After dark virus, its a new variant that will require 127 added boosters over the course of 126 days.
The majority of self employed dont really have a choice. I know of nearly a dozen who were or are covid positive and still went/going to work.
I certainly wouldn't blame them for that, Bob, particularly if they're not showing any symptoms. if the rest of us are jabbed then there shouldn't be that much to fear.
One of my lads is positive, very mild symptoms, similar to a cold. Just sent him to an empty property to work. Some dont have that luxury though. I think isolation will become a thing of the past soon.
This lateral flow test being as good as a PCR is rubbish... The real reason we are changing to lateral flows is that PCR are logged in, and recorded... anyone can take a lateral flow, and you don't have to record the result. We are number fiddling again
As I understand it the hospitals are by nowhere near as full as this time last year, but the fear is that Omicron’s higher transmission rate will hospitalise a great number in a shorter period of time, albeit maybe stays will be shorter? If that’s correct then why not recreate the Nightingale Hospitals? Surely this must be a cheaper option than the current impact on the economy caused by all these unnecessary isolations. If the current policy is to protect the presently overrated NHS then won’t that alleviate the problem and allow more of us to go about our business? Catching a Covid variant at some stage is an inevitability after all, or do we all need another three jabs per annum ad infinitum?
The Nightingale hospitals would need nurses and doctors to work in them, though. It's probably more the lack of staff than the lack of beds that's the problem for the NHS at the moment.
The NHS is close to breaking point due to lack of staff as much as space cons. Nightingale hospitals cannot be adequately staffed at moment. So not an answer The persistent running down of the NHS over the last decade has caused that lack of recruitment..
I remember years ago under the Blair government that they said it was at 'breaking point'. I think Beth has made a mistake just saying 'last decade'. They have thrown money over money at the NHS and it still has problems. Time for a re think and get it sorted properly.
NHS funding increased massively under Blair, but has fallen away in the last decade under the Tories. NHS spending as a percentage of GDP: 1950 – 2020 | The Nuffield Trust
I am quoting the Kings Fund, which monitors such things Ellers. Discarding the last two years and the purely Covid related funding ( nightingale hospitals, vaccine rollout)... this is what the Kings Fund state. During the period of austerity that followed the 2008 economic crash, the Department of Health and Social Care budget continued to grow but at a slower pace than in previous years. Budgets rose by 1.4 per cent each year on average (adjusting for inflation) in the 10 years between 2009/10 to 2018/19, compared to the 3.7 per cent average rises since the NHS was established
We managed to adequately staff these Nightingales when we didn’t have the vaccines and sufficient PPE and ended up not using them much (if at all).
They weren't used because there were insufficient staff and no ventilators. It was a brilliant job to build them, but they forgot to staff and equip them.
