Thousands of people are reporting coming down with bad colds following the relaxing of lockdown measures, UK Health Secretary data shows.

Why do we get a ‘common cold’ season and typically when does it occur in the UK?

Every winter we have the ‘cold and flu’ season when cases of respiratory virus infections increase. These winter respiratory viruses include the flu virus, which can cause severe infections, and rhinoviruses, which causes more mild ‘colds’, though there are many other respiratory viruses that spread in the winter.

In the UK the cold and flu season is typically between October and March and coincides with the onset of winter weather. It is thought that there are three main reasons for this seasonal increase in respiratory virus infections.First, many viruses transmitted in the air by aerosols and respiratory droplets survive and spread better in cold, dry weather. Second, our behaviour tends to change in the winter, with people spending more time with others indoors where respiratory viruses transmit better. Finally, for many people, our immune systems do not perform as well in the winter, due to lower levels of vitamin D and melatonin.

How have COVID restrictions affected the cold season?

The 2020-2021 winter cold and flu season was unique in seeing some of the lowest rates of respiratory virus infections in recent history. It’s thought that this dramatic reduction was due to the COVID-19 precautions that we were taking over the last winter. COVID-19, just like flu and many winter cold viruses, spreads through the air.

Because of this, the measures that are so effective at reducing COVID-19 transmission, e.g. face masks, indoor ventilation, physical distancing and hand hygiene, will also be effective at reducing the transmission of many other respiratory viruses and their use is why we had such a mild cold and flu season last year.

What is a ‘super cold’?

The question many of us are asking now, is what to expect for the coming winter given that the use of COVID-19 preventative measures have largely been repealed in the UK. It has been suggested that we might see a ‘super’ cold and flu season. It is possible that we will see a robust cold and flu season this winter where we have widespread transmission of ‘typical’ strains of cold and flu viruses.

In this situation, the infections would not necessarily be any more severe than in a typical winter – though a flu infection can still be very severe. This could occur because our collective immunity to typical cold and flu viruses may have waned over the past year and so more people may be susceptible to infection with these viruses.

We are already seeing indications of increased respiratory virus infections in children, specifically the dangerous respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. Over the past summer we saw high levels of RSV infections in areas where COVID-19 precautions were relaxing. It is very possible the level of RSV and other respiratory viruses will continue to increase over the coming winter in areas without mitigation measures in place.

Just News – RT – Bitcoin plunges by 30% after record high of $20,000

RT – Bitcoin plunges by 30% after record high of $20,000
The price of bitcoin fell to less than $13,080 on Friday morning, according to CoinDesk.com. That makes an 18-percent drop since its previous slide, and more than 30 percent since it reached the historic $20,000 mark last week.
The cryptocurrency has experienced its second major drop in just days. Rival bitcoin cash has also fallen, plunging to $2,536 per coin, following its rapid climb of more than 50 percent to almost $4,330 per token on December 20.

RT – Just try selling your bitcoin: Cryptocurrency pioneer warns against ‘extremely risky’ investment

The co-founder of Bitcoin.com, one of the world’s largest sites devoted to the leading virtual currency, has sold all his bitcoins and recommends people stay away from it for the moment and look for alternatives.
“I would say an investment in bitcoin is right now the riskiest investment you can make. There’s an extremely high risk,” Emil Oldenburg said in an interview with Swedish tech site Breakit.
“I have in fact sold all my bitcoins recently and switched to bitcoin cash,” he added.
Oldenburg complains about long transactions with high fees. According to some estimates, bitcoin transaction fees are doubling every three months, and an average bitcoin transaction is takes four and a half hours to be confirmed. The average trading fee peaked at $26 recently.
The reason why bitcoin users don’t understand its cons is that they only buy it and don’t sell or trade it, according to Oldenburg.
“As soon as people realize that this is how it works, they will start to sell. The old bitcoin network is as good as unusable,” he said.
The investor explained fees for bitcoin cash transactions are more reasonable.
“It only costs $0.012 to send a bitcoin cash transaction, and there are no lead times. The only drawback is that you need larger hard drives, but that’s not a problem for most people.”

RT – Bitcoin heading to $0.00 & many will lose everything when bubble pops – warns investor Peter Schiff
Bitcoin is a massive speculative bubble that will implode, and people who are buying it now will be left holding the bag, according to economist Peter Schiff, best known for predicting the 2008 financial crash.
“People who got it years ago, even people who got it at the beginning of the year have the opportunity to cash out and make a lot of money. But people who are buying it at these prices or higher prices are going to lose practically everything,” Schiff told RT International Channel.
“These currencies are going to trade to zero or pretty close to it when the bubble pops,” predicts Schiff. “Right now, the only reason why people are buying bitcoin is because the price is going up. When it turns around, they are not going to sell it for the same reason.”
“There is no value in bitcoin, you can’t use it as money,” Schiff points out. “It’s too slow, too expensive and too vulnerable.”
The investor called bitcoin a “speculative digital asset,” and as soon as its price stops going up, it will implode.
According to Schiff, there is a problem with fiat currencies. However, there are 1,300 digital currencies with massive inflation. “Even bitcoin itself has spun off bitcoin cash, bitcoin gold. There is no limit to supply of bitcoin-branded worthless tokens that can be created,” he said.

RT – Insider trading probe leads to crash of bitcoin cash
The price of bitcoin cash plunged 10 percent when trading resumed following an investigation by a leading cryptocurrency exchange into possible insider trading.
Bitcoin cash’s wild price swings led Coinbase to suspect exchange staff of possible insider trading. The third most valuable cryptocurrency’s price had more than doubled since Monday.
“If we find evidence of any employee or contractor violating our policies — directly or indirectly — I will not hesitate to terminate the employee immediately and take appropriate legal action,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong posted in his blog.
All Coinbase employees and contractors were “explicitly prohibited” more than a month ago from trading in bitcoin cash and revealing launch plans, he said.
The exchange suspended trade on Tuesday minutes after the opening and eventually canceled orders.
According to CoinMarketCap, the price of bitcoin cash soared to $9,500 as trading began on the Coinbase exchange GDAX. Coinbase did not recognize that price on its exchange. The rise of bitcoin cash is also suspected of causing a sell-off in bitcoin. On Thursday, bitcoin cash was trading at $3,627 while bitcoin was selling for $17,000.

DHS Detains Oathkeepers Heading To Gun Rally

Liberty lovers gathered at the Texas capitol building to show appreciation for the U.S. Constitution. Some arrived late, having been detained by the Department of Homeland Security for using a public walkway to pass by a federal building.

Some arrived late however, having been detained by the Department of Homeland Security for using a public walkway to pass by a federal building.

One of the DHS agents was not even aware that in Texas, it is legal to carry a longarm.

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