To be depressed that lockdown would happen again tomorrow if there was another new disease

Why does it not follow that they could have PPE? There is no reason why they couldn't.

They would. It was shameful how bad the PPE was last time. But it doesn't follow either that petrol station workers, Tesco drivers and the like would get it, or that enough of them would be willing to go to work even if they did. If a virus is bad enough to scare people into wanting lockdown, it could also be bad enough to scare people into not providing the things others need to lock down.

They would need proper PPE. We didn't have that last time.

Would they actually lockdown again? They shouldn't have done it last time and the economy is in such an awful state I don't think it will happen again.
What is the actual likelihood of something like Covid happening again? Most of the reason it was such a shit show was because it was a once in a lifetime emergency that no-one knew how to handle.
People won't comply, especially those in power so what would be the point?

The best way to describe it is the Goldilocks analogy. A virus would need to be scary enough for people to voluntarily accept restrictions, but also not so scary that the people who stack the shelves, drive the buses, maintain the water supplies and so on would stop coming to work. We can't actually assume that any future virus would hit this sweet spot. People often tend to assume order, rules and enforcement... these things would not be a given.

It was unusual for a virus to be so much milder in children than adults. The infection was quite severe with the first strain in many people over the age of about 45.

I am assuming that there would only be a lock down if the virus was dangerous enough to scare most people.

Well, yeah. If we had the worst case scenario then people would comply. That’s not really comparable to COVID where a not insignificant number of people had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic.

Of course, but that doesn't mean it's not one of the possibilities on the table. Would lockdown be the least worst option is not the same question as would the public support it. If the public don't want to do it then it won't happen. Hence all the behaviour nudging.

Works the other way too. It's theoretically possible the next pandemic would be one where locking down caused more problems than it solved, but we still do it anyway because its what people demand. I don't think that could happen for a long time yet, but who's to say how people will feel in a few decades?

Me too! I’d comply in a heartbeat!!

If it targets children and is much more aggressive, the assumption that lockdown would actually be possible needs to be questioned. Because it requires a substantial number of people still being willing to leave the house and work in often low paid jobs.

During covid, we never got close to a situation where the working age population was too scared to turn up to jobs in food transport, petrol stations, bus driving and the like. There is no guarantee the next one would be like that.

You can ignore any restrictions, of course, but the outcome depends on how infectious and how severe the disease is - the effects could be worse than locking down.

Infectious diseases don’t care about your feelings 😂.

All those people who say they wouldn’t comply, what if the next virus targets children and is more aggressive? What then?

I think most sensible people deal with the facts in front of them.

We are still feeling the effects of lockdowns and they must be a last resort.

I am particularly angry with the teaching unions for ensuring children from neglectful and dangerous families were trapped at home because teachers needed ventilation. I hope that never happens again.

Total guesswork. You're not even trying to take into account whether the next pandemic will scare people enough to be willing to voluntarily limit their behaviour, or so much that order breaks down. These are quite basic points. Lots of things were in place with covid that aren't in any way pandemic guarantees.

Enough people will want to do it.

So you’re depressed about something that hasn’t happened and might never happen?

Shades of just looking for something, anything, to get pissed off about.

I'm still isolating. Is it over?

No-one is going to lockdown ever again. Once burned…

But this would be a completely different situation. There would be no 'lockdown' with essential workers obediently trotting out to work to keep the lights on and the food supply going. They wouldn't be risking it. We'd be trying to stave off societal collapse.

Exactly if people were bleeding from their eyes and anuses all the 'oh im too important to follow rules' brigade would be inside sharpish.

And Formula One racing??????????????

Your concerns are your business. My point was that shops and schools being closed doesn't mean people don't mix or that the transmission rate can't be a problem. Which is why lockdown probably isn't possible if enough people don't want to do it. I don't tend to engage with whether people show concern for others behaving in a particular way or not, because it wouldn't have any impact on the general picture.

I didn’t agree with the lockdowns in the first place. Luckily I was working in a supermarket so wasn’t stuck at home.

The problem with the last lockdown was ppe was inadequate. Obviously there is no guarantee that everyone who wanted to shelter or get adequate ppe would be able to do so and that is my only concern. I wouldn't care about those who catch the virus because they choose to socialise. They can risk their lives if they want to.