Coronavirus

[Ligotti]

And we’re out! Australia is opening for business! Here in Sydney the basics are done and in Victoria they’re soon after. It’s so damn good and I can’t wait to visit the UK (where my parents and brother are) soon!

[ladsnet]

I wouldn't.

We're full of covid.

[Ligotti]

Plague Island *horror movie music and shudder*

But you guys are getting on okay there, right?

The UK’s response to coronavirus was even worse than the US (thanks Boris) but things are going back to relatively normal soon?

[ladsnet]

Depends who you talk to.

Were still getting around 40,000 new cases per day. By far the worst infection rates in Europe

[Ollie2UK]

I just spent 3 days in hospital and they are terrified about a new wave (and all seem pretty sure it's imminent).

My nose has been swabbed so many times I can now breathe through my eyeballs, 

Just talking to some of the nurses, they are certain it's coming and a lot of them don't think they'll be able to cope if/when it does. So yeah, very worrying times.

[Parsifal]

Sorry to learn you were in the hospital.    I hope you're well mended.
The worrying news that you report is ... worrying.

[Ollie2UK]

Sorry to learn you were in the hospital.    I hope you're well mended.
The worrying news that you report is ... worrying.

Thank you Parsi  It's a slow process, but I'm getting there.

It was a total eye-opener to see how stressed and ridiculously overstretched the medical staff already are (yet still maintaining amazing levels of care and compassion). The thought of another Covid wave hitting them just doesn't bear thinking about, 

[ladsnet]

Hardly anybody in the supermarket today wearing a mask.

There was a thing in the paper the other day. They interviewed a French, German, Spanish and Italian visitor to the UK. All were flabbergasted about the lack of mask wearing here.
All these countries have a fraction of the infection rates we still have.

[Parsifal]

There was an article a few days ago by an American reporter comparing the mask-wearing in Germany vs. the U.S.  It's like day and night.  In Germany mask-wearing is not the political issue that it is in the U.S., not even in the eastern part of the country where the far-right AfD is strong.

Basically, with military precision Germans don the mask when boarding public transportation or entering a shop and then remove it when exiting (chance of transmittal in open air is minimal).  Exceptions are near non-existent.  [perhaps Tiuri can comment on this]

Here in the U.S. it's a big political mess with objectors fighting with flight attendants and what not (it's called "individual freedom" ).  The cultural divide in this country (U.S.) is separated in large part by resentment of cultural elites (think: coastal liberals).  Reason does not factor into the equation at all.

[ladsnet]

Similar here.

The right wing press and politicians have decided that mask wearing to something that we should fight against and means we're not getting 'back to normal'
Amazingly most people have fallen for it now.

Completely different on the continent.

[Jwb52z]

I could be wrong, but I think the US has reached yet another level of new crazy. At least 12 lawsuits have started to force hospitals in the US go give Ivermectin to very ill COVID-19 patients.

[Bangle1]

00

Similar here.

The right wing press and politicians have decided that mask wearing to something that we should fight against and means we're not getting 'back to normal'
Amazingly most people have fallen for it now.

Completely different on the continent.

Masks are still mandatory in Scotland and most are complying, in Edinburgh anyway. The only permitted exemptions are on 'health grounds', which generally seems to effect males aged 15-30.

[ladsnet]

Why Britons are tolerating sky-high Covid rates
as Covid cases reach 40,000 a day, scientists think normalisation is partly to blame for the lack of public reaction
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/o...y-not-last

[deegee178]

Why Britons are tolerating sky-high Covid rates
as Covid cases reach 40,000 a day, scientists think normalisation is partly to blame for the lack of public reaction
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/o...y-not-last

Hmm, yes it has become normalised and yes people have just accepted it. Too many people think that now they’re vaccinated that they carry on as before and if they get COVID then it won’t be too bad.

I’ve always thought the big mistake made was to make masks optional. I still wear a mask in shops etc. but I’m increasingly in the minority. Seems the majority of people either don’t understand that masks will help keep the virus at bay, or worse don’t care. And for most people it’s not a high price nor a big ask to wear a mask.

The article states that something major needs to happen to get people to notice. I fear a collapse of the NHS during winter will be such a trigger …. but by then will be too late.

[Welsh Cake]

I’ve always thought the big mistake made was to make masks optional. 

I don’t think it would have made much difference. As in Scotland, masks are mandatory in shops and other indoor venues here in Wales but many people aren’t taking a blind bit of notice. There’s no point in passing laws if they’re not going to be enforced.

[Jwb52z]

Well, it is true that full vaccinated people who get a breakthrough infection are very unlikely to get very sick or die, but no one is talking about the fact that people who do get it can still get long term issues that aren't going to go away very likely. I think that if that changes, we might end up with more people caring again, perhaps.

[Parsifal]

Today Colin Powell died at age 84 from complications from Covid-19.  He was fully vaccinated.  It gives one cause for concern, although hospitalizations and deaths among the unvaccinated vastly outnumber the vaccinated.  I liked him.  He was a man of great integrity although too loyal to his boss GWB.  Such was his military training I guess.

[Heinrich]

He had many other health issues and it was reported elsewhere that they caused his death.

[Parsifal]

He received treatment for multiple myeloma (I don't know what that is) which compromised his immune system.  He was supposed to get his booster shot last week, but then he fell ill and couldn't receive it. But it was reported that it was complications from Covid-19 that caused his death.

One of the few good Republicans left.

[Jwb52z]

When you have cancer of one of the kinds of white blood cells, which is what what multiple myeloma is a type of, BTW, Parsifal, a virus like COVID-19 can take you faster than if you have other comorbidities like diabetes.