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Comment by reuben_scratton | Hacker News Reader

"Taking full precautions against airborne transmission would require major changes at hospitals"

Major changes such as, er, occasionally opening a window to let some fresh air in? That's a basic, obvious precaution that's been known since the dawn of time that wasn't done at all in the UK hospital ward where my mother caught and then died from Covid late last year. I know because I was there. The cluelessness re. viral spread almost two years into the pandemic was just astounding and I'm still very, very angry about it.

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> The cluelessness re. viral spread almost two years into the pandemic was just astounding and I'm still very, very angry about it.

I agree.

During the first months I would be willing to cut decision-makers some slack (on certain aspects, blatantly poor decision-making is different).

6–12 months in, I was becoming very frustrated at the distinct lack of learning going on.

But as you say, two years in. There is ZERO excuse.

Deliberate lack of learning. Cui bono etc.

i’m not sure operating theatres, ICUs, NICUs, private examination rooms, MRI facilities, etc. have much in way of windows. i also don’t think i’d appreciate a gentle breeze rolling over my internal organs whilst my appendix is being removed :)

i’m sorry for your loss. there’s no doubt that governmental denial and reckless mismanagement - especially prevalent in the early days of the pandemic - is directly responsible for the deaths of many. the whole thing has been utterly shambolic.

honestly though, that’s not the thing that angers me the most. it’s the large number of people that think the government handled the pandemic well.

i think we’re doomed as a country, potentially even a species.

There's quite a difference between a ward like they talked about and an operating theatre. There may well be valid reasons for keeping windows shut in the former too, but jumping to talk about the latter was a bit irrelevant since (except for the teams who work in their all day, who are a tiny % of the hospital population) time spent in wards is far greater, and surrounded by far more unmasked people, than time spent in theatres.

sorry, i thought it was clear from my smiley & general tone that i wasn't being serious with that part of the response.

Ideally, hospital wards would have killer ventilation and air filtration systems. I have no idea if this is the case in the UK (or anywhere else).

I'm sorry to hear about your mother.

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