COVID-19: Back to the Future Phase 2 (HA) 22July to 18Aug..

[inlinesix]

2 minutes ago, Watwheels said:

This is like PSLE math problem sums.
"A total of 16 ppl died from Covid. 12 were men and 4 were women. Of the 12 men, 11 were Singaporeans and permanent residents, while the remaining one was a Malaysian work permit holder. The 4 women were Singaporeans. 7 were vaccinated, 8 were unvaccinated, and one was partially vaccinated. All except one vaccinated case had underlying medical conditions.

Who is to blame for this?"

8 unvax + old + underlying condition

1 partially vax + old + underlying condition

6 vax + old + underlying condition

1 vax + old

======================

old + underlying condition

[Kb27]

Is Sg suffering a similar fate to UK ?

 

Delta's surprise U.K. comeback is a warning sign for the U.S.

Andrew Romano

·West Coast Correspondent

Thu, October 21, 2021, 5:00 PM

When it comes to COVID-19, what happens in the United Kingdom rarely stays in the United Kingdom — and that, in turn, rarely bodes well for the rest of the world.

Again and again, the U.K. has previewed the next unwelcome phase of the pandemic. The highly transmissible Alpha variant was first identified in Kent. The even more infectious Delta variant originated in India but used Britain as its springboard to global domination. The U.K. was one of the earliest movers on vaccination — and one of the first to see uptake level off. It was also the first country to declare “freedom” from Delta, lifting nearly all restrictions soon after its summer surge appeared to crest.

“We [must] learn to live with, rather than cower from, this virus,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted in July.

But now, almost exactly three months later, the U.K. again has one of the worst COVID rates in the world. Up 35 percent over the last two weeks, new cases are currently averaging more than 45,000 a day. They will soon surpass July’s initial Delta peak of about 47,000 daily cases, with no end in sight. On a per capita basis, the U.K.’s average daily case rate is more than 2.5 times as high as the United States’, more than four times as high as the European Union’s, nearly five times as high as Germany’s, more than nine times as high as France’s and more than 15 times as high as Spain's or Italy's. 

The question is why — and whether Delta’s surprise U.K. comeback foreshadows another dark winter in the U.S.

“We are concerned," Javid said Wednesday, predicting that new cases could surge to 100,000 a day. "Everyone is right to be concerned."

It’s not all bad news for the Brits. For one thing, they’re testing at a higher rate than any other major country, so that’s part of the reason their case numbers are so elevated. They’ve also managed to fully vaccinate more than 95 percent of residents over 60 — by far the most vulnerable age group — which has broken some of the link between cases and deaths. Right now, new daily cases are three-quarters of the way to matching last winter’s all-time U.K. peak. Yet new daily deaths are just a tenth what they were then. That’s progress.

The U.S. has not done as well on that front. Many states here still have large pockets of unvaccinated seniors — and as a result, deaths and hospitalizations during this summer’s Delta wave were about as high as they were last winter, relative to cases. With safe and effective vaccines now widely available, that should no longer be happening. Similarly, the U.S. would be detecting far more cases if it nearly quadrupled its current rate of testing to match the U.K.

But the troubling thing about the U.K. is its trajectory. It’s a country that has fully vaccinated 80 percent of its eligible population and endured some of the world’s biggest waves of infection, yet the coronavirus is now spreading again at an alarming rate. Does that mean the U.S. — where 77 percent of the eligible population is vaccinated, where previous surges have presumably left behind a lot of natural immunity, and where cases have plummeted more than 50 percent over the last month — will suffer the same fate?

 

 

 

Not necessarily. But Delta’s U.K. comeback is a warning sign for the U.S.

Experts have floated several reasons for the resurgence. One could be waning immunity. The earlier you vaccinate your population, the earlier population-wide protection starts to taper off (particularly among seniors who were first in line); that’s why Israel, the fastest country out of the gate on vaccination, also suffered a massive Delta wave over the summer. The fact that the U.K. initially relied on vaccines from AstraZeneca (which offers less protection against Delta) and Pfizer (which has waned more than Moderna’s) probably isn’t helping.

Making matters worse, an estimated 43,000 people across the U.K. reportedly received incorrect negative test results due to “technical issues” at a private laboratory in Wolverhampton, allowing infections to keep spreading unchecked in the region. A new, possibly more infectious sub-lineage of Delta called AY.4.2 is also “on an increasing trajectory” across the country (though its role is unclear at this point).  

On top of that, U.K. residents are “increasingly reporting catching Sars-CoV-2 for a second or even third time,” according to the Guardian. A year ago, reinfection seemed rare; only two dozen cases had been recorded worldwide. But just like protection from vaccination, natural immunity also seems to fade over time and in the face of new variants such as Delta. In Oklahoma, for instance, reinfections have risen 350 percent since May.

“With rising levels of Sars-CoV-2 infections in the U.K., many of us are personally aware of children and adults who got reinfected, sometimes after a relatively short period from their first infection,” Dr. Nisreen Alwan, a public health professor at the University of Southampton, told the Guardian. “We still don’t know much about the risk factors for reinfection but the theoretical assumption that once all the young get it the pandemic will be over is becoming increasingly unlikely.”

 

 

Meanwhile, the post-July rollbacks and messaging from U.K. leaders seem to have persuaded many Britons to stop taking precautions. About 15 percent of U.K. adults now say they never wear a mask in public spaces, according to a YouGov poll from mid-October — far more than in Spain and Italy (below 2 percent) or France (about 4 percent). The poll also found that Brits were less cautious about using public transportation, attending large gatherings, and entering crowded spaces than their European counterparts. In Italy, nightclubs limit capacity and require proof of vaccination; in Spain, they require masks. In England, clubs are operating without restrictions.

Amid these differences, COVID rates in the U.K. and its peer countries have sharply diverged. According to the Financial Times, “the UK’s weekly death rate [now] stands at 12 per million, three times the level of other major European nations, while hospitalisations have risen to eight Covid-related admissions a week per 100,000 people, six times the rate on the continent.” In other words, the gap between cases and serious outcomes may be bigger in the U.K. than before — but more COVID cases still means more hospitalizations and deaths.

“These small measures like mask-wearing, distancing, ventilation and an emphasis on homeworking are greater than the sum of their parts,” Martin McKee, professor of public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the paper. “It really doesn’t take an awful lot to bring this down, as France, Italy and others have shown.”

 

 

And that may be especially true among younger people. Perhaps the biggest difference between the U.K. and its counterparts — including the U.S. — has been its lack of emphasis on vaccinating teens and slowing the spread of the virus in schools. Despite high-profile bans in red states such as Florida and Texas, masks are now required in about two-thirds of U.S. public schools, and a recent study found that schools without mask mandates were significantly more likely to experience a coronavirus outbreak than schools where everyone has to mask up. Quarantines are commonplace.

In contrast, no one in the U.K. under the age of 18 has to quarantine after contact with a positive virus case, regardless of vaccination status, and masks are not required for any students or staff. And while the U.S. started offering jabs to 12-to-15-year-olds in May, the U.K. waited until September — and even now, England (one of the nations that constitutes the U.K.) administers them solely through schools, which causes all kinds of logistical delays.

As a result, England’s teen vaccination rate is now less than half Spain’s, France’s, Italy’s or the United States’ — and U.K. infections are now “highest among secondary schoolchildren, with an estimated 8.1 percent of that group thought to have had COVID-19 during the week ending Oct. 9,” according to the Guardian.

And while most kids don’t get terribly sick, they do transmit the virus to others.

 

 

“If you don’t clamp down on prevalence [in schoolchildren], you’ll get the spread of infection and possibly reinfection, which will then potentially spread to parents whose vaccines may be waning, and more critically to grandparents and clinically vulnerable people,” Stephen Griffin, associate professor of virology at the University of Leeds, explained to the Guardian.

That appears to be the problem now vexing the U.K., leading to calls from experts to revive mitigation measures before winter comes — a move the British government said Wednesday it was not yet ready to make. “We are right on the edge — and it is the middle of October,” Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the health care system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, warned this week. “It would require an incredible amount of luck for us not to find ourselves in the midst of a profound crisis over the next three months.”

To avoid a similar Delta comeback, the U.S. would be wise to heed Taylor’s warning. America is already doing some things right. Teen vaccinations continue apace. Boosters — which are rolling out more slowly than expected in the U.K. — may soon be available for Americans as young as 40. And the Biden administration is planning to introduce vaccines for children ages 5 to 11 later this month. Even then, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, indicated Wednesday that her agency will still recommend that all teachers, students and staff mask up at school.

“As we head into these winter months, we know we cannot be complacent,” Walensky said during a White House COVID briefing.

Fortunately, U.S. cases, deaths and hospitalizations are falling right now. But Delta’s U.K. resurgence is a reminder not to relax too soon. Even in a country with a higher overall vaccination rate and far more testing, the virus can still spiral out of control — especially if you let it spiral among young people first.

https://news.yahoo.com/deltas-surprise-uk-comeback-is-a-warning-sign-for-the-us-090008459.html

Edited October 22, 2021 by Kb27

[Chongster]

9 hours ago, Kangadrool said:

KNN, when can we have erection?

the call to have election last year in the middle of a pandemic is looking very smart. 

[Ender]

37 minutes ago, Fcw75 said:

Funerals for Covid-19 deaths more complex, say funeral services providers
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/funerals-for-covid-19-deaths-more-complex-say-funeral-services-providers
 

Nonetheless, he added: "If we fail to keep case numbers down and the death rates rise at an unacceptable rate, then we as last responders will be the next group of service providers to be overwhelmed after our hardworking healthcare professionals."

My ex-colleage FIL's funeral got extra charges in the thousands for these extra covid measures, like sanitze the coffin.. Cremate first than funeral, tom balek..

[Kyrios]

Sho many people paid for one man's ambition to haolian and crow about his 'open up achievements' with their lives...

while he busy in mediacock studio laughing and mingling around with celebs like JJ and Zoe Tay..haiz..so carefree..so laissez-faire...I oso want..

[Chongster]

12 minutes ago, inlinesix said:

8 unvax + old + underlying condition

1 partially vax + old + underlying condition

6 vax + old + underlying condition

1 vax + old

======================

old + underlying condition

now everyone speculating how old is the vaxx but no underlying condition case.  KNN, sex crimes can have so many details but COVID deaths cannot have details 🤬. 

[Ender]

11 minutes ago, Kb27 said:

Is Sg suffering a similar fate to UK ?

 

Delta's surprise U.K. comeback is a warning sign for the U.S.

Andrew Romano

·West Coast Correspondent

Thu, October 21, 2021, 5:00 PM

When it comes to COVID-19, what happens in the United Kingdom rarely stays in the United Kingdom — and that, in turn, rarely bodes well for the rest of the world.

Again and again, the U.K. has previewed the next unwelcome phase of the pandemic. The highly transmissible Alpha variant was first identified in Kent. The even more infectious Delta variant originated in India but used Britain as its springboard to global domination. The U.K. was one of the earliest movers on vaccination — and one of the first to see uptake level off. It was also the first country to declare “freedom” from Delta, lifting nearly all restrictions soon after its summer surge appeared to crest.

“We [must] learn to live with, rather than cower from, this virus,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted in July.

But now, almost exactly three months later, the U.K. again has one of the worst COVID rates in the world. Up 35 percent over the last two weeks, new cases are currently averaging more than 45,000 a day. They will soon surpass July’s initial Delta peak of about 47,000 daily cases, with no end in sight. On a per capita basis, the U.K.’s average daily case rate is more than 2.5 times as high as the United States’, more than four times as high as the European Union’s, nearly five times as high as Germany’s, more than nine times as high as France’s and more than 15 times as high as Spain's or Italy's. 

The question is why — and whether Delta’s surprise U.K. comeback foreshadows another dark winter in the U.S.

“We are concerned," Javid said Wednesday, predicting that new cases could surge to 100,000 a day. "Everyone is right to be concerned."

It’s not all bad news for the Brits. For one thing, they’re testing at a higher rate than any other major country, so that’s part of the reason their case numbers are so elevated. They’ve also managed to fully vaccinate more than 95 percent of residents over 60 — by far the most vulnerable age group — which has broken some of the link between cases and deaths. Right now, new daily cases are three-quarters of the way to matching last winter’s all-time U.K. peak. Yet new daily deaths are just a tenth what they were then. That’s progress.

The U.S. has not done as well on that front. Many states here still have large pockets of unvaccinated seniors — and as a result, deaths and hospitalizations during this summer’s Delta wave were about as high as they were last winter, relative to cases. With safe and effective vaccines now widely available, that should no longer be happening. Similarly, the U.S. would be detecting far more cases if it nearly quadrupled its current rate of testing to match the U.K.

But the troubling thing about the U.K. is its trajectory. It’s a country that has fully vaccinated 80 percent of its eligible population and endured some of the world’s biggest waves of infection, yet the coronavirus is now spreading again at an alarming rate. Does that mean the U.S. — where 77 percent of the eligible population is vaccinated, where previous surges have presumably left behind a lot of natural immunity, and where cases have plummeted more than 50 percent over the last month — will suffer the same fate?

 

 

 

Not necessarily. But Delta’s U.K. comeback is a warning sign for the U.S.

Experts have floated several reasons for the resurgence. One could be waning immunity. The earlier you vaccinate your population, the earlier population-wide protection starts to taper off (particularly among seniors who were first in line); that’s why Israel, the fastest country out of the gate on vaccination, also suffered a massive Delta wave over the summer. The fact that the U.K. initially relied on vaccines from AstraZeneca (which offers less protection against Delta) and Pfizer (which has waned more than Moderna’s) probably isn’t helping.

Making matters worse, an estimated 43,000 people across the U.K. reportedly received incorrect negative test results due to “technical issues” at a private laboratory in Wolverhampton, allowing infections to keep spreading unchecked in the region. A new, possibly more infectious sub-lineage of Delta called AY.4.2 is also “on an increasing trajectory” across the country (though its role is unclear at this point).  

On top of that, U.K. residents are “increasingly reporting catching Sars-CoV-2 for a second or even third time,” according to the Guardian. A year ago, reinfection seemed rare; only two dozen cases had been recorded worldwide. But just like protection from vaccination, natural immunity also seems to fade over time and in the face of new variants such as Delta. In Oklahoma, for instance, reinfections have risen 350 percent since May.

“With rising levels of Sars-CoV-2 infections in the U.K., many of us are personally aware of children and adults who got reinfected, sometimes after a relatively short period from their first infection,” Dr. Nisreen Alwan, a public health professor at the University of Southampton, told the Guardian. “We still don’t know much about the risk factors for reinfection but the theoretical assumption that once all the young get it the pandemic will be over is becoming increasingly unlikely.”

 

 

Meanwhile, the post-July rollbacks and messaging from U.K. leaders seem to have persuaded many Britons to stop taking precautions. About 15 percent of U.K. adults now say they never wear a mask in public spaces, according to a YouGov poll from mid-October — far more than in Spain and Italy (below 2 percent) or France (about 4 percent). The poll also found that Brits were less cautious about using public transportation, attending large gatherings, and entering crowded spaces than their European counterparts. In Italy, nightclubs limit capacity and require proof of vaccination; in Spain, they require masks. In England, clubs are operating without restrictions.

Amid these differences, COVID rates in the U.K. and its peer countries have sharply diverged. According to the Financial Times, “the UK’s weekly death rate [now] stands at 12 per million, three times the level of other major European nations, while hospitalisations have risen to eight Covid-related admissions a week per 100,000 people, six times the rate on the continent.” In other words, the gap between cases and serious outcomes may be bigger in the U.K. than before — but more COVID cases still means more hospitalizations and deaths.

“These small measures like mask-wearing, distancing, ventilation and an emphasis on homeworking are greater than the sum of their parts,” Martin McKee, professor of public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the paper. “It really doesn’t take an awful lot to bring this down, as France, Italy and others have shown.”

 

 

And that may be especially true among younger people. Perhaps the biggest difference between the U.K. and its counterparts — including the U.S. — has been its lack of emphasis on vaccinating teens and slowing the spread of the virus in schools. Despite high-profile bans in red states such as Florida and Texas, masks are now required in about two-thirds of U.S. public schools, and a recent study found that schools without mask mandates were significantly more likely to experience a coronavirus outbreak than schools where everyone has to mask up. Quarantines are commonplace.

In contrast, no one in the U.K. under the age of 18 has to quarantine after contact with a positive virus case, regardless of vaccination status, and masks are not required for any students or staff. And while the U.S. started offering jabs to 12-to-15-year-olds in May, the U.K. waited until September — and even now, England (one of the nations that constitutes the U.K.) administers them solely through schools, which causes all kinds of logistical delays.

As a result, England’s teen vaccination rate is now less than half Spain’s, France’s, Italy’s or the United States’ — and U.K. infections are now “highest among secondary schoolchildren, with an estimated 8.1 percent of that group thought to have had COVID-19 during the week ending Oct. 9,” according to the Guardian.

And while most kids don’t get terribly sick, they do transmit the virus to others.

 

 

“If you don’t clamp down on prevalence [in schoolchildren], you’ll get the spread of infection and possibly reinfection, which will then potentially spread to parents whose vaccines may be waning, and more critically to grandparents and clinically vulnerable people,” Stephen Griffin, associate professor of virology at the University of Leeds, explained to the Guardian.

That appears to be the problem now vexing the U.K., leading to calls from experts to revive mitigation measures before winter comes — a move the British government said Wednesday it was not yet ready to make. “We are right on the edge — and it is the middle of October,” Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the health care system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, warned this week. “It would require an incredible amount of luck for us not to find ourselves in the midst of a profound crisis over the next three months.”

To avoid a similar Delta comeback, the U.S. would be wise to heed Taylor’s warning. America is already doing some things right. Teen vaccinations continue apace. Boosters — which are rolling out more slowly than expected in the U.K. — may soon be available for Americans as young as 40. And the Biden administration is planning to introduce vaccines for children ages 5 to 11 later this month. Even then, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, indicated Wednesday that her agency will still recommend that all teachers, students and staff mask up at school.

“As we head into these winter months, we know we cannot be complacent,” Walensky said during a White House COVID briefing.

Fortunately, U.S. cases, deaths and hospitalizations are falling right now. But Delta’s U.K. resurgence is a reminder not to relax too soon. Even in a country with a higher overall vaccination rate and far more testing, the virus can still spiral out of control — especially if you let it spiral among young people first.

https://news.yahoo.com/deltas-surprise-uk-comeback-is-a-warning-sign-for-the-us-090008459.html

SG too early to tell coz we are only 3/4 weeks into the climb. USA took 3months to peak, Israel around 2 months to peak.

UK is the oddball that has 3 peaks for delta waves, and Delta Plus has become a VOI and under investigation if they are the reason.

[inlinesix]

1 minute ago, Chongster said:

now everyone speculating how old is the vaxx but no underlying condition case.  KNN, sex crimes can have so many details but COVID deaths cannot have details 🤬. 

The way it was written was no difference from Day 1 of COVID19.  The only difference is Annex was REMOVED.

Let's assume that vax individual is 61 years old (61 - 93 years old).

[Sosaria]

8 minutes ago, inlinesix said:

The way it was written was no difference from Day 1 of COVID19.  The only difference is Annex was REMOVED.

Let's assume that vax individual is 61 years old (61 - 93 years old).

Quite a number of people in this dangerous age range (60-70) are still employed, not enjoying retirement at home. Asking them to reduce risk by going out only when necessary is not a viable option.

[BanCoe]

50 minutes ago, inlinesix said:

Vivian?

😂

Multi-ministry

He is eye doktor.... hope he got 20/20 vision for the nation

[inlinesix]

2 minutes ago, BanCoe said:

He is eye doktor.... hope he got 20/20 vision for the nation

He needs that to handle foreign affairs

[BanCoe]

3 minutes ago, Sosaria said:

Quite a number of people in this dangerous age range (60-70) are still employed, not enjoying retirement at home. Asking them to reduce risk by going out only when necessary is not a viable option.

They feel they are still economically able to contribute and pretty fit still, one will be surprised ...... go to any of the car workshops and still can see the Ah Peks around doing lotsa hazardous work like sanding and mending....... also incentives for the bosses to employ elderly...... Retirement is boring for many... maybe for a month or 2 is fine but after that they become very bored in the house and start to kaypoh around too much in the neighbourhood    

[Nolicense]

10 hours ago, 13177 said:

I think many people quite dulan with MMTF, but too bad nothing much they can do about it.

yes they can do something about it. just dont listen to them dine in how many 2 or 5. just da bao. dont go mall if too crowded. if got tuition then i consider forgo. 

open up is for the AM. only they cannot live without "freedom"

[Nolicense]

25 minutes ago, Ender said:

My ex-colleage FIL's funeral got extra charges in the thousands for these extra covid measures, like sanitze the coffin.. Cremate first than funeral, tom balek..

huat ah

[13177]

9 hours ago, Volvobrick said:

Scared also no use. Only can minimise going out till a cure comes along.

 

True, even scare also still needs to live life as normal lo, not possible to avoid go out or even minimise going out. Cause still need to go office, go buy stuff and breath some fresh air outside. Lol.

Edited October 22, 2021 by 13177

[Nolicense]

38 minutes ago, Kb27 said:

Is Sg suffering a similar fate to UK ?

 

Delta's surprise U.K. comeback is a warning sign for the U.S.

Andrew Romano

·West Coast Correspondent

Thu, October 21, 2021, 5:00 PM

When it comes to COVID-19, what happens in the United Kingdom rarely stays in the United Kingdom — and that, in turn, rarely bodes well for the rest of the world.

Again and again, the U.K. has previewed the next unwelcome phase of the pandemic. The highly transmissible Alpha variant was first identified in Kent. The even more infectious Delta variant originated in India but used Britain as its springboard to global domination. The U.K. was one of the earliest movers on vaccination — and one of the first to see uptake level off. It was also the first country to declare “freedom” from Delta, lifting nearly all restrictions soon after its summer surge appeared to crest.

“We [must] learn to live with, rather than cower from, this virus,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted in July.

But now, almost exactly three months later, the U.K. again has one of the worst COVID rates in the world. Up 35 percent over the last two weeks, new cases are currently averaging more than 45,000 a day. They will soon surpass July’s initial Delta peak of about 47,000 daily cases, with no end in sight. On a per capita basis, the U.K.’s average daily case rate is more than 2.5 times as high as the United States’, more than four times as high as the European Union’s, nearly five times as high as Germany’s, more than nine times as high as France’s and more than 15 times as high as Spain's or Italy's. 

The question is why — and whether Delta’s surprise U.K. comeback foreshadows another dark winter in the U.S.

“We are concerned," Javid said Wednesday, predicting that new cases could surge to 100,000 a day. "Everyone is right to be concerned."

It’s not all bad news for the Brits. For one thing, they’re testing at a higher rate than any other major country, so that’s part of the reason their case numbers are so elevated. They’ve also managed to fully vaccinate more than 95 percent of residents over 60 — by far the most vulnerable age group — which has broken some of the link between cases and deaths. Right now, new daily cases are three-quarters of the way to matching last winter’s all-time U.K. peak. Yet new daily deaths are just a tenth what they were then. That’s progress.

The U.S. has not done as well on that front. Many states here still have large pockets of unvaccinated seniors — and as a result, deaths and hospitalizations during this summer’s Delta wave were about as high as they were last winter, relative to cases. With safe and effective vaccines now widely available, that should no longer be happening. Similarly, the U.S. would be detecting far more cases if it nearly quadrupled its current rate of testing to match the U.K.

But the troubling thing about the U.K. is its trajectory. It’s a country that has fully vaccinated 80 percent of its eligible population and endured some of the world’s biggest waves of infection, yet the coronavirus is now spreading again at an alarming rate. Does that mean the U.S. — where 77 percent of the eligible population is vaccinated, where previous surges have presumably left behind a lot of natural immunity, and where cases have plummeted more than 50 percent over the last month — will suffer the same fate?

 

 

 

Not necessarily. But Delta’s U.K. comeback is a warning sign for the U.S.

Experts have floated several reasons for the resurgence. One could be waning immunity. The earlier you vaccinate your population, the earlier population-wide protection starts to taper off (particularly among seniors who were first in line); that’s why Israel, the fastest country out of the gate on vaccination, also suffered a massive Delta wave over the summer. The fact that the U.K. initially relied on vaccines from AstraZeneca (which offers less protection against Delta) and Pfizer (which has waned more than Moderna’s) probably isn’t helping.

Making matters worse, an estimated 43,000 people across the U.K. reportedly received incorrect negative test results due to “technical issues” at a private laboratory in Wolverhampton, allowing infections to keep spreading unchecked in the region. A new, possibly more infectious sub-lineage of Delta called AY.4.2 is also “on an increasing trajectory” across the country (though its role is unclear at this point).  

On top of that, U.K. residents are “increasingly reporting catching Sars-CoV-2 for a second or even third time,” according to the Guardian. A year ago, reinfection seemed rare; only two dozen cases had been recorded worldwide. But just like protection from vaccination, natural immunity also seems to fade over time and in the face of new variants such as Delta. In Oklahoma, for instance, reinfections have risen 350 percent since May.

“With rising levels of Sars-CoV-2 infections in the U.K., many of us are personally aware of children and adults who got reinfected, sometimes after a relatively short period from their first infection,” Dr. Nisreen Alwan, a public health professor at the University of Southampton, told the Guardian. “We still don’t know much about the risk factors for reinfection but the theoretical assumption that once all the young get it the pandemic will be over is becoming increasingly unlikely.”

 

 

Meanwhile, the post-July rollbacks and messaging from U.K. leaders seem to have persuaded many Britons to stop taking precautions. About 15 percent of U.K. adults now say they never wear a mask in public spaces, according to a YouGov poll from mid-October — far more than in Spain and Italy (below 2 percent) or France (about 4 percent). The poll also found that Brits were less cautious about using public transportation, attending large gatherings, and entering crowded spaces than their European counterparts. In Italy, nightclubs limit capacity and require proof of vaccination; in Spain, they require masks. In England, clubs are operating without restrictions.

Amid these differences, COVID rates in the U.K. and its peer countries have sharply diverged. According to the Financial Times, “the UK’s weekly death rate [now] stands at 12 per million, three times the level of other major European nations, while hospitalisations have risen to eight Covid-related admissions a week per 100,000 people, six times the rate on the continent.” In other words, the gap between cases and serious outcomes may be bigger in the U.K. than before — but more COVID cases still means more hospitalizations and deaths.

“These small measures like mask-wearing, distancing, ventilation and an emphasis on homeworking are greater than the sum of their parts,” Martin McKee, professor of public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the paper. “It really doesn’t take an awful lot to bring this down, as France, Italy and others have shown.”

 

 

And that may be especially true among younger people. Perhaps the biggest difference between the U.K. and its counterparts — including the U.S. — has been its lack of emphasis on vaccinating teens and slowing the spread of the virus in schools. Despite high-profile bans in red states such as Florida and Texas, masks are now required in about two-thirds of U.S. public schools, and a recent study found that schools without mask mandates were significantly more likely to experience a coronavirus outbreak than schools where everyone has to mask up. Quarantines are commonplace.

In contrast, no one in the U.K. under the age of 18 has to quarantine after contact with a positive virus case, regardless of vaccination status, and masks are not required for any students or staff. And while the U.S. started offering jabs to 12-to-15-year-olds in May, the U.K. waited until September — and even now, England (one of the nations that constitutes the U.K.) administers them solely through schools, which causes all kinds of logistical delays.

As a result, England’s teen vaccination rate is now less than half Spain’s, France’s, Italy’s or the United States’ — and U.K. infections are now “highest among secondary schoolchildren, with an estimated 8.1 percent of that group thought to have had COVID-19 during the week ending Oct. 9,” according to the Guardian.

And while most kids don’t get terribly sick, they do transmit the virus to others.

 

 

“If you don’t clamp down on prevalence [in schoolchildren], you’ll get the spread of infection and possibly reinfection, which will then potentially spread to parents whose vaccines may be waning, and more critically to grandparents and clinically vulnerable people,” Stephen Griffin, associate professor of virology at the University of Leeds, explained to the Guardian.

That appears to be the problem now vexing the U.K., leading to calls from experts to revive mitigation measures before winter comes — a move the British government said Wednesday it was not yet ready to make. “We are right on the edge — and it is the middle of October,” Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the health care system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, warned this week. “It would require an incredible amount of luck for us not to find ourselves in the midst of a profound crisis over the next three months.”

To avoid a similar Delta comeback, the U.S. would be wise to heed Taylor’s warning. America is already doing some things right. Teen vaccinations continue apace. Boosters — which are rolling out more slowly than expected in the U.K. — may soon be available for Americans as young as 40. And the Biden administration is planning to introduce vaccines for children ages 5 to 11 later this month. Even then, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, indicated Wednesday that her agency will still recommend that all teachers, students and staff mask up at school.

“As we head into these winter months, we know we cannot be complacent,” Walensky said during a White House COVID briefing.

Fortunately, U.S. cases, deaths and hospitalizations are falling right now. But Delta’s U.K. resurgence is a reminder not to relax too soon. Even in a country with a higher overall vaccination rate and far more testing, the virus can still spiral out of control — especially if you let it spiral among young people first.

https://news.yahoo.com/deltas-surprise-uk-comeback-is-a-warning-sign-for-the-us-090008459.html

guarantee come winter, which is starting now, all bets are off the table.

energy shortage plus spike in cases is like dry tinder and a blow torch 

[13177]

15 minutes ago, BanCoe said:

They feel they are still economically able to contribute and pretty fit still, one will be surprised ...... go to any of the car workshops and still can see the Ah Peks around doing lotsa hazardous work like sanding and mending....... also incentives for the bosses to employ elderly...... Retirement is boring for many... maybe for a month or 2 is fine but after that they become very bored in the house and start to kaypoh around too much in the neighbourhood    

Agreed, many elderly after retired really get too boring and can see many of them just like to loiter around the neighborhood to kaypoh and gather with others elderly. Whether pre-covid or even now covid days. Some of them even joined RC just to kaypoh even further. In my blk i notice one elderly, ever since the start of this covid, always see him loiter at void deck and fitness corner chit chatting with others people with his mask pull down. And walk around without wearing his mask properly, such an idiot.

[13177]

58 minutes ago, inlinesix said:

8 unvax + old + underlying condition

1 partially vax + old + underlying condition

6 vax + old + underlying condition

1 vax + old

======================

old + underlying condition

Yes, no matter what reasons, it would never due to covid?