COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

Here is a good resource

But no, there has been no major news recently.

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Iā€™m curious about this, so any reason why not? Reddit and Apple News are my primary sources for digesting news. Reddit almost always goes direct to the sauce, even if OP omits, someone in the comments usually will that will either back up the claimed headline or refute it.

Reddit has been pretty reliable for me for many years, and I trust the platform more than some of the main stream outlets, one of which ran a fear mongering piece yesterday warning people not to use their iPhones, and only iPhones, because the temperature was so warm that it will break the battery. Someone at said newspaper organisation (currently being sued by a pirate over another matter) must have gotten bored and stumbled across appleā€™s support documentation outline the recommended use guidelines. :roll_eyes:

Now warning people away from believing what they see on the likes of Facebook or WhatsApp, which are ripe for the spreading of fake news I can understand. But ultimately itā€™s the actual source that matters more than the platform. Always check for and vet the sources. If there is no source, donā€™t listen.

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Pirates have mellowed a bit recently.

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Google is your friend

https://www.google.com/search?q=Corona+vaccine&prmd=nvsi&sxsrf=ALeKk03eYHT-0Q_sSmzezR8SEiaBlfNmyw:1597090133214&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjPvsGwuJHrAhWCShUIHWGmBe4Q_AUoAXoECA4QAQ&biw=360&bih=623

Looks like the media have finally caught up with the fact that not all pubs are taking details for contact tracing, this was in Greater Manchester where only 1 pub out of 10 they visited actually asked for details.

I wrote in this forum about 3 weeks ago that every pub I went to on a night out never asked either.

Turns out though in England itā€™s not an actual law as itā€™s just guidance, Scotland are making it law this week that it must happen.

Itā€™s hard to make law because pubs arenā€™t really setup for the data protection rules required to store personal information like that - and as mentioned earlier (in this thread I think) unless that information is stored securely it can be misused.

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It wouldnā€™t be difficult for pubs to comply with day protection I thinkl. Though they may have problems enforcing.

They donā€™t need a big technical solution. A set of notepads by the door where people are asked to write their contact details and post in a box would comply and notes could be locked in safe at end of day in a date labelled bag then shredded on expiry.

The main issue I see is that pubs will not want to enforce as it could lead to arguments with customers some of which may already have had a few drinks.

Enforcement wouldnā€™t really help anyway as people could put a false name and address down.

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Most of the pubs Iā€™ve been to have been taking details etc but for me, I think people not answering numbers they donā€™t know is the biggest issue.

If I was in contact with someone who had covid and test and trace ring me, Iā€™m not going to pick it up because I donā€™t know the number.

Then Iā€™d have to verify whether the voicemail left by them was actually test and trace etc.

Iā€™d be fine having to isolate as I work from home but I can see why those who donā€™t and arenā€™t able to would ignore the advise to isolate as they need to be paid!

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Why donā€™t you answer the phone to numbers you donā€™t recognise?

To be fair I donā€™t do this either. On android it uses smart caller ID, so unless it states which company is calling Iā€™ll generally ignore it as itā€™s more often than not a spam/robot caller.

If I get time later Iā€™ll Google the number but only if they leave a voicemail will I return it.

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Itā€™s not the 90ā€™s anymore.

If itā€™s important, theyā€™ll have my email address.

Iā€™m not interrupting my day at the whims of a telemarketer.

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I donā€™t answer the phone, ever. Even to people I know. If itā€™s important, they iMessage or text me on signal. I have throwaway 03 numbers that Iā€™ll use for situations like this, where my control, and the protections involving the security and privacy of my data is at risk. Those numbers are routed through an automated VoIP System, where if itā€™s important, a message can be left that will be forwarded via PGP encrypted email to my personal inbox as an audio recording, where I can then reply by email to either send a text message or initiate a robocall to relay a reply to that person. The only number that will actually ring through to my landline and mobile, as well as local family phones is the one on my dogā€™s name tag. I run a similar setup with single use emails too.

The lengths I go to avoid confronting an anxiety.

My phone is always silenced and I never answer a call Iā€™m not expecting.

Iā€™ve always found unrequested phone calls quite rude - the equivalent of getting into someoneā€™s face and shouting ā€˜TALK TO ME NOWā€™ repeatedly.

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Ah, only the Isle of Wight again. Surely youā€™d want to test it in an area which has rising numbers but not quite high enough to warrant a local lockdown.

It would also be interesting to compare it to a control group of local areas with no app trial to see if they get worse or fare the same

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Well. There it is - but yea, invite only at the moment.

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Been using this to protect myself from the common cold for the past several years with good success (could be placebo, but Iā€™ve not experienced cold symptoms in years).

I stocked up as the pandemic started to take hold, and continued to use it in the hope it might provide some defence against Covid-19 too, given that it already deactivates coronavirus strains of the common cold, not that Iā€™ve left the house much to expose myself.

Nonetheless, interesting study.

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This is interesting and could be promising. Itā€™s still early days to say if itā€™ll be effective in actual use though - conditions inside a human can be quite different to in vitro

Also, I am confused by the instructions:

  • Press down on the pump and spray 2 puffs (1 dose) every two hours during the time you are exposed to the cold virus.
  • One dose in the morning and one dose in the evening just before bedtime after brushing your teeth.

First set of instructions I believe are for when youā€™re using it as a preventative measure. For instance if youā€™re going to meet someone who has a cold, or if youā€™re going to be in a place where exposure rates are higher, like on a flight, or public transport.

Those second set of instructions are for when itā€™s being used to treat someone who is already infected with a cold to shorten the duration of symptoms.

All the news Iā€™m seeing related to this seem to refer to England specifically, rather than the usual U.K. or Britain, so I presume this means Wales and Scotland will be left without an app then?