Covid 19 Coronavirus

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Nigel
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Re: Covid 19 Coronavirus

Post by Nigel »

Spike941 wrote: Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:55 am Can’t agree more. At least after 24 hours on the Santander boat, you’ve got something exciting to look forward to. That’s of course if you put the return sailing out of your mind for a while.
Agree, sailing out was fine, decent film, sailing back I was out of my brain on morphine so no probs :D
Tonibe63
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Re: Covid 19 Coronavirus

Post by Tonibe63 »

I'm keen not to divert the 'European updates please' thread off track as it is useful for those hoping to get to Europe for travels so I have resurrected this thread.

Europe is in the grips of a 2nd wave with restrictive lockdowns now being put in place to try to kerb it. The UK is thankfully coming out of our 2nd wave thanks largely to the vaccine program which Europe is failing to embrace both at Government and population level. What I can't understand is why Europe has not learnt from the pain that the UK has suffered and taken up the vaccine program to avoid what is going to be an imminent disaster.
In addition to this is the fact that Europe has over 14% of new cases being the South African variant which the UK hasn't had to deal with ....... yet!
Europe needs to become a willing part of the solution to a Worldwide problem but is there any hope of this?
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
daveuprite
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Re: Covid 19 Coronavirus

Post by daveuprite »

Quick update of the current situation in France. The wave is declining at last. The lockdown is working and the R number is below 1, although still plenty of people hospitalised. As of Saturday 24 April, 14,032,747 people have been given the first dose of the vaccine in France (20.90% of the population). 5,502,394 people have been given the second dose of vaccine (8.20% of the population).

I'm just inside the 50-55 age group so won't get a jab until mid/late May apparently. Tracie is 55 so might get hers in the next couple of weeks. It is rolling out quite well now.

Image

At the moment we're on night-time curfew, travel restricted to 10km with attestations, non-essential shops shut etc. The first relaxation is due on 4th May if the figures justify it, and we might be able to have an outdoor terrace coffee from Mid-May.

I know of a 49 year old woman in Limoges hospital who is messaging from her bed in intensive care. She was in a coma with full ventilation and now slowly recovering, having very nearly died. She is disgusted with the anti-vaxxers and trying to use her experience to persuade them to protect themselves and the rest of us. Mask wearing is good in France (from my experience) but people in supermarkets are hopeless at social distancing.

Of course much of this is of Western Europe local interest only and somewhat academic while huge waves of epidemic continue to affect places like India, which is suffering terribly. We're only safe when we're all safe.
Tonibe63
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Re: Covid 19 Coronavirus

Post by Tonibe63 »

daveuprite wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 6:54 am We're only safe when we're all safe.
Amen to that.

The vaccine program is working. It was great to have our grown up kids, spouses and granddaughter round yesterday for a barbeque under a large porch/tent extension in the garden but we're still cautious as only half of us are fully vaccinated. Our Daughter was on a night shift on Saturday and said they currently have only 1 Covid patient in a coma on ICU ward which is amazing considering they had over 34 less than 2 months ago. The vaccine is working.
The current situation in India is heartbreaking and easy to dismiss as a threat due to the distance between us but the reality is it is only a plane journey away. We already have cases of the Indian variant in the UK and thousands of passengers have arrived this week with only the need to self quarantine, there will be community spread of this variant in the UK.
Australia has managed really well so far but recently has had a case of community spread of the UK variant. This came when a guy was released from hotel quarantine (negative test) and went to stay with friends. After a couple of days he became unwell and tested positive, this was followed a few days later by his host testing positive. It later transpired that 2 people on the same floor of the quarantine hotel tested positive so it had spread from room to room.
If we are to freely travel again we need to tackle it on a Worldwide scale. The vaccine is key to controlling the virus.
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
daveuprite
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Re: Covid 19 Coronavirus

Post by daveuprite »

Yes Toni, despite some truly terrible outbreaks, it is worth thinking about what might have been... Imagine us right now with NO vaccine still developed whatsoever. Imagine Trump still in power, allowing the virus to race through America virtually unchallenged. It's hard to find any solace when so many people are still dying, but it could be much worse.
Tonibe63
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Re: Covid 19 Coronavirus

Post by Tonibe63 »

Back in summer 2020 my Wife had a blood test through work (nhs) to see if she had any antibodies to Covid but the results came back as 'inconclusive'.
Now we have both had the second dose of the vaccine we were invited to have a bloodtest as part of the Oxford University covid study and today the results came back, for both of us, as Positive for antibodies to Covid. In other words the vaccination had caused our bodies to successfully generate a level of immunity to Covid, although the strength of immunity is not quantified.
Ongoing monthly blood tests in the future will check to see if the immunity drops off.
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
daveuprite
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Re: Covid 19 Coronavirus

Post by daveuprite »

Tonibe63 wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 5:56 pm Back in summer 2020 my Wife had a blood test through work (nhs) to see if she had any antibodies to Covid but the results came back as 'inconclusive'.
Now we have both had the second dose of the vaccine we were invited to have a bloodtest as part of the Oxford University covid study and today the results came back, for both of us, as Positive for antibodies to Covid. In other words the vaccination had caused our bodies to successfully generate a level of immunity to Covid, although the strength of immunity is not quantified.
Ongoing monthly blood tests in the future will check to see if the immunity drops off.
Very interesting. Do you think they will eventually be able to say, for instance, that someone has achieved 50% immunity, or 75% immunity, or whatever?

We just had our Pfizer first jab appointments through, for 12th May. Great stuff.
Tonibe63
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Re: Covid 19 Coronavirus

Post by Tonibe63 »

I'm not sure if they can put a figure on the strength of individual's immunity Dave, at the minute I think it's just a yes or no. The only figures I know of are based on data from hospital admissions of vaccinated people which shows a 99% protection from being hospitalized. Certainly the massive drop in covid patients on the ICU ward where our Daughter works is very evident.
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
simonw
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Re: Covid 19 Coronavirus

Post by simonw »

daveuprite wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 7:48 pm Very interesting. Do you think they will eventually be able to say, for instance, that someone has achieved 50% immunity, or 75% immunity, or whatever?

We just had our Pfizer first jab appointments through, for 12th May. Great stuff.
I don't think so. I'm sure the way that stat is calculated comes from the number of people within a given vaccinated cohort who become infected. So out of the 100 vaccinated people that they monitor, if 5 go on to contract covid then the efficacy is said to be 95%.

Good news about your jab.
Last edited by simonw on Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jak*
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Re: Covid 19 Coronavirus

Post by Jak* »

I’v had my first jab and personally would be quite happy sending my second to India or Brazil. Whilst that is mainly due to sympathy for what is going on there, it is also because if we allow the virus to spread in the way that is has in those countries it is likely to mutate and come back here in a more virulent form. I listened to an interview where someone from UK was defending the right not to share patents of the vaccines with other countries, such as India which has a huge pharmaceutical production industry and ultimately it seems to come down to greed. Surely if this virus has shown us anything it is that we all need to pull together to solve the world’s problems and not put profit over people.
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