NWR new zero tolerance covid thread

Prof John Edmunds noted on C4 News (7pm show today) that South Africa's population is largely immune to the Delta variant due to a combination of infection and vaccination, and that since Omicron is spreading rapidly there it suggests reinfection of those who've had it or been vaccinated is likely.

To me that sounds like reformulated vaccines will be needed soon.
 
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My Randox test at home PCR Day Two tests have been despatched via DPD apparently, so I am now more confident that I will receive them on time. Of course there's every chance we'll need day 8 tests too by the time we get to it (as the UK Govt. is being pressed for this by the Scottish and Welsh administrations).

One thing: Randox prefers you to return tests via their drop-box service. But you are also supposed to isolate until a negative result has been received, so I guess I will have to 'nip out' to do that, maybe after a lateral flow test at home. Otherwise I have to arrange someone else to drop the tests off? It's all very confusing.....
 
Martin Zwick said:
www.theguardian.com

The life and tragic death of John Eyers – a fitness fanatic who refused the vaccine

He did triathlons, bodybuilding and mountain climbing and became sceptical of the Covid jab. Then, at 42, he contracted the virus
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
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Very sad.

Though in this article, it asks:
"How do you explain how a supremely fit 42-year-old man died of a disease typically thought to afflict older people or those with underlying conditions?"

The problem is that 'supremely fit' does not equal 'healthy'. In the past 4 weeks, there are several bodybuilding champions either die or hospitalised from heart attack in their 40s. Human species evolution did not generate a body to have 3% body fat (see that competition photo), over average skeleton muscle, doing extreme level excercise, at the same time keep all the organ function perfectly well in their 40s, unless you are the lucky minority in human gene pool. Not to mention all sorts of "substances" body builders use. And I wonder how many "juice" users are anti-vaxxers. I heard that there are quite a bit, based on fitness forums. Note I am not saying this poor man used anabolic steroids, but if anyone in their 40s does, they actually are in higher risk than other 40s people, independent from their genetics.
 
I do think there should be much more emphasis on a healthy lifestyle and diet. I put as little into my body as possible, and even when I had Covid I stayed clear of pharmaceutical drugs like paracetamol & ibuprofen.

Healthy whole food diet, plenty of exercise and a few vitamin supplements when run down works for me. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been ill in the last 10 years.

Unfortunately we are a very unhealthy society on the whole which no doubt has had an impact on the number of adverse reactions to Covid.
 
Dom Shepherd said:
I do think there should be much more emphasis on a healthy lifestyle and diet. I put as little into my body as possible, and even when I had Covid I stayed clear of pharmaceutical drugs like paracetamol & ibuprofen.

Healthy whole food diet, plenty of exercise and a few vitamin supplements when run down works for me. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been ill in the last 10 years.

Unfortunately we are a very unhealthy society on the whole which no doubt has had an impact on the number of adverse reactions to Covid.
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Indeed. I fast 1-2 days a week, only water. Every week! In addition I also reduced my alcohol consumption.
 
Jeremy Caan said:
Prof John Edmunds noted on C4 News (7pm show today) that South Africa's population is largely immune to the Delta variant due to a combination of infection and vaccination, and that since Omicron is spreading rapidly there it suggests reinfection of those who've had it or been vaccinated is likely.

To me that sounds like reformulated vaccines will be needed soon.
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But are they getting very ill with it? Vaccines were never particularly effective at preventing one catching it.

Edit: this maybe offers an answer (although the stats aren't strong here):
1638288051137.png
 
But then only 40% have had one jab in the province, so again it's pretty much impossible to draw any conclusions on likely hospitalisation rates because of the variant in the UK. It's so compelling to try to guess where this is going, but I think all the advice that it will take weeks to really know is probably correct.
 
Scots have had compulsory mask wearing for the past few months while England has not - public transport and retail, plus bars, restaurants (when not eating or drinking), theatres, cinemas, etc.

I'm a mask wearer and will 100% remain so, but I am rather surprised that infection rates and the R number for Scotland is not dramatically different from England overall. I guess masks are not enough on their own to make a dramatic difference.

Some vox pops on the lunchtime news were defiantly not wearing masks because they'd 'had enough'. I cannot see it as a major inconvenience, and if they have *any* effect on reducing the spread, it is just such an easy thing with which to comply.
 
Alex Lake said:
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The tricky part of it is that, even Omicron variant indeed has less virulence... as long as it transmits more, it can still cause problem in the end, depends on the balance between the two.
Say it will produce 30% less hospitalisation, but it produces 50% more infected cases during certain period of time, you will still have more hospitalisation than before. Plus the infected case number increase ratio will only go up through time if this variant has an increased R value.

That's without considering vaccination. Since this variant also might decrease effectiveness of vaccine, this virulence reduction (if there is any) in vaccinated group could be reversed. Or, since it's less virulent already, it still might not cause much trouble in vaccinated people. We cannot tell at the moment. Again, adding vaccine factor makes it very difficult to calculate and predict the outcome.
 
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Tom Cannavan said:
Scots have had compulsory mask wearing for the past few months while England has not - public transport and retail, plus bars, restaurants (when not eating or drinking), theatres, cinemas, etc.

I'm a mask wearer and will 100% remain so, but I am rather surprised that infection rates and the R number for Scotland is not dramatically different from England overall. I guess masks are not enough on their own to make a dramatic difference.

Some vox pops on the lunchtime news were defiantly not wearing masks because they'd 'had enough'. I cannot see it as a major inconvenience, and if they have *any* effect on reducing the spread, it is just such an easy thing with which to comply.
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Even if masks bring an 18% rather than 53% reduction in infection, at a population level this is worth having.
www.theguardian.com

With Covid studies, the quality of the evidence matters | David Spiegelhalter and Anthony Masters

Putting many low-quality studies together cannot provide reliable answers about masks and ivermectin
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
My Randox PCR tests have arrived.I wondered if anyone who has previously self-administered these has tips on making sure the sample is valid and is not 'inconclusive' requiring another test? Any techniques or tips worth bearing in mind?
 
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