Why does the UK have highest Covid case rate in western Europe?

[Eldorado]

The UK now has the highest rate of coronavirus cases in western Europe, with 40,00 new positive tests reported yesterday alone.

“With the news dominated by other issues, it has gone almost unnoticed,” said BBC health correspondent Nick Triggle, but the “rates certainly look troubling”.

Only a “handful” of countries on the continent have higher infection levels than the UK and they are all based in eastern Europe, he wrote. “Compared with the big nations in western Europe, the numbers are significantly higher.” 

One reason may be that England unlocked much earlier than other nations. “So it is hardly surprising a virus that thrives on human contact has taken off in the UK compared with the rest of Europe,” said Triggle.

Full article from The Week via MSN

[+ouija ouija]

Does it matter? Surely the important statistic is the number of hospital places needed for covid patients . . . . oh, and the death rate, of course. Perhaps we can live with this?

[Silver]

1 hour ago, ouija ouija said:

Does it matter? Surely the important statistic is the number of hospital places needed for covid patients . . . . oh, and the death rate, of course. Perhaps we can live with this?

I think it does. We had the advantage of knowing what was already happening in Europe, and we are an island.  From what I can gather, we did some strange things- not restricting immigration via airports from affected countries, not having a strategy, not having enough PPE, cronyism and corruption with PPE supplies, sending un-tested patients into nursing homes, out PM changing his mind on lockdowns according to public opinion, shaking hands to show he wasn't afraid of it then ending up in ICU, our health secretary breaking social distancing rules by snogging his aid, the highest death rate in Europe, and I'm not sure but posssibly the world (per head of population), despite having the vaccine available first, still having a high death rate, and now it appears we still are the least competent country in Europe...... 

It shouldn't be swept under the carpet, and it does matter because people are still losing their lives prematurely and unnecessarily.  

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by The Silver Shroud

[+and-then]

7 hours ago, ouija ouija said:

Perhaps we can live with this?

It's beginning to look like that to even the most ardent lock-down advocates.  Eventually, just as with personal tragedies in all our lives, LIFE MUST GO ON.

[Still Waters]

22 hours ago, ouija ouija said:

Does it matter? Surely the important statistic is the number of hospital places needed for covid patients . . . . oh, and the death rate, of course. Perhaps we can live with this?

 

14 hours ago, and then said:

It's beginning to look like that to even the most ardent lock-down advocates.  Eventually, just as with personal tragedies in all our lives, LIFE MUST GO ON.

Life goes on because what else are we supposed to do but just get on with it the best we can. That doesn't make the number of Covid cases or deaths acceptable. We're all capable of catching Covid whether vaccinated or not. I think the fact that it doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon is something that matters a great deal.

[Tatetopa]

15 hours ago, and then said:

It's beginning to look like that to even the most ardent lock-down advocates.  Eventually, just as with personal tragedies in all our lives, LIFE MUST GO ON.

Of course life must go on in the face of the unavoidable.  What defines unavoidable, making some effort, or making no effort? 

[+and-then]

1 hour ago, Tatetopa said:

What defines unavoidable, making some effort, or making no effort?

I see your point but that doesn't change the sentiment I'm speaking of.  I will say this much... if vaccines work then they should work regardless of what choice others make.  I will not accept the premise that I am responsible for deaths in the community if I choose not to be vaccinated with a formulation I don't trust.  We are told, regularly, that those who have completed the vaccines are far less likely to become seriously ill IF they contract the virus and that the numbers who die from it are microscopic fractions of the numbers of those who perish among the unvaccinated.  IF both of these are true, how do vaccine advocates justify the harsh penalties being enforced on their neighbors?  Let's be clear, causing an individual to lose their livelihood, taking away their freedom of movement and association, these are DRACONIAN and are completely unacceptable.  These actions are being protested all over Europe and once the economic repercussions of this begin to cause food insecurity, Americans will be in the streets as well.

In my case, I choose to comply with social distancing and I respect the wishes of any business establishments regarding their masking policy.  If a demand is made for me to be tested, I'll comply with that, also.  IMO, the further downstream from increased vaccination, the better idea we'll all have of its true efficacy.  As of today we have increasing case loads in places that achieved early, majority vaccination of the populations.  The numbers aren't in yet for how well boosters are working but they should be in relatively soon.  This virus is endemic now and has taken hold in animal reservoirs.  It will be the equivalent of a new - and more deadly - flu.  The governments of the world are using this pandemic to steamroll us to put a new system in place.  I have no ability to interfere with that but I will not be shamed or coerced into going along quietly.  

[Tatetopa]

11 minutes ago, and then said:

In my case, I choose to comply with social distancing and I respect the wishes of any business establishments regarding their masking policy.  If a demand is made for me to be tested, I'll comply with that, also. 

That my friend is plenty.  I salute you.  And I support you.   You don't have to get the vaccine.  Before we had any vaccine, we relied on washing hands frequently, social distancing, and masks.    I do realize that not every vaccinated person  sees things that way, nor does everyone who  distrusts the vaccine see things your way. 

I oppose people who cough in other people's faces, or throw fits when establishments on private property require precautions.

[L.A.T.1961]

Maybe the question should be why does the article use the very specific area of western Europe so it can talk of the UK's highest death rate. 

Yes we are in western Europe but this is a global pandemic. If a global view is used and also the death rate per million of population, the UK is at number 22. 

Which does not sound quite so bad. 

 “So it is hardly surprising a virus that thrives on human contact has taken off in the UK compared with the rest of Europe,” said Triggle."

This is not accurate, The infection rate has not taken off, that would suggest an exponential increase in cases yet in July the number of cases peaked for one day at 60,700 and for all of the time since has been much lower.

"BBC health correspondent Nick Triggle, but the “rates certainly look troubling”." 

Why not be more specific rather than leave the comment hanging in the air ? Why is Nick troubled ?

Its worth remembering that not that long ago another group were worried and they sent a letter to try and stop the UK opening up, It made claims that 100,000 or even 200,000 could be infected every day.

It didn't happen.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/18/uk-covid-cases-could-hit-200000-a-day-says-neil-ferguson-scientist-behind-lockdown-strategy-england

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/ 

 

[Duke Wellington]

On 10/13/2021 at 4:51 PM, Eldorado said:

The UK now has the highest rate of coronavirus cases in western Europe, with 40,00 new positive tests reported yesterday alone.

“With the news dominated by other issues, it has gone almost unnoticed,” said BBC health correspondent Nick Triggle, but the “rates certainly look troubling”.

Only a “handful” of countries on the continent have higher infection levels than the UK and they are all based in eastern Europe, he wrote. “Compared with the big nations in western Europe, the numbers are significantly higher.” 

One reason may be that England unlocked much earlier than other nations. “So it is hardly surprising a virus that thrives on human contact has taken off in the UK compared with the rest of Europe,” said Triggle.

Full article from The Week via MSN

Yeah, I think the UK is going for it to get it done with.

The reason being is 90% of our people have had at least one jab, and our hospitals have a dual-antibody treatment. We cannot save everyone who gets it still, but the death rate is low. People dont like talking about cost-effectiveness but we have to get on with the running of our economy as a lockdown doesnt pay the states bills.

Edited October 14, 2021 by Cookie Monster

[acidhead]

On 10/13/2021 at 6:08 PM, and then said:

It's beginning to look like that to even the most ardent lock-down advocates.  Eventually, just as with personal tragedies in all our lives, LIFE MUST GO ON.

"The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself" -DJT

[Silver]

6 hours ago, L.A.T.1961 said:

Maybe the question should be why does the article use the very specific area of western Europe so it can talk of the UK's highest death rate. 

 

 

Perhaps the UK has a particularly wide devide between the richest and the poorest?

From the beginning, it was widely known that the coronavirus would disproportionately hit those with the underlying health conditions most commonly found among poorer Britons. And so it transpired: for example, death rates for the under-65s were 3.7 times higher in the poorest areas than the most affluent. If this virus did not so gratuitously target the lives of the poor, and was more of an equal opportunity killer, who believes the government response would have been the same? Would it have waited so long not before not only imposing the first lockdown, but also ignoring the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) advice in September last year to impose a second lockdown to avoid catastrophe? Would Boris Johnson really have reportedly exclaimed “let the bodies pile high” rather than reimpose restrictions if wealthy people in the Tories’ southern heartlands were dying by the thousand?

Here’s what the Covid inquiry didn’t tell you – being poor was like a death sentence | Owen Jones | The Guardian

Edited October 15, 2021 by The Silver Shroud

[toast]

11 hours ago, and then said:

  The governments of the world are using this pandemic to steamroll us to put a new system in place. 

>150 governments are in agreement for the very first time? I never thought that was possible but but thanks for the information, I did not know that.

[+and-then]

44 minutes ago, toast said:

>150 governments are in agreement for the very first time? I never thought that was possible but but thanks for the information, I did not know that.

You're quite welcome   Okay, so I used overbroad language.  My bad.  How about "major western nations" are using the response to cause a global reset, and to create and implement a new system?  IF I'm correct, we'll soon see a cascading failure underway in the U.S. and when the dollar either collapses or is replaced with some digital currency it will cause a global economic quake.  I get that I seem like an unbalanced doomsayer to many here.  I wonder if any of them will be willing to admit I might have guessed correctly if things fall out as I've predicted?  Yeah, nah... me neither. 

[L.A.T.1961]

9 hours ago, The Silver Shroud said:

Perhaps the UK has a particularly wide devide between the richest and the poorest?

 

Here’s what the Covid inquiry didn’t tell you – being poor was like a death sentence | Owen Jones | The Guardian

Infection rates should be much more influenced by vaccination and natural immunity than a relative difference in wealth. 

From general reports of where covid hot spots have appeared it was the communities in those area's and their typical response to these type of events that pushed up infection rates. -

 "A significant and growing proportion of the epidemic in much of England (newly reported cases) is now among South Asian populations, despite these groups making up only 8% of the whole population."

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sage-48-minutes-coronavirus-covid-19-response-23-july-2020/sage-48-minutes-coronavirus-covid-19-response-23-july-2020

So aversion to vaccination and more people less likely to take medical advice while continuing to mingle in larger groups that caused the bigger problems with covid spread.

Unless groups are rounded up and frogmarched to a local vaccination centre, not something even Owen Jones is advocating, there is not much to be done about "Asian and minority ethnic communities" driving covid outbreaks.

The number of tests done in different countries would also affect the UK's apparently high covid infection rate and then there are those nation states who deliberately hide the facts and there is a significant number of them. 

 

[aztek]

11 hours ago, toast said:

>150 governments are in agreement for the very first time? I never thought that was possible but but thanks for the information, I did not know that.

First time???  lol, google Harry J. Anslinger, and them try to find similarities. prbly wont see the big picture anyway, but it worth a try,