Corona virus

There seems to be a large dispute according to the media between scientist if face masks are worthwhile or a total waste of time.

Spain talks about a new normal, will that mean footballers not gobbing off on the pitch. Have we been asking for COVID 19 for years?

In the UK press yesterday, there were 8 articles on face masks, ventilators, lockdown procedures and isolation.

All done by "experts" and studies by educational departments and all contradicted each other. Some said face masks would stop you infecting others, others said they were a waste of time.

One said lockdown was a waste of time and we're all going to get it anyway, another said lockdown was good and it slowed the spread.

One Nobel prize winner said the coronavirus couldn't be natural and was man made. Cue next Nobel prize winner who said it was impossible for it to be man made and so on.

In my "expert" opinion, it's best to avoid experts. The glasses of wine I am going to get through tonight might, or might not, protect me from the virus. It will, however, go a long way to protecting me from the experts.

The media will always sensationalise for their own ends and most people have learned now to take some of these reports that have frequently been proven to be misreporting or manipulative in intent with a pinch of salt.
Sadly they all too frequently thrive on division and confusion instead of good intellectual analyses looking at the pros and cons from a wide variety of perspectives.
Some do a disservice by being far too politically tribal in nature perhaps happy to home in one specific " expert" opinion instead of willing to view advice from a wide variety of perspectives.
And so long as this remains the case there will always be a variety of conclusions made across the media.
 

Having said that, science is always questionable... that's the nature of the beast, but until RESULTS confirm progress then we all have to remain open minded to potential solutions and seek out proven best practice and practical solutions from wherever it may arise going forward. And progress is being made but some more speedily than others even within countries, as has already been identified, and for all manner of reasons.
It's willingness to recognise these factors and adjust accordingly where the skill lies.

IMHO, the less poilitically driven or protectionist or unnecessarily competitive or divisive in this interim phase, and the more focused we can be on coming together to home in on actual clinical progress, and remain willing to review the various scientific options and analyses and recognise where for instance face masks have been actually proven to be of benefit to minimising contagion in some circumstance and perhaps not in others, or perhaps comprehend results that demonstrate some people are more prone to the virus than others, etc, the better. After all, this is still an ongoing exercise to learn the impacts of the virus.

In other words perhaps we should be more willing to review a variety of methods to contain the contagion to suit each specific set of circumstance. One size does not fit all.

Not easy ( understatement) 😉

** EDITED - Against forum rules **

At a meeting of the Eurogroup today, Spain's Prime Ministerial adviser stated that Spain would not open its borders until at least  the beginning of July. The EU stated all the countries of the EU are to coordinate the opening of borders when it becomes safe to do so.

Sad and ironic to see that some over-generalise by their observation  " you cannot believe a word broadcast " etc, and in that process they fail to comprehend the need to remain open minded and widen the perspective to consider many analyses , and prefer to use over exaggerated rhetoric themselves!

Not helpful I'm afraid.

** EDITED - Against forum rules **

Just wanted to share with you that I hope you had a wonderful day celebrating VE Day....there was a VE show from outside Buckingham Palace in the UK transmitted on the TV, which was very moving and humbling,  followed by an address by the Queen. All recognising the social distancing so very poignant in the current circumstances, but equally uplifting providing a message of courage and optimism.

So stay strong and keep smiling all... 🤗

This thread has gone off on so many tangents that it no longer refers to my original enquiry. How do I exit it as I am getting so many unrelated emails that i don't want.?

Oscar15

In respect of your original enquiry, if you were thinking of returning to the UK....

it looks as though the UK will be making all those arriving in the UK to go into quarantine for 14 days and follow the guidelines thereafter.... presumably all will become clear with more detail later on Sunday evening, when BJ makes his announcement. 
 

In terms of switching off to this thread...just remove the tick above and switch to off ( which identifies " notify me by email when someone replies to this thread".)

Just seen an interview with the CEO of Astra Zeneca on the Andrew Marr show and he stated that they are gearing up to production of a vaccine ( 100 million on order) being made available in the UK ( for the UK) hopefully by October.....on a non profit basis....also he suggested that they are also doing a similar exercise for Europe, ( I.e. made in Europe) and the USA and other countries, such that there is little intention of this becoming overly competitive and undermining a speedy way forward to treat the virus.

He explained that speed is of the essence and that it will be similar to the flu vaccine in so much as it should act as treatment to reduce the symptoms of the virus, but that further ongoing scientific investigations will be ongoing to comprehend the virus with the intention of eliminating it....but that is still up for investigation.

Sounds hopeful and fingers crossed that his confidence in the effectiveness of this vaccine proves true.

Stay safe all.... 🤗