We are now in disaster mode

[lovelemoncurd]

“We are now in disaster medicine mode,” it said.
“We are no longer providing high-standard critical care, because we cannot. While this is far from ideal, it’s the way things are, and the way they have to be for now.”

I see that this means rationing medical care. So those who would have previously been given a chance will now not.

This is really significant!

Must say I do agree with @BuggerBognor in regards to the media fuelling some of the mistrust and disbelief currently going on.

Our local paper has been appalling with its sensationalist headlines and deliberately misleading articles to the point where I look at them now and just think “meh”.

I’m following the guidelines but quite honestly anything in the media is taken with a very large pinch of salt. They only have themselves to blame.

Or watch Pain, Pus and Poison if it is still available on catch up.

I had a man be incredibly rude to me the other day because I doubted that he’d read in the local paper 275 people in our very small area of our not very big town had tested positive. I was a covid denier, anti vaxxer and all sorts.

When checking his “fact” the paper had actually printed the number per 100,000 in each area. We actually have 28 so quite a big difference! Totally misleading headline and easy to misinterpret if you didn’t read the article in full.

Then the paper had the cheek to run an article saying to trust them for correct information on covid not social media

I have developed a physical reflex that if a post mentions “Big Pharma” my thumb immediately scrolls past.

I've just had a news pop up (BBC) - Khan has formally declared the London covid situation a 'major incident'

Not sure what this means in practice, but it reinforces how grave the situation is

and yet I was on Streatham High Road yesterday evening and it seemed busy as normal

Major incident in London.

What a pity the government decided to sue schools when they tried to close before Christmas. Why didn't they look into what was happening instead of going for political point scoring.

Ireland is also a scary illustration of how fast things can take off if you relax your controls - they look like they're doing okay-ish right up to about 6 days ago then the growth rate suddenly goes almost vertical, and they shoot up into first place. (I'm guessing they've now got the new UK variant, but in a country which had to some extent relaxed controls because they thought they were - and indeed from the figures it did look as though they geniunely were - doing quite well in controlling things.)

No need to guess, they have rapidly increasing prevalence of the new variant:
mobile.twitter.com/Mark_Coughlan/status/1347135316793159688

@carcarbinks

Major incident in London.

What a pity the government decided to sue schools when they tried to close before Christmas. Why didn't they look into what was happening instead of going for political point scoring.

???

That's an interesting reading of what actually happened!

The trust I work in are in far worse a position than ever before. All elective surgeries are now cancelled indefinitely, including urgent cancer surgeries. There is literally no other choice as the hospital is full with queues in A&E, ambulances parked outside with being patients being treated inside them etc. It is horrific and we haven't seen anything yet

I honestly think some people won't believe how bad things are until someone they know dies because there is no bed for them.

The NHS has been finding extra capacity by cancelling elective activity, clinics, transferring to other hospitals etc and redeploying staff. There will come a a point soon (we may be there already in som places) when there is nothing left to cancel and no more beds left anywhere.

@ClaudiaWankleman

I can't believe people are too scared of this virus that they're willing to get themselves injected with it, without any liabilities from their makers. Logic has left the building

Logic was never present in your building it appears @Confusedgrievingmum ?

The Pfizer vaccine contains synthetic (not extracted from a virus) RNA (similar role as DNA in the body). Once injected, the RNA instructs your body cells to create protein spikes which look the same as the spikes Covid causes.
Your body creates an immune response to the protein spikes, which is effective against the ones caused by Covid.

The Oxford vaccine is made using a virus which is not Covid-19, but it looks similar enough to cause a similar immune response. The virus used is unable to infect humans.

Don't spread dangerous misinformation.

Whilst you are trying to help clear misinformation that isn't a correct explanation of the oxford vaccine. The Oxford vaccine uses a different virus which only causes illness in chimpanzees to carry the DNA from the coronavirus spike protein into cells. It is then converted into RNA and then the spike protein in the same was as the pfizer vaccine inside the cell.

[quote CoffeeandCroissant]Ireland is also a scary illustration of how fast things can take off if you relax your controls - they look like they're doing okay-ish right up to about 6 days ago then the growth rate suddenly goes almost vertical, and they shoot up into first place. (I'm guessing they've now got the new UK variant, but in a country which had to some extent relaxed controls because they thought they were - and indeed from the figures it did look as though they geniunely were - doing quite well in controlling things.)

No need to guess, they have rapidly increasing prevalence of the new variant:
mobile.twitter.com/Mark_Coughlan/status/1347135316793159688[/quote]
Same happened on IOW

Whilst you are trying to help clear misinformation that isn't a correct explanation of the oxford vaccine

Thanks @JS87 - but I am just quite accurately paraphrasing this (admittedly short) BBC video www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/explainers-55044811

Please take it up with them!

@ClaudiaWankleman

Whilst you are trying to help clear misinformation that isn't a correct explanation of the oxford vaccine

Thanks @JS87 - but I am just quite accurately paraphrasing this (admittedly short) BBC video www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/explainers-55044811

Please take it up with them!

Thanks for the link. I don't think that is how it works (see below) but I guess it is a simple explanation. For those who are interested the Oxford website gives a good illustration and this explanation. www.research.ox.ac.uk/Article/2020-07-19-the-oxford-covid-19-vaccine The Oxford vaccine contains the genetic sequence of this surface spike protein. When the vaccine enters cells inside the body, it uses this genetic code to produce the surface spike protein of the coronavirus. This induces an immune response, priming the immune system to attack the coronavirus if it later infects the body.

SnoozyLou

“The only bit I find reassuring is the significant drop in new infections reported yesterday. “

Wiped out by today’s 😓

CaraDuneRedux

“Those upthread saying "well, we've closed down schools and it hasn't made any difference, so we might as well not have bothered..."

You do realise, don't you, that there's a time lag?“

Incredibly, many still don’t seem to understand/just aren’t listening.

Fergus Walsh has regularly reported that there is an average time span of 5 weeks between infection and death. Looking at today’s positive rate, there’s a whole lot worse to come. It’s just horrible, especially as a lot of this was avoidable.

QueenPawPaws

“Anyone who suggests "boosting your immune system" is welcome to tell me how to do that, when my own body kills off my white blood cells making me prone to infections
It's offensive to people who have destroyed immune systems from medication or cancer to harp on about trusting and boosting your immune system when the people with the worst immune systems can't do anything about it
Except shield, and wait for the vaccine“

So sorry 🐱(sending a kitten, much nicer than flowers).

Other than a daily walk, I’ve been “shielding” since mid-February. In 55 and fairly fit but my husband is CEV and our son CV. Sometimes I feel like one of those Egyptian queens, who was buried alive when their Ohariah died 😂

It’s been dire at times but thankfully this has taught us that we’re all pragmatic by nature. Now that the vaccines are on the horizon, can honestly say it’s all been worth it.

Hang in there, this won’t last forever.

Pharaoh.
Sorry, have hogged the thread 😊

When you have a ward of 27 patients and only 2 nurses...you are not going to have a good standard of care...nurses will try but they are only human..there is not a magic bank of extra nurses..medicines will be given late, bells may not be answered promptly, there may be noone to open the door or answer the phone. They will be fire fighting without breaks....the public should know this so they take it seriously and adjust their expectations of what standard of care they or their relatives will get.

@DenisetheMenace Yes, it's awful today.

I entirely disagree @cocodomingo. If for the last couple of decades people (the patients) had spoken up about shit services rather than being grateful because the jolly old NHS is free (and it isn't, it's free at the point of delivery only) things might have improved a lot faster. Every time my family and I have been in hospital there have been 4-6 nurses per ward and they have been more interested in chatting at the nurses station than nursing; and masters of the art of the eye roll should their chatter be interrupted.

@LangClegsInSpace

It's about time we stopped requiring people to 'isolate' with the whole rest of their household, especially while we have so many hotels and other hospitality accommodation sitting empty.

It wouldn't be possible for everybody to isolate away from their family but a lot of people could. A lot would be very grateful for the chance to avoid infecting vulnerable family members.

It's disgraceful that we're still treating transmission within households as if it's just one of those things, as if it's inevitable.

Dd didn't infect her brother, her father or me because - bless her - she isolated in her bedroom

That's great for your DD and your family @LimitIsUp but lots of people live in households where it's not possible to properly isolate away from others.

There's also a huge element of luck. Isolating in your bedroom may not always prevent you from infecting other household members, especially with the new variant.