Re: A new tier 4

Only if you were unlucky (in the past). If someone sneezes very close and you have no visor or glasses then yes you can contract it from your eye membranes. My theory is that is how it can get to the brain. Happened to a friend who was helping in a homeless shelter. He had a mask but no visor.

I've taken to using both a visor and mask in shops recently. With this "variant" strain we can't take any chances and the visors are cheap and not uncomfortable. With all the Tier 4 escapees the variant will spread to the whole country.

If everyone wore a mask (and properly) then sneezing would not be so damaging. If you wear glasses normally then there is some protection.

Re: A new tier 4

Good idea about the visor and mask. The receptionists at my vets wear both, but it does make it very hard to understand what someone is saying through two layers.
Think I might do that though because of this new strain, I have got a visor in the car.

Re: A new tier 4

This whole palaver is making communication so difficult. I went to give the dustmen a Christmas tip. The dustman was so grateful and happy and I realised I'd forgotten the dratted mask. But it was outside and so nice to be able to smile and talk naturally and have someone respond to a smile which is hidden behind the weird masking. Kicked myself afterwards for a while though thinking I was crazy to take such a risk with the vaccine so close...OMG we are going nuts!

Re: A new tier 4

Easily done in just a moment without thinking Annie, try not to worry about something you can't alter now.

I wonder how long the gap is usually, between infection and symptoms showing?
Perhaps its different for different people though?

Re: A new tier 4

It certainly makes you wonder how the UK managed to get through WW II. The country being bombed from the air, supply ships from the US carrying essential supplies, food, clothing, petrol, being sunk by German submarines, rationing and here we are, 2020 and in the grip of a pandemic, the government trying it's best under extremely very difficult circumstances and made all the more difficult because many of the UK's public are sticking two fingers up at the governments restrictions saying 'F You' and then these same people wonder why the virus is still spreading.

The only thing I would say is that the test used to check for convid-19 needs to be rechecked because the country is now in the winter flu period where thousand's of people die from the winter flu each year so how many of these positive convid-19 tests are actually the winter flu because don't forget, the winter flu is a coronavirus, just a different strain and the winter flu virus has EXACTLY the same symptoms as convid-19, is just that convid-19 is more deadly.

Re: A new tier 4

The gap from being infected varies, depending on the source. The NHS, SAGE and WHO all have different figures, one says 3 days symptoms start to show, others say 2 weeks.

The biggest problem now is the winter flu because convid-19 symptoms are exactly the same as the winter flu. Therefore when you get a cough, a sore throat, a headache and a fever, is it the winter flu or is it convid-19?.

Re: A new tier 4

Winter flu is caused by the influenza virus. Covid is a coronavirus like SARs. Flu is not a coronavirus.

It's odd that people are comparing Covid to flu when SARs and MERs were seen as distinct.

They were talking of having flu tests recently as a way to rule out flu from early Covid. Many serious illnesses also report "flu like symptoms".

Some have said Covid is a disease of the blood. It can make the blood thick with clots.

https://khn.org/news/clots-strokes-a...blood-vessels/

"In a study published this summer, Li and an international team of researchers compared the lung tissues of people who died of COVID-19 with those of people who died of influenza. They found stark differences: The lung tissues of the COVID victims had nine times as many tiny blood clots (“microthrombi”) as those of the influenza victims, and the coronavirus-infected lungs also exhibited “severe endothelial injury.”

“The surprise was that this respiratory virus makes a beeline for the cells lining blood vessels, filling them up like a gumball machine and shredding the cell from the inside out,” Li said. “We found blood vessels are blocked and blood clots are forming because of that lining damage.”"

The best way to avoid confusion is to have a flu vaccination. Record numbers have already done that this year. So it's less likely we will have a flu epidemic on top of covid.

Re: A new tier 4

Most people develop symptoms in three days. That's why they shortened the quarantine period to 7 days.

Re: A new tier 4

It's called "The Cummings Effect":

Politics, trust, and behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/l...690-1/fulltext

Re: A new tier 4

I agree, even today when talking about the restrictions with my work colleagues, some of them refer back to the incident of Cummings and that the fact the government kept finding excuses to not punish him and that is why they will not follow government guidance or trust the government.

The ONLY reason some of my work colleagues are following government guidance is because if they don't and they bring the virus into work which puts the health and safety of the rest of us at risk, it's classed as gross misconduct and thus an instant dismissal.