“New faster spreading variant of COVID”

Laughterlines

My friends and I have been extremely cautious throughout this pandemic yet we are first in line for the vaccine. Why don’t they give it to young people first as they are the ones who will have to keep the economy going, and when they have had the vaccine they can visit their family who are isolated in care homes.

They can’t visit their relatives in care homes if they’ve had the vaccine as the it doesn’t give 100% protection and no one knows if it prevents transmission yet. But they can if their relative has the vaccine and they visit taking all possible precautions. Still won’t be 100% safe even then but it’s the best we’ve got thus far. And it’s the older people that will end up in hospital if they catch it, not the younger ones.

3nanny6 The mayor Mr. Khan was still waffling yesterday about London going into Tier 3 and how many businesses would close down, I am sick and tired hearing that waffle what about the people that will end up in hospital and die surely that is more important.

But someone has to be running businesses and earning money to pay for the medical treatment. It's not a separate issue 3nanny6

Bluebellwould : I was concerned to hear about the new variant that apparently mutates and is new to what has been seen so far.
I would just say however that I am in the south east, and there is 95 percent of mask wearing, social distancing certain amount of people in shops at one time and many people being careful.
I think central London was looking worse with crowds on the streets Christmas shopping and lack of masks and social distancing. The mayor Mr. Khan was still waffling yesterday about London going into Tier 3 and how many businesses would close down, I am sick and tired hearing that waffle what about the people that will end up in hospital and die surely that is more important.
I have had enough of it all.

My friends and I have been extremely cautious throughout this pandemic yet we are first in line for the vaccine. Why don’t they give it to young people first as they are the ones who will have to keep the economy going, and when they have had the vaccine they can visit their family who are isolated in care homes.

This virus has always been highly contagious. Thankfully it’s highly contagious but doesn’t have a high death rate* and doesn’t affect young people and children.*by saying that I must stress that I’m not meaning to be insensitive towards those that have died/have lost loved ones: an death is one death too many. If only the WHO hadn’t’ve downplayed how airborne it is: I’m sure that the main reason that people poo poo mask wearing etc is that this opinion is now embedded in people’s minds even though it was disproved. Or, to use use the new pandemic in word ‘baked in’.

There are two questions to be answered here -
How do they know that there is a variety of the virus that spreads faster? Presumable by noting that in some places the virus is spreading faster - they don't waste time and money testing the DNA of every single case. Could be a circular deduction - it happens, therefore it happens.

Which leads to -
What else could be making the virus spread faster in some places? People living more closely together, colder weather keeping them inside away from fresh air, population genetics concentrating people who are more likely to catch it into some areas, schools and colleges reopening, lockdown fatigue causing less enthusiasm for precautions, Christmas shopping, - plus other things that haven't yet occurred to me but could be having an effect.`

At the moment it’s not known for certain exactly what this variant does and scientists are working on it. Yes viruses do mutate and sometimes weaken but not always. If this variant has changed its spike then the vaccine may not be so effective. It is a big concern but hopefully will be unfounded.

Thanks for the link Mick, it's very useful.

MayBee70 - I'm going to be cynical as well, on this latest news about the variant.
So, coincidental that it's happening alongside London going into Tier 3, the vaccine being rolled out (causing people to think prematurely about light at the end of the tunnel) ......so, bringing a mutant virus on board will hopefully keep the majority of the population focused on masks, distancing etc.
Although so many families will get together as usual, have a drink or 6 and throw caution to the wind!

In a recent blog I heard that 80% of people with COVID had a migraine, and this is going back a long time. The report said if you had a virus but didn’t have a migraine it probably wasn’t COVID. A bad tummy is another symptom that wasn’t mentioned initially. Look how long it took for loss of taste and smell to be a recognised symptom. And yet Dr John had been talking about these symptoms since March (possibly earlier). Ditto asymptomatic carriers. The latest thing the government is telling us is the importance of ventilation. This was one of the first things that countries such as Taiwan did. They turned off central heating/air con systems and opened doors and windows. Going back to migraines, I can remember someone on another forum having a brother that was having to drive miles and miles with a crippling headache to get a COVID test which seemed downright dangerous to me.

check this out and scroll down to your postcode and see what it says as to infections in your area
coronavirus.data.gov.uk/?_ga=2.54189672.1319367156.1607711667-2144111740.1576836334
Mick

Bluebellwould You are not alone if I could I would join you
Never known such a mess up ,

Elegran my comment about symptoms being different now to those in March is purely anecdotal and related to my own experience.
I have read a lot and 'spoken' to many people who have been diagnosed recently.
The main and first symptom is a very bad migraine type headache in many cases (including my DH).
Back ache also features.
A 'new and persistent cough' is not so common at all.

I also agree some what with MayBee's assessment of the situation.

Well it`s clearly going to get worse before it gets better.
Especially with the covid idiots who are not social distancing OR wearing face coverings.
It really does begger belief.

As far as I can see, this variant is the same as before, except faster to spread. There is no report that it leads to worse attacks, or new symptoms. If hearing about it makes people more careful about being in contact with others, that is a good thing - many have become blase about the basic procedures.

The main effect will be on the numbers swamping the medical and care services. Those will be under pressure by the end of January anyway, as trhe results of all those Christmas get-togethers and hugs become evident. More vigilance is needed - starting now and continuing over the festive season!

The virus is doubling every five days in parts of Essex and faster in some London Boroughs.

Viruses usually do mutate.

The Government has acted quickly, 24 hours notice as opposed to the usual 48-72 hours. If the infection rates continue to rise I hope the Government does reassess the Christmas rules. Better to be disappointed than dead!!!

MayBee70

You can trace where a particular outbreak has originated from by checking out which strain of the virus it is. Can’t remember the term for it. So, as has been mentioned, the virus mutates a lot. I may be being cynical but I wondered if Hancock has brought this up as a reason to put London into tier 3 or backtrack on the governments permission to meet up with people at Christmas.

I thought the same.

This government is disgusting.

If people's symptoms of the virus are changing (which I believe they are) does this mean that the virus is mutating?
(I know very little about this type of thing, so please forgive my ignorance!)

It only mutates slightly and vaccines can be modified.

It was suggested in the beginning that it could mutate as many of the SARS viruses already have , this makes me a bit cynical about the vaccine.

You can trace where a particular outbreak has originated from by checking out which strain of the virus it is. Can’t remember the term for it. So, as has been mentioned, the virus mutates a lot. I may be being cynical but I wondered if Hancock has brought this up as a reason to put London into tier 3 or backtrack on the governments permission to meet up with people at Christmas.

Bluebell, wish I could say the same. I have been to doctors twice for warfarin checks and each time a member of non medical staff came within 2 feet of me without masks.?Never mind the other patients who don’t need them either.

Where I live you rarely see anyone without a mask

There was a mutant came over from Spain again the virus mutated from the Danish mink farms I think it’s mutating all the time hopefully it ll mutate itself out soon

I live in an area in the SE and people have been really sensible where I live wrt masks etc