Coronavirus update - NO MORE RESTRICTIONS

[The Lone Gunman]

Probably the same all over the country.

I called into the M&S on Queen Street on my way home from work at around 4:00pm. There was a small queue to get into the food hall as numbers were being carefully monitored, but I was in the queue for two minutes tops. There were a few more people inside than I'd anticipated, but it wasn't too bad at all.

What struck me was just how much food is going to go to waste. The shelves were very well stocked with everything, but the expiry dates on most items weren't far away. I guess they'd bought lots of stock in anticipation of being busy in the lead-up to Christmas, but the latest lockdown (if it can be described as such) has put paid to that.

There must be loads of food shops in towns and city centres all over Wales that are in similar situations right now. So much food is going to have to be binned due to the closures of the shops classified as non-essential.

[Baloo]

I called into the M&S on Queen Street on my way home from work at around 4:00pm. There was a small queue to get into the food hall as numbers were being carefully monitored, but I was in the queue for two minutes tops. There were a few more people inside than I'd anticipated, but it wasn't too bad at all.

What struck me was just how much food is going to go to waste. The shelves were very well stocked with everything, but the expiry dates on most items weren't far away. I guess they'd bought lots of stock in anticipation of being busy in the lead-up to Christmas, but the latest lockdown (if it can be described as such) has put paid to that.

There must be loads of food shops in towns and city centres all over Wales that are in similar situations right now. So much food is going to have to be binned due to the closures of the shops classified as non-essential.

I think large food stores often have surplus stock redistribution schemes with local charities these days. But no idea if these are up and running in the current climate.

[Hilts]

When the UK needed a PM who was responsible, empathetic and accountable, we got a flip flopping, narcissist who resembles a Jim Davidson tribute act.

Plus he gave jobs to his pro brexit loony pals.

Completely out of their depth.

[Baloo]

Would have thought the 11,000 added on in one day would have had an effect on something like that.

OK, cheers.

[The Bloop]

No one is going to stop anyone acting as they wish over Christmas but people living in Manchester are being told if they've been in Wales they should self-isolate for 10 days and act as if they have the virus. Regardless of what people think about the politicians, or the ex-rugby players giving their "expertise", Wales is absolutely fecked if people continue to act like covid doesn't exist or doesn't need attention.

Dont forget that all the kids who finished school early should be isolating for 10 days to reduce the risks to their elderly relatives on Christmas day. That seems to have been forgotten about, and judging by the family groups my wife saw in the supermarket at the weekend, forgotten by the kids and their parents aswell.

[life on mars]

Would have thought the 11,000 added on in one day would have had an effect on something like that.

Wasnt this 11k spike down go a backlog of test data over a longer period of time, due to some computer glitch ??

And are we testing more effectively now than before?

[LeningradCowboy]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-55419564

Nicola Sturgeon broke Covid rules at funeral

[Hilts]

Tier 1 moving to 2 and more in Tier 4 in England.

Im glad Drakeford put us all in Tier 4.

May not be popular where its lower but this is spreading fast

[lisvaneblue]

Tier 1 moving to 2 and more in Tier 4 in England.

Im glad Drakeford put us all in Tier 4.

May not be popular where its lower but this is spreading fast

Perhaps not everyone agreesC64CBDF8-DB5E-4971-90E8-61C3CFC47362.jpg

[Vindec]

The figures are getting worse nationwide and rising exponentially. The whole country should be in tier4 or even full lockdown and Xmas should be forgotten about. Drakeford definitely did the right thing but he must have done that in light of the fact the situation in Wales is worse than anywhere else in the UK.

The third strain of the virus originating in South Africa is yet another potential setback and even more reason for additional stringent restrictions.

[life on mars]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55410349

Ooooh has our Tony got a point.

Ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair is urging the government to give as many people as possible an initial dose of a Covid vaccine - rather than preserving stocks so there is enough for second jabs.

[lisvaneblue]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55410349

Ooooh has our Tony got a point.

Ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair is urging the government to give as many people as possible an initial dose of a Covid vaccine - rather than preserving stocks so there is enough for second jabs.

Good old Tony. Perhaps he's forgotten that the license as issued by the MHRA is for use of the vaccine as proven in trials ie two doses at regulated interval between first and final dose. To use as he suggested would probably be 'off license use' therefore the person authorising would be responsible for any problems occurring.

Surprised that a lawyer would make such off the cuff comments. There again there was a rumour that he talked up that Saddam had enough firepower to make him threat to our security.

[cyril evans awaydays]

Good old Tony. Perhaps he's forgotten that the license as issued by the MHRA is for use of the vaccine as proven in trials ie two doses at regulated interval between first and final dose. To use as he suggested would probably be 'off license use' therefore the person authorising would be responsible for any problems occurring.

Surprised that a lawyer would make such off the cuff comments. There again there was a rumour that he talked up that Saddam had enough firepower to make him threat to our security.

I am sure that there could be a number of reasons why Blair's idea would fall foul of practical reasons and MHRA processes. Surely WMD wouldn't be one of them though unless you were, what's the phrase, "playing with politics" of course.

[Tuerto]

I am sure that there could be a number of reasons why Blair's idea would fall foul of practical reasons and MHRA processes. Surely WMD wouldn't be one of them though unless you were, what's the phrase, "playing with politics" of course.

Oh, go on then, The Tories supported the Invasion as well.

[xsnaggle]

Oh, go on then, The Tories supported the Invasion as well.

Had to bite, didn't ya?

[life on mars]

Who knows, i'd be interested to know what scientific evidence Blair has to back up his claim. How effective and for how long would one shot be? And how soon after would people need the second shot, or would that go back to being the first shot, as the one before had expired. So many questions..

The theory has some support from the world of health see below however it comes with a caveat at the end :

"""His proposal was backed up by Professor David Salisbury, the man in charge of immunisation at the Department of Health until 2013.

He told Today the numbers were "straightforward".

"You give one dose you get 91% [protection] you give two doses and you get 95% - you are only gaining 4% for giving the second dose," he said.

"With current circumstances, I would strongly urge you to use as many first doses as you possibly can for risk groups and only after you have done all of that come back with second doses."

However, he acknowledged this would be harder to do with the Oxford University vaccine, where the efficacy of two doses is 60%.""

[lisvaneblue]

The theory has some support from the world of health see below however it comes with a caveat at the end :

"""His proposal was backed up by Professor David Salisbury, the man in charge of immunisation at the Department of Health until 2013.

He told Today the numbers were "straightforward".

"You give one dose you get 91% [protection] you give two doses and you get 95% - you are only gaining 4% for giving the second dose," he said.

"With current circumstances, I would strongly urge you to use as many first doses as you possibly can for risk groups and only after you have done all of that come back with second doses."

However, he acknowledged this would be harder to do with the Oxford University vaccine, where the efficacy of two doses is 60%.""

It's all very well for people who've not got direct responsibility to make comments, but in the UK then only people with all the data are Pfizer and the MHRA. The go ahead for a two dose schedule was given by the MHRA and that is the licensed product.
If there is merit in one dose then MHRA would have to approve it otherwise it would be deemed unlicensed use of the product, and should anything go wrong Pfizer would have no responsibility. Indeed the responsibility for use of an unlicensed product usually rests with the prescriber, and such should only be used when there is no clinical alternative.

When you weigh up the length of time it might take to get approval for a one dose vaccine when all those in the pipeline seems to be based on two dose regime anyhow, then it does not seem a practical alternative for what is a short term problem.

Currently Wales share of the Pfizer vaccine alone is enough to cover 1m of the population with two doses. ( ie 5% of 40m doses) Currently the problem is that we are only giving 12,000 injections a week in Wales and unless that steps up rapidly, with second injections needed soon for the groups who have had their first, we are only protecting 6,000 people a week

[goats]

The theory has some support from the world of health see below however it comes with a caveat at the end :

"""His proposal was backed up by Professor David Salisbury, the man in charge of immunisation at the Department of Health until 2013.

He told Today the numbers were "straightforward".

"You give one dose you get 91% [protection] you give two doses and you get 95% - you are only gaining 4% for giving the second dose," he said.

"With current circumstances, I would strongly urge you to use as many first doses as you possibly can for risk groups and only after you have done all of that come back with second doses."

However, he acknowledged this would be harder to do with the Oxford University vaccine, where the efficacy of two doses is 60%.""

Isn’t half a dose, then a whole one of the Oxford vaccine producing 92%? Surely this with its far simpler rollout is the one we need to roll out ASAP. Let’s hope the rumours of this happening in January and Feb are true

[Eric Cartman]

Glad that Rishi managed to get out of tier 4 the day before so he could secure himself a nice relaxing break

[Baloo]

What a mess.

Over 500 MPs couldn’t get into today's “all MPs meeting” about the Covid emergency. Then it was “ended by host”.

Still no answers on vaccine strategy, financial support or exiting Tier 4.

The meeting was run by the minister responsible for logistics... pic.twitter.com/N8Lt2jLodt

— Nadia Whittome MP (@NadiaWhittomeMP) December 23, 2020

[the other bob wilson]

ONS estimating that one in sixty had Covid in Wales last week - surely those figures suggest the new variant is prevalent in this country already?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55437183

[A Quiet Monkfish]

ONS estimating that one in sixty had Covid in Wales last week - surely those figures suggest the new variant is prevalent in this country already?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55437183

2+2=5

[lisvaneblue]

ONS estimating that one in sixty had Covid in Wales last week - surely those figures suggest the new variant is prevalent in this country already?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55437183

It may be the new variant, it may be people ignoring the rules, it may be both. Our FM said that for Christmas Day only you can visit one other household, but no overnight stays.

Of the five houses directly opposite where I live, two households have gone away for Christmas, and a third household has guests staying over Christmas.

Small sample but it shows just 40% compliance with the rules. No wonder it's spreading.

[surge]

Coronavirus: Fresh air 'forgotten weapon' in fight: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55435914

But Dr Hughes - who has become known as "Dr Fresh Air" for his campaigning on the issue - believes it should say "hands, space, face, replace.

He says replacing stale air in a room with fresh air from outside can massively reduce the chances of people becoming infected.

Dr Fitzgerald says it is not about throwing every window open wide all day, but making sure there's enough of a crack to let in fresh air.

And the answer is to add another layer.

"I'd recommend wearing a woolly jumper rather than just a short-sleeved top.

"But that's what we should be doing anyway, to save on heating bills and reduce our energy demand as we all do our bit to tackle climate change."

Dr Hughes says airing rooms for a few minutes several times a day won't lose much heat but will keep people safer.

And his idea for a Christmas gift? Thermal underwear.

[caerkid]

The FT charts (not pretty reading for Wales) show that something dramatic happened at the start of December to make Wales' figures sky rocket. Guess that was either the relaxing after the firebreak or the new strain :
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart