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

I'm off to read Baudrillard and watch Catchphrase on an upside down b&w TV with the sound off.. peace out!

Novak is clear to stay and compete in the Australian open.
Don’t see him being popular with the crowds…

If anyone is trying to order LFTs then this Twitter bot LFT_alert has been quite handy at flagging when tests are available to order.

I heard a rumour that LFT availability should be a lot better from today

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-59916454

Biggest problem in NI is not Omicron deaths / hospitalisation but healthcare staff having to isolate due omicron.

It really looks like a less risky virus but we have other issues now thanks to it.

It's good it's not dangerous as much as many people in the local shop no longer mask up or sanitise...but perhaps they do this because it is less risky.

And that's always the problem with health messaging...be too cautious and some get angry because you were too cautious, be too optimistic and some let all precautions go.

Hello all, sorry if this isn’t the right place for this - I tested positive on the 30th December - I had one feverish morning in bed then no other symptoms as such, I kept my distance from the family by moving into the shed (where I’ve been working since lockdown 1) - got to day 7 and my wife was in need of help so I moved back into the house, washed my hands and wore a mask, kept windows open etc… I felt fine - the following day both my sons tested positive (1yr and 3yrs) and now on my day 12 my wife has tested positive and we’re both feeling like utter shite… I feel worse now than I have in the last week of being positive - anyone else had experiences like this?

No experience of it but ah shit mate that sounds rough. Hope you all feel better soon.

Sorry to hear this - this sounds grim. I haven’t had this experience, but many people I know seem to have ongoing symptoms and LFT positives well beyond 10 days with omicron.

Do you have a pulse oximeter, or someone near by who could lend you one? If you are concerned by blood oxygen levels or any other symptoms I would try and call your GP or NHS 111 for advice on accessing medical care.

I was fine then not and so on for several weeks (first wave or There about) Could even have period during the same day when i felt i was now well again only to have fever half an hour later. Feeling like shite is rather subjective tho and most do even during normal colds. If u have serious concearns u should call someone qualified.

Vaccine v transmission being discussed on Wa1 on R4 now.. The narrative is definitely changing at the Beeb. Questions and views that previously were deplorable now being openly asked and discussed.

Not sure how you still fail to understand that vaccines prevent severe COVID and are not supposed to be a cure for transmission

Worth taking a look at the ICU admission data, if it hasn't been linked already, for just how effective the vaccines have been.

https://www.icnarc.org/Our-Audit/Audits/Cmp/Reports

The goalposts are changing.. my ego looks forward to a quote from moi that shows such a misunderstanding..
Go on read all my posts..
Legomyego...

ill give you £15 if you never put another word in italics again

The vaccines have been spectacularly successful. Where do you think we would be now without vaccines?

Go on read all my posts

Respectfully I'd rather not

Ha!

So looking at the data between London and Gauteng, it looks like there was a strong correspondence of KPIs (cases, admissions, deaths) against prior waves during Omicron. Look at these graphs:

In both Gauteng and London hospital admissions peaked at about 50% of prior waves and deaths at less than 20% of prior waves.

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I wouldn't say spectacularly successful.

What Did You Expect from The Vaccines? was the best selling album of 2011 and they got compared to the Strokes, the Ramones and so on but they were just another indie rock band really.

I hadn't realised they released a new album in September. I'm kind of surprised they're still going, they must be having some serious SEO issues.

Not in this thread ;)

Dont know about uk but here the major selling point was always stop the spread from getting to your old n frail get vaccinated rather than get a shot and protect yrself.

ha, have you ever looked up the definition of a vaccine?

No but here's Wikipedia

Vaccines can be prophylactic (to prevent or ameliorate the effects of a future infection by a natural or "wild" pathogen), or therapeutic (to fight a disease that has already occurred, such as cancer). Some vaccines offer full sterilizing immunity, in which infection is prevented completely.

Seems to align with what we've got now

i'm pretty sure we wouldn't all be dead. Have you spent the time to compare how some of the lowest vaccinated countries are doing compared to the most vaccinated?

I think they were always primarily supposed to stop people dying. The effects on transmission were a secondary advantage but obviously they don't reduce transmission enough to completely prevent a wave of cases. (Although note that people's behaviour is undoubtedly going to change before/after vaccination...)

I understand your argument that people will be reluctant to take a booster if the effects on transmission are not very large but ultimately I don't know if that matters. I can't really imagine that we're all going to have biannual boosters - my impression is that at some point it'll just be old and vulnerable people getting vaccinated. (When we Learn To Live With It™)