To Think We Should Still Be Wearing Masks

[TheShellBeach]

Especially seeing the news coming out of China, and the lies they seem to be telling about the Covid situation there.

I never stopped wearing a mask when shopping anyway, even though we were told it was no longer necessary.

Yes, I know that most people have now been vaccinated.

Haha! I have a 9yo too and can relate. As a child I used to live for being off school sick, my child has literally been vomiting and saying in between “but I can go to school can’t I” 🤣 bloody swots ey 😂

@LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet I don't know how many times I need to say this but all the links I provided are based on peer reviewed scientific papers! Perhaps read them before judging just because the initial link is a tweet- you'll see that you can click through to Nature and similar journals for the full paper

This is anecdotal of course, but most of the kids with long covid that I know of caught covid before vaccines were available to them. Quite a few caught it in early 2022 with the “mild” omicron strain, after restrictions were lifted and classrooms returned to normal but before vaccines were available.

Also, from the studies that I’ve seen, and obviously these studies only reflect on people who have had these investigations (many not available in U.K. and certainly barely anything available for kids), people with long covid do present with similar issues such as micro blood clots and hyper-activated platelets. For those unlucky enough to get long term effects it does cause a bizarre set of symptoms and multi organ issues.

Obviously not everyone gets long covid, and it’s good to see how many people on this thread have barely been affected,
but it is my understanding that you are at higher risk of getting long covid the more times you catch covid. Ie your immune system doesn’t work in the same way remembering the virus, unlike with other viruses.

OK so regarding the claim from @ThaiDye that ‘more people have died from COVID in 2022 than 2020 & 2021 and that more children have died in 2022 than 2020&2021 combined”. Took a few minutes to do research from the Office of National Statistics.

My source is this spreadsheet
www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc1470/new_age/datadownload.xlsx

Unfortunately it only has data from 2021 and 2022 on that spreadsheet but given what’s on it I don’t think I need to find the 2020 data to prove ThaiDye was wrong.

So re children:
28 died with COVID on their death certificate in 2021
32 in 2022.

So unless only 3 children died in 2020 with COVID on their death certificate, ThaiDye is wrong on this point.

I couldn’t be arsed doing the sums for adults but one look at the spreadsheet show lots of 4 figure amounts for 2021 and 2-3 figures amounts for 2022.

Ill day it again: stop reading conspiracy nonsense and start reading facts.

But none of them back your claim that ‘EVERYONE’ who has COVID suffers long term effects. None. Or that COVID is nothing but a mild illness for most. You have piss poor analytical skills that’s all

Ooh just found the 2020 stats on child deaths.
Total: 9

www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/weeklyprovisionalfiguresondeathsregisteredinenglandandwales/2020/publishedweek532020.xlsx

Found the data on deaths year by year

coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths

You have to do some faffing about with filters but here are the stats:

2020- 90,189
2021 - 84,044
2022 - 36,603

Total: 210,837

And back to the clean air in schools and we can’t afford it argument. The government is going to spend £49 million on CO2 monitors, to monitor air quality in schools.

Surely, with limited funds, it would be better to spend £49 miliion on devices that will actually improve the air quality in schools?

Also, the government have two approved air purifiers for schools. One of these is a Dyson which is very expensive and is a poor choice according to Which? who awarded it their “DON’T Buy” medal! But then Boris Johnson’s brother is a director at Dyson so this could have something to do with it.

@Thismonkeysgonetodevon thats interesting about BJ’s brother! It’s also infuriating.

@LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet my original post specified children under 9 in england.

I also stated I was sharing adult data from Canada and didn't look at UK adult data.

In terms of long term effects, just because they aren't visible doesn't mean they aren't there. I know the initial infection is mostly mild ( I only had a slight sore throat but tested positive for 13 days) but it's the long term effects, as outlined in the links I shared. Vascular damage, lung damage, heart attack and stroke rate increasing, damage to brain tissue, immune system damage, these are all things that are invisible and that you have to hope wont affect you but you won't know till it's too late. A cold doesn't do this.

@ThaiDye you do realise we can read your posts back right? And this obtuse “Oh no I didn’t mean that I meant this” isn’t fooling anyone.

my original post specified children under 9 in england.

I also stated I was sharing adult data from Canada and didn't look at UK adult data.

Your post stated:

Sadly we've been badly let down by the media that's failed to report that COVID killed more people in 2022 than in previous years, and in England killed more children than in 20/21 combined

Firstly you never said children under 9. They don’t even segment the data that way. Show me your source please.

Secondly - how convenient unusual that you mention UK in one sentence but then are apparently also referring to Canada in the same sentence. Funny that

No one is denying that SOME people suffer long term effects of COVID. A bit like they do with flu. Or meningitis. Or measles. Or scarlet fever. But your claim that EVERYONE does is not only total bollocks but scaremongering bullshit. You’ve either been brainwashed or you are brainwashing and forgetting there are smart people with knowledge better than you on here. Your piss poor analytical skills and, quite frankly, blatant lies you’ve told on here just make me think you’re maybe a conspiracy theorist or just plain old bonkers. Either way if you do want to protect your so , you need to assess whatever is driving you to spout such nonsense.

It IS possible that we ^may* find something out later down the line about the affects of COVID - but this goes for any illness. Also, we may not. So we can only act on the facts we have right now. And right now the facts show it’s mostly a mild illness. We can’t plan ahead based on ‘well maybe one day it might turn out that it’s worse’. That’s not how public health works.

Also you never stated you were talking about Canada. I think you’ve panic Googled when you’ve been challenged

@LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet I am not surprised with ThaiDye's posting history. I do feel very sorry for the children of people suffering from health anxiety. These have always existed, but they would have been picked up on it in pre-Covid times and helped to overcome it. Unfortunately the government has made Covid-anxiety sanctified and it's going to take a lot of time to wade back.

When I'm ill, I don't go and cough over other people and I definitely won't go and give my gran a big kiss. That's the case if I have Covid, or flu, or a cold sore. It's just sensible, and most people know to do it. Those wanting all of society to bend to their narrow anxieties got a taste of power in 2020/21, but their time has gone. Thank goodness

I totally agree with you; a sensible and informed response.

😂😂😂😂😂

Completely incorrect

I've just figured out how to find my old posts via advanced search to see what I said.

I genuinely thought I had shared a link to a Canadian article on how their covid deaths in 2022 exceeded those in 2021 and 2020. It's here: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/covid-deaths-analysis-1.6699040 and here's national data public.tableau.com/app/profile/bill.comeau/viz/CanadaCovid19_16636261617930/Dashboard1

The data on deaths from COVID in England is broken down by age groups, on the 2020 spreadsheet you shared and the 2021 and 2022 spreadsheets are here: www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/weeklyprovisionalfiguresondeathsregisteredinenglandandwales

Deaths 0-9 in England and Wales:
2020: 4
2021: 21
2022: 28 (up to 9 Dec)

And a breakdown including all children up to age 19:
2020: 20
2021: 66
2022: 55 (up to 9 Dec)

[Note that the 2021 Spreadsheet tab for weekly occurrences is labelled 2020 so I used weekly registrations tab instead.]

My claim that everyone can suffer long term effects from COVID stems from the fact that these effects are hidden. We already know it increases the risk of heart damage in all age groups (including children - this Dr highlights just how crazy the whole situation is with regards the risk we are putting our children through - every parent should watch this brief video)

and causes lung damage even in mild cases: www.itnonline.com/content/lasting-lung-damage-seen-children-and-teens-after-covid

Anyway. I'm leaving it here. I've had enough of being labelled mentally ill because I'm trying to protect my son from a novel virus (and still living a perfectly normal and social life with plenty of play and meeting people outside the family) and I'm merely trying to raise awareness amongst the general population that COVID is not as harmless as we wish it was, and we should be pushing for HEPA filters in public spaces and ventilation so that we can keep our children safe - and there will be benefits for learning too. I am not a conspiracy theorist. I'm despairing of the government reneging its public health responsibilities and I am all in favour of the precautionary principle whilst we still discover how COVID affects us.

I hope you stay healthy and never have to experience long COVID as I have in my family (the family member who was previously the fittest and had no problem running 100km trail races - we have no idea who is going to be hit hardest).

PS If the NHS really wants to spend money effectively (ref your comment about cervical smears and vaccines) it would put all its staff in N95 masks and mandate masking in healthcare settings. It would require PCR tests before medical procedures like in France. This would save a lot of money by preventing infection rather than letting airborne disease spread unabated.

I've gone back to wearing masks in crowded places and avoiding them altogether if possible.

I'm concerned at the risk of a new variant from China and despise the selfish idiots that dismiss it as just a cold and those who deliberately put vulnerable people at risk.

Yes we have to find a way to live with it and I don't want another lockdown but having lost 2 family members to it who were not elderly/ill I think its entirely sensible to take precautions where possible.

There is no new variant from China. Where are people getting this from?

Well, my dh recently downloaded tiktok (to relax apparently) and he seems to believe there's a new deadly variant so I'm saying tiktok bollocks.

Vibes.

I said I was concerned at the risk of a new variant, I didn't say there was one already if your comment was directed at me.

In any event given the state of the NHS and the levels of flu and strep A, I'm more than happy to take additional precautions at the moment.

I could never ever live being concerned about something that may or may not happen and hide indoors as a result

@ThaiDye I desperately hope things improve before your young child starts school. I’d hate to think of even more kids going through what mine is. Especially with the complete lack of help available for children with long covid.

It doesn’t seem likely at the moment, and if this thread is anything to go by, there is absolutely no public interest in change. But there are people trying. And as more and more people become personally affected, there will be more pressure for simple mitigation measures such as clean air in schools and masks in medical settings.