The number of daily coronavirus-related deaths in the UK dropped to its lowest level in two weeks as 450 new fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours.
It brings Britain's death toll to 16,522.
Experts say there are signs the curve is flattening and the UK is reaching its peak.
However, it is likely that slowness of reporting over the weekend may result in a significant increase in tomorrow's numbers when the currently "missing" numbers are added.
Quote: Rood Eye @ 20th April 2020, 2:49 PMHowever, it is likely that slowness of reporting over the weekend may result in a significant increase in tomorrow's numbers when the currently "missing" numbers are added.
That's exactly what she said yesterday.
So she was wrong.
Can anyone explain to me how you can even begin to make a vaccine for something about which no one knows where it came from, how it is transmitted, how virulent it is, how long it will last, why it is that some people are more affected by it than other people and whether if you get it once you would get it again?
That is the question they should be asking in the briefing. The fact that very obviously you cannot so what's going on? They have managed to convince the public that they will have a very long wait for one but the work being undertaken is all wonderful when the rationality is close to zero. It literally doesn't make sense.
Quote: A Horseradish @ 20th April 2020, 3:54 PMThat's exactly what she said yesterday.
So she was wrong.
Can anyone explain to me how you can even begin to make a vaccine for something about which no one knows where it came from, how it is transmitted, how virulent it is, how long it will last, why it is that some people are more affected by it than other people and whether if you get it once you would get it again?
.
Isn't that sort of true for most viruses, though? They start a mystery but we slowly discover more and more until we know enough to create a vaccine.
Yep
And very very very very very very very very slowly in the case of th HIV virus
They haven't managed to find a vaccine for the common cold yet. And that's been around a very long time. And it is related to Coronavirus.
Quote: Billy Bunter @ 20th April 2020, 5:08 PMThey haven't managed to find a vaccine for the common cold yet. And that's been around a very long time. And it is related to Coronavirus.
Lemsip????!!
Quote: chipolata @ 20th April 2020, 4:13 PMIsn't that sort of true for most viruses, though? They start a mystery but we slowly discover more and more until we know enough to create a vaccine.
Maybe. I don't know much about HIV but I think they found out what it was transmitted in fairly quickly. I don't see this happening here as they have so many conflicting ideas about air, surfaces etc. I'm convinced that work on exosome theory has been suppressed by resources being diverted into the vaccine industry. If it turns out that exosomes represent half of medical understanding then it becomes the case that for the last hundred years we have only had half the picture.
I've found fringe research papers on exosomes which nobody has ever bothered to bring together so in a limited way I have done. So far I have found that their activity is linked to HIV, pulmonary and lung disease, Alzheimers, diabetes, panic disorder, depression, anxiety, retina disorder and schizophrenia and I haven't even looked at other things like cancer yet. That is quite some list and it suggests they have a role in the entire body. They are essentially mostly for the good unless and until they are toxicified by the diseases they are sent like troops - or pac-man - to defeat. It all depends on if they win.
I was particularly taken by this one - "Exosomes in human semen carry a distinctive repertoire of small non-coding RNAs with potential regulatory functions" - because it says that not only do exosomes gather in considerable numbers in semen but act very unusually there as they (1) aid fertility and (2) contribute to the risk of infection. The paper implies that this positive and negative force does have a bearing on what has been observed in HIV treatment. But also, I am tentatively suggesting that it is a good starting point for research into why men seem to be affected more by coronavirus.
Coronaviruses like the common cold typically create a weak, short-lived immunity. They've never created a vaccine because it's several different strains, plus all it does is make you sick.
Covid-19 is different. It's deadlier and with an economic impact in the trillions of dollars, it makes sense to throw large amounts of money at a vaccine. They'll probably have at least one within six months, and it'll likely be rolled into the annual flu shot, although this will be one that everyone will want to get yearly, as the immunity will be weak and the virus is here to stay.
Quote: Rood Eye @ 19th April 2020, 9:59 AMAccording to reports this morning, British schools will shortly reopen and in most of them many hundreds of youngsters will be milling around within inches of each other for several hours every day of what used to be the working week.
The worst-case scenario is that every day, countless youngsters across Britain will become new hosts for the coronavirus and will transport it from the school back to their homes and their parents who will in turn transport it to everybody else they meet as they frequent our newly opened shops, pubs and restaurants.
Sticking with the worst-case scenario, people are going to be dropping like flies while the over 70s, safely ensconced in their own homes under lockdown (for at least a year, according to predictions) will look through the windows of their lonely living rooms to see younger souls dropping dead in the street in front of their houses.
Of course, that really is a worst-case scenario but it's not entirely devoid of truth.
The reopening of schools is, as far as the virus is concerned, the reopening of the floodgates.
As I write these words, I can hear trillions of little coronavirus organisms giggling gleefully and singing, "I believe that children are our future".
They're not wrong.
FAKE NEWS apparently, probably some reporter's wild assumptions about a cautious comment by a relevant politician.
Just shows the danger of believing ANYTHING you see in the media nowadays. Even videos of the relevant person speaking are not safe nowadays.
I looked up the wiki page for vaccines last night to read more about it and ended up following up with wiki pages for Jonas Salk who created the first polio vaccine and researched a HIV vaccine which then lead me on to the Mellon Family, March Of Dimes, Smallpox and DNA vaccination etc. Reading wiki pages when it's time for bed is never a good idea.
It makes you think that scientists can work for years on projects which don't always result in success but there are a handful of people that have saved billions of lives with their tireless Virology research. DNA vaccination is something that has never become available for humans so that could be a new focus. Sounds like a horror film though so I doubt they have many volunteers. It could end up becoming a highly effective way of defending against viruses in a thousand years but I will probably be dead by then.
Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 21st April 2020, 12:31 AMIt makes you think that scientists can work for years on projects which don't always result in success.
I believe many BCG comedy writers have a very similar life.
Masses of people out this morning. Masses. Any second wave is inevitable. Plus many have got into the feeling that they are on a permanent holiday so there is no way that any of them will go back to work at any time unless they are forced to by new laws which if broken carry a 30 year imprisonment sentence. Economic society, apart from future BBQ sales, appears to have been smashed which is kind of ironic since it has been done by the people who most thrived in it.
UK deaths - 1 Jan to 10 April 2020 - 185,000
5 Year Average for same period - 175,000
Flu and Pneumonia - 1 Jan to 10 April 2020 - 33,000
Covid-19 - 1 Jan to 10 April - 10,350
Usual deaths from stress illness in same period - Around 60,000
Number of deaths in Week 3 April - 10 April 2020 - 18,500
Usual number of deaths in Week 3 April - 10 April - 10,500
Number of deaths for Covid-19 in Week 3 April - 10 April - 6, 213
Quote: chipolata @ 21st April 2020, 6:39 AMI believe many BCG comedy writers have a very similar life.
Not me, I spend my time inventing things on Wiki pages. 
In the last 24 hours, there have been 823 new UK hospital deaths, taking the total to 17,337.
Suddenly people have stopped praising Sweden for not over-reacting with draconian lockdown laws.
Worst performing Nordic country by a long way - and rising.