Covid Management

Well said. Its a pity a large proportion of the population has chosen to act as though it is all over and the rising number of infections is proof. The simple act of wearing a mask could help the slow the spread which as been proved by the rise in the latest figures since masks were abandoned.
Wearing masks, as many older people are still doing, is a nuisance and uncomfortable, but for most of us its easy and simple and may save us long term disability.

Daisymae Scotland should be included in the cases and hospitalisations being driven by the variant BA.2. It's estimated that currently at least 85% of cases are BA.2 and it's probable that the huge spike in cases over the last couple of weeks in Scotland has been the result of BA.2 getting a "foothold" there first.

The greatest percentage of those getting Omicron are now the over 70s, who are presumably fuelling the increasing hospital admissions.
Living with covid appears to mean that the NHS will continue to be overwhelmed and staff worn out managing covid, whilst waiting lists for routine treatments and appointments grow even longer for many years to come.

Farzanah

The greatest percentage of those getting Omicron are now the over 70s, who are presumably fuelling the increasing hospital admissions.
Living with covid appears to mean that the NHS will continue to be overwhelmed and staff worn out managing covid, whilst waiting lists for routine treatments and appointments grow even longer for many years to come.

Which is another reason why the current laissez-faire attitude is baffling. As I read somewhere else today - wishing it away won't work.

'Living with Covid' always sounds so wrong to me. Translate to 'Back to 'normal' and just let the unfortunate die!'

Yes I agree Hetty58. Forward planning is not this government’s strong point, and there is still an ongoing Inquiry into management of the Pandemic, the findings of which will conveniently not be revealed until after the next election.

They don’t learn by their mistakes and we could be sleepwalking into more problems from this virus, which has a history of behaving unpredictably.

living with covid should not be ignoring advice about mitigation, for example necessary ventilation and filtration in schools and public buildings, and curtailing testing seems plainly foolhardy. Yes, what level of regular deaths from covid is acceptable to the public?

The NHS clearly cannot sustain more stress on the system and continue day to day routine functioning.

I agree with the OP and I am really very concerned about what is happening. I’m not at all pleased about the dropping of all restrictions, even the testing of people returning/visiting the country has now been dropped, even if they are totally unvaccinated. No one in government or the media seem remotely concerned about this. All the interviews on BBC and SkyNews this morning seem to be about the coming budget, petrol prices, food prices etc. All important, including the war in Ukraine, which has rightly received a massive amount of attention recently, plus Nazanin Zaghari- Ratcliffe, and absolutely all these subjects are very important and newsworthy but the almost total lack of information about the latest Covid spike is surely irresponsible as it gives the incorrect opinion that Covid is all over credence.

Just been listening to Tim Spector of the Zoe app, as he says 'The data tells its own story'. The government may well want this virus to go away but the infection rate is not likely to fall below 1:50 this year. It's not just about the fact that it's not likely to kill you, but the other issues that we already know about ie heart problems, long covid. At the moment there are about 250,000 new cases a day. You only need a tiny percentage to be afflicted with these complications and you have a massive health problem. Maybe for years to come. There is a real lack of good public health advice. Why?

Local Public Health Departments were decimated through lack of funding, and fragmented well before this pandemic started, but they have been superb in managing throughout the pandemic, and much of the success in vaccinating and test and trace was down to them.

Farzanah

Local Public Health Departments were decimated through lack of funding, and fragmented well before this pandemic started, but they have been superb in managing throughout the pandemic, and much of the success in vaccinating and test and trace was down to them.

Totally agree, but I feel that public guidance is needed to help manage the current situation. Coming from CMO and cascading down so that everyone is getting a consistent, accurate message and advice. At the moment it's basically ignore it and get on with it. That's not good enough with the current threat to health which is largely ignored.

Can you really control Covid I noticed on Reuters that Germany has around 1900 cases per 100k they are shortly to drop restrictions but haven't done yet We have around 740 per 100k

You can plan and manage rather than ignoring rosie.
There has been brilliant scientific sequencing and early warning of variants of concern throughout, but with testing curtailed at the end of this month this can no longer be as effective
We are dependent on vaccines at present, which wane quite rapidly in the older population, and why isn’t there more funding for the mitigation factors which I’ve mentioned before, particularly in schools?

So what is Germany doing wrong ?

Apparently most of the German population think that restrictions are being lifted too soon. It's almost like a collective decision has been made behind closed doors. I fail to see the logic of it.

I note that Javid has said today that the ruse in cases is if no particular concern. How very reassuring.

Rise!

Perhaps Javid should consider that the rise is very much of concern to those that are in hospital with it, or the families of those who have died from it.

They are not going to put restrictions into reverse unless something very dramatic happens especially with many other European counties dropping restrictions as well
Although hospital admissions may increase the death rate remains pretty stable so presume all the antivirals they have now are also working

Professor (of immunology) Danny Altman research scientist at ICL is better qualified than me to comment and this is what he says
I’m confused to be in a country with 3.2 million active cases of a debilitating viral infection, with currently unknown future impact for persistent symptoms in those millions, and we’re unbothered and proclaiming it beaten.

I was chatting to my son in China yesterday and they have locked down again although not as tightly as before over 1 case in a population of 7 million in his city. He’s had to close his school again for another week. In our county of East Yorkshire we have a population of 341,000 and 12,000 cases at the moment. I just think this is just going to go on and on.

I think the attitude was the main problem….”freedom day ..forget Covid and enjoy yourselves”
If everyone had been advised to continue with precautions, without laws, it would have been more sensible.
Many of us have continued to keep distances, and wear masks for everyone’s protection, but because of the government’s attitude are looked on as wimps, and even abused.

Although the government has withdrawn funding the Zoe app is continuing. I have just secured a CPR test through them… keep reporting!

Farzanah

Professor (of immunology) Danny Altman research scientist at ICL is better qualified than me to comment and this is what he says
I’m confused to be in a country with 3.2 million active cases of a debilitating viral infection, with currently unknown future impact for persistent symptoms in those millions, and we’re unbothered and proclaiming it beaten.

It's just plain baffling. Like saying something makes it a fact. Madness.

I can only think it’s politically expedient to do so Daisymae.