Under 30k cases today

[TheVampiresWife]

And infections falling for the sixth consecutive day.

Excellent news!

DD got a PCR covid test last week by lying about exaggerating her symptoms. She was worried about unexplained runny nose, aches & fatigue. People are getting tests for all kinds of reasons. 1.5 hours from booking to getting test iirc. ~48 hours for result.

And still no one else has caught her cold.

Colds ok. Anything but flipping noro. :(

This is why we are seeing a current spate of deaths related to people swimming or paddle boarding (or similar) in this heatwave following so much time unable to do such things

In the vast majority of these sad cases you will see the same pattern of mistakes and not understanding / identifying risk accurately even amongst people who think they know what they are doing

To be perfectly frank the vast majority of these cases are kids or parents jumping in to save them.
Very unfair to say they "dont understand risk"

People have been able to "do these things" each and every summer since the pandemic started.

I see lots of teens around where I work whizzing up and down in and out of traffic at high speeds on electric scooters with no head protection but many of them wearing masks There’s a topsy turvy risk assessment in action,

I reckon some of it is people being so scared and effectively traumatised by the last year that they refuse to have any hope about anything anywhere ever related to covid. Even when that ends up in borderline conspiracy theory “government is fiddling the numbers” territory.

I remember the years after September 11. A lot of people were just so utterly shocked and traumatized by that awful day that it sort of unhinged them for a long time.

It was as thought the sheer shock had caused them to become emotionally frozen on that particular day, so that whatever was going on in their life or on the news, they would react to it as if it was another 9/11 and go through the same emotional responses.

For years, a lot of people would go along with the stupidest thingsGuantanamo Bay, bizarre security theater at airports, illegal foreign warsas long as someone dropped a hint that this was part of the war on terrorism, because the mere mention of the word "terrorism" was enough to send them off into this panic spiral where they would be mentally playing out the 9/11 events in their head once more.

I think we're seeing the same kind of thing now, where a lot of people were affected so badly by the sudden chaos of spring 2020 that they are now psychologically stuck in that place and keep reacting to anything and everything as though it's going to be spring 2020 all over again.The big difference is that this time it seems to be more the political left that is having panic issues, more than the conservatives.

Needless to say, it was also quite hard to reason with the 9/11 panic people back in the early 2000s. If you tried to push back really gently, point out that there are things other than terrorism that we should worry about, you just got the DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO DIED? and THIS IS ABOUT KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE. There wasn't a lot you could do. Just wait for people to get over the extreme trauma/fear and gradually move on.

Of course a lot of people now are pretty embarrassed about the way they acted after 9/11 and the things they consented to and supported when they were imagining terrorists round every corner. The really extreme doom mongering about COVID will also pass, eventually. But looking at the years after 9/11, I do think it will take a while to subside.

I think you have half a point, @Kokeshi123 , but the “bizarre security theatre” at airports etc is not really about targeting millions of completely unlikely suspects, but deterring would-be terrorists. Rather horrifyingly quite a few terror plots have been foiled which the general public never gets to hear about.

It’s like dbs checks - of course 99% of applicants are above board and it’s a waste of time checking their background, but it’s the very fact that a dbs is required that can deter the 1% who have ill intent.

That’s an excellent point Kokeshi. One guy puts a small explosive in his shoe and we all go along with taking our shoes off for security purposes to get on planes for years. No idea if we still have do this as I’ve not flown for 3 years. Maybe we do? Not to mention all the liquid containers stuff and having to buy bottled water airside incase we’ve snuck a bomb making liquid in our Evian. We do put up with a lot of inconvenience in the name of safety.

@thecatsatonthewall

This is why we are seeing a current spate of deaths related to people swimming or paddle boarding (or similar) in this heatwave following so much time unable to do such things

In the vast majority of these sad cases you will see the same pattern of mistakes and not understanding / identifying risk accurately even amongst people who think they know what they are doing

To be perfectly frank the vast majority of these cases are kids or parents jumping in to save them.
Very unfair to say they "dont understand risk"

People have been able to "do these things" each and every summer since the pandemic started.

Ive sat watching a bunch of people paddle boarding and kayaking today without buoyancy aids. Dh is professionally qualified in this area and as part of his training is taught about common themes in incidents.

People going out as far as people I've seem today without buoyancy aids are off their rockers.

There has also been a huge uptick in people who have never done it before or are hugely inexperienced doing or trying to do things way beyond their ability.

On several occasions DH has himself ended up doing rescues for people in trouble. His friends who are seasoned instructors have seen and dealt with more.

We are above 30000 cases today!

9,000 less than last Thursday I think so who cares !

@neveradullmoment99

We are above 30000 cases today!

We have been told from the beginning to compare week on week numbers not one day after the other.

Personally I think we were beginning beginning peak before the football as the increase in cases had been slowing. The football has caused it to spike and drop quickly and we will now see a slower decline down.

Last place we live it was usually men in their 20s drowning in old water filled brick pits - despite huge fucking signs everywhere saying how dangerous they were - biggest killer was cold water shock or unseen weeds - the none obvious dangers that I made sure my kids knew about.

I don't remember any being about rescuing others - it was all cooling off in the sun stuff and the water looking cool and peaceful with no visible indication of how deep and cold the water was.

I thought it was well know that generally humans are bad at risk assesments - there's culture, instincts and emotions all affecting our perceptions.

@neveradullmoment99

We are above 30000 cases today!

Latest data provided on 29 July 2021

Daily
31,117
Last 7 days
204,669 -120,554 (-37.1%)

I'll take -37.1% 7 day average thanks.

a lot of people were affected so badly by the sudden chaos of spring 2020 that they are now psychologically stuck in that place and keep reacting to anything and everything as though it's going to be spring 2020 all over again.

Yes, and often with anxiety that will only feel placated if other people go along with it.

I don’t disagree there are plenty of totally logical things to be anxious about right now. If I was immunosuppressed I would feel pretty bloody anxious about travelling on a crowded bus full of maskless people when we have 30,000+ cases a day! But there are also plenty of people who are not vulnerable who do not want crowded buses full of maskless people to be a thing ever ever until they feel less anxious about it, because that bus represents carelessness and not ‘taking it seriously’, and for this crime Covid will punish us.

I have a relative who gets very anxious about all sorts of things and tries to control her anxiety through controlling what other people do ‘so I won’t worry’, and it is not her fault really but it is a total pain in the arse. We went on a family holiday together a few years back and she wanted everything planned for every day down to the minute, every meal decided months in advance, every event turned up to 2 hours early, anyone who was off doing their own thing to report in regularly by text, nobody to do anything which would make her stress, etc. etc. etc. She’s lovely and you don’t want to make her worry, but my God it’s exhausting to deal with.

So I find it troubling when I see people doing effectively this with covid. If the answer to “how long do you want people to [wear masks on buses/stay out of nightclubs/avoid parties]” is effectively “until I don’t feel anxious about it”, then that’s not a fair thing to expect of those others.

From bbc

Van-Tam also said he can't know yet if there will be a fourth wave of Covid infections in the UK.

He disputed a claim made to a newspaper by a senior minister earlier this week that Covid was "all over bar the shouting", after a recent sharp drop in cases.

Van-Tam said: "I wish it were so. This is not 'all over bar the shouting'.

"I hope the worst is behind us but I think it's quite possible that we're going to have one or two bumpy periods in the autumn and in the winter, not only through Covid, but also through flu and other respiratory viruses as well."

I find this so telling.

Yes there is an ongoing covid worry. But there is also concerns over strains on health services for other respiratory diseases.

Knowing this, I'm also of the mindset to enjoy things in the interrim as much as possible - especially for the benefit of my little boy - because we might have issues over the winter. Cos whats the point in 'surviving covid' if you don't actually do some living?

@RedToothBrush do you think he's hinting at lockdowns over the winter :( I really truly hope not!

[quote brideyb]@RedToothBrush do you think he's hinting at lockdowns over the winter :( I really truly hope not![/quote]
Depends on how hospitals are coping. It will not be purely because of covid though. Indeed i suspect we could well see hospitalisations for other respiratory diseases exceed covid this winter.

Thats indicative of the lack of slack in the system rather than covid itself too. Though covid could mean that normal levels of immunity aren't there because we've not been exposed to things.

So much for reducing infection into winter then!

Its eat drink an be merry for tomo we die!

@RedToothBrush I wonder how they'd sell that - people accepted (just) restrictions for Covid because it was novel and scary but locking down for flu etc would be a hard sell.

[quote brideyb]@RedToothBrush I wonder how they'd sell that - people accepted (just) restrictions for Covid because it was novel and scary but locking down for flu etc would be a hard sell. [/quote]
Sold as covid even though its not.

I imagine it will be sold as the NHS being overwhelmed.

@BlueSurfer I just don't know if people will care / comply as much as it's not as SCARY. It's not due to new novel virus, it's due to long term, chronic underfunding. I remember an article from Nov 19 about the NHS being on the brink due to winter pressures.

I’m not sure people will care as much as we do get similar stories each winter

It gets harder for us when things get closed as we don’t have the choice. I very much hope they don’t do that though

29,000 today, still looking positive.

[quote brideyb]@BlueSurfer I just don't know if people will care / comply as much as it's not as SCARY. It's not due to new novel virus, it's due to long term, chronic underfunding. I remember an article from Nov 19 about the NHS being on the brink due to winter pressures.[/quote]
I expect it will be called something different than lockdown though as it will be another version of tiers or similar.

We are more likely to die because the NHS is overwhelmed than because we have covid. The truth really is much more scary than a novel virus.

Cases….. not deaths.
A year ago it was difficult to obtain a test.
Now we are testing Willy Nilly without symptoms……..
Using a test that gives a positive result with lemon juice.
Switch off the news, turn off the app and make Britain great again.