UK News, Updates and Discussion

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Freightdog
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Re: UK News, Updates and Discussion

Post by Freightdog »

Doc67 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 7:54 am The Guardian just can't make up their mind about it: In one review it gave it a 1 star rating an said: "Eight hours of a buffoon screwing things up for our supposed entertainment is bad enough, but it’s his total contempt for farming that makes this such a grim harvest" That was enough to get me watching it.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radi ... ides-again

In another it said, "It is, by some distance, the best thing Clarkson has done in 15 years."
Are you sure they aren’t actually complementary? The best thing that Clarkson has done in 15 years is a worth only 1 star?

I used to enjoy watching the caravan racing, and killing a Hilux. That was amusing. Some of the rest is a bit of a stretch.
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Re: UK News, Updates and Discussion

Post by Doc67 »

Freightdog wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 11:45 am
Doc67 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 7:54 am The Guardian just can't make up their mind about it: In one review it gave it a 1 star rating an said: "Eight hours of a buffoon screwing things up for our supposed entertainment is bad enough, but it’s his total contempt for farming that makes this such a grim harvest" That was enough to get me watching it.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radi ... ides-again

In another it said, "It is, by some distance, the best thing Clarkson has done in 15 years."
Are you sure they aren’t actually complementary? The best thing that Clarkson has done in 15 years is a worth only 1 star?

I used to enjoy watching the caravan racing, and killing a Hilux. That was amusing. Some of the rest is a bit of a stretch.
The first one was by an angry female writer and her loathing for Clarkson is visceral . The second one, by a man (perhaps) is much more generous. There is even a third review and for someone that the Guardian loath, that's an awful lot of publicity.

It's well worth a watch. If you can get it, tell me and I'll put it on a flash drive for you.
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Re: UK News, Updates and Discussion

Post by nerdlinger »

I like Clarkson when he’s not being political, but every now and then he uses the “I’m just playing a clownish buffoon on TV” cover as an excuse to make pronouncements on some agenda that are clearly bullshit.

Case in point in the first episode he squarely blames out-of-touch EU incompetence for a crop failing because they restricted neonicotinoid pesticides.
You know, the ones that were causing all the bees to die out and which the UK has still outlawed after Brexit…
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Re: UK News, Updates and Discussion

Post by Ghostwriter »

Image
Well, i like rollerskating & Uk, so...
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Re: UK News, Updates and Discussion

Post by Doc67 »

Cambridge-educated anti-vaxxer dies from Covid

An anti-vaxxer who filmed himself downplaying Covid-19 before posting it on Facebook has died of the virus.

Solicitor Leslie Lawrenson, 58, died at his home in Bournemouth, Dorset, nine days after he published a video on why coronavirus was “nothing to be afraid of.”


Whoops!

Somewhat more seriously, he even convinced his partner, who suffers from diabetes and hypertension, not to have the vaccine either. She got Covid too and nearly died from it.

The 58-year-old recorded two vlogs in June, where he explained his symptoms and described them as “no worse than a cold.”

“Les made a terrible mistake and he’s paid the ultimate price for that.”

Ms Mitchell said her partner, a Cambridge University graduate, decided against having a coronavirus jab after reading material on social media.

She said: “It was a daily thing that he said to us: ‘You don’t need to have it, you’ll be fine, just be careful’.


https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/covi ... 49378.html
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Re: UK News, Updates and Discussion

Post by mannanman »

Most anti vaxxers won’t even catch it never mind get ill and very unlikely to die.

Sensationalist news goes both ways.
People of the world, spice up your life.
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Re: UK News, Updates and Discussion

Post by Khmu Nation »

Ghostwriter wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 1:20 am Image
Well, i like rollerskating & Uk, so...
Going to be pedantic here but Eton doesn't have dormitories. Every student gets their own room.

8)
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Re: UK News, Updates and Discussion

Post by AndyKK »

The delta variant has a mutation that's worrying experts: Here's what we know so far

LONDON — A newly-discovered mutation of the delta variant is being investigated in the U.K. amid worries that it could make the virus even more transmissible and undermine Covid-19 vaccines further.
Still, there are many unknowns surrounding this descendent or subtype of the delta variant — formally known as AY.4.2 — which some are dubbing the new "delta plus" variant.

U.K. government health officials have said it's too early to tell whether the mutation poses a greater risk to public health than the delta variant, which itself is significantly more infectious than the original Covid-19 strain (and its successor, the alpha variant).

But they have stated that they are monitoring the mutation very closely: it now accounts for 6% of U.K. Covid cases that have been genetically sequenced at a time when infections in the country are rising rapidly.

Here's what we know, and don't know, about the variant:

What is the new variant?
Viruses constantly mutate and the coronavirus that emerged in China in late 2019 has gone through multiple minor variations that have made it virus more infectious and effective at spreading. This was first seen with the alpha variant (first sequenced in the U.K.) that went on to spread globally before it was usurped by the even more transmissible delta variant that was first discovered in India.

Delta, which was dubbed a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization in May, remains globally dominant.

But last Friday, the U.K.'s Health Security Agency issued a report in which it said "a delta sublineage newly designated as AY.4.2 is noted to be expanding in England." The agency said it was monitoring the subtype, which includes mutations to the spike protein (A222V and Y145H) that the coronavirus uses to enter our cells.

Why is it being monitored?
AY.4.2 is being identified in an increasing number of U.K. Covid cases, with some suggesting it could be a factor in the country's growing health crisis that has prompted some doctors to call for Covid restrictions to be reimposed.

"This sublineage is currently increasing in frequency," the U.K.'s Health Security Agency said last week, noting that "in the week beginning 27 September 2021 (the last week with complete sequencing data), this sublineage accounted for approximately 6% of all sequences generated, on an increasing trajectory. This estimate may be imprecise ... Further assessment is underway."

The U.K. is currently seeing a prolonged and worrying spike in Covid cases, reporting between 40,000-50,000 new infections per day in the last week, prompting experts to question why the U.K. is so vulnerable to Covid right now.

The delta subtype is reported to be 10-15% more transmissible than the standard delta variant, but it is too early to say for certain whether it has been causing a spike in cases in the U.K.

Why does it matter?
It's worth remembering that although AY.4.2 is being monitored, it has not been classified as a "variant under investigation" or a "variant of concern" by the WHO — that is, it has not been identified as having genetic changes that are expected to affect virus characteristics such as transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, diagnostic or therapeutic escape.

It also has not been confirmed that it causes significant community transmission or multiple Covid-19 clusters.

Still, that status could change following further monitoring and if it continues to be sequenced in an increasing number of cases.
Finding a potentially more transmissible variant matters because it could cause more Covid cases among the unvaccinated.

A large part of the world remains unvaccinated (only 2.8% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, according to Our World in Data) while developed countries are seeing more and more "breakthrough" cases as immunity to Covid wanes around six months after being fully vaccinated.

A more infectious variant could undermine vaccine efficacy even further, although there is no indicated that is the case yet with the AY.4.2 subtype.

Where do experts say?
Health officials are remaining calm about the delta subtype, for now, noting that it's crucial to keep an eye on the mutation but not to panic.

Commenting on "delta plus" on Wednesday, U.S. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky noted that "in particular the AY.4.2 variant has drawn some attention in recent days." She added that: "we have, on occasion, identified this sub lineage here in the United States, but not with recent increase frequency or clustering, to date."

As well as the U.S., Israel said it had confirmed a case of the AY.4.2 variant in an 11 year-old boy entering the country at Ben Gurion airport. On Thursday, Russia also said it had registered some isolated cases of the AY.4.2 variant. It's unknown to what extent, if any, the subtype has been found in mainland Europe.

The U.K. prime minister's official spokesman called for calm on Tuesday, telling Sky News that "[AY.4.2] is something we're keeping a very close eye on," but stressing that there was currently no evidence to suggest that this variant is more easily spread.

"There's no evidence for that, but as you would expect, we're monitoring it closely and won't hesitate to take action if necessary," he added.

U.K. government officials are very reluctant to reimpose Covid restrictions, despite calls from health professionals to do so as British hospitals face being overwhelmed by demand as winter approaches.

Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, which helped to developed the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine, said on Wednesday that the delta subvariant won't change Covid picture.

"Discovery of new variants is of course important to monitor, but it doesn't indicate that that new variant is going to be the next one to replace delta," Pollard told BBC radio, Reuters reported.

"Indeed even if it does, delta is incredibly good at transmitting in a vaccinated population and a new one may be a bit better but it's unlikely to change the picture dramatically from where we are today."

Meanwhile, professor of immunology at Imperial College London, Danny Altmann, told CNBC Monday that the subtype "needs to be monitored and, so far as possible, carefully controlled."

"Because delta has now been the dominant mutant in several regions for some six months and not been displaced by any other variants, the hope has been that delta perhaps represented [the] peak mutation performance achievable by the virus. AY.4 may be starting to raise doubts about this assertion," he warned.

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/lifestyle/cor ... d=msedgdhp
Always "hope" but never "expect".
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Re: UK News, Updates and Discussion

Post by Doc67 »

AndyKK wrote: Wed Nov 03, 2021 4:54 pm The delta variant has a mutation that's worrying experts: Here's what we know so far

LONDON — A newly-discovered mutation of the delta variant is being investigated in the U.K. amid worries that it could make the virus even more transmissible and undermine Covid-19 vaccines further.
Still, there are many unknowns surrounding this descendent or subtype of the delta variant — formally known as AY.4.2 — which some are dubbing the new "delta plus" variant.

U.K. government health officials have said it's too early to tell whether the mutation poses a greater risk to public health than the delta variant, which itself is significantly more infectious than the original Covid-19 strain (and its successor, the alpha variant).

But they have stated that they are monitoring the mutation very closely: it now accounts for 6% of U.K. Covid cases that have been genetically sequenced at a time when infections in the country are rising rapidly.

Here's what we know, and don't know, about the variant:

What is the new variant?
Viruses constantly mutate and the coronavirus that emerged in China in late 2019 has gone through multiple minor variations that have made it virus more infectious and effective at spreading. This was first seen with the alpha variant (first sequenced in the U.K.) that went on to spread globally before it was usurped by the even more transmissible delta variant that was first discovered in India.

Delta, which was dubbed a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization in May, remains globally dominant.

But last Friday, the U.K.'s Health Security Agency issued a report in which it said "a delta sublineage newly designated as AY.4.2 is noted to be expanding in England." The agency said it was monitoring the subtype, which includes mutations to the spike protein (A222V and Y145H) that the coronavirus uses to enter our cells.

Why is it being monitored?
AY.4.2 is being identified in an increasing number of U.K. Covid cases, with some suggesting it could be a factor in the country's growing health crisis that has prompted some doctors to call for Covid restrictions to be reimposed.

"This sublineage is currently increasing in frequency," the U.K.'s Health Security Agency said last week, noting that "in the week beginning 27 September 2021 (the last week with complete sequencing data), this sublineage accounted for approximately 6% of all sequences generated, on an increasing trajectory. This estimate may be imprecise ... Further assessment is underway."

The U.K. is currently seeing a prolonged and worrying spike in Covid cases, reporting between 40,000-50,000 new infections per day in the last week, prompting experts to question why the U.K. is so vulnerable to Covid right now.

The delta subtype is reported to be 10-15% more transmissible than the standard delta variant, but it is too early to say for certain whether it has been causing a spike in cases in the U.K.

Why does it matter?
It's worth remembering that although AY.4.2 is being monitored, it has not been classified as a "variant under investigation" or a "variant of concern" by the WHO — that is, it has not been identified as having genetic changes that are expected to affect virus characteristics such as transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, diagnostic or therapeutic escape.

It also has not been confirmed that it causes significant community transmission or multiple Covid-19 clusters.

Still, that status could change following further monitoring and if it continues to be sequenced in an increasing number of cases.
Finding a potentially more transmissible variant matters because it could cause more Covid cases among the unvaccinated.

A large part of the world remains unvaccinated (only 2.8% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, according to Our World in Data) while developed countries are seeing more and more "breakthrough" cases as immunity to Covid wanes around six months after being fully vaccinated.

A more infectious variant could undermine vaccine efficacy even further, although there is no indicated that is the case yet with the AY.4.2 subtype.

Where do experts say?
Health officials are remaining calm about the delta subtype, for now, noting that it's crucial to keep an eye on the mutation but not to panic.

Commenting on "delta plus" on Wednesday, U.S. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky noted that "in particular the AY.4.2 variant has drawn some attention in recent days." She added that: "we have, on occasion, identified this sub lineage here in the United States, but not with recent increase frequency or clustering, to date."

As well as the U.S., Israel said it had confirmed a case of the AY.4.2 variant in an 11 year-old boy entering the country at Ben Gurion airport. On Thursday, Russia also said it had registered some isolated cases of the AY.4.2 variant. It's unknown to what extent, if any, the subtype has been found in mainland Europe.

The U.K. prime minister's official spokesman called for calm on Tuesday, telling Sky News that "[AY.4.2] is something we're keeping a very close eye on," but stressing that there was currently no evidence to suggest that this variant is more easily spread.

"There's no evidence for that, but as you would expect, we're monitoring it closely and won't hesitate to take action if necessary," he added.

U.K. government officials are very reluctant to reimpose Covid restrictions, despite calls from health professionals to do so as British hospitals face being overwhelmed by demand as winter approaches.

Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, which helped to developed the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine, said on Wednesday that the delta subvariant won't change Covid picture.

"Discovery of new variants is of course important to monitor, but it doesn't indicate that that new variant is going to be the next one to replace delta," Pollard told BBC radio, Reuters reported.

"Indeed even if it does, delta is incredibly good at transmitting in a vaccinated population and a new one may be a bit better but it's unlikely to change the picture dramatically from where we are today."

Meanwhile, professor of immunology at Imperial College London, Danny Altmann, told CNBC Monday that the subtype "needs to be monitored and, so far as possible, carefully controlled."

"Because delta has now been the dominant mutant in several regions for some six months and not been displaced by any other variants, the hope has been that delta perhaps represented [the] peak mutation performance achievable by the virus. AY.4 may be starting to raise doubts about this assertion," he warned.

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/lifestyle/cor ... d=msedgdhp
Why does it matter?
It's worth remembering that although AY.4.2 is being monitored, it has not been classified as a "variant under investigation" or a "variant of concern" by the WHO — that is, it has not been identified as having genetic changes that are expected to affect virus characteristics such as transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, diagnostic or therapeutic escape.
It also has not been confirmed that it causes significant community transmission or multiple Covid-19 clusters.


So, why does it matter then?

Pure scaremongering clickbait.
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Re: UK News, Updates and Discussion

Post by hburns »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59445388

Two cases of new variant of Covid detected in UK

Two people in the UK have been found to be infected with the new Covid variant, Omicron, the health secretary has said.

Sajid Javid said the UK Health Security Agency had detected cases in Chelmsford, Essex, and in Nottingham.

He said the cases were linked and the two people were self-isolating alongside their households while more tests and contact tracing take place.

The new variant has also been identified in South Africa, Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel.
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