https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...lawed-11976873NHS staff already tested for coronavirus have been informed their test results might have been inaccurate, a health minister has admitted.
Helen Whately, the social care minister, told Sky News that those healthcare workers are now being offered another COVID-19 test after their initial test was deemed to have been "not up to scratch".
The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday that a leaked document revealed tests on thousands of NHS staff were found to be flawed.
The memo from Public Health England (PHE), dated 11 April, warned of "degraded" performance, meaning the test results are less reliable than first thought, the newspaper said.
It also said PHE testing centres have now been told to stop using existing tests by Thursday and to instead use tests supplied by commercial firms.
Fucks sake.
When the sky above us fell
We descended into hell
Into kingdom come
A conservative interpretation of all-cause mortality in the UK suggests an excess mortality twice that indicated by the official covid death statistics, over the course of the pandemic. Over 40,000 deaths and rising—a staggering number, and a tragedy beyond words. And this estimate is already out of date! Though this approach has its limitations, it is—for the time being—the least biased approach to estimating the true covid death toll, even though it includes indirect deaths. The latest Swedish report on excess mortality is more than two weeks out of date, but even that report cast doubt on our prideful boasts of being exceptionally good at accurately identifying covid deaths. https://amp.ft.com/content/67e6a4ee-...3-e239799fa6ab
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Not feasible. It is challenging and prohibitively expensive to commute into central city areas by car. I cannot reasonably commute to my office in London by car, nor can any of my colleagues - indeed I cannot name a single one of them that does. Many Londoners don't own a car and cannot afford one if they wanted one. My fiancée doesn't even have a drivers licence. The number of applications to obtain a drivers licence also is now decreasing year on year in the UK as the latest generation move away from car ownership as a means of transport.
Public transport is, and should be, the most viable option. More frequent and larger capacity services are desperately needed here, not less.
The 'conversation to be had when this is all over' in regard to public transport is timing of when it should be restricted in concert with other lockdown measures should other epidemics surface.
Public transport in London is one of the first things they are looking to open up as part of loosening lockdown measures, and necessarily so. You may not understand this in Texas, but here it is a necessity.
In the Netherlands excess mortality is also about double the registered covid deaths (which is also why they always include that the official numbers are likely underreporting). I think this is the case in most countries, although for example Belgium also reports suspected cases as part of the COVID deaths which makes their numbers probably closer to reality.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
The idea we should move towards or against public transport permanently due to a once in a century pandemic is absurd.
I think there's mounting evidence that public transport AND high population densities are key to this virus spreading. Mapping the virus to high population densities there is a very clear overlap.
But that's true for a pandemic now. The pandemic won't last forever. Making permanent changes due to that would be as absurd as keeping a lockdown forever.
I'm sure he'd also support a ban on churches seeing the role they're playing in spreading this virus.
Hope is the denial of reality
These people are getting exponentially worse:
Twitter Link
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Couldn't disagree more. The government should fund infrastructure which keeps the country running, gets people to work, and supports the economy.
"Will cause pandemics to be worse" is a bizarre concept to apply. The pandemic is described as a once-in-a-century event. As I mentioned before, what we can learn from this pandemic which may be applied should another once-in-a-century pandemic happen in the next generation or many generations later, is around timing of implementation of lockdowns and the accompanying restrictions/bans on close-proximity gatherings, which includes but is not limited to public transport.
Oh all the things we could scrap for the parts of the country that are in a boat with the remaining Koch brother; roads, mail delivery, phone and internet coverage, television. We could kick them right back to the middle ages. Where they psychologically should feel right at their place.
Congratulations America
'I Teach At Oxford, But I Don’t Want It To Win The Coronavirus Vaccine Race'
This has to be one of the most abject moronic articles ever, wow: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ent...b6b2e5b83ba372
Surprising field for the professor.
Hope is the denial of reality
Air pollution: kills 8.8 million people a year
Covid 19: 188,437 confirmed deaths
Lewk: FUCK THOSE BUSES!
Last edited by Ominous Gamer; 04-23-2020 at 10:46 PM.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
As much as I'm enjoying reading studies—and thought-provoking discussions about them—I can't help but feel like there's an epidemic of particularly iffy science going on, one that has snared even some otherwise exceptional scientists. All these over-hyped preprints, gah.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
White parks matter.
Twitter Link
WTF?
It was planned from the beginning to go down like that. That lady is a crazy antivaxxer and "political activist". They already protested at the officers house too.
You're modern day lewk level attention whore.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
Twitter Link
Twitter Link
The president of the United States of America is a moron, and anyone who defends him is a jackass.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
I feel like now may be a good time for a lot of people to try to bury the hatchet and reconnect with their Fox-addled parents over a nice, relaxing Trump covid briefing. I think it might really help them understand one another.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Does anyone think people in Georgia are going to rush to gyms, nail salons, hair stylists/barbers, tattoo parlors, bowling alleys, restaurants and movie theaters just because they open before the recommended date? I'm sure some people will...but business won't magically return to normal.
If anything it could put workers in a bind since they can't continue to get unemployment if they've "refused" to return to work, even at reduced hours or pay, once the closure mandates are lifted. (Not sure if exceptions are given for covid19 -- that probably varies by state.)
And what happens when people on border states (with higher restrictions) travel across state lines to have a spa day, dine-in at a restaurant, take in a movie...and drive back home...likely bringing germs with them? That basically nullifies the stay-at-home orders altogether, rather like people crossing state lines to buy guns, and defeats the whole purpose of prevention. It will also make contact tracing more difficult.
I don't understand why some states can ignore science -- and even WH task force guidelines -- that put neighboring states at risk. <Kemp's orders won't even let localities have stricter policies, so much for local control.> It's not like the virus recognizes political boundaries or state lines. So what's *really* happening here?
Last edited by GGT; 04-24-2020 at 03:40 AM.