36 COVID fatalities reported today. We are on the way out of this 🌟🌟

[Jkslays]

36 reported fatalities today (weekend caveat), the lowest number since the day before lockdown was announced. 77 & 115 the last two Sundays for comparison

Mercifully, the human toll of this crisis is easing

I'm hopeful the trends will continue to improve

As reported by Professor Karol Sikora on Twitter

This is amazing news and surely our schools should be able to open as normal come September!

So I'd be pretty foolish to ignore that advice and risk catching something that is likely to make me very ill, not to mention require me to be admitted to hospital and take up a bed that might otherwise be used for someone else

Well yes, but you still haven't been 'kept inside'. You made it sound as though you were in prison.

I didn't say the country will be going back into lockdown. The we I referred to is those of us shielded. If the infection rates go up again they will ask us to stay at home once again, in order to stop us from blocking hospital beds

Do you know of any other country where that has happened? Several countries are already well on the road back to normalish life.

Making masks mandatory and getting track and trace in place before easing lockdown - two steps that will drive down infection and make it safer for those shielding to come out of lockdown

Track and trace should be in place I agree. Masks are already mandatory on public transport. I guess they could be made mandatory elswhere but any benefits would likely be marginal.

I'm still not sure what you mean by a 'fair' easing of lockdown. You seemed to be complaining earlier about "opening shops, allowing sports, starting to open schools, allowing crowds at beaches, zoos, protests etc". Now all you're saying is make masks mandatory and have a better track and trace system?

What are your answers for people shielding? How are we supposed to manage financially? What about our jobs or our mental and physical health? What are your answers?

The world isn't divided neatly into 'shielding' and 'non-shielding'. Every person's circumstances are unique. You will have to decide what works best for you. What I do know however, is that indefinite lockdown is a recipe for disaster for just about everyone.

Does that include the care home cases AF?

hearhooves what do you think that fairer lifting would look like.

OPs original post was in no way celebratory

@Mascotte

You could stop people dying from cancer by stopping catastrophising about COVID and supporting the NHS getting back to normal so that people can be seen and diagnosed.

I'm not catastrophising, we've already seen what COVID does? I didn't say I was against healthcare services returning to normal.

You could stop people dying from cancer by stopping catastrophising about COVID and supporting the NHS getting back to normal so that people can be seen and diagnosed

Nothing anyone on here can do about that! thats a Govt policy decision and one that, once again, the UK is far too slow in acting on. Outside of main population centres, CV has not impacted the NHS to the extent that we cannot do any routine stuff, its madness and just piling up the long term misery and expense of 11m people on waiting lists.

oh yes and get rid of the 2m rule, few other countries are using it but the review is going to take weeks :(

How am I meant to pay my bills, pay for my pension, maintain my health - both physical and mental, avoid loneliness
Do you think you are the only person with these things to consider?
The rest of us being broke, worried sick about paying our bills isnt going to change your circumstsnces one bit. Unless the country jump starts the economy before its too late there will be no money for nhs, social services, council services, jobs, support services etc etc. Businesses will fold, redundancies will multiply even more than they have in the last 6 months and where will the money come from for benefits to help people keep a roof over thier heads?
Its not a case of everyone stay home for the forseable future so someone can go outside but a case of where possible getting things moving again to stop a major depression happening. The economy has already dipped too far it cant be sustained much longer.
Nobody said shielding is fun. But its not going to get better if we all sit around and do nothing either.

How am I meant to pay my bills, pay for my pension, maintain my health - both physical and mental, avoid loneliness

It is awful that you are at home and lonely. However, the rate of covid-19 has fallen and people do need to return to work to pay their bills etc.

People that cannot work have access to benefits just the same as people that cannot work for other reasons (cancer/anxiety/etc). If you need to continue shield and cannot work you cannot blame others for working and paying their bills. Indeed their taxes will help pay the benefits of people that cannot work for whatever reason!

To help you solve your concerns can yo work from home? Maintain health - people in the shielding category (I'm in it!) can go for walks etc being careful. You can talk to others online or from a social distance to help with mental health. Making everyone else stay at home will not help you but will be a detriment to others.

I hope things improve so that you feel better again soon.

@countrygirl99

hearhooves what do you think that fairer lifting would look like.

In my opinion lockdown shouldn't have been lifted until track and trace was in place - they had long enough to implement it and other countries have succeeded so why haven't we got it even now?

Secondly, I think they should be going slower so that they can evaluate effects rather than just plough on without time to see if the infection rates rise.

Thirdly, make wearing of masks mandatory and enforce social distancing where at all possible - so in shops etc. Make provision for those shielding to be able to access some things - even facilitating exercise in some would be a huge benefit.

As it stands now, life is getting back to normal for a lot of people and it seems like they have just abandoned social distancing completely so it now feels riskier for me to go out than it did at the height of this when fewer people were out and everyone was vigilant. Now, seemingly many people have decided they e got nothing to worry about so they don't care about anyone else.

I agree with you Hester

I am more and more staggered today by the number of people on MN today who seem offended that other people are choosing to try and live their lives. It's really weird.

Sadly some want everybody to be in collective misery. People need to work to live. Some have to shield and may have to be careful for much longer than others but they cannot really blame other people for needing to work and have fun!

@Ohdearfindingthisboringnow

How am I meant to pay my bills, pay for my pension, maintain my health - both physical and mental, avoid loneliness

It is awful that you are at home and lonely. However, the rate of covid-19 has fallen and people do need to return to work to pay their bills etc.

People that cannot work have access to benefits just the same as people that cannot work for other reasons (cancer/anxiety/etc). If you need to continue shield and cannot work you cannot blame others for working and paying their bills. Indeed their taxes will help pay the benefits of people that cannot work for whatever reason!

To help you solve your concerns can yo work from home? Maintain health - people in the shielding category (I'm in it!) can go for walks etc being careful. You can talk to others online or from a social distance to help with mental health. Making everyone else stay at home will not help you but will be a detriment to others.

I hope things improve so that you feel better again soon.

I have a job, albeit I can't actually go and do it, so I can't claim benefits.

At the end of June I will be put onto SSP, but I'm not sick. How am I meant to manage with £90/week? If I was made redundant I would go and get a job, any job, two jobs if necessary, but that's not an option for me now.

So, no, I can't work from home. My job can't be done at home.

I've tried going out to exercise but it's just too busy - you can't walk anywhere without encountering people, and many of them have clearly decided social distancing is a thing of the past so they brush past you or walk two or three abreast leaving a foot or two gap, rather than six feet. I could travel to somewhere quieter but then I'd have to risk public transport which is more of a risk than walking on a crowded pavement.

bottlenose deaths are a much better indication of trend as the criteria for testing has changed radically. In the early days only those sick enough to be in hospital were rested, now anyone with the mildest of symptoms is. Of course infection are going to be higher because now we are testing people who are often barely ill instead of just the small % who are critically ill.

countrygirl99

But deaths aren't a good indicator either. Haven't they changed it now to count only people who died from it, rather than with it, too? So you can't compare the latest figures with deaths earlier in the pandemic because you are comparing two different things. Very clever of the government.

hearhooves where do you think the money for even £90ssp is going to come from if people aren't out working? Who do you think is going to fund the medical/social services for whatever your shielding reason is? Who do you think has been paying your wage up to now? How long do you think this can continue?

Very clever of the government

The 'government' doesn't count the figures. The NHS and ONS do.

That's not true, they're counting all people with Covid on the death certificate and a positive test.

@Hearhoovesthinkzebras then you'll need to decide whether to be on the SSP or take the risk (however small) of going back to work.

It's sad, and difficult, but it's a virus, it's not anyone's fault and there's nothing else to be done.

Are we allowed to be hopeful about today's newly released stats (38 deaths & 1,000 confirmed infections), or is that "celebrating death"?

My mistake, 38 deaths today.

@countrygirl99

hearhooves where do you think the money for even £90ssp is going to come from if people aren't out working? Who do you think is going to fund the medical/social services for whatever your shielding reason is? Who do you think has been paying your wage up to now? How long do you think this can continue?

SSP is coming from taxes, taxes that I've paid into for over thirty years without having claimed one penny.

Much of my medical care is private as well.

And my wages have been paid by a private company. Nothing to do with taxation.

Why did we end up.in a situation where I needed to shield? That was gross mismanagement by this government. Other countries haven't been hit like us. This should have been handled much better, that it wasn't it not down to me.

@SomewhereEast

Are we allowed to be hopeful about today's newly released stats (38 deaths & 1,000 confirmed infections), or is that "celebrating death"?

They've changed the way that they count the deaths though. Would be interesting to see a true comparison

This is an interesting article on the possibility that we may now actually be over-counting Covid deaths. I'm not exactly a stereotypical Speccy reader but it goes into some fascinating detail:

www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-way-covid-deaths-are-being-counted-is-a-national-scandal

[quote Mascotte]@Hearhoovesthinkzebras then you'll need to decide whether to be on the SSP or take the risk (however small) of going back to work.

It's sad, and difficult, but it's a virus, it's not anyone's fault and there's nothing else to be done.[/quote]
I would take the chance if everyone would maintain social distancing and if everyone would wear masks.