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Original poster

All restrictions to end this month?

237 replies

ElleGB · 09/02/2022 12:24

Just saw this on breaking news.

That’s it - no more restrictions. Everything back to normal.

I’m not sure how I feel about it.

OP posts:
AndAnotherNewOne · 10/02/2022 06:16

I wish people would stop saying that the vulnerable will just have to protect themselves.

To be protracted they need others to wear masks. They need others to keep their distance. Two years in and some people still don't understand the basic science.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 10/02/2022 06:48

@AndAnotherNewOne

I wish people would stop saying that the vulnerable will just have to protect themselves.

To be protracted they need others to wear masks. They need others to keep their distance. Two years in and some people still don't understand the basic science.

It isn't possible to socially distance in many scenarios.
JangolinaPitt · 10/02/2022 06:54

Incredible that there are still people lacking any sense of proportion who think this completely inhuman way of life should be normalised.
Just relieved that sanity and rationality has (for now) prevailed.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General health
AndAnotherNewOne · 10/02/2022 07:26

@JangolinaPitt

Incredible that there are still people lacking any sense of proportion who think this completely inhuman way of life should be normalised. Just relieved that sanity and rationality has (for now) prevailed.
It isn't sanity to put the vulnerable at greater risk. Unless you're a sociopath who cares nothing for anyone except yourself.

It's not the sort of "rational" I expect in the UK.

BoodyDedalus · 10/02/2022 07:41

It's worth noting that since yesterday lunchtime's announcement, a number of virologists have stated that they think ending all restrictions this month is too soon and too drastic, and that the government are clearly no longer basing decisions on the science.

Johnson's announcement coincided with the publication of data by the ONS that 44,000 2- to 11-year-olds in the country have long COVID, as do 73,000 12- to 16-year-olds - with symptoms that can often last for months. It also followed a recent warning from the WHO that it is dangerous to assume the Omicron variant would herald the end of COVID-19's acutest phase, and that worse variants may yet emerge.

MarshaBradyo · 10/02/2022 07:43

@JangolinaPitt

Incredible that there are still people lacking any sense of proportion who think this completely inhuman way of life should be normalised. Just relieved that sanity and rationality has (for now) prevailed.
I agree with you

We’re not the first, eg Denmark will be a month earlier, plus other countries following

Berengaria1 · 10/02/2022 07:47

My neighbour's child is off school for the second time in 3 months because she tested positive for covid. She has no symptoms at all and is perfectly well but she is not at school. We have to move forward because it is unsustainable to keep impacting our children's education like this. This is just one example of why we need to get back to normal.

What was the point of lockdowns, financial hardship and vaccinations if we're never going to get back to normal life? We have to live with covid, we can't wait until it has been completely eradicated.

popularscience · 10/02/2022 08:20

I am glad the threat of isolation and constant testing of healthy asymptomatic people will end. It is a cause of anxiety and stops people doing things because the consequence of a positive result outweighs the benefit of the activity that might lead to infection (e.g. going to the swimming pool, 30 mins swim versus 7 days of isolation = no swim for me).

What I don't agree with is the end of masks in healthcare settings. NHS staff treating people with infectious diseases or working in environments where there are infectious people should be protected. As well as other patients. I hated going to the GP in winter for routine check-ups because the waiting room was full of people coughing and invariably I would get ill. Unnecessary burden of illness from not having masks in places where highly infectious people are being treated. Not fair on staff to not be protected at work.

AndAnotherNewOne · 10/02/2022 08:20

@Berengaria1

My neighbour's child is off school for the second time in 3 months because she tested positive for covid. She has no symptoms at all and is perfectly well but she is not at school. We have to move forward because it is unsustainable to keep impacting our children's education like this. This is just one example of why we need to get back to normal.

What was the point of lockdowns, financial hardship and vaccinations if we're never going to get back to normal life? We have to live with covid, we can't wait until it has been completely eradicated.

What makes you think you know better than virologists?

You really think you neighbour's child should have gone to school while infected and spread it around?

Life will never be normal again, not in the way it was. No matter how much people hope it will. Covid is here to stay and we have a duty to protect those most vulnerable to it. Basic precautions are not too much to ask.

Too many people have died who needn't have. How many more will be acceptable to some on here?

Fairylightsongs · 10/02/2022 08:25

Life will never be normal again, not in the way it was

I’m sorry but for the overwhelming majority of the population it will be in just over two weeks time.

gogohm · 10/02/2022 08:31

To those saying what about the vulnerable? Well it's a problem every winter before covid, flu, bronchitis etc take lives. We do have to move on, this is a mild disease for the 99% (defined as something that doesn't require medical attention, you can still feel grotty) and several experts have already said that if we had the data we had even by June 2020 we wouldn't have locked down at all but by then governments we on that track and didn't want to admit Sweden was right.

I had covid in March 2020, very mildly - I've lost 2 loved ones to it but they were life limited, elderly with multiple health conditions and we almost lost them pre covid to chest infections.

I don't really know what I'm saying except it's time to get on living, let's protect ourselves by being vaccinated, wear masks in settings with the vulnerable or if we have symptoms eg a cold just like happened pre covid in the Far East. I think some are scared of returning to normal life, we need support and understanding but we need to move on

kistanbul · 10/02/2022 08:35

Very clear that is a politicians decision and no government scientists are prepared to support it. It’s mad.
Omicron is twice as deadly and five times as transmissible as the flu.
It’s clear from this thread that a lot of people will happily spread it around and ignore the hundreds of deaths a week with the current minimal restrictions.
This isn’t learning to live with it, this is saying that we as a country are happy to kill vulnerable people.

SartresSoul · 10/02/2022 08:42

It makes sense to do this, we do have to learn to live with it now. The vulnerable will have a jab every winter as they do with the flu and everyone else will crack on. I had covid in December and I’ve honestly had worse colds.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 10/02/2022 08:44

@AndAnotherNewOne well, you're not in charge of decision making and the people who are have decided that life is indeed going back to normal.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 10/02/2022 08:46

@kistanbul

Very clear that is a politicians decision and no government scientists are prepared to support it. It’s mad. Omicron is twice as deadly and five times as transmissible as the flu. It’s clear from this thread that a lot of people will happily spread it around and ignore the hundreds of deaths a week with the current minimal restrictions. This isn’t learning to live with it, this is saying that we as a country are happy to kill vulnerable people.
I'll happily stay at home and isolate if I get paid full pay to do so. But I don't. So instead of moaning at ordinary people who can't afford to self isolate, campaign for full sick pay so they can.
kistanbul · 10/02/2022 08:47

Learning to live with it would be people saying that they would isolate if they had covid and wear masks in shops etc. People aren’t saying that. They’re very clearly saying that they’re going to pretend it’s just like flu.

user1487194234 · 10/02/2022 08:48

We need to get back to normal
I feel so bad for all the young people I know
The repercussions for mental health are going to be horrendous
I will stay home if I am I'll ,as I always did, but enough of this staying off work when there is nothing wrong with me

user1487194234 · 10/02/2022 08:50

And I definitely think life will get back to normal

Waxonwaxoff0 · 10/02/2022 08:52

@kistanbul

Learning to live with it would be people saying that they would isolate if they had covid and wear masks in shops etc. People aren’t saying that. They’re very clearly saying that they’re going to pretend it’s just like flu.
Again, to reiterate: I, and many others, simply cannot afford to self isolate.
MarshaBradyo · 10/02/2022 08:58

@Fairylightsongs

Life will never be normal again, not in the way it was

I’m sorry but for the overwhelming majority of the population it will be in just over two weeks time.

Yes this is the case

As much as a minority say it won’t be it will happen

MajorCarolDanvers · 10/02/2022 09:01

I feel jealous. I live in Scotland and we're getting told restrictions are being extended at least another 6 months and to expect to wear masks for years to come. 🥲

Inastatus · 10/02/2022 09:10

@AndAnotherNewOne - of course life will be normal again for most people. Of course there’s bound to be a minority who will want to hang on to every restriction whilst calling everyone else selfish for getting on with living normally.

Whitefire · 10/02/2022 09:21

I have no personal concerns about lifting the restrictions early. I have had covid, I'm triple jabbed and my vulnerable relatives are ultra cautious in any case, so I don't feel particularly at risk. On the other side of the coin I can work from home easily so isolating for 5 days is not that big a deal. So I don't think this is going to have a significant impact on me personally either way.

However, I'm very concerned by the fact that this seems very much to have been a political decision rather than a scientific one. It's very telling that the idea of lifting the self isolation requirement earlier wasn't even discussed at the last Sage meeting. This smacks very much of a last minute idea that Boris and his mates have come up with in order to win him back some political credit rather than a carefully considered decision taken in the interests of the nation. And it worries that we have a PM who thinks nothing of gambling with people's health in order to boost his popularity.

It is not so much that I disagree with the decision itself. I'm actually very happy for us to lift restrictions if the time is right, but I think the decision has been made for all of the wrong reasons and without due consideration of the potential consequences.

Still, it looks like it will work for Boris as apparently all is forgiven. I shouldn't be astonished to discover that people have such low standards, but it amazes me very time. I guess the benefits of a democracy always come with downsides.

I feel the same, it is right to be moving towards lifting restrictions, but I feel that we are being taken as fools and very much played. Almost like we should be grateful for the scraps he throws us, but other posters seem to think that this makes everything all right again.

SickAndTiredAgain · 10/02/2022 09:55

Johnson's announcement coincided with the publication of data by the ONS that 44,000 2- to 11-year-olds in the country have long COVID, as do 73,000 12- to 16-year-olds - with symptoms that can often last for months.

I want to be clear that I don’t think long covid is something to be dismissed so I am not asking this in an attempt to undermine these numbers.
What is the actual definition of long covid?

AlternativePerspective · 10/02/2022 10:04

See personally I think that masks should be mandatory during e.g. flu season regardless of COVID.

Maybe then the infection/death rate from flu wouldn’t be so high either.

Currently the death rate from COVID is estimated to be around the same level as the death rate from flu, and surely if COVID has shown us anything, it is that it is possible to take precautions to limit spread of an infectious illness. This shouldn’t change just because COVID is no longer considered to be such a risk. There were infectious illnesses before COVID, and there will be after COVID. We need to learn from COVID, and be looking to minimise risk from all those illnesses, not just COVID.

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