Still lots of Covid about?

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Dec 29, 2022
226
226
East Suffolk
As I hit post on my last contribution to this thread I thought “ CLEM that could seem like I your being sarcastic and so forth to Pattree” but I can assure you I was not and neither was it my intention either.

It’s like this, I remember when there was Science, now we have THE Science, I also remember when we had truth and now we have MY truth.
yep, it's all become a bit cultish for my liking.
 

Pattree

Full Member
Jul 19, 2023
1,341
745
76
UK
@CLEM That’s OK.

Sorry if I am banging a discordant drum all too regularly but science doesn’t deal in truth, it is a very thorough interpretation of the evidence to date.
What reaches you and me is a consensus (convergence) of the most robust interpretations to date.
Once a paper claims absolute truth then it has entered the realms of religious scripture.

There is so much still to learn, so much to relearn and so much that shall be rejected in a future learning.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,192
1,562
Cumbria
It's interesting about virus' causing other issues. It makes me wonder about my allergic reactions, urticaria and swellings on my lips/ in my mouth that go down with higher doses of antihistamines (currently 4 loratidine or prescription strength of a different one).

I got covid once during the main pandemic after the first lockdown ended. Under restrictions I ended my isolation period on the day before we had a holiday booked. Then my son and partner got it after the requirement to notify and isolate ended. I then got covid symptoms but only got a possible positive line on my test. That was not too long before I started to get urticaria.

It's interesting. Does anyone have any links to research about virus' and post virus conditions linked to virus'??
 
Dec 29, 2022
226
226
East Suffolk
@CLEM That’s OK.

Sorry if I am banging a discordant drum all too regularly but science doesn’t deal in truth, it is a very thorough interpretation of the evidence to date.
What reaches you and me is a consensus (convergence) of the most robust interpretations to date.
Once a paper claims absolute truth then it has entered the realms of religious scripture.

There is so much still to learn, so much to relearn and so much that shall be rejected in a future learning.

I think that's where a lot of the problems lie. It was felt by many that criticism and open discussion were routinely shut down and there was no room for questioning what was presented as 'the science'. Opposing views were met with calls for censorship rather than open debate. That is something I could never get behind.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,192
1,562
Cumbria
I don't think they stopped on the canal I lived by, just fished up and down the canal moving along as they fished. Mind you I once told an angler to try a bit further back along the canal as I'd seen a few fish. A quick thank you from the angler as he went to see the fish. All of them floating belly up dead. It amused me in a mischievous way.

The canal was actually quite healthy with loads of small fry. It was perhaps just the big ones that died. The ones they were hoping to catch.

Covid brought out the gym goers. Instead of sweating it out in a gym they got their exercise running along the towpath, breathing heavily, no masks and practically forcing others b out of the way. One knocked out son over and nearly into the canal. That annoyed me because there was a sign telling cyclists to take care around other users but they never caused any problems unlike the male runners. BTW I'm not admitting to writing runners on the sign in permanent marker but it did appear one day.

It was interesting how where I lived covid brought the best out of people. I'd lived there 18 years and knew maybe 5 people. During covid I became part of the community as ppl kept seeing each other and checking up on each other in a safe way. Very positive how there was this wider sense of looking out for each other (except the runners that is). I miss that sense community and in it together. Don't miss the covid part of it though. Anyone else notice that?
 
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SaraR

Full Member
Mar 25, 2017
1,638
1,187
Ceredigion
I don't know of anyone who's had covid in the last year. When my mum was in and out of hospital last week no one was taking covid precautions and only a very few people where wearing masks.

With regards to masks, I thought the standard surgical masks did nothing to stop the spread of covid so why do some places still insist on them? I thought the FFP3 masks were the only ones to offer protection?
Surgical masks protect others (a bit) from you, if you are infectious, by stopping you spreading aerosols and droplets containing the virus. It doesn’t protect you particularly well, because air can still move around the sides of the masks.

FFP2 and FFP3 masks provide you with protection from others around you, by filtering the air that you breath in (the air has to go through the mask). It also protects others from you, as long as you don’t have an exhale valve on it.

Surgical masks offer some protection and are better than a buff over your mouth and nose, but they are not that great.

The main reasons for not requiring people to wear more protective masks were that they weren’t available, were needed more by certain groups of workers and that it was felt that it would be unfair to ask people, who might be financially struggling, to buy the more expensive masks.
 
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gibson 175

Full Member
Apr 9, 2022
172
108
West Yorkshire
Thanks for starting this thread Tony. There have been some really useful contributions that have made me think about health generally. I have found othe BCUK threads that mention health really useful. I think hearing other people's experience about health is REALLY important. I have only heard of 1 really bad case of long covid- a friend of a friend-and he was an older superfit cyclist in his early 60s and after catching covid he became bed ridden..after a year he is managing to walk around on crutches. This thread has really made me think. Out of interest the NHS website lists Long Covid. It is a SYNDROME. Can anyone tell me in plain English what a syndrome is- I have an idea what it is from reading but still can't understand it properly. Does it mean it is ia set of different symptoms or illnesses that combine together in a unique way? Anyway it makes me really glad I haven't got it and that I am reasonably healthy anyway. My heart goes out to those who are ill with and their families.
PS here is the NHS link to long covid
 
Dec 29, 2023
7
4
55
Scotland
Hi gibson175, a syndrome is a collection of signs & symptoms that are related to each other and associated with a condition but the exact cause is unknown/unproven. A disease is where the signs and symptoms have an identified cause.
 

GreyCat

Full Member
Nov 1, 2023
86
102
51
South Wales, UK
Surgical masks protect others (a bit) from you, if you are infectious, by stopping you spreading aerosols and droplets containing the virus. It doesn’t protect you particularly well, because air can still move around the sides of the masks.

FFP2 and FFP3 masks provide you with protection from others around you, by filtering the air that you breath in (the air has to go through the mask). It also protects others from you, as long as you don’t have an exhale valve on it.

Surgical masks offer some protection and are better than a buff over your mouth and nose, but they are not that great.

The main reasons for not requiring people to wear more protective masks were that they weren’t available, were needed more by certain groups of workers and that it was felt that it would be unfair to ask people, who might be financially struggling, to buy the more expensive masks.

Hmmm, it's not that simple. The thing with RPE (respiratory protective equipment) is that without a decent face-fit, even an FFP3 won't do much good. There's a whole thing about correct handling, donning, removal and maintenance of RPE which is essential if it is to do it's job. (I get sooooo annoyed when you see something like BBC Repair Shop presenters using a dusk mask to "protect" whilst spraying paint and not wearing it correctly, may as well not wear it at all).

As someone who in my professional life has had to specify RPE for hazardous substances of various types (in line with HSE guidance) and check efficacy, I found the whole COVID "mask" arguments rather disingenuous.

For quite some time, we have known that the only way to properly protect workers from (say) silica dust is to provide air-fed hoods. If an employer gave them surgical masks instead (or even FFP3 for anything more than brief and sporadic exposure) they would have been in deep doo-doo with the HSE. Silica dust particles are a magnitude bigger that viruses....... [and so the real PPE scandal IMO is the lack of air-fed RPE for front-line NHS staff].

Surgical masks might (if used correctly) help reduce spreading of contaminated snot, but that's about all.

The thing with FFP3-type filtering facepieces is, that if worn correctly (i.e. effective) they can be quite hard to breathe/work in, which is why air-fed or powered filtering respirators are used where protection is done properly, the user needs to work physically and the RPE needs to be worn for more than a short time.

Perhaps another lesson is that we had previously forgotten as a society how to deal with serous illness and convalescence...... and failed to learn from other world countries (e.g. South Africa) with more experience about how to handle illness and recovery.

GC
 

SaraR

Full Member
Mar 25, 2017
1,638
1,187
Ceredigion
Hmmm, it's not that simple. The thing with RPE (respiratory protective equipment) is that without a decent face-fit, even an FFP3 won't do much good. There's a whole thing about correct handling, donning, removal and maintenance of RPE which is essential if it is to do it's job. (I get sooooo annoyed when you see something like BBC Repair Shop presenters using a dusk mask to "protect" whilst spraying paint and not wearing it correctly, may as well not wear it at all).

As someone who in my professional life has had to specify RPE for hazardous substances of various types (in line with HSE guidance) and check efficacy, I found the whole COVID "mask" arguments rather disingenuous.

For quite some time, we have known that the only way to properly protect workers from (say) silica dust is to provide air-fed hoods. If an employer gave them surgical masks instead (or even FFP3 for anything more than brief and sporadic exposure) they would have been in deep doo-doo with the HSE. Silica dust particles are a magnitude bigger that viruses....... [and so the real PPE scandal IMO is the lack of air-fed RPE for front-line NHS staff].

Surgical masks might (if used correctly) help reduce spreading of contaminated snot, but that's about all.

The thing with FFP3-type filtering facepieces is, that if worn correctly (i.e. effective) they can be quite hard to breathe/work in, which is why air-fed or powered filtering respirators are used where protection is done properly, the user needs to work physically and the RPE needs to be worn for more than a short time.

Perhaps another lesson is that we had previously forgotten as a society how to deal with serous illness and convalescence...... and failed to learn from other world countries (e.g. South Africa) with more experience about how to handle illness and recovery.

GC
Believe me, I know, I work with these things too.

I was trying to provide a simple explanation of the general differences.

If you're going to wear a mask of course you need to wear it properly and take care of it. And yes it is often uncomfortable and annoying. But so is a lot of other PPE....
 
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slowworm

Full Member
May 8, 2008
2,014
973
Devon
If you're going to wear a mask of course you need to wear it properly and take care of it. And yes it is often uncomfortable and annoying. But so is a lot of other PPE....
That's my main complaint about masks during covid. Many people seemed to think they offered good protection so didn't do much else such as minimising contact.
 

SaraR

Full Member
Mar 25, 2017
1,638
1,187
Ceredigion
That's my main complaint about masks during covid. Many people seemed to think they offered good protection so didn't do much else such as minimising contact.
The thing is, it’s such an easy thing to implement and it does make a real difference. As in, it will reduce the spread of the disease, even if it doesn’t curb it completely.

If there had been enough masks available early on during the pandemic and they’d actually told people to just mask up, I think it would have made a big difference. But although wearing a mask when you’re ill is normal practice in places like SE Asia, it clearly wasn’t the done thing in this part of the world. And we didn’t have enough masks available to cover even just key services.

The best thing that we could do now (and should have done a long time ago for all sorts of reasons) is to improve indoor ventilation, but even now that’s ignored. Of course it costs a lot more and is inconvenient, but still….
 

Chris

Full Member
Sep 20, 2022
492
571
Lincolnshire
Finding it rather annoying that I still can’t even pay for a booster if I want one.

Stuff everyone under the age of 65, I guess. Not like loads of working age people being off ill impacts the economy or anything…
 

TeeDee

Full Member
Nov 6, 2008
10,502
3,705
50
Exeter
Finding it rather annoying that I still can’t even pay for a booster if I want one.

Stuff everyone under the age of 65, I guess. Not like loads of working age people being off ill impacts the economy or anything…

Thats ok , we can just print more money !!

Problem solved.

:)
 
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