Covid pandemic end “is in sight”

[asblindasabat]

was just reading this interesting article - surely the pandemic pretty much ended months ago given there are no longer any restrictions and haven’t been any in months?

When they say the end is in sight, what does that mean? And when is it likely to happen? This year or next?

amp.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/14/end-of-covid-pandemic-in-sight-says-world-health-organization

I saw my GP today and he was very much masked up still!

The whole thing is a farce.

I never understand it when people claim they think the virus was manufactured by scientists in china.

forgive me if I’m wrong, but I thought bacteria and viruses were naturally occurring organisms so how can they be man made as if they’re computer viruses? I just don’t get it

Four staff have tested positive, unsure I agree that the end is in sight. 👀

The theory is that a natural bat virus was altered in some way as the Chinese scientists were experimenting with these exact viruses in a lab in Wuhan. For example, vaccines can be made using parts of a natural virus. Viruses can be biologically manipulated. It's not that they made it out of thin air, but that it was somehow "weaponised", whether for warfare or in order to make better vaccines, for example to make it spread faster or to replicate more quickly.

It does seem a massive coincidence that at the centre of the first outbreak there was a lab specialising in studying bat corona viruses and looks at the lengths the Chinese government went to not to allow WHO inspectors to investigate.

I’m assuming to the end the pandemic the cases of hospitalisations and deaths must be consistently low worldwide, the virus will always be here so people will still contract it even when the pandemic is declared ‘over’

Thanks for that insight - very informative, I was totally confused at how a supposed naturally occurring thing could be man made.

gosh it does make you wonder. I’ve always believed that some unfortunate person ate an infected bat at the seafood market and the virus mutated that way but it does make you wonder if it did come from a lab

Lying in bed now full of it waiting for the test to eventually show as positive. Nose like a slime tap and no energy. Had razor blades in my throat at the weekend.

If the end of the pandemic is in sight does that mean it's going to be endemic soon?

People were saying it was at the end of last year but then omicron turned up. Now we only hear about descendants and cousins of omicron.

Anyone heard of any other variants worth mentioning?

You do know the world doesn’t just consist of the UK, OP?

And in the article the WHO states that Covid still constitutes an “acute global emergency”.

Not that I don’t want to be optimistic but I think it’s more that Covid will be grumbling on for a long while, rather than it will disappear forever.

This is why people should be talking about endemic rather than pandemic surely @MrsFezziwig

I don’t think I said that they shouldn’t? My main point was that OP said all restrictions had ended, but this isn’t the case in every country. And also that I don’t think there’s going to be some magical cutoff point, which also seemed to be what OP was implying.

People will continue to contract it at some point - but as it’s no longer a novel illness in the uk, people have some immunity to catching it or suffering serious illness so it won’t spread exponentially in the same way it has

yes the uk has been in a good position for a while but the WHO is talking about the world- there are still many populations with low vaccine uptake and until everyone is protected there is always a risk of a new variant

so I think their comment is about the world almost being there in terms of exposure through illness or vaccine to ensure this isn’t novel worldwide

Sorry @MrsFezziwig I meant to put that in the form of a question!

As in I was hoping for someone here to post what changes it needs to become endemic

Covid is still very much around, my exh was in hospital with it last week as he had to have the anti retrovirus infusion.

The U.K. is also pretty much the definition of the marathon runner just giving up before the finish line. Possibly doing OK on vaccination but the testing and tracing recommendations we’ve pretty much given up on. And there doesn’t seem to be any attempt whatsoever to reduce spread in other ways.

it may well be hard to keep doing ok on vaccination given some of the U.K. public health messaging about covid being over.

We can’t afford for it not to be over. Lockdown cost us enormously in financial terms, probably more socially.

A lot of the world couldn’t afford to take much notice in the first place, although they don’t seem to be seeing the bodies piled high in the streets.

The vaccine manufacturers can’t afford for it not to be over, but in a rather different way.

The virus isn't going anywhere, we have always been told ,that ,but its how it affects our every day lives ,cases will always go up and down but assuming hospital admissions and deaths don't rise steeply ,than this is it pretty much now.

Covid is endemic rather than a pandemic now. It's here for the foreseeable future but it's just a virus like the many others that circulate flu being the most widely known

I saw some research published a few months ago: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8715.

The scientists collected available data of Covid cases and swab results from the Huanan wet market in 2019. The geographic clustering of early Covid cases around the market does suggest it was animal to human transmission. And they also found two strains of the virus in the wet market. One of the scientists involved admitted he originally thought the virus was from the Wuhan lab.

The research isn’t 100% proof of zoonotic transmission but this research does make a stronger case for the wet market as the breeding ground. Wet markets were also the source for SARS and MERS.

Joe Biden said "the pandemic is over" on TV last week.

The issue now is why are non covid deaths so high (according to the ONS)

50/50. I've always said it's not going to be a nuke attack that ends it all but a virus and or food chain disease. (Having said that with Putin going nuts, nuke attack is worrying)

IMHO - Everyone that can wear a mask should wear one in enclosed spaces where there are many people as this does reduce the spread of germs, especially in the colder months.

The end is not in sight, despite what politicians say.

The political statements mean there will be no initiatives to control the spread.

That despite there being over 3400 admissions in the last 7 days and 320 deaths in UK.

We will not be able to tackle the NHS backlog with such a high number requiring hospitalisation, particularly over the winter.

Assuming we want a functioning NHS again, what is needed it to acknowledge that this disease is still causing real problems at both personal and NHS level. Then sensible measures:

• roll out Evusheld to the most immune suppressed 500,000 as those in that category make up over 25% of ICU admissions, and that proportion could be cut by 92% (based on figures from countries where it is in use - UK is the only country of those who have announced a decision to refuse to buy it, despite MHRA approval).
• rapid investment into social care - whatever the number of hospital beds, they will fill up if you cannot discharge people safely in a timely fashion
• masks in all clinical settings (so you aren't exposing your highly vulnerable newly diagnosed cancer patients to areas (eg for scans) where there is zero infection control
• jabs for all - perhaps not in first roll-out, so the most vulnerable get priority, but at some later point
• consider masks in some further settings - I was thinking of on public transport

My mum is commencing first wave of chemo this week and has been strongly advised to isolate ahead of and during the treatment.
Also know if maybe a dozen acquaintances in recent weeks who have all tested positive. Think maybe 8 would be considered to have severe symptoms....
I'd love to think it's over but as above Covid will be with us a while yet. I think the difference now is we are pretending it's over and no testing/reporting helps this along. I'm not in favour of restrictions at all but it's very tough having CV family members as winter looms.... really hoping things remain manageable for all.