Coronavirus (Non-Politics)

[jackj13]

But last time we didn't ease until late June/early July - lockdown didn't even start until mid/end March. I'd say we were probably still in peak 'season' for the virus to transmit. Numbers are reducing due to lockdown and vaccinations - not the weather

It was a new strain of Virus so was always going to spread quickly initially. So how come cases fell dramatically when we eased in the summer months and then they started to increase again as we headed into autumn and winter?

 

[Holy Joe]

It was a new strain of Virus so was always going to spread quickly initially. So how come cases fell dramatically when we eased in the summer months and then they started to increase again as we headed into autumn and winter?

I'm not saying it's not influenced by the season - I'm saying, based on 2020, that it is likely we are still in peak season for tranmission - were it not for lockdown or vaccines.

 

[jackj13]

This is very encouraging news

Covid vaccines may stop spread ‘almost completely’

Fresh boost for Britain as vaccines appear to block virus transmission

www.standard.co.uk

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Cases in Wales for the last 24 hours down another 40% week on week, and only 1 death, and their kids have been back in school a week. If the other nations can match that today, then case numbers and deaths are getting so low and the rate of decline increasing daily that the current lockdown simply can't and wont be enforceable.

Still we have the 6 cases of the Brazilian variant that is one of "too many to count" variants of Covid-19, that COULD, or MAY, or MIGHT, or POSSIBLY be more transmissible and less resistant to the vaccine according to our scum media.

Also numbers in hospital with COVID are approaching the 10,000 level and falling 500-1000 per day. The NHS is so far from being overwhelmed at the moment, when it can cope with almost 40,000 for short periods.

 

[Holy Joe]

Cases in Wales for the last 24 hours down another 40% week on week, and only 1 death, and their kids have been back in school a week. If the other nations can match that today, then case numbers and deaths are getting so low and the rate of decline increasing daily that the current lockdown simply can't and wont be enforceable.

Still we have the 6 cases of the Brazilian variant that is one of "too many to count" variants of Covid-19, that COULD, or MAY, or MIGHT, or POSSIBLY be more transmissible and less resistant to the vaccine according to our scum media.

Also numbers in hospital with COVID are approaching the 10,000 level and falling 500-1000 per day. The NHS is so far from being overwhelmed at the moment, when it can cope with almost 40,000 for short periods.

I wouldn't get too excited with kids back in school just a week - don't think that is long enough to see any impact. Good news overall though - but I think a slow approach, waiting to see the impact of each easing of restrictions is sensible.

 

[Member]

Cases in Wales for the last 24 hours down another 40% week on week, and only 1 death, and their kids have been back in school a week. If the other nations can match that today, then case numbers and deaths are getting so low and the rate of decline increasing daily that the current lockdown simply can't and wont be enforceable.

Still we have the 6 cases of the Brazilian variant that is one of "too many to count" variants of Covid-19, that COULD, or MAY, or MIGHT, or POSSIBLY be more transmissible and less resistant to the vaccine according to our scum media.

Also numbers in hospital with COVID are approaching the 10,000 level and falling 500-1000 per day. The NHS is so far from being overwhelmed at the moment, when it can cope with almost 40,000 for short periods.

The NHS still has high levels of hospitalizations relative to this typical time of year. The capacity for handling the COVID cases didn't just magically appear, the staff have been working longer and harder than ever, and surgeries and treatments for other conditions were delayed and/or cancelled. The NHS need the numbers to drop further for them to be able to get back to normal. The NHS didn't 'cope' at the peak.

 

[blueblueblue]

The NHS still has high levels of hospitalizations relatively to this typical time of year. The capacity for handling the COVID cases didn't just magically appear, the staff have been working longer and harder than ever, and surgeries and treatments for other conditions were delayed and/or cancelled. The NHS need the numbers to drop further for them to be able to get back to normal. The NHS didn't 'cope' at the peak.

You also have to factor in, NHS staff are out and about delivering the vaccine program to the whole Country so staff shortages in hospitals are inevitable.

This isn't a time to relax anything right now.

 

[jackj13]

The NHS still has high levels of hospitalizations relative to this typical time of year. The capacity for handling the COVID cases didn't just magically appear, the staff have been working longer and harder than ever, and surgeries and treatments for other conditions were delayed and/or cancelled. The NHS need the numbers to drop further for them to be able to get back to normal. The NHS didn't 'cope' at the peak.

You also have to factor in, NHS staff are out and about delivering the vaccine program to the whole Country so staff shortages in hospitals are inevitable.

This isn't a time to relax anything right now.

There are currently 14,808 people in hospital with COVID. There are approximately 1257 hospitals in the UK. That averages at approximately 12 patients per hospital. We are never going to achieve zero COVID so realistically how low do those figures actually need to be before we start relaxing?

 

[blueblueblue]

What do people think Post Covid will look like?

Working from home will be the normal, it works and is proven. Big companies will be able to save a fortune on renting big offices.

Shopping on line and home delivery. It's always been a big thing over the years, now it's just gone through the roof. The amount of deliveries down my road everyday, I've never seen before pre Covid.

 

[londonblue]

What do people think Post Covid will look like?

Working from home will be the normal, it works and is proven. Big companies will be able to save a fortune on renting big offices.

Shopping on line and home delivery. It's always been a big thing over the years, now it's just gone through the roof. The amount of deliveries down my road everyday, I've never seen before pre Covid.

You seem to be contradicting yourself. How can on-line sales go through the roof?

 

[RHB]

What do people think Post Covid will look like?

Working from home will be the normal, it works and is proven. Big companies will be able to save a fortune on renting big offices.

Shopping on line and home delivery. It's always been a big thing over the years, now it's just gone through the roof. The amount of deliveries down my road everyday, I've never seen before pre Covid.

A couple of contradictions to home working as normal:

Over a third of UK office staff admit they would rather avoid working from home - Workplace Insight
Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal' - BBC News

 

[Member]

There are currently 14,808 people in hospital with COVID. There are approximately 1257 hospitals in the UK. That averages at approximately 12 patients per hospital. We are never going to achieve zero COVID so realistically how low do those figures actually need to be before we start relaxing?

The government have made it clear that the statistics are approaching a level they deem acceptable and so they're now preparing to open things fully up over the coming 3 months.

 

[Member]

A couple of contradictions to home working as normal:

Over a third of UK office staff admit they would rather avoid working from home - Workplace Insight
Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal' - BBC News

I think a 'work from where you want' type model is going to come into effect for many jobs. I hope my particular company goes this way (I'm already a remote worker who travelled quite a lot for business and spent 3 days a month down in London at HQ). I think people want the flexibility to work from home more often, but without completely losing out on the benefits of the office. Also it's so much better and easier to onboard in person and entry-level jobs really do benefit from being office based, at least initially. I think we'll see offices becoming a bit more like hotel facilities, where you have large meeting spaces, hot desk areas, client hosting facilities, and then a much smaller back office team. my team could meet for 2-3 days each month face to face and then be remote for the rest of the time.

It's important to remember that a lot of the changes that we've seen during the pandemic have widened many forms of inequality. The poorer paid and younger typically don't have the space to work from home comfortably, and by working from home you're making more people work in unpleasant situations, e.g. zero-hour delivery drivers, grey-economy takeaway services etc.

I hope a general change is that there's an increased focus on community and events/activities, and less focus on pure materialism. Hopefully people will have a new found respect for the outdoors, green spaces, and the environment. Local pubs and community run places will hopefully be more supported. I really hope towns and suburbs develop community centres for home workers which will have economic benefits.

I used to fly a lot with work but expect that will change and reduce, which is a bit of a shame because I generally enjoyed it, but it's definitely good for the environment if we reduce the amount of unnecessary air travel.

 

[Benfleet A1]

The government have made it clear that the statistics are approaching a level they deem acceptable and so they're now preparing to open things fully up over the coming 3 months.

When you talk about this I listen, do you think 3 months is about right or jumping the gun a bit?

 

[Member]

When you talk about this I listen, do you think 3 months is about right or jumping the gun a bit?

As you know well I loath to give this government credit, but I think they've finally realised that they can't rush this, but also they do need to give some working dates to enable people to plan ahead.

I think the 5-week concept makes sense. They have 4 weeks to see if the change in restrictions has a negative effect on hospitalizations, and then 1 week to forewarn people about the change. The government has kept things quiet about what exactly will drive their decision-making, but I think it's only going to relax from here given the efficacy of the vaccines and the rate at which we've been able to roll them out.

Cautiously optimistic is probably the right way to be. We need to get the numbers really low to reduce the chance of vaccine-resistant variants. We also need to support global efforts to access vaccines, we're likely to be one of the first countries with genuine herd immunity and should use that to help other countries, it's just as much in our own interests as it is theirs.

 

[Napster]

I think a 'work from where you want' type model is going to come into effect for many jobs. I hope my particular company goes this way (I'm already a remote worker who travelled quite a lot for business and spent 3 days a month down in London at HQ). I think people want the flexibility to work from home more often, but without completely losing out on the benefits of the office. Also it's so much better and easier to onboard in person and entry-level jobs really do benefit from being office based, at least initially. I think we'll see offices becoming a bit more like hotel facilities, where you have large meeting spaces, hot desk areas, client hosting facilities, and then a much smaller back office team. my team could meet for 2-3 days each month face to face and then be remote for the rest of the time.

It's important to remember that a lot of the changes that we've seen during the pandemic have widened many forms of inequality. The poorer paid and younger typically don't have the space to work from home comfortably, and by working from home you're making more people work in unpleasant situations, e.g. zero-hour delivery drivers, grey-economy takeaway services etc.

I hope a general change is that there's an increased focus on community and events/activities, and less focus on pure materialism. Hopefully people will have a new found respect for the outdoors, green spaces, and the environment. Local pubs and community run places will hopefully be more supported. I really hope towns and suburbs develop community centres for home workers which will have economic benefits.

I used to fly a lot with work but expect that will change and reduce, which is a bit of a shame because I generally enjoyed it, but it's definitely good for the environment if we reduce the amount of unnecessary air travel.

I think you're half right. I can see localism coming to the fore, but I can also see people splurging on material goods just because they can go back to the shops.

 

[jackj13]

The government have made it clear that the statistics are approaching a level they deem acceptable and so they're now preparing to open things fully up over the coming 3 months.

Indeed but we don’t know what those levels are. All I here is praise about our vaccine rollout but still have one of the strictest lockdowns in the world and have to wait months to be able to do things you can in other countries right now. At the moment I can’t really see what difference the vaccine is doing in lifting restrictions?

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

I think a 'work from where you want' type model is going to come into effect for many jobs. I hope my particular company goes this way (I'm already a remote worker who travelled quite a lot for business and spent 3 days a month down in London at HQ). I think people want the flexibility to work from home more often, but without completely losing out on the benefits of the office. Also it's so much better and easier to onboard in person and entry-level jobs really do benefit from being office based, at least initially. I think we'll see offices becoming a bit more like hotel facilities, where you have large meeting spaces, hot desk areas, client hosting facilities, and then a much smaller back office team. my team could meet for 2-3 days each month face to face and then be remote for the rest of the time.

It's important to remember that a lot of the changes that we've seen during the pandemic have widened many forms of inequality. The poorer paid and younger typically don't have the space to work from home comfortably, and by working from home you're making more people work in unpleasant situations, e.g. zero-hour delivery drivers, grey-economy takeaway services etc.

I hope a general change is that there's an increased focus on community and events/activities, and less focus on pure materialism. Hopefully people will have a new found respect for the outdoors, green spaces, and the environment. Local pubs and community run places will hopefully be more supported. I really hope towns and suburbs develop community centres for home workers which will have economic benefits.

I used to fly a lot with work but expect that will change and reduce, which is a bit of a shame because I generally enjoyed it, but it's definitely good for the environment if we reduce the amount of unnecessary air travel.

That's certainly the case with our younger daugher.Nominally she's based in Paris* (she's paying rent on a flat there) but has only been physically in her office for a few weeks at most (on a 1/2 days a week basis since the pandemic began.

*She's currently working from Gracia (in Barcelona) and has permission from her employer to do so.

 

[Holy Joe]

Indeed but we don’t know what those levels are. All I here is praise about our vaccine rollout but still have one of the strictest lockdowns in the world and have to wait months to be able to do things you can in other countries right now. At the moment I can’t really see what difference the vaccine is doing in lifting restrictions?

Without it I don't think we'd be having the conversation about opening up at the moment. And if/when we did open up, it would only be temporary until next winter. The vaccinations have enabled the current relaxations starting next week

 

[jackj13]

Without it I don't think we'd be having the conversation about opening up at the moment. And if/when we did open up, it would only be temporary until next winter. The vaccinations have enabled the current relaxations starting next week

So why are other countries currently more open than we are with similar data figures and nowhere near as many people vaccinated? You avoided answering that bit. We have a vaccine that is allowing us to open up as one of the slowest countries.