Corona Virus

[davieG]

 

 

BBC

 

Swiss authorities say it is now safe for children under the age of 10 to hug their grandparents, in a revision to official advice on coronavirus.

The health ministry's infectious diseases chief Daniel Koch said scientists had concluded that young children did not transmit the virus.

 

Is your 11 year old a virus carrying little shit? 

[Alf Bentley]

9 minutes ago, davieG said:

WTF.

 

I just had a caller at the door driving a parcels delivery van, rushed downstairs not wanting to keep them waiting, although not expecting anything and it some random guy asking if I want my front drive power washing.

 

 

 

I suppose the more this drags on (necessarily), there's going to be a growing number of people out of pocket and looking for cash, by means legitimate and illegitimate.

 

There's all the people who were working cash-in-hand whose work has dried up, plus all those on zero-hours contracts or similar who've been laid off - or those nominally self-employed to help employers cut costs.

 

That latter situation applies to my brother, who works in the construction sector and is now self-employed at the behest of employers, though he never wanted to "set up a business". His work flow is stop-start at the best of times, but has stopped now.

He wasn't self-employed by 18/19, so doesn't qualify for govt support for the self-employed & had recently moved to work with another bloke who set up a landscape gardening firm a few months ago....so that bloke's not covered by govt support for firms, either. My brother will be OK for a bit financially, but many others won't - particularly if they have big family commitments, mortgages, debts or whatever.

 

Of course, most such people can sign on for Universal Credit. But my brother's far from the only one who's reluctant to do that due to the small sums received, the bureaucracy, the delays, the hostility to perceived "scroungers" etc.

I've no idea how well the Universal Credit people are coping with the current mass influx, but the system isn't known for its ease and efficiency in normal times, never mind in a crisis like this.

Plus you've got people who won't want to sign on because they've been doing something dodgy - undeclared work or whatever - and don't want to get caught and face penalties for that...

 

 

[davieG]

2 minutes ago, Alf Bentley said:

 

I suppose the more this drags on (necessarily), there's going to be a growing number of people out of pocket and looking for cash, by means legitimate and illegitimate.

 

There's all the people who were working cash-in-hand whose work has dried up, plus all those on zero-hours contracts or similar who've been laid off - or those nominally self-employed to help employers cut costs.

 

That latter situation applies to my brother, who works in the construction sector and is now self-employed at the behest of employers, though he never wanted to "set up a business". His work flow is stop-start at the best of times, but has stopped now.

He wasn't self-employed by 18/19, so doesn't qualify for govt support for the self-employed & had recently moved to work with another bloke who set up a landscape gardening firm a few months ago....so that bloke's not covered by govt support for firms, either. My brother will be OK for a bit financially, but many others won't - particularly if they have big family commitments, mortgages, debts or whatever.

 

Of course, most such people can sign on for Universal Credit. But my brother's far from the only one who's reluctant to do that due to the small sums received, the bureaucracy, the delays, the hostility to perceived "scroungers" etc.

I've no idea how well the Universal Credit people are coping with the current mass influx, but the system isn't known for its ease and efficiency in normal times, never mind in a crisis like this.

Plus you've got people who won't want to sign on because they've been doing something dodgy - undeclared work or whatever - and don't want to get caught and face penalties for that...

 

 

I'm sure you're correct, normally I don't answer the door to plain white van visitors unless I'm expecting them but this guy was in what looked like a legitimate delivery vehicle and that's a risky job at present so that's what annoyed me.

[Kopfkino]

The app and contract tracing is going to be the next shit show in the British fetish for centralisation, isn't it? Why shin the Apple/Google API? 

[Strokes]

2 minutes ago, Kopfkino said:

The app and contract tracing is going to be the next shit show in the British fetish for centralisation, isn't it? Why shin the Apple/Google API? 

I rarely have my phone with me outside of the house/van. It’s not really worth me bothering with.

[Suzie the Fox]

4 minutes ago, Kopfkino said:

The app and contract tracing is going to be the next shit show in the British fetish for centralisation, isn't it? Why shin the Apple/Google API? 

When i read about it i thought it was quite a good idea, obviously it has some flaws and isnt 100% accurate, however surely its better than nothing? 

[Beechey]

1 hour ago, yorkie1999 said:

Just been reading about the planned testing and it say this 

Anyone who has symptoms and is over 65 - or has to leave home for work - is eligible. People in their household with symptoms can also get a test.

 

So, is that only open for anyone in those two categories that have symptoms? Or is it open to people who have to leave home for work whether they're have symptoms or not. And are the tests for anti bodies, or just to confirm you've got it.

It's to see if you currently have it. There's no reliable antibody test yet.

[String fellow]

There could be the possibility of a few over 65s pretending to have symptoms, simply to get tested for their own peace of mind. 

[Lionator]

39 minutes ago, Kopfkino said:

The app and contract tracing is going to be the next shit show in the British fetish for centralisation, isn't it? Why shin the Apple/Google API? 

Have a mate who works for one of the cybersecurity companies who are supposed to be looking after that part of the app and he's horrified that we're not using the Apple/Google API, there's huge data privacy risks. It's going to end terribly. 

[Kopfkino]

 

10 minutes ago, Suzie the Fox said:

When i read about it i thought it was quite a good idea, obviously it has some flaws and isnt 100% accurate, however surely its better than nothing? 

 

There's nothing wrong with the idea, it's the execution that you worry is going to be the problem. There's two options, use the 'decentralised' Google/Apple or other European API solution that keeps the information on individual phones to be released when the individual opts to, or create your own app that centralises the whole process with government run databases. Germany has u-turned to do the former after academics signed an open letter concerned that it could become a tool for mass surveillance that undermines the whole thing, leaving only the UK and France doing the latter. France is under pressure from cyber experts to reconsider including many who are charged with building the app.

 

If your citizens have privacy concerns and don't trust the solution then it's completely futile.

 

Similarly the contract tracing isn't going to make use of local council capacity or any of the benefits of localisation because instead it's going to be done by a huge team assembled by central government. Wunderbar.

[Toddybad]

1 hour ago, Kopfkino said:

The app and contract tracing is going to be the next shit show in the British fetish for centralisation, isn't it? Why shin the Apple/Google API? 

Apparently Hancock originally believed using an app would mean they'd be able to get a huge % response. Evidence from elsewhere like Singapore suggests they'll be lucky to get 20%.

 

Tbf I do think they're trying and I'm almost warming to Hancock - he's got a terrifically shitty stick but is one of the few who looks like they're half trying to be honest - he's clearly the fall guy when it really hits the fan and knows it.

[Toddybad]

My bosses wife works in a care home and has just tested positive. Got into the home when two residents suffered falls and went to hospital and also the NHS has bought bed space in care homes and has been putting Covid patients in recovery into the homes. Recipe for disaster really. 2 deaths and multiple positive residents, multiple positive staff 😟

[Xen]

1 hour ago, Alf Bentley said:

Of course, most such people can sign on for Universal Credit. But my brother's far from the only one who's reluctant to do that due to the small sums received, the bureaucracy, the delays, the hostility to perceived "scroungers" etc.

I've no idea how well the Universal Credit people are coping with the current mass influx, but the system isn't known for its ease and efficiency in normal times, never mind in a crisis like this.

Plus you've got people who won't want to sign on because they've been doing something dodgy - undeclared work or whatever - and don't want to get caught and face penalties for that...

My other half works in UC. Things were pretty hectic at first with a huge number of new applicants, but have quietened down a lot since then and its not too bad atm, even though a number of the staff are working at home and thus unable to do their full job. They've had overtime offered (even to some newer employees when normally thats not the case) but its mostly clearing old backlog rather than working on the newer stuff. There's a few amendments to how they work to try and help handle the load but I think by and large its business as usual. The system is far from perfect though and this level of onboarding is far from what it was expected to handle, so I'm grateful its not something that I've needed to make use of (touch wood).

[UpTheLeagueFox]

22 hours ago, UniFox21 said:

If any of you are on twitter, this guy is really worth a follow. He tweets actual information and not politically charged bullshit. 

This tweet in particular is incredibly important for when inevitably the media latch onto us being the biggest death toll.

He is a rare beacon of light on Twitter, posting rationally about the situation. 

Some on there dislike him because he's not screaming blue murder at the Govt on a daily basis.

 

19 hours ago, Toddybad said:

 My nurse girlfriend 

How many girlfriends do you have and do you describe all of them by the job they do?

(I'm only joking)

[Kopfkino]

Basically a new report on Stockholm finds antibodies in 7.5% of people. Will anybody ask Johan Giesecke if he's maybe starting to think he's got it wrong? 

 

[Lionator]

https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/skorea-experts-downplay-possible-reinfections/1818085

 

Some good news. 

[BKLFox]

2 hours ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

I imagine we'll say that capacity is about 90-100k tomorrow or Friday, but only around 60k tests will actually take place. There's no way 100k tests will take place either tomorrow or Friday.

So these figures will relate to the number of people being tested that are showing Cv19 symptoms right?

So as well as having the test kits available this is also reliant on the people showing the signs actually walking / driving through these test centers or can the Government be accused of not meeting the targets even if they don't get the foot traffic to test?

 

I saw TV news clips of testing centers a few days back when it was just NHS / HC workers & everyone interviewed said yeah i've waited no longer than 10mins & you can see no cars behind me, is there a chance getting to 100K tests per day is a 2-way street, although i'm sure the likes of Piers 'look at me' Morgan will say its soley on the Gov.

[Dahnsouff]

2 minutes ago, Kopfkino said:

Basically a new report on Stockholm finds antibodies in 7.5% of people. Will anybody ask Johan Giesecke if he's maybe starting to think he's got it wrong? 

 

Pick your point of truth 

 

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3075438/hopes-coronavirus-vaccine-rise-after-chinese-scientists-find

 

[Lionator]

3 minutes ago, Kopfkino said:

Basically a new report on Stockholm finds antibodies in 7.5% of people. Will anybody ask Johan Giesecke if he's maybe starting to think he's got it wrong? 

 

Interesting, I saw a virologist on twitter tearing apart the methodology of the report last week suggesting herd immunity was imminent. 

 

I suppose the Scandinavian way of life will make the spread of this there slower than the rest of western Europe and America. Herd immunity is probably most likely in places where the big outbreaks have taken place (NYC, London, Northern Italy) which have lots of close contacts. 

[Countryfox]

[Carl the Llama]

This is more horrifying than the virus itself.

[AllGoneTitsSchlupp]

9 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

This is more horrifying than the virus itself.

that’s me staying in my house for the next 6 months then

Edited 29 April 2020 by AllGoneTitsSchlupp

[Kopfkino]

27 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Pick your point of truth 

 

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3075438/hopes-coronavirus-vaccine-rise-after-chinese-scientists-find

 

 

They're different matters 

[Dahnsouff]

Just now, Kopfkino said:

 

They're different matters 

My bad, skim reading is a dangerous business

[Jon the Hat]

36 minutes ago, BKLFox said:

So these figures will relate to the number of people being tested that are showing Cv19 symptoms right?

So as well as having the test kits available this is also reliant on the people showing the signs actually walking / driving through these test centers or can the Government be accused of not meeting the targets even if they don't get the foot traffic to test?

 

I saw TV news clips of testing centers a few days back when it was just NHS / HC workers & everyone interviewed said yeah i've waited no longer than 10mins & you can see no cars behind me, is there a chance getting to 100K tests per day is a 2-way street, although i'm sure the likes of Piers 'look at me' Morgan will say its soley on the Gov.

Government will announce they have 100k capacity, circa 60k tests actually carried out;  Media lefties will cry FAILURE! Most people will think it is a miracle they got anywhere near it in the circumstances.  Media rating continue to get worse as publis get more and more fed up with the endless criticism of people doing their best and achieveing miracles.

Edited 29 April 2020 by Jon the Hat