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Coronavirus: General discussion (see opening post for rules)

Dos_Box

By Dos_Box
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DrBeaker

DrBeaker

Posted
Posted
It's running the risk of giving poorly-executed government IT projects a bad name.
Completely agree. E.g. my experience alone of 4x projects recently.

 

1x completed successfully with no issues.

2x poorly executed due to others getting involved/not consulting IT support beforehand and not ready for start of year and poorly-specced work items.

1x due to a rush deployment authorised by management which skipped vital recommended testing of the hardware beforehand.

 

Guess which ones IT were directly in charge of?

mikeprice

mikeprice

Posted
Posted
Not even an xlsx file? [emoji33][emoji12]

 

 

 

the article says it could only handle 65000 rows - not columns - which would be even more worrying

 

so basically someone who doesn't know how to do the job and a file transfer system that has no controls

 

this is similar to when you get a system set up by the Head of Science - who 'knows computers'

 

 

we have all had one of them

  • Thanks 3
DrBeaker

DrBeaker

Posted
Posted
the article says it could only handle 65000 rows - not columns - which would be even more worrying

 

so basically someone who doesn't know how to do the job and a file transfer system that has no controls

 

this is similar to when you get a system set up by the Head of Science - who 'knows computers'

 

 

we have all had one of them

 

Which supports the theory that it's an Office 2003 or earlier document as with 2007 they started the XLSX file format. Shocking, support for Office 2003 ended in 2014, 6x years ago.

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/reporting-services/report-builder/work-around-the-excel-2003-row-limitation?view=sql-server-ver15#:~:text=Excel%202003%20supports%20a%20maximum%20of%2065%2C536%20rows%20per%20worksheet.

3s-gtech

3s-gtech

Posted
Posted

It may be that they’re using XLS as someone chose that as the file format when it was created.

 

I’d be surprised if that’s the case though. More likely, someone in the chain is storing sensitive personal data in software that’s as old as our year 13s, and their filetype is what’s persisted.

 

What’s the betting their workstation is running XP?

mikeprice

mikeprice

Posted
Posted
My ghast is still flabbered! WORLD BEATING!!! If it wasn't such a serious matter, I'd laugh.

 

I think people on here are shcoked by this because they maybe think this sort of thing only happens in schools

 

 

 

really - this is just because of people

 

especially educated people - possibly with degrees - that think they know what they are doing

 

and know about IT

 

and are fed up with experts (remember that???)

 

OK - some of them are teachers

 

but - heads up people - they are EVERYWHERE

  • Thanks 2
jthompson

jthompson

Posted
Posted
It may be that they’re using XLS as someone chose that as the file format when it was created.

 

I’d be surprised if that’s the case though. More likely, someone in the chain is storing sensitive personal data in software that’s as old as our year 13s, and their filetype is what’s persisted.

 

What’s the betting their workstation is running XP?

 

I wonder if they saw this...

"Hi!

 

It looks like you're writing a public health data management system.

 

Would you like help with that?"

  • Thanks 4
sigma

sigma

Posted
Posted

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/08/more-than-80-positive-cases-in-covid-study-had-no-core-symptoms

 

 

More than 80% of people who tested positive in a national coronavirus survey had none of the core symptoms of the disease the day they took the test, scientists say.

 

The finding has prompted fears that future Covid-19 outbreaks will be hard to control without more widespread testing in the community to pick up “silent transmission”, particularly in universities and high-risk workplaces such as meat processing facilities.

 

I guess they mean schools as well.

jthompson

jthompson

Posted
Posted
I suspect this might have something to do with the fact that with so many people exercising "hands/face/space" to at least some degree, there will be a general downward pressure on the severity of the disease. People are being infected but with lower 'doses' of the virus than earlier in the pandemic, so the proportion of cases that are super-mild or asymptomatic is going to increase.
elsiegee40

elsiegee40

Posted
Posted (edited)

Coronavirus: 'Dr Johnny Bananas' and 'Dr Person Fakename' among medical signatories on herd immunity open letter (Sky news)

 

https://news.sky.com/story/coronvairus-dr-johnny-bananas-and-dr-person-fakename-among-medical-signatories-on-herd-immunity-open-letter-12099947

 

 

A widely-circulated open letter calling on governments to pursue herd immunity is counting homeopaths, therapists and fake names among its "medical" signatories, leading to accusations that it falsely represents scientific support for the controversial position.

 

The Great Barrington Declaration, a letter organised by prominent advocates of herd immunity, claims to have been signed by more than 15,000 scientists and medical practitioners, as well as more than 150,000 members of the general public.

 

Yet Sky News found dozens of fake names on the list of medical signatories, which anyone can add to if they tick a box and enter a name. These included Dr. I.P. Freely, Dr. Person Fakename and Dr. Johnny Bananas, who listed himself as a "Dr of Hard Sums".

 

One medical professional on the list gives his name as Dr Harold Shipman, a general practitioner in the United Kingdom.

 

Other famous names included Dominic Cummings, who is described as "PhD Durham Univercity".

 

Sky News also found 18 self-declared homeopaths listed on the open letter as medical practitioners, despite the fact that homeopathy has no scientific underpinning or clinical evidence to support its use.

 

In addition, the letter has been signed by well over 100 therapists, including massage therapists, hypnotherapists, psychotherapists and one Mongolian Khöömii Singer who describes himself as a "therapeutic sound practitioner".

 

Public health experts accused the letter, which has been used as evidence for the idea of a rift in the scientific community, of misrepresenting the level of support for the controversial concept of herd immunity.

 

Professor Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said it reminded him of "the messaging used to undermine public health policies on harmful substances, such as tobacco".

 

As advocates of herd immunity have become more vocal, media reports have described scientists as "divided".

 

Yet although herd immunity has some prominent backers, and the Great Barrington Declaration has been signed by many respected scientists and medical professionals, the vast majority of specialists in the field reject the approach.

 

Professor McKee added: "Leaving aside the powerful arguments against this declaration on grounds of science and feasibility, we have consistent evidence that a clear majority of the British public support necessary measures to reduce the spread of the virus or would go even further.

 

"Yet the campaign behind this declaration promotes a completely different picture."

 

The letter, called the Great Barrington Declaration after the United States town where it was written, was initiated by Professor Martin Kulldorff, Professor Jay Bhattacharya and Professor Sunetra Gupta.

 

It calls on governments to allow younger and less vulnerable people to catch coronavirus, thereby encouraging "herd immunity" among the population, while people who would be hit especially hard by the virus are given "focused protection".

 

Professor Bhattacharya, professor of medicine of Stanford University, told Sky News: "We do not have the resources to audit each signature, especially given the incredible interest that the Great Barrington Declaration has drawn. It is unfortunate that some people have abused our trust by adding false names, but I suppose it is inevitable.

 

"Still - given the volume of correspondence I have received from medical and public health professionals, as well as scientists and epidemiologists, it is clear that a very large number of experts resonate with the message of the declaration and its call for a focused protection policy."

 

Edited by elsiegee40
6Foot2

6Foot2

Posted
Posted

NOTE: Not a political post: No political replies are expected, nor are they invited.

 

 

You're not vulnerable, but they like to say the vulnerable, but you're the least vulnerable - but for this one thing you are vulnerable...

 

Err, OK...

stevejp

stevejp

Posted
Posted
NOTE: Not a political post: No political replies are expected, nor are they invited.

 

 

 

 

Err, OK...

 

There are no words...

 

Well, ok there are, but the pond is getting cold at this time of year...

6Foot2

6Foot2

Posted
Posted

Link: BCG: Can a vaccine from 1921 save lives from Covid-19? [bBC News]

 

Scientists in the UK have begun testing the BCG vaccine, developed in 1921, to see if it can save lives from Covid.

 

The vaccine was designed to stop tuberculosis, but there is some evidence it can protect against other infections as well.

 

Around 1,000 people will take part in the trial at the University of Exeter.

 

But while millions of people in the UK will have had the BCG jab as a child, it is thought they would need to be vaccinated again to benefit.

 

Vaccines are designed to train the immune system in a highly targeted way that leaves lasting protection against one particular infection.

 

But this process also causes wide-spread changes in the immune system. This seems to heighten the response to other infections and scientists hope it may even give our bodies an advantage against coronavirus.

 

  • Previous clinical trials have shown the BCG jab reduced deaths by 38% in newborns in Guinea-Bissau, mostly by reducing cases of pneumonia and sepsis.
  • Studies in South Africa linked the vaccine to a 73% reduction in infections in the nose, throat and lungs; experiments in the Netherlands showed BCG reduced the amount of yellow fever virus in the body.

"This could be of major importance globally," Prof John Campbell, of the University of Exeter Medical School, told the BBC.

 

"Whilst we don't think it [the protection] will be specific to Covid, it has the potential to buy several years of time for the Covid vaccines to come through and perhaps other treatments to be developed."

 

The UK trial is part of the international Brace-study, which is also taking place in Australia, the Netherlands, Spain and Brazil, recruiting 10,000 people in total...

mikeprice

mikeprice

Posted
Posted

 

Oh good

 

I had that at school - BANG - pain in my arm

nurse - oh - well that didn't work

BANG - same again - thanks for the warning

 

 

 

And then - for a few months - 2 holes in my arm - quite narrow and deep - that my Dad had to pour powder into twice a day to try to control the infection/reaction - or something

 

apparently - if my Dad didn't have a surgery in the house (he was a Chiropodist) I would have had to go to the doctor before and after school every day!

 

 

Hope I don't have to do THAT again!!!!

 

Still - pain in arm v. global pandemic causing many many deaths

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