Do people actually realise how few are dying from coronavirus now?

[Mrschickpeabody]

It’s all still doom and gloom on the news as normal regarding coronavirus. Loads about cases going up, local lockdowns, negativity regarding schools going back but nothing about the fact that hardly anyone is actually dying from coronavirus or being admitted to hospital. Can we not hear about positive things for once?

"Surely, someone who can digest the data, and make an analytical and thought out response"

Fire away!

@notevenat20

how do you account for continued and extended lockdown in the Greater Manchester area, because of rising figures?

Isn't it simply to prevent a new surge in the numbers of cases? It's a preventative move.

Figures have already surged. Hence necessity for extended lockdown

Please can we have reliable data on long lasting health issues from Covid?

@MH1111, you are wrong. Uk is a densely populated country. Sweden is not. They are very different countries in many ways. Stockholm is easily comparable to Oslo and perhaps Copenhagen but not to London.

@Alex50

Please can we have reliable data on long lasting health issues from Covid?

Yes. And a good comparison with the long lasting health issues from other infections.

@MH1111

MrsMcMuffins

Please tell me why the uk cannot be compared to Sweden and Spain. if possible research your answer first.

Spain and France and UK are good comparisons.

Similar density, similar countries and similar living set up and similar age range of population.

Sweden is completely different . Far more people live alone. Smaller class sizes in school. Different type of industry. That's why they are compared to their Scandi neighbours which are similar countries.

Please tell me why the uk cannot be compared to Sweden and Spain. if possible research your answer first.

The UK and Spain are more comparable than the UK and Sweden. One important factor is how likely a person is to live close to someone else. This is the so called "lived population density". Spain has three large and dense cities which is very different from Sweden.

For those who like details,
arxiv.org/pdf/2005.01167.pdf has some.

Figures have already surged. Hence necessity for extended lockdown

Yes. All I meant was it's not the current number of cases that is unacceptable but rather the fear that the recent increase will lead to a massively larger number in the near future. So what we are trying to prevent is that future exponential growth.

Ah, OK, @notevenat20. Sorry, I didn't understand you first time round.

Last Monday there was 16 people who died of Covid, that’s 16 families going through grief. One of them was my grandad. He was in his early 80s but was as fit as a fiddle apart from having to go into hospital because of sepsis, a disease that is indiscriminate. He was getting better but suddenly got infected in hospital and died within 4 days of symptoms. At one point nearly 1000 people were dying a day, community transmission is low now but with no vaccine insight, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. A few people a day is still too many. If you would have seen the difference between my grandad from the Thursday to the Monday you wouldn’t give a thought to the news not being positive, I’m sorry if you’re fed up of it but I think people need to start taking more responsibility and think about the more vulnerable members of society.

The news has to stay doom and gloom because if the good news on low death rates etc were highlighted then too many idiots would relax too much and not follow the measures that is stopping the spread. The "sheep" would follow the idiots and the virus would spread exponentially again. What we have right now, with 'scaremongering' news resulting in most people complying with the guidelines is much better than the alternative.

Nope, I think people love the drama too much. This 'crisis' has made me realise how little I have in common with people. I think they are totally and utterly pathetic.

@AlecTrevelyan006

some things are more important than death

My death is pretty fucking important to me. I’d probably say it trumps my top ten list of Important Things

[quote MrsMcMuffins]@MH1111, you are wrong. Uk is a densely populated country. Sweden is not. They are very different countries in many ways. Stockholm is easily comparable to Oslo and perhaps Copenhagen but not to London.[/quote]
That is very untrue. Most of Sweden's populations are crowded into the cities.

MrsMcMuffins

I’m just looking at statistics. It’s not about me being wrong or right.
Below is a link showing the population density’s of London and Stockholm compared. London is higher but not that dissimilar.
comparecities.org/en/compare/Stockholm-London

Please use facts and statistics to support your answers not just ‘you’re wrong’

That is very untrue. Most of Sweden's populations are crowded into the cities.

If you folllow the link I pasted above you can see in the graph near the end that Sweden has one of the lowest lived population densities in Europe.

@Berlioz23

Last Monday there was 16 people who died of Covid, that’s 16 families going through grief. One of them was my grandad. He was in his early 80s but was as fit as a fiddle apart from having to go into hospital because of sepsis, a disease that is indiscriminate. He was getting better but suddenly got infected in hospital and died within 4 days of symptoms. At one point nearly 1000 people were dying a day, community transmission is low now but with no vaccine insight, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. A few people a day is still too many. If you would have seen the difference between my grandad from the Thursday to the Monday you wouldn’t give a thought to the news not being positive, I’m sorry if you’re fed up of it but I think people need to start taking more responsibility and think about the more vulnerable members of society.

I am so sorry about your grandad. RIP.

Berlioz23

Like those with cancer that is undiagnosed and/or not being treated?

Condolences for your grandad.

@walksen

Registered Covid deaths in Aug 553. That reflects 0.0008297 of the UK Population.

Last year approx 165,000 people died from a cancer.
Heart attack deaths up by 40% during lockdown.

Do you feel that these numbers can justify the ongoing mentality towards this indiscrimate killer virus? Or would it be prudent to re assess the severity of it, and adjust distancing measures accordingly.

@coffeeforone

The news has to stay doom and gloom because if the good news on low death rates etc were highlighted then too many idiots would relax too much and not follow the measures that is stopping the spread. The "sheep" would follow the idiots and the virus would spread exponentially again. What we have right now, with 'scaremongering' news resulting in most people complying with the guidelines is much better than the alternative.

And again, are you missing the fact that even though there may be comparatively low death-rates in the UK (compared to the USA for example, not Norway), the long-term after-effects of Covid-19 on people of all ages who have had supposedly "mild" cases are in some cases awful and actually may affect those people for the rest of their lives, and shorten their lives, too?

I've seen some American cardiologists discussing the study looking at the rise in cases of POTS amongst previously fit and healthy people post Covid.

These people weren't high risk and obviously didn't die but are possibly being left with a lifelong disabling condition. I cannot understand the blasé attitude being displayed towards a novel virus that by it's very nature is poorly understood at present. More will be uncovered as time goes on but until they fully understand the effects that it can have the only sensible option is one of caution surely?

Having read some of the "analysis" here I think I'll let Chris Witty come up with the advice! And having watched my NDN (who is 20 years younger and much fitter than me) really suffer, and still suffer, I will be staying safe. No panic here though, just being sensible and not exposing ourselves to more risk than necessary.

A colleague’s mum died of breast cancer last week, after years of suffering. Another colleague’s response was “at least it wasn’t Covid”.

It’s awful that people are dying of coronavirus, but their deaths are no more important than other deaths, and I don’t think my heartless colleague is the only one to have forgotten that.

My GP is still only doing phone appointments, and the website says only to make an appointment if it’s urgent. A friend who was suicidal over the summer didn’t speak to anyone because she was scared of wasting NHS time. I’ve seen posts here and on other forums from people still too scared to go to hospital appointments or A&E. I worry that these things could be causing more deaths from other things, but they are just overlooked because they’re not Covid related.

I've never seen anything so stupid as "scamdemic"

100% agree, it's embarassing. Although when you look at all the governments soaring in popularity and businesses profiting hugely out of this pandem....oh wait.

Do you not understand the basic maths/science? We stopped the spread through lockdown. We’ve learnt it spreads in crowded indoor environments. Wait till Autumn. There is a 4/5 week lag from cases increasing to hospitalisation then further lag till deaths. It’s not that hard to comprehend.