Where are Chris Whitty and Patrick Valance??? Are they locked away at the Tower of London under Boris' orders?...

They are probably back doing what they were doing before Covid

Pallmall1964

I watch indie_sage on YouTube at 1.30 on fridays you get to hear the truth off these people.i would not listen to anyone else,the government are not telling these scientists what to say.

Indy SAGE are a group of disgruntled scientists with an axe to grind.

Its also rather insulting that you think scientists such as Whitty, Van Tam and Vallance are being told what to say by the government.

They are hiding after their false guesses they gave out as facts resulted them in getting undeserved knighthoods

It is all a great conspiracy I am sure! Maybe they have been gagged….what nonsense. I am not even in UK but I do know that fewer people are in hospital and that Omicron is not attacking the lungs of most people who catch it.Many sufferers say it is more like having a cold than flu. I actually read yesterday that there are fewer deaths from flu last year. So Whitty and Valance are not appearing because there is no reason for them to be giving new instructions. Ofcourse it is just a smokescreen and it is a Tory plan to hide the truth.

Boris Johnson's pronouncements are based on political considerations, especially the need to appease his restless backbenchers.

The scientists pronouncements are based on empirical evidence - there is no-one they need to appease.

I know which I would rather hear from in a pandemic.

I dont need to hear from anyone. I can resd stats and graphs. I can count cases and see the death figures. These men and wimen do have jobs to do. If things suddenly worsen then we would hear from them again. I simply do not see the need.

It's clear why Whitty and Valance are not on show - watch their commentary over the last two years and you can see that it's laced with caution, the need for rules, the fact that we must all stick by them. It would be the mother of all embarrassments for BJ to wheel them out in news briefings now because these guys come from a culture of telling the truth and asking the public to act according to that truth. BJ wouldn't know what the truth of any matter was if it hit him in the face because he's an egotist and the truth is what he wants it to be. He's been seen on several occasions to totally flout the rules conveyed in the Whitty and Valance messages - would it not be the height of incredulity to share a platform with them now?

In our local academy junior school, half the children are absent due to covid. This was Friday one day ago. So when we’re told Covid is not increasing, I know the authorities are lying.
In the senior school, the pupils stand in lines in the playground before going to their respective class. I could see the greatly reduced numbers there compared to previously.
When I asked the schools how many pupils as a %were absent they wouldn’t say. I then asked for just the number, again they said they weren’t allow to divulge that info. Very very odd. Most suspicious and a worry.

So when we’re told Covid is not increasing, I know the authorities are lying.

I can't let this stand.

Just because many children on your area have the virus, that doesn't mean that the cases are going up universally. It's wrong to say that the authorities are lying. The stats are all available for those who are interested. Why would a school tell someone about their pupils' health status when it has nothing to do with them?

DiscoDancer1975

Numbers have been rising again according to my TV screen. They were going down, and now the last three nights, they’ve gone up.

Perhaps my TV is broken?

I wouldn't argue. In my post I mentioned numbers increasing, which they have been in my county but others on here know different so we had better touch our forelocks and shuffle off to the back of the class.

Or, alternatively, learn how maths works.

Its a worry, really, how little people understand numbers.

I've just realised that could be understood two ways...

I mean, of course, how little understanding there is about numbers among people.

That's why I stick to numbers. Less chance of inadvertently saying something insulting.

My little person bamboozled her other Grandma with numbers when she was helping DGD with lockdown maths

ps and other Granny was an accountant.

Let's get on with covid and since we have the vaccine shall we just treat it like a cold. Sick of all the statistics and I am glad restrictions are over. Bring back normality

Well I'd rather hear the learned opinion of Chris Witty and Valance, thanks.

If I’m right Patrick valance has left. He did the Christmas lectures on bbc2 all about the virus. Excellent viewing. Also numbers look like they are going down as they have changed who and how positive results are reported. My granddaughter is in a class of 14 and in a week 12 have gone down with covid.

Van Tam is leaving at the end of March to go back to academia, he was the one who did the Christmas lectures. Vallance is still in post.

The change in requirements for the PCR tests won't make too much of a difference because LFTs are also reported.

So sick of hearing about covid figures and as for Chris Whitty my name for him is Professor Lockdown. He can disappear for ever for me!!!! We don't have statistics for flu or colds so now we have the vaccine let's just move on. By the way I NEVER do lateral flow tests. I am treble jabbed so I consider I have done my bit for society.

No. If you don’t do LFT’s all you’ve done is protect yourself and to hell with everyone else. What about if you visit a vulnerable friend or relative?

Wow, songstress60, you've done your bit so don't bother to test? Unless you don't leave the house and mix with others, you could be carrying the virus and infect others. Some may have underlying conditions and some may just be unlucky and become ill or develop long covid complications. Covid really is nothing like flu - multi-organ failure, septic shock anyone? Not the usual outcome of a common cold.

Testing is no hardship. It takes a few seconds to do and then a wait of around 20 minutes for the result. In the same way that wearing a mask for a short while in enclosed spaces isn't difficult either. Neither are perfect, but it's better than no action at all and it means that we are caring for others.

It seems that Mrs Thatcher was correct when she said "There's no such thing as society". Not with people around who don't give a damn about anyone else but themselves. Sickening.

Just asking -PCR tests were no longer required, most people are not registering when they test positive for Covid via a LF test- how can people say covid cases are falling?

Also don’t think because you are trebled jab songstress60 you are safe, two of my daughters were and they have fallen with covid for the second time.

"Most people are not registering..."

Proof?

I’d happily agree with your arguments about number falling Alegrias if
- all +ve LFTs were recorded but there is no compulsion to do this
- re infections were included
- LFTs were easily available: I’ve queued for my prescription with a long line of parents of school-aged children waiting for a delivery and texting other parents about a supply
- the nurses in my GP practice didn’t tell me C19 is rife in local schools
- I could overlook the experience of LovelyLady
- I didn’t notice how many GNers post from all corners of the UK about family members who currently are affected by C19
- my son (+ve) and his family weren’t testing daily
- there was a clear distinction between deaths recorded with or as a result of C19 within 28 days of a +ve test
- deaths solely caused by C19 after the 28 day period were recorded

but I can’t so I view current statistics with a degree of scepticism.

Perhaps the number of hospital admissions gives a more accurate picture.

Right then; I haven't said cases are falling, I've said they've flatlined.

Cases reported have always been less than real case numbers so that doesn't change if a proportion of people don't record their LFT, because the important thing is trends, not actuals. Re-infections will be included from tomorrow. Maybe we'll have a different discussion then.

Same argument for LFTs being readily available. We're falling over them where I live, incidentally.

Cases being rife in schools doesn't mean they are rife in all groups. Unvaccinated children mixing as they do are, unfortunately, showing high case rates compared to the rest of the population.

LovelyLadys experience is that she believes that cases are rising based on looking at a queue of children. Kids again. No actual numbers or trends, but suspicion.

People in GN are posting about those they know who are positive. Self selecting sample.

Your son is testing daily? Not sure how that means that cases are increasing...?

Number of cases will do its thing irrespective of how deaths are recorded.

Scepticism is fair enough. Basing your view of the situation on suspicion and anecdote, not so much.

I'm not an agent of government intent on trying to convince everybody that everything is sunshine and roses. I just don't see the point of thinking things are worse than they are, and I like to point out when people draw invalid conclusions from irrelevant observations. It's a discussion site, I'm discussing. So believe me or not, that's up to you. But I'm not joining in with the anti-science right now, thanks. And if cases go up in the future, I'll not be arguing otherwise. And it doesn't mean I'm wrong now, either.