Europe 2021

[simonhill]

Last weekend I took 3 LFTs. All failed with the faintest of lines. Isolated in Campervan and drove home. Only reported the last one (24hr rule) so I could book a PCR. Took PCR on Monday and it was negative - self isolation cancelled and given a code to cancel the positive LFT on the app.

Not sure how all this is recorded in the figures (actually I don't care, but different test results were talked about above so pointing out possible anomalies).

Also very confused (and p**d off as cancelled short holiday on back of positive LFT).

[mattheus]

Last weekend I took 3 LFTs. All failed with the faintest of lines. Isolated in Campervan and drove home. Only reported the last one (24hr rule) so I could book a PCR. Took PCR on Monday and it was negative - self isolation cancelled and given a code to cancel the positive LFT on the app.

Not sure how all this is recorded.

Also very confused (and p**d off as cancelled short holiday on back of positive LFT).

Have you had regular -ve tests before this one?

Did you use different salive samples in each of the 3 tests?

[just curious really - I don't know a lot about the chemistry of these things!]

[simonhill]

Sorry, edited in a bit of my above post while you we're posting.

No, first ever tests. All these were separate tests, using throat and nasal combined. Two done ½ hour apart on Sat midday when I arrived at friend's house. Final done before I left in the morning as last gasp hope.

No symptoms.

[pwa]

I know it is a bit too early to express a view on this, but has anyone else noticed that the increase in reported UK cases has stalled in the last few days? Could it be that the virus is struggling to find people without sufficient antibody levels? Or is it just that people are choosing not to get tested now? It will be interesting to see what the latest relaxing of restrictions does to the case count.

[simonhill]

Someone on the radio at lunchtime reckoned we were at or had reached the current peak.

He said this didn't take into account the 'release' from last Monday....BUT he reckoned that recently, so few people had really been adhering to the rules that that release wouldn't make much difference (increase). We shall see, let's hope.

Probably someone else on the radio this evening will say the exact opposite.

[pwa]

Someone on the radio at lunchtime reckoned we were at or had reached the current peak.

He said this didn't take into account the 'release' from last Monday....BUT he reckoned that recently, so few people had really been adhering to the rules that that release wouldn't make much difference (increase). We shall see, let's hope.

Probably someone else on the radio this evening will say the exact opposite.

I have my fingers crossed anyway.

[scragend]

At some point you will have to allow infections to rise, if you ever want to get back to anything like normal. Suppressing the virus by limiting infections is what you do as a short term measure until the long term solutions come along.

This is the problem that Australia and New Zealand have made for themselves. They were praised in the first instance for their swift and harsh response in closing their borders, and they've kept them closed more or less ever since. There are sharp lockdowns whenever there's even a sniff of positive cases.

But their vaccination rate is only about 13-14% and the Australians seem to have an aversion to the AZ vaccine. So what's their exit strategy? The people have little immunity arising from either previous infection or vaccination, so until they get their vaccination act together they can't open up, even if everyone else does.

[Psamathe]

....
I also heard that those admitted to hospital are getting better sooner, with very few getting dangerously ill.
.....

I feel that Government is over-focusing on deaths. Of course they are an very important consideration but just because the death rate from Covid is down, filling hospitals with Covid patients (even if they are less likely to die) is keeping los of other non-Covid patients from treatment (the cancer diagnosis & treatment, heart conditions, etc.) and even delays to such treatments will result in deaths (which are not reported as "casualties of full hospitals treating Covid" so Government not held to account ...).

Wait a few weeks and get the new case numbers down, more people vaccinated, etc. plus keep those NPIs that are no more than minor inconvenience (e.g. masks) and the NHS might manage to start looking at its record backlog rather than watching it continue to build.

Ian

[willem jongman]

As of today 53% of the EU adult population is fully vaccinated, although there are big differences between countries.

[ossie]

I know it is a bit too early to express a view on this, but has anyone else noticed that the increase in reported UK cases has stalled in the last few days? Could it be that the virus is struggling to find people without sufficient antibody levels? Or is it just that people are choosing not to get tested now? It will be interesting to see what the latest relaxing of restrictions does to the case count.

Yes I noticed this but positivity appears to be frowned upon on here.

I think the football resulted in a major rise in cases so we're reaching that peak and its now tapering downwards. Today when shopping in a supermarket 50% weren't wearing masks. This weekend is the first big test since the football. Pubs, restaurants and nightclubs are back to normal with no restrictions. I'd expect to see a significant rise in the next two weeks.

That said and as an aside, schools break up - that may counter things in a good way.

[roubaixtuesday]

As of today 53% of the EU adult population is fully vaccinated, although there are big differences between countries.

Denmark is now, on ourworldindata figures, the first European country to give a vaccine to more people per capita than UK.

Netherlands close behind (I think likely a bit ahead, looks like weekly data only is reported)

https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co ... BR~DNK~NLD

[ossie]

As of today 53% of the EU adult population is fully vaccinated, although there are big differences between countries.

Denmark is now, on ourworldindata figures, the first European country to give a vaccine to more people per capita than UK.

Netherlands close behind (I think likely a bit ahead, looks like weekly data only is reported)

https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co ... BR~DNK~NLD

Only seven months to catch up then ...That's one thing we got right.

[Vorpal]

I know it is a bit too early to express a view on this, but has anyone else noticed that the increase in reported UK cases has stalled in the last few days? Could it be that the virus is struggling to find people without sufficient antibody levels? Or is it just that people are choosing not to get tested now? It will be interesting to see what the latest relaxing of restrictions does to the case count.

Yes I noticed this but positivity appears to be frowned upon on here.

I think the football resulted in a major rise in cases so we're reaching that peak and its now tapering downwards. Today when shopping in a supermarket 50% weren't wearing masks. This weekend is the first big test since the football. Pubs, restaurants and nightclubs are back to normal with no restrictions. I'd expect to see a significant rise in the next two weeks.

That said and as an aside, schools break up - that may counter things in a good way.

I think it is probably a result of test capacity & lag. If you look at the data by date of test taken, it's still going up, every place except Scotland which has already begun school holidays.

[willem jongman]

"That's one thing we got right." The UK grabbed a larger slice of the pie whereas the EU produced a bigger (and better) pie. The EU continues to be a net exporter of vaccines, whereas the UK is a net importer. Sadly the UK has been less successful on the most important metric: mortality.

[ossie]

"That's one thing we got right." The UK grabbed a larger slice of the pie whereas the EU produced a bigger (and better) pie. The EU continues to be a net exporter of vaccines, whereas the UK is a net importer. Sadly the UK has been less successful on the most important metric: mortality.

There are 4 EU countries with a higher death rate than the UK and Spain, France and Portugal aren't that far behind.

Who exactly are you comparing us with ? The Netherlands doesn't represent the UK demographic wise in any way, shape or form despite your constant comparisons.

I would encourage you on your UK tours to visit some of our cities and then draw a comparison on how to deal with this problem. The diversity and poverty makes your country look like paradise. We have vast areas you would never visit, a populace who don't quite tow the line the same as yours. We also have extremely densely populated areas and deprivation that you probably couldn't comprehend.

To procure these vaccinations was fantastic, Its a shame that you've constantly offered up nothing but criticism on what is a UK forum. Please point me towards a NL forum where I can daily criticise everything from your Government, politics and your death rate.