Re: We're all doomed! Doomed I say- the Corona virus thread for panicking in!

[Amarië]

Just got the 2nd doze of Pfizer. The country opened up saturday, with some restrictions mostly for travel and such. I didn't pay much attention to the details...

[Mrs Figg]

Cool. I hope it goes well.

[halfwise]

For us the major milestone was when we could sit at a bar again. Places had opened up for a while before bar seating became legal with vaccination.

[Mrs Figg]

Here we are going for the third dose, which has already started for vulnerable folks and health staff, for me it will hopefully be December/January as it would be 6 months since the second one. The third dose is said to turbo charge and put some nitrous under the bonnet.

[halfwise]

I have mixed feelings about the booster - I'd rather it get into low access countries. But logistics ain't easy, so if it doesn't seem to be happening I'll take a boost.

[Lancebloke]

Apparently we have a new drug that seems to be much more effective in stopping severe illness from this disease, molnupiravir.

Will be interesting to see how that goes and whether it does become a widespread and effective treatment. I imagine there will be more things appearing as the understanding of the virus expands.

[halfwise]

People who are anti vaccine will now have more ammo in their arguments against it - not as much as a risk any more.

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ Sad to report the loss of my uncle today to covid. It all feels that bit closer to home today. }}

[halfwise]

Sad to hear that.

[Mrs Figg]

very sorry to hear that Petty, was he vaccinated?

[chris63]

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ yeah Figg, fully vaccinated, but there were other underlying health conditions that no doubt did not help matters. Though none of those conditions were immediately life threatening on their own.}}

[Forest Shepherd]

Sorry about your uncle Petty, were you guys close? My uncle is a despicable person, but I assume yours was a pleasant fellow.

The Covid is pretty chill out here in Santa Cruz County, where I live. About 25 new cases per day in a population of 275k. At the peak in December-January we had about 2-3 deaths per day, now it's down to almost none. 220 died in total. And it's the usual cases where the individual had either multiple health issues, or only one or two and are over 85. (Half of those who died were over 85).

I stopped wearing a mask in most places back at the start of summer, but then we briefly had a county-wide mask mandate, but now that's expired so I'm back to the no masks most places. It's all along political lines of course, with stores in the north of the county in Santa Cruz far more likely to require them, and places in south county and certainly down in San Benito county in the ranch-life countryside not requiring them at all.

Anyway, feelsgood, I'm sure we'll get another mandate later in the fall or winter when cases pick up again, but I hope not. I have no plans to get a third shot, and I haven't heard of one being recommended here either. It's just such a non-issue here, and always has been in my area.

[halfwise]

The masks most people wear don't do much for the primarily aerosol component anyway. Though we have some mask mandates people are pretty on and off about it in The City. I see it more as a way to be polite to people who are worried about it.

Though I understand the argument for regional wide mandates (people will just drive to the next town) in practice I think local is the way to go: just let people know how worried about it they should be and act accordingly. With the vaccines the urgency should be off, though the Delta variant is STILL pushing some health care systems near the breaking point. That's when people should worry and change their behavior, preferably before it reaches that point.

[Mrs Figg]

The UK is in an unbelievable terrible situation, they said it could get up to 100,000 cases per day, and its already 50,000 cases per day. In France its 4000 cases per day and here its 2000 per day. The enormous contrast is self evident. Masks work, social distancing works and Green Passes work amazingly well.
Its evident that mask wearing has saved lives and has stopped the virus from running amok. The UK is operating like its 2018, everything is open and its dramatic, there must be another lockdown soon, and it didn't need to happen. Its become plague island producing variants which fuck the world. they have to be stopped.

[Ally]

I totally agree. I just don't understand the delay in making masks mandatory again. Interestingly they are still legally required in indoor public spaces in Wales, although apparently it's not really enforced anymore.

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ Masks are still mandatory in Scotland in all indoor spaces, including in schools. And there is a vaccine passport for entry to stuff like nightclubs. Problem is its an open border with England and Boris and co just went for total herd immunity there and lifted all the restrictions in England making it hard to stop the spread fromthe south (I imagine a similar problem exists in Wales). And now we have this new variant, Delta Plus or whatever they are calling it thats even more contagious than the ridiculously contagious Delta was. }}

[Forest Shepherd]

Super Delta Plus Premium Elite Platinum

[halfwise]

Hi Ally! Hope you make it over to your birthday thread.

Yes, if it's getting bad you should blunt it by locking down, masks, etc. But when not bad the economy needs to breath. And you have to anticipate it getting bad. In a less dense country like USA in parts it's just not worth it to lock down - that's needed for cities, etc. And most city dwellers accept the trade-off.

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ Only 17% of England is rural, its about the same in Scotland but the overall population of Scotland is less than that of London alone. So having everyone packed together in cities and towns in England and no restrictions what so ever- not even social distancing is just madness, unless you are deliberetly trying to gain herd immunity through mass infection- which seems to be the Tory plan now, backed up by the insanely high level of cases now in the UK compared to all our neighbouring countries as Figg pointed out. }}

[halfwise]

The cities here are far more restrictive than the country, as it should be. I think country folks that are not seeing many cases are right to ignore the mandates, so long as they are willing to change course once there's a local breakout. Our problem is that it has become totally politicized, so actions are not being dictated by the logic of the situation. Fortunately the cities are largely democratic, the country largely republican, so it largely works out. But that's sheer happenstance.

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ If you are in the country its all pretty common sense- if youre outdoors and in open spaces and naturally not pressed up against floks its fine. But when you go to your local village or town for some stuff bung a mask on when you go indoors or to buy anything. Its that simple and easy. I dont get the fuss around masks, especially not in rural areas which seems to be where all the Republicans are making a fuss. }}

[halfwise]

That's the problem, it's no longer common sense, just politics.

[Pettytyrant101]

{{ First cases of the new Omicron strain have been found here in Scotland, six so far. Most worryinly though some of them have no travel connections meaning its already spreading to some degree in the community.

Mixed good and bad news however in that so far none of those identified with the new strain are requiring hospitalisation. It also has a s-gene dropout marker same as Alpha which means it shows up easy on the tests which is handy. So far according to our Saint Nic our FM -

'There may be evidence Omnicron may have an increased risk of reinfection. But there is currently no information that the symptoms are any different or that the disease caused by the variant is more severe.'

She is also calling for tighter travel rules.

This is an area I dont undertsand, these variants get about the globe mainly through air travel, so why is it not mandatory for air travel globally to require a vaccine passport and for all passengers to be tested before embarking. Fortunatel yhee at least pcr tests ar enow required upon arrival, but only from the countries on the red list- should be all countries. And every country should be doing the same if we're actually serious about halting the spread of variants. Yes it'd be inconvienent, yes it'd be expensive. But a lot less expensive and a lot less inconvienent than if we all end up back in lockdown and on furlough again for months on end.}}

[halfwise]

This variant seems to infect regardless of vaccine, so what's needed is testing, not vaccines for air travel. But this will become a mess before holidays.