Coronavirus

Although the Indian variant has become dominant (as predicted), and cases have risen after unlocking (as predicted), the PCR test positivity rate (%) has seen no uptick and the data on hospitalisations and deaths remains positive. Factor in the vaccine rollout with close to 50% of the adult population (including the most vulnerable) having now had their second jab, things are still looking good.

Of course there is a lag so need to keep an eye on things, but it worries me that others are worried about another lockdown? Is this now the accepted normal? Cases rise, lockdown is the only solution?

In other news, the UK is helping the US investigate the Wuhan lab leak theory, as efforts are stepped up to find the origins of the virus. I've been laughed at and called a conspiracy theorist for saying I believe there's more to the origins of COVID than it came from a wet market or bat. There are too many coincidences for a communist-based country where the Government have complete control over the media, and where they silenced doctors and journalists for many crucial weeks at the start of the pandemic. That said, I don't expect we'll find out the actual truth of what happened for many years to come. It's like a 21st century Chernobyl.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...igence-helping-us-investigate-wuhan-lab-leak/

What I didn’t know until now is that in the article I quoted on just earlier, lab workers in wuhan became seriously ill with a “seasonal virus” and ended up being admitted to hospital. Of course the Chinese lie and this isn’t true but apparently US intelligence have proof of this.

They laughable thing this morning is that I’ve been doing my home Covid lateral flow test… and printed on the side of the box is “made in China” ……

Since 'Communist" dictatorships use capitalism for power against the western world these days, the only way would be to stop buying Chinese tat. Western countries can't wait to dump economic sanctions on countries of little economic importance to them, but money talks.

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First day without deaths since July!
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

We’ve also had a marginal decrease in cases since last Tuesday, with 3,165 cases this week compared to 3,256 last Tuesday.

Don't forge there is a delay in some of the figures over weekends and we just had a Bank Holiday yesterday, so figures could suddenly jump up again tomorrow

That plus deaths this week come from infections that pre-date the case rate increasing

Were all being called back into the office on 5th July not sure it’s a good mobe

I'm still concerned that with the Indian variant still being a prominent thing, relaxing restrictions on June 21st could be a mistake. We'll just have to wait and see what the figures are over the next week or so.

You have to forget about the daily case rate, it’s almost irrelevant now
The important figure is the total in hospital which is still decreasing.
We have to accept there will be deaths and people in hospital, it’s here and will not go away so we have to live with the collateral damage the same as we do with other infectious diseases.
It’s not an option for continuing lockdowns, social distancing or face masks, that’s not living, we have to get back to normal otherwise what was the point in taking the vaccines?

We know the vaccine isn't perfect, we just have to hope it continues to be good enough - signs are good at the moment but the matter isn't entirely settled. If the variants that continue to emerge turn out to reduce the vaccine effectiveness to a substantial degree then the vaccine alone wouldn't allow everything to go back to how it was in 2019. That was always the risk throughout the whole vaccine development programs, though vaccination remains the best solution available.

That being said, if we can carry on having people slightly further away in queue lines, that'd be great. Doesn't have to be 2m, just not breathing right down my neck would suffice. Similarly, I wouldn't say no to Asia's culture of mask wearing becoming the norm - don't go coughing on people.

Interestingly, it would appear that the threat of quarantine for foreign travel is not deterring people from going to their favourite destinations; it’s thought that 60,000 Brits have gone to Spain over the Bank Holiday weekend: https://www.express.co.uk/travel/ar...ritons-fly-to-spain-bank-holiday-restrictions

What are your thoughts on foreign travel at the moment? I wouldn’t personally travel abroad at the moment, with the threat of quarantine and variants still being very real, but if people want to travel abroad and are happy to quarantine and/or test on return, then I don’t see the problem.

Matt N said:

Interestingly, it would appear that the threat of quarantine for foreign travel is not deterring people from going to their favourite destinations; it’s thought that 60,000 Brits have gone to Spain over the Bank Holiday weekend: https://www.express.co.uk/travel/ar...ritons-fly-to-spain-bank-holiday-restrictions

What are your thoughts on foreign travel at the moment? I wouldn’t personally travel abroad at the moment, with the threat of quarantine and variants still being very real, but if people want to travel abroad and are happy to quarantine and/or test on return, then I don’t see the problem.

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I'm going to Portugal for my mates stag do is just over 2 weeks time. Not had my jabs yet although I am having my first one tomorrow. I'm not in the slightest bit concerned. Right now Portugal is actually a safer place to be in than the UK so i'm more likely to catch it here in shops, bars, restaurants etc than I am over there.

I also have to take a PCR test before travelling and on my return too.

We can't put our lives on hold any longer. There's going to be multiple more variants over the next few years. Are we supposed to ban travel for next few years?

Interestingly, some modelling has been done that indicates that even though the R number has risen to 1.13 (according to this model) it has likely already peaked at its current level and will decline to below 1 again before too long due to the surge vaccination efforts, even if Step 4 on 21st June goes ahead: https://apple.news/ACAgcQuG7SVKhlF22GUZlgQ

Sounds promising to me!

Sorry for double posting, but we may have a pretty interesting case study to see how well high rates of vaccination work when there are no COVID restrictions; Israel has vaccinated 90% of its population, and is now effectively doing their equivalent of step 4. Social distancing restrictions are gone and face mask laws indoors will likely be gone by next week, so this sounds as good as back to normal to me!

Source: https://apple.news/AdJz7CAlHT-OTB-p9iygzdg

If Israel’s easing goes well, maybe that bodes well for step 4 happening in Britain on 21st June as planned? Admittedly, Israel’s COVID prevalence is a fair bit lower than Britain’s at present, and the vaccination rate is a fair bit higher, but it’ll still be interesting to see how well the vaccines work without NPIs in place nonetheless.

I got my first dose of vaccine yesterday at a walk in clinic in Leicester; no appointment required. Very impressed with the setup at the venue. Been left with a sore arm but no other side effects yet so keeping my fingers crossed that that's it!

Good news general rule of thumb seems that you may get symptoms on your next vaccine, best plan for a lazy day next time

Although some do of course get some symptoms on both and some people get none at all. Hopefully you're the latter!

If nobody is using the current poll. Can we update the thread poll to see how many people have had first/second/none/not having it jabs please? Seems a bit more of a pertinent topic these days.

Rojo said:

Good news general rule of thumb seems that you may get symptoms on your next vaccine, best plan for a lazy day next time

Although some do of course get some symptoms on both and some people get none at all. Hopefully you're the latter!

If nobody is using the current poll. Can we update the thread poll to see how many people have had first/second/none/not having it jabs please? Seems a bit more of a pertinent topic these days.

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Or maybe someone could make a separate poll? We could even split it by type of jab; I’d be intrigued to know the split of Pfizer and AZ, as well as if anyone’s had the Moderna or Janssen.

EDIT: I’ve made a separate poll topic: https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/towerstreet-covid-19-vaccine-poll.5797/

Sorry for double posting, but Portugal has now been removed from the green list due to a recent rise in cases: https://apple.news/A1oOTQLM0S3qidgrhJvsQyg

What countries are actually left on the green list now?

Matt N said:

Sorry for double posting, but Portugal has now been removed from the green list due to a recent rise in cases: https://apple.news/A1oOTQLM0S3qidgrhJvsQyg

What countries are actually left on the green list now?

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https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england
Australia
Brunei
Falkland Islands
Faroe Islands
Gibraltar
Iceland
Israel and Jerusalem
New Zealand
Singapore
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha