Protect yourself

acotrel · Jan 29, 2021

Staytite said:
There is always a bright side....the UK government have not (yet) rolled out the new Chinese anal swab test for Covid
Claimed by Chinese to be more accurate than throat/nose swab or finger blood test.

(But seriously, I'm very sorry to read about Baz and Norton Bob and others - good luck fellow Norton owners)

Sounds like pulling teeth the Russian way - nobody is allowed to open their mouth.

Tornado · Jan 29, 2021

Danno said:
There is also a shingles vaccine.

Chicken pox/shingles are from a completely different type of virus. Like Polio, it infects nerve cells and goes dormant for decades, while being repressed by immune mechanisms. When those start to fail under stress or illness/age, virus can re-emerge as shingles or post polio syndrome. Nothing like that has ever been observed in respiratory viruses like corona or influenza, which are not known to infect nerve cells. Unlike respiratory tract cells, nerve cell typically do not turn over and get replaced over time. The individual cells remain for life generally, so any dormant virus within can persist.

My Mum currently has a bout of shingles, on her neck, face and ear. Extremely painful. She may even have a complication from it which can lead to life long facial paralysis, hearing loss or balance issues

Please get vaccinated if you haven't. It is very miserable even without complications.

Bernhard · Jan 29, 2021

Tornado said:
Chicken pox/shingles are from a completely different type of virus. Like Polio, it infects nerve cells and goes dormant for decades, while being repressed by immune mechanisms. When those start to fail under stress or illness/age, virus can re-emerge as shingles or post polio syndrome. Nothing like that has ever been observed in respiratory viruses like corona or influenza, which are not known to infect nerve cells. Unlike respiratory tract cells, nerve cell typically do not turn over and get replaced over time. The individual cells remain for life generally, so any dormant virus within can persist.

My Mum currently has a bout of shingles, on her neck, face and ear. Extremely painful. She may even have a complication from it which can lead to life long facial paralysis, hearing loss or balance issues

Please get vaccinated if you haven't. It is very miserable even without complications.

Most children in the UK are vaccinated with the MMR jab, it's only the parents who will not or won't get their children vaccinated that cause out breaks of measles.

EstuaryBoy · Feb 1, 2021

Door-to-door testing for South Africa coronavirus variant launched in Surrey after cases found with no travel links

Residents in affected areas will be asked to take a COVID test regardless of whether they have symptoms.

uk.news.yahoo.com

Bernhard · Feb 2, 2021

Great that the Government are beginning to grasp the straw between their teeth on this South African virus. They are finally beginning to see the light!
OTOH, I see that the IOM after a self imposed lockdown, has now lifted it, and they have zero patients in their hospital with any form of coronavirus. You can hug your grandparents go out for a drink .........
IMO the UK government has been almost cavalier in protecting the UK population, allowing the borders to remain open, only insisting that people coming in go into voluntary isolation.
They just muddle through it all.
The IOM otoh put people in jail for a month for not complying.

Bernhard · Feb 2, 2021

Just this Tuesday lunchtime the government scientists have said that the South African virus has mutated yet again and the immunity jab is less effective than before. It's moving faster than they are testing it, which doesn't bode well. . . . . . . .

Fast Eddie · Feb 2, 2021

Yeah, yeah Bernard!

If your going for the title of Captain Hindsight forget it, Keir Stammer has that one in the bag!

The thing that even hindsight captains can’t answer though is the differing opinions and advice the govt is constantly under. Locked down too early / too late. Too hard / too soft. Etc, etc.

It’s a difficult route to navigate... even with hindsight.

kommando · Feb 2, 2021

The one solution sitting on 10 foot of concrete is the Vaccination of the over 65's and anyone with a covid mortality related condition. In this respect the UK Govt is nearly at the front, multiple vaccines ordered covering 5 times the population, paid top prices, removed liability from companies, paid for factories if needed and paid all advance payments in full and on time.

gortnipper · Feb 2, 2021

Fast Eddie said:
Yeah, yeah Bernard!

If your going for the title of Captain Hindsight forget it, Keir Stammer has that one in the bag!

The thing that even hindsight captains can’t answer though is the differing opinions and advice the govt is constantly under. Locked down too early / too late. Too hard / too soft. Etc, etc.

It’s a difficult route to navigate... even with hindsight.

As Norton owners, we should be well used to that.

DevonNorton · Feb 2, 2021

Earlier posts about deaths comparisons have been criticised here for international 'variations' in recording deaths caused by COVID-19. Fair enough.
But this today on excess deaths. Some will think this is not many but 100k excess deaths is not good.
I picture a Wembley Stadium full of people plus a few more.

This is the link to the full article https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...l-since-start-of-covid-pandemic-passes-100000
It doesn't look good to me and the variants are beginning to make the 'get out of jail card' of the vaccines look a bit dodgy.
I really do hope that this isn't the case.
Incidentally the 'Captain Hindsight' jibe from Boris Johnson is somewhat unfair given that Johnson has earlier access to all the SAGE (and not so sage imho, advice) than Starmer and it is the only defence Johnson has when challenged by Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition on the increasingly poor and delayed responses to the pandemic. All a bit too political but the numbers are the numbers and it ain't good.
Andy

Fast Eddie · Feb 2, 2021

Andy as I’ve argued before and will continue to do so, yes you are quite right to point out that the govt did not follow sage advice at every step AND therefore locked us down later than sage would have liked.

But there are also those opposite, who advised against locking down when we did, and / or coming out of lock downs sooner, etc.

You are expressing dissatisfaction from ONE point of view. It is a fair point of view. But there are also others.

We should have closed all airport sooner say some. That’s not what the WHO said at the time and is not even what they’re saying now.

Govt has to try and balance all competing / conflicting inputs / priorities.

If we’d have obeyed sage every time we’d have been locked down none stop from last March to next summer!

If we’d listened to other we wouldn’t have locked down at all! (Not my belief at all BTW)

Govt has tried to find a balance as best they could at the time.

I’m just glad it wasn’t my job to call the shots!

Bernhard · Feb 2, 2021

Fast Eddie, I was not saying that Johnson was totally ineffective, he was on the ball in ordering the virus jab (much to the chagrin of our EU neighbours) but look westwards across the Irish Sea at the Isle of man and their self imposed lockdown- they don't have one hospital case of coronavirus!
Sometimes someone gets it right, that is one of the safest population islands to live on right now, the pubs and schools are open , there isn't a curfew imposed, you can go for a drive/ride and the police won't stop you, even if you fart in the breeze. . . . . ... .

gortnipper · Feb 2, 2021

..and I am getting ready to go on a couple thousand km Norton ride to the South Island and back in a months time.

Early lock downs and strict border controls work, even with hic ups. Learn from and iterate on your mistakes.

Fast Eddie · Feb 2, 2021

Again, I’m gonna repeat myself....

Lots of evidence that the virus was in U.K. in 2019. Basically it was with us way before we realised. Way before anyone (apart from the Chinese) even had any idea about the gravity of the situation.

We could have locked down at the beginning of March, Feb, even Jan... it was already too late for us!

Its facts like this which make me remind folk of the power of hindsight...

SteveBorland · Feb 3, 2021

With all due respect, the IOM (and even NZ and surrounding islands ^C^C^C sorry, I mean Oz of course

are in a different situation to the UK. That's one of the drawbacks of being one of the major international hubs of air travel and commerce.
The difference in becoming an Ireland or an IOM is razor thin, and the show's not over yet. Today on the radio, they had an interview with one of the leading lights in the virus world here in Denmark where he talked about the new mutations appearing, saying that it was not impossible that a new pandemic could start all over again......

Apart form the loons who deny that there's a problem (Brazil, Zimbabwe, certain US politicians, et al), every government is trying to steer what they think is the best course out of t he mess or their particular situation. Sometimes it works well, sometimes not so well.

MAK · Feb 3, 2021

kommando said:
The one solution sitting on 10 foot of concrete is the Vaccination of the over 65's and anyone with a covid mortality related condition. In this respect the UK Govt is nearly at the front, multiple vaccines ordered covering 5 times the population, paid top prices, removed liability from companies, paid for factories if needed and paid all advance payments in full and on time.

The bottom line is that the EU put price before lives.

kommando · Feb 3, 2021

MAK said:
The bottom line is that the EU put price before lives.

Its been calculated that each vaccine given saves the economy $1500 from injection point per person, that gives you a lot of justification to follow the UK, Israeli and other countries strategy of vaccines first and worry about the cost later. Any surplus can be resold at cost or more likely donated, the UK is already one of the main donors to Covax.

United Kingdom

www.gavi.org

EstuaryBoy · Feb 3, 2021

Whilst I agree with most all posted here, I do despair at headlines like todays: 'Hancock promises strong border action....'
Fine rhetoric, but we always seem to be deciding on when to take a vote on the possibility of forming a committee to decide whether to take 'expert' advice on the idea of if taking a good look at the stable door might be a good alternative. But let's gather the figures first and meet back here in a week, maybe?
Until then, a few signs on the motorway should see us alright.
And on the suggestion of 24/7 vaccinations? 'It's 'not convenient'...

Fast Eddie · Feb 3, 2021

Another thing about ‘strengthening border controls’ with new measures...

Currently, everyone entering the U.K. must have a negative PCR test.

They must also have a valid reason for travel.

They must also self isolate on arrival.

I strongly believe that the self isolation topic should / must be better policed (personally I think coppers would add far more value doing this rather than turning up mob handed to arrest two ladies going for a walk).

However, the key to it all is the first point IMHO, if you are negative then you are negative. Doesn’t matter if you’re from Wuhan or the North Pole.

Therefore, if the testing is robust that should be enough on its own.

And if the self isolation is policed, that will catch the tiny number of potential false negatives.

It’s not always about new measures, it’s often really about taking the measures we have seriously...

ashman · Feb 3, 2021

Just seen on the news Chinese crims caught making and selling fake cov19 vaccines 80 people arrested, maybe they should arrest the people who brought this virus to the world, instead of covering it up as they have been doing since the first outbreak, the truth will never be known, its about time the rest of the world stood up to the country that has started all this and stop buying their products.

Ashley