So, coronavirus...

[dpedin]

That Eric guy is a fear-monger. To show the other side of the data, from England:



If you do not separate 'with' and 'from' Covid hospitalisations (what Eric forgot about), then anytime when cases rise will result in 'hospitalisations' rising by a similar %.

Did you read the other article I posted from Canada? They were quite clear that there is a rise in admissions of young kids ie u5, due to covid and for reasons I described above. The data you shows is for all patients in England and London and doesn't really cover the point he or I was making re covid in young kids.

[sockwithaticket]

Well my house now has 2/4 with Omicron, so I guess it's only a matter of time before it hits me. The other non-afflicted was suggesting we wear masks now except in our own rooms and gloves when handling food etc. which just feels a bit 'after the horse has bolted' tbh.

Commerical landlords are a powerful lobby.

Fwiw I don't think permanent wfh is working effectively on the whole but the constant hectoring is just dull. People don't want covid, they'll make their own decisions for now.

I did it for 35 years. The 2 companies I worked for during that period were way ahead of their time. Admittedly my roles were field based anyway but the difference it made to work/life balance was immense

On the whole was the key part of my point - I know it works very well for some and I enjoy doing a bit of it. Some people though are absolutely phoning it in and/or have home situations that make it very difficult for them to do a proper day's work. The issue will come is how you deal with that - no doubt this is another 9/10 people think they are above average drivers scenarios.

While true, I seem to recall a non-negligible number not doing a great deal except making cups of tea and spending a while in the loo at the office. Not sure it's the location that really makes much of a difference to their work rate.

[dpedin]

What does 'omicron is milder' actually mean?

I think we all now accept that Omicron is milder than Delta? Hospitalisations are at least 40% - 60% lower than with Delta, possibly more thanks to the booster, and we hope that deaths follow similar trajectory. It is however far more transmissible - somewhere between 2-5 times more - than Delta?

However Delta risk of hospitalisation was higher than the previous Alpha variant (by up to 50%?) and the Alpha variant was higher than the original covid virus (by 40%?). Whilst figures are debatable it may be that Omicron may be more transmissible and, without vaccinations, lead to more hospitalisations than those variants prior to Delta? In all likelihood Omicron is not 'milder' than the original covid19 virus and may not be much milder than the Alpha variant.

Delta was a pretty nasty variant - compared to the original and subsequent variants - it spread a lot faster, had a much higher viral load, infected folk remained contagious longer and led to at least twice the number of hospitalisations. Whilst Omicron is 'milder' than Delta, thankfully, it's not yet clear that it is 'milder' than previous variants?

Thankfully the UK has a fantastic vaccination programme and 71% of the pop have had at least 2 vaccines. This has meant we have had great protection, even with Omicron, from hospitalisation and/or serious illness for the vast majority of the older and more vulnerable population.

The problem for me is the constant messaging about omicron being 'milder' and many of the eligible but unvaccinated/one dose folk (c10 million) will think they are now ok and don't need to protect themselves or other - they aren't. Whilst they might have less chance of hospitalisation and death with the 'milder' Omicron than with Delta, there is still a significant risk.

[Uncle fester]

Commerical landlords are a powerful lobby.

Fwiw I don't think permanent wfh is working effectively on the whole but the constant hectoring is just dull. People don't want covid, they'll make their own decisions for now.

I did it for 35 years. The 2 companies I worked for during that period were way ahead of their time. Admittedly my roles were field based anyway but the difference it made to work/life balance was immense

On the whole was the key part of my point - I know it works very well for some and I enjoy doing a bit of it. Some people though are absolutely phoning it in and/or have home situations that make it very difficult for them to do a proper day's work. The issue will come is how you deal with that - no doubt this is another 9/10 people think they are above average drivers scenarios.

My brother works in IT and he has been 100% wfh for 21 months with no immediate prospect of getting back to office. He started off fine as I'm sure most others did but the loneliness and isolation has slowly ground him down. Doesn't help that he has 2 young girls so there's very little escape from him.

I like wfh which I do occasionally but I'd probably have a very different view on it if I was doing it for 2 years straight through multiple lockdowns with very limited human interaction.

[laurent]

I did it for 35 years. The 2 companies I worked for during that period were way ahead of their time. Admittedly my roles were field based anyway but the difference it made to work/life balance was immense

On the whole was the key part of my point - I know it works very well for some and I enjoy doing a bit of it. Some people though are absolutely phoning it in and/or have home situations that make it very difficult for them to do a proper day's work. The issue will come is how you deal with that - no doubt this is another 9/10 people think they are above average drivers scenarios.

My brother works in IT and he has been 100% wfh for 21 months with no immediate prospect of getting back to office. He started off fine as I'm sure most others did but the loneliness and isolation has slowly ground him down. Doesn't help that he has 2 young girls so there's very little escape from him.

I like wfh which I do occasionally but I'd probably have a very different view on it if I was doing it for 2 years straight through multiple lockdowns with very limited human interaction.

I am on same stuff however this year Helping the Rugby school has stopped the cabin fever feeling (and no daughters)

[sockwithaticket]

I did it for 35 years. The 2 companies I worked for during that period were way ahead of their time. Admittedly my roles were field based anyway but the difference it made to work/life balance was immense

On the whole was the key part of my point - I know it works very well for some and I enjoy doing a bit of it. Some people though are absolutely phoning it in and/or have home situations that make it very difficult for them to do a proper day's work. The issue will come is how you deal with that - no doubt this is another 9/10 people think they are above average drivers scenarios.

My brother works in IT and he has been 100% wfh for 21 months with no immediate prospect of getting back to office. He started off fine as I'm sure most others did but the loneliness and isolation has slowly ground him down. Doesn't help that he has 2 young girls so there's very little escape from him.

I like wfh which I do occasionally but I'd probably have a very different view on it if I was doing it for 2 years straight through multiple lockdowns with very limited human interaction.

I think this is the main thing. Working from home for 2 years through a global pandemic, is going to be very different to wfh with full freedom to go and live a normal life outside of work hours.

I'm not prepared to say I don't like wfh until I've experienced it for a protracted period outside in regular circumstances (which surely must come back at some point?!).

[Slick]

Well my house now has 2/4 with Omicron, so I guess it's only a matter of time before it hits me. The other non-afflicted was suggesting we wear masks now except in our own rooms and gloves when handling food etc. which just feels a bit 'after the horse has bolted' tbh

It's amazing, to me anyway, how many families I know where only half of them got it.

[Happyhooker]

I wish you bastards would stop working from home.

It's really difficult to do work on someone's house when they're faffing around underfoot the whole time. One shout of "fuck" cos you've pinched your finger has them sprinting into the room thinking you've demolished their house.

[Slick]

I did it for 35 years. The 2 companies I worked for during that period were way ahead of their time. Admittedly my roles were field based anyway but the difference it made to work/life balance was immense

On the whole was the key part of my point - I know it works very well for some and I enjoy doing a bit of it. Some people though are absolutely phoning it in and/or have home situations that make it very difficult for them to do a proper day's work. The issue will come is how you deal with that - no doubt this is another 9/10 people think they are above average drivers scenarios.

My brother works in IT and he has been 100% wfh for 21 months with no immediate prospect of getting back to office. He started off fine as I'm sure most others did but the loneliness and isolation has slowly ground him down. Doesn't help that he has 2 young girls so there's very little escape from him.

I like wfh which I do occasionally but I'd probably have a very different view on it if I was doing it for 2 years straight through multiple lockdowns with very limited human interaction.

I absolutely loath office environments and hope to never work in one again. Janet from accounts bringing in a shit cake on a Friday, sausage rolls at lunch time for some cunt you hate's birthday, secret santa at Christmas. It can all just fuck off.

[SaintK]

On the whole was the key part of my point - I know it works very well for some and I enjoy doing a bit of it. Some people though are absolutely phoning it in and/or have home situations that make it very difficult for them to do a proper day's work. The issue will come is how you deal with that - no doubt this is another 9/10 people think they are above average drivers scenarios.

My brother works in IT and he has been 100% wfh for 21 months with no immediate prospect of getting back to office. He started off fine as I'm sure most others did but the loneliness and isolation has slowly ground him down. Doesn't help that he has 2 young girls so there's very little escape from him.

I like wfh which I do occasionally but I'd probably have a very different view on it if I was doing it for 2 years straight through multiple lockdowns with very limited human interaction.

I think this is the main thing. Working from home for 2 years through a global pandemic, is going to be very different to wfh with full freedom to go and live a normal life outside of work hours.

I'm not prepared to say I don't like wfh until I've experienced it for a protracted period outside in regular circumstances (which surely must come back at some point?!).

To be fair I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the past 2 years with little or no customer/client face to face interactions and monthly visits to Head Office. Would have certainly missed the twice annual 5* European customer focus groups and annual trip to Japan mind

[tc27]

So..if we are at the peak or close to it was the government justified in not bringing in additional measures (on top of a WFH order and mask mandates) in England?

[sockwithaticket]

Well my house now has 2/4 with Omicron, so I guess it's only a matter of time before it hits me. The other non-afflicted was suggesting we wear masks now except in our own rooms and gloves when handling food etc. which just feels a bit 'after the horse has bolted' tbh

It's amazing, to me anyway, how many families I know where only half of them got it.

There were some who never got sick during the Black Death.

In a weird way I find myself almost wanting to get it now? it feels a bit inevitable, so just have it over with. We can all suffer together under the same roof in a shit bit of the year where we wouldn't be wanting to go out much anyway.

On the whole was the key part of my point - I know it works very well for some and I enjoy doing a bit of it. Some people though are absolutely phoning it in and/or have home situations that make it very difficult for them to do a proper day's work. The issue will come is how you deal with that - no doubt this is another 9/10 people think they are above average drivers scenarios.

My brother works in IT and he has been 100% wfh for 21 months with no immediate prospect of getting back to office. He started off fine as I'm sure most others did but the loneliness and isolation has slowly ground him down. Doesn't help that he has 2 young girls so there's very little escape from him.

I like wfh which I do occasionally but I'd probably have a very different view on it if I was doing it for 2 years straight through multiple lockdowns with very limited human interaction.

I absolutely loath office environments and hope to never work in one again. Janet from accounts bringing in a shit cake on a Friday, sausage rolls at lunch time for some cunt you hate's birthday, secret santa at Christmas. It can all just fuck off.

Some of that manages to make it into the digital sphere, I feel like the last couple of months have been a barrage of notifications along the lines of 'so & so you've never interacted with or heard of before is leaving/having a baby, here's a link to write well wishes in an e-card and another to make a donation'. Much easier to ignore than all the in person shite, though.

[Paddington Bear]

Well my house now has 2/4 with Omicron, so I guess it's only a matter of time before it hits me. The other non-afflicted was suggesting we wear masks now except in our own rooms and gloves when handling food etc. which just feels a bit 'after the horse has bolted' tbh.

I did it for 35 years. The 2 companies I worked for during that period were way ahead of their time. Admittedly my roles were field based anyway but the difference it made to work/life balance was immense

On the whole was the key part of my point - I know it works very well for some and I enjoy doing a bit of it. Some people though are absolutely phoning it in and/or have home situations that make it very difficult for them to do a proper day's work. The issue will come is how you deal with that - no doubt this is another 9/10 people think they are above average drivers scenarios.

While true, I seem to recall a non-negligible number not doing a great deal except making cups of tea and spending a while in the loo at the office. Not sure it's the location that really makes much of a difference to their work rate.

Good point well made.

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Well my house now has 2/4 with Omicron, so I guess it's only a matter of time before it hits me. The other non-afflicted was suggesting we wear masks now except in our own rooms and gloves when handling food etc. which just feels a bit 'after the horse has bolted' tbh.

On the whole was the key part of my point - I know it works very well for some and I enjoy doing a bit of it. Some people though are absolutely phoning it in and/or have home situations that make it very difficult for them to do a proper day's work. The issue will come is how you deal with that - no doubt this is another 9/10 people think they are above average drivers scenarios.

While true, I seem to recall a non-negligible number not doing a great deal except making cups of tea and spending a while in the loo at the office. Not sure it's the location that really makes much of a difference to their work rate.

Good point well made.

The ability of some people in an office to damage everybody elses productivity also shouldn't be underestimated.

I spent most of my career in a field based role - day 1 of my first job after graduating I was introduced to my boss by the customer. I would go completely mental being office based however my last couple of jobs I popped in a couple of times a month just to see what was going on.

A friend has just ended the job he started a year ago without ever meeting anybody from his company or ever visiting any of their offices - it drove him up the wall.

[Slick]

So..if we are at the peak or close to it was the government justified in not bringing in additional measures (on top of a WFH order and mask mandates) in England?

Yes, probably.

[robmatic]

On the whole was the key part of my point - I know it works very well for some and I enjoy doing a bit of it. Some people though are absolutely phoning it in and/or have home situations that make it very difficult for them to do a proper day's work. The issue will come is how you deal with that - no doubt this is another 9/10 people think they are above average drivers scenarios.

My brother works in IT and he has been 100% wfh for 21 months with no immediate prospect of getting back to office. He started off fine as I'm sure most others did but the loneliness and isolation has slowly ground him down. Doesn't help that he has 2 young girls so there's very little escape from him.

I like wfh which I do occasionally but I'd probably have a very different view on it if I was doing it for 2 years straight through multiple lockdowns with very limited human interaction.

I think this is the main thing. Working from home for 2 years through a global pandemic, is going to be very different to wfh with full freedom to go and live a normal life outside of work hours.

I'm not prepared to say I don't like wfh until I've experienced it for a protracted period outside in regular circumstances (which surely must come back at some point?!).

My (now ex-)boss decided after our first lockdown that I was too unproductive when working from home to be allowed to do it again. We have a toddler and had no childcare, of course I was unproductive, I had a 2-year old bouncing off the walls.

[Margin__Walker]

First lockdown working from home with a bored 3 year old was a nightmare. Incredibly stressful as work was busy at the same time.

Wife and I work for the same company though and in normal times it suits us pretty well. Allows us to live where we want, a long way from our base office location. I can imagine it being a little more isolating though if I was single and in my 20s though.

[sockwithaticket]

I was never more thankful to not have children than when hearing colleagues talk about trying to juggle childcare and schooling with work during the lockdowns. My employers were really good about it tbf, allowing people to flex hours beyond the norm, not doing full days and even just allowing for a few months off. Admittedly, while there's still quite a lot of stuff ticking along at an exam board come what may, students not sitting proper exams did create a fair bit of slack to enable that.

[sefton]

I was never more thankful to not have children than when hearing colleagues talk about trying to juggle childcare and schooling with work during the lockdowns. My employers were really good about it tbf, allowing people to flex hours beyond the norm, not doing full days and even just allowing for a few months off. Admittedly, while there's still quite a lot of stuff ticking along at an exam board come what may, students not sitting proper exams did create a fair bit of slack to enable that.

Which board do you work for?

[sockwithaticket]

I was never more thankful to not have children than when hearing colleagues talk about trying to juggle childcare and schooling with work during the lockdowns. My employers were really good about it tbf, allowing people to flex hours beyond the norm, not doing full days and even just allowing for a few months off. Admittedly, while there's still quite a lot of stuff ticking along at an exam board come what may, students not sitting proper exams did create a fair bit of slack to enable that.

Which board do you work for?

AQA

[Paddington Bear]

My brother works in IT and he has been 100% wfh for 21 months with no immediate prospect of getting back to office. He started off fine as I'm sure most others did but the loneliness and isolation has slowly ground him down. Doesn't help that he has 2 young girls so there's very little escape from him.

I like wfh which I do occasionally but I'd probably have a very different view on it if I was doing it for 2 years straight through multiple lockdowns with very limited human interaction.

I think this is the main thing. Working from home for 2 years through a global pandemic, is going to be very different to wfh with full freedom to go and live a normal life outside of work hours.

I'm not prepared to say I don't like wfh until I've experienced it for a protracted period outside in regular circumstances (which surely must come back at some point?!).

My (now ex-)boss decided after our first lockdown that I was too unproductive when working from home to be allowed to do it again. We have a toddler and had no childcare, of course I was unproductive, I had a 2-year old bouncing off the walls.

I don't envy you. I work with a woman who refuses to do anything face to face anymore as she likes not having to pay for childcare. Fair enough but she tries to take calls with a toddler on her lap - complete waste of everyone's time including her own.

[sefton]

I was never more thankful to not have children than when hearing colleagues talk about trying to juggle childcare and schooling with work during the lockdowns. My employers were really good about it tbf, allowing people to flex hours beyond the norm, not doing full days and even just allowing for a few months off. Admittedly, while there's still quite a lot of stuff ticking along at an exam board come what may, students not sitting proper exams did create a fair bit of slack to enable that.

Which board do you work for?

AQA

I’m personally blaming you for the measly 26% rebate we received.

Anyway, what’s the feeling at AQA about the chances of the summer season going ahead?

[dpedin]

So..if we are at the peak or close to it was the government justified in not bringing in additional measures (on top of a WFH order and mask mandates) in England?

Peak of what?

Hard to tell about case numbers as the lack of testing capacity means we now don't know true case numbers. Hospitalisations are still increasing, another 450 today, and are now more than double they were on Boxing Day ie 12 days. More hospitals are now declaring emergency status. Routine and even urgent care is being cancelled or severely delayed due to staff shortages in NHS and army have now been called in to support NHS across the country. Covid patients over 70 years old in hospital are increasing and Javid today is warning of a rocky few weeks ahead. In some areas patients who call 999 are being told to get themselves into A&E via taxi if they can. Social care is crumbling and many care homes are now refusing to accept new clients which means delayed discharges are piling up in hospital. Trains, flights schools etc are all struggling with staff absences and reducing services. ONS say 1 in 15 in England have covid, 1 in 20 in Wales and Scotland and 1 in 25 in NI.

Not sure we are anywhere near the peak of this outbreak, perhaps London has seen cases slowing but even that is difficult to tell given testing capacity is fecked now although increases in hospitalisations have slowed. Ask the question again in 2-3 weeks.

[fishfoodie]

I think this is the main thing. Working from home for 2 years through a global pandemic, is going to be very different to wfh with full freedom to go and live a normal life outside of work hours.

I'm not prepared to say I don't like wfh until I've experienced it for a protracted period outside in regular circumstances (which surely must come back at some point?!).

My (now ex-)boss decided after our first lockdown that I was too unproductive when working from home to be allowed to do it again. We have a toddler and had no childcare, of course I was unproductive, I had a 2-year old bouncing off the walls.

I don't envy you. I work with a woman who refuses to do anything face to face anymore as she likes not having to pay for childcare. Fair enough but she tries to take calls with a toddler on her lap - complete waste of everyone's time including her own.

I think this is why HR Depts; pretty much across the board; have settled on a hybrid option; with people working a minimum, or 1-2 days a week in the office.

It forces people to arrange child care, after school care etc; & not just opt out entirely.

I think/hope, that once we get back to a steady state; individuals can agree with their management, what works from THEM; so that people who can be trusted to WFH 100%; can do so; & people who want to work from the office 100%; can equally do so.

[robmatic]

I think this is the main thing. Working from home for 2 years through a global pandemic, is going to be very different to wfh with full freedom to go and live a normal life outside of work hours.

I'm not prepared to say I don't like wfh until I've experienced it for a protracted period outside in regular circumstances (which surely must come back at some point?!).

My (now ex-)boss decided after our first lockdown that I was too unproductive when working from home to be allowed to do it again. We have a toddler and had no childcare, of course I was unproductive, I had a 2-year old bouncing off the walls.

I don't envy you. I work with a woman who refuses to do anything face to face anymore as she likes not having to pay for childcare. Fair enough but she tries to take calls with a toddler on her lap - complete waste of everyone's time including her own.

That's nuts. Even without calls/meetings you're not getting much focused work done with a toddler around.

[Margin__Walker]

Not paying for childcare and working whilst caring for toddler outside of a lockdown situation is really taking the piss.

My wife's got a similar issue with a guy that works for her (again primarily from home). He had twins six months ago and his wife is clearly struggling a bit. He's pretty obviously doing a lot of childcare during the day. She's sympathetic, but he needs to be finding a solution etc. Paid childcare, family or whatever.

[dpedin]

Not paying for childcare and working whilst caring for toddler outside of a lockdown situation is really taking the piss.

My wife's got a similar issue with a guy that works for her (again primarily from home). He had twins six months ago and his wife is clearly struggling a bit. He's pretty obviously doing a lot of childcare during the day. She's sympathetic, but he needs to be finding a solution etc. Paid childcare, family or whatever.

TBH it depends on the role and the relationship you have with your teams. When I was working my entire team worked for me from home during pandemic. They attended the required Teams meetings and got the work done on time, whether they did it during the day, evening or overnight I didn't really care. I did however, during the winter months, insist they all took time off between 12 and 2 and went out for a walk or exercise or similar when there was some daylight around. We also didn't schedule meetings if we could help it between 12 and 2 and we also made sure Teams meetings started 5 mins after the hour and finished 5 mins before the hour so folk at least got a break to make a tea/coffee, etc. My PA, who had a young kid being schooled at home during lock down, did most of her work in the evenings once her wee one was in bed. It meant she could have some quality time with her wee one at lunchtime during the day. TBH we didnt see any detrimental impact on quality or quantity of work with folk WFH. The most difficult bits were bringing new folk into the team and training them up.

[sockwithaticket]

Which board do you work for?

AQA

I’m personally blaming you for the measly 26% rebate we received.

Anyway, what’s the feeling at AQA about the chances of the summer season going ahead?

Ah. I feared that might be why you wanted to know.

I've become a bit removed from bread and butter ops, but the Autumn series went ahead andeverything seems to be proceeding towards regular series delivery with more conviction than last year. People were openly stating that all the '21 Summer series prep was probably just going through the motions, needing to be set up on the off chance there was a regular exam session. None of that at the moment.

[Margin__Walker]

Not paying for childcare and working whilst caring for toddler outside of a lockdown situation is really taking the piss.

My wife's got a similar issue with a guy that works for her (again primarily from home). He had twins six months ago and his wife is clearly struggling a bit. He's pretty obviously doing a lot of childcare during the day. She's sympathetic, but he needs to be finding a solution etc. Paid childcare, family or whatever.

TBH it depends on the role and the relationship you have with your teams. When I was working my entire team worked for me from home during pandemic. They attended the required Teams meetings and got the work done on time, whether they did it during the day, evening or overnight I didn't really care. I did however, during the winter months, insist they all took time off between 12 and 2 and went out for a walk or exercise or similar when there was some daylight around. We also didn't schedule meetings if we could help it between 12 and 2 and we also made sure Teams meetings started 5 mins after the hour and finished 5 mins before the hour so folk at least got a break to make a tea/coffee, etc. My PA, who had a young kid being schooled at home during lock down, did most of her work in the evenings once her wee one was in bed. It meant she could have some quality time with her wee one at lunchtime during the day. TBH we didnt see any detrimental impact on quality or quantity of work with folk WFH. The most difficult bits were bringing new folk into the team and training them up.

Sure, during the lockdowns things were obviously different. I was definitely taking time out during the day and catching up in evenings as there really wasn't any other solution. Everyone understood the challenges in place though and anyone with kids was in the same boat. Post lockdown though things (work days etc) are back into a normal cadence and running meetings literally holding the baby on a regular basis is more difficult to accommodate.

[Wrinkles]

So..if we are at the peak or close to it was the government justified in not bringing in additional measures (on top of a WFH order and mask mandates) in England?

Peak of what?

Hard to tell about case numbers as the lack of testing capacity means we now don't know true case numbers. Hospitalisations are still increasing, another 450 today, and are now more than double they were on Boxing Day ie 12 days. More hospitals are now declaring emergency status. Routine and even urgent care is being cancelled or severely delayed due to staff shortages in NHS and army have now been called in to support NHS across the country. Covid patients over 70 years old in hospital are increasing and Javid today is warning of a rocky few weeks ahead. In some areas patients who call 999 are being told to get themselves into A&E via taxi if they can. Social care is crumbling and many care homes are now refusing to accept new clients which means delayed discharges are piling up in hospital. Trains, flights schools etc are all struggling with staff absences and reducing services. ONS say 1 in 15 in England have covid, 1 in 20 in Wales and Scotland and 1 in 25 in NI.

Not sure we are anywhere near the peak of this outbreak, perhaps London has seen cases slowing but even that is difficult to tell given testing capacity is fecked now although increases in hospitalisations have slowed. Ask the question again in 2-3 weeks.

Lack of testing capacity? There’ve been 11.6 million tests done in the last week - Germany (with a bigger population) has only done 89 million in the last 2 years.

How many do you think we should be doing?

[dpedin]

So..if we are at the peak or close to it was the government justified in not bringing in additional measures (on top of a WFH order and mask mandates) in England?

Peak of what?

Hard to tell about case numbers as the lack of testing capacity means we now don't know true case numbers. Hospitalisations are still increasing, another 450 today, and are now more than double they were on Boxing Day ie 12 days. More hospitals are now declaring emergency status. Routine and even urgent care is being cancelled or severely delayed due to staff shortages in NHS and army have now been called in to support NHS across the country. Covid patients over 70 years old in hospital are increasing and Javid today is warning of a rocky few weeks ahead. In some areas patients who call 999 are being told to get themselves into A&E via taxi if they can. Social care is crumbling and many care homes are now refusing to accept new clients which means delayed discharges are piling up in hospital. Trains, flights schools etc are all struggling with staff absences and reducing services. ONS say 1 in 15 in England have covid, 1 in 20 in Wales and Scotland and 1 in 25 in NI.

Not sure we are anywhere near the peak of this outbreak, perhaps London has seen cases slowing but even that is difficult to tell given testing capacity is fecked now although increases in hospitalisations have slowed. Ask the question again in 2-3 weeks.

Lack of testing capacity? There’ve been 11.6 million tests done in the last week - Germany (with a bigger population) has only done 89 million in the last 2 years.

How many do you think we should be doing?

There have been recent shortages of both LFTs and access to PCR tests. This isn't a matter of comparing us to other countries, I agree we have done lots and lots of tests, it is more that we can't compare the number of cases identified today with the case numbers from a few weeks ago because there aren't enough tests available to ensure we are comparing like with like. There will therefore be a number of positive cases that are going unreported. The trend info for cases is therefore not reliable, better to look at other measures such as hospitalisation rates which will provide a more consistant and reliable measure of the trends over the last few weeks and months. Test positivity rates might be another measure, 21% of those tested in Scotland today. 7 day PCR positivity rate in England was 33% a week ago, don't have most recent info.

[Ymx]

London seems to have plateaued in terms of hospital admissions- though schools have just started again.

[sefton]

AQA

I’m personally blaming you for the measly 26% rebate we received.

Anyway, what’s the feeling at AQA about the chances of the summer season going ahead?

Ah. I feared that might be why you wanted to know.

I've become a bit removed from bread and butter ops, but the Autumn series went ahead andeverything seems to be proceeding towards regular series delivery with more conviction than last year. People were openly stating that all the '21 Summer series prep was probably just going through the motions, needing to be set up on the off chance there was a regular exam session. None of that at the moment.

That’s good to hear, really hoping the exams go ahead this year.

[tc27]

Cant see any obvious big dip in testing numbers:

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing


Its obvious we have reached the peak IMO.

[dpedin]

Cant see any obvious big dip in testing numbers:

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing


Its obvious we have reached the peak IMO.

There have been well reported problems with LFT kit supply and access to PCR testing around the country since Christmas - for example see article from NE from a few days ago https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/uk ... s-22630353.

Problems with PCR testing capacity has driven the Gov to change policy and if you are asymptomatic but positive with a LFT then you won't need to have a PCR test as of 11th. The supply issues with LFT kits is why the Gov is supplying them directly to the identified 100,000 key workers to ensure they can keep essential services going. How many folk who use a LFT only then report the result on line?

To be honest with 1 in 15 in England currently having covid - 3.3 million - as per latest ONS report - then mass PCR testing is now a waste of time and resource, there is not sufficient capacity to measure the number of new cases. We will continue to do PCR testing for key groups and in order to be able to do genomic testing and monitoring but using PCR tests as a measure of cases across England and the UK is now not feasible, hence the Gov taking a more targeted approach.

[sockwithaticket]

I’m personally blaming you for the measly 26% rebate we received.

Anyway, what’s the feeling at AQA about the chances of the summer season going ahead?

Ah. I feared that might be why you wanted to know.

I've become a bit removed from bread and butter ops, but the Autumn series went ahead andeverything seems to be proceeding towards regular series delivery with more conviction than last year. People were openly stating that all the '21 Summer series prep was probably just going through the motions, needing to be set up on the off chance there was a regular exam session. None of that at the moment.

That’s good to hear, really hoping the exams go ahead this year.

Everyone I know wants them to, I don't think anyone really felt the last couple of years was a particularly fair or accurate way to assess students; merely the least worst option if exams were taken off the table.

[Ymx]

Also London

ICU rates look stable



https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details ... ame=London




And cases holding for now




https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details ... ame=London

[Ymx]

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/saji ... 75551.html

A lot of anti vax mob going to latch on to this guy.

Steve James, a consultant anaesthetist at King’s College Hospital in London who has worked in the ICU since early 2020 treating Covid patients, told Sajid Javid why he did not believe in vaccination.

Mr James told the PA news agency he did not believe Covid-19 was causing “very significant problems” for young people, adding that his patients in the ICU had been “extremely overweight” with multiple other co-morbidities.

…

He told Sajid Javid he was “not happy” about the new rules. He said: “I have not had a vaccination. I do not want to have a vaccination. The vaccines are reducing transmission only for about eight weeks for Delta, with Omicron it’s probably less.

“And for that, I would be dismissed if I don’t have a vaccine? The science isn’t strong enough.” He told the minister that a colleague held the same position.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dont ... -9kzfk8qs7

[Uncle fester]

A surprising number of people in healthcare and science fields are either anti-vax or "hesitant".
I work with a few of them . They are part of supply chain for medical oxygen to hospitals and one of them ended up using our product as a result of his stupidity.

[SaintK]

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/saji ... 75551.html

A lot of anti vax mob going to latch on to this guy.

Steve James, a consultant anaesthetist at King’s College Hospital in London who has worked in the ICU since early 2020 treating Covid patients, told Sajid Javid why he did not believe in vaccination.

Mr James told the PA news agency he did not believe Covid-19 was causing “very significant problems” for young people, adding that his patients in the ICU had been “extremely overweight” with multiple other co-morbidities.

…

He told Sajid Javid he was “not happy” about the new rules. He said: “I have not had a vaccination. I do not want to have a vaccination. The vaccines are reducing transmission only for about eight weeks for Delta, with Omicron it’s probably less.

“And for that, I would be dismissed if I don’t have a vaccine? The science isn’t strong enough.” He told the minister that a colleague held the same position.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dont ... -9kzfk8qs7

Watched that clip on BBC news last night, Javid was virtually speechless and the other medical staff somewhat embarrassed!!!