Media Coverage of COVID -19

[kez19]

Chances are the BBC is compliant or at least intend to be. They are human and they may slip up from time to time. If you remember they beat themselves up severely over the David Kelly fiasco. If you have a concrete example of a non-compliant broadcast then report it. Otherwise you just sound like someone who complains about the mainstream media.

Yet at a guess you are telling me we shouldn’t be saying anything regardless what’s happening in the mainstream media, I don’t follow anything to do with conspiracies if that’s what you think, I look at the situation in a broader context, I would have agreed in the beginning of it all but now it’s not just myself but others have started questioning things

An example of STV: A report on Boris visiting Scotland, report in short was basically slagging him off for visiting (one sided no one else in the report to tell the guy not correct). Media in Scotland is one sided these days.

What is a non compliant broadcast? Is that meaning basically giving a political party free reign no questions asked or something else?

Again isn’t this OFCOMs own responsibility, they hand out licences to the broadcasters? Why should it always be down to a listener/viewer to complain when in the end nothing gets done about it?

I hear that if you have a complaint about something in your area you complain to your MP or councillors to deal with it, for me to complain about something recently and still hasn’t been done my patience is wearing thin. Again so why complain about something since the outcome will be swept under the carpet.



== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Oct 2020 ==

One of the most disappointing things about the BBC during the period has been its lack of really critical probing of politicians and their policies. For an organisation that was once renowned for pushing back on politicians they have been terribly lame, acting as little more than a mouthpiece for the government.

Yet that’s what I have read in Scotland in terms of Sturgeon and BBC Scotland, whilst I can at times watch Reporting Scotland to STV News but none don’t have the guts to question more on the government it’s more of aye ma’am yes ma’am, what you have for tea ma’am (petty questioning)

 

[DustyBin]

Sky News are reporting that "any hopes of obtaining herd immunity have been crushed" in relation to the anti-body (non) story. They're absolutely loving it, they can barely contain themselves.... There's zero critical analysis, needless to say. Oh, and only a vaccine can save us.

They've just followed this up with a story about a 4 year old boy in Belgium who nearly died of (or was it with?) COVID-19. Parents of young children need to be more vigilant, apparently.

Finally, they've had a spokesman for the Democrats on telling us that "face masks will save hundreds of thousands of lives, it's well documented".

I think I've had my fill of Sky News for one day....

 

[Bantamzen]

Meanwhile, in Bradford air pollution is being potentially linked with making people more vulnerable....

Dozens of Covid deaths in Bradford could be linked to air pollution

DOZENS of Covid-19 deaths in Bradford and thousands across the UK could be linked to long-term exposure to air pollution, a new study has suggested.

www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk

DOZENS of Covid-19 deaths in Bradford and thousands across the UK could be linked to long-term exposure to air pollution, a new study has suggested.

The research has estimated around 15 per cent of Covid-19 deaths worldwide could be linked to air pollution, with the figure in the UK around 14 per cent.

Tiny particles of pollution known as particulate matter, or PM2.5, are what could have attributed to deaths, the study found.
Bradford has been plagued for years by poor air quality due to vehicles and other burning of fossil fuels. The most recent figures found poor air quality was linked to more than 190 deaths in Bradford in 2017.

Scientists behind this new study, published in the journal Cardiovascular Research, said their figures do not imply that air pollution directly caused deaths from Covid-19 – although it is possible.
But it could aggravate other health conditions such as high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, diabetes, asthma and COPD, which lead to a substantially higher risk of death from the virus.

Professor Jos Lelieveld, from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, and the Cyprus Institute Nicosia, said: “Since the numbers of deaths from Covid-19 are increasing all the time, it’s not possible to give exact or final numbers of Covid-19 deaths per country that can be attributed to air pollution.
“However, as an example, in the UK there have been over 44,000 coronavirus deaths and we estimate that the fraction attributable to air pollution is 14%, meaning that more than 6,100 deaths could be attributed to air pollution.”
Fellow researcher Professor Thomas Munzel, from Johannes Gutenberg University and the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research in Mainz, said inhaled polluting particles cause inflammation, and damage to arteries.
“If both long-term exposure to air pollution and infection with the Covid-19 virus come together then we have an additive adverse effect on health, particularly with respect to the heart and blood vessels, which leads to greater vulnerability and less resilience to Covid-19,” he said.

“If you already have heart disease, then air pollution and coronavirus infection will cause trouble that can lead to heart attacks, heart failure and stroke.”

Researchers aimed to assess the proportion of deaths that could be avoided if people were exposed to lower air pollution levels, without emissions from burning fossil fuels and other human-driven activities.

The study used data from previous US and Chinese studies of air pollution and Covid-19 and the Sars outbreak in 2003, as well as data from Italy.

It also drew on satellite data to show global exposure to PM2.5, information on atmospheric conditions and ground-based pollution monitoring networks to create a model to estimate the proportion of Covid-19 deaths attributable to air pollution.

The researchers’ assessment suggests 27 per cent of deaths in East Asia could be attributed to air pollution, 17 per cent in North America and around 19 per cent in Europe overall.

The study also said “it seems likely” that the fine polluting particles prolong the time infectious viruses survive in the air, favouring their transmission.

The researchers said the majority of the particulate matter came from fossil fuels and called for efforts to cut emissions that cause both air pollution and climate change to be accelerated for health and environmental reasons.

So about limiting public transport again.....

 

[DB]

Sky News are reporting that "any hopes of obtaining herd immunity have been crushed" in relation to the anti-body (non) story. They're absolutely loving it, they can barely contain themselves.... There's zero critical analysis, needless to say. Oh, and only a vaccine can save us.

Did they give any indication of how they expect a vaccine to work if herd immunity doesn't (I can guess the answer to this...)?

 

[island]

Not sure if this belongs in this thread, but the Evening Standard are reporting that some people breaching lockdown rules are now not being dealt with in an open court, but under the Single Justice Procedure, sometimes using the wrong laws and breaching a promise to protect open justice.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/covid-rule-breakers-secret-london-prosecutions-a4571843.html

Whilst prosecuting people under the wrong laws is of course problematic, focusing on the single justice procedure is a bit of a red herring. This procedure has been used to handle minor offences and unpaid fines for some time, and if the defendant does not wish it to be applied to their situation, they have the right to go before a normal bench of magistrates in open court. The SJP deals with straightforward guilty pleas and people who don’t respond to the summons.

 

[DustyBin]

Did they give any indication of how they expect a vaccine to work if herd immunity doesn't (I can guess the answer to this...)?

Not really, no (unsuprisingly!). There was a suggestion that regular booster jabs may be required, and that vaccines are more effective in building immunity than natural infections but that was it.

Edited to add that Sky News is now reporting that the GB Declaration looks like "scientific fantasy". They even managed to sneak in "let it rip" in the process. I know, I should have left the TV off....

 

[adc82140]

Sky News are reporting that "any hopes of obtaining herd immunity have been crushed" in relation to the anti-body (non) story. They're absolutely loving it, they can barely contain themselves.... There's zero critical analysis, needless to say. Oh, and only a vaccine can save us.

They've just followed this up with a story about a 4 year old boy in Belgium who nearly died of (or was it with?) COVID-19. Parents of young children need to be more vigilant, apparently.

Finally, they've had a spokesman for the Democrats on telling us that "face masks will save hundreds of thousands of lives, it's well documented".

I think I've had my fill of Sky News for one day....

There was one Sky News reporter whose name escapes me that was more balanced, but he seems to have disappeared from the coverage. Instead we get the likes of Beth Rigby, Aubrey Allegretti and Sam Coates who may well be very good political reporters, but have no clue about how to approach this disease.

 

[greyman42]

One of the most disappointing things about the BBC during the period has been its lack of really critical probing of politicians and their policies. For an organisation that was once renowned for pushing back on politicians they have been terribly lame, acting as little more than a mouthpiece for the government.

Well they let Andrew Neil go did not help their cause.

 

[kristiang85]

There was one Sky News reporter whose name escapes me that was more balanced, but he seems to have disappeared from the coverage. Instead we get the likes of Beth Rigby, Aubrey Allegretti and Sam Coates who may well be very good political reporters, but have no clue about how to approach this disease.

Ed Conway? He used to tweet a lot of analysis, but that's gone a bit quieter, and indeed he does seem to have been sidelined for the others a bit. OVerall he was very sensible, data-driven and much more optimistic than the rest....

 

[adc82140]

Ed Conway? He used to tweet a lot of analysis, but that's gone a bit quieter, and indeed he does seem to have been sidelined for the others a bit. OVerall he was very sensible, data-driven and much more optimistic than the rest....

Yes it was Ed Conway.

 

[HSTEd]

I'd argue the kind of people that Sky News caters to are the kind of people who are desperate to conceal the naked sacrificing of the young and poor for the old and rich.

But that's just me.

 

[bramling]

Did they give any indication of how they expect a vaccine to work if herd immunity doesn't (I can guess the answer to this...)?

They did actually, by suggesting that it might be possible to “boost” a vaccine. They didn’t elaborate further...

 

[Bantamzen]

They did actually, by suggesting that it might be possible to “boost” a vaccine. They didn’t elaborate further...

Boost it? What with a motivational speech....?

 

[bramling]

Boost it? What with a motivational speech....?

A Boris Boost?

 

[kristiang85]

Sky are suddenly promoting a story about herd immunity again, and mentioning t-cells, rather than the scaremongering of yesterday. https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...ed-herd-immunity-12116494?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter

Leading scientists in South Africa believe the country has established a form of collective or herd immunity to COVID-19 after the number of infections unexpectedly plummeted following a major outbreak in June and July of this year.

Commenting on a series of studies revealing the existence of high infection rates in the provinces of Western Cape and Gauteng, the country's leading vaccinologist, Professor Shabir Mahdi, told Sky News that he believed the coronavirus had stimulated a level of immunity in approximately 12 to 15 million people.

"What has happened in SA today, the only way to explain it, the only plausible way to explain it is that some sort of herd immunity has been reached when combined with the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions... like the wearing of masks, physical distancing, ensuring ventilation when indoors and so on."

At the height of the pandemic, South Africa was ranked as the world's fifth most-effected country, behind the United States, India, Brazil and Russia - all of which have much larger populations.

It was at this point that researchers based in Cape Town began testing for traces of the virus in blood samples provided at local clinics by pregnant woman and HIV patients.

Virologists like Dr Marvin Hsiao were surprised to find that on average 40% of respondents had developed coronavirus antibodies with the majority being unaware that they had been infected.

Preliminary indications from a similar study in Gauteng, which contains the country's largest city, Johannesburg, reveal that approximately one third of those tested had been infected.

"Inexplicably, the numbers (of those infected with COVID-19) started dropping off at the end of July, and at the time I couldn't explain why," said Dr Hsiao.

"But when we analysed the data it become clear, this immunity within the population level (linked to) the big surge infections is probably the main reason why we've seen the decrease of numbers of infected."

The understanding that South African scientists have reached on the attainment of a level of collective immunity in their country seems to contradict a study by researchers at Imperial College, London, who found that the number of people with COVID-19 antibodies in the UK declined from 6% of the population in June to 4.4% in September.

Their 'React-2' study suggests that immunity to COVID-19 may be short-lived, but Professor Mahdi challenges the importance of antibody analysis, pointing out that it only evaluates one part of the human body's immune system.

"This waning of antibodies does not really inform what to expect without adequate interrogation of other components of the immune system. Experience with common cold and SARS coronavirus is that T-cell immunity likely lasts for 2-3 years."

South African researchers believe that South Africa's strict level five lockdown - which was imposed back in March - worked inadvertently to kickstart a massive wave of infection.

In the densely packed townships that surround the major cities, residents were forced to cue for essentials like food and social security payments, creating what Dr Hsiao described as "new networks for the spread of the disease". Social distancing was practically impossible on plots where 20 or more to people are often forced to live at close quarters.

Dr Mahdi says the lockdown's failure to suppress COVID-19 provided the country with the unintended benefit of temporary - or longer-lasting immunization - for many South Africans.

"This inadequacy in terms of adherence of the lockdown, where inadvertently we've had transmission taking place, has resulted in a high percentage in densely populated areas becoming immune.

"There might be a question in terms of the duration of immunity... based on our experience with other coronaviruses, a mild infection is probably going to (generate immunity) for two to three years but that places us in a really good position."

For the scientists - and the policy makers - there is a great deal of work to be done and additional studies will be commissioned over the next few weeks with the aim of better understanding the numbers of those infected and how the virus has spread.

But the vaccinology professor clearly believes that the development of some immunity in the population to COVID-19 was not only inevitable - but a necessary development in the South African context.

"It is not denying that COVID is the most important cause of death this year, superseding HIV, TB and everything else but the response needs to be much more nuanced than simply believing that a highly restrictive lockdown is going to get rid of the virus.

"Under no circumstances is a lockdown on its own going to achieve elimination of the virus."

 

[adc82140]

Someone needs to teach Sky the difference between cue and queue.

 

[kristiang85]

Someone needs to teach Sky the difference between cue and queue.

That is a pretty horrific error.

 

[adc82140]

That is a pretty horrific error.

And it's not one they can blame on autocorrect.

 

[Richard Scott]

Just been reading an article that a top scientist (named as Mark Walport) warning that 25000 could be in hospital at end of next month due to virus. Not interesting in itself as someone else after some exposure but the interesting part was in the comments section where a considerable number of people were questioning this, a few months ago there would have been a handful at most. Tide seems to be turning?

 

[brad465]

Just been reading an article that a top scientist (named as Mark Walport) warning that 25000 could be in hospital at end of next month due to virus. Not interesting in itself as someone else after some exposure but the interesting part was in the comments section where a considerable number of people were questioning this, a few months ago there would have been a handful at most. Tide seems to be turning?

Which news source published it? This might give an indication of how many people have changed attitude.

 

[Richard Scott]

Which news source published it? This might give an indication of how many people have changed attitude.

It was a link from AOL, possibly Huffington Post, generally a good one for scaremongering stories and some lockdown at any cost keyboard warriors in my experience.

 

[scotrail158713]

Just been reading an article that a top scientist (named as Mark Walport) warning that 25000 could be in hospital at end of next month due to virus. Not interesting in itself as someone else after some exposure but the interesting part was in the comments section where a considerable number of people were questioning this, a few months ago there would have been a handful at most. Tide seems to be turning?

Definitely. It’s been interesting to note that over the recent weeks and months.
As for the article/prediction - let’s see how that goes. I have my doubts.
Bear in mind Chris Whitty predicted 50,000 cases a day by mid-October last month. For reference, today we had around 24,000 cases.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

Someone needs to teach Sky the difference between cue and queue.

Also, the difference between effected and affected ...

 

[brad465]

The thread on infection rates is locked, so have chosen this thread as the one I think is next most relevant to put this particular revelation. An Imperial College study thinks we're nearing 100,000 infections per day again:

Covid-19: Nearly 100,000 catching virus every day - study

England is at a "critical stage" with infections doubling every nine days, a major analysis estimates.

www.bbc.co.uk

Nearly 100,000 people are catching coronavirus every day in England, a major analysis suggests.

The study, by Imperial College London, says the pace of the epidemic is accelerating and estimates the number of people infected is now doubling every nine days.

The authors say we are at a "critical stage" and "something has to change".

France and Germany have turned to forms of lockdown to control the virus.

The government here is sticking to its regional strategy.

Experts are warning that we are fast approaching the peak in infections seen in the spring.

The React-1 study is highly influential because it is the most up-to-date assessment of Covid-19 in the country, with the last swabs taken only on Sunday and nearly 86,000 volunteers taking part.

It shows cases are rising in every age group and in every region of England.

While cases are currently highest in the North, infections are surging more rapidly in the South.

The study compared the latest swabs collected between 16 and 25 October with the last round of swabs, between 18 September and 5 October.

It suggests:

• The number of people infected has more than doubled since the last round, with one in every 78 people now testing positive.
• The hardest hit area is Yorkshire and the Humber, where one every 37 people has the virus, followed by the North West region.
• Three times as many people aged 55-64 are infected and twice as many over 65s.
• The pace of the epidemic has accelerated with the R number - the number of people each infected person passes the virus on to on average - increasing from 1.15 to 1.56.
• Overall, the number of people infected is doubling every nine days.
• The South East, South West, east of England and London all have an R above 2.0. London has an estimated R of 2.86.
• Cases are spiking in young people in the South West in a repeat of the pattern seen in northern England just over a month ago.
• 96,000 people are now catching the virus every day

This appears to be scaremongering to an extent in pursuit of stricter measures (clearly the half-hearted mess we have right now isn't working), but also if we are at nearly 100k new infections every day, surely it cannot take relatively long for the virus to run out of new hosts and will burn out whatever we do or don't bring in to try and combat this?

 

[HSTEd]

This appears to be scaremongering to an extent in pursuit of stricter measures (clearly the half-hearted mess we have right now isn't working), but also if we are at nearly 100k new infections every day, surely it cannot take relatively long for the virus to run out of new hosts and will burn out whatever we do or don't bring in to try and combat this?

Unfortunately it would take nearly a year at this rate to reach 60% of the population.

Needs to be two or three times this rate to do it in a reasonable time, at the least.

 

[kristiang85]

Unfortunately it would take nearly a year at this rate to reach 60% of the population.

Needs to be two or three times this rate to do it in a reasonable time, at the least.

But most likely we only need 25% or so of the population to be infected to reach the 60%, given previous immunity.

Again, this is the BBC using their favourite mouthpiece Imperial to scare the public with some questionable modelling. It means the testing regime is only picking up 20% of the infections - I can't quite believe that, given how many tests there are. It's outrageous.

And if it is true, then the IFR must be even smaller than we think, and it shows none of the restrictions are working. Which should also be used as an argument against stricter measures.

 

[158756]

Definitely. It’s been interesting to note that over the recent weeks and months.
As for the article/prediction - let’s see how that goes. I have my doubts.
Bear in mind Chris Whitty predicted 50,000 cases a day by mid-October last month. For reference, today we had around 24,000 cases.

25,000 in hospital doesn't seem that outlandish based on current trends. There are currently(Monday) ~9500 patients in hospital according to the government site, which has increased by ~2500 in the last week. Just a linear increase for five weeks gets to 22000 by the end of next month. That requires cases/admissions to keep going up though - aside from any other factors, if tier 2/3 lockdowns actually do anything useful that shouldn't happen.

 

[adc82140]

There are 1257 hospitals in the UK (not including the Nightingales) That means on average there would be 25 patients in each one. Some of these hospitals will only have a dozen or so beds, but others will have over a thousand. So hardly overwhelming the system really.

 

[DB]

25,000 in hospital doesn't seem that outlandish based on current trends. There are currently(Monday) ~9500 patients in hospital according to the government site, which has increased by ~2500 in the last week. Just a linear increase for five weeks gets to 22000 by the end of next month. That requires cases/admissions to keep going up though - aside from any other factors, if tier 2/3 lockdowns actually do anything useful that shouldn't happen.

It's nt clear that there would be a linear increase, and about now is exactly the time when hospital numbers would be rising anyway.

Anyone know whether hospital admissions figures for previous years, by month/week, are easily available?

 

[brad465]

Unfortunately it would take nearly a year at this rate to reach 60% of the population.

Needs to be two or three times this rate to do it in a reasonable time, at the least.

I don't think that many people need to be infected to at least end this peak of infections. However, the same article did suggest if the doubling every 9 days rate continued to the end of November it would be infecting a million a day. Somehow I doubt even doing nothing more will achieve that, but it does suggest that, given the infection lag time, it will spread much faster through the population for a time compared to now.