Ditto

Case numbers will appear to jump on Monday on gov site due to a reporting change counting re-infections - see coronavirus.data.gov.uk https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/whats-new/record/af008739-ffa3-47b8-8efc-ef109f2cfbdd There needs to be a minimum of a 90 day gap between episodes to be counted.

Paxlovid to be prescribed by NHS from Feb 10th for the most vulnerable. There do appear to be some challenges with the right people getting access at the right time - let's hope they get resolved as soon as possible.

Pleased to get my first one in three steps just before midnight yesterday. Today's took 4 goes.

To say May instead of March is forgivable - we all make mistakes. To say Dr. John Campbell's analysis includes data with a useless number is dismissive (and that's a toned down version of my thoughts!). He's well aware of comorbidities and respectfully acknowledges the numbers are real people. The comment on Step 3 befuddles me. Firstly, you weren't 'told'. Second, Youtube is just a platform for Dr. Campbell to present. In terms of 'mainstream media', he talks about BBC, ITV, C4. They are of a size to have there own means of supporting online presentation. I see nothing here that warrants a 'warning sign'. If there was a simple way to 'stop letting everyone get infected', don't you seriously think those steps would be would be taken? Lockdowns and reduced socialising reduces spread, but they also have consequences. The excess deaths for cancer is stark. I had insight into this a a bit earlier than from this report. I know a corporate PHI provider with 10k global employees, and 1k in the UK, so sizeable. changes in death rates overall have not impacted them. Increased late stage cancer diagnosis has. The reasons for that are commented on by Dr. Campbell with reference to Prof. Sikora's commentary and it certainly isn't as simple as hospital's being overloaded. Long covid remains a worry for them. In a slightly morbid and stark way, in purely financial terms, long illness is more costly than death for such companies. Back to the death figures you highlight, the recent 1,557 is horribly high. But, it is a sixth of the two previous peaks in early 2021 and Spring 2020. Let's celebrate what the scientists have achieved and the lives that have been saved by their work.

I worked for AQA and predecessors for a decade, but that was over 20 years ago! I recall applying for a post, probably around 2010 and they were exploring it then and i believe possibly earlier than that. If it happens, it's been a very long time coming.

Deaths have risen and it tracks to rising cases, but I couldn't match to the May date on the gov site. Which dataset is it that maps to May? I mentioned in an earlier comment on Dr. John Campbell's posts that I'd watch the FOI one. It's all about data around deaths and absolutely enlightening. It gives insight into Covid deaths and excess deaths due to cancer. I'd highly recommend watching it. Stick with it to the end with the volume up and you get an uplifting bit of birdsong too!

Sticking with Coursera, have a look at https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/g-suite-administration. My earlier Google certifications were achieved with https://www.edtechteam.online/. I managed to find an offer to do it for free, including the proctored exam, but I'm not aware of many other offers but if you are a 'job seeker' have a look at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dwp-and-google-join-forces-to-grow-jobseekers-digital-skills Google had a shakeup of exams going into 2021, so things may have changed. Check https://cloud.google.com/training One last link https://edu.google.com/intl/ALL_uk/training-support/professional-development/ - here you should be able to locate local providers of training.

I have got the 1 year subscription but haven't had a chance to start any courses yet. I plan to do the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate and also find some for Power BI. In terms of certificates, you get one that is downloadable and the two Google ones I have are branded with Google and Coursera. I'd say they are not as recognised as say Cisco certifications, but perhaps their value is increasing. For the cost, I'd say useful for your C.V. and most importantly useful to learn about the subject content.

Classy! Have you ever thought of working for MI5?

Tut tut. This is like IT being blamed for all problems in school. I suspect the builders put the ceiling in the wrong place:p That aside my immediate thought was Del-boy too! I think that scene is my number 1, with Trigger's broom in 2 and the bar tumble number 3.

The move to 5 day isolation may be having the opposite effect to that intend of reducing absenteeism - every case I know (admittedly not a large sample) is still LFT positive on day 5 and 6, even when all the symptoms have cleared. One case I know took a full 14 days before they stopped isolating after getting 2 negatives. Interestingly, the old 10 day rule to be released from isolation still applies even if you are still showing LFT positive, but clearly some keep going. It does take careful reading of the NHS documentation to realise this tough. Has anyone else on insight based on their experience or those you know?

Thanks for posting this. I agree, an excellent watch. When I get a moment I'll check some of his other videos. I noted one had "Freedom of Information" in it - that'll one for me to review.

I had considered the hard cash option - I think it's a serious possibility! I agree about the advancements - it could have jumped us forward by a decade.

I managed the same, but a bit annoying for two reasons. Reason one, this was go one http://emoji.tapatalk-cdn.com/emoji834.pnghttp://emoji.tapatalk-cdn.com/emoji834.png🟩🟩🟩 Reason two - my twelve year old son did it in three!

Pfizer/BioNTech start testing vaccine developed for Omicron https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-initiate-study-evaluate-omicron-based They're running with 3 cohorts. One for those who have had two shots of Pfizer. A second where they have had three Pfizer jabs. And finally a third that they describe as "Vaccine-naïve". Quite how they select for the final group isn't explained. I guess there are those who couldn't previously, but I can't see why this vaccine variant would be different. Then I guess it'll be those who have recently changed their attitude to vaccines.

Wow, you got one first go? On a random basis, playing every day, that should only happen roughly once in 400 years! Perhaps there is a pattern to the words that come up?

Interesting - would be good to understand the differences and data on sensitivity and specificity for each. Hers's my household observation. Old style throat and nose reported -ve yesterday (Day 5), OCON nasal only showing positive today for Day 6. Could be viral load change, could be one test is better at picking it up, could be technique due to approach - who knows?!

The inferred linking of suicide figures to covid actions or inactions is not presented with any detail. If there is a view to express, it would be much better to add detail and explain the rationale. I am familiar with with the ONS studies and commentary about recent trends in England and Wales figures in a pre and post-covid world. Sadly on rare occasions with my job, I have a heightened awareness of child suicide. It'll come as no surprise to hear it is a highly complex, sensitive and emotional subject matter and I'd be very wary of jumping to any conclusions on 1 years worth of data.

As promised earlier in the thread, I promised to post from my Xmas present which is a deck of Dad joke cards. The first one selected from the opening 10 is (drum roll please!) What's the best thing about living in Switzerland? The flag's a big plus. When I selected this one from 12yo son, he knew already, so at his request here's a bonus one he said I should post. Did you hear about the man who misspelled a name on a headstone? He made a grave mistake.

Historically I haven't looked at Zoe data, but perhaps I should. The measure I have consistently used is UK cases by date reported from gov site compared to the same day of the week before. Sadly today's does indeed show a near 5% uplift and I'd expected it to be a bit later in the week. I fully understand this measure alone is not anywhere near the full picture, and hospitalisations are deaths are much more of a focus, but I can see headlines challenging reducing restrictions at this particular point in time. The hard truth is case numbers are rising from the current high level. Even though at a much lower level than pre-vaccine, and with a dominant less severe variant (but still dangerous for many), hospitalisations and deaths will continue to follow. There also a hard truth that restrictions are damaging; and I don't necessarily mean from a purely financial point, it is true from a health and wellbeing perspective too. Those factors are not so easily seen compared the raw data around covid. As an example, I know from corporate data, late stage cancer diagnosis is higher than pre-covid and many cancer outcomes are very significantly improved with early detection and treatment.

Anyone able to recommend a wireless headset for the PS4 - or ones to avoid! As a guide on cost, up to £50.

Mean one today! Took all my goes.

Funny looking Christmas Chrees

That's the smartest pun on this theme to date! I'm tempted to label you as an "egghead" but I'm not sure I could drop my standards that low

With half the household doing daily LFTs and the other half doing day 5/6 tests, we are getting through more than usual LFT's. The last few batches are the old style tonsil and nose ones - anyone else finding this to be the case.