Gov. Uk tables of CV 19 - not all of them are frightening!!!

I've just re-read this and it could appear that I think 10 people a day dying is OK. Obviously its not and I'm sorry I expressed myself badly.

My "problem" is that there seems to be only one narrative in this discussion (i.e. about COVID, not just in Gransnet.) Don't try to be positive, we're all doomed. It is a terrible situation, I'm not downplaying it, but fewer than 10 people a day dying at the moment, compared to the 1,000 we had, is good news, like it or not. We don't need to tell people that we're going to burst their bubble (I know that wasn't growstuff)
Of course we can't have complacency. But another Gransnetter last week mentioned the millions of people dying. WHO estimates fewer than a million dying worldwide. A survey in Scotland showed that people thought about 10% of the population had died. That's 500,000 people. True figure, about 4,000.
There is a middle way between catastrophising and magical thinking, and we all need to find it.

I'm not shooting her down at all.

What I have said is that there is no evidence that the virus is "weakening" and it's impossible to develop immunity without a vaccine or being infected in the first place.

I also explained that the reduction in hospitalisations is probably because younger people are involved. What's your problem?

It concerns me that "good news" is seen as a reason for complacency.

It possibly is the same school and the head has said it will open again on Tuesday, but that's not guaranteed. There still need to be investigations about how the infections and
spread occurred. Two more staff and a number of pupils are waiting for test results. One of my online pupils is one of them.

How many more schools will have to close for just one day or a few days? As I live about 10 miles from that school and I know many people go shopping in the town in which the school is located, it's even more reason for me to be ultra-careful.

I think young people still need to be careful. I believe neurological damage can result from getting the virus even if you don't die from it.

It seems to me that Franbern had found something positive and is being shot down for it. While its true that the virus isn't weakening, we don't have better immunity and most of the new cases are in younger people, its also true that for now we have many fewer people in hospitals and even fewer dying, and that is positive.
There is definitely a tendency to always look for the downside. For instance, regarding Glasgow Marydoll. When I think back to lockdown, the situation now is far removed from that, its certainly not semi-lockdown. Visits to people's houses are not allowed, but shopping, restaurants, schools are all going on as normal. I understand that many people are not having a normal life, myself included, but right now society has so much more than we had.
The language we use is so important. growstuff comments that a school near her has closed - but if its the one I think it is, it has closed for one day for deep cleaning.

growstuff

It was announced yesterday that a local (to me) secondary school with 1300 pupils has closed after five teachers and an unknown number of pupils have tested positive. The teachers had contact with all the bubbles, which is why the whole school had to close.

Oh the irony! I've just realised that this school is in Matt Hancock's constituency.

Maybe! But that would require about 80% to catch it. Even though younger people are less severely affected, some would die and others would have long-term after effects. Not only that, but it would require no contact between vulnerable groups and younger people for many months and we know even from GN that people haven't been sticking to that. Moreover, it's now being suggested that immunity isn't permanent, but like the common cold.

The government doesn't seem to know what it's doing. It's been reported yet again that some areas have completely run out of test kits. If it wants to go for herd immunity, it needs to make sure that shielding the vulnerable is strictly enforced, which is probably impossible.

I agree growstuff. Most of us oldies are still being very careful. Perhaps it’s not all bad if the youngsters catch it.

Herd immunity perhaps?

I wonder how many people are like you and still shielding. I wonder how many new cases there would be, if we all started going out again. It possibly explains why most new cases are in younger people.

I had shielded and just started to go out again but the figures have rocketed where I live. I went out for a meal with two friends and have discovered that there was someone with the virus there so have locked myself down again. Luckily Asda are looking after me with a (free) weekly delivery.

It was announced yesterday that a local (to me) secondary school with 1300 pupils has closed after five teachers and an unknown number of pupils have tested positive. The teachers had contact with all the bubbles, which is why the whole school had to close.

However, the numbers in Glasgow are rising again and at the moment we are back in semi lockdown.
There have been quite a few cases in schools in the last few weeks, but they are community based.
The cases are apparently caused by social gatherings in homes and people returning from holiday.

As a shielder, I will be laying low for the time being.☹️

I agree with you lemongrove and janeainsworth.

The new cases are mainly younger people, who are less likely to need hospitalisation. However, I haven't read anywhere that the virus is decreasing in potency and, as individuals, our immune systems can only learn to cope better if we catch something first, so that's not at all likely.

The worry is that the younger people could now spread it to older and more vulnerable groups, who are as susceptible as ever.

The amount of positive tests are mainly for younger people, who may not require any hospital stay, and unlikely in any case to die.They can still be spreaders though......to you and me.

I agree with jaxjacky. The number of hospitalisations and deaths are falling because most of the new cases are in people under 40.
I don’t think there is any cause for good cheer or even complacency.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but as older people we are still vulnerable to Covid, more likely to suffer severe symptoms and more likely to die if we get it.
The number of new cases per day has more than doubled in the last week.
That’s not good news.

It’s interesting , figures today for UK, yesterday’s numbers, cases 2, 988, deaths 2, highest cases since May, deaths significantly lower, testing has increased a lot since May. I wonder if the virus is decreasing in potency, or our immune systems are coping better, believe more cases now in the 40’s and under.

Yay