IOM Covid removing restrictions

[wrighty]

Whatever else has gone on since, @rachomics made a pivotal contribution to this Island's pandemic response.  I remember sitting in meetings at the top table right from the outset when we were worried about procuring swabs to get PCR tests sent across to Manchester, with a 48hr turnaround time, if we were lucky.  It may have been a team effort to set up local testing, but Rachel was the team captain, manager, and club owner rolled into one as far as setting up the testing here was concerned.  Without her it would not have happened last year, and quite possibly not at all.

I don't follow Twitter, so unfortunately don't get to see her recent musings.  I understand that she might be more towards the 'caution first' side of the argument now compared to my own 'it'll be right, let's crack on' opinion.  Time will tell which position in the spectrum was right to adopt.  But whatever that is, the point stands that without Rachel and her testing set up, we'd have been far worse off. 

[AlanShimmin]

Just now, wrighty said:

Whatever else has gone on since, @rachomics made a pivotal contribution to this Island's pandemic response.  I remember sitting in meetings at the top table right from the outset when we were worried about procuring swabs to get PCR tests sent across to Manchester, with a 48hr turnaround time, if we were lucky.  It may have been a team effort to set up local testing, but Rachel was the team captain, manager, and club owner rolled into one as far as setting up the testing here was concerned.  Without her it would not have happened last year, and quite possibly not at all.

I don't follow Twitter, so unfortunately don't get to see her recent musings.  I understand that she might be more towards the 'caution first' side of the argument now compared to my own 'it'll be right, let's crack on' opinion.  Time will tell which position in the spectrum was right to adopt.  But whatever that is, the point stands that without Rachel and her testing set up, we'd have been far worse off. 

Usually agree with you @wrightybut I have to disagree on this occasion. 

We got through 2020 because of the compliance of the GMP and the massively draconian border closure. 

[AcousticallyChallenged]

2 minutes ago, wrighty said:

Whatever else has gone on since, @rachomics made a pivotal contribution to this Island's pandemic response.  I remember sitting in meetings at the top table right from the outset when we were worried about procuring swabs to get PCR tests sent across to Manchester, with a 48hr turnaround time, if we were lucky.  It may have been a team effort to set up local testing, but Rachel was the team captain, manager, and club owner rolled into one as far as setting up the testing here was concerned.  Without her it would not have happened last year, and quite possibly not at all.

I don't follow Twitter, so unfortunately don't get to see her recent musings.  I understand that she might be more towards the 'caution first' side of the argument now compared to my own 'it'll be right, let's crack on' opinion.  Time will tell which position in the spectrum was right to adopt.  But whatever that is, the point stands that without Rachel and her testing set up, we'd have been far worse off. 

I can’t see this post being popular with certain regulars

They’ll argue them “bloody noisy nosey wimmin” don’t deserve any praise. They’re to be deemed modern day witches. Doom mongerers and life ruiners of the “plandemic”. 

A bit of proper emotive vitriol to really hammer their point home. 

[wrighty]

3 minutes ago, AlanShimmin said:

Usually agree with you @wrightybut I have to disagree on this occasion. 

We got through 2020 because of the compliance of the GMP and the massively draconian border closure. 

Our successful elimination policy in the latter half of 2020 would not have been possible if we weren't an island.  Local testing however allowed the health service to function virtually normally in the last few months of 2020, which wouldn't have been the case if we'd been sending swabs still, and it also allowed us to be far more responsive with regard to contact tracing - essential for the elimination strategy, which may not have been successful at all with a built in 48 hour delay.

A pivotal contribution, regardless of the political machinations afterwards.  Even David Ashford agrees with that.

[AcousticallyChallenged]

6 minutes ago, offshoremanxman said:

I genuinely don’t believe he or they have. We changed approach around January this year. It was the right thing to do. Places like Australia are never going to get back to normal with a locked down country and an 8% vaccination rate and locking whole states down because 10 people have covid. The ‘experts’ have effectively shut the place down (like we did for a while). It must have dawned on our government after the SPC incident that we can’t hold the rest of the world at bay and vaccination is the only rational way out. That was at the same time that the UK government hung its coat on that exit strategy and we got assured of our supplies. The UK has just about the only credible exit plan to this mess in the world which we’re now following. I think the end result and where we are now is where it probably needs to be and whether I wear a mask in the bus or not will not affect that. 

It was a lot later than that. 

The March/April lockdown happened after that. HQ said in the announcement of that that if we had been a month or two along, they may have taken a different tack, but it was too soon. 

[TheTeapot]

Discuss this

[Danoo]

I think it’s fair to say that Rachel played a key role in the island’s navigation through this and to have that level of expertise to hand locally was invaluable. 

It’s also fair to say that the rather public spat was embarrassing for all parties and should probably be left alone now. It does no-one any good to continue to mud sling in public. 

It’s also now time to leave COVID behind. We need to just crack on with life and leave the cautious medical/scientific advisors to get back to the day job. No more testing, lockdowns and restrictions. We have an economy to rebuild and lives to repair. There will inevitably be more deaths but such is life, we’re all going one day so let’s crack on with living again. 

[AlanShimmin]

30 minutes ago, TheTeapot said:

Discuss this

How do you quantify 'free of disease'? 

Covid is endemic. There are massive wells of it in the world's animal population. You can never escape it now. 

[AlanShimmin]

21 minutes ago, Danoo said:

 

It’s also fair to say that the rather public spat was embarrassing for all parties and should probably be left alone now. It does no-one any good to continue to mud sling in public. 

Like Spuan Juan?

[Numbnuts]

30 minutes ago, offshoremanxman said:

When most of us are vaccinated it’s largely irrelevant to be fair. And in terms of freedom from disease I’m still more worried about contracting cancer or heart disease as statistically those are much more likely to see me off. Catching some disease or other is a general risk of life.

Yes these would be my general thoughts too. Can't say I've been unduly worried with Covid but yes have behaved and taken any necessary precautions I felt appropriate . Struggled with last two lockdowns but that was because of limited contact with friends which I understood . However when you've suffered with MH issues for so long loneliness has been a issue. As you rightly say Cancer or heart disease would be alot higher on my scale of things to worry about bearing in mind I'm 67 now. Guess one day we will look back at these times with many varying thoughts depending how it affected ourselves or family. 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Numbnuts

[AlanShimmin]

@rachomicsdo you have a contract to supply Government with the chemicals they need for testing?

[Ramseyboi]

7 hours ago, TheTeapot said:

Discuss this

What’s to discuss?  Hardly anyone was in denial about COVID being a risk that needed dealing with.

Now it has been and in terms of risks from disease or illness for most of us is way down the list of things to worry about.

Personally my risk of being involved in a motorcycle accident is way higher then any risk from COVID now I am vaccinated (and pretty sure I recently had it).  That quote/meme thing you posted is just bollocks from someone presumably determined to lock us all up until COVID goes away.

”freedom” for me is the ability to live like I did up until 2019.  As an adult making my own decisions and risk assessments.

For me currently that mainly means making some life choices around my own diet, exercise and drinking.  A few others would be well advised to do the same and take responsibility for their own risk rather than demanding freedom to be as fat and lazy as they want while locking healthy people up.

Edited August 10, 2021 by Ramseyboi

[John Wright]

@rachomics

have you issued proceedings against DHSC or government in some form or other for your alleged unfair dismissal and/or theft/breach of copyright in your IT IP, or anything else?

If so it’s better that you don’t use MF to advance your position.

Simple yes/no suffices.

Im asking as moderator.

[Happier diner]

9 hours ago, wrighty said:

Whatever else has gone on since, @rachomics made a pivotal contribution to this Island's pandemic response.  I remember sitting in meetings at the top table right from the outset when we were worried about procuring swabs to get PCR tests sent across to Manchester, with a 48hr turnaround time, if we were lucky.  It may have been a team effort to set up local testing, but Rachel was the team captain, manager, and club owner rolled into one as far as setting up the testing here was concerned.  Without her it would not have happened last year, and quite possibly not at all.

I don't follow Twitter, so unfortunately don't get to see her recent musings.  I understand that she might be more towards the 'caution first' side of the argument now compared to my own 'it'll be right, let's crack on' opinion.  Time will tell which position in the spectrum was right to adopt.  But whatever that is, the point stands that without Rachel and her testing set up, we'd have been far worse off. 

 

9 hours ago, AlanShimmin said:

Usually agree with you @wrightybut I have to disagree on this occasion. 

We got through 2020 because of the compliance of the GMP and the massively draconian border closure. 

Surely it was a combination of the two. It wouldn't have worked without testing AND border closure. We indeed have to thank Dr Glover for her help and input. Without it we would have set up a testing lab eventually but it's clear from listening to those in the know that Dr Glovers drive combined with her expertise expedited its speedy creation.

Edited August 10, 2021 by Happier diner

[TheTeapot]

16 hours ago, wrighty said:

Agree with all of this.  Covid-19 will become a common cold. You’ll get it every so often, and this will serve the purpose of keeping community resistance (aka herd immunity) up such that R=1 and we have endemic equilibrium.

I’m increasingly drawn to the notion that coronavirus OC43 was Russian Flu in 1889-90.  Now that virus gives us a cold every so often, being one of the 4 human coronaviruses that cause colds, and are responsible for 15% of them. If we swabbed everyone with a cold, we might find about 100 testing positive every day…

This is well worth a read for everyone about that 

https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine/qa-why-history-suggests-covid-19-here-stay