So, coronavirus...

[sefton]

I’m pretty sure I’d be throwing quite a few punches if I came across these cunts

I hope they are charged with theft.

[sefton]

183,000 positive cases reported in the UK today.

[salanya]

183k+ cases today

Includes a few extra days of Northern Ireland, but we're also struggling to get tests out (and as mentioned: not everybody will get tested, especially with Christmas holidays still ongoing).

Hospitalisations creeping up as well now, with more to come. Great news that Omicron isn't as bad as Delta (by a good margin), but it's the effect on society that is the worry: lacking staff for NHS, police, fire response, teachers next week....

And I sincerely hope Piers Corbyn and his cronies get arrested and the keys to their cells 'misplaced'. Spouting nasty nonsense is one thing, harrassing people in what should be a safe environment is despicable.

In other news: a guy leading the anti-vax 'freedom' brigade in The Netherlands has died today. Of Covid of course.
Sucks for his family, but considering the amount of lives he may have affected/cost over the last 18 months, I'd struggle to not consider this good riddance.

[Slick]

I’d love to know what the effect is on the followers of people like that. Do they suddenly see the error of their ways or just double down. Sadly, I suspect the latter

[JM2K6]

That’s quite amazing. A teacher in scouseland has not had COVID (or have I got that wrong?)

You’ve got it right, two teachers in the house, two school age children and not a sniff of it, even when the missus had it.

At least we don't have to ask how the marriage is going...

[charltom]

That’s quite amazing. A teacher in scouseland has not had COVID (or have I got that wrong?)

You’ve got it right, two teachers in the house, two school age children and not a sniff of it, even when the missus had it.

Same here (but younger children, and wife not a teacher).

And no, only one day of sick leave for any reason in my teaching career.

[Biffer]

Another piece of good news to add to the omicron body of evidence.

[dpedin]

Doesn't seem too good?

[Margin__Walker]

Isn't that just a small % of a large number though.

How many of those kids are actually in with respiratory difficulty due to covid and how many are in for something else testing positive incidentally, given the high case rates?

[Ymx]

Cases have continued to hit record highs due to the highly infectious Omicron variant, which officials earlier on Wednesday said now makes up 90% of all community cases in England.

Over the last seven days, 914,723 people have tested positive for Covid across the UK.

And a total of 10,462 people were in hospital with Covid in England as of Wednesday morning, figures from NHS England show.

This is up 48% from a week ago and is the highest number of admissions since 1 March.

Not all the patients in hospital will have been admitted for Covid - latest data suggests about three in 10 have the virus but were admitted to hospital for something else.

Another 57 deaths were recorded in the UK within 28 days of a positive test.

It should come as no surprise that cases continue to rise and that's translating into more people ending up in hospital.

This is likely to continue for some weeks yet - but it's important to look beyond the raw numbers.
The rapid jump in people in hospital - up 2,000 in England in two days - is likely to be partly down to a drop in people being discharged.

Last Christmas, the numbers leaving hospital more than halved as it is more difficult to discharge over the festive period.

It means there could be hundreds in hospital who have recovered from Covid but not yet left.

The proportion in hospital for what is known as an incidental admission is also growing. These are people who are being treated for something else, and just happen to have Covid.

Last week they accounted for nearly a third of cases. However, the numbers who are seriously unwell with Covid are still going up.

Hospital numbers though are continuing to rise more slowly than cases, once again showing the Omicron variant is leading to milder illness.

And there are signs infection levels in London, which was hit by Omicron first, may have already peaked.
If that is the case and the trajectory is repeated elsewhere, it could mean the burden on the NHS peaking at half the level seen last winter.

[Grandpa]

That’s quite amazing. A teacher in scouseland has not had COVID (or have I got that wrong?)

You’ve got it right, two teachers in the house, two school age children and not a sniff of it, even when the missus had it.

Are you tested quite regularly and know you have never had it in the last two years... even asymptomatically... Or are you just saying you haven't been sick?

[Sandstorm]

Cases have continued to hit record highs due to the highly infectious Omicron variant, which officials earlier on Wednesday said now makes up 90% of all community cases in England.

Over the last seven days, 914,723 people have tested positive for Covid across the UK.

And a total of 10,462 people were in hospital with Covid in England as of Wednesday morning, figures from NHS England show.

This is up 48% from a week ago and is the highest number of admissions since 1 March.

Not all the patients in hospital will have been admitted for Covid - latest data suggests about three in 10 have the virus but were admitted to hospital for something else.

Another 57 deaths were recorded in the UK within 28 days of a positive test.

It should come as no surprise that cases continue to rise and that's translating into more people ending up in hospital.

This is likely to continue for some weeks yet - but it's important to look beyond the raw numbers.
The rapid jump in people in hospital - up 2,000 in England in two days - is likely to be partly down to a drop in people being discharged.

Last Christmas, the numbers leaving hospital more than halved as it is more difficult to discharge over the festive period.

It means there could be hundreds in hospital who have recovered from Covid but not yet left.

The proportion in hospital for what is known as an incidental admission is also growing. These are people who are being treated for something else, and just happen to have Covid.

Last week they accounted for nearly a third of cases. However, the numbers who are seriously unwell with Covid are still going up.

Hospital numbers though are continuing to rise more slowly than cases, once again showing the Omicron variant is leading to milder illness.

And there are signs infection levels in London, which was hit by Omicron first, may have already peaked.
If that is the case and the trajectory is repeated elsewhere, it could mean the burden on the NHS peaking at half the level seen last winter.

Were all these people taken to hospital in ambulances because they needed emergency treatment?

Or are there many people who have finally decided (after 3 jabs and now Omicron) that it’s safe to go get that knee operation they’ve put off for 18 months?

[Uncle fester]

Test came back positive so that's me confined to barracks for a while. I seem to have recovered from the unwellness that prompted me to take antigen tests in the first place but I'm not telling work that!

[sefton]

That’s quite amazing. A teacher in scouseland has not had COVID (or have I got that wrong?)

You’ve got it right, two teachers in the house, two school age children and not a sniff of it, even when the missus had it.

Are you tested quite regularly and know you have never had it in the last two years... even asymptomatically... Or are you just saying you haven't been sick?

Tested a minimum once a week.

[Grandpa]

You’ve got it right, two teachers in the house, two school age children and not a sniff of it, even when the missus had it.

Are you tested quite regularly and know you have never had it in the last two years... even asymptomatically... Or are you just saying you haven't been sick?

Tested a minimum once a week.

You should offer your body to science... the "Sefton Covid Cage" could be the saviour of mankind...

[fishfoodie]

Isn't that just a small % of a large number though.

How many of those kids are actually in with respiratory difficulty due to covid and how many are in for something else testing positive incidentally, given the high case rates?

I doubt they're in hospital, because they like the food !

Any extra beds being taken over the New Year isn't good; & part of the problem with Covid positives; is the need to segregate the infected; from the uninfected; & that means splitting staff, & scarce resources.

[Margin__Walker]

Isn't that just a small % of a large number though.

How many of those kids are actually in with respiratory difficulty due to covid and how many are in for something else testing positive incidentally, given the high case rates?

I doubt they're in hospital, because they like the food !

Any extra beds being taken over the New Year isn't good; & part of the problem with Covid positives; is the need to segregate the infected; from the uninfected; & that means splitting staff, & scarce resources.

Don't be a prick. It was a genuine question.

[charltom]

Are you tested quite regularly and know you have never had it in the last two years... even asymptomatically... Or are you just saying you haven't been sick?

Tested a minimum once a week.

You should offer your body to science... the "Sefton Covid Cage" could be the saviour of mankind...

Twice a week for me (and a recent week of every day) and still not a hint.

That's still quite common amongst colleagues.

[Grandpa]

Tested a minimum once a week.

You should offer your body to science... the "Sefton Covid Cage" could be the saviour of mankind...

Twice a week for me (and a recent week of every day) and still not a hint.

That's still quite common amongst colleagues.

Interesting. As you'd think by now it would be virtually impossible to escape exposure unless in solitary confinement... so there must be something about certain people that makes them very difficult to infect?

[fishfoodie]

Isn't that just a small % of a large number though.

How many of those kids are actually in with respiratory difficulty due to covid and how many are in for something else testing positive incidentally, given the high case rates?

I doubt they're in hospital, because they like the food !

Any extra beds being taken over the New Year isn't good; & part of the problem with Covid positives; is the need to segregate the infected; from the uninfected; & that means splitting staff, & scarce resources.

Don't be a prick. It was a genuine question.

Sorry; but this last few years, it's been really hard to separate the, "genuine questions", from the people; "just asking questions" !

My point is that it's ultimately irrelevant, whether or not the primary cause of their admission to hospital is because of Covid; or incidental; the staff of the hospital, have to juggle limited resources either way; & pediatric resources are always in short supply.

[TheFrog]

You should offer your body to science... the "Sefton Covid Cage" could be the saviour of mankind...

Twice a week for me (and a recent week of every day) and still not a hint.

That's still quite common amongst colleagues.

Interesting. As you'd think by now it would be virtually impossible to escape exposure unless in solitary confinement... so there must be something about certain people that makes them very difficult to infect?

Wife got COVID last month, 2 days of light fever (38C /100.5F) and feeling like she had sinusitis. I was attending her and we kept on sharing the same bed because she did not seem to have COVID symptoms i.e none of the loss of taste/smell, chills, aches etc... apart from that "sinusitis". Went to see the doctor after the weekend who confirmed the sinusitis diagnostic and told her testing wasn't needed.

She took a test nonetheless to be on the safe side and it came back positive... tested again and confirmed positive. Myself and our 3 kids tested all negative. Wife isolated in her room for 10 days (until she got a negative test), I had 3 tests over that period and was negative each time. Kids got 2 tests over the period too and remained negative.

[Margin__Walker]

Sorry; but this last few years, it's been really hard to separate the, "genuine questions", from the people; "just asking questions" !

My point is that it's ultimately irrelevant, whether or not the primary cause of their admission to hospital is because of Covid; or incidental; the staff of the hospital, have to juggle limited resources either way; & pediatric resources are always in short supply.

Understand that it causes logistical problems especially with isolation rules in place. The tweet was asking what we were doing to protect children though, suggesting that air filtration should be installed in all schools etc. Hence the relevance of asking how many children (in that 512) are actually in hospital with acute covid specific difficulties.

[petej]

An interesting question for me is how does zero COVID china deal with omicron? The winter Olympics aren't that far away.

[Slick]

An interesting question for me is how does zero COVID china deal with omicron? The winter Olympics aren't that far away.

Lie about having zero Covid probably

[Calculon]

It's a political problem for the CCP. At the moment they've locked down Xi'an, a city of some 13 million people, because of a delta outbreak. The city is sealed off causing major economic distruptions and misery to the inhabitants. If Omicron breaks the zero covid policy, which I hope it does for selfish reasons, the Chinese government will play up the milder nature of the variant and suppress news of any adverse impact. I've written this before on here, but.... the CCP has spent two years trumpeting to the Chinese public how much better they have dealt with the pandemic than western democrat governments. The Chinese public have lapped it this up, so how the CCP manage the pivot will be interesting to see.

[dpedin]

Isn't that just a small % of a large number though.

How many of those kids are actually in with respiratory difficulty due to covid and how many are in for something else testing positive incidentally, given the high case rates?

I doubt they're in hospital, because they like the food !

Any extra beds being taken over the New Year isn't good; & part of the problem with Covid positives; is the need to segregate the infected; from the uninfected; & that means splitting staff, & scarce resources.

Don't have detailed info but it would seem strange to see such a huge increase in numbers without covid being the reason for the admission. I imagine that when they are admitted the clinician has defined the reason for admission as covid and these cases have been coded as such? Putting this to one side it is worrying that omicron is raging within kids just before schools go back. As is said above this is the last thing that a paediatric dept would need at this time of year when they are usually hit with other respiratory viruses - the logistics in paeds are far more difficult than in adult services given the much smaller inpatient bed numbers, dedicated theatres, etc. I'm not sure I would want my kids to have covid and RSV at the same time!

Given we have decided not to vaccinate children below 12 yet, apart from specific instances, it is not unexpected that we will see a big increase of omicron in children and as pointed out even a small % of a large number is a large number. Given we also know that omicron has a greater reinfection rate then children who might have already had covid may be reinfected again. Given schools go back within the next week or so then the original twitter post is asking pretty relevant question - what PH mitigations have we in place in schools? The answer is probably feck all apart from open windows. Germany for example put 500m euro in 2020 into better ventilation into all public buildings including schools.

It might be that the current omicron wave peaks within the next week or two ... however I doubt that very much. Unless the Gov do a major u-turn (not out of the question) then when schools go back next week we will see an even bigger peak of covid driven by omicron towards the middle to end of January. it is going to get very messy indeed!

[Calculon]

Isn't that just a small % of a large number though.

How many of those kids are actually in with respiratory difficulty due to covid and how many are in for something else testing positive incidentally, given the high case rates?

I doubt they're in hospital, because they like the food !

Any extra beds being taken over the New Year isn't good; & part of the problem with Covid positives; is the need to segregate the infected; from the uninfected; & that means splitting staff, & scarce resources.

Don't have detailed info but it would seem strange to see such a huge increase in numbers without covid being the reason for the admission. I imagine that when they are admitted the clinician has defined the reason for admission as covid and these cases have been coded as such?

The graph is not total admission but admissions that have tested positive for sarscov2. So it's entirely expected to see a spike considering the omicron wave occurring in the general population. Exactly the same happened in Gauteng.

[Ymx]

I think the data was in fact suggesting a peak in the next week or two.

Some peoples interpretation of the data is suggesting London has already peaked. And that hospitalisations will soon drop there. Although it will increase across the country. That article I quoted suggests half the hospitalisations as the peak of previously.

However… yes … Schools. There will be another peak shortly. But expect that to more affect infections than hospitalisations.

One of the key stats probably not being discussed and one which has now had time to start being affected. Deaths worth now keeping an eye on post Christmas once data settles.

[Ymx]

A third of incoming prefer hospital food according to this

The proportion in hospital for what is known as an incidental admission is also growing. These are people who are being treated for something else, and just happen to have Covid.

Last week they accounted for nearly a third of cases. However, the numbers who are seriously unwell with Covid are still going up.

[Ymx]

Test came back positive so that's me confined to barracks for a while. I seem to have recovered from the unwellness that prompted me to take antigen tests in the first place but I'm not telling work that!

This got lost in there. All the best with it. Hope you are similarly little affected as per the others on here.

[petej]

It's a political problem for the CCP. At the moment they've locked down Xi'an, a city of some 13 million people, because of a delta outbreak. The city is sealed off causing major economic distruptions and misery to the inhabitants. If Omicron breaks the zero covid policy, which I hope it does for selfish reasons, the Chinese government will play up the milder nature of the variant and suppress news of any adverse impact. I've written this before on here, but.... the CCP has spent two years trumpeting to the Chinese public how much better they have dealt with the pandemic than western democrat governments. The Chinese public have lapped it this up, so how the CCP manage the pivot will be interesting to see.

Yep. It is a difficult pivot to make. I actually felt new Zealand did a decent job of it as there isn't really a good time to do it once the majority of your population is vaccinated and always going to be a bit shit.

The Olympics complicates things particularly if the rest of the world has been mostly lifting restrictions which is likely. They need to lift restrictions now to have a wave before the Olympics.

[vball]

Before going to Uni in Sept, my son got COVID and isolated in his room/mucking about in the garden.
On 21st my daughter tested positive for COVID and tried to keep away from us in the house as much as possible.
Somehow she who must be obeyed and myself never caught it. Tested each morning and while we both feel not at our best, all lateral flow negative. Since we have not been out since the 23rd, and have all we need in for just about 2 weeks, have not had PCR tests as feel there is enough pressure on NHS as it is.

I must admit I have been out ... in the car to remote glens and little wander while taking photos but never encountered anybody. So even if I was positive, would not endanger anybody else.

[Lobby]

It's a political problem for the CCP. At the moment they've locked down Xi'an, a city of some 13 million people, because of a delta outbreak. The city is sealed off causing major economic distruptions and misery to the inhabitants. If Omicron breaks the zero covid policy, which I hope it does for selfish reasons, the Chinese government will play up the milder nature of the variant and suppress news of any adverse impact. I've written this before on here, but.... the CCP has spent two years trumpeting to the Chinese public how much better they have dealt with the pandemic than western democrat governments. The Chinese public have lapped it this up, so how the CCP manage the pivot will be interesting to see.

Another problem for the Chinese government is that there appears to be some evidence that the level of immunity provided by their main vaccines, Sinopharm and Sinovac, declines faster than the MRNA and viral vector vaccines, and that they also provide very little protection against Omicron. If this is the case, then opening up their society just when Omicron is taking over, and the immunity provided by earlier vaccinations is wearing off, could be very difficult.

[Calculon]

I suspect they will start offering mRNA vaccine boosters. Shanghai Fosun actually got a license to produce the BioNtech vaccine before Pfizer did but then politics and nationalism intervened.

I think the Chinese are still hoping to approve their home grown mRNA vaccines before they approve the biontech/fosun vaccine but the emergence of Omicronight might change that and we could see boosters of biontech/fosun being offered to the elderly and vulnerable sooner rather than later.

[Slick]

My wife’s employer is really struggling with this (hospitality). Apparently PCR tests are taking 6 days to get results and no drop ins available in Edinburgh so having to take the decision to rely on LFT and honesty from the staff to keep going.

They are really great employers but just can’t afford to shut down. Feel for them trying to do the best by everyone

The stupid bint manager decided to go to work last night, with my wife, despite having symptoms (justified it by saying she wore 2 masks!) and has now tested positive. The stupid bint

[robmatic]

My wife’s employer is really struggling with this (hospitality). Apparently PCR tests are taking 6 days to get results and no drop ins available in Edinburgh so having to take the decision to rely on LFT and honesty from the staff to keep going.

They are really great employers but just can’t afford to shut down. Feel for them trying to do the best by everyone

The stupid bint manager decided to go to work last night, with my wife, despite having symptoms (justified it by saying she wore 2 masks!) and has now tested positive. The stupid bint

You'd think we were far enough into this to not be doing dumb stuff like going into work with symptoms.

At the very least there's a strong chance that if you do that, you're putting your colleagues into isolation for however many days.

[Grandpa]

Twice a week for me (and a recent week of every day) and still not a hint.

That's still quite common amongst colleagues.

Interesting. As you'd think by now it would be virtually impossible to escape exposure unless in solitary confinement... so there must be something about certain people that makes them very difficult to infect?

Wife got COVID last month, 2 days of light fever (38C /100.5F) and feeling like she had sinusitis. I was attending her and we kept on sharing the same bed because she did not seem to have COVID symptoms i.e none of the loss of taste/smell, chills, aches etc... apart from that "sinusitis". Went to see the doctor after the weekend who confirmed the sinusitis diagnostic and told her testing wasn't needed.

She took a test nonetheless to be on the safe side and it came back positive... tested again and confirmed positive. Myself and our 3 kids tested all negative. Wife isolated in her room for 10 days (until she got a negative test), I had 3 tests over that period and was negative each time. Kids got 2 tests over the period too and remained negative.

So definitely something that is stopping some people from getting it... type of aftershave?

[Sandstorm]

I think the data was in fact suggesting a peak in the next week or two.

Some peoples interpretation of the data is suggesting London has already peaked. And that hospitalisations will soon drop there. Although it will increase across the country. That article I quoted suggests half the hospitalisations as the peak of previously.

However… yes … Schools. There will be another peak shortly. But expect that to more affect infections than hospitalisations.

One of the key stats probably not being discussed and one which has now had time to start being affected. Deaths worth now keeping an eye on post Christmas once data settles.

I feel England should have a two week "fire-break" from 2-14 Jan 2022. Back to Level 5, shut down everything including schools (don't bother with Zoom lessons) and let's all hunker down - we do anyway in January! Give the virus a chance to burn itself out again, numbers to drop after the Xmas hug-a-thon and allow the NHS staff to recover a bit. No tourists allowed in. If you're on holiday, you can come home and must go straight home.

[Ymx]

My wife’s employer is really struggling with this (hospitality). Apparently PCR tests are taking 6 days to get results and no drop ins available in Edinburgh so having to take the decision to rely on LFT and honesty from the staff to keep going.

They are really great employers but just can’t afford to shut down. Feel for them trying to do the best by everyone

The stupid bint manager decided to go to work last night, with my wife, despite having symptoms (justified it by saying she wore 2 masks!) and has now tested positive. The stupid bint

What’s worse is she knew something was amiss, hence the brain dead idea of wearing of 2 masks.

Why not take a lat flow before work?

[petej]

I think the data was in fact suggesting a peak in the next week or two.

Some peoples interpretation of the data is suggesting London has already peaked. And that hospitalisations will soon drop there. Although it will increase across the country. That article I quoted suggests half the hospitalisations as the peak of previously.

However… yes … Schools. There will be another peak shortly. But expect that to more affect infections than hospitalisations.

One of the key stats probably not being discussed and one which has now had time to start being affected. Deaths worth now keeping an eye on post Christmas once data settles.

I feel England should have a two week "fire-break" from 2-14 Jan 2022. Back to Level 5, shut down everything including schools (don't bother with Zoom lessons) and let's all hunker down - we do anyway in January! Give the virus a chance to burn itself out again, numbers to drop after the Xmas hug-a-thon and allow the NHS staff to recover a bit. No tourists allowed in. If you're on holiday, you can come home and must go straight home.

Considering it looks like it has peaked in London and the rest of the country will likely follow in under a week (considering testing delays) I can't see the point. As you say people tend to hunker down in January at any rate so that should help it drop rapidly. Definite no to closing down schools (and nurseries).