So, coronavirus...

[Rinkals]

The problem is that the vaccines weren't available initially.

Since then the anti-vaxxers, religious nutjobs and the conspiracy theorists have been hard at work.

[FalseBayFC]

The problem is that the vaccines weren't available initially.

Since then the anti-vaxxers, religious nutjobs and the conspiracy theorists have been hard at work.

I honestly think that a R200 PnP voucher would do wonders for the vax numbers. We need out of the box solutions for a very serious problem. There has been a significant lack of urgency with the vaccination drive imo. We need to bribe, threaten and convince. I don't see any of that happening with any kind of conviction.

[Calculon]

The problem is that the vaccines weren't available initially.

Since then the anti-vaxxers, religious nutjobs and the conspiracy theorists have been hard at work.

There comes a point where you have to stop blaming others and accept responsibility for yourself. The vaccine has been freely available for many months, no excuse for any Saffa not to have had the jab.

[Rinkals]

[shaggy]

Might be more respected if the facts were right. New variant has not been detected in England.

[Calculon]

FFS, I guess it's too much to hope that people would instantly realize he was writing about another previously identified variant and not omicron

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/graemeco ... 80992-TeiU

[tabascoboy]

Anti-vaxxers and lockdown pro conspiracy brigade having great fun with the realisation that 'omicron' is an anagram of 'moronic'.

[shaggy]

FFS, I guess it's too much to hope that people would instantly realize he was writing about another previously identified variant and not omicron

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/graemeco ... 80992-TeiU

Jeez, did you think I was actually go and fact check it? It was posted as if this was latest.

[Lobby]

Might be more respected if the facts were right. New variant has not been detected in England.

It has now.

[shaggy]

Might be more respected if the facts were right. New variant has not been detected in England.

It has now.

Yes, but it still does not validate the original post.

[tc27]

Kudos to SA for identifying the new strain quickly and letting us all know despite the uninformed slanders this brings

Modern air travel means its everywhere already possibly except Aus and NZ.

Hopefully the booster jab campaign here in the UK with almost 30% on jab 3 including most of the vulnerable cohorts means we are relatively well placed. We will see.

[Calculon]

Well the Belgium cases can be traced back to passenges from Egypt. Naturally the Egyptian government is denying this and insisting Omicron is not present there. And who can blame them, if they admit it they face an instant ban on travel and the resulting economic damage that it causes. Thinking bimbo might have a point about bed wetters and panic merchants, and politicians who need to be seen to do something, above actually being leaders and not destroying what remains of a friendly countries tourist industry. So despite esteemed British scientists, maybe the same ones who were saying the public shouldn't wear masks, declaring this variant to be horrific and vaccine resistant, it might just be good news



Take this caution since it is still early days but would be great it it does turn out to cause less severe disease.

[Calculon]

Kudos to SA for identifying the new strain quickly and letting us all know despite the uninformed slanders this brings

Modern air travel means its everywhere already possibly except Aus and NZ.

Hopefully the booster jab campaign here in the UK with almost 30% on jab 3 including most of the vulnerable cohorts means we are relatively well placed. We will see.

TBF I think it was first detected in Botswana, but SA does have a very good genomic surveillance system in place. Now that scientists in other countries know what to look for, we might find it is actually already present in those countries.

[Sandstorm]

Well the Belgium cases can be traced back to passenges from Egypt. Naturally the Egyptian government is denying this and insisting Omicron is not present there. And who can blame them, if they admit it they face an instant ban on travel and the resulting economic damage that it causes. Thinking bimbo might have a point about bed wetters and panic merchants, and politicians who need to be seen to do something, above actually being leaders and not destroying what remains of a friendly countries tourist industry. So despite esteemed British scientists, maybe the same ones who were saying the public shouldn't wear masks, declaring this variant to be horrific and vaccine resistant, it might just be good news



Take this caution since it is still early days but would be great it it does turn out to cause less severe disease.

Friendly country’s tourist industry? Are you for real?

[Slick]

Boris confident Christmas will be better this year and not going to “plan b”

Not sure if I should just cancel now

[Sandstorm]

Boris confident Christmas will be better this year and not going to “plan b”

Not sure if I should just cancel now

There’s a plan A with Boris???

Borders won’t open before January and therefore local lockdowns are inevitable in December too unfortunately.

[Slick]

Boris confident Christmas will be better this year and not going to “plan b”

Not sure if I should just cancel now

There’s a plan A with Boris???

Borders won’t open before January and therefore local lockdowns are inevitable in December too unfortunately.

Nicola has been quiet up here for a while so I’m sure there will be something incoming

[Sandstorm]

Boris confident Christmas will be better this year and not going to “plan b”

Not sure if I should just cancel now

There’s a plan A with Boris???

Borders won’t open before January and therefore local lockdowns are inevitable in December too unfortunately.

Nicola has been quiet up here for a while so I’m sure there will be something incoming

If everyone just wore a mask it would be ok.

[Biffer]

Boris confident Christmas will be better this year and not going to “plan b”

Not sure if I should just cancel now

There’s a plan A with Boris???

Borders won’t open before January and therefore local lockdowns are inevitable in December too unfortunately.

Nicola has been quiet up here for a while so I’m sure there will be something incoming

So you missed her being interviewed on STV yesterday then? And on the BBC?

[Slick]

There’s a plan A with Boris???

Borders won’t open before January and therefore local lockdowns are inevitable in December too unfortunately.

Nicola has been quiet up here for a while so I’m sure there will be something incoming

So you missed her being interviewed on STV yesterday then? And on the BBC?

the bat signal went up quick tonight

[Biffer]

Nicola has been quiet up here for a while so I’m sure there will be something incoming

So you missed her being interviewed on STV yesterday then? And on the BBC?

the bat signal went up quick tonight

I was expecting your next sentence to be ‘she’s never off the telly is she’.

[Slick]

So you missed her being interviewed on STV yesterday then? And on the BBC?

the bat signal went up quick tonight

I was expecting your next sentence to be ‘she’s never off the telly is she’.

very good!

[Calculon]

Well the Belgium cases can be traced back to passenges from Egypt. Naturally the Egyptian government is denying this and insisting Omicron is not present there. And who can blame them, if they admit it they face an instant ban on travel and the resulting economic damage that it causes. Thinking bimbo might have a point about bed wetters and panic merchants, and politicians who need to be seen to do something, above actually being leaders and not destroying what remains of a friendly countries tourist industry. So despite esteemed British scientists, maybe the same ones who were saying the public shouldn't wear masks, declaring this variant to be horrific and vaccine resistant, it might just be good news



Take this caution since it is still early days but would be great it it does turn out to cause less severe disease.

Friendly country’s tourist industry? Are you for real?

Yeah, as long as you're alright. you don't have a fucking clue ,do you. Selfish twat

[Ymx]

Less severe and more transmissible. Is this actually true/suspected? If so, this could be good news. I mean better than good news.

If it’s less severe, it’s the wrong move to isolate household for this strain over delta. Need to do it the other way around, for it to wipe out delta.

Early days of course. So understandable precautions

[convoluted]

If everyone just wore a mask it would be ok.

You need to put a word in Joke Biden's ear.
He has yet again just been caught mask-less in a crowd, and yet again hacking into his palm then shaking hands.

But then again he is part of the 'sophisticated' elite, as per Obama's recent mask-less birthday party, which I guess gives him leeway over the Deplorables and other Common Folk.

[convoluted]

Less severe and more transmissible. Is this actually true/suspected? If so, this could be good news. I mean better than good news.

If it’s less severe, it’s the wrong move to isolate household for this strain ...

Absolutely this. I'm double vaxxed, though at 6 months past it's with rapidly-waning antibodies.
Being infected with this mild strain might be just the thing to set us all up for a really decent immunity.

[convoluted]

^^^ ... so I switch from the forum back to my internet feed and the first thing I see is:
NZ in 'good position' to combat new Omicron variant - MoH
Rachel Sadler 1 hour ago

No.o.o.o !! Don't!
Identify the supermarket and I'll rush down and start licking the trolley handles.

[Calculon]

Less severe and more transmissible. Is this actually true/suspected? If so, this could be good news. I mean better than good news.

If it’s less severe, it’s the wrong move to isolate household for this strain over delta. Need to do it the other way around, for it to wipe out delta.

Early days of course. So understandable precautions

As long as there's cross recognition by your immune system between variants. I don't think there's much information on its severity with old people at the moment

[Biffer]

This ‘it’s a mild strain’ is a bit of hopeful over enthusiasm.

The upsurge in Gautend is only a week or two old so increased hospitalisation won’t kick in until the next week or so, deaths after that. And the spread so far has been in young people so again the severity will look milder at this stage.

It’ll be a few more weeks before we can determine what this is truly like.

[Ymx]

The case of super-variant Omicron’s “Patient Zero” – a 36-year-old man from Hong Kong – throws troubling light on just how contagious this new strain is, and how the international battle to bring the pandemic to an end has become so much harder.

While the global epicentre of the super-variant is South Africa, with cases believed to date back from early November, the first official record of variant B.1.1.529 emerged in Hong Kong on 13 November.

According to Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP), Patient Zero – case number 12388 – flew to South Africa on 23 October, returning on 11 November on a Qatar Airlines flight QR818.

He tested negative on arrival at Hong Kong airport, but under the territory’s strict quarantine rules he was put up in the Regal Airport Hotel in Chek Lap Kok for the required 21 days.

Two days later he tested positive for Covid-19, with the health authority saying his sample showed signs of a mutation, and the next day, 14 November, he was admitted to hospital with a high viral load.

On 22 November, the patient’s genome sample was uploaded onto GISAID, the global genomic database used by virologists around the world to analyse and compare data.

On that same day, the CHP noticed a link between case 12388 and a second, labelled 12404 – someone who had not been to South Africa but was staying in the same hotel as the 36-year-old. In fact, their rooms were opposite each other on the 5th floor of the Regal Airport Hotel.

Case 12404 had checked into the hotel on 10 November, a day before case 12388, and tested negative twice before being diagnosed with Covid-19 on 18 November. He was also admitted to hospital.

From HK apparently.

Not great reading that the first 2 cases were both admitted to hospital

[Biffer]

Interesting thread here. Basically suggesting that significant variants tend to have clusters of mutations, and that this might be happening in long term infections in immune compromised people. This was talked about for the Kent variant (Alpha), and with the variants that were first detected in Southern Africa, Brazil and India, where there are large numbers of AIDS sufferers in each, the suggestion is that putting a renewed effort into ensuring that all AIDS sufferers have good access to antiretroviral treatment will help to suppress future variants.

[Sandstorm]

If everyone just wore a mask it would be ok.

You need to put a word in Joke Biden's ear.
He has yet again just been caught mask-less in a crowd, and yet again hacking into his palm then shaking hands.

But then again he is part of the 'sophisticated' elite, as per Obama's recent mask-less birthday party, which I guess gives him leeway over the Deplorables and other Common Folk.

He’s a politician. Anyone expecting high standards is a fool.

[ASMO]

[GogLais]

Well yes but when?

[Rinkals]

If everyone just wore a mask it would be ok.

You need to put a word in Joke Biden's ear.
He has yet again just been caught mask-less in a crowd, and yet again hacking into his palm then shaking hands.

But then again he is part of the 'sophisticated' elite, as per Obama's recent mask-less birthday party, which I guess gives him leeway over the Deplorables and other Common Folk.

He’s a politician. Anyone expecting high standards is a fool.

Absolute rubbish.

By pushing your cynical acceptance of corruption, you give politicians a free pass to be corrupt. This is why Boris can get away with so much.

Politicians should be held to account and held to high ethical standards, not given latitude to behave dishonestly because that is what is expected of them.

You've been too long in England.

[Calculon]

Not great reading that the first 2 cases were both admitted to hospital

Both had very mild symptoms despite being admitted to hospital

David Hui, a respiratory medicine expert and government adviser on the pandemic in Hong Kong, said that even though it is not clear if current coronavirus vaccines are effective against the new variant, the city's vaccination rate should be increased and booster doses should be implemented as soon as possible.

He said that the two people who tested positive for the omicron variant had received the BioNTech-Pfizer shot and exhibited very mild symptoms, such as a sore throat.

I think all 13 Dutch cases and both Australian cases were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, same for many of the SA cases. Anyway, saying at this stage that it definitely causes milder disease is as inaccurate as British scientists saying it's horrendous and the worst ever .


Interesting bit on twitter

If we're unlucky, omicron's ability to (re-)infect immunised hosts doesn't significantly impact its high replication rate (and the damage it causes to host tissues).

If we're a bit lucky, its ability to (re-)infect immunised hosts does reduce its replication rate, and hence would be expected to cause on average less severe symptoms, send fewer people into hospital and reduce fatality rates if it spread

If we're really lucky, omicron not only replicates less well in host cells, but also causes less systemic infections by replicating preferentially in cells of the mucosa of the upper airways, which are poorly protected by vaccine induced immunity

.

[Ymx]

Ah, I didn’t think about that. Admitted because of their tests showing mutations, not necessarily as they were having severe respiratory problems. Makes sense.

[Rinkals]

^^^ ... so I switch from the forum back to my internet feed and the first thing I see is:
NZ in 'good position' to combat new Omicron variant - MoH
Rachel Sadler 1 hour ago

No.o.o.o !! Don't!
Identify the supermarket and I'll rush down and start licking the trolley handles.

I think you probably would.

[Sandstorm]

You need to put a word in Joke Biden's ear.
He has yet again just been caught mask-less in a crowd, and yet again hacking into his palm then shaking hands.

But then again he is part of the 'sophisticated' elite, as per Obama's recent mask-less birthday party, which I guess gives him leeway over the Deplorables and other Common Folk.

He’s a politician. Anyone expecting high standards is a fool.

Absolute rubbish.

By pushing your cynical acceptance of corruption, you give politicians a free pass to be corrupt. This is why Boris can get away with so much.

Politicians should be held to account and held to high ethical standards, not given latitude to behave dishonestly because that is what is expected of them.

You've been too long in England.

You managed to crowbar Zuma out of the job after a decade of raping the public purse and you think SA is dealing well with corruption?

You Klingons are high-larious

[Rinkals]

He’s a politician. Anyone expecting high standards is a fool.

Absolute rubbish.

By pushing your cynical acceptance of corruption, you give politicians a free pass to be corrupt. This is why Boris can get away with so much.

Politicians should be held to account and held to high ethical standards, not given latitude to behave dishonestly because that is what is expected of them.

You've been too long in England.

You managed to crowbar Zuma out of the job after a decade of raping the public purse and you think SA is dealing well with corruption?

You Klingons are high-larious

Ah!

A strawman!

You are certainly learning diligently from your hosts.