Apparently only five percent of us have had the virus so far.

Well, that doesn't sound particularly rampant, does it? I realise that it would have been more if we had not locked down, but on the other hand, maybe most of these people caught it from crowded supermarkets while searching for toilet roll and tomatoes?

Honey wrote:
Well, that doesn't sound particularly rampant, does it?


It does to me!

Well over 3 million people.

Suffering from an incurable disease.

Honey wrote:
Apparently only five percent of us have had the virus so far.

Well, that doesn't sound particularly rampant, does it? I realise that it would have been more if we had not locked down, but on the other hand, maybe most of these people caught it from crowded supermarkets while searching for toilet roll and tomatoes?

I don't understand how this can be known when apparantly up to 40% of those who have had Covid but were asymptomatic don't develop anti bodies; and those who develop antibodies may lose them in a couple of months, and we hear that Covid has probably been here to some level since last Autumn...?

www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/health/coronavirus-antibodies.html

Barney wrote:
Honey wrote:
Well, that doesn't sound particularly rampant, does it?


It does to me!

Well over 3 million people.

Suffering from an incurable disease.





For the vast majority of people (98-99%) a "cure" is not needed as it is a trifling matter...

wyot wrote:
For the vast majority of people (98-99%) a "cure" is not needed as it is a trifling matter...


Why then is the world spending billions seeking a vaccine?

For the same reason they tried (and succeeded) to find a vaccine for Flu. Keep up Barney.

Not quite.

One of the many and principal reasons that a vaccine is urgently needed - is the virus's propensity to mutate.

It has already has mutated, more than once - and new strains are often more virulent than predecessors.

And could lead to a second wave - something which would be catastrophic for the world at large.


Consequently, the vaccine is urgently needed - not only to cure those infected - but to counteract the armageddon danger.

Our knowledge about the virus is still sparce - we don't know where it came from, have no cure - or idea of its potential.

Grow up Barney. Don't be a gullible lemming.

Like MERS and SARS, the coronavirus has been fast to mutate - making it potentially more dangerous.

Than its legacy so far illustrates - nearly 10 million infections and getting close to 500,000 deaths.

Some viruses though - don't mutate, such as measles. The same vaccine we received as a child, is still working.


For the world to stop seeking a vaccine - and ignore further mutations - would be foolhardy in the extreme.

As the World Health Organisation, Royal College of Surgeons and British Medical Association all agree.

wyot wrote:
[quote]Honey wrote:
I don't understand how this can be known
Neither do I.

wyot wrote:
For the vast majority of people (98-99%) a "cure" is not needed as it is a trifling matter...
It seems to me that this is also impossible to know without fail-safe testing of the entire population and without knowing what the long-term consequences of infection may be.

Jo wrote:
[quote]wyot wrote:
Honey wrote:
I don't understand how this can be known
Neither do I.

wyot wrote:
For the vast majority of people (98-99%) a "cure" is not needed as it is a trifling matter...
It seems to me that this is also impossible to know without fail-safe testing of the entire population and without knowing what the long-term consequences of infection may be.

Yes I agree Jo.

If there arises evidence that everyone who has contracted Covid 19 is going to suffer significant long term health problems then this is new information and opinions should be revised.

But do bear in mind from media reporting for a long time until recently this virus was a biblical plague; and in terms of mortality rates this has -to say the least - not proven the case.

The death rate itself is negligible, hence my comment: a cure is not needed for the vast majority on what is known.

But this is not the same as saying I think they should not spend millions on looking for a vaccine. Of course they should, as they did for flu: 1% of the population is a lot of people, and each death a painful loss.

But locking down the world in the way it was done was bowing to media pressure to look strong in the face of the "silent invasion" and has - and is about to - cause unimaginable harm to millions of families. Not 65k.

No event in my lifetime has made me so convinced that while a virus down the line could do for humanity this is what will in some way: the death of nuance, the power of the media (and so emasculation of government/democracy) and the superficiality of the culture. All have played a part in pantomime Covid 19.

But I am sure regulars here will agree I have gone on about this too much and are no doubt bored shitless by my posts; so I hereby promise this is the last post on "The Great Bore" I will place!

On the one hand you say that a cure is not needed

For a trifling matter - affecting 1 or 2 percent


And on the other - you support a massive spend for a vaccine

Contradiction and confusion is alive and very well

Barney wrote:
On the one hand you say that a cure is not needed

For a trifling matter - affecting 1 or 2 percent


And on the other - you support a massive spend for a vaccine

Contradiction and confusion is alive and very well





As promised, I am retired on this subject Barney.

I would though urge you to read more carefully before decifing on your replies; as what you state I have stated is simply untrue.

Perhaps I can urge you into Covid retirement with me Barney?

Meet you in the slipper and pipe section of John Lewis Kingston next week, followed by an app-ordered pint and shouting convivially at one another across tables in a pretty pub in the Surrey Hills?

Wyot - I'd like to meet, really.

But would have some concerns.


That you'd later deny that you invited me...

Very good Sir!