With UK Covid deaths the highest in Europe, is this living with Covid?

MayBee70

ReadyMeals

I believe the government were expecting another peak and wanted to try and hurry it over before the flu season started, hence the free for all. Unfortunately flu is already with us, early this year

If only there was an effective way of protecting ourselves from flu. Other than having the vaccine, sanitising our hands and wearing a mask…

Indeed- in France and Italy, and I believe in most European countries- mask wearing in public spaces, shops, transport, etc, is still mandatory and so is hand sanitising. And strict enforcement of 'vaccination pass' to access restaurants, cinemas, etc.

Loobs

Maybe the government have missed a trick - perhaps if they were able to demonstrate that not only does wearing a mask help others, but it helps protect the wearer too? I feel that the message is always about protecting others if you knowingly/inadvertently have Covid - any idea how much protection you obtain by wearing a medical grade mask (as opposed to homemade fabric ones)?

Well, there must be a reason why nurses wear them.

marq66 Your figures are wrong, where on earth did you get them from!!

Maybe the government have missed a trick - perhaps if they were able to demonstrate that not only does wearing a mask help others, but it helps protect the wearer too? I feel that the message is always about protecting others if you knowingly/inadvertently have Covid - any idea how much protection you obtain by wearing a medical grade mask (as opposed to homemade fabric ones)?

Calendargirl

The deaths are people who tested positive for Covid in the last 28 days I think.

To me, that doesn’t mean they died of Covid, it means they died with Covid. And perhaps they had recovered from it, and died of something else?

Do other countries use the same system as we do ie deaths of people who dies within 28 days of having Covid? Or do they have a different method of defining a Covid death?

ReadyMeals

I believe the government were expecting another peak and wanted to try and hurry it over before the flu season started, hence the free for all. Unfortunately flu is already with us, early this year

If only there was an effective way of protecting ourselves from flu. Other than having the vaccine, sanitising our hands and wearing a mask…

Well yes Visgirl as we are still in a pandemic, we do. Are you suggesting that if we didn’t get a daily update and the number of cases and deaths went up, that ignorance would be bliss?

No one reports on how many have Heart Disease, Cancer etc and the death rate on those daily, do we still need daily updates ?

I believe the government were expecting another peak and wanted to try and hurry it over before the flu season started, hence the free for all. Unfortunately flu is already with us, early this year

Olive53

Ah, so cases are going up because of people not wearing masks are they. One wonders what was the cause of rising cases last autumn when everyone was wearing masks? Could it be that wearing a mask or not wearing one makes absolutely no difference...

No, it doesn't mean that at all. The majority of cases were caught in the home or in places where people were forced to be in close proximity to each other. In the home, many people let their guard down and didn't wear masks. Furthermore, masks are only one tool in the fight against Covid. Some droplets will still escape, but most of them will not be transmitted and will cause no further harm.

Olive53

Ah, so cases are going up because of people not wearing masks are they. One wonders what was the cause of rising cases last autumn when everyone was wearing masks? Could it be that wearing a mask or not wearing one makes absolutely no difference...

To be fair nobody was vaccinated last autumn
Mask wearing will only have an impact if the great proportion of people are wearing one with few wearing them now I am not under the illusion that wearing a mask will protect me completely or little at all

It saddens me that there are so many rising cases and that there are still a high number of deaths. Surely the point is that we should all be proceeding with caution. Much as the vaccination programme has been a great success it does not mean that we can all go about our daily business as normal. It is still out there and causing misery for so many. I shielded throughout lockdown and still am and am very careful if I go out. I hope I am respectful of others and I wish they would be the same.

Ah, so cases are going up because of people not wearing masks are they. One wonders what was the cause of rising cases last autumn when everyone was wearing masks? Could it be that wearing a mask or not wearing one makes absolutely no difference...

Annaram1

Over 45000 cases a day is incredible!!! New Zealand and Australia had the right idea - lockdowns, and they conquered covid. They thought even a couple of hundred a day was too many. Why not here?

How long do you think the lockdown would need to last to bring infections down
Who is going to pay for it shutting down shops pubs restaurants ect
I think you will find that very few people are in favour of lockdown I for one am certainly not it’s a sticking plaster and does not work long term

I'm sure you do growstuff.

But many others don't and it gets on my wick.

Sorry

chrissy08

Please stop going on about masks. They definitely do not stop the spread of any diseases unless they are medical grade. The ones people are wearing are in fact very bad for your health.

Yes, they do and it's been shown that they do.

Where do you get this misinformation?

Alegrias1

^The average daily number of deaths within 28 days of a positive test in the UK is currently 111. I don't see how keeping that figure from anybody has a positive effect on mental or physical health.^

The original post, now corrected by the OP said the number was 45,000 a month which is 1,500 deaths a day, not 111. If that's not misinformation liable to make people think things are worse than they really are, I don't know what is.

And, as everyone who knows anything about maths knows, exponential isn't a synonym for "steep".

I didn't claim exponential means "steep". I know what it means.

chrissy08 please stop spreading untruths. Do you think you know better than the World Health Organisation?

Over 45000 cases a day is incredible!!! New Zealand and Australia had the right idea - lockdowns, and they conquered covid. They thought even a couple of hundred a day was too many. Why not here?

Please stop going on about masks. They definitely do not stop the spread of any diseases unless they are medical grade. The ones people are wearing are in fact very bad for your health.

Annaram1

I have been shot down in flames before for suggesting that we should have another lockdown. I suggest it again. The country should be locked down until the numbers halve.

We should not have another lockdown.

Lockdowns are not a zero sum game; people die of other things, they have mental problems, and the economy is severely affected. And that's not putting money before people, its recognising that if we don't have functioning businesses, we don't have a sustainable society.

And this is as good as its going to get. We can't lock down every time cases get high, or we'll never get out of that cycle.

Why halve? Why is that your target Annaram1? Why not quarter? Or zero? We need to do things for a reason, not just at random.

The average daily number of deaths within 28 days of a positive test in the UK is currently 111. I don't see how keeping that figure from anybody has a positive effect on mental or physical health.

The original post, now corrected by the OP said the number was 45,000 a month which is 1,500 deaths a day, not 111. If that's not misinformation liable to make people think things are worse than they really are, I don't know what is.

And, as everyone who knows anything about maths knows, exponential isn't a synonym for "steep".

Hetty58

I feel really sorry for all those in poor health, with various conditions, that have no real choice but to continue isolation. They must feel very let down.

I am one of those people Hetty. I shielded for well over a year and am now cautiously getting out and about again, but with a mask, social distancing and staying away from enclosed or crowded spaces.
It’s not that bad. The worst thing is finding how dramatically my fitness has dropped, in spite of using a treadmill, weights and step exercises, as well as gardening during lockdown.

There may well be more cases of Covid due to people dropping their guard, however deaths are down massively due to our very successful vaccine programme.

It’s the same as Scotland in Wales and Northern Ireland too auntiejauntie, but unfortunately in Wales at the moment our rates are still going up regardless.