That fat lass who’s often on ITV wrote a song about Ed.

Go eaaaaaasy on me, baby
I had no Bantz to give
Didn’t get the chance to
Feeeeeeel the Bantz around me
I have a shit long neck, and my roof’s a wreck
So go E.Zee on me

In a few weeks, Covid will likely be in the rear view mirror….

South Africa Hospitalization Rate Plunges in Omicron Wave (1)
Cases remain high compared with previous Covid waves
Omicron infections may have peaked in epicenter Gauteng
By Antony Sguazzin
(Bloomberg) –
South Africa delivered some positive news on the omicroncoronavirus variant on Friday, reporting a much lower rate of hospital admissions and signs that the wave of infections may be peaking.
Only 1.7% of identified Covid-19 cases were admitted to hospital in the second week of infections in the fourth wave, compared with 19% in the same week of the third delta-driven wave, South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla said at a press conference.
Health officials presented evidence that the strain may be milder, and that infections may already be peaking in the country’s most populous province, Gauteng.
Still, new cases in that week of the current wave were more than 20,000 a day, compared with 4,400 in the same week of the third wave. That’s further evidence of omicron’s rapid transmissibility, which a number of other countries, such as the U.K., are also now experiencing.
South Africa, which announced the discovery of the variant on Nov. 25, is being watched as a harbinger of what may happen with omicron elsewhere.
Scientists have cautioned that other nations may have a different experience to South Africa as the country’s population is young compared with developed nations. Between 70% and 80% of citizens may also have had a prior Covid-19 infection, according to antibody surveys, meaning they could have some level of protection.
Currently there are about 7,600 people with Covid-19 in South African hospitals, about 40% of the peak in the second and third waves. Excess deaths, a measure of the number of deaths against a historical average, are just below 2,000 a week, an eighth of their previous peak.
“We are really seeing very small increases in the number of deaths,” said Michelle Groome, head of health surveillance for the country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
The number of Covid-19 hospitalizations in this wave is also being inflated by the fact that milder patients are being admitted because there is room to accommodate them. Many are there for other complaints but are routinely tested for the pathogen, according to health officials.
“We have seen a decrease in a proportion of people who need to be on oxygen. They are at very low levels,” said Waasila Jassat, a researcher with the NICD. “For the first time there are more non-severe than severe patients in hospital.”

    Jules72 Wow! That’d be awesome if the same proves to be true in the UK. So a c. 90% reduction in hospital admissions, but potentially c 5x the level of infection could net out at around ½ as great an impact as the Delta wave…

      Along_the_Wire think you said it yourself - highly contagious and mild strains end epidemics… that’s how Spanish flu ended

        Mad_Cyril If they made a film about your life it would be called ‘Edward Shitterbantz’.

        LOL

          Got the moderna booster yesterday, feeling tip top, apart from a sore arm but that’s just from wanking too much over deep fake priti patel videos.

          Balls if that’s the case we are fucked.

          Who the fuck to believe anymore with this shit, nothing but mixed messages. There is quiet a few articles out there confirming what Jules said.

          zackster That Topol guy has been a fear monger from the jump.

          Eric Topol? Epic TOOL more like. Amirite?

              Bollocks… that study is based on U.K. data so far… and there’s v little evidence from this country… the negativity bias at work again. To ignore the South African data is just not credible

                Your best bet is to read what the Guardian has to say about and multiple their numbers by 0.1 for something that is a more likely scenario.

                Are we not going to base our opinions on how this has panned out in SA, given they are quite a bit ahead of us, in addition to the fact that we have a much, much higher % of people double jabbed/boosted? I will look at this optimistically until it’s proven otherwise. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and quite rightly so but i think we are making a mountain out of a mole hill with Omicron.