No covid trains and stations?

[Blue Hills]

>Placed here as I don't consider this a political question/enquiry but a simple matter of public interest.

So hopefully won't end up shifted to the NACAs yard.>

As in here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58052378

Anyone surprised?

Any holes in this survey or are we now out of the woods with the piggin thing?

Have wandered around by train a bit through this hell, quite often with the bike, but well away from folk (often only me in a carriage) and touching zilch.

But it says they also tested escalator handles and other touch points.(which I haven't touched for 18 months or more - hardly or not even a train door button)

 

[FishFright]

I'm hoping it does reflect on how hard the station staff have been working and not used as evidence by those who deny everything real.

 

[presta]

To sustain the pandemic, all that's required is that each host infects at least one other within the 10 days or so that they remain infectious. Currently it's about 1.5. Now think about how many hundreds or thousands of people the average person passes close to within the space of those 10 days.....

If the virus was on every surface you touch, and in every air space you walk through, the Reproduction number would be in the hundreds, not 1.5.

 

[AndyRM]

I have to say I'm fairly surprised, and the obvious hole is that they've only tested 4 stations.

I'm cautiously optimistic that we've reached the end of the more draconian measures, but I think the lessening of restrictions may be going a bit too quickly.

 

[DCBassman]

One of the things understood from very early on about Covid is that it is not easily spread by fomites, ie touching things. They tested swabs from the hottest Covid wards in N. Italy after the first wave and found zilch. If this virus had been good at spreading that way, we'd be in far deeper do-do than we currently are.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It is airborne , very little is surface transmission

 

[cougie uk]

I don't think the Government have done well enough communicating how it spreads. They've spoken so much about washing your hands and it seems this isn't the main way you get it. Sitting around chatting to your mate in his living room will do it nicely though.

So trains aren't safe unless everyone is wearing their masks.

 

[PK99]

I have to say I'm fairly surprised, and the obvious hole is that they've only tested 4 stations.

That is not a hole at all - sampling the busiest stations in various regions seems an appropriate measure.

 

[Blue Hills]

That is not a hole at all - sampling the busiest stations in various regions seems an appropriate measure.

yep those are major stations, where folks do a lot of hanging around.

 

[AndyRM]

Central Station in Newcastle is pretty major, and a lot of people hang around there.

Likewise Glasgow Central and Waverly, but I guess the Scottish government would be responsible for any testing there.

 

[Arrowfoot]

I am pleasantly surprised and glad to hear it. Imperial College no less so there is confidence. Hoping for more good news. And the train and tube lines are the great arteries of our lives.

 

[winjim]

What are we comparing it to? What are the controls? I can't read anything meaningful into it as reported.

 

[lazybloke]

Well it's all a bit anecdotal and lacking in detail, but yes: taken at face value I'm surprised and even slightly reassured by the results.

Except oh no, the tests were done in January and June when masks were still compulsory. That's a a change to a very significant variable, arguably invalidating the results. Repeat the testing every month and see how it goes.

I'll only feel happier if infection rates, hospital admissions and deaths show a sustained downward trend not just in summer but into November. Maybe then we can breathe a sigh of relief (whilst crossing fingers that the next variants don't change the situation)

 

[DCBassman]

whilst crossing fingers that the next variants don't change the situation

As above, if a new variant gets on the fomites bandwagon, it'll be bad.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I’d also be wary of thinking face coverings are magic. They have some effect but unless N95 with snug fit they don’t block Corona particles. Some seem to think they can be in the presence of others for unlimited periods or get much closer if wearing a mask. Not true. You can and will catch c-19 if you spend long enough in the presence of someone contagious, mask or not.