Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Sheilbh]

Covid is still so weird though. I was out with friends at the weekend - we'd generally all avoided earlier waves but as I say the omicron wave just seems to be mopping up everyone.

On a table of six people two had covid about a month ago, me and another person had it two weeks ago. Weirdly her boyfriend who was also there didn't catch it even though they lived together - but he tested positive today. Similarly one of the guys I know had it a month ago but his girlfriend - again, who he lives with - had it over Christmas and he never tested positive then. It's really weird. The same happened with my mum and dad over Christmas. My dad tested positive and had some symptoms, my mum never tested positive But basically on that table of six all of us have had covid in the last month or have it now.

Also more and more people I know are getting it again - for them it is super mild and basically just a cold second time round - but these are people who had it last year or over Christmas who are then getting it again in this wave.

It is a shame the vaccines - brilliant as they are at reducing the severity incredibly - don't have that big an impact on transmission.

Edit: And similar in work actually - almost every call I'm on there's someone who has just had covid or just tested positive etc (my company is providing lateral flow tests and still has a don't come in if you've tested positive policy, but generally people just work form home).

[garbon]

Why? It's not an especially dangerous disease if you're vaccinated?

Not death but having people call out sick. Even in my professional office based life, we are having some problems with staffing with the amount of people calling out sick with COVID.

[Threviel]

Why? It's not an especially dangerous disease if you're vaccinated?

Not death but having people call out sick. Even in my professional office based life, we are having some problems with staffing with the amount of people calling out sick with COVID.

Yeah, but the same goes for the common cold or the flu or various other horrible shit. Hopefully work from home will allow people to work more from home when sick, but I'm not expected (nor do I want) to stay at home unless I'm feverish or bed-ridden.

So I don't see the problem with Covid, go to work if you're well enough regardless of what the covid tests show. Just like with any other disease.

[Tamas]

So I don't see the problem with Covid, go to work if you're well enough regardless of what the covid tests show. Just like with any other disease.

Yeah but this is the BS that needs to stop with all illnesses where it's possible (i.e. where one can work from home). I do NOT wish to be suffering with severe cold for two weeks just because a colleague felt like they'd be bored working from home.

[Threviel]

Yeah, agreed.

[crazy canuck]

Highest infection rates in UK since April 2020.

What?

That's a very weird stat because in April 2020 we barely had any testing. I assume it just means since mass testing/surveillance started because I think we've basically had higher infection rates than April 2020 since April 2020

I think the point being made it is the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic.

[Admiral Yi]

Around here all the sit down restaurants are fully open but all the fast food places are drive through only.  Kind of odd.

[Admiral Yi]

Masking rate has been ticking up here.  Used to c. 5% at the supermercado, today more like 20%.

[DGuller]

Masking rate has been ticking up here.  Used to c. 5% at the supermercado, today more like 20%.

I noticed that as well, masking rate in the supermarket today seems to have gone up considerably.  Did I miss some news about the new wave starting?

[viper37]

So I don't see the problem with Covid, go to work if you're well enough regardless of what the covid tests show. Just like with any other disease.

LIke Tamas said, this shouldn't be standard policy, even if it's the flu, people should stay home or at least isolate themselves at work if they absolutely need to be there and wear a mask.  these things at least work for the common cold and flu.

[Threviel]

So I don't see the problem with Covid, go to work if you're well enough regardless of what the covid tests show. Just like with any other disease.

LIke Tamas said, this shouldn't be standard policy, even if it's the flu, people should stay home or at least isolate themselves at work if they absolutely need to be there and wear a mask.  these things at least work for the common cold and flu.

If you're sick with the flu you ain't well enough to work and if you're well enough with a flu to work you ain't spreading it very much...

But yeah, you're correct. In my line of work I will work from home in the future when sick when I earlier always went to work if I could.

All well and good for us desk jockeys and labourers in civilised coountries, but I wouldn't want to be a labourer in an anglo-saxon country calling in sick with a cold...

[Tamas]

If you're sick with the flu you ain't well enough to work and if you're well enough with a flu to work you ain't spreading it very much...

Can you then please explain how diseases spread in modern society? It sounds like they cannot possibly.

[Threviel]

If you're sick with the flu you ain't well enough to work and if you're well enough with a flu to work you ain't spreading it very much...

Can you then please explain how diseases spread in modern society? It sounds like they cannot possibly.

Normally a cold or a flu spreads mostly in the days leading up to the disease, when you might not even know you are infected, or in the early phases when you are sick and should be at home. When the disease has blown over and you get well enough to work again you probably won't infect anyone.

And this with all the regular sensible caveats...

In short: Stay at home when sick, when not sick go to work. Which is different from "Stay at home when infected..." since we are normally not aware of any infections until we get sick.

[Sheilbh]

Striking update from EasyJet - summer bookings are currently ahead of where they were in 2019. I really thought travel and air travel especially would take a little longer to recover

[Tamas]

Striking update from EasyJet - summer bookings are currently ahead of where they were in 2019. I really thought travel and air travel especially would take a little longer to recover

I guess with built-up savings people had the choice of paying back credit card debts/mortgages or splurging it on holidays, and they have made their choice.