The Final FUCKDOWN

[frajer]

"The guidance is clear that people are expected and recommended to wear a mask when they come into contact with people they don't normally meet in enclosed and crowded spaces."

Is it fuck clear. I know what to expect by now but there's still a genuine spike in my blood pressure when I read this wilfully disingenuous bollocks.

I had to take a train for work last month, the first time I'd been on one since Feb 2020. I was dreading it and it turned out exactly as I feared. Staff were wearing masks but I was one of only 3 people in the (busy) carriage wearing one. No matter what the infection and death rates are, the government are intent on normalising people being maskless and it's working like a charm.

[Fambo Number Mive]

And now with the weather getting colder windows on buses are being opened even less than they are now.

I know people who are CV who have to spend money on taxis because they don't feel safe on buses and trains due to the lack of masks, thereby costing them three times the price. It's revolting how CV and CEV people are being treated by the government, with much of the general public accepting it.

[Endicott]

I spent last week in Wales, where masks are still mandatory. The difference was pretty striking.

[Huxleys Babkins]

I spent last week in Wales

Will the horror of this pandemic never end???

[Cloud]

Well he's right not to rule it out, it doesn't mean it's likely to happen.

Yeah this.  The papers pull this shit all the time.  "Hey Mr Johnson, we heard the government has plans for what to do in the event of global thermonuclear war!  Would you rule this out?"  "Well, we have to plan for every eventuality no matter how extreme but.... "  "WILL YOU RULE IT OUT MISTER PRIME MINISTER?"  "Well, no that would be irres-"

Headline - PM: Global thermonuclear war "not ruled out" as post-Brexit negotiations continue

[olliebean]

The guidance is clear that people are expected and recommended to wear a mask when they come into contact with people they don't normally meet in enclosed and crowded spaces.

Honestly, what the fuck sort of sense is this supposed to make? They really seem to be pushing this idea that if it's people you know and see regularly, it'll be fine, you can't get Covid from them. How are we supposed to take seriously any guidance they give when they come out with this utter nonsense?

[Drygate]

They've been doing stuff like that all through the pandemic.

Those ads about joggers in parks that got banned springs to mind.

Too much bullshit and not enough data makes it hard to take any of it seriously.

[MojoJojo]

So, the number of people in hospital with covid is starting to fall. Unfortunately the drop in case numbers seems to have bottomed out - hopefully they don't start rising again.

With reference to stress on the NHS, this is useful https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-hospital-activity/
On the 2nd of September, 6186 patients in (English) NHS beds with confirmed covid. That's out of a total of 120,538 beds occupied. Considering that a significant amount of those 6186 will be in hospital with covid, not because of covid, my naive look suggests that covid is causing well under a 1% increase in bed usage.

This is of course a very naive look at things, and doesn't consider staffing or how the extra cases are distributed, or the huge backlog or indeed anything in any detail*, but it is a happy number all the same.


)include any other regioons of the UK out of sheer laziness)

[Chedney Honks]

Too much bullshit and not enough data makes it hard to take any of it seriously.

You got that right 😂😂😂

[Ferris]

So, the number of people in hospital with covid is starting to fall. Unfortunately the drop in case numbers seems to have bottomed out - hopefully they don't start rising again.

With reference to stress on the NHS, this is useful https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-hospital-activity/
On the 2nd of September, 6186 patients in (English) NHS beds with confirmed covid. That's out of a total of 120,538 beds occupied. Considering that a significant amount of those 6186 will be in hospital with covid, not because of covid, my naive look suggests that covid is causing well under a 1% increase in bed usage.

This is of course a very naive look at things, and doesn't consider staffing or how the extra cases are distributed, or the huge backlog or indeed anything in any detail*, but it is a happy number all the same.


)include any other regioons of the UK out of sheer laziness)

6186/120,538 = ~5.1% of all beds. A little over 1 in 20 of the people actively consuming NHS hospital resources are doing so as a result of covid based off those numbers.

Not a disaster but hardly an insignificant amount either.

[MojoJojo]

Shit, not sure how I fucked that up.

It's worth noting that many of those 6000 would be in hospital if they didn't have covid - they are in hospital with covid, not because of it. This is especially true after vaccines. I could try and find normal hospital numbers from before the pandemic to see how they compare, but I think at that point it becomes a bit meaningless unless you start looking at a load of other factors like waiting lists.

[Drygate]

Yeah. Aren't 40 percent of cases caught in hospital so a good chunk of those in there now would be in there any ways.

[mothman]

No they fucking wouldn't. Testing positive while visiting hospital (whether as an outpatient or inpatient, and regardless of the reason you're there, be it wholly unrelated to COVID or for symptoms requiring hospitalisation which have not yet been confirmed as the virus) does not mean automatic admission as an inpatient. That's a weak attempt even for you.

[Ferris]

40 percent of cases caught in hospital

??

[jobotic]

So, the number of people in hospital with covid is starting to fall. Unfortunately the drop in case numbers seems to have bottomed out - hopefully they don't start rising again.

With reference to stress on the NHS, this is useful https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-hospital-activity/
On the 2nd of September, 6186 patients in (English) NHS beds with confirmed covid. That's out of a total of 120,538 beds occupied. Considering that a significant amount of those 6186 will be in hospital with covid, not because of covid, my naive look suggests that covid is causing well under a 1% increase in bed usage.

This is of course a very naive look at things, and doesn't consider staffing or how the extra cases are distributed, or the huge backlog or indeed anything in any detail*, but it is a happy number all the same.


)include any other regioons of the UK out of sheer laziness)

Yes but cases had been going down. They are now going up again so I expect, with a week or two delay, hospital figures will too. Hope I'm wrong.

[Endicott]

Yes but cases had been going down. They are now going up again so I expect, with a week or two delay, hospital figures will too. Hope I'm wrong.

Agreed. It seems quite a bit premature to start thinking hospitals can relax.

[Pranet]

Also, the number of patients that end up in an ICU is an important number. The total number of admissions for covid may be a low percentage of total admissions, but if a large proportion of those people end up in an ICU then that has knock on effects on other services, on staffing... It is currently going down, but as others have said, that is because the number of cases was going down, and now it is going up again...

[SpiderChrist]

Yeah. Aren't 40 percent of cases caught in hospital so a good chunk of those in there now would be in there any ways.

Is that another statistic that you've pulled out of your gaping arsehole? Pack it in - we all know what you're about.

[Chedney Honks]

Funny to see people finally cotton onto our inquisitive friend after all these months 😂😂😂

[MojoJojo]

Agreed. It seems quite a bit premature to start thinking hospitals can relax.

Mate, we can all wail and gnash are teeth when the next wave arrives. All I'm trying to do is balance that out by pointing out when the numbers are looking good.

It is a bit annoying when that gets jumped on for other purposes.

[MojoJojo]

Looks like we might reach a steady state of bouncing around between 30-40k cases a day. Hopefully. Colder weather starting to come in, will be interesting to see how that changes things.

[Pinball]

Dead by Xmas.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Not the first time there's been someone coughing on the bus near me without a mask but the first time they've turned round and glared at me for moving to the back of the bus after the fourth cough to try and avoid getting their germs. They then stopped coughing for the rest of their journey.

[Bernice]

Got my second cold (hopefully nothing more) in the space of a month. My body is unused to the pathogenic soup that is London's public transport system.

[Fambo Number Mive]

B

Britain's current Covid infection rate is by far the highest in western Europe and is only exceeded by a handful of countries around the world, latest research reveals.

The UK's average daily reported cases on stood at 52 per 100,000 population on Friday, according to the respected Johns Hopkins University in the US.

That puts the country 14th out of more than 200 states in a global list of Covid infection rates – well above the likes of the US, Canada and the whole of western Europe, as well as other former global "hotspots" such as India and Brazil...

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/uk-covid-infection-rate-global-comparison-johns-hopkins-who-b958154.html?

Still, wages are growing according to our red-handed death cult leader, so it's all fine.

[MojoJojo]

Infection rate isn't very important compared to hospitalisation and death rates. We're all going to get it, probably several times.

[Ferris]

Imagine what a fucking mess this would be without vaccines.

[Pranet]

Yes I remember at the start of this thing there were articles saying well it will be five years before there is a vaccine and that is if we get one at all.

[Alberon]

Had to pop into town this afternoon. Mask wearing was at 5% at best. Will be doing most of my shopping online as much as possible in the near future.

So where's it going to end up compared to the flu deaths per year? Will the deaths be equal to flu deaths, more or less? Or will it end up just taking mostly those who would have died of flu?

[Ferris]

Every account I read about the UK from family and friends (and on here) makes me more appreciative of where I am. I try not to mention it because it seems shitty like I'm doing a victory lap or something, but there you go.