Covid-19 discussion thread

[MyNameIsTerry]

According to the ZOE site (forgiven again from my bad books for now), the Gtr London region has the darkest red on the map and highest in the cases ranking right now. By stark contrast, the other day it was NI, and now they're the lightest red on the map, and bottom of their cases ranking.

We (the Midlands) are about halfway down the list in the ZOE cases regional ranking today.

ZOE's cases have actually increased over the past 2-3 days but still behind the dashboard cases (33k vs 39k).

Most ironic and indeed baffling.

Perhaps one of the main factors behind the dashboard cases declining a bit over the past 2 days could be the glorious weather we've been having since about Wednesday, as A; most people will be more inclined to spend most of their time outdoors where Covid is generally less likely to spread, and B; it's been much-speculated that the UV rays from the sun and high outdoor temperatures in general can help to reduce infections.

I could be talking a load of baloney of course, and tomorrow's cases could (dare I say it) be way back up again!

Still, there was no explanation for today's sudden drop in cases on the dashboard site, so it could very well be a case of 'no news is good news'!

BIB - straying into President Orange territory there, Lenco

I guess we have to wait and see if we get an announcement it got messed up? But looking at the test numbers there has been no obvious reduction. I half expected to see a big drop to create some good news to coincide with Freedom Day

Maybe Spector was right? It's hammering some areas but others are slowing down, hitting a plateau or greatly in decline. I've noticed two of the badly hit NE areas slowing down. But there some (like Bolton) that are now increasing again despite passing their peak. That's a concern and I suspect close proximity to increasing areas may be a culprit which is what has happened to Staffs Moorlands (They got over their peak when we were low but then we got hit and up went Moorlands with us).

My city is starting to slow down the last few days so I'm hoping we are near our peak. My brothers region (In Yorkshire) is now spiking as they started getting hit about a week after us.

31 in hospital and 8 on ventilation at our hospital.

[MyNameIsTerry]

The pattern I’ve seen is that it starts in the south or north and then travels up or down the country. So cases were higher in the north for delta but then travelled down to London over a few weeks. The cases in my Greater London borough have now rocketed.
It’s bloody depressing.
However I don’t know anyone amongst my family, friends and colleagues who hasn’t had at least one vaccination. Oh actually, I know one.

I was at the shops today and almost everyone was wearing a mask. At school collection though there were only about 1/4 of parents wearing masks.


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Thanks, Scass. I think I spoke too soon on London. They just seemed to be taking a while to really spike.

It is depressing. We were almost there and along comes Delta. A couple of weeks seems to be enough for it to peak if other areas are anything to go by.

The low jabs down there must be a big worry for you guys? We are 72 1st and 62 2nd, so we are lagging the national average, and I think we are disappointing. My brother's is more 82 and 72. There are places in Scotland around 94 for 1st!

So whilst the overall jab rates look good we have to remember it's an average and some areas are far from sorted no matter what the politicians say.

[Catkins]

We've got 14 in hospital in the north of the county. Still not too bad. I heard on the radio yesterday that hospital stays are a lot shorter than they were, averaging about 5 days apparently

[Lencoboy]

I was correct that cases would probably go back up again today (46k vs 39k yesterday), but still below 50k, whereas on Saturday (17th July) cases reached 54k.

In fact, I half expected today's cases to be above Saturday's 54k, but luckily not to be.

Yesterday's drop to 39k is still rather baffling. I wonder if it's the footie effects starting to wear off coupled with the hot sunny weather over the past few days that caused the drop?

However, I completely expect cases to skyrocket again from later this week onwards.

My area is starting to go up again after dropping last week (566 cases today vs 533 last Tuesday), but that won't as yet be caused by yesterday's easements.

[pulisa]

Probably just the usual "weekend" effect, Lenco?

Seeing as restrictions are now lifted why do we need a daily tally of case numbers? Seeing as we are told we have to live with covid like we do with flu? Do we report daily flu cases?

[dorabella]

Probably just the usual "weekend" effect, Lenco?

Seeing as restrictions are now lifted why do we need a daily tally of case numbers? Seeing as we are told we have to live with covid like we do with flu? Do we report daily flu cases?

Daily reporting of cases (or more properly positive results/infections) serves no purpose unless there is some specific meta-analysis of the nature of them - i.e. asymptomatic/symptomatic, by age group, with or without underlying disorders etc etc .... how are we supposed to interpret them? By reporting them in this way - and for some of the public anxiously scanning them - it just perpetuates the fear factor and prolongs the pandemic which by all accounts is now endemic.

We just have to decide for ourselves and get on with living with it in the same way as we do with every other of the hundreds of viruses floating about out there. Government got us into this perpetual lockdown and now, as many commentators opined quite early on, they don't know how to get out of it. I trust the general populace will eventually develop some sense of perspective on all this.

[pulisa]

Dastardly Dom is plunging the knife even further into Boris....A body language "expert" would have a field day with him. Where is Big Brother's Dame Judy when you need her?

[Lencoboy]

Probably just the usual "weekend" effect, Lenco?

Seeing as restrictions are now lifted why do we need a daily tally of case numbers? Seeing as we are told we have to live with covid like we do with flu? Do we report daily flu cases?

Cases usually do tend to go up on Mondays though, that is, when the general trend is upwards like now. Perhaps this Monday just gone might sadly be just a one-off blip.

As for your suggestion about whether or not publication of daily Covid case numbers is warranted any longer, I'm currently 'on the fence'.

TBH, the govt are basically damned if they do and damned if they don't right now, and will no doubt continue to get it in the neck whatever the event.

[AntsyVee]

I think the daily reporting of cases is important, at least for transparency. With so many people that don't trust their governments, the flow of information can only help to increase accountability. What a person chooses to do with that information is ultimately up to them. But I would think that if numbers rise dramatically or a new variant pops up, then you all would face restrictions again. At least that's what's happened here in California...and we've always been a few months ahead of you all in this pandemic. We had our re-opening or "freedom day" on June 15th. But because the delta variant keeps spreading among the unvaccinated, LA county is already mandating that everyone wear masks again, regardless of vaccine status.

Most Californian adults are vaccinated...71%. Now many of these people are asking the state to somehow come up with penalties for those who are unvaccinated with no excuse (like health problems or chemotherapy) to try to encourage the rest of people to get vaccinated.

[Pamplemousse]

Dastardly Dom is plunging the knife even further into Boris....A body language "expert" would have a field day with him. Where is Big Brother's Dame Judy when you need her?

Thing is, Cummings has ZERO credibility. It all sounds like the pathetic mewling of someone who thinks he's far smarter than he actually is, a bitter and twisted little man who discovered the hard way that he was disposable. His failure to provide any evidence to back up his many claims serves to illustrate this.