Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak

[DeadLinesman]

58 minutes ago, The Artful Dodger said:

Well in. I wonder if we’ll ever get to the bottom of why this virus effects some people so severely. Clearly old age and certain medical conditions are important but not the only factor.

It’s a weird one. It’s simply how the immune system decides to react. I know someone that got it in April and still isn’t right. 32, ex army, fit as a fiddle. Can’t even walk his dog without breathing difficulties.

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, DeadLinesman said:

It’s a weird one. It’s simply how the immune system decides to react. I know someone that got it in April and still isn’t right. 32, ex army, fit as a fiddle. Can’t even walk his dog without breathing difficulties.

Yeah it seems there have been a lot of factors floated as to why it affects some people so severely and for some people it's just a minor thing. I know two people that same age who got it, one basically just felt ill with a cold for a few days but decided to get tested because he couldn't taste or smell. The other one has been feeling the effects of it for months and says he's short of breath constantly and going up the stairs feels like climbing a mountain.

There's something floating around the local news here where someone's apparently looked at the stats for the (very limited) covid tracing that's happened here to determine what places you're "most at risk" for covid. Seems like the place you're most likely to get covid is at a supermarket - which makes sense because pretty much everyone on the planet has to go buy groceries and bogrolls and shite like that. But I'm not sure what releasing that information does to the public other than make them terrified... or encouraged to make Jeff Bezos richer and have him provide pretty much everything right to their doorstep with Amazon.

[The Artful Dodger]

The instances of healthy people being badly effected for months are still very rare, the honest truth that the West is not willing to face is the fact that we are a fat, unhealthy people. Nobody will talk about that right now but it has to be mentioned we go forward. If the UK wasn't a colony of the USA it wouldn't have the death toll it has.

We are a sad, pathetic mess as a country. Thick and lazy, nobody reads a book and we watch all our sport sat on our arse. If this doesn't make people realise how awful our culture is then nothing will. This is a warning shot.

Edited December 22, 2020 by The Artful Dodger

[nudge]

26 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

There's something floating around the local news here where someone's apparently looked at the stats for the (very limited) covid tracing that's happened here to determine what places you're "most at risk" for covid. Seems like the place you're most likely to get covid is at a supermarket - which makes sense because pretty much everyone on the planet has to go buy groceries and bogrolls and shite like that. But I'm not sure what releasing that information does to the public other than make them terrified... or encouraged to make Jeff Bezos richer and have him provide pretty much everything right to their doorstep with Amazon.

I take it this study didn't take nursing homes, prisons, hospitals, public transportation, schools, restaurants or places of religious worship into account? Because I can't imagine how a short grocery shopping trip to a supermarket could pose a higher risk than spending time in any of the above mentioned places which tend to be by far more crowded, lack distancing, and have by far longer times of potential exposure, increasing the risk of infection. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

6 minutes ago, nudge said:

I take it this study didn't take nursing homes, prisons, hospitals, public transportation, schools, restaurants or places of religious worship into account? Because I can't imagine how a short grocery shopping trip to a supermarket could pose a higher risk than spending time in any of the above mentioned places which tend to be by far more crowded, lack distancing, and have by far longer times of potential exposure, increasing the risk of infection. 

Nursing homes were #2, prisons were #3. Churches were #4 or 5. Schools haven’t been open for very long here, maybe a month or two (idk I don’t have kids) and recently closed back down.

Considering my local supermarket feels like I’m strolling around Mogadishu in the 90s since this pandemic has hit, I believe it (at least for here).

[The Artful Dodger]

10 minutes ago, nudge said:

I take it this study didn't take nursing homes, prisons, hospitals, public transportation, schools, restaurants or places of religious worship into account? Because I can't imagine how a short grocery shopping trip to a supermarket could pose a higher risk than spending time in any of the above mentioned places which tend to be by far more crowded, lack distancing, and have by far longer times of potential exposure, increasing the risk of infection. 

I'll say this, it's telling that Asia and Africa have handled this so much better the West. Africa especially. People in the UK seem to think they are owed a completely safe life, they've no idea what the rest of the world goes through. As we slowly strangle ourselves because people 'don't feel safe' we will eventually realise how wrong we have got this all. Every single one of us over the age 21 of UK is responsible for what comes next. We are cowards who expect everything on a plate.

Edited December 22, 2020 by The Artful Dodger

[nudge]

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Nursing homes were #2, prisons were #3. Churches were #4 or 5. Schools haven’t been open for very long here, maybe a month or two (idk I don’t have kids) and recently closed back down.

Considering my local supermarket feels like I’m strolling around Mogadishu in the 90s since this pandemic has hit, I believe it (at least for here).

Do you have a link to the study, by any chance? I find that conclusion (regarding supermarkets) very bizarre...unless there's no distancing and nobody is wearing masks, that is. 

[nudge]

2 minutes ago, The Artful Dodger said:

I'll say this, it's telling that Asia and Africa have handled this so much better the West. Africa especially. People in the UK seem to think they are owed a completely safe life, they've no idea what the rest of the world goes through. As we slowly strangle ourselves because people 'don't feel safe' we will eventually realise how wrong we have got this all. Every single one of us over the age 21 of UK is responsible for what comes next. We are cowards who expect everything on a plate.

Western society has indeed become very risk-averse, there's no doubt about that... 

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 minutes ago, nudge said:

Do you have a link to the study, by any chance? I find that conclusion (regarding supermarkets) very bizarre...unless there's no distancing and nobody is wearing masks, that is. 

https://www.kpbs.org/news/2020/dec/21/covid-19-outbreak-locations-san-diego-county/

lol it’s changed since I last saw it this morning though and supermarkets aren’t #1

[Bluebird Hewitt]

According to Walesonline, Wales currently has the worst Covid infection rates in the world. 

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/worst-covid-coronavirus-rates-world-19506904

Obviously with us being a far smaller country than the likes of England, America, France, Germany etc, any surge in cases will make us look worse, while any reductions would be swift and bring it down quickly. At the same time, considering how many people keep saying that Drakeford and Gething are doing a great job, it's still pretty damning. 

Also, nice to see the nationalists immediately blame Westminster for the Welsh Government not being able to have a longer second lockdown. One that the Welsh Government did off there own back. 

Edited December 22, 2020 by Bluebird Hewitt

[RandoEFC+]

4 minutes ago, Bluebird Hewitt said:

According to Walesonline, Wales currently has the worst Covid infection rates in the world. 

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/worst-covid-coronavirus-rates-world-19506904

Obviously with us being a far smaller country than the likes of England, America, France, Germany etc, any surge in cases will make us look worse, while any reductions would be swift and bring it down quickly. At the same time, considering how many people keep saying that Drakeford and Gething are doing a great job, it's still pretty damning. 

Also, nice to see the nationalists immediately blame Westminster for the Welsh Government not being able to have a longer second lockdown. One that the Welsh Government did off there own back. 

Pretty conclusive .

[The Artful Dodger]

9 minutes ago, nudge said:

Western society has indeed become very risk-averse, there's no doubt about that... 

I genuinely fear for the future, we've unleased a tide of people who are happy to grass on their neighbours for seeing a family member, agree to any restriction however arbitrary because of 'the virus!'. We need to accept that diseases will spread because human beings are emotional and social beings, I think attempting to curb those innate things will do more long term damage than the virus will. Now that's not to say restrictions aren't necessary, of course they are. But this resentment against fellow citizens is really worrying.

[nudge]

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

https://www.kpbs.org/news/2020/dec/21/covid-19-outbreak-locations-san-diego-county/

Cheers, a few things I noticed after quickly going through it:

- they label a place as an "outbreak" if at least three people that tested positive have been in that place over the same 14-day period. That doesn't indicate that any of them caught the virus there - just that they have been there at some point within the last 2 weeks. 

- the "outbreaks" at grocery stores are likely affecting the employees working in close proximity to each other for prolonged periods of time; that isn't likely to convey any measurable risk to the customers though.

- they don't assess the risk, just present the quantitave number of outbreaks that occured.

 

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 minute ago, nudge said:

Cheers, a few things I noticed after quickly going through it:

- they label a place as an "outbreak" if at least three people that tested positive have been in that place over the same 14-day period. That doesn't indicate that any of them caught the virus there - just that they have been there at some point within the last 2 weeks. 

- the "outbreaks" at grocery stores are likely affecting the employees working in close proximity to each other for prolonged periods of time; that isn't likely to convey any measurable risk to the customers though.

- they don't assess the risk, just present the quantitave number of outbreaks that occured.

 

 

It's also changed a bit since I first saw it a few hours ago  - so fuck knows how accurate it is. It looks like the editor is still working on it.

[nudge]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

It's also changed a bit since I first saw it a few hours ago  - so fuck knows how accurate it is. It looks like the editor is still working on it.

I mean the data is likely accurate, it's just that the interpretation of it is not very clear  

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 minute ago, nudge said:

I mean the data is likely accurate, it's just that the interpretation of it is not very clear  

They've added a lot of data to it compared to when I first saw it. Makes me think the website/article/whatever we want to call this went up online and was sent around by people before it was really ready to.

[nudge]

Just now, Dr. Gonzo said:

They've added a lot of data to it compared to when I first saw it. Makes me think the website/article/whatever we want to call this went up online and was sent around by people before it was really ready to.

And that's again the issue of media fueling the mass hysteria by bringing unnecesary confusion to people who are already getting conflicting information every week. Does my head in. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

6 minutes ago, nudge said:

And that's again the issue of media fueling the mass hysteria by bringing unnecesary confusion to people who are already getting conflicting information every week. Does my head in. 

It's pretty reckless - especially here where a pandemic is (for some fucking reason) a hyper partisan issue in a country where partisan politics has exploded in a very uncomfortable way. People turn to the government and media for guidance and the government and media here don't provide any guidance whatsoever.

[Happy Blue]

3 hours ago, The Artful Dodger said:

Well in. I wonder if we’ll ever get to the bottom of why this virus effects some people so severely. Clearly old age and certain medical conditions are important but not the only factor.

It's doing what they designed it to do, kill off the old and weak!

[nudge]

3 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

It's pretty reckless - especially here where a pandemic is (for some fucking reason) a hyper partisan issue in a country where partisan politics has exploded in a very uncomfortable way. People turn to the government and media for guidance and the government and media here don't provide any guidance whatsoever.

There's an old Russian saying which basically claims that "Russia cannot be understood by the mind alone", but I think you can apply it to the US pretty well, too  

[The Artful Dodger]

1 minute ago, nudge said:

There's an old Russian saying which basically claims that "Russia cannot be understood by the mind alone", but I think you can apply it to the US pretty well, too  

Sad thing is people see Russia as the enemy behind everything, when in fact the biggest enemy to the world is and peace is the USA. Has been for 30 years.

[nudge]

Just now, The Artful Dodger said:

Sad thing is people see Russia as the enemy behind everything, when in fact the biggest enemy to the world is and peace is the USA. Has been for 30 years.

Let's just say that as someone coming from a small country that has been screwed by many "great powers" throughout the history, I'm not particularly fond of any of them. 

[RandoEFC+]

Russia, China, US, all as bad as each other. Britain would still be as bad if you were looking from the outside as well if we were still a major world power.

[Honey Honey]

1 hour ago, The Artful Dodger said:

The instances of healthy people being badly effected for months are still very rare, the honest truth that the West is not willing to face is the fact that we are a fat, unhealthy people. Nobody will talk about that right now but it has to be mentioned we go forward. If the UK wasn't a colony of the USA it wouldn't have the death toll it has.

Spain and Italy are ranked as the top two healthiest countries in the world and they have the same covid rates as the UK if not worse. 

[The Artful Dodger]

Just now, Steve Bruce Almighty said:

Spain and Italy are ranked as the top two healthiest countries in the world and they have the same covid rates as the UK if not worse. 

Old populations and increasing obesity. The healthy east is fine, fat, decrepit west is struggling. It's no surprise.