The global warming studies on this period will be eye opening

It would be a mistake to let people start flying everywhere again until there's a vaccine. Keep the bugger contained. Hopefully by then the improvements to the climate will be more obvious, making some permanent restrictions a more persuasive argument. The move to electric cars ought to be accelerated and more incentivised as well. I'm not holding my breath though.

 

Saw on the news earlier that they are running tests of a vaccine on volunteers in a lab in
Oxford. The Professor in the broadcast was saying that hopefully, they could have a vaccine
ready to use by September.

 

Massive difference between ready to use and distributing and administering to 7 billion people.

 

There's no chance of a mass produced vaccine by September. They were meaning a limited amount of it for high risk people such as health workers.

 

They didn't say it could be mass produced. They qualified the statement by saying to prepare in bulk
could take 12 months or even longer.

 

I think the "vaccine in 18 months" statement that is oft repeated has clouded the issue. I get the impression that people believe it usually takes 18 months to develop a vaccine so we're working flat out to shave a few months off that and have a vaccine ready to go later this year.

It often takes 10-15 years to develop a vaccine. That's if a vaccine can be developed at all. We don't have a vaccine for many viral infections; not for want of trying. Vaccines we do have are ineffective in those with compromised immune systems. The very people most at risk from Covid-19. A vaccine stimulates your own immune system, but if you don't have much of one then there's not a lot to stimulate. 18 months was best case scenario, with a good wind, fingers crossed and prayers duly said.

https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/vaccine-development-testing-and-regulation

 

This lockdown will provide a great deal of fascinating data for numerous disciplines : criminologists,sociologists,psychiatrists.
Crime rate is currently down over 20%,domestic abuse cases well up, mental health issues rising.
I daresay in a year or two university students will be writing theses on the great lockdown of 2020.

 

I think our best hope if finding drugs to reduce the symptoms in the shorter term. That & testing for immunity has to be the best way of saving lives in the next couple of years.

 

If they are then I think we'll be able to count ourselves very lucky. The Great Lockdown of the 2020s would be a less comfortable read.

 

Here's hoping pal

 

I’d say this is the quick way forward. They are testing lots of other drugs in it, to see if they have an effect on the severity. Let’s be fair, if we could get a drug that reduces the symptoms to that if a heavy cold at worst.. Then it would negate the need for a lockdown?

 

Exactly, and obviously free up NHS resources for all the other important stuff like cancer treatments, etc

 

And our grandchildren will get questions in a pub quiz showing the yellow lines 2 metres apart on pavements and asked what were these for?

 

Why not cycle or walk for such a short journey? Trips like that are really bad for the car (particularly if its cold out). Take a back-pack and you can do your exercise at the same time as your shopping. Been doing that every day, planning my cycle route to come past the shops towards the end of my ride, just picking up the essentials (beer, wine etc).

 

An article in Science I saw yesterday predicted lockdowns lasting for two years

 

Will a large amount of this and what we are seeing in UK airspace be non-passenger related travel? Sorry not sure what that app tracks.

 

the atmosphere is cleaning up at quite fast rate. My wife found some scans from space of various areas, a before and after if you like. The clean up is very obvious.

 

I've also seen planes on flying lessons, personal flights, helicopters and even medical flights before. If you click on the planes it shows where the flight is going from/to, the airline and even plane details.