Sad day

I agree 're lockdown. So many don't seem to be complying with current advice, heaven knows how those people would behave with restrictions lifted!

I absolutely agree with both of you.

phoenix my immediate neighbours are carrying on as if it is a normal day each day with friends especially visiting. and the odd BBQ when the weather is warmer. I cannot see anything changing there.

Apparently the police are aware of their carrying on.

The way things are going it will end up with us all in Lockdown for longer or (God forbid) a second peak. Nobody seems bothered " It will never happen to me" seems to be the attitude. The amount of cars on the road is unreal and don't tell me it's all essential travel. I think folk are going on days out. Seems to me folk please themselves, then are all out on a Thursday clapping for key workers. Correct me someone if I am wrong.

Unfortunately there are so many incorrect figures that this really isn’t worth dwelling on every country seems to be counting differently there seems no value in these comparisons we have no idea how some countries are managing to have such small amounts and it may be a very different figure to what we see
I have a young friend in Africa who tells me that the numbers are very different to what they’re being told I think the same happens for some of the official numbers coming out of the Far East I believe France weren’t counting their care homes I’m not sure whether they are now I also saw that Germany had 10,000 deaths not accounted for, on top of all this you’ve got to look at population distribution and spread, the size of country, the size of the population, the ethnicity, amount of overcrowding it really is like comparing apples and pears
Australia has a very low number of deaths but look at the size and population Australia is 32 times bigger than us but with not even half the population so of course there’s going to be limited crossover of the population the same with NZ a country the same size as us but with under 5,000,000 population so of course that is totally controllable

I have now read that the virus going throughout Europe and US Is a different strain to the Far East virus I’ve no idea how true this is but could be interesting to know

So difficult to know what is true and what isn’t

Each country has different age demographics and different incidences of underlying health conditions. The rates of obesity are high in the UK and that has a link with faring badly from coronavirus. It is very hard to compare like with like

You can’t compare countries and even the experts are saying it’s very flawed Even Italy’s main cities have a fraction of the population of London
A virus spreads where there is a crowded population We have one of the most crowded

I m not defending the gov I think massive mistakes have been made and I don’t trust them as far as I could throw a stick but this is just more scaremongering and finger pointing and not at all useful at this time
We need to have a count of the numbers who have survived
Our local busy hospital now has 100 free beds Nightingale haven’t used their 6 other hospitals and the London one had 50 occupants at the busiest and now closed
We have fought against the worst conditions and are coming through we have to stop these comparisons I feel very strongly we can only know what we are doing we can’t judge others

mumofmadboys raises a significant link between obesity and death from this virus. I think it's somewhere over 50% of adults in the UK are obese or at least overweight.

I'm in the 'vulnerable - shielding' category. I wish we could be described in a way that avoids us somehow being dismissed as doddery old folks, or young/old with little to offer society, and best kept locked away to avoid overwhelming the NHS. I realise that isn't the intention by the way and I appreciate the advice and support I've been given by my GP/the awful 'stay at home' letter.

I wonder whether though, obese people could be categorised as needing to shield.

Agree BlueBelle there is a lot more to it than just comparing figures.

Iam64 the trouble is there would be riots and I mean real ones if you started segregating different groups of people according to their weight, ethnicity, region of the country etc.

There are 3 types of this virus---A.B and C.
It was type A which was found in bats and pangolins in Wuhan, but the type of virus which has been found in the US has emanated from Europe and not Wuhan.
In Australia the virus is A from Wuhan but given the distance of the continent it hasn't mutated such as we've seen in parts of Europe.

It's so complicated that it's not surprising that scientists can't fathom it out though they're hoping to find out how/why these viruses mutate depending on each individual country.

However, why it's become so severe here in the UK is a complete mystery as not all survivors have been slim nor young either, there have been quite a few " obese " people filmed leaving hospitals and old too.

Personally I'm both horrified and disgusted by the amount of deaths we've had so far, and rising. There MUST be an indication of how/why these people are dying. It's unacceptable as far as I'm concerned and I'm sure post-mortems aren't carried out on all these people as all don't have the same symptoms.

I wouldn't be too hasty with the ventilator either, preferring to use a medium ( Ventolin ) to keep the airways open along with an oxygen mask. Many of those on ventilators have died, because of the risk it poses when bacteria gets into the tube and can cause pneumonia.

the statistics say the UK has the highest number in Europe ...percentage wise.Surely even the dimmest can inderstand that .The deaths in the UK are nothing short of scandalous ,the government had more than enough time and information how other countries were being hit by CV to stop it in its tracks .How ANYONE can defend this dithering buffoon led and I use the word LED though for the life of me I dont see any leading happening from Bojo ,"fight against CV" MAKES ME DESPAIR..They must be ptting starnge substances in the water down south its the only explanation for anyone thinking the UK government is doing a good job !1

Test, test and test again. Those countries that followed this advice seem to have lower proportions of deaths.
The UK, government, were so caring about protecting the economy, that they did everything too late and even then kept changing their minds (which science they were to follow).
Their record with regard to' PPE is totally disgusting, and should remain in everyone's mind when it comes to elections.
Yes, there will be highly expensive research and reports in what happened in UK with regard to this Pandemic (of which they had received - and not acted on - good warning back a couple of year ago). The result will say 'Lessons must be learned' - but I very much doubt it they will!!
CHarleygirl - what is wrong with your neighbours having BBQ's in this good weather - obviously, not to have visitors to these, but for themselves - no reason not to - if they actually like BBQ'd food (that is the bit I find difficult to comprehend)!!

The neighbours are having friends visiting - thst is her issue. We have similar problems with ours in that they have family from London visiting every weekend. In our large village we gave only had one Covid related death. In London it is much higher. The police will not take action on parties being held in gardens with visitors unless they are large numbers. I have not reported them but if they get too near our fence will say something. It doesn’t seem fair that we can’t see our friends and families and they are doing what they like. But we have known them for years and difficult to know what to do..

The problem in my opinion, is that the government locked us down too late, and continued to allow planes to arrive from anywhere and everywhere with absolutely no travel restrictions. Even now, as I understand it, the government’s advice is to only travel if it’s essential. What is essential travel during lockdown? It should only be freight in my opinion and no other travel. In the months immediately before lockdown over eighteen million people arrived in Britain and only a few over three hundred were quarantined. All the others arrived and just walked straight in, bringing Covid19 with them.
Too late, too little, that’s why we have more deaths, although I agree with BlueBelle that it is very difficult to make comparisons with other countries because of different numbers of people, different land mass, different size of cities, and different ways of counting. In any case, I’m certain that the total that we’ve been given is far fewer than the real numbers, as not all deaths of Covid19 were recorded as Covid19 if the person wasn’t tested.

maddyone I agree. I went into self isolation 2 weeks before the official lockdown because I was worried the Govt would never announce it. It was far too little too late, as you say.

A neighbour of my daughters has just been tested for corona,and has it mildly, but she has lots of visitors and works with covid patients,
This is disgusting,and i believe she should be reported to the hospital
Some of her visitors visit my next door neighbours ,

blondenana

Who are the visitors?
Why don't you or your daughter report them. I doubt you the hospital will be able to help but the council or police will.

If you can't find a council number then ring 101

blondenana
I think you’d be justified in reporting her, what she is doing is reprehensible and could lead to someone’s death. Someone who contracts it from her, or from one of her contacts, and who will not be mildly affected.

Yes I agree with others who have said we should have locked down sooner. Where is the evidence that there is more than 1 coronavirus? Someone mentioned A, B & C

How good is the testing? I’ve heard of people with classic Covid symptoms who’ve tested negative and people with hardly any symptoms - including maintaining a normal temperature - who’ve tested positive.

Good question Nik

We have lost a lot of people, whether UK has highest death rate or not. Many of the deaths have been in Care Homes for Elderly, which reinforces for me that older people tend to be the ones at most risk.
The people who are wanting to come out of lockdown need to think again. We are not through this yet and wont be for quite a time unless a cure is found.

I agree AGAA4