Anti-dementors are driving round the Arc de Triomphe

[SockYarn]

new thread :-)

Remind me tomorrow and I'll go through meat packing plants. Need to sleep and haven't read the whole thread, so if someone has already explained chicken v red meat, tell me and I won't bore you again (I have 30 years food industry experience and have been in a lot of abattoirs and cutting plants world wide)

I live in one of the worse areas where the infection rate is dropping more slowly. You would think that PhE would be able to say why they think that is happening. That they would have a good handle on whether the infections are happening in hospital/ care homes / prison or in the wider community etc. Apparently not. The mayor has been pressing for the information and now a question has been asked in Parliament and they are going to investigate. It does all rather add to the impression that the government are just flailing around doing stuff to show they are doing stuff rather than actively managing the situation.

Morning all and @torydeathdrug thanks for the info from that article. Does anyone know about current HCP's and recent deaths? It struck me the other day that I have not been aware of HCP's dying recently in the same way that we were in those early grim weeks. At the time theories abounded re viral load or BAME but what I'm wondering is if that might be more proof that the virus is losing it's potency and so our HCP's are not receiving the same viral load? Of course it could also be because they're finally working with the correct PPE!

@DesmondTheMoonbear

Nihiloxica I can understand why some people wear them, but it isn't a world that I want to live in either, not for any length of time. I find them extremely unsettling and I have enough trouble reading people's expressions without half of their face being covered. Also it's a sad day when you can't smile at a baby or toddler.

I hope that the measures won't be in place for much longer. It's depressing how little thought people with disabilities have been given when putting these measures in place.

I'm neutral on the mask piece (I'll wear one if it's the key to getting things open) but agree the lack of expression is disconcerting. The security guard in boots had one on and it wasn't the most welcoming sight, it was the only shop that felt dystopian. Next had gone for visors which was odd but they came across as really friendly

Do not read the comments under that daily mail article

(Although I now know where some mnetters are when they aren't here)

It really surprised me when that topic (this would send women back to the home, impact them more than men) was so hotly denied on here a few weeks ago

It is so obvious that is what would happen

I don’t really understand what these threads are about. 😂

@Ibake re HCPs - More or Less covered this a few weeks ago - apparently HCPs have the same mortality risk from Covid-19 as the rest of the population. The impression you got from the media in the early days were that doctors and nurses were uniquely at risk but this doesn’t seem to have been the case. As far as I remember, there was a slightly higher risk for BAME HCPs but that seems to be reflected in the higher risk for people of south Asian origin in general. The occupation which had a much higher risk was working in social care - which given what was happening in care homes sadly isn’t surprising

@torydeathdrug thanks for posting that - definitely moving in the right direction!

@Weedsnseeds1 - jealous 😠

@Jourdain11 I hope you had a better night and are on your way home today

I had a lovely afternoon yesterday - went riding and it was glorious just having to concentrate on what I was doing in that moment - mindfulness in action

Not so glorious was being woken up by the sound of the dog being noisily sick outside my door 🤢

Oh and @tadpoles these threads aren’t about anything in particular! They’re a place to vent, to share stuff, to say you miss something trivial without being jumped on by posters saying ‘but people are DYING’. In general I think we’re a glass half full sort of bunch - we tend to think that positive signs are just that - positive - instead of assuming that really they’re harbingers of the second (eighth, ninth?) wave. You also get some fascinating facts about roundabouts, aubergines and newts 😉

@Weedsnseeds1 that sounds amazing! It sounds almost like whispers normal life!

@Tadpolesandfroglets

I don’t really understand what these threads are about. 😂

Anything really

The core value is looking at a certain virus in a critical, open minded, positive way and looking forwards to getting back to the real normal.

Can I ask a really stupid question? I know I wont get jumped on here for asking it....

What's the implication if the virus has been here longer than we thought? What does that mean?

More good news - another hospital trust announces Covid free status

www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/18529601.hampshire-hospitals-announces-covid-free-site/?ref=wa

Thank you @Pleasedontdothat
And @Tadpolesandfroglets, welcome if you've just joined us, the randomness is part of it's charm. Essentially we cover pretty much all the other topics that used to tick along quite happily on MN but condensed into one place where you're unlikely to get shouted at that people are DYING. You'll get used to it!

@LivinLaVidaLoki

Can I ask a really stupid question? I know I wont get jumped on here for asking it....

What's the implication if the virus has been here longer than we thought? What does that mean?

No idea whether this is right, I kind of assumed it might mean it "burned out" quicker and perhaps more people have had it so there are less people to infect if you like. But that may well be bollocks because the random antibody testing showed quite a small % of the country have had it. Though if the theory that some people are naturally immune anyway is true, perhaps that could still stand?

Either way I am convinced it was hear sooner. There are hundreds of flights from China every single day I can't see how it possibly took months to get here!

@LivinLaVidaLoki

Can I ask a really stupid question? I know I wont get jumped on here for asking it....

What's the implication if the virus has been here longer than we thought? What does that mean?

Longer community exposure means better odds of herd immunity and community transmission.

New Zealand has done a good job of containing and quashing the spread but long term until there is an effective vaccine, they are dependent on relative isolation to maintain that.

Thank you all! I was trying to pick out a running theme but now I understand!

I used to be a very active member of MN until about 5-6 years ago when things started to get a bit unpleasant. This thread reminds me of MN in its days of glory. There were random topics being discussed, in funny witty ways. There was support when you needed it, and cool logic when you needed that. And it was a safe space where you could be yourself without (or with minimal) judgement.

All of that is distilled into this thread now.

But the pivot point is examining the virus and its myriad effects, both in health and in society, in a rational non-hysterical manner.

Thanks @TrustTheGeneGenie
I was sure a friend of mine had it over Christmas and new year. She had a constant heavy cough, was breathless and intermittent high fever it lasted for weeks. She was really poorly. Doctors tried various treatments and antibiotics but nothing helped.

Morning all! I’ve just ordered the name tapes for DSs school uniform. That’s well on the way to getting it all, right? Right?!

Seeing FiL again later, which is lovely but does also make me miss my side of the family a bit more. But not much to be done about it at the moment. Even if we could meet up, DM would be far too worried about it all and wouldn’t want to hug DS or anything. It would just be too upsetting. I really hope we’ll be allowed to see our families properly (ie indoors and with hugs!) again soon.

Work starts on the new fireplace on Monday so this weekend we’ll be trying to clear the room as much as we can and get all the dust sheets ready. We also have a zoom call with DS’s new teacher on Monday, so hoping it won’t be too noisy while we’re trying to talk to her

Avanti amici 👍

@LivinLaVidaLoki

Thanks *@TrustTheGeneGenie* I was sure a friend of mine had it over Christmas and new year. She had a constant heavy cough, was breathless and intermittent high fever it lasted for weeks. She was really poorly. Doctors tried various treatments and antibiotics but nothing helped.

Me too. A friend at work has all the symptoms just after Christmas. She is not someone who typically gets Ill iyswim. She was coughing continuously, temperature, generally just very poorly.

Weirdly though, nobody else in our office got ill. Her husband did though I think but he wasn't as bad as she was.

@spudlet Ds starts school in September and Ive no idea when to start buying! I feel like I've no idea whether hell even start then!

New Zealand and Iceland bemuse me. Both are being held up as bastions of excellence in the media for stamping out the virus in their countries.

But they're both islands that are geographically naturally isolated, and with sparse population spread over vast tracts of land. Once borders are shut, it isn't an impossible task to eliminate the virus. But surely the long term effect depends on them remaining shut to the outside world until a vaccine is found. How is that economically viable?
UK and its nations may be tiptoeing a bit too cautiously out of lockdown, but I think on the whole I prefer our approach.

Correct me if I'm wring, I'm just thinking out loud and this has bugged me

@TrustTheGeneGenie We actually had a few bits in the online basket, then we chickened out in case of another growth spurt. I have written a list though, which is surely at least 80% of the battle, possibly as much as 90%...

It’s all the equipment that has me a bit boggled, not sure if he needs pencil cases and things? Or whether he can have a set of wellies and waterproofs to leave at school the whole time (I really hope so as we’re planning to cycle to school as much as possible and at this rate we’ll need a trailer for all the stuff). Or what counts as ‘trainer style’ shoes... most of the start rite Velcro shoes look a bit trainer-y to me but hoping they’ll be ok?

We got a lovely little package in the post from the school with a booklet and leaflet for DS, with pictures of his classroom and teachers and things. Lots of information for him about what to expect.

Morning lovely murderers. I have a teeny headache behind my left eye which may or may not be self inflicted. And I'm running with a friend shortly. This is going to be SO MUCH FUN.

Some interesting numbers in US, in that the increase in cases is not translating into increased hospitalisations, some thoughts that employers are making people get tested before returning to work and it's picking up asymptotic cases. There's a guy on twitter analysing it all, I can't claim to understand everything he says, he's called Ethical Skeptic, maybe worth a look

I agree, Nanny.

The NZ worship in particular irritates the fuck out of me.

"Britain is also an island"

Yeah, a densely populated island with a major world ciity that can be clearly seen from the next island over and from the massive continent just beside it.

Rather different from two sparsely populated islands a thousand kms from anywhere else.

They locked down later than the UK. They just had far less of the infection in the population of their remote country.

If Covid has been around since December, then every arsehole claiming earlier lock down would have saved lives is wrong.

If it was spreading for months before we even noticed it was here, then it's hard to justify lockdown at all.