic logic so far. It looks like as if the country has a bunch of Donald Trumps at the very top, with no guardrails against total idiocy and pettiness (of which it has become a common theme with the CCP in the last 5-6 years).
By the way, this is South Korea's response to the petty sanctions.
Interesting read. It’s not discriminatory. If 80% of infections in the U.K. were coming from flights arriving from France, we’d (I’d hope) Red list France. Like the South Korean official said these tests are for everyone arriving on flights from China.
Also hate to bring it up. But Chinese New Year is on Jan 22/23. They really should have waited until after that had passed. In unrestricted travel times it usually sees millions of people travelling out of China in a very short space of time.
After being in self isolation for just under 3 years you’d expect a government to test the waters. Open up its society in stages, then next year make travel unrestricted.
Read somewhere that 97% of airline flights in SE Asia had Covid in the wastewater of the planes.
You're probably referring to Forbes.
And just as AlPistacho mentioned, the Lunar New Year is coming around the corner. It is the perfect excuse for a lot of travelling in and out of China, and it is ill-advised in the current context. The first COVID outbreak started the same way as well because no one had the balls to cut the holidays short, even when there were too many unknowns to go business as usual.
I also read this 5-day-old article from the BBC. I don't know if I should either be S(hake)M(y)F(ucking)H(ead), F(uck)M(y)L(ife), or both when I read the part about what some younger Chinese people are doing. Of course I didn't like a number of restrictions on gatherings and parties here in Canada, but I was never foolish enough to be willing to get sick on purpose just as in the following quotes from the article.
If it wasn't for my share of vaccines, I would have been a much bigger mess than what I was when I had COVID back in early December. That virus is never something I wish on anybody.
That’s the article. Shocking numbers.
That thing about people getting intentionally infected is shocking. I heard the same about people in the USA, similar age group, having “covid parties” think their motives were different. Either way both just scream stupidity. It’s not even about themselves what about when they pass it on to others who might not get through.
Finally caught Covid. Had to happen at some point I guess, but doesn’t change the fact that it’s absolutely horrible. Triple jabbed, but the last one was a long time ago.
Had a really bad flu before Christmas, but this does seem different. Either feel freezing or boiling, coughing up surreal amounts of yucky stuff, and completely knackered.
All in all it’s been a winter full of bugs in our household.
Had a really bad flu before Christmas, but this does seem different. Either feel freezing or boiling, coughing up surreal amounts of yucky stuff, and completely knackered.
All in all it’s been a winter full of bugs in our household.
Freedumb in all of its glory.
Seriously though, this is where I wish and hope that a class-action lawsuit against the former administration can be filed on the grounds that the airing of several bits of misleading information has been directly responsible for those deaths.
Surely republican voters average much older than democrat voters. Which would explain that finding.