United Kingdom VI: Summer Lovin'

[Asura]

So the government were right, Brexit hasn't harmed British exports at all: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55452262

To be fair, I think it's now in enough places so quickly for it to be clearer that it didn't start here; we were just the first to identify it.

Teens & teachers

Yeah, I was wondering about this. It might be a good idea. I mean, kids are already gathered together, daily, at government-run centres and organised into regimented groups (schools & classes). It would surely be faster to immunise kids.

I can only assume people who know more about the situation than I have arranged it the way they have for pertinent reasons.

[Dogg Thang]

I’m calling it the British virus now.

[Hirst]

I prefer the London Virus.

[Dogg Thang]

Yeah, that has a nice ring to it.

[teddymeow]

I prefer the London Virus.

"The Laaaaahndaaaaahn pox!"

[Neon Ignition]

At this point I'd day it's been definitively proven that lockdown is the single best measure against Covid that's been used, it's utterly ****ing away the gains from it that has been the problem.

[Golgo]

"The Laaaaahndaaaaahn pox!"

The Blighty Blight!

[teddymeow]

The Blighty Blight!

You win.

[fallenangle]

At this point I'd day it's been definitively proven that lockdown is the single best measure against Covid that's been used, it's utterly ****ing away the gains from it that has been the problem.

I can not agree with that. Lockdowns are simply a management tool for controlling the numbers of hospitalizations at any one time and, of course, it works, eventually. If you stop all people mixing, particularly the most vulnerable, then its inevitable the number of hospitalizations and consequent deaths go down. But it is not a solution, it doesn't fix anything.

The disease is still out there so the moment a lockdown is eased the cases start to rise. Again, that is inevitable and the proof of this is painfully obvious. This roller-coaster will keep on running until the vaccination program, hopefully, finally puts a stop to it.

Where a strict lockdown would have been effective was right at the start when there were a small number of cases and the disease had not established itself in the wider population. But that didn't happen, there was a delay applying the lockdown in March which was probably too late anyway.

Exactly what I said was going to happen back then is what has happened. Short of nailing the entire population up in their homes until the vaccination program is applied to the entire population what is the best course of action?

The vaccination program is in a race but it still seems likely to me, as I predicted, that eventually everyone is going to be exposed to C-19 and have to accept the lottery of life if and how it affects them.

[wakka]

I can not agree with that. Lockdowns are simply a management tool for controlling the numbers of hospitalizations at any one time and, of course, it works, eventually. If you stop all people mixing, particularly the most vulnerable, then its inevitable the number of hospitalizations and consequent deaths go down. But it is not a solution, it doesn't fix anything.

The disease is still out there so the moment a lockdown is eased the cases start to rise. Again, that is inevitable and the proof of this is painfully obvious. This roller-coaster will keep on running until the vaccination program, hopefully, finally puts a stop to it.

All of that is true. But it doesn't mean that it isn't, as NI says, our best measure against COVID.

As you say, until we're all vaccinated, there isn't really much else we can do except have periodic lockdowns that limit the virus spread a bit in the short term.

[MartyG]

I don't know what happens if you need an ICU bed and there aren't any.

You die.

To be fair, I think it's now in enough places so quickly for it to be clearer that it didn't start here; we were just the first to identify it.

As far as I was aware, most if not all of the cases identified outside of the UK have been traced to UK travel - the strain has clear lineage: https://twitter.com/firefoxx66/statu...59989395861506

[Family Fry]

You die.

Saddest part is that’s true.
Although it has to be said, they will make you feel as comfortable as possibly whilst you are dying.
Doctors being forced to make life and death decisions based on best possible outcome is just a ****ing grim picture.

[Neon Ignition]

That's the issue, every time it's used the number of infections-hospitalisations-deaths falls and it's the only measure that's worked even when the softer one was deployed. It doesn't cure the virus but had it been kept in place longer originally and the proper measures used once lifted we could have consistently been in a decent position instead of being in a consistent mess, particularly had we not wasted out island nation status.

All the fears of what lockdown's cause all happen the same without one being in place, the situation across the board having spiralled out of control each of the three times so far that a lockdown hasn't been in place. I'm still fine to give some benefit of the doubt given the newness of the situation even as far as last summer but the mess since then onwards is entirely on the Tories appalling handling of the situation and that we're staring down the barrel of the gun of a third and possibly long term lockdown on the back of being in the worst scenario we've been in with the virus is all on their heads for blame.

They failed to throttle it strongly enough in the first instance and have failed to put the right measures in place to maintain it ever since either. The current school return situation is another one of those instances, weeks of hand wringing about sending kids back when it matters little given parents can't just hybridise their child care at short notice, many will have kids in primary schools at the same time anyway and them returning two weeks later won't make a difference either. Meanwhile we'll watch the 40,000 a day rise past 50,000 a day and hospitals turning patients away left right and centre through being overrun and businesses folding anyway because so many get ill or fear going out in the face of either a death rattle tier system or the growing chances of catching it in a pre-vaccine distribution era.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/29/tier-5-england-faces-possible-new-covid-restrictions-source-says

Which is how we get here, the introduction of a Tier 5 could be on the cards which could result in stay at home orders and school closures. It's daft because it's basically full lockdown and I'm not sure it would work given it'd be forcing one in without MP's voting for it, that and lockdowns only work when imposed everywhere. There's no ability to police these things so people continue to travel to lower tier areas to escape the rules.

It's like a patient who needs a heart transplant but the doctors keep treating other parts of the body because they find the idea of the operation icky. Meanwhile the patient is getting closer and closer to flatlining...

[Neon Ignition]

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

I was too retrained in my prediction - 53,135 new cases today

The UK infection rate here onward

[wheelaa]

Some Christmas lag I'm sure, but still awful.

At least early / ongoing indications are the UK strain (yes, we're still, or at least should be, a 'UK') isn't more deadly. Hope it stays so.