depends infection rates in unvaccinated groups (particularly those that haven't had the option to be vaccinated due to age) is still relevant I think
New Variants thrive in mass infections. Infection rates will surge dramatically once we re open. Meanwhile at Wembley.... Allam’s OUT.
They haven't here in Sweden and we didn't close.....the sky is still up, the ground is still down and we are all getting vaccines.
Yes - you are correct. However, the critical bit of info is 80%+ off all people who test positive are asymptomatic. Infections are up, illness is down. The vaccine is doing exactly what it’s designed to do. The shows over, time to get back to normal…..
Heard today that kids are using cola and orange juice to get false positive tests, unbelievable. Apparently it's true. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/how-tell-your-child-used-20969388
As expected, pretty much all restrictions are lifted from the 19th. Get those memberships up online City.
I doubt it I’ve just emailed them and told them to hold off another week or two cos I wanna move seats And get the pick before all the ingrates return
Javid’s spent too much time listening to the CRG. Either that or he’s just seen the social care reforms and wants to trim down numbers. Wait till Autumn. Allam’s OUT.
Good on em Hull professor reveals how children are faking positive Covid tests Cola and orange have been used by kids to fake results A Tik Tok craze which has seen school children across the country boasting about creating fake positive Covid tests to bunk off school has been tested by a leading Hull science professor. Mark Lorch, professor of Science Communication and Chemistry at the University of Hull, has published an article on global news forum The Conversation in which he explains how children have been able to fool parents and teachers by faking lateral flow test results. And more importantly - he has learnt how to uncover a fake. Read more: One of the region's biggest secondary schools has just one year group in lessons due to Covid He wrote: "Children are always going to find cunning ways to bunk off school, and the latest trick is to fake a positive COVID-19 lateral flow test (LFT) using soft drinks. "So how are fruit juices, cola and devious kids fooling the tests and is there a way to tell a fake positive result from a real one? I’ve tried to find out. To sign up for the Hull Live newsletter,click here. "First, I thought it best to check the claims, so I cracked open bottles of cola and orange juice, then deposited a few drops directly onto LFTs. "Sure enough, a few minutes later, two lines appeared on each test, supposedly indicating the presence of the virus that causes COVID-19." In a highly-scientific explanation that few who do not wear lab coats would understand, he explains that the highly acidic drinks seem to cause this 'positive' result due to antibodies in the test becoming "disrupted" and no longer functioning correctly. He said: "There’s all sorts of stuff in the snot and saliva collected by the swabs you take from the nose and mouth, and the antibodies totally ignore this mess of protein, other viruses and remains of your breakfast. So they aren’t going to react to the ingredients of a soft drink. "A much more likely explanation is that something in the drinks is affecting the function of the antibodies. A range of fluids, from fruit juice to cola, have been used to fool the tests, but they all have one thing in common – they are highly acidic." However, he has discovered that 'washing' the test in the buffering solution that comes with the LFT tests returns the test to its true result. "Maintaining an ideal pH for the antibodies is key to the correct function of the test, and that’s the job of the liquid buffer solution that you mix your sample with, provided with the test. "The critical role of the buffer is highlighted by the fact that if you mix cola with the buffer...then the LFTs behave exactly as you’d expect: negative for COVID-19.
50K infections a day imminent. Doubling every fortnight...thanks to Boris. The NHS will cope...yer? Allam’s OUT.
It's the local Case rate per 100,000 people for 7–day period ending on 1 July 2021: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map/cases
I have to say, while I'm looking forward to a bit more freedom, I'm quite happy to continue as we are at the moment until everything is in order. Unless you're going to make vaccines mandatory, you'll always have a decent proportion of unnecessarily vulnerable people and of course if a more lethal strain comes along that can sidestep the vaccine (rare but not impossible), we're in big trouble. The other thing to remember is that a vaccine isn't a cure, it merely reduces symptoms in most cases. You can absolutely still get ill and suffer the effects of "long covid", and you can absolutely still transmit the virus if it's on your person. Is the answer to lock down every time? No, that's not practical. Is the answer to chuck everything out the window, beat our chests and say "by god we're British, we won't roll over to this"? No, that's idiotic. As much of a pain in the arse as mask wearing is, it's very much preferable to increasing the risk of making others ill. I'll still be doing it even after the restrictions are lifted, I see no reason not to. My biggest worry is that the death toll will become just a number that people get used to, instead of the painful reminder of ineptitude we've had to endure for the last 18 months and the tragic loss of life to those families. Throwing Hancock under the bus isn't going to wash their hands of this, but it's doubtful that anybody will be held to account because, to put it in a teacher's analogy, when you mark your own homework, you always get an A. I'm hoping the lessons learned from this will be that people take hygiene more seriously and are more conscious of other people, but somehow I doubt it.
Hearing of lots of cases where people are unwell (throat, fatigue, etc) and are using lateral flows daily and it being negative. Then, they go for a PCR and it returns positive.
These test kits seem to have been proven to be as near useless as is reasonably possible,it's no coincidence that they're being handed out by the box load?
