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

The feck? Have they not been vaccinated yet?

Even so, the entire centre shouldn't get it as still supposed to be following the covid rules.
I believe the oldies were vaccinated but not the staff, you are aware how shit the vaccination rollout is in Europe right? 1.6m vaccinated in NL since the beginning of January. My Mrs got hers last week because there were some left over, she's a nurse ffs.
 
I believe the oldies were vaccinated but not the staff, you are aware how shit the vaccination rollout is in Europe right? 1.6m vaccinated in NL since the beginning of January. My Mrs got hers last week because there were some left over, she's a nurse ffs.

Ah I always assumed you were UK based. Makes a bit more sense now. My bad.
 
65 year old woman in Texas refuses to wear a mask in a local bank, then refuses to leave. Cops called.

 
Unfortunately, I don't believe quarantine and testing requirements will be lifted in the UK this year.
I don't think it will be lifted, either. It's expensive, too. Even if you don't come in from a red country, you have to have a test before and then book the day 2 and day 8 test package before you travel (around £200 for that). If you want the early release test to get out of quarantine on day 5, I think that's another £250.
 
65 year old woman in Texas refuses to wear a mask in a local bank, then refuses to leave. Cops called.


Just wear a fecking mask. fecking Texas...

I’ll bet she took the ‘no smoking indoors’ laws years ago as well as this, I’d put money on the fact that she proclaimed her human rights were being violated back in the early 00s when she had to stop smoking in places like restaurants.
 
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The Spanish flu killed just over 2% of the people it infected. Based purely on people you know, covid is killing 4% of the people who catch it. Not a very convincing argument that covid is less dangerous than Spanish flu.

Not to mention that if they had had modern medical capabilities and modern hygiene standards during the Spanish flu pandemic the death toll would have been much lower still.
 
65 year old woman in Texas refuses to wear a mask in a local bank, then refuses to leave. Cops called.



Just put a mask on, you wont die, pick up your money, get out and remove the mask outside. Really dont understand certain type of people.
 
Just put a mask on, you wont die, pick up your money, get out and remove the mask outside. Really dont understand certain type of people.

The unfortunate end product of all the gaslighting Trump and Fox have done to their flock over the past year - people who live in an alternate reality believing pundits over public health professionals
 


Two weeks after youngest three years of primary and final year of secondary returned to school. <3% of close contacts testing positive. Considering the uber-infective UK variant has been dominant throughout, these results are very reassuring.
 


Two weeks after youngest three years of primary and final year of secondary returned to school. <3% of close contacts testing positive. Considering the uber-infective UK variant has been dominant throughout, these results are very reassuring.


Its actually the youngest 4 years . Junior and senior infants, 1st and 2nd Classes.
Plus in the smaller schools rurally some schools have 3rd class back as same teacher does both in a big room.
But yeah thats very good all considered
 
Its actually the youngest 4 years . Junior and senior infants, 1st and 2nd Classes.
Plus in the smaller schools rurally some schools have 3rd class back as same teacher does both in a big room.
But yeah thats very good all considered

Yeah, you’re right. My kids are back this week. 4th and 6th class. I was thinking that means there are only 6 years in total. Like an idiot.

So nerve-wracking at the moment. I’m desperate for schools to stay open so obsessing about the numbers even more than usual. So far so good anyway. 74.4 per 100k for the week just finished vs 76.5 per 100k for their first week back. Not falling as fast as we’d like but the opposite of what you’d expect if schools a big driver.

I’ve a horribly feeling Paddy’s Day is gonna cause huge problems for us but the data from the rest of this week should be clean enough. If we have a third week back with flat/declining numbers then I can’t see any reason to worry about keeping the younger years in primary school at school.
 
Yeah, you’re right. My kids are back this week. 4th and 6th class. I was thinking that means there are only 6 years in total. Like an idiot.

So nerve-wracking at the moment. I’m desperate for schools to stay open so obsessing about the numbers even more than usual. So far so good anyway. 74.4 per 100k for the week just finished vs 76.5 per 100k for their first week back. Not falling as fast as we’d like but the opposite of what you’d expect if schools a big driver.

I’ve a horribly feeling Paddy’s Day is gonna cause huge problems for us but the data from the rest of this week should be clean enough. If we have a third week back with flat/declining numbers then I can’t see any reason to worry about keeping the younger years in primary school at school.

My two are back and the difference in them is night and day. I'm hoping they get to stay the course like you however I'm not confident. Despite the endless lockdown I can see people are slipping and to be honest I can hardly blame them.
 
When they arent being wankers on the cricket Pitch Aussies are mostly good bastards. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56424306

Good on them but I’m sure self interest plays a part. Tough to continue with a zero covid policy while an epidemic rages so close offshore.

There is also concern that the outbreak could spread to Australia, with Mr Morrison announcing the cancellation of charter flights and outbound travel to Papua New Guinea for the next two weeks.
He said that since Monday, Australian authorities had already found 32 cases from PNG in Queensland.
 
My mother had the Pfizer vaccine a few weeks ago and her GP is set to call her in May for the 2nd dose. And I've been under the impression that this first dose would only offer 50 to 65% protection.

However after doing some reading up, today, it appears that the first dose of Pfizer is actually 85% effective. That's too high aftter the first dose, right? To me, it seems too good to be true. That's much higher than I thought. Great news, if true, though.
 
My mother had the Pfizer vaccine a few weeks ago and her GP is set to call her in May for the 2nd dose. And I've been under the impression that this first dose would only offer 50 to 65% protection.

However after doing some reading up, today, it appears that the first dose of Pfizer is actually 85% effective. Does that sound right? To me, it seems too good to be true. That's much higher than I thought. Great news, if true, though.

Short answer is it varies. If it was my mum (and I wish it was!) I’d be telling her to continue to be careful until after the second dose. Although I’d inwardly be a hell of a lot less worried about her today than I was before she got the first jab.
 
Short answer is it varies. If it was my mum (and I wish it was!) I’d be telling her to continue to be careful until after the second dose. Although I’d inwardly be a hell of a lot less worried about her today than I was before she got the first jab.
Thanks! I was a bit taken aback when I read it because after she first got the jab I read a report that the first dose Pfizer was much less effective than that.
 
When they arent being wankers on the cricket Pitch Aussies are mostly good bastards. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56424306

A start but nowhere near enough. Given the colonial connection we owe them even more care than we do the other surrounding nations. Once we get the Oxford vaccine production ramped up from later this month I'd like to see us ramp up supply of vaccines to PNG, Timor Leste and other pacific nations. A good opportunity to prove we are truly part of the region and as Pogue mentioned it helps us keep covid at bay as well.

@Stack how is NZ's vaccine supply? Given we can produce the Oxford vaccine in Melbourne we should also be helping NZ if their supply is suboptimal.
 
A start but nowhere near enough. Given the colonial connection we owe them even more care than we do the other surrounding nations. Once we get the Oxford vaccine production ramped up from later this month I'd like to see us ramp up supply of vaccines to PNG, Timor Leste and other pacific nations. A good opportunity to prove we are truly part of the region and as Pogue mentioned it helps us keep covid at bay as well.

@Stack how is NZ's vaccine supply? Given we can produce the Oxford vaccine in Melbourne we should also be helping NZ if their supply is suboptimal.
We are quite low in supply. The Govt dont appear to be too worried about it and have kind of accepted that Europe needs to be higher on the pecking order. Given that life here for most is quite normal it makes sense for us to be patient and wait till the places needing the vaccines get it first. Our rollout looks slower than most. I think we have vaccinated about 25,000 border staff and now comes the families of border staff and the most vulnerable. The general populace isnt due to start being vaccinated until late July early August. I know we are getting the Pfiser one and that we have some agreement with Aussie once they start manufacture.
 
95 deaths today compared to 181 last Thursday. Really good downward progress on these lower figures.

Daft BBC still advertising 141 deaths today. Those were yesterday's figures. :rolleyes:
 
95 deaths today compared to 181 last Thursday. Really good downward progress on these lower figures.

Daft BBC still advertising 141 deaths today. Those were yesterday's figures. :rolleyes:

Didn’t seem that long ago we were still at 1000 deaths a day. Great progress.
 
He must believe he is a great thinker or political philosopher...

Covid has nothing to do with climate change

Increased population density allows pandemics to flourish, he literally says it within 10 seconds of the video starting.
 
This site is showing a significant worldwide uptick in cases which is now being followed by deaths in the usual two weeks-ish lull

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

What I can't figure out is where they are occurring though? The countries with the highest tolls of the pandemic overall seem to be seeing steep declines, so I'm assuming the increase is a combination of a number of countries - I just can't work out which ones they are. Anyone have any ideas?

I think it might be eastern/central Europe, but wasn't sure and it's hard to ascertain from the news.
 
This site is showing a significant worldwide uptick in cases which is now being followed by deaths in the usual 14 days lull

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

What I can't figure out is where they are occurring though? The countries with the highest tolls of the pandemic overall seem to be seeing steep declines, so I'm assuming the increase is a combination of a number of countries - I just can't work out which ones they are. Anyone have any ideas?

There’s been a big increase in cases in almost every European country, as the UK variant starts to become dominant.

Haven’t really been following the rest of the world but I do know that Brazil is in the horrors as well, with a nasty variant all of its own.
 
Increased population density allows pandemics to flourish, he literally says it within 10 seconds of the video starting.

Covid has a devastating impact in geographical areas (e.g. rural) where the population density is low.

Pandemics are not a function of the size of the global population.
 
Covid has a devastating impact in geographical areas (e.g. rural) where the population density is low.

Pandemics are not a function of the size of the global population.

I agree and disagree. Yes Covid has impacted some rural areas, I would suspect rural areas have been hit less than more urban areas but don't have the energy to look for studies to back that opinion up.
The point Mike Ryan is making, which I agree with, is that climate change forces areas of great population density and that results in less sanitary conditions, closer contact, and more potential trigger points for the next pandemic.
 
Eastern Europe has been battered, many countries around the 1700 deaths per million and that's being unaffected last spring/summer. Czech Republic are 2200 deaths per million, all coming within the last 5-6 months.

Poland still seeing 300-400 deaths, been like this since Nov, doesn't seem to be much effort in trying halt it.
 
I agree and disagree. Yes Covid has impacted some rural areas, I would suspect rural areas have been hit less than more urban areas but don't have the energy to look for studies to back that opinion up.
The point Mike Ryan is making, which I agree with, is that climate change forces areas of great population density and that results in less sanitary conditions, closer contact, and more potential trigger points for the next pandemic.

I agree.
 
From the BBC:
BBC News - Covid: UK death rate 'no longer Europe's worst' by winter
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56456312

Yes! Get in there! Loads more people will die in other countries so we don't look quite so bad anymore. What a win for Boris and chums.

Data only goes to mid-December last year as well. So ignores the most recent wave. Which (I think?) caused more deaths than the first.
 
Covid has a devastating impact in geographical areas (e.g. rural) where the population density is low.

Pandemics are not a function of the size of the global population.

Don't agree at all with your last point.
As the human population increased unchecked, it is obvious that we are going to take more and more land. Which inevitably leads to us being in ever closer contact with the wild animals.

Unfortunately, human beings act as if this planet is there just for us to do as we choose. And to hell with the rest of the living species.
And that arrogance is only going to end very badly.