Chat about Novel Coronavirus - 2019-nCoV - COVID-19

thoughts?

Non direct flights suck. Rebook direct. This was true in the before times anyway.

the problem is... my folks are in Switzerland so was going to meet them and then fly over to the UK with them to my brothers family. Can't get direct flights regardless from West Coast USA to Manchester lol.

It would have been a fuck load easier if my brother and family would have just gone to Switzerland. The rules are a bit more sane there (except that weird blip with quarantine), they don't change daily on Boris whim.

(oh other small thing, broken ankle so trains/walking a lot is not really a great idea).

You know what... I think I should just stay put and meet them later in the year

10 day quarantine to enter Switzerland, no?

Was supposed to be in Geneva this week with work, but the trip got pulled due to the quarantine requirements. (Maybe that’s just from the Uk?)

They pulled the 10 day quarantine rule after a few days. Realized it was over kill for omnicron. I had almost cancelled then too. Now you just need proof of negative covid test

Ah, didn’t realise. Thanks

"burhh, well, well... Boris doesn't follow the rules so why should I?" Has got to be the stupidest fucking take to come out of this shitshow. It's seriously fucking with my mind given how so unrelentingly selfish and dumb it is.

Not doing something just to spite some other cunt with no consideration for the consequences is just about the toryest thing you could do.

Everything just feels so hopeless.

What practical steps would you decide on then? I’m genuinely curious, do you have actual, specifics strategies in mind?

Oh that's better than I thought. How does that compare with PCR?

I have stuck in my head that last year a survey of LFT done by medical professionals (so presumably more competent at finding tonsils than average public) showed it only picked up 50% cases. Glad if it's much better than that.

Are there any studies that correlate mask wearing/ hand washing and vaccination uptake vs maskless/ unwashed/ anti vaxxers?

I wonder which of these traits tie in with hospitalisation.

Asking for a f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶ idiot

Sajid Javid isn’t looking very well on bbc breakfast this morning.

Oh that's better than I thought. How does that compare with PCR?

They're completely different things. LFD are designed to be the best thing that can be done at home with a result within 30 minutes. They're also limited to the levels of the virus they can pick up and so they only really test for a certain level of infectiousness rather than any trace levels of infection.

so presumably more competent at finding tonsils than average public

Most of the LFD kits being sent out now only do a nasal swab (and 1" up the nose is as far as that goes), they don't go near your tonsils.

(Reminds me, need to order some more, we're getting through more than a box of 7 a week what with increased testing for our 11yo and ad hoc testing for us two adults.)

Giving something up when the leaders don't can be hard for some people. It breaks solidarity, stupid as it is, the government must know this cos I can't imagine they weren't told.

Everyone is getting tired of this as well by now, another variant and nee rules.

But yes it's not smart in most cases, as people breaking the rules don't necessarily isolate / take tests just in case they got sick.

Yeah I've got a mix of the old ones and nasal only. Also getting through them pretty quick. Wasn't sure if it was just a change of manufacturer.

I've ordered two boxes at a time, but you have to do the whole order form twice. Pharmacy were cool.

I've got a box of the green tests! Haven't used one yet.

Yup, just want to yell "its not about you, its not about him, its about everybody" in these people's faces.

I have stuck in my head that last year a survey of LFT done by medical professionals (so presumably more competent at finding tonsils than average public) showed it only picked up 50% cases. Glad if it's much better than that.

I remember that survey, I think it was conducted in Liverpool during some sort of LFD pilot.

Since then, several different studies have found that it underestimated effectiveness. Partly I think because people have got better at swabbing themselves over time.

Edit: I think the LFD tests have become easier to use too.

And they have a ski season to consider…

Is there any link between reaction to vaccines and covid itself?

Had Moderna booster yesterday morning. Neither that or either previous AZ shots have caused any sort of side effects other than sore arm where they were injected.

This one hurts a hell of a lot more than the others tho'. Can barely lift my arm above the shoulder right now. Anyone else found similar?

the moderna zap is brutal. Mrs Hell - who is made of Godsperm - was complaining of similar symptoms to the ones you describe.

It laid me - shisperm, obvs - the fuck out for nearly 3 days.

After 2 x AZ, my Pfizer booster was a lot more painful - lasted about a week. Not debilitating, but certainly noticeable.

In other anecdotal people-are-idiots news: mrs-ru was due out for christmas girl's night dinner last night. One friend's daughter had just tested positive. She still chose to go and the others seemed OK with that. mrs-ru stayed at home as we have visits to parents etc coming up. Unsurprisingly, this morning the friend tested positive - after a night of hugging and close chat etc. People have got really blase about this now.

This times a million. Sweating bullets.

The lack of public guidance suggests they have lost touch with their public comms. Whatever you thought of it, at least earlier in the pandemic there were regular campaigns to guide behaviour.

Boris blurted out at the end of the press conference yesterday that it’d be a good idea to do tests pre Christmas parties. Where’s the campaign saying that? He may as well have said #IMO at the end.

At least when Dommy and Caino were milling around No 10 there was some attempt at messaging this pandemic to help people know what on earth to do. (Probs correlation>causation.) Never thought I’d miss them!

More random italics in lengthy and meandering forum posts will save the day.

ANECDATA ALERT: I had two Pfizer and now waiting for my booster. First one, arm was sore for a week. I partly blamed it on possibly tensing my arm at the point of jab, and then had to cycle back across Richmond Park, including a decent hill, on the fixed gear - so a fair bit of winching/arm tensing required to get up the hill.

For my next jab, which was just down the road, I consciously tried to relax my arm as much as possible, and then gently pedalled home one handed, with the jabbed arm hanging as loosely as possible. Seemed to work, as had no ongoing pain.

TLDR - My advice based on sample of 1 - Try to relax and not use your arm for the rest of the day to avoid soreness.