No, it was the following day.
::shrug::
j
The UK has been signaling that this was coming for at least a week. I imagine the press report was already written. But I suppose I don’t know how these things work.
It goes on to say that T cell response after having had a booster could last for years.
Bar a substantially evasive and more serious variant it is probably the right course of action. This is the general direction of travel for many European countries now, set on a course for removing all restrictions as the numbers come down and the vaccination and boosters rates go up.
| Case count update as of | 2/22/2022 | 03:29 GMT |
|---|---|---|
| Worldwide: | ||
| Total cases | 426,444,961 | |
| Dead | 5,909,363 | |
| Recovered | 353,403,350 | |
| In the US: | ||
| Total cases | 80,145,282 | |
| Dead | 960,157 | |
| Recovered | 51,929,244 | |
| Differences since yesterday | ||
| Worldwide: | ||
| Total cases | 1,378,940 | |
| Dead | 3,044 | |
| Recovered | 2,644,534 | |
| In the US: | ||
| Total cases | 57,665 | |
| Dead | 745 | |
| Recovered | 384,393 | |
| Yesterday’s Numbers | 2/21/2022 | 04:00 GMT |
| Worldwide: | ||
| Total cases | 425,066,021 | |
| Dead | 5,906,319 | |
| Recovered | 350,758,816 | |
| In the US: | ||
| Total cases | 80,087,617 | |
| Dead | 959,412 | |
| Recovered | 51,544,851 |
I can’t agree. While the UK has passed the peak of omicron, it’s not yet to the point it was at last year at this time up until July, where some protection was still considered warranted.
I’m all for easing up, but it very much seems they’re going faster than they should. Getting rid of the more onerous restrictions and seeing what happens makes sense. Getting rid of the easier ones doesn’t really. The greater the ratio between the ease of an action and the potential benefits of that action, the more compelling the case for said action.
It definitely feels to me like other factors are at play here in the UK making such an abrupt change. Part of it is likely just an emotional “We’re done with this” aspect. And there’s always politics (which we unfortunately can’t discuss in this forum).
It is highly unlikely that we will ever get to levels of infection that are lower than that period. It simply isn’t going away and there will remain a residual risk whatever restrictions are in place.
What figures would you think are appropriate to remove all restrictions?
Hardly “abrupt”, these plans have been in play for months, they were always the intended and well publicised target. They have just been brought forward a few weeks and the stated policy was that they wouldn’t be in place for any longer than is absolutely necessary. Both tightening and relaxation have always been susceptible to the realities seen in the healthcare system and there are very positive signs there.
Certainly it is true though that the UK population in general has moved to a point where they are ready to simply live with it and treat it as something akin to flu. The mood-music from my own circle of people is that they are vaccinated and boosted and ready to accept it as just a reality of life.
I’ve been away for a few days. Things haven’t changed much while I’ve been away. Unfortunately, that includes the sorry state of Maine, which as of Sunday was still in the red on the Johns Hopkins map, and which reported a new record high in daily reported COVID cases (7-day average) o n Friday, February 18 of 5112 cases, very significantly above their record of just over 1000 cases not so very long ago. It’s not all that high compared to other states, and it has gone down since, but you still have to wonder about the reason for this relatively late surge in Maine, long after most of the rest of the country. There was a brief surge in Maryland, as well, but that has also quieted down.
Globally the US has gone WAY down. As of Sunday, Russia and Germany still have higher daily reported case numbers (7-day average) than the US
According to the NYT, they had a big backlog of data resulting in “high” case counts the last week and too low case counts the week before.
Thanks, @Treppenwitz.
And hopefully, people who think they might have either flu or covid will stay home, and not infect, others, even if it’s not actually a violation of the law for them to go to a party while knowingly infectious.
I have some issues with the wording of that announcement, whether or not now is the right time to reduce restrictions. It sounds more like “party on” than like “no longer illegal, but don’t be a plague-bearing asshole”. And I’d have preferred something more like the latter. 
I have no doubt that behaviour around all infectious disease will likely change for many of us.
I really didn’t get that from the wording of the announcement. Which parts of it gave you that impression? I certainly took it to be much more of the latter.
Strongly agree. I used to come into work sick as a dog, preferring to work with colds/flu and then take off time for kayaking/fishing when I was well. I’ve done a dramatic 180.
I hope so. I think there is legitimate concern on the part of the immune compromised that people will treat covid like a mild cold (since the infectious stage feels like a mild cold) and not like the flu. But it remains at least as deadly as the flu for a significant chunk of the population.
| Case count update as of | 2/23/2022 | 03:33 GMT |
|---|---|---|
| Worldwide: | ||
| Total cases | 428,265,887 | |
| Dead | 5,925,242 | |
| Recovered | 356,093,105 | |
| In the US: | ||
| Total cases | 80,270,563 | |
| Dead | 963,371 | |
| Recovered | 52,199,829 | |
| Differences since yesterday | ||
| Worldwide: | ||
| Total cases | 1,820,926 | |
| Dead | 15,879 | |
| Recovered | 2,689,755 | |
| In the US: | ||
| Total cases | 125,281 | |
| Dead | 3,214 | |
| Recovered | 270,585 | |
| Yesterday’s Numbers | 2/22/2022 | 03:29 GMT |
| Worldwide: | ||
| Total cases | 426,444,961 | |
| Dead | 5,909,363 | |
| Recovered | 353,403,350 | |
| In the US: | ||
| Total cases | 80,145,282 | |
| Dead | 960,157 | |
| Recovered | 51,929,244 |
Treat it like the flu or a mild cold?! You apparently missed the news of its long-term effect on heart health.
See, I’d rather keep the restrictions or decide they aren’t really needed. I feel like we are falling into a weird zone where its recommended that you continue to live a very, very abbreviated life but nothing is required. And I worry we will stay there indefinitely, because the official advice will always be super (little c) conservative and maximally risk adverse. If it were just about person risk, I can weigh my own risks, but since there’s a community element, it’s more complicated. Do I, vaxxed, boosted, and 6 weeks from recovering from a COVID infection, really pose a risk to others if I go to a restaurant? If I go into the store unmasked? I don’t really think so, but I also recognize I have a bias. Advice that amounts to “people can, but you’re an asshole if you do” is not helpful.
I hear you, MandaJo.
It’s a balancing act. The formal, local mask bans probably need to go away at some point. Even if that is not the perfect decision. Because a potential alternative is they become so unpopular that the gov’t loses the opportunity to implement measures when they are most needed. I would rather not spend the political capital when it isn’t needed.
On the personal level, I will give the example of my church. Church went online when Covid hit. It still broadcasts online, it did not do so before Covid. Summer of 2021 outdoor services were started. In fall things went back inside, masked except for when the lead singers were singing or the pastors were talking.
Now I do know some people who have not returned to in person, who watch online. It could be because they don’t feel safe yet. The other side is that the mask wearing takes too much out of the service for them, they don’t like doing activities masked, so they stay home. Does that send them on the road to further withdrawing from involvement? It could. It’s a balancing act.
During Omicron peak, a few of the kids’ things were cancelled for a couple of weeks. Church remained in person. There was one change, though. Communion had already gone to individual cups, you get the wine and wafer in your own thing, no dipping. One change was made. We used to walk up, like we did for normal communion, and get it and get the blessing and sit down. Now someone had the idea that we should just get the cups when we come in so we don’t walk up.
To be honest, standing, masked, in a line for a minute or two with people that I’m already spending an hour with in a room… IMO the benefits of changing this to “stop the spread” are zero. Sorry, well meaning decision, but I do not believe the impact of that change is measurable at all. So in that case, social connection was further eroded for a well meaning decision that isn’t going to move the needle at all. I will probably contact the church shortly to try to get them to go back to the old way, but typically when these things are put in place, they can be hard to remove, even when they provide no value. It’s all a balancing act.
I don’t think restaurants should be open if it’s unwise or inconsiderate for ANYONE to dine indoors. If restaurants are open, and you are at low risk and don’t live with anyone at high risk, I think you should go to them without feeling judged.
I feel like useful advice is “this is a big deal, and there are people at high risk. Here’s how to judge your own risk, Here’s advice for low, moderate, and high risk people, and here’s advice for how everyone can chip in to help the high risk people without unduly restricting their own lives.”
I know that public health authorities (or at least the CDC) like to restrict themselves to big sweeping statements, and avoid any subtleties. I think that’s been a mistake from the start, and remains a mistake.
advice might be around when to test, when to mask, whom to avoid visiting when.
personal rant
I was pissed last night at a couple who came to a big social event (indoors, masked) explaining that they hadn’t brought their child, who had planned to come, because the child had a cold. “Did you test her?” I asked. They looked surprised. “No, I’m sure it’s just sinus pressure from the weather, because I have the same symptoms, except I treated it with pseudofed and our child can’t swallow pills”.
You know, I’m still kinda pissed at them. They should have at least tested their symptomatic child, and heck, the symptomatic mother. But it wasn’t my place to police attendance. But if i test positive later this week and have to reschedule my upcoming procedure (or worse) I will sure as hell blame them.
But honestly, how hard would it have been to do a pair of quick rapid tests? If they’d done that just before leaving, it would have given them actionable information, and I probably wouldn’t be sitting here fretting about my exposure.
Yeah, I had some allergy issues pop up the last week or so because it is already Spring in February in drought-stricken California 
. I was 98% sure it was allergies because of the particular suite of symptoms and also because they did indeed respond to antihistamines. But I still took a couple of rapid tests, spaced out over a couple of days, just to be safe(r).