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

And all clear on today's lateral flow. Back to the world again (I had been going out for walks but it's easy to keep away from everyone.)

Feel like I have symptoms that are very close to Covid, which I had 2 months ago anyway. Testing negative, and I guess they are fairly generic cold symptoms (cough, fatigue etc), but really frustrating to be back where I was only a few weeks ago.

This is a disgraceful slur - as he confirmed in his book, he did all the right things and definitely didn't kill your gran.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/mar/01/matt-hancock-rejected-covid-testing-advice-leaked-messages-suggest

The fact that Hancock entrusted his autobiography to Oakeshott, tells you all you need to know about his lack of judgement.

3 months since having it and still have to manage energy levels a fair bit, not sure I can face the prospect of having it again anytime soon

You sound a right laugh, consider this an invite my upcoming birthday party down the pub.

I always thought masks aren't for personal protection from the masses, they are for mass protection from the individual?

Hence people being seen as selfish if they refused to wear a mask during the pandemic.

N95 do both

We are still testing for Covid if we get ill trying to limit the spread.

Masks feel very pointless I have to say now that nobody wears them anymore.

So far two run-ins with omicron...

I think you were one of the people who was anti-mask at the beginning?

Nope, never anti-mask, anti-people taking masks from medical workers who needed them more/ignoring expert advice. You've quoted some of my posts from when the expert advice was that you didn't need to wear a mask, and I believe in experts. They may not have been right then, but nobody was as we were dealing with a new and previously unseen virus.

There's been research done which shows the effects on your body and brain are cumulative, btw. Probably best to try to avoid getting it at all, and definitely not repeatedly.

Damn, why didn't I think of that? Unfortunately my work, society in general and most people I know for that matter have decided that everything has to go back to normal, and I'm not entirely sure I disagree given the wider health disbenefits of lockdowns and so on. I could sit at home and deal with the inevitable impact on my mental health, but that's not a very attractive option either.

I've also got to be honest and say that while your dedication to mask wearing is admirable, I don't particularly want to be that guy wearing a mask in a room full of people not wearing them. And yeah as others have pointed out if you wear one but the person with Covid doesn't that's only going to do so much.

All that said, I'm still feeling pretty shit. Symptoms have got better but the slightest hint of intense activity still flattens me at the moment.

I think you're definitely right about this - sister got it recently on a trip down to London and was on the tube for about half an hour in total.

and definitely the London Underground which is probably the worst place in the country for covid, combined with its already atrocious air quality

Cochrane recently updated their review of the effectiveness of masks with the broad finding the evidence suggested little to no difference compared to no mask. However, major caveats that most of the studies are weak or have methodology issues, hard to design good studies in a pandemic, N95 should be more effective but their wasn't the evidence in relation to Covid to allow them to state that, personal risk is important and if you are vulnerable masks should be one layer of your protection measures

This has a good overview
https://www.health.com/cochrane-review-do-masks-work-7112631

Obviously anti-vaxers and anti-lockdown people have come out saying it is conclusive proof they don't work and we were duped and ignore all the authors caveats and list of limitations of the study

I’d like to just say that I admire this polite and disarming response to an opening gambit that I found difficult to not read in a condescending tone.

I don't particularly want to be that guy wearing a mask in a room full of people not wearing them

It depends. I'm sometimes the only one on the bus/tube or shop, but who cares, I don't know those people. Usually there are one or two others. On public transport I've found it up and down depending on what's in the news/media week by week.

I've been at a couple of house parties recently where a couple of other people have been fully masked (probably a step up from N95), no eating/drinking indoors etc. But if that's what they need to be able to do a bit of socialising then who am I or anyone else to disparage that.

I no longer habitually mask for work or leisure. I've noticed that a few people now mask if they've got a cold, frankly I wish more of my colleagues would rather than openly coughing/sneezing etc.

Up until about January I was quite religious about masking up on the tube, even though I did get a bit of side-eye from people for doing it. I stopped mainly because I ran out of the particular N95 masks that fit over my beard and never got around to replacing them. And now I have covid. Admittedly it might equally have been the work social event I went to last week. But either way I’m ordering more masks.

"I think you're definitely right about this - sister got it recently on a trip down to London and was on the tube for about half an hour in total."

And what did she do for the rest of the day/24hrs/weekend?.......

Hah, thanks. As I get older I try harder to assume positive intent and generally be more zen.

Whatever you think about that reply - and yes telling someone who's just hit numero quattro they should try to avoid getting it is arguably a little patronising - you can't call 531 a covidiot, who are still the real enemy ;)

And what did she do for the rest of the day/24hrs/weekend?

She's got one of those baby things again, so not a lot!

It was train down to Marylebone, tube to Covent Garden, lunch at Dishoom then straight home by 3pm to meet a childcare deadline for the other offspring.

Train down to London could definitely also have done it too, yep.

Ironically her first time doing something like this for a very long time - probably years. Shades of @h2o - it's almost like the virus knows.

Good reminder the loudest voices on social media often dont represent the majority

lunch at Dishoom

I had a work lunch at Dishoom few weeks ago. 5 of the 16 people round the table had Covid 3 days later. One was even running the app as well as me and I got a ping.

I walked past Dishoom on Friday PM and there was a massive queue outside the length of the entire shop front and beyond. Must have been heaving inside

Same (on my way to Spiritland, which was quite good). I am going to erect an a-frame board across the road:

“You’ll find a better curry on Drummond Street. And you won’t be made to wait outside in the cold!”

Always a queue. I think it is their intentional business model

Might have done my last ONS Covid test. Just an email to say they're reviewing the whole programme and whether it will continue after 31st March 2023.

Charities have done well out of it, we've donated the majority of the money we received in vouchers. (We spent the vouchers on stuff like food shopping and then donated cash separately.)

30+ PCR tests and 12 or so capillary blood tests for antibodies. I won't miss the taste of the swabs.

Is there any indication if/when paid for covid vaccines may become available, now that the NHS program is being wound up for everyone but the most vulnerable?

Is global demand still far outstripping supply, or will it soon reach a similar situation to the flu vaccine? Quite hard to find info on it.

Just got an alert on my phone that the NHS app will expire soon. We are officially post-covid, or at least don't give a shit don't tell us you have it.