Covid 2.0

[Chedney Honks]

Hancock found the new variant somewhere down South.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55308211

Apparently it's just the same.

[jobotic]

A new variant that spreads more quickly but might not be more deadly (except if, you know, more people get it).

You'd think some sort of proper fucking lockdown was in order wouldn't you? Must keep the schools open though.



_{of course Hancock could be talking shite}

[Captain Z]

Meet the new variant, same as the old variant.

[BlodwynPig]

just sayin' - none of us should be laughing, can't say more.

[Alberon]

How long before the Christmas Break is cancelled?

[Chedney Honks]

just sayin' - none of us should be laughing, can't say more.

😅😅😅

[Cuellar]

What if the vaccine they've been giving people is actually this new virus and it's worse lol

[BlodwynPig]

😅😅😅

Idiot

[Chedney Honks]

Please don't tell me it's Covid 3.0

[bgmnts]

Covids,
Covid 2: The New Batch,
Covid: Fallout,.

[Cold Meat Platter]

Is this a free update or paid DLC?

[Bernice]

How original.

[BlodwynPig]

Please don't tell me it's Covid 3.0

You're lucky I am bound by the official secrets act.

[Chedney Honks]

You're lucky I am bound by the official secrets act.

In Saturday's Telegraph then. I can wait.

[Alberon]

Is this a free update or paid DLC?

It's expensive. Very expensive.

And you don't have a choice about paying, either.

[Chedney Honks]

You're lucky I am bound by the official secrets act.

Is it MINK 2.0?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55309269

[Pinball]

Several hundred C19 mutations of the spike protein have occurred so far. May affect ability for the lurgi to spread/R value, but probably not vaccine efficacy, as the latter have multiple targets on the spike protein, not just one. So I'm not going media mental just yet. If Covid had a middle name it would be Mutate... Like the common cold coronavirus.

[Beagle 2]

just sayin' - none of us should be laughing, can't say more.

Blods, what does this actually mean? I've gathered that you say you're in a role that may lead you to be party to information around this, I also know you have a tendency to be glib. I'm so tired, it's been one of the worst years of my life. If things are really looking much darker than they were yesterday, it would be nice to know if you're pissing about.

The grapevine nature of information around all of this has worn me down. Can't trust a word the Government says, scrabbling around for clues all the time. Tweets linked from WhatsApp chats between clueless me and my clueless friends has built a general framework of what turned out to be true. It's nothing to worry about. It's the Government covering their ineptitude. It's worse than it sounds. Nobody knows. They know but they're not saying. There's never going to be a safe vaccine. There's twenty vaccines and they're all amazing. You've got the wrong idea about what vaccines are. I used to be the lead singer of the Stone Roses and now I've chosen to expire on a really weird hill.

[bgmnts]

Fuck that I'll laugh in the face of this. Do your fucking worst 2021.

[non capisco]

Blods, what does this actually mean? I've gathered that you say you're in a role that may lead you to be party to information around this, I also know you have a tendency to be glib. I'm so tired, it's been one of the worst years of my life. If things are really looking much darker than they were yesterday, it would be nice to know if you're pissing about.

Seconded. Blods mate, unless you're prepared to fill us in the last thing I need at the moment is 'I know something awful about this you don't know but I can't say' patter.

[bgmnts]

I suppose it's better than saying nothing. Prepare for the worst etc.

[Alberon]

I think we do need to prepare for the third wave. Vaccine is here, but not in anywhere enough quantities to matter. It's the south's time to spike, Boris hasn't the guts to cancel the Christmas Break and we're into flu season. A third lockdown in January seems all but guaranteed.

The next few months could be brutal.

[jobotic]

This wave wont stop, no need for a third one.

[bomb_dog]

Just waiting for Blods to go full Snowdon, disappear to the Isle of Wight, then tweet about his enigmatic comments being in the 'public interest' before Johnson pardons him just before he quits in February.

But yes, I came on here this morning to re-read Blodwyn's post, only to read comments more eloquently posting what I was thinking.

[BlodwynPig]

Blods, what does this actually mean? I've gathered that you say you're in a role that may lead you to be party to information around this, I also know you have a tendency to be glib. I'm so tired, it's been one of the worst years of my life. If things are really looking much darker than they were yesterday, it would be nice to know if you're pissing about.

The grapevine nature of information around all of this has worn me down. Can't trust a word the Government says, scrabbling around for clues all the time. Tweets linked from WhatsApp chats between clueless me and my clueless friends has built a general framework of what turned out to be true. It's nothing to worry about. It's the Government covering their ineptitude. It's worse than it sounds. Nobody knows. They know but they're not saying. There's never going to be a safe vaccine. There's twenty vaccines and they're all amazing. You've got the wrong idea about what vaccines are. I used to be the lead singer of the Stone Roses and now I've chosen to expire on a really weird hill.

PM'd

[Beagle 2]

Thanks, I'll reply on here in case people think I am now party to bombshell information - I'm not, and BP basically just said what he said in the thread again.

Oh well, watch this space and fingers crossed I guess!

[Uncle TechTip]

Beagle 2, you are not bound by the Official Secrets Act so it's your civic duty to post the message in full.

[steveh]

Seems to be not enough (published) evidence to make a call yet that it is more easily transmittable or that it's especially significant compared to all the other variants. This government's inbuilt lack of transparency really isn't helping so it comes across like they're just trying to find something to scare people with because they don't want to do further lockdowns rather than it being based on evidence.

The variant described today in the House of Commons contains a novel set of mutations associated with a lineage spreading rapidly in the South East of England (and more widely) that is the subject of ongoing investigations by the UK Public Health Agencies, coordinated by Public Health England and supported by COG-UK. This variant carries a set of mutations including an N501Y mutation in the receptor binding motif of the Spike protein that the virus uses to bind to the human ACE2 receptor.

Efforts are under way to confirm whether or not any of these mutations are contributing to increased transmission. There is currently no evidence that this variant (or any other studied to date) has any impact on disease severity, or that it will render vaccines less effective, although both questions require further studies performed at pace.  We will provide further updates as our investigations proceed.

https://www.cogconsortium.uk/news_item/update-on-new-sars-cov-2-variant-and-how-cog-uk-tracks-emerging-mutations/

[GMTV]

BlodwynPig living it up in the Barnard castle bunker right this very instant. Spraying vaccine around like champagne.

[Beagle 2]

Beagle 2, you are not bound by the Official Secrets Act so it's your civic duty to post the message in full.

Ha, funnily enough I did used to be a Press Officer for MHRA. Disappointingly I was never asked to sign the Official Secrets Act and all the people I was friends with there have moved on so unfortunately I'm a dud when it comes to wicked whispers.