When will this shit end?

[FestivalJamie]

2 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

Do you own shares in a mask company? 😉

No hahahaha. But it would be a good time to.

Ive just followed all the decisions germany have made and all the mistakes the UK has made in comparison, and I really feel like we would have done a lot better (so far) in tackling this virus if we had just followed them rather than coming up with our own (and some bizarre) policies.

[Toilet Duck]

18 minutes ago, FestivalJamie said:

Just on the subject of masks, if this virus doesn’t go away or the top scientists don’t find a successful vaccine... we are stuck with it for the foreseeable future.

If gigs want to go ahead within the next year, and I know a lot plan to start October/November time, and the virus hasn’t run its course or we haven’t got a vaccine or a treatment, then if they get the green light they are going to be very different.

I imagine there would be a temperature check at the entrance to the gig, mandatory face masks the whole time and perhaps you will have to have a certificate with a negative covid test from the last 48 hours.

This is all speculation of course, but if the virus doesn’t go away in one form or another, we are stuck with it, and then masks will become part of day to day life. If you want to go on public transport, you need a mask, if you want to go to a theme park or a gig, you need a mask and probably if you want to go shopping you will need to take a mask.

Keeping 1-2m apart from other people can’t stick around forever, but masks can. If we don’t have a vaccine, treatment or if the virus doesn’t run out, we are stuck with it and masks will just become a natural part of day to day life. Governments from all around the world have already gotten people used to wearing them in day to day life so I think it’s time the British public start getting used to them, we don’t know how long this virus is going to stick with us or how long masks will be needed for, so I personally think it’s best Britain starts to get used to wearing them in public. 

I’m a big supporter of masks, have been banging on about them for months at this stage! But I don’t think they’ll be a part of the reopening of gigs/festivals etc. It’s just not practical. Testing will be the central pillar of any plan to restart mass gatherings (without a vaccine or the virus going away). Improvements in testing may facilitate this a bit better (5 minute tests that are sensitive enough to pick up infection before you become infectious...there’s a few like this in validation). Temp checks work if the same people pass through the same place every day (so very useful for offices), but are less useful when people pass through somewhere once (ie airports, restaurants, gigs etc...you might find someone symptomatic, but you’ll miss most people and get a lot of false positives). We have to send our clinical years into hospital settings. Plan at the moment is to test them the week before and repeat 24 hours before they go in (since they are there for a while, they’ll be repeatedly tested, but you wouldn’t need that for a one off gig...essentially a negative test the week before would mean 90% of people would have become symptomatic if they are going to be and a second negative test just before would mean you are unlikely to be infectious if you just picked it up but it isn’t detectable yet) I’d expect something along those lines could form part of a plan to open up mass gatherings again (again, improvements in testing could make this even easier and remove the need for the test 7 days prior, but existing testing can facilitate the above...logistically not simple, but still possible...a month certificate from one test is nonsense though). 

[FestivalJamie]

7 minutes ago, Toilet Duck said:

I’m a big supporter of masks, have been banging on about them for months at this stage! But I don’t think they’ll be a part of the reopening of gigs/festivals etc. It’s just not practical. Testing will be the central pillar of any plan to restart mass gatherings (without a vaccine or the virus going away). Improvements in testing may facilitate this a bit better (5 minute tests that are sensitive enough to pick up infection before you become infectious...there’s a few like this in validation). Temp checks work if the same people pass through the same place every day (so very useful for offices), but are less useful when people pass through somewhere once (ie airports, restaurants, gigs etc...you might find someone symptomatic, but you’ll miss most people and get a lot of false positives). We have to send our clinical years into hospital settings. Plan at the moment is to test them the week before and repeat 24 hours before they go in (since they are there for a while, they’ll be repeatedly tested, but you wouldn’t need that for a one off gig...essentially a negative test the week before would mean 90% of people would have become symptomatic if they are going to be and a second negative test just before would mean you are unlikely to be infectious if you just picked it up but it isn’t detectable yet) I’d expect something along those lines could form part of a plan to open up mass gatherings again (again, improvements in testing could make this even easier and remove the need for the test 7 days prior, but existing testing can facilitate the above...logistically not simple, but still possible...a month certificate from one test is nonsense though). 

I just worry there’s could be hundreds of thousands of people a day going to concerts or festivals or sporting matches. I just worry if our testing capacity is going to be big enough to facilitate all of that and if the turn around time for the tests will be quick enough (at the moment they are still taking 24hours+)

[Crazyfool01]

44 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

Do you own shares in a mask company? 😉

He’s not covered it up very well  

[Toilet Duck]

28 minutes ago, FestivalJamie said:

I just worry there’s could be hundreds of thousands of people a day going to concerts or festivals or sporting matches. I just worry if our testing capacity is going to be big enough to facilitate all of that and if the turn around time for the tests will be quick enough (at the moment they are still taking 24hours+)

Oh I think this is still a way off and would not necessarily be testing carried out by PHE (or indeed public bodies anywhere). The difficulty at the moment is that since it's a notifiable disease, the tests need to be performed in a certain type of lab. How that evolves will determine who can offer tests, but I wouldn't envisage using public testing capacity to facilitate this. Turnaround time is for the standard PCR test, which is being used in most places. We're installing a system that takes 15 minutes and can process 48 samples at a time (so about an hour and a half to test an entire medical class). Everything is in one cartridge, so no reagents or anything need to be added, just pop the swab in, swirl it around a bit and run the sample. There are higher throughput instruments, but this is enough for us. If this became something that just had to be a part of life, there's options other than the standard WHO protocol for testing that could be used. But it's premature at this stage to suggest this will become normal, we'll probably have other options by the time we start packing into venues again!

[Ozanne]

Calling fellow briefers, nearly time. 

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, Ozanne said:

Calling fellow briefers, nearly time. 

its like its not gone anywhere .... 

[Ozanne]

Just now, crazyfool1 said:

its like its not gone anywhere .... 

Life feels right again. I miss being lied to for 50 minutes every day. 

[Crazyfool01]

what slogan is it going to be.... 

[Crazyfool01]

so how are they going to tell people who are shielding its mandatory to send their kids in ? 

[Cream Soda]

1 minute ago, crazyfool1 said:

so how are they going to tell people who are shielding its mandatory to send their kids in ? 

Doesn't shielding come to an end in August?

[Ayrshire Chris]

1 minute ago, crazyfool1 said:

what slogan is it going to be.... 

If it’s designed by teachers  for use in schools then how’s about

Sit down!        Shut up!       You there, are you eating?! 

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, Cream Soda said:

Doesn't shielding come to an end in August?

yes ... but those people dont suddenly become less vulnerable overnight .... thats really tough on those parents making that decision 

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

1 hour ago, Chef said:

 

 

Interesting, my area (Windsor and Maidenhead) was listed yesterday as one of the 36 areas that could be close to local lockdown. I mentioned at the time it was odd because as an area we’ve had 300 cases total so next to nothing. According to that list we’re right at the very bottom, last week we had 2 cases per 100k, this week 0.7 per 100k so a decrease of 66%.

So that list yesterday was complete media bollocks based on nothing.

[Ozanne]

This is a slow build season 2 premiere of the daily briefings. 

[Crazyfool01]

2 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

This is a slow build season 2 premiere of the daily briefings. 

they forgot the daily figures ....wheres the lap tops gone ? its like the tests ... the local authorities have them ... 

Edited July 2, 2020 by crazyfool1

[Ozanne]

1 minute ago, crazyfool1 said:

they forgot the daily figures ....wheres the lap tops gone ? its like the tests ... the local authorities have them ... 

I think it’s building up for a season 2 shocker at the end.

[Cream Soda]

11 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

yes ... but those people dont suddenly become less vulnerable overnight .... thats really tough on those parents making that decision 

No I get that, but the idea of shielding ending is presumably because it is much safer now than before.  Kids can't be kept off school indefinitely either can they.  What would happen if shielding was reintroduced I'm not sure.

[Zoo Music Girl]

12 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

yes ... but those people dont suddenly become less vulnerable overnight .... thats really tough on those parents making that decision 

My friend is in that category. Three kids and shielding! None of them in the age group to go back yet, but it's not an easy one.

Disappointed but not surprised to see no stats.

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, Cream Soda said:

No I get that, but the idea of shielding ending is presumably because it is much safer now than before.  Kids can't be kept off school indefinitely either can they.  What would happen if shielding was reintroduced I'm not sure.

absolutely ... im glad i dont have that decision to make though 

[Cream Soda]

3 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

absolutely ... im glad i dont have that decision to make though 

Yeah I thank my lucky stars I'm not a parent throughout all this, can't be easy.

[Zoo Music Girl]

Williamson really not a compelling protagonist is he.

[Ozanne]

3 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Williamson really not a compelling protagonist is he.

It’s setting up for part 2 tomorrow when the big bad comes into play. 

[steviewevie]

California reversing it's lockdown easing. Could be us in a month or two.....

[parsonjack]

3 hours ago, Quark said:

Talking to a Chinese friend of mine about that, and he reckons it's basically seen as a common courtesy in large parts of east Asia. Not necessarily all day every day, but certainly if you have a cold or a sneeze or something like that it just becomes standard to wear one so you don't splutter on other people. Has a lot going for it when you think about it.

Yes....we've travelled across SE Asia many times and it's a regular every day thing.  It's seen as polite etiquette to wear a mask if you have a cold etc.