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After the Portugal decision the front pages are entirely predictable – politicalbetting.com

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  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,566

    Social distancing does not really happen in India, if this new variant was so infectious then surely it should be going through the whole unvaccinated population, its not, new cases are falling dramatically.
    That is one cause for hope, indeed. We need them

    OK I'm off to get my chipped tooth fixed

    Later
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    Far too simplistic a calculation.

    We have an NHS waiting list of 5million and counting, countless tales of undiagnosed cancers, a school age population up to 18 months behind in its learning, a hidden unemployment mountain of millions and an additional debt of GBP370bn. Plus, a potential wave of inflation threatening to decimate people's living standards for years.

    How many deaths, in the now and in the next decade, will those cause?
    Plus ironically considering the way obesity makes the virus worse, the lockdown lard a lot of people (half the country according to some surveys) have put on won't be helping either.
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518
    Leon said:

    Ta. So, yes 4-5m unvaxxed over 40?
    The risk to 40-44 is nothing like the risk to 80+ so employing a generic “risk of severe illness/death” percentage across the lot is making a lot of assumptions. Even ignoring herd immunity effects etc.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    MattW said:

    To me that looks like the normal initial rolloff after a sharp surge followed by vaccine or lockdown - compare UK in Jan or Belgium last Nov.

    They are at a vaccine % like the UK in very early Feb, and our cases had reduced by about half from Peak at that point.

    Sujbject to data etc. Not sure what the lockdown situation is in India now.
    To be honest if I was spotting corpses floating down the river as a regular occurrence I might stay indoors a touch more than usual.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818
    Leon said:

    Yes, I would stop you being treated. And you still have to pay your taxes because you are still going to use the NHS aren't you? And it keeps the country going, which you presumably want

    But you don't get treated for Covid, no. You are left to die and we save money. This is brutal stuff now. We are teetering on the edge of another disaster
    No if you are stopping me from being treated from covid then the NHS no longer free at the point of use, so I want a fully contracted out deal.

    No treatment. No payment. Fully private.

    Look at the NHS now. For a service that has been 'protected' it is totally on its knees.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,408
    edited June 2021
    Leon said:

    To add the cheerful spirit of suicidal gloom, take a look at the Uni of Washington model. They have been quietly updating their predictions

    By Sept 1, 2021, they predict:

    950,000 dead in the USA. A cool fucking million dead

    1.2m dead in India

    Major new waves in Asia: off the charts in Malaysia etc

    210,000 dead in the UK


    https://covid19.healthdata.org/malaysia?view=cumulative-deaths&tab=trend


    IMPORTANT TO NOTE: they are now estimating REAL death totals not just government stats

    deleted

  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    Selebian said:

    The model predicted 'disaster' for Sweden in a life as normal scenario. In Sweden, as elsewhere (although much less forced) people changed behaviour (and some restrictions were implemented)

    The Ferguson worst case estimates are about twice (if I recall correctly) the actual death toll in Sweden. Compared to about 3-4 times the actual UK death toll (depending which death figures you use). Which makes sense if you consider that the UK locked down much harder than Sweden.
    But people choose their own behaviour if they're concerned, that's the point in a liberal free society. When there's a risk, people choose their own way to respond.

    Life as normal doesn't happen in any country in a pandemic.
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518

    No he didn't.
    "We do not consider the ethical or economic implications of either strategy here, except to note that there is no easy policy decision to be made. Suppression, while successful to date in China and South Korea, carries with it enormous social and economic costs which may themselves have significant impact on health and well-being in the short and longer-term."

    Who said that? Ferguson, in the introduction to his famous paper in March. Front and centre.

    You've never even read it, have you?
    So he didn’t balance one against the other then? He left that to the politicians.
  • glwglw Posts: 10,347
    moonshine said:

    On professor pantsdown’s original prediction, we got to something like 40% acquired immunity with about 150k excess deaths. And that was with a policy that seemed perfectly designed to ensure as many old vulnerable people as possible would catch it.

    So he was a bit off. But certainly a bit better than just the correct order of magnitude.

    His original forecast was before dexamethasone was known to be a viable treatment.

  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,901

    I don't know whether we have seen some recent polling on this, other than general vote intention, but I suspect the government are really pushing the envelope with respect to people's patience with all these restrictions. We were told repeatedly that we needed to lockdown until the vulnerable have all be jabbed.

    That has happened now.

    Have they? Over 50s haven't all had their second jab just yet. Mine is on Tuesday.
    And polling suggests a plurality don't want restrictions lifted on June 21.
    I happen to disagree. But there we are.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,861
    edited June 2021
    Survation

    Tories 41%
    Labour 33%
    LDs 9%
    Greens 6%
    https://twitter.com/Survation/status/1400781950093344769?s=20h
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,515
    edited June 2021
    kinabalu said:

    Those stairlifts look quite dinky but there's no way I'd have one. What if it gets stuck while you're in it?
    You have an emergency alarm service, and a button on a bracelet or round your neck.

    (Possible mangled blockquotes)
  • Time_to_LeaveTime_to_Leave Posts: 2,547

    No if you are stopping me from being treated from covid then the NHS no longer free at the point of use, so I want a fully contracted out deal.

    No treatment. No payment. Fully private.

    Look at the NHS now. For a service that has been 'protected' it is totally on its knees.
    You can’t “contract out” of the NHS. There is no such thing as private emergency medicine or high dependency units. If you’re in a private hospital, past a certain point they’ll send you on to the NHS.

    So in his terms, his offer is fair - you get the full service for everything except the risk you have chosen to take on Covid.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 9,243
    Leon said:

    it's actually worse than I said

    2 and a half times the hospitalisations, not twice


    The
    @PHE_uk
    report today paints a grim picture - TL;DR:
    -delta variant has almost replaced the beta variant in much of England
    - 50-60% more transmissible
    - ~2.5x higher risk of hospitalisations
    - Schools appear to be a key area of spread with many large no.s of clusters
    Ok, but still 2.5 times a number much smaller than 5-10% of cases assuming the older, originally more vulnerable but now double jabbed are largely safe (and the PHE report suggests about 80% protection from symptomatic infection still, probably better for hospitalisations)
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,814

    Yes - and this why we are seeing death rates remaining low. The issue is now the hospitalisation vulnerable. Which goes down to 40 or so.
    Let's see where the 40-somethings group settles in another week. There's under a million people in England over 60 on the NIMS data without a first dose and as has been said, the true number is likely to be a bit smaller than that.

    86% of over 40s having one dose and 77% of over 30s should be giving a decent firebreak and in most of the country of course, these numbers are higher. I suspect what we'll see is some smouldering embers in the more antivax locations and groups, who are by definition less careful, but by next spring it will be hard to find any cases.

  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,515
    Leon said:

    Not 99%.

    Check the curves on Asian countries like Thailand and Malaysia. Spiralling into a terrible third wave
    I was referring to UK. Sorry if not clear.
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518
    edited June 2021
    France appear to have just lifted the quarantine requirement on vaccinated Brits.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818

    You can’t “contract out” of the NHS. There is no such thing as private emergency medicine or high dependency units. If you’re in a private hospital, past a certain point they’ll send you on to the NHS.

    So in his terms, his offer is fair - you get the full service for everything except the risk you have chosen to take on Covid.
    Ah does this mean I can ask the NHS to stop treating people who are over 25 stone for diabetes, based on the extra risk they have chosen to take relating to that disease? or stop treating smokers for lung problems on the same basis?

    A choice all the above have made more deliberately made than the choice I made on Covid.

    Especially as it wasn't me that made your freedoms based on hospital numbers.

  • Andy_CookeAndy_Cooke Posts: 5,045

    "He predicted 500,000 British dead "without any mitigation"."

    His model predicted disaster for non-lockdown Sweden.

    It didn't happen.

    The model is wrong.

    Did it?

    Where?

    https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf

    The amount of times I've heard the Tobys of the world wittering on about that, and in the actual modelling, they only go over very specific elements and in those, they make it clear that they're modelling reductions in social mixing and anything else that works for that would do as well.

    So I'd like to see where they described the restrictions applied in Sweden and came out with these numbers. I really would.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,814

    Ah does this mean I can ask the NHS to stop treating people who are over 25 stone for diabetes, based on the extra risk they have chosen to take relating to that disease? or stop treating smokers for lung problems on the same basis?

    A choice all the above have made more deliberately made than the choice I made on Covid.

    Especially as it wasn't me that made your freedoms based on hospital numbers.

    There is severe inbuilt moral hazard into the NHS model, that is only partially addressed by tax on fags and booze and a few pence on sugar.

    The difference is that Fatty Arbuckle eating a 5kg burger isn't endangering others, while Mr Proud Libertarian Contrarian is endangering others by his bizarre refusal to accept a preemptive medical intervention, in the form of a covid vaccine.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,082
    edited June 2021
    alex_ said:

    The risk to 40-44 is nothing like the risk to 80+ so employing a generic “risk of severe illness/death” percentage across the lot is making a lot of assumptions. Even ignoring herd immunity effects etc.
    From December last year, the CFR curve looked like this

    0-14 0.00%
    15-44 0.06%
    45-64 0.41%
    65-74 7.73%
    75-84 20.29%
    85+ 34.63%

    Which meant that if *every single unvaccinated person* caught COVID, you would get a max of 100K deaths
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,814

    From December last year, the CFR curve looked like this

    0-14 0.00%
    15-44 0.06%
    45-64 0.41%
    65-74 7.73%
    75-84 20.29%
    85+ 34.63%

    Which meant that if *every single unvaccinated person* caught COVID, you would get a max of 100K deaths
    Is it possible to reverse engineer the calculation for how many cases a day we'd need to get problem levels of hospitalisation?
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    Ah does this mean I can ask the NHS to stop treating people who are over 25 stone for diabetes, based on the extra risk they have chosen to take relating to that disease? or stop treating smokers for lung problems on the same basis?

    A choice all the above have made more deliberately made than the choice I made on Covid.

    Especially as it wasn't me that made your freedoms based on hospital numbers.

    Though worth remembering that sweets and almost all takeaway food is taxed whereas vegetables and almost all grocery foods are not.
    And smokers are good for the Exchequer given tobacco duties and the fact they die early so don't claim pensions.

    You being a twunt just because you feel it, isn't taxed.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,901
    Vaccinating children as young as 12 is going to be very controversial indeed. Whichever way the JCVI jumps.
  • Time_to_LeaveTime_to_Leave Posts: 2,547
    edited June 2021
    moonshine said:

    There is severe inbuilt moral hazard into the NHS model, that is only partially addressed by tax on fags and booze and a few pence on sugar.

    The difference is that Fatty Arbuckle eating a 5kg burger isn't endangering others, while Mr Proud Libertarian Contrarian is endangering others by his bizarre refusal to accept a preemptive medical intervention, in the form of a covid vaccine.
    Exactly. That’s the difference. Refusing a vaccine makes you a selfish prick because you may kill others. It’s not acceptable behaviour and should come with consequences. I might not withhold treatment but I would make you last in the queue for Covid treatment, and first out the door if beds had to be prioritised.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,814
    dixiedean said:

    Vaccinating children as young as 12 is going to be very controversial indeed. Whichever way the JCVI jumps.

    What will be interesting is where other nations sit in the future wrt to vaccine certificates for under 18 travellers. If a vaccine is licensed in that country for 12+, is there any particular reason why they would waive the requirement for a foreign tourist aged 13? What if the country they are from has not approved vaccines in children? Messy.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,814

    Exactly. That’s the difference. Refusing a vaccine makes you a selfish prick because you may kill others. It’s not acceptable behaviour and should come with consequences. I might not withhold treatment but I would make you last in the queue for Covid treatment, and first out the door if beds had to be prioritised.
    The trouble is, Fatty Arbuckle just gets put on a creaking bed somewhere in the ward. Free Spirit Bold Thinker Contrarian requires a designated ward well away from other patients.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,082
    moonshine said:

    Let's see where the 40-somethings group settles in another week. There's under a million people in England over 60 on the NIMS data without a first dose and as has been said, the true number is likely to be a bit smaller than that.

    86% of over 40s having one dose and 77% of over 30s should be giving a decent firebreak and in most of the country of course, these numbers are higher. I suspect what we'll see is some smouldering embers in the more antivax locations and groups, who are by definition less careful, but by next spring it will be hard to find any cases.

    I would take the statements that the NIMS numbers are off by large amounts with a pinch of salt. That argument tends to be used by people pushing agendas.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    moonshine said:

    The trouble is, Fatty Arbuckle just gets put on a creaking bed somewhere in the ward. Free Spirit Bold Thinker Contrarian requires a designated ward well away from other patients.
    Fatty Arbuckle probably didn't buy fresh mince (VAT-free) for his burgers and has likely paid 20% VAT to be paid to HMRC at whatever burger chain he bought his burgers from too.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,082
    moonshine said:

    Is it possible to reverse engineer the calculation for how many cases a day we'd need to get problem levels of hospitalisation?
    I've been trying to get a CHR (Case Hospitalisation Rate) calculation together. The problem is getting data to build the hospitalisation probability over time curve - there is such a curve for fatalities.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,814

    I would take the statements that the NIMS numbers are off by large amounts with a pinch of salt. That argument tends to be used by people pushing agendas.
    When were they last updated? Since the vaccine programme started, we'd have expected a good chunk of the 137k unvaccinated over 80 to have died wouldn't we?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,901
    moonshine said:

    What will be interesting is where other nations sit in the future wrt to vaccine certificates for under 18 travellers. If a vaccine is licensed in that country for 12+, is there any particular reason why they would waive the requirement for a foreign tourist aged 13? What if the country they are from has not approved vaccines in children? Messy.
    Not to mention schools.
    The potential for conflict is high. Each class will contain those whose parents refuse consent, and those who don't want their kids mingling with the unvaccinated.
    Plus. Presumably these will be done in school? Difficult to conceal who has and hasn't been done.
  • Time_to_LeaveTime_to_Leave Posts: 2,547
    edited June 2021
    moonshine said:

    The trouble is, Fatty Arbuckle just gets put on a creaking bed somewhere in the ward. Free Spirit Bold Thinker Contrarian requires a designated ward well away from other patients.
    Yes. I think the key thing is to explain to these people just how much contempt the rest of us hold them in, and make life generally unpleasant for them. No vaccine by choice? No theatre. No cinema. No sport. No pub. No restaurant. No shopping outside of three nominated hours per week. Five hours in the stocks each month if I could.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,082
    moonshine said:

    When were they last updated? Since the vaccine programme started, we'd have expected a good chunk of the 137k unvaccinated over 80 to have died wouldn't we?
    They seemed to be updated in each weekly release - the numbers differ from week to week.
  • From December last year, the CFR curve looked like this

    0-14 0.00%
    15-44 0.06%
    45-64 0.41%
    65-74 7.73%
    75-84 20.29%
    85+ 34.63%

    Which meant that if *every single unvaccinated person* caught COVID, you would get a max of 100K deaths
    If the Case Fatality Rate is higher then it stands to reason that there would be more deaths per head of population in the unvaccinated class. It also follows on that there would be a higher number of deaths in the vaccinated population for whom the vaccine only just saved them from death from the Alpha variant.

    Whether we know if the newer variants are more lethal, I don't yet know, but it would be sensible to assume that they are for the purposes of modelling and planning for possible outcomes.

    When setting public health policies, we've clearly learnt from the past 18 months that putting optimists in charge comes back to bite us.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    I would take the statements that the NIMS numbers are off by large amounts with a pinch of salt. That argument tends to be used by people pushing agendas.
    Most people want to get to the truth.

    Its estimated that between 700k and a million EU workers, who were here perfectly legally and should have been included in stats like NIMS, have left the country. If that's the case then how have the NIMS numbers been adjusted to take that into account? If they haven't they're the wrong denominator, whether you have an agenda or not.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,814
    dixiedean said:

    Not to mention schools.
    The potential for conflict is high. Each class will contain those whose parents refuse consent, and those who don't want their kids mingling with the unvaccinated.
    Plus. Presumably these will be done in school? Difficult to conceal who has and hasn't been done.
    This is actually a far bigger problem in schools for existing vaccines on childhood diseases than it is for covid. Personally I liked the model in Singapore, where if you couldn't provide a complete immunisation certificate (or medical exemption), you were barred from school.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,814

    I've been trying to get a CHR (Case Hospitalisation Rate) calculation together. The problem is getting data to build the hospitalisation probability over time curve - there is such a curve for fatalities.
    Well stick at it because I don't think we'll see one from the government.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,814

    They seemed to be updated in each weekly release - the numbers differ from week to week.
    Fair dinkum
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,076
    Cookie said:

    All true, but doesn't really explain why the population of North America was so low in 1000 compared to South America.

    My understanding is that an analysis of Native American languages suggests that after crossing the Bering Strait, human societies moved south to South America and then repopulated the north from South America. Had some massive calamity befallen the original settlers in the North?
    It's not inconceivable that diseases brought from the viking transAtlanticists could have been calamitous for North Americans. Though it seems highly unfortunate that such a small European population and the relatively small number of contacts which must have taken place could infect the whole continent.
    Then as now, Americans eat too much beef. Chasing buffalo about the place was never going to lead to massive population growth.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,724
    @DevanSinha

    "250% excess mortality April-May 2021 in Delhi, India (25k absolute). A city where randomised Ab surveillance survey had found 56% previously exposed by Feb 2021.

    Equivalent excess rate for UK would be 230k excess deaths over the 2 months for context of the scale of the wave."

    https://twitter.com/DevanSinha/status/1400777312522706945

    Maybe 21 June isn't such a great idea?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,341
    edited June 2021
    Chile 7-day average cases now back at the all time high levels.

    You would think they hadn't vaccinated anybody.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,442
    edited June 2021
    Leclerc into the wall again on a fast lap.
    I think we can be fairly sure it wasn't deliberate...
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,341
    edited June 2021
    DougSeal said:

    @DevanSinha

    "250% excess mortality April-May 2021 in Delhi, India (25k absolute). A city where randomised Ab surveillance survey had found 56% previously exposed by Feb 2021.

    Equivalent excess rate for UK would be 230k excess deaths over the 2 months for context of the scale of the wave."

    https://twitter.com/DevanSinha/status/1400777312522706945

    Maybe 21 June isn't such a great idea?

    That Ab surveillance study was debunked as seriously flawed. It was like the Brazilian one in manaus that said whatever it was 75% or something crazy had Ab.

    Other Ab surveysbin India had it at more like 20% in urban areas.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,082
    moonshine said:

    This is actually a far bigger problem in schools for existing vaccines on childhood diseases than it is for covid. Personally I liked the model in Singapore, where if you couldn't provide a complete immunisation certificate (or medical exemption), you were barred from school.
    The problem is this - for fatalities we have scientific papers which come up with distribution curves that match the observed fatality curves quite well. So you can take the number of cases, and project forward the expected number of deaths over the following days. Then try and match that against what actually happened.

    For hospital admission, I have haven't found a paper on this - yet. Without that probability curve, it's not really possible to do the calculation of the CHR.

    To work out such a curve, you need to analyse the medical records of alot of people. Plot the graph of what happened, when and try a find a function that generates a similar curve.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,759

    Chile 7-day average cases now back at the all time high levels.

    You would think they hadn't vaccinated anybody.

    Deaths still high too. Are the Chinese vaccines just shit?
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670

    The problem is this - for fatalities we have scientific papers which come up with distribution curves that match the observed fatality curves quite well. So you can take the number of cases, and project forward the expected number of deaths over the following days. Then try and match that against what actually happened.

    For hospital admission, I have haven't found a paper on this - yet. Without that probability curve, it's not really possible to do the calculation of the CHR.

    To work out such a curve, you need to analyse the medical records of alot of people. Plot the graph of what happened, when and try a find a function that generates a similar curve.
    Probably won't be a 6th order polynominal.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818

    Though worth remembering that sweets and almost all takeaway food is taxed whereas vegetables and almost all grocery foods are not.
    And smokers are good for the Exchequer given tobacco duties and the fact they die early so don't claim pensions.

    You being a twunt just because you feel it, isn't taxed.
    That's a fair point.

    Maybe we could consider an 'unvaccinated' insurance premium.....I would pay that.
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    I see that the hysterical hyperventilation over the effects of the Indian Plague in the UK hasn't let up.

    I'm fascinated to hear what logical explanation can be found to square the catastrophic predictions of hundreds of thousands of deaths, a collapsed healthcare system and yet more sodding lockdowns that we're presently hearing from some people with the facts on the ground. How are these apocalyptic scenarios consistent with the outcomes being observed in Bolton or in Bedford?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,341
    Cookie said:

    Deaths still high too. Are the Chinese vaccines just shit?
    Well the head bod.in China said they were, before saying no I meant all vaccines...before being dragged off to a re-education centre.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,724

    I see that the hysterical hyperventilation over the effects of the Indian Plague in the UK hasn't let up.

    I'm fascinated to hear what logical explanation can be found to square the catastrophic predictions of hundreds of thousands of deaths, a collapsed healthcare system and yet more sodding lockdowns that we're presently hearing from some people with the facts on the ground. How are these apocalyptic scenarios consistent with the outcomes being observed in Bolton or in Bedford?

    It's a good point. To be clear I do not think we will go back into another full lockdown. However the increase in cases nationally is not for shrugging at.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 9,243

    But people choose their own behaviour if they're concerned, that's the point in a liberal free society. When there's a risk, people choose their own way to respond.

    Life as normal doesn't happen in any country in a pandemic.
    I didn't get your point to start with (might still not). Is it that the models were therefore unrealistic?

    If so, then yes - and that's why many of us were arguing against the doom mongers early last year, saying that these projections would never happen because they depended on no mitigation which would happen.

    But how do you do a realistic model, in early 2020 on no government action, if so? Now it's a bit easier, some data, particularly thanks to Sweden. But early last year it was very hard to say if, when, in what ways and how much people would modify their behaviour. Some data from SARS1 etc, but in very different countries. Before that, you're back to Spanish flu for a really big one and that's not very applicable - most people back then if they didn't physically go out to work then they had no income.
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    DougSeal said:

    It's a good point. To be clear I do not think we will go back into another full lockdown. However the increase in cases nationally is not for shrugging at.
    Unless or until proper evidence is unearthed to demonstrate that it is likely to put the healthcare system under severe and sustained pressure, then I would argue that, basically, it is for shrugging at. Otherwise, if we have a massive panic flap every time a new variant is detected or a cluster breaks out somewhere, we're going to be living a half-life governed by rules and prohibitions forever.
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,186
    DougSeal said:

    It's a good point. To be clear I do not think we will go back into another full lockdown. However the increase in cases nationally is not for shrugging at.
    I disagree entirely.

    Cases are not as significant a factor as they once were.

    Hospitalisations (including duration of stay, as it seems to be much shorter now) are the only figures that should be influencing government in the next 10 days.

    It should be especially interested in the areas around Blackburn, Bolton, Bedford etc.

    I wonder what your imaginary Israeli counterpart is currently saying? Probably something like 'phew its lucky they didn't listen to my bearishness a couple of months ago when our cases rose'....
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,650
    I've surprised myself by ploughing through this long piece on the origins of Covid -

    https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/the-lab-leak-theory-inside-the-fight-to-uncover-covid-19s-origins
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,082
    Alistair said:

    Probably won't be a 6th order polynominal.
    LOL

    On a serious note -

    https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.02090.pdf
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,341
    The UK has signed a post-Brexit trade deal with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, the government has announced.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,650

    That's a fair point.

    Maybe we could consider an 'unvaccinated' insurance premium.....I would pay that.
    Forgotten now - what's your reason for not getting vaccinated?
  • jonny83jonny83 Posts: 1,273
    Just read that 1 million people are suffering from Long Covid in the UK. This could have a long lasting impact on our society, in particular as a strain on our Health Services.

    That's why I am all for vaccinating children if the evidence is there that it is safe to do so. I just don't think with this you can just let it mingle through the populace even though the chances of hospitalisation are low for this age range.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,182

    The UK has signed a post-Brexit trade deal with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, the government has announced.

    Which is still more restrictive than the status quo ante...
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,341
    edited June 2021
    Half of passengers booked to travel to Portugal this month with Tui are going ahead with their trips, despite the country being moved to the amber list.

    Why Airbridge v2 is dumb....if there really is a super mutant vaccine resistant strain in Portugal, its going to be imported here.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,668

    Ah does this mean I can ask the NHS to stop treating people who are over 25 stone for diabetes, based on the extra risk they have chosen to take relating to that disease? or stop treating smokers for lung problems on the same basis?

    A choice all the above have made more deliberately made than the choice I made on Covid.

    Especially as it wasn't me that made your freedoms based on hospital numbers.

    You're not thinking straight.

    No NHS treatment for the unvaccinated, mountain climbers, motorcyclists, 3-day eventers, flint knappers, lumberjacks, boxers and blokes who insist on going up a ladder to fix things.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 38,046
    992 new cases in Scotland today, highest since Feb 17.

    Vaccines appear to be holding back a surge in hospital admissions.

    But as @jasonleitch explained at today's Covid briefing, a small % will still be hospitalised... and a small % of a big number can be a big number
    https://twitter.com/ChrisMusson/status/1400794905375543298/photo/1
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,413
    DougSeal said:

    I’m sorry but I have to agree with this. The relentless optimism about 21 June on here, which I used to share, is just wilful blindness
    Are people optimistic? Many are very optimistic that the situation is such we should reopen, which may or may not be right, but whether Boris will do that even in that scenario they may be less optimistic.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670

    LOL

    On a serious note -

    https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.02090.pdf
    He's trying to claim lockdown only started on the 26th of March because that was when the Coronavirus legislation went into force and not the 23rd when lockdown was announce, people were told to stay at home and schools were closed?

    It's an approach I suppose.
  • glwglw Posts: 10,347

    Half of passengers booked to travel to Portugal this month with Tui are going ahead with their trips, despite the country being moved to the amber list.

    Why Airbridge v2 is dumb....if there really is a super mutant vaccine resistant strain in Portugal, its going to be imported here.

    The one thing we have consistently got wrong is travel. We seem to be making the very same mistakes as last year. It goes beyond not learning lessons, it's almost as though the government wants to get in a mess.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 9,243
    edited June 2021

    LOL

    On a serious note -

    https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.02090.pdf
    Interesting. I wouldn't find it that surprising, if true (particularly for the original variant, on which this is based?). Afterall, you only need to do enough to put R<1 to make cases decline, albeit possibly slowly (measures making R=0.99 a couple of weeks before full lockdown could give you a pre-lockdown peak).

    Also, in this case, it's fatal infections being looked at? If treatment got a bit better, that could also shift that peak forwards a bit.

    What a hard lockdown probably does is drop off the cases much more quickly, by reducing R more than the lesser measures.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,477

    That's a fair point.

    Maybe we could consider an 'unvaccinated' insurance premium.....I would pay that.
    Tell you what. Why not just have the bloody vaccine and be done with it all.
  • ajbajb Posts: 152

    Phone was screen locked, no record of any call to my mum, when she answered the call there was no one there.

    The coincidence of being in my mums house for the first time in months and a phantom call being made to her mobile from my mobile just as I was saying goodbye was surreal. The look on her face as she showed me her phone with my name as the caller when I had my phone in my hand showing I was not calling her was hilarious.
    Caller id is and has always been completely insecure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID_spoofing

    So this was probably a scam call. Why they picked your number is more interesting. It could be at random, which would make this a pretty neat co-incidence. I've noticed that scammers recently seem to pick numbers *similar* to mine, which might make it more likely if hers is similar to yours (eg, because you bought them at the same time)

    The other possibility would be that the scammer had obtained your contact list somehow, and was going to pull an a scam along the lines of 'I'm trapped in china without my passport, please send money'

    Scam calls are often silent because they assign the call to an operator only if the victim stays on the line, and they want to max out their operators time so overbook callees.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,076
    edited June 2021
    This week a 32-year-old Canadian woman, Jasmine Hartin, was accused of the negligent manslaughter of a local [Belizean] police superintendent, Henry Jemmott. The case has attracted attention because Hartin is the partner of Andrew Ashcroft, son of Michael Ashcroft, the Conservative party donor and Belize’s most influential resident. Lord Ashcroft is a former Tory party deputy chairman, a one-time member of the House of Lords, and a billionaire.

    The question now is whether justice can be dispassionately delivered, given Lord Ashcroft’s larger-than-life status in the one-time British colony, which won independence in 1981, to the displeasure of next-door Guatemala. Ashcroft is a joint UK and Belize national. He has made no comment.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818
    edited June 2021
    kinabalu said:

    Forgotten now - what's your reason for not getting vaccinated?
    I have been bitterly and opposed to government policy on covid since the start.

    It follows therefore that I am doing as little as possible on the government's command that I can get away with.

    That said, I wear a mask, work from home, socially distance and almost never meet people outside my bubble.

  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,724
    IanB2 said:

    This week a 32-year-old Canadian woman, Jasmine Hartin, was accused of the negligent manslaughter of a local [Belizean] police superintendent, Henry Jemmott. The case has attracted attention because Hartin is the partner of Andrew Ashcroft, son of Michael Ashcroft, the Conservative party donor and Belize’s most influential resident. Lord Ashcroft is a former Tory party deputy chairman, a one-time member of the House of Lords, and a billionaire.

    The question now is whether justice can be dispassionately delivered, given Lord Ashcroft’s larger-than-life status in the one-time British colony, which won independence in 1981, to the displeasure of next-door Guatemala. Ashcroft is a joint UK and Belize national. He has made no comment.

    I'm probably skirting the sub judice rule here...but I think she got a bit lucky with a negligent manslaughter charge...
  • NerysHughesNerysHughes Posts: 3,375
    ajb said:

    Caller id is and has always been completely insecure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID_spoofing

    So this was probably a scam call. Why they picked your number is more interesting. It could be at random, which would make this a pretty neat co-incidence. I've noticed that scammers recently seem to pick numbers *similar* to mine, which might make it more likely if hers is similar to yours (eg, because you bought them at the same time)

    The other possibility would be that the scammer had obtained your contact list somehow, and was going to pull an a scam along the lines of 'I'm trapped in china without my passport, please send money'

    Scam calls are often silent because they assign the call to an operator only if the victim stays on the line, and they want to max out their operators time so overbook callees.
    It was through Whatsapp.

    Never happened before nor since. It was the first time I had stood in her hallway for 4 months.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,785

    I have been bitterly and opposed to government policy on covid since the start.

    It follows therefore that I am doing as little as possible on the government's command that I can get away with.

    That said, I wear a mask, work from home, socially distance and almost never meet people outside my bubble.

    I think you would have more credibility with us all if you just admitted you are a right wing nutter that is scared of needles.
  • ajbajb Posts: 152
    ajb said:

    Caller id is and has always been completely insecure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID_spoofing

    So this was probably a scam call. Why they picked your number is more interesting. It could be at random, which would make this a pretty neat co-incidence. I've noticed that scammers recently seem to pick numbers *similar* to mine, which might make it more likely if hers is similar to yours (eg, because you bought them at the same time)

    The other possibility would be that the scammer had obtained your contact list somehow, and was going to pull an a scam along the lines of 'I'm trapped in china without my passport, please send money'

    Scam calls are often silent because they assign the call to an operator only if the victim stays on the line, and they want to max out their operators time so overbook callees.
    Or to put it another way: when it comes to scams, never attribute to coincidence what can be explained by malice.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,477

    I have been bitterly and opposed to government policy on covid since the start.

    It follows therefore that I am doing as little as possible on the government's command that I can get away with.

    That said, I wear a mask, work from home, socially distance and almost never meet people outside my bubble.

    So as little as possible means just about everything then?
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,668
    kjh said:

    So as little as possible means just about everything then?
    It seems so. Short of injecting into his body a government-mandated substance. Not that.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,724

    I have been bitterly and opposed to government policy on covid since the start.

    It follows therefore that I am doing as little as possible on the government's command that I can get away with.

    That said, I wear a mask, work from home, socially distance and almost never meet people outside my bubble.

    So you are doing almost everything the government is asking of you then. It's not exactly top sectret that people have been getting away with meeting people from outside their bubble hroughout this. You are one very odd character.
  • Andy_CookeAndy_Cooke Posts: 5,045
    Mortimer said:

    I disagree entirely.

    Cases are not as significant a factor as they once were.

    Hospitalisations (including duration of stay, as it seems to be much shorter now) are the only figures that should be influencing government in the next 10 days.

    It should be especially interested in the areas around Blackburn, Bolton, Bedford etc.

    I wonder what your imaginary Israeli counterpart is currently saying? Probably something like 'phew its lucky they didn't listen to my bearishness a couple of months ago when our cases rose'....
    Taking the England-only figures, and hospitalisations from August onwards, and assuming a 10 day lag between cases and hospitalisations, I get:

    Maximum Case Hospitalisation Rate: 12.1% (December); went over 10% again in mid-Feb
    Average CHR since August: 7.2%
    Current CHR: 4.1%

    It's very crude and back-of-the-envelope, but it does indicate a significant decrease in hospitalisations against cases, even with Delta factored in.

    If we get around 4% instead of close to 10%, it means that any given case rate leads to half the admissions rate as before. And that's not taking into account the reduction in time in hospital.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,785
    TOPPING said:

    It seems so. Short of injecting into his body a government-mandated substance. Not that.
    ...that while mandated by HM Government said substance(s) is(are) independently developed and declared safe and efficacious by numerous independent regulatory bodies all over the world.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 38,450

    I think you would have more credibility with us all if you just admitted you are a right wing nutter that is scared of needles.
    Perhaps he thinks vaccines are the work of Satan.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,785
    Sean_F said:

    Perhaps he thinks vaccines are the work of Satan.
    Ah, indeed. As in the Christian baptismal vow to "reject Satan and all his works".

    I always thought this a little unfair as I thought his earlier stuff, before he went a little too surrealist, was really rather good.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,668

    ...that while mandated by HM Government said substance(s) is(are) independently developed and declared safe and efficacious by numerous independent regulatory bodies all over the world.
    So what? The government has told us to inject ourselves with something and some people think that crosses a line. For whatever reason. I can live with that. Very happy with it.
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    Floater said:
    YouGov are clearly sticking to their guns. 18pt lead two weeks ago, 14pt lead last week, splitting the difference this time.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 38,450
    DougSeal said:

    @DevanSinha

    "250% excess mortality April-May 2021 in Delhi, India (25k absolute). A city where randomised Ab surveillance survey had found 56% previously exposed by Feb 2021.

    Equivalent excess rate for UK would be 230k excess deaths over the 2 months for context of the scale of the wave."

    https://twitter.com/DevanSinha/status/1400777312522706945

    Maybe 21 June isn't such a great idea?

    India has nothing like the level of vaccination as the UK, and health care is worse. Tweets like that are utterly irresponsible.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,668
    Sean_F said:

    Perhaps he thinks vaccines are the work of Satan.
    Again, just take a step back and think about it. Vaccines are a great idea; I've had both of mine. But I can perfectly understand someone who draws a line at the government telling them what to inject into their body ffs. What if @contrarian was a 29-year old pregnant woman? There would be the same abuse aimed at him (er, her) whereas there has been found to be a small but non-zero risk of the AZN vaccine for such people.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,082
    TOPPING said:

    So what? The government has told us to inject ourselves with something and some people think that crosses a line. For whatever reason. I can live with that. Very happy with it.
    They asked people to get vaccinated. Not told or mandated.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,785
    TOPPING said:

    So what? The government has told us to inject ourselves with something and some people think that crosses a line. For whatever reason. I can live with that. Very happy with it.
    Well, indeed, it is good that people should have the right to make decisions for themselves, even if such a decision is monumentally dumb. It is also good that the rest of society should get maximum mileage out of taking the piss out of them for their stupidity.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,341
    edited June 2021
    Sean_F said:

    India has nothing like the level of vaccination as the UK, and health care is worse. Tweets like that are utterly irresponsible.
    Its also deliberately misleading, as the one figure picked for the Ab survey is massive outlier, with plenty of criticism of the methodology. Others have it at 20-30% for various urban areas. They know it and choosing not to say so.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 62,451
    F1: Red Bull and Ferrari both looking good but I expect McLaren and Mercedes to be a little closer come qualifying.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,668

    Well, indeed, it is good that people should have the right to make decisions for themselves, even if such a decision is monumentally dumb. It is also good that the rest of society should get maximum mileage out of taking the piss out of them for their stupidity.
    It is, after all, a free country. Oh no wait....not yet...
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,668

    They asked people to get vaccinated. Not told or mandated.
    Indeed they did. And some chose not to. Great. The NHS is safe.
  • TheWhiteRabbitTheWhiteRabbit Posts: 12,454

    Its also deliberately misleading, as the one figure picked for the Ab survey is massive outlier, with plenty of criticism of the methodology. Others have it at 20-30% for various urban areas. They know it and choosing not to say so.
    The tweet is just about the scale of devastation in India, not the UK.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,785

    They asked people to get vaccinated. Not told or mandated.
    I think one can argue that it was "mandated" because a govt agency (MHRA) mandated it to be safe and efficacious. We were also "told" to get vaccinated, but are not "required". There are a number of people that I would like to tell to f*** off, but they are not obliged to do so.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,341

    The tweet is just about the scale of devastation in India, not the UK.
    I know....
This discussion has been closed.