What did the Pandemic do for you ?

[Silverclaws2]

I sew, the masks were sort of fun to work out, devise and make up and pass around neighbours and family

At first we had only what we had to hand. I read up and was advised that soaking thin cotton or paper towels in a strong salt solution and letting it dry, and using that as a liner between the layers, would kill any virus that got to it...so salty paper was duly made and pegged out on the washing line to dry
Eventually I cut up two of my unused 'non woven' material protective suits (some digs are dirty, as in biologically dirty) and used them to make the masks.
Elastic hair ties for the ear elastic bits and coated plastic garden wire for the shaping piece at the nose.

Some of the Spanish patterns were really excellent, let folks breath but not suffocate, shaping.
The Chinese ones just didn't fit; different shape needed over the nose, etc.,
A Ugandan lady posted a brilliant video of how to make them quickly in quantity

We lived through rather 'interesting' times I am rather glad we're past that, and truly hope we never have to go through it again, but I'll not hold my breath.....and I still keep the pantry stocked, and who doesn't have spare pack or two of loo roll stashed ?

I did too, it provided some interest researching patterns making and finding what worked to in the end make five layer masks that did restrict breathing but could be managed with hey, yogic breathing of which I already knew how to do from a yoga past. I still have my masks and one of them the most restrictive that I faced with camo is in. my possibles pouch.

The five layer masks also face sealed and didn't steam up the glasses and they were washed in soapy water at the end of every outing.

I do however now also keep FFP3 masks in and I do have a half mask respirator with a few packs of P100 filters

 

[Herman30]

Cloth masks provide some protection from spread from someone coughing

That was the point of the masks, preventing someone coughing from spreading the virus. Not so much preventing yourself getting infected. For that a N95 mask would be needed.

 

[Herman30]

Just under a quarter of a million people died of covid-19 in the UK....

In Finland it was 8000 dead in Covid 2020 - 2023. And we have some 5.5 to 6 million people.

 

[TLM]

If I remember correctly at least in Finland that number might not tell the whole truth, any person dying with Covid was registered as such even if the actual reason was something else. Also dead people were not tested for Covid so the true number is unknown.

 

[Toddy]

In Finland it was 8000 dead in Covid 2020 - 2023. And we have some 5.5 to 6 million people.

Just over 16,000 in Scotland with a similar population, but a very much more urbanised one....over 2/3rds of us live in the central belt......and we have a constant flow of people in and out, from Asia, India, Pakistan, tourism, etc., bringing in the virus, and others.

 

[Pattree]

I write to my MP asking why I was four times more likely to die off Covid in the UK than I was in most African countries and six times more likely than in Australia.
He said that this was a government concern and would be investigated after the emergency. I didn’t see that after the wash up.
Italy had it very badly, very early - why?

 

[Toddy]

Very urbanised, very socially connected, people. Small tightly packed homes, etc.,

 

[TLM]

I write to my MP asking why I was four times more likely to die off Covid in the UK than I was in most African countries

One of the more interesting correlations is that the higher vitamin D3 one has the less likely is death and there is even a graph that says that over certain level no deaths ...

For some reason most sources still call it a correlation even though the relation to saved lives seems quite clear. In some cases staying alive is enough, knowing why is not necessary relevant.

Most deaths in Covid19 seem to be the result of over active immune system not directly the virus as it has been in some influenssas in the past.

Not catching it is good but having a way to treat it is even better.

 

[Woody girl]

The virus has mutated, and I'd still around, most people seem to forget it ever existed, and behave perfectly normaly...Well I say that, I think they are ruder, less tolerant, and more aggressive. Not everyone of course, but its realy noticeable where I live.
We were lucky, being fairly isolated community. Nobody had covid untill Xmas, when somebody decided to disobey the rules and had 10 members of their family for the holiday. They all went down with it, and brought it into the community by shopping unmasked, and refusing to social distance, and obey the one way system in the local supermarket.
Locals were yelled at and told to p off when they were asked to wear a mask.
Karma.

 

[HorseGuy]

One of the more interesting correlations is that the higher vitamin D3 one has the less likely is death and there is even a graph that says that over certain level no deaths ...

I remember this. Why did the government, the NHS and mainstream media not tell people about it at the time? How many people could they have saved by making this information public knowledge?

We took extra Vitamin D3 at the time, we got covid a couple of times and made normal, rapid recoveries without any issues.

 

[TLM]

Why did the government, the NHS and mainstream media not tell people about it at the time? How many people could they have saved by making this information public knowledge?

Apparently for several reasons:
- "it is only a correlation"
- D3 is not a medicine
- no pharmaceutical company could make much money out of it
- it is not an approved way of treating anything else but lack of it (apparently in the US some "not-quite drs" Drs were even charged for it, apparently mainly for dubious claims)
- some sources quickly named it quackery (even though there is scientific base for it working)
The fact seems to be that relatively few doctors were aware of it, it is not in the mainstream.

As to how many it could have saved, nobody knows, as a guess though quite a few.

On "Vitamin D wiki" one can find a collection of articles about it. They even have a proposed D3 treatment for several viral infections. I have more or less been following it for the last 10 years, with quite good, though extremely subjective, results.

 

[HorseGuy]

Vitamin D is easy and cheap to make, it is safe to use and it helped with covid. All of this was already well known early on in 2020. I still think that it could have been made public knowledge.

Being naturally occurring vitamin D can't be patented though. This means that little profit could be made by the pharma companies from it. Coincidence?

 

[Toddy]

One of the more interesting correlations is that the higher vitamin D3 one has the less likely is death and there is even a graph that says that over certain level no deaths ...

For some reason most sources still call it a correlation even though the relation to saved lives seems quite clear. In some cases staying alive is enough, knowing why is not necessary relevant.

Most deaths in Covid19 seem to be the result of over active immune system not directly the virus as it has been in some influenssas in the past.

Not catching it is good but having a way to treat it is even better.

I thole an over reactive immune system. It's a family thing, my younger brother died a year ago because his own body ended up stopping his lungs functioning. It was a miserable way to go. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, and for all those who claim covid is harmless....well, for many it's just a few days of misery, but for others.....

Our govt advises that we all take VitD all year long. Many of us get it on prescription (I feel that I can afford my own, and I'm not for charging the NHS for something like this, so I just buy it) because our GP's have checked our blood levels and found them wanting.
I don't know if it helps agin the Covid or not, but I take it regularly.....this is July, the middle of Summer, and it's a mild, pleasant day....but so overcast that I have to put a light on to see in the hall cupboard.....maybe there's a really good reason our dark skinned ancestors slowly lightened.

 

[Falstaff]

Some how missed that bit about Vit D during Covid, and totally forgot about it until this thread.
So on the NHS website they say it is unproven as a cure for Covid, but yes, we are supposed to take it during the winter months.
Not sure how I feel about that, my diet is pretty Vit D rich but apparently it's not easy to absorb. I'm not keen on pill-popping but have to accept I'm on statins now forever..but if not easy to absorb, how will a pill be any better than "normal" vitamin D foods, just sheer volume?

 

[HorseGuy]

Some how missed that bit about Vit D during Covid, and totally forgot about it until this thread.
So on the NHS website they say it is unproven as a cure for Covid, but yes, we are supposed to take it during the winter months.

I don't think anyone has ever claimed that it was some sort of magical cure for covid but multiple studies have repeatedly shown that higher than normal doses of Vitamin D considerably helped to reduce the symptoms and aid with recovery.

 

[TLM]

maybe there's a really good reason our dark skinned ancestors slowly lightened.

Again it's a "correlation" but skin colour correlates inversely with latitude very well. As far as I know nobody has presented a better reason than D3 synthesis.

So on the NHS website they say it is unproven as a cure for Covid

That does not totally hold water but as far as I understand it is not proven upto medicinal standard, that is a different thing. The way medicinal tests handle statistics does not withstand strict scrutiny anyway. "The test is successful if no more than 50% has to be thrown away to prove the point."

They also forget that even if only gives some help it is very safe, the acute toxicity limit is huge. So there is no hurt in recommending it.

I thole an over reactive immune system.

I got rid of a fairly mild case of psoriasis with it. Took a year but again the correlation is so high that one might suspect causality. To be effective it looks like greater than basic recommended amounts are needed. With those comes that additionally some Mg and vitamin K2 is a good idea.

 

[HorseGuy]

Purely by coincidence this article just happens to be the top news headline on the Telegraph website at the moment.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/25/covid-vaccines-saved-fewer-lives-than-first-thought/

 

[William_Montgomery]

Purely by coincidence this article just happens to be the top news headline on the Telegraph website at the moment.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/25/covid-vaccines-saved-fewer-lives-than-first-thought/

I must admit, there is a certain frustration in watching this stuff come out in the media now. For years people were denigrated and treated appallingly for even just asking questions regarding 'vaccine' efficacy, mask mandates, consequences of lockdowns and so on.

I've got a respect for those people who decided against taking the 'vaccine' and stood their ground throughout those years. It showed a strength of character to stick to your guns despite all the threats, manipulation and abuse thrown their way.

 

[Falstaff]

Interesting article, when I see terms like Aggressive mandate & Zealatory being used in a science paper I tend to suspect political bias, and 3/4 of Stanfords external research like this is funded by the government. However, there is enough independent Italian research and data sources there, to suggest the findings are sound. It seems to confirm that a lot of the suspicions and claims being made were right. We always understood it was the old and overweight/compromised who were at risk anyway.

It was never going to be a storm in a teacup, it was serious, but quite clearly a large swathe of incompetent drama queen politicians and so-called leaders, panicked, abandoned any commonsense and made it infinitely worse.

This research is based on global data, which carries its own generalisations and inherent potential confounding issues. That does not invalidate the research findings though, but there may be some significant differences at a national level. e.g. say, caused by the differences in obesity, diet and health of different nations. There were some known differences in national infection and mortality rates, I think Pattree touched on this. So by country the numbers saved due to the vaccine might vary.

My personal assessment and decision did take most of this into account, and the risk I posed to my compromised wife. So I don't regret getting vaccinated, but had I been younger and as fit as I was at that age I might well have decided differrently.

 

[Broch]

All science is 'political'. Studies, research, publications can only be done with funding; all funding carries an agenda. Whatever side of a story you are reading, there is always a third truth