Current Affairs

[Manoverboard]

We have never registered our results, would only do so if any were positive.

[Gill W]

The figure on the government dashboard is from 21st December.

Unless we are looking in different places the latest date that I am seeing is 29th December @ 18:00 (https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/)

Look at Patients Admitted on the dashboard - latest data is 1213 for 21st December.
Yet England alone had 1751 admissions on 27th December

Which is helping Boris to make the right choices to manage the pandemic in the most sensible way.

If we weren't in sure a serious situation I'd be laughing at that one

. And entirely to form despite our testing system now being among the best in the world it's still not good enough for you.

It's not about whether its the best or worst in the world, it really doesn't bother me. Or whether its good or bad - it's that it's currently creaking under the strain - and that should be a concern for all of us

Even taking Gill's figures, as a proportion of the population hospitalisations and deaths from Covid are very low and would be substantially lower if people did as they were asked and had their jabs. Successive reports say that the majority of those in hospital have not been vaccinated and on their heads be it.
But let's not pass over an opportunity to blame Boris and the right wing loons.

The problem is, as I see it, if there are half the hospital admissions compared to the previous wave, but double the infections - we risk ending up in the same place.

Johnson is the one in charge - but he's not doing anything extra to stop it. He had completely disappeared until yesterday when he'd been dragged back from wherever he'd been hiding.- but still no action on the horizon

It's so strange, people not bothered about an unfolding crisis, but would rather make digs about Boris bashing or whatever.

We live in strange times.

[Mervyn and Trish]

See David. I knew we were wrong.

Interesting assumption though. Because we don't constantly bash Boris we don't care. Hmmm.

#FalseAssumptions

[david63]

One interesting fact about hospitalisations is that around a third of those in hospital with Covid did not go into hospital knowing that they had Covid but went in for some other reason and during routine tests were found to be Covid positive. Although they are in hospital they are not, in the majority of cases, being treated for Covid but for other conditions and would be in hospital in any event.

Yet another anomaly of the statistics that plays into the media's hands

[oldbluefox]

It's so strange, people not bothered about an unfolding crisis,

We've heard your unfolding crises before on another matter.
Anyone remember the chap who walked up and down Regent Street with a sandwich board saying the end is nigh? I wonder what happened to him. Asking for a friend.......

[Ray B]

The government figures on it's Dashboard say deaths of anyone testing positive in the last 28 days. What it does not say is, was it covid that killed them. A very mild case of covid may have been had, but the person may have been dying anyhow, the figures for actually dying from covid may be a lot lower, who knows.

[Onelife]

It's so strange, people not bothered about an unfolding crisis,

We've heard your unfolding crises before on another matter.
Anyone remember the chap who walked up and down Regent Street with a sandwich board saying the end is nigh? I wonder what happened to him. Asking for a friend.......

He was last seen in Fleetwood having seen the light/s

[Gill W]

The test figures are meaningless as they do not take into account all the tests that were performed, as one example, by umpteen families during the Christmas period ... we, for example, all tested negative but kept the information to ourselves as would zillions of others.

The lateral flow tests we do at home aren't included on the government dashboard

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ology-note

One interesting fact about hospitalisations is that around a third of those in hospital with Covid did not go into hospital knowing that they had Covid but went in for some other reason and during routine tests were found to be Covid positive. Although they are in hospital they are not, in the majority of cases, being treated for Covid but for other conditions and would be in hospital in any event.

Yet another anomaly of the statistics that plays into the media's hands

It plays into the Covid minimisers hands, that's for sure.

In the scenario that you describe, it still adds to the NHS workload, as they have to keep the Covid patients separate from the other patients etc

We've heard your unfolding crises before on another matter.

Are you talking about Brexit? Its odd that you keep going on about it, when it's all supposed to be over and done, yet if I mentioned it, the mob would descend on me baying 'you lost get over it''

As your continued mentions of Brexit indicate this is an accepted forum subject, you never know, perhaps I will start talking about it again

The government figures on it's Dashboard say deaths of anyone testing positive in the last 28 days. What it does not say is, was it covid that killed them. A very mild case of covid may have been had, but the person may have been dying anyhow, the figures for actually dying from covid may be a lot lower, who knows.

Nobody on this forum has ever confirmed what 'mild' Covid is. I did ask about this, but everybody got shirty.

[towny44]

Gill, everyone is comparing Omicron to Delta, so far the data from the scientific experts is that omicron gives a milder infection to Delta. Which bit of that are you unable to comprehend.

[Mervyn and Trish]

There's no doubt test supplies are struggling to keep up at the moment. Experts told us when Omicron hit that would be the case. Nonetheless we currently have capacity for 100m tests per month. That will increase to 300m per month in the new year. That's around 70m per week. When Germany were managing 300,000 per week we thought they were brilliant. How come some now consider we're failing?

[oldbluefox]

Are you talking about Brexit? Its odd that you keep going on about it, when it's all supposed to be over and done, yet if I mentioned it, the mob would descend on me baying 'you lost get over it''

As your continued mentions of Brexit indicate this is an accepted forum subject, you never know, perhaps I will start talking about it again

I never mentioned Brexit. I was talking about you and your propensity to over dramatise and create a crisis out of nothing no matter what the subject is.
I follow the figures and plan to live with the virus but I most certainly do not go into a blind panic every time the figures go up or Boris goes AWOL.

[Gill W]

Gill, everyone is comparing Omicron to Delta, so far the data from the scientific experts is that omicron gives a milder infection to Delta. Which bit of that are you unable to comprehend.

What is 'milder' covid - what sort of symptoms occur with 'mild' covid? It's not necessarily a light cold - there are all sorts of unpleasant symptoms a person can have, which could make them feel very poorly for several days - but it would be still clinically described as 'mild'

It's all online if you want to look.

I think that people are lulling themselves into a sense of false security with the idea of mildness for all

I follow the figures and plan to live with the virus but I most certainly do not go into a blind panic every time the figures go up or Boris goes AWOL.

No panic from me, just realism, Johnson is missing a lot of the of the time anyway - that's the norm

[Mervyn and Trish]

Ah good. Let's get back to bashing Boris again. Safe territory. Still I'm glad that you at least are privy to his diary. Must be reassuring for him.

[david63]

Johnson is missing a lot of the of the time anyway

How do you know that? Does he give you a minute by minute account of what he is doing?

I suspect Boris was doing more work on Christmas Day than 90% of the population put together.

[oldbluefox]

His wife has just given birth, it's Christmas and the guy needs a break sometime. It's not as though his office will be empty. That's why he has ministers, advisors and civil servants who will be monitoring the situation and keeping him informed.

[Mervyn and Trish]

But let's not let humanity get in the way of a good Boris Bash. I'm sure his critics would be in the office 25 hours a day, 8 days a week.

[Onelife]

With the opening up of Nightingale Hospitals it won’t be long before we hear the cry…Where’s Florence, Boris?

[Onelife]

What I have noticed with Boris’s briefings of late is that there is no mention of ‘following scientific advice’ in his patter…
.
Perhaps Whitty overstepped the mark in telling the nation the truth.

[oldbluefox]

The difference being the scientists see the issue from one angle only and are interested in nothing else. The government have other considerations..... economy, mental health, education, NHS provision, social issues, unemployment to name but a few. Basically damned if you do.....

[Onelife]

The difference being the scientists see the issue from one angle only and are interested in nothing else. The government have other considerations..... economy, mental health, education, NHS provision, social issues, unemployment to name but a few. Basically damned if you do.....

All very true Foxy, but had this Government taken their advise and not dilly-dallied through this pandemic perhaps the economy, mental health, education, NHS provision, social issues, unemployment would be in a better position to cope than what they are now.

Bash Boris I say

[Mervyn and Trish]

Funnily enough I heard an interview today comparing the England approach in this latest phase with the more stringent restrictions in Wales and Scotland. Apparently the latter have made zero difference in cutting infection numbers.

May be better to bash Krankie and Drakeford.

[Kendhni]

My biggest concern is that Johnson is no longer even pretending he is following SAGE advice, he is playing up to a rebellious back bench trying to save his own neck. Maybe he will be very lucky and the backbenchers, who are now effectively dictating government policy, will be correct ... we have to wait and see

[oldbluefox]

I don't think we can afford it without racking up even more debt which will have to be paid back one day.

[Gill W]

How do you know that? Does he give you a minute by minute account of what he is doing?

I suspect Boris was doing more work on Christmas Day than 90% of the population put together.

When he eventually surfaced on 29th December, he was asked by a reporter where he had been for the last 10 days - not a difficult question, and you'd expect a straightforward reply, such as, 'I was at Chequers, but I was monitoring the situation'. But the answer that was provided was a lot of blustering noises, sheepish looks and eventually 'ahh, umm, well, I was in this country'. A very odd reply to a simple question - based on his record, I have to suspect he went off abroad somewhere and had to be dragged back.

With the opening up of Nightingale Hospitals it won’t be long before we hear the cry…Where’s Florence, Boris?

You'd think it would be better to introduce further mitigations to slow down infections rather than put up tents to store overflow patients. Not sure if they are expected to look after themselves in the tents as I don't know where the extra staff are meant to come from

What I have noticed with Boris’s briefings of late is that there is no mention of ‘following scientific advice’ in his patter…
.
Perhaps Whitty overstepped the mark in telling the nation the truth.

Following the science has gone out of the window. It's solely political now as Johnson has to kowtow to the right wing loons in his party who have got his ...er... man bits in a vice.

Funnily enough I heard an interview today comparing the England approach in this latest phase with the more stringent restrictions in Wales and Scotland. Apparently the latter have made zero difference in cutting infection numbers.

May be better to bash Krankie and Drakeford.

What with Scotland and Wales (and NI) running at 1 in 40 infected people (per ONS figures) and England at 1 in 25, perhaps Drakeford and Sturgeon are doing something right

My biggest concern is that Johnson is no longer even pretending he is following SAGE advice, he is playing up to a rebellious back bench trying to save his own neck. Maybe he will be very lucky and the backbenchers, who are now effectively dictating government policy, will be correct ... we have to wait and see

Very true Ken, although running a public health policy on luck is sub-optimal, although very Johnsonian.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I can't be bothered to quote all your post Gill but maybe you should have listened to the same scientist I heard interviewed than put your own interpretation on the figures. It's really not as simple as the bald stats you quote.

#BashBoris #Predictable