By Ben Kerrigan-
Reports of hospitalizations and the single death from the Omicron variant, are inaccurate without full evidence of their underlying issues.
As Uk prime minister, Boris Johnson, set a new target for all adults in England to be offered a booster by the end of the month, Boris Johnson said people needed to recognise “the sheer pace at which [Omicron] accelerates through the population”.
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The government said the NHS website crashed on Monday after more than 110,000 people tried to book their booster before 09:00 GMT.
Boosters are said to reduce the chances of both becoming infected, hospitalized or dying, and is believed to safeguard many vulnerable from becoming seriously ill or dying.
However, it is worth noting that statistics surrounding hospitalisations or deaths do not tell the whole story.
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One nurse who insisted on anonymity told The Eye Of Media.Com; ”the fact is that a lot of the hype surrounding the omicron variant is exaggerated. It’s spread is likely to be real because there has been evidence of higher infections, but we cannit truthfully talk of hospitalizations or deaths, without putting this into perspectives of underlying issues which are partly why many of these patients are in hospital.
”News without an honest and balanced perspective of the facts are simply inaccurate. They almost become synonymous with fake news, except that without any evidence of motive and intention, this potential fear mongering news is influenced by statistics given out by hospitals, and the way the Covid records are put together.
There has long been scepticism in many circles about the legitimacy of Covid death statistics, and ongoing research conducted by a conglomeration of researchers reveals that a vast majority of the British public do not trust the statistics for covid related deaths and hospitalisations.
An estimated 77% of a limited sample of 3,000 ( 2311) people in the Uk interviewed said they had no faith at all in statistics related to Covid -19 deaths or hospitalization. 62 %(1,860) of the sampled respondents either said the government admission in 2019 that many patients could have been run over by a car, but had covid-19 put on their death certificates , or said they knew frinds or family members who had been misdiagnosed during the heights of the pandemic.
Recent news that government ministers flouted lockdown rules, and through multiple parties, has further dampened public confidence in both the government and the media, research continues too show.
Perception
Statistics surrounding the Omicron is no different when it comes to the perception of the British public, except that most Brits believe infection rates are rising, but not confident in the reported rates of that rise.
There have also been long queues at walk-in centres and new orders for lateral flow tests on the government website have been temporarily suspended due to high demand.
Online bookings for boosters opened for over-30s on Monday, while 18 to 29-year-old will be able to book online from Wednesday. Over-18s can now also get their booster at some walk-in centres in England – as long as it has been three months since their second dose.
Nadeem Zahawi over the weekend told Sky News: “We’ve been able to test people who are in hospital over the past two weeks and there is a lag to hospitalisation,” he told Trevor Phillips on Sky News.
Absence Of Underlying Issues In Causal Connection To Deaths And Hospitalization
Zahawi did not feature the underlying issues of those in hospital to give a full picture of the main reason these patients are in hospital.
The absence of reporting the full cause of patients who end up in hospital has been an endemic problem since the beginning of the pandemic, providing a distorted picture of the true role of Covid-19 in hospitalisations and deaths.
Research has shown that numerous patients in hospital for other illnesses who catch covid, are registered under covid related causes, distorting the statistics. The same is likely occurring with the omicron variant.
Nadeem Zahawi Image:Parliament.uk
The number of people in hospitals with Omicron variant can be argued to be irrelevant in the absence of accurate knowledge about any other underlying issues these patients have.
Media reports of claims from government officials and scientists making reference to hospitalised omicron patients in hospitals are at best inadvertently deceiving the British public.
The Eye Of Media.Com thinktank of internal and external professionals has called for deeper scrutiny of both virus related statistics and an assessment of the genuinely held view of various sections of the British media in relation to statistics.
The Eye Of Media.Com’s Head Of Quality control, Victoria Mckeown said, following a discussion with other members of our think tank.
”Raising awareness of any potential flaws in generally published news is a good way of assessing the the integrity of various media outlets on the topic of Covid-19. The topic of the coronavirus is not one that should be taken lightly when it comes to underreporting or deliberate or inadvertent exaggeration in reporting. We must all take care to report the facts and be responsibly accountable”
Terry Edwards, writer and researcher said: ”It is absolutely vital we ensure that the informatin being given toi the British public is factual and complete, and not characterised by recklessness or any hidden agenda. It is always useful to test the credibility of nfoirmation by examining all its implications in light of every background information we have around that.
When sudden restictions accompany the revelation of a government scandal, every conceivable psychological reason for actions or statements should be assessed and compared with known facts associated with all potential reasons for actions or statements made.
The Eye Of Media.Com’s Head Of Quality control, Victoria Mckeown said, following a discussion with other members of our think tank said: ”Recent news that a series of parties took place at Downing Street last christmas questions the honesty and integrity of the government in the reporting of this pandemic.
‘Several parties which took place evidence the fact that government officials did not consider the pandemic to be as serious enough to require the restrictions they imposed. If they did, you wouldn’t expect them to break the restrictions they imposed. A rule made for all that doesn’t apply to all, is no rule at all. Rather, it seems to serve some hidden agenda associate with a mechanism of control.
‘The only other explanation is utter recklessness, and people in power who are utterly reckless must be very carefully examined and held to account”.
Speaking to the BBC, Susan Hopkins, the chief medical adviser of the UK Health Security Agency, said hospitals were diagnosing Omicron in an increasing number of people coming into emergency departments and that the numbers in hospital were expected to increase.
Yet, Hopkins, an experienced scientist, omitted crucial information about other serious illnesses patients in hospitals have.
Susan Hopkins Image:imperial.ac.uk
No deaths have been reported so far from Omicron, although it is just over two weeks since the variant was first detected in the UK, and there is normally a time lag of three to four weeks between infection and death, should that happen. “I think it’s too early to make any assumption at this point in time,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins said it was “inevitable that we’re going to see a big wave of infections” but that it was not yet clear how many of these cases would be severe.
The reports follow a warning on Saturday from leading scientists that a failure to impose tougher Covid restrictions could lead to a further 25,000 to 75,000 deaths – or 175,000 to 492,000 hospital admissions – over the next five months. The researchers, based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, predicted that a massive wave of infections was likely to sweep the nation in January.
A major unknown is the extent to which vaccines will protect against more serious disease.
Hopkins said further restrictions could be needed to protect the NHS but that it would take another two weeks to know whether the UK was heading into a more optimistic scenario in which Omicron causes milder illness, or the more extreme end of projections. “The challenge is there’s a big difference between 2,000 and 10,000 admissions a day,” she said.
Restrictions imposed by the government have lost their credibility in light of the several breaches that have taken place by downing street ministers. This still does not mean the restrictions are not necessary, but the various infringements of the law by the government has questioned their integrity.
Asked whether there were plans to vaccinate children aged five to 11, Zahawi, the former vaccines minister, added: “There is no plan at the moment to vaccinate primary school children for the reason that the Joint Committee on Vaccination [and Immunisation] is still looking at the evidence as to what level of protection it would offer those.” He added:
“The most important thing is to boost the most vulnerable – that is absolutely the priority.”He also said Omicron, which is thought to be much more transmissible than previous variants, represents more than 44% of infections in London and it is expected to become the dominant variant in the capital “in the next 48 hours”
.He also said Omicron, which is thought to be much more transmissible than previous variants, represents more than 44% of infections in London and it is expected to become the dominant variant in the capital “in the next 48 hours”.
The real question is what other illnesses are involved in the statistics of omicron infections and hospitalisations caused by the virus.
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