Media Coverage of COVID -19

[Richard Scott]

There are significant numbers of cases, and they are beginning to exert some pressure on hospitals - directly by beds occupied, and indirectly because of the control methods needed to stop spread.

Really, please provide actual figures and not percentages. Would think some of the pressure on NHS is now self inflicted, try getting a doctor's appointment. Much easier to go to A&E.

 

[102 fan]

After looking at their News page, the BBC is going to need grief Counselling now that restrictions are seemingly over.

 

[kristiang85]

After looking at their News page, the BBC is going to need grief Counselling now that restrictions are seemingly over.

Any word on Peston? He's probably on the verge of complete breakdown at this.

 

[greyman42]

James O'Brien on LBC still has not got over brexit yet so this could finish him off.

 

[kristiang85]

Any word on Peston? He's probably on the verge of complete breakdown at this.

Peston has slithered out of his hole. And, boy, he's hurting.

Most of us would sympathise with clubs, entertainment, events and other businesses forced to be closed or seriously restricted for so long. But equally there is no universal national clamour for them all to be reopened, as per next Monday’s big bang. So what some will see as shocking is the absence of any rigorous cost benefit analysis by government to compare the expected fourfold increase in hospitalisations, work absences, long covid treatment and other costs, new variant risks and so on against a few more weeks of compensation and support for clubs and other businesses reliant on socialising at close quarters. The unlocking decision is all about politics - Johnson’s conviction that we want it now - rather than any kind of rigorous economic or health analysis. It is a punt.

I replied that I want to see a rigourous cost benefit analysis of the restrictions on our lives and the economy for the past 16 months.

 

[Freightmaster]

Peston has slithered out of his hole. And, boy, he's hurting.

Most of us would sympathise with clubs, entertainment, events and other businesses forced to be closed or seriously restricted for so long. But equally there is no universal national clamour for them all to be reopened, as per next Monday’s big bang. So what some will see as shocking is the absence of any rigorous cost benefit analysis by government to compare the expected fourfold increase in hospitalisations, work absences, long covid treatment and other costs, new variant risks and so on against a few more weeks of compensation and support for clubs and other businesses reliant on socialising at close quarters. The unlocking decision is all about politics - Johnson’s conviction that we want it now - rather than any kind of rigorous economic or health analysis. It is a punt.

Talk about grasping at straws!!





MARK

 

[yorksrob]

Listening to Mr Nabarro of the World Health Organisation, it seems that that organisation is coming out in favour of infefinite restrictions, regardless of vaccination rates, citing long covid and as a primary reason. Apparently Governments should be "levelling with" their populations, and softening us up for a sort od semi-permanent dystopia of resrictions to "live with" the virus. Make of that what you will.

 

[DustyBin]

Talk about grasping at straws!!





MARK

That’s the full suite in one sentence there! In other words, be scared and do as you’re told you silly little people!

Listening to Mr Nabarro of the World Health Organisation, it seems that that organisation is coming out in favour of infefinite restrictions, regardless of vaccination rates, citing long covid and as a primary reason. Apparently Governments should be "levelling with" their populations, and softening us up for a sort od semi-permanent dystopia of resrictions to "live with" the virus. Make of that what you will.

Who knows but I’m not convinced this is entirely about the virus as I’ve said all along (except for the first couple of months of the pandemic when like most people I went along it). Lockdowns and restrictions fit nicely with other agendas, too much so to simply ignore it.

 

[greyman42]

I watched the 2100 news on the BBC news channel last night. It took 20 minutes before they covered the PM's announcement on the easing of restrictions and then covered it for little more than 5 minutes. Imagine if he had announced that all restrictions were to remain in place, it would have got most of the hour.

 

[35B]

Listening to Mr Nabarro of the World Health Organisation, it seems that that organisation is coming out in favour of infefinite restrictions, regardless of vaccination rates, citing long covid and as a primary reason. Apparently Governments should be "levelling with" their populations, and softening us up for a sort od semi-permanent dystopia of resrictions to "live with" the virus. Make of that what you will.

I make of it that an organisation focused on medicine takes a purely medical view of what's desirable. Governments need to listen to the advice, winnow it, and leave the dystopian stuff firmly on the shelf.

 

[DustyBin]

I make of it that an organisation focused on medicine takes a purely medical view of what's desirable. Governments need to listen to the advice, winnow it, and leave the dystopian stuff firmly on the shelf.

I agree with your final sentence (not often I say that! ) but will they? Unfortunately a significant number of people are only interested in the medical side of covid which is why I’ve been opposed to continuing restrictions ever since the end of the first lockdown.

 

[35B]

I agree with your final sentence (not often I say that! ) but will they? Unfortunately a significant number of people are only interested in the medical side of covid which is why I’ve been opposed to continuing restrictions ever since the end of the first lockdown.

I'm glad we agree on something Even if my view is that the government were right to impose this year's measures, and the timing of the 19th July relaxation is reasonable.

 

[initiation]

There is an article on BBC trending at the moment (I won't link to it as I don't want to drive more hits on it) about a bereaved covid survivor questioning lockdown easing.

While I feel sorry for the chap
- his wife died in December, well before the vaccine roll out got in to swing.
- they were in their 70s, an age when people do regularly. Vaccine up take in the elderly is not far off 100%.
- we are not 'rushing' out of lockdown as he suggests, we are at the end of a very, very slow 5+ month process


When will the media stop these scare stories? When will they have trending articles about business owners or whoever saying they are pleased that restrictions are ending.

 

[brad465]

Here we go, a story talking fear about winter viruses rising alongside covid:

Medics fear surge in winter viruses alongside Covid

A potential triple whammy of viruses prompts calls for more testing to reduce spread this autumn.

www.bbc.co.uk

A surge in flu and other respiratory viruses could put pressure on people's health and the NHS this winter, warns a report by leading medics.
They say testing for flu, Covid and a respiratory virus common in children and the elderly - called RSV - may help doctors treat cases more quickly.
The Academy of Medical Sciences report calls for people with any symptoms to isolate and stay at home.
This will help protect against all respiratory viruses this winter.
The report, by 29 leading experts and requested by the government, says there is great uncertainty about what the next few months will hold across the UK, but it urges policymakers to prepare for a challenging winter.

Comeback of winter viruses​

During lockdown last winter, the UK population was hardly exposed to the viruses which normally circulate. But they are now set to make a comeback as restrictions lift and society opens up.
Already this summer, there has been a rise in winter viruses in children coming to A&E.
Report author Prof Azra Ghani, from Imperial College London, says their modelling suggests a summer peak of Covid-19 infections "with subsequent local outbreaks over winter".
But "we can't completely rule out another winter wave", she said.
"Whilst we expect the peak in deaths to be considerably lower than last winter, under some scenarios we could see hospital admissions rise to similar levels."

In a worst-case scenario this could mean around twice the levels of flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as a normal autumn and winter, the report says.
There are between 10,000 and 30,000 deaths from flu in a normal winter, and about 20,000 children under five are admitted to hospital each year with RSV, which can cause a lung infection called bronchiolitis.

The reality here is we seem to think we are above nature and can/should go to great lengths to stop infections/deaths. We are not though and these things are inevitable. The best we can do is invest in resourcing the NHS properly, both in staff numbers and facilities, as the NHS has been overwhelmed every winter.

 

[kristiang85]

IT's getting clear that, despite us being taxed handsomely for it, the NHS is not fit for purpose and the onus is on us to bail it out; not the government or its completely ineffective, bloated middle management.

 

[Bantamzen]

IT's getting clear that, despite us being taxed handsomely for it, the NHS is not fit for purpose and the onus is on us to bail it out; not the government or its completely ineffective, bloated middle management.

Right then, time to get all the pensioners doing laps around their gardens, bungalows, flats, care homes.....

Maybe a bit of pot banging might help too?

 

[initiation]

Right then, time to get all the pensioners doing laps around their gardens, bungalows, flats, care homes.....

Maybe a bit of pot banging might help too?

To be fair, if everyone - including pensioners - did a little bit more exercise, the nation's health and the NHS would be quite a bit better.

 

[philosopher]

There is an article on BBC trending at the moment (I won't link to it as I don't want to drive more hits on it) about a bereaved covid survivor questioning lockdown easing.

While I feel sorry for the chap
- his wife died in December, well before the vaccine roll out got in to swing.
- they were in their 70s, an age when people do regularly. Vaccine up take in the elderly is not far off 100%.
- we are not 'rushing' out of lockdown as he suggests, we are at the end of a very, very slow 5+ month process


When will the media stop these scare stories? When will they have trending articles about business owners or whoever saying they are pleased that restrictions are ending.

The BBC’s reporting of Covid 19 I have found particularly bad. I can get the Guardian being very pro restriction and only reporting news that suggests heavy restrictions are required as they are private newspaper and so are not subject to impartially rules. However the BBC I thought were supposed to be impartial so should they not be reporting both sides of the argument.

 

[102 fan]

Here we go, a story talking fear about winter viruses rising alongside covid:

Medics fear surge in winter viruses alongside Covid

A potential triple whammy of viruses prompts calls for more testing to reduce spread this autumn.

www.bbc.co.uk

The reality here is we seem to think we are above nature and can/should go to great lengths to stop infections/deaths. We are not though and these things are inevitable. The best we can do is invest in resourcing the NHS properly, both in staff numbers and facilities, as the NHS has been overwhelmed every winter.

As soon as I read 'could' I stopled reading. Any news article that has 'could', 'might' or 'suggest' can be safely ignored.

 

[yorksrob]

The truth is, there probably will be a surge of respiratory conditions in winter.

Our lack of exposure to the seasonal viruses has been caused by lockdown.
Heart conditions exacerbated by sedentary lifestyles have been exacerbated by lockdown.

When the cost/benefit evaluation of the lockdown policy is finally done, these need to be firmly in the cost column.

 

[Darandio]

The truth is, there probably will be a surge of respiratory conditions in winter.

Our lack of exposure to the seasonal viruses has been caused by lockdown.
Heart conditions exacerbated by sedentary lifestyles have been exacerbated by lockdown.

When the cost/benefit evaluation of the lockdown policy is finally done, these need to be firmly in the cost column.

Funny you mention that right now, this is loosely related. Schools are distributing/emailing NHS leaflets because they believe there will be a surge of Bronchiolitis in August rather than winter and in larger numbers. Normally it affects babies on the whole but they anticipate it may affect school age children more this year, presumably because we've spent 18 months trying to deny them an immune system.

 

[102 fan]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-57846210

Some 520,194 alerts were sent to users of the NHS Covid-19 app in England in the week to July 7 with another 9,932 sent in Wales

Are the BBC getting so desperate to scaremonger they're now reporting on the app pinging?

 

[35B]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-57846210

'Some 520,194 alerts were sent to users of the NHS Covid-19 app in England in the week to July 7 with another 9,932 sent in Wales'

Are the BBC getting so desperate to scaremonger they're now reporting on the app pinging?

It's odd - I read that story as suggesting the impact that alerts are now having on factories. If I hadn't already, it would be encouraging me to remove the app from my phone.

 

[greyman42]

Watching the BBC News yesterday, i noticed they have stopped announcing and putting the graph up for daily hospitalisation figures. Presumably because they don't think they are bad enough?

 

[Simon11]

It's odd - I read that story as suggesting the impact that alerts are now having on factories. If I hadn't already, it would be encouraging me to remove the app from my phone.

I’m with you- why have the app on your phone if there is no law to have it and all the issues it causes. What major benefits are there to people keeping it on? Are these people isolating getting full pay?

 

[yorksrob]

Funny you mention that right now, this is loosely related. Schools are distributing/emailing NHS leaflets because they believe there will be a surge of Bronchiolitis in August rather than winter and in larger numbers. Normally it affects babies on the whole but they anticipate it may affect school age children more this year, presumably because we've spent 18 months trying to deny them an immune system.

I've got a friend from work with a one year old who's currently getting every bug going around in succession. On the plus side, one of them is chicken pox, so it gets it out of the way.

 

[westv]

I've got a friend from work with a one year old who's currently getting every bug going around in succession. On the plus side, one of them is chicken pox, so it gets it out of the way.

I didn't get chickenpox until my 20s. Caught it off an office colleague who's daughter had it. Didn't even realise I had it until my mum pointed out a rash.

 

[NorthKent1989]

They won’t give up will they? So desperate to keep us under lockdown for a 99% survival rate virus!

COVID-19: UK 'not out of the woods yet' and pandemic 'has got a long way to run', Professor Chris Whitty warns

"I don't think we should underestimate the fact that we could get into trouble again surprisingly fast," Professor Chris Whitty warns, as he says people should approach the end of most restrictions on Monday with caution.

news.sky.com

Professor Chris Whitty said the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 is doubling around every three weeks and could hit "quite scary numbers" if that trend is sustained.

"I don't think we should underestimate the fact that we could get into trouble again surprisingly fast," he told a webinar hosted by the Science Museum.

 

[yorksrob]

I didn't get chickenpox until my 20s. Caught it off an office colleague who's daughter had it. Didn't even realise I had it until my mum pointed out a rash.

TBH, I don't even know if I've had it !

 

[Andyh82]

My local click bait paper is going one step further and regularly tweeting this

https://twitter.com/examiner/status/1415794365671280643?s=21

England could be heading back into lockdown in 5 weeks says Chris Whitty