"Covid rising in England" - let's stop the fear mongering

[Ediswan]

It would have been quicker for you to google that than write that post, and as you can see pretty much every image confirms it...

No. I spent longer trying (and failing) to find the previous defintion than I did posting.

It does seem that the defintion has been changed. I am not surprised.

However, I will stick with my argument that evidence should be presented explicitly, not just "Do an image search".

 

[43066]

No. I spent longer trying (and failing) to find the previous defintion than I did posting.

It does seem that the defintion has been changed. I am not surprised.

However, I will stick with my argument that evidence should be presented explicitly, not just "Do an image search".

The evidence has been presented, the definition was originally as described by @MikeWM. Exactly what point are you trying to make?

 

[yorkie]

I will just point out that if anyone is making a post which is referring to an external source (e.g. something in the news, or some Government page, etc), we ask that this is linked to, and quoted from (with use of quote tags, using the quote button) as well as a suitable comment.

If you see a post that you think doesn't comply, please don't say anything on the forum; simply use the report button. Thanks

Links and quotes have now been provided, so we can draw a line under this and get back to the topic.

Right now cases are low, but they will inevitably rise again, and naturally come down again. This cycle will continue indefinitely; the only thing that will change over time is that as our immunity increases, the numbers of infections at each peak should reduce over time, and the more exposures any given population gets, the further our immunity is boosted, which should further reduce hospitalisations and deaths, and increase the proportion of infections which are asymptomatic or very mild.

Over time, Sars-CoV-2 is probably going to go a similar way to similar Coronaviruses which jumped to humans, such as OC43, which likely caused a pandemic around 1889, but after a few years settled down and is now considered to be one of the viruses we include in our definition of causing the "common cold". Some OC43 infections can be severe but this is very much a minority. We are constantly exposed to such viruses and the levels of infections go up, and down, and no-one really notices because we don't test for them; people may say "there is a cold going round" but no-one cares which particular virus is causing it.

The idea that Sars-CoV-2 can somehow be suppressed or eliminated is absurd; people used to claim that, and the fact the Government even claimed that, was rather disturbing. People used to argue with me that if we locked down long enough, we could suppress or eliminate it. But I don't think anyone (apart from supporters or members of the Chinese Government) claims that now.

We now need a general acceptance from everyone that this virus is endemic and we are all going to be constantly exposed to it; there is no way to avoid that and so we should simply live our lives as normal.

If anyone does not want to live a normal life, that is their choice; they have no right to dictate what others should or shouldn't do, and they are very much in a minority.

I think there is probably not much more to say on this topic, is there?

 

[johnnychips]

“I think there is probably not much more to say on this topic, is there?”

Perhaps you should ‘lockdown’ the thread then?

I’ll get me coat.

 

[duncanp]

“I think there is probably not much more to say on this topic, is there?”

Perhaps you should ‘lockdown’ the thread then?

I’ll get me coat.

I wouldn't close this thread just yet.

No doubt all the locktivists and maskivists are waiting for a small rise in cases to occur sometime in the autumn, possibly when students return to universities in a month or so's time.

This will then be described as SURGE IN CASES WHICH THREATENS TO OVERWHELM THE NHS, which will then be followed by calls for restrictions such as compulsory face nappies on public transport.

But as I have said before, most people will be too concerned about heating the house and putting food on the table this winter to worry about a virus which, for the vast majority of people, poses no serious threat to their health.

Edit :

It doesn't help when you get a message from a TOC about a routine train journey you are making (for me : Leicester to London on Monday) which includes

Click the button below to view our latest travel guidelines and advice. As a courtesy to others, wear a face covering if you can.

Their FAQ also includes the following

What should I do if I’m sitting in a carriage with someone who isn’t wearing a face covering?
We are confident that the vast majority of people are going to want to do the right thing and help protect others by bringing and wearing a face covering while travelling

This implies that you are being discourteous to other passengers if you don't wear a face nappy, and is clearly intended to guilt trip some people into wearing one, even though the mask mandate ended months ago.

I just find this rather irritating.

 

[Richard Scott]

I wouldn't close this thread just yet.

No doubt all the locktivists and maskivists are waiting for a small rise in cases to occur sometime in the autumn, possibly when students return to universities in a month or so's time.

This will then be described as SURGE IN CASES WHICH THREATENS TO OVERWHELM THE NHS, which will then be followed by calls for restrictions such as compulsory face nappies on public transport.

But as I have said before, most people will be too concerned about heating the house and putting food on the table this winter to worry about a virus which, for the vast majority of people, poses no serious threat to their health.

Edit :

It doesn't help when you get a message from a TOC about a routine train journey you are making (for me : Leicester to London on Monday) which includes



Their FAQ also includes the following



This implies that you are being discourteous to other passengers if you don't wear a face nappy, and is clearly intended to guilt trip some people into wearing one, even though the mask mandate ended months ago.

I just find this rather irritating.

I do find this continuing implication that wearing a piece of cloth over your nose and mouth will miraculously stop you transmitting anything extremely irritating. There are still a number of people who think wearing one will reduce transmission whereas there is no evidence to back this up. One of the biggest lies of past two years.

 

[Eyersey468]

I do find this continuing implication that wearing a piece of cloth over your nose and mouth will miraculously stop you transmitting anything extremely irritating. There are still a number of people who think wearing one will reduce transmission whereas there is no evidence to back this up. One of the biggest lies of past two years.

I find it irritating as well. If there was any real evidence surely it would have come to light by now, though I will concede that FFP3 masks IF worn and stored properly AND changed regularly may help protect the wearer

 

[Class 33]

I wouldn't close this thread just yet.

No doubt all the locktivists and maskivists are waiting for a small rise in cases to occur sometime in the autumn, possibly when students return to universities in a month or so's time.

This will then be described as SURGE IN CASES WHICH THREATENS TO OVERWHELM THE NHS, which will then be followed by calls for restrictions such as compulsory face nappies on public transport.

But as I have said before, most people will be too concerned about heating the house and putting food on the table this winter to worry about a virus which, for the vast majority of people, poses no serious threat to their health.

Edit :

It doesn't help when you get a message from a TOC about a routine train journey you are making (for me : Leicester to London on Monday) which includes



Their FAQ also includes the following



This implies that you are being discourteous to other passengers if you don't wear a face nappy, and is clearly intended to guilt trip some people into wearing one, even though the mask mandate ended months ago.

I just find this rather irritating.

I agree, this thread shouldn't be closed yet. As you say, as soon as Covid cases rise again - even if that's only about a 2% rise, locktivists and maskivists will be straight on the case again along with the press and media with their tedious "Covid cases on the rise again", "Covid restrictions must return, experts warn", etc headlines yet again. And we can use this thread to talk about this nonsense.

That message on the East Midlands Railway website about face coverings is nonsense, saying that they're confident the majority of passengers will do the right thing and wear face coverings. Because nowadays and for quite a while now, the VAST majority of passengers are doing the right thing and NOT wearing face coverings on trains(and anywhere else)! Barely no more than about 2% of passengers are still wearing them! So EMR's message is rather out of touch with what's happening now and irritating. Fortunately though on their trains, they do not have any PA announcements, signage, and scrolling display messages about wearing face coverings. So it's just a case of these nonsence face coverings messages being on their website.

 

[Jonny]

I agree, this thread shouldn't be closed yet. As you say, as soon as Covid cases rise again - even if that's only about a 2% rise, locktivists and maskivists will be straight on the case again along with the press and media with their tedious "Covid cases on the rise again", "Covid restrictions must return, experts warn", etc headlines yet again. And we can use this thread to talk about this nonsense.

That message on the East Midlands Railway website about face coverings is nonsense, saying that they're confident the majority of passengers will do the right thing and wear face coverings. Because nowadays and for quite a while now, the VAST majority of passengers are doing the right thing and NOT wearing face coverings on trains! Barely no more than about 2% of passengers are still wearing them! So EMR's message is rather out of touch with what's happening now and irritating. Fortunately though on their trains, they do not have any PA announcements, signage, and scrolling display messages about wearing face coverings. So it's just a case of these nonsence face coverings messages being on their website.

I haven't been on the railways much since the pandemic started (not at all if you count a jolly down to London with a car loaded like a van to help my sister move down there, so the train was not an option) and I only recall having heard one announcement on a LOROL/TfL Rail service, none on the tube. Very few masks were being worn. I would guess at less than 2% or even 1% for that matter (I wasn't even trying to count).

I think for masks now it's fool me once - shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

 

[Cdd89]

Perhaps you should ‘lockdown’ the thread then?

Nobody wants a thread lockdown, but if we don’t keep this thread under control with simple mitigations that’s what we’ll end up with.

 

[Class 33]

Also on the East Midlands Railway website it says:

As the Government set out in Stage 4 of the Covid roadmap – all limits on social interaction and the legal requirement for social distancing was removed as of Monday 19 July. As these restrictions lifted and more people travel, our services have become busier and maintaining a distance between each other of two metres will not always be possible.

True, the legal requirement for social distancing was removed on 19th July. What it doesn't say, is that this was 19th July 2021/last year! It mentioning "maintaining a distance between each other or two meters will not always be possible.". Of course not, as their trains are usually busy! But almost no one is bothered about keeping a 2 metre social distance now anyway. The vast majority of people moved on from that nonsense over a year ago!

EMR need to update their website and remove any references about "Coronavirus Travel Information", face coverings and social distancing!

 

[Hans]

I believe there was never any legal requirement for social distancing - it was never part of the coronavirus legislation, just as many things were never legally mandated, including the current obsession with wearing masks in any health settings.

 

[danm14]

I believe there was never any legal requirement for social distancing - it was never part of the coronavirus legislation, just as many things were never legally mandated, including the current obsession with wearing masks in any health settings.

I understand that there was never a legal requirement to "social distance" (in that there was never a time where either of us could have been prosecuted solely for standing a foot apart), but there were various legal requirements at various times requiring organisers of certain events and persons responsible for certain premises to ensure "social distancing" took place within them (so the person responsible could have been prosecuted for allowing us to stand a foot apart, if we did so in a premises or at an event where this requirement applied)

You are correct in that wearing of face coverings in healthcare settings was never a legal requirement anywhere in the UK.