When will this shit end?

[steviewevie]

3 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

As much as he looks like a little boy, stands too close to women, has ridiculous over-reactions to being criticised and is the shittest actor known to man - he seems to have been on the right side of history whenever these "behind the scenes" arguments have been leaked.

If the health secretary thinks it's all going to blow over sooner rather than later, I'm feeling quite optimistic. I'm sure he has a lot more information than we do, especially relating to vaccine rollout.

what has he said?

[Hannibal Schmitt]

Günter Weiss, Director of the Medical University Hospital Innsbruck said today: „Corona will always be a part of our life. We now have to learn how to live with it. We will have to find a balance between measures that restrict an impact and opening things up while not forgetting other diseases and infections“.

[PM87]

3 minutes ago, gigpusher said:

Yes this. It also feels a little like people have compassion fatigue because there has been so much bad news. My brother died of his cancer last week and apart from the sorry for your loss messages on Facebook only a few friends have actually been checking in on me. It feels like the mental health crisis part of this could be the thing we suffer with the longest because so many people have lost people or had bad things happen during this time and not getting the kind of support you would get in normal times. 

Loss in lockdown must be so tough. I'm really sorry about your brother. I hope you, your family, and those who were close to him are able to support each other through this.

[Zoo Music Girl]

1 hour ago, st dan said:

Problem with side effects is that tiredness, headaches and muscle aches may happen regardless due to it being winter, most of us are at home all days starting at screens, lack of exercise and no real social interaction outside our homes. All which probably contribute to a fogginess. I certainly haven’t full shaken off any of these since about November!  

This is true. I've actually been feeling particularly crap this week so Zoe app has asked me to do a test again after logging symptoms (I'm pretty sure it isn't Covid but will do to help the data).

[zahidf]

6 minutes ago, gigpusher said:

Yes this. It also feels a little like people have compassion fatigue because there has been so much bad news. My brother died of his cancer last week and apart from the sorry for your loss messages on Facebook only a few friends have actually been checking in on me. It feels like the mental health crisis part of this could be the thing we suffer with the longest because so many people have lost people or had bad things happen during this time and not getting the kind of support you would get in normal times. 

SOrry for your loss. All the best for you and your family

[st dan]

As the good news emerges regarding vaccine effectiveness etc, Sky News go all out with new headlines to keep people’s hopes as low as possible. They’ve been disgusting in how they have reported this pandemic throughout. 

[gooner1990]

33 minutes ago, PM87 said:

I hope so. The mental health of many of my friends and family has taken a nosedive in this lockdown. It feels like such a struggle right now. I just cannot wait for the clocks to change and for us to have more freedom over the spring and summer. Even just to sit with friends in a park will be a blessing. 

I'm now back on medication for migranes and completly feeling low, this is all a direct result of the pandemic/being at home/not doing anything for a year.

Each day I get out of bed its now a struggle because I don't really see much of a point at the moment (i'm furloughed) 

Never been on prescribed medication in my life (apart from when I've been sick) and I'm nearly 40.

😞

[fatyeti24]

6 minutes ago, Hannibal Schmitt said:

Günter Weiss, Director of the Medical University Hospital Innsbruck said today: „Corona will always be a part of our life. We now have to learn how to live with it. We will have to find a balance between measures that restrict an impact and opening things up while not forgetting other diseases and infections“.

Thanks for these updates, I have very much missed being able to travel to the alps this winter.

[Toilet Duck]

12 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Thanks, informative as ever! 

No worries!

[Smeble]

21 hours ago, PM87 said:

Amazing! The NHS are smashing it with this roll out!

The NHS aren’t smashing anything.

[Hannibal Schmitt]

10 minutes ago, fatyeti24 said:

Thanks for these updates, I have very much missed being able to travel to the alps this winter.

Yeah, much snow and few tourists. But government kept up open skiing lifts all the time. Hotels and Restaurants will be kept closed at least until march (Shops and some personal services are already open again) when the season will be nearly over.

[Mark E. Spliff]

1 hour ago, Toilet Duck said:

 

To be honest, I’d be speculating!! A lot of the symptoms you get from any infection are your immune system/your body reacting to it. The fever is your body trying to kill the infection with heat (most living things have a narrow temperature window they can survive in), the headaches are your blood vessels widening to allow more blood flow to the infected site, swelling is your blood vessels leaking to let immune cells out of circulation and into the infected site and so on...so, your immune system is primed by prior infection, or the first shot, and the immune response is always stronger on re-exposure (assuming you still have immunological memory). Whether that has any correlation with how you would have fared upon actual infection is another matter. It doesn’t seem to be the strength of the immune response that’s important in individuals that do poorly when they catch the virus (in fact it’s over activity of the inflammatory response that is doing a lot of the damage), but the specificity of it...all the immune action is wasted because the antibodies and t-cells only weakly recognise the virus or virus/infected cells, so it doesn’t clear it very well and you get this chronic inflammation in the lungs. So, still early days in trying to figure all this out! 

Thanks - I get it: the adverse reactions to the vaccine are (probably) because when someone's immune system has been primed, it will kick off big-style when it thinks it sees the enemy.  Therefore, anyone who's had the virus or a first dose of the vaccine is going to get a stronger reaction to injections of vaccine.

Follow-up question: if the cause of serious illness and death from Covid19 isn't the virus tearing up our organs, but our immune systems going nuclear and causing inflammations in the lungs etc., why doesn't this happen with vaccines?  I.e. why is our immune system able to come to terms with this foreign invader quickly enough that we don't suffer grave effects from its response?

(This isn't a sneaky tin-foil-hatter questioning the safety of the vaccine by the way: I don't understand virology/immunology, but I do understand research methods, and I'm 100% satisfied that the clinical trials, and subsequent roll-out, have shown the approved vaccines to be safe.)

[Ozanne]

2 minutes ago, Smeble said:

The NHS aren’t smashing anything.

They might not literally be smashing anything but they are doing incredibly well with the vaccine rollout and deserved to be praised for it. 

[PM87]

22 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

I'm now back on medication for migranes and completly feeling low, this is all a direct result of the pandemic/being at home/not doing anything for a year.

Each day I get out of bed its now a struggle because I don't really see much of a point at the moment (i'm furloughed) 

Never been on prescribed medication in my life (apart from when I've been sick) and I'm nearly 40.

😞

Sorry you are feeling low. I've been furloughed since April and it can be so hard to fill the days. I feel ungrateful for moaning about it but when I read this morning that furlough may be extended until the summer, I wanted to scream. I just want to go back to work. It's soul destroying. I think when the days are longer and we see more of the sun, perhaps things will seem more hopeful. Have you had any indication yet about when you can expect to go back to work or is it uncertain?

Edited February 19, 2021 by PM87

[PM87]

8 minutes ago, Smeble said:

The NHS aren’t smashing anything.

Well they've smashed my expectations and I'm happy to see things going well with the vaccine roll out.

I'm also laughing at being downvoted for being happy about something going well, so thanks for that amusement. I needed it today. 

Edited February 19, 2021 by PM87

[Old_Johno]

France have just announced they’ll allow festivals upto 5000 punters. Seating only. 

Think it’s more night at the proms than rave

[steviewevie]

19 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

I'm now back on medication for migranes and completly feeling low, this is all a direct result of the pandemic/being at home/not doing anything for a year.

Each day I get out of bed its now a struggle because I don't really see much of a point at the moment (i'm furloughed) 

Never been on prescribed medication in my life (apart from when I've been sick) and I'm nearly 40.

😞

sorry to hear that, sounds rough. You need something else to fill your time, hobbies and exercise etc? Hopefully things will be a lot better in a few months.

[Fuzzy Afro]

10 minutes ago, Smeble said:

The NHS aren’t smashing anything.

Are you a troll? 

[gigpusher]

23 minutes ago, PM87 said:

Loss in lockdown must be so tough. I'm really sorry about your brother. I hope you, your family, and those who were close to him are able to support each other through this.

Unfortunately not that is one of the problems. He lived in Ireland as do some of my other family. The ones in England I don't live that near either so on Wednesday for his funeral only 4 people attended. The rest of us couldn't get over there and I have just been at work all week. Not my most productive week at work. I have plans for this weekend to honour him by listening to his favourite Beatles albums and watching The Life Of Brian his favourite film that we must have watched together lots of times. He particularly enjoyed the cardiac arrest gladiator scene. 

21 minutes ago, zahidf said:

SOrry for your loss. All the best for you and your family

Thanks

[Ozanne]

3 minutes ago, PM87 said:

Well they've smashed my expectations and I'm happy to see things going well with the vaccine roll out.

I'm also laughing at being downvoted for being happy about something going well, so thanks for that amusement. I needed it today. 

I didn’t see that downvote when it was given, I’ve gone back and corrected it.

The NHS are doing incredibly well and we can be happy about it!

[Fuzzy Afro]

30 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

what has he said?

Telegraph are reporting that Hancock has now overtaken Sunak as the main voice in government lobbying Boris to relax the restrictions.

[PM87]

1 minute ago, gigpusher said:

Unfortunately not that is one of the problems. He lived in Ireland as do some of my other family. The ones in England I don't live that near either so on Wednesday for his funeral only 4 people attended. The rest of us couldn't get over there and I have just been at work all week. Not my most productive week at work. I have plans for this weekend to honour him by listening to his favourite Beatles albums and watching The Life Of Brian his favourite film that we must have watched together lots of times. He particularly enjoyed the cardiac arrest gladiator scene. 

Thanks

I love this and really hope it brings you comfort and makes you smile. All the best.

[JoeyT]

 

[gooner1990]

10 minutes ago, PM87 said:

Sorry you are feeling low. I've been furloughed since April and it can be so hard to fill the days. I feel ungrateful for moaning about it but when I read this morning that furlough may be extended until the summer, I wanted to scream. I just want to go back to work. It's soul destroying. I think when the days are longer and we see more of the sun, perhaps things will seem more hopeful. Have you had any indication yet about when you can expect to go back to work or is it uncertain?

I will actually be working 2 1/2 days per week from home as of Monday, so at least that's something.  But its the staying in all the time that's getting to me. 

People have to realise that existing isn't living (well for me it isn't anyway) Usually I'm off at a football match most weekends and if I'm not I'm usually doing something else.  I don't mind downtime during the week but to have nothing to look forward to at the weekends is soul destroying. 

I just keep watching the news hopefuly something positive will come on Monday!

[gooner1990]

8 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

sorry to hear that, sounds rough. You need something else to fill your time, hobbies and exercise etc? Hopefully things will be a lot better in a few months.

I've been playing a lot of my Nintendo Switch and doing the dinners for me and my girlfriend that's about it.

I was actually furloughed for a few months last summer too, I think the difference this time round as someone else said is the time of year and weather with it being bleak and misrable outside it just adds to it!