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Coronavirus - how is it/has it affected you?

Ethan said:
It is not like seasonal flu. Flu is usually an end of life event for the very elderly, and the great majority of the population have built up a pretty good immunity. The population impact is limited.

Covid risk is not just about deaths. It has a range of effects which will cause problems for years to come in those who have been infected.

It. Isn’t. Like. Flu.
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I was referring to how our attitude towards Covid will need to change to more like our attitude to flu is

Regular jabs/ boosters, etc
 
PhilTheFragger said:
I was referring to how our attitude towards Covid will need to change to more like our attitude to flu is

Regular jabs/ boosters, etc
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Our attitude to it needs to be very different to flu, starting with stopping casually allowing it to spread because "we have to learn to live with it". That simply means that people no longer care about who is affected, so long as it is not them.
 
Ethan said:
Our attitude to it needs to be very different to flu, starting with stopping casually allowing it to spread because "we have to learn to live with it". That simply means that people no longer care about who is affected, so long as it is not them.
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But wasn’t that the point of vaccinations? That’s now done for all of the most vulnerable and the vast majority of over 50’s yet we’ve still got large sectors of the economy who cannot open fully due to SD restrictions etc. That cannot go on for much longer without those businesses closing for good. I’m not suggesting that it should just go unchecked but surely we’re at a tipping point where we’ve done as much as we can to protect those who need it?
 
SocketRocket said:
Surely we need to get infections under control otherwise the virus stays in large numbers and will create more mutations with possibly more dangerous varients. It concerns me that if we can't keep on top of it the current vaccinations won't be effective and could we have vaccination programs big enough and often enough to keep on top of this pandemic.

Hopefully I'm overthinking but currently I find it concerning.
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Well, as a layman,I might have my thoughts a bit skewift, but I don't think so. Phil has pointed out some very important parameters, and whilst the high positives may seem alarming, it is important not to lose sight of the numbers of serious cases arising together with how many of those are of the unvaccinated.
That is the true measure of the impact of this so called new wave.
I hate that term. It may be an editors dream term , but it conjures up a virus coming at us like a cloud of mustard gas or something!!
I have already doubted the "variants" alarm argument. What is happening ,where it is happening, would be happening with the first virus,(or any of the other "variants"). The Kent, Brazilian, South African, were all dealt with and controlled by SD and , importantly, the vaccines. So, I think, would this one have been.
Without SD and other measures most of us have practiced, and of course, the vaccines, the original virus would have run as wild as this Variant is now.
OK, so it is "more transmittable " than the original, but , remember, so were the others.
But , to transmit, it still has to have the conditions and opportunities to do so.
 
road2ruin said:
But wasn’t that the point of vaccinations? That’s now done for all of the most vulnerable and the vast majority of over 50’s yet we’ve still got large sectors of the economy who cannot open fully due to SD restrictions etc. That cannot go on for much longer without those businesses closing for good. I’m not suggesting that it should just go unchecked but surely we’re at a tipping point where we’ve done as much as we can to protect those who need it?
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The strategy of containing Covid is just starting. The community immunity to flu took decades to build, with repeated exposure to different variants, and only the odd exceptional variant causing a crisis. The same community immunity will happen with Covid but we aren't close to being there yet. The idiotic and irresponsible policy of putting irreversible dates in the public mind means that we risk causing thousands more serious illnesses rather than take a couple of extra weeks to dampen down the risk. This has happened before at least twice, at the very start, most disastrously, and in September.

The economy will not recover properly unless the disease is suppressed. It is not one or the other.

The Delta variant may not be the apocalypse, but the Epsilon or Theta versions, or whichever one is the first that is truly resistant to the vaccines, may be, and we are only encouraging their evolution if we fart around now.
 
Ethan said:
The strategy of containing Covid is just starting. The community immunity to flu took decades to build, with repeated exposure to different variants, and only the odd exceptional variant causing a crisis. The same community immunity will happen with Covid but we aren't close to being there yet. The idiotic and irresponsible policy of putting irreversible dates in the public mind means that we risk causing thousands more serious illnesses rather than take a couple of extra weeks to dampen down the risk. This has happened before at least twice, at the very start, most disastrously, and in September.

The economy will not recover properly unless the disease is suppressed. It is not one or the other.

The Delta variant may not be the apocalypse, but the Epsilon or Theta versions, or whichever one is the first that is truly resistant to the vaccines, may be, and we are only encouraging their evolution if we fart around now.
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This is the bit that don’t scare the life out of me but worries me no end. Am sure the experts feel the same way. When the Kent and India version came along there were concerns at an early stage whether the vaccines would be any good against these variants.
Just thinking on me feet here Ethan. You have mentioned before how the vaccines are different in there make up and how they kick start the bodies immunity. Could there well be a virus that could infect say a AZ vaccinated person but someone who has had Pfizer be protected. Or vice versa. Cheers me man.
 
Why has the Indian Variant now been renamed the Delta? Assuming it is a rename and not another mutation - which changing the name kind of makes it seem like...
 
AmandaJR said:
Why has the Indian Variant now been renamed the Delta? Assuming it is a rename and not another mutation - which changing the name kind of makes it seem like...
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It's a rename.
Someone was on the telly this morning suggesting that it must never be referred to as the Indian Variant as that would increase hate crimes against Asian people!
The Kent, South African and Brazillian variants have also been renamed Alpha, Beta and Gamma.
 
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AmandaJR said:
Why has the Indian Variant now been renamed the Delta? Assuming it is a rename and not another mutation - which changing the name kind of makes it seem like...
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Not another mutation. The WHO were concerned that the stigma attached to naming a variant after a place or country was creating animosity and potential problems caused by that animosity.

They decided that the Greek alphabet would be used, so the first ("Kent") variant became Alpha and the latest became Delta.

I have heard so many idiots blatantly blaming Indians for this 3rd "wave" with little regard for the fact that India is just where the mutation was first detected, not necessarily that it originated there.
 
Swinglowandslow said:
Well, as a layman,I might have my thoughts a bit skewift, but I don't think so. Phil has pointed out some very important parameters, and whilst the high positives may seem alarming, it is important not to lose sight of the numbers of serious cases arising together with how many of those are of the unvaccinated.
That is the true measure of the impact of this so called new wave.
I hate that term. It may be an editors dream term , but it conjures up a virus coming at us like a cloud of mustard gas or something!!
I have already doubted the "variants" alarm argument. What is happening ,where it is happening, would be happening with the first virus,(or any of the other "variants"). The Kent, Brazilian, South African, were all dealt with and controlled by SD and , importantly, the vaccines. So, I think, would this one have been.
Without SD and other measures most of us have practiced, and of course, the vaccines, the original virus would have run as wild as this Variant is now.
OK, so it is "more transmittable " than the original, but , remember, so were the others.
But , to transmit, it still has to have the conditions and opportunities to do so.
Click to expand...
Surely these conditions are where we get closer to each other again.

As I said previously, my main concern is that if the virus is not contained we create the conditions for the virus to mutate and it appears to do that very easily where numbers are high. Imagine a new variety that is immune to current vaccines then the logistics of creating a new vaccination and it being available worldwide.

IMO the current trend with the exponential growth of infections is very concerning.
 
Ah ha I see. I did wonder why the Kent version hadn't had a rename when the world (ok most of Europe) were blaming the UK for the 2nd wave! Makes sense to now be consistent at least.
 
Ethan said:
The Delta variant may not be the apocalypse, but the Epsilon or Theta versions, or whichever one is the first that is truly resistant to the vaccines, may be, and we are only encouraging their evolution if we fart around now.
Click to expand...

But ultimately that’s going to be beyond our control anyway isn’t it? Assuming we have vaccinated every adult who wants the jab by the end of June then that’s all the UK can do to control it out end. Other countries could be months if not years behind so does that mean we stay with the social restrictions we have now until everyone across the world is at the same level?
 
road2ruin said:
But ultimately that’s going to be beyond our control anyway isn’t it? Assuming we have vaccinated every adult who wants the jab by the end of June then that’s all the UK can do to control it out end. Other countries could be months if not years behind so does that mean we stay with the social restrictions we have now until everyone across the world is at the same level?
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It may mean that if we have open borders.
 
road2ruin said:
And with that you’d wave goodbye to large parts of the travel and hospitality industries. How much would the social, economic and health costs of that be?
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If we take the course of least resistance now it may well create the most damage later.

It's a paradox that so many praise the Covid policies of countries like New Zealand and Australia but see it as unacceptable in their own countries.
 
But the amount that hospitality is worth to the economy and the amount of jobs it creates (especially in the younger ages), if you destroy them now there won’t be anything worth coming back to.

Looking longer term I do agree that the end goal is that the entire world needs to have a high % of vaccinations for this to be beat. To this end I honestly think we need to forget the plans of countries vaccinating those under 16/18yrs a s donated all of those vaccines to other countries.
 
road2ruin said:
But ultimately that’s going to be beyond our control anyway isn’t it? Assuming we have vaccinated every adult who wants the jab by the end of June then that’s all the UK can do to control it out end. Other countries could be months if not years behind so does that mean we stay with the social restrictions we have now until everyone across the world is at the same level?
Click to expand...

Yes, to a certain extent, but keeping levels of Covid down might be needed for a bit longer than planned. It would be a false economy, no pun intended, to prematurely open up, but pay big for it later.
 
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Slime said:
It's a rename.
Someone was on the telly this morning suggesting that it must never be referred to as the Indian Variant as that would increase hate crimes against Asian people!
The Kent, South African and Brazillian variants have also been renamed Alpha, Beta and Gamma.
Click to expand...

I reckon the Kent variant should be renamed "The foreign truck drivers and rubber boat migrant variant"
 
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