Lockdown is ending and we are off to the shops!!!!!! :)))))))))

[pigeon999]

Yes we can book hair appointments, nail appointments and banish the roots in a matter of weeks. We can shop today!! We are counting down the days to hotels, restaurants and bars opening. We are breaking out.

We have turned a corner in England people!!

The lockdown is ending at long last - so what are you doing today?

Drivingdownthe101

But why is it less safe for those shielding?

I have the same chance of catching COVID19 as anyone else, just that if I catch it I have a much greater chance of being seriously ill or dying. So, if the risk of catching it is now so tiny, according to many on this thread, it is as tiny for me as it is for you.

If it's considered too unsafe for me to go out that's because there's still a real chance of me catching it, which means there's a real chance for anyone to catch it and without track and trace in place there's a real chance of it spreading again.

So all this pandemic talk is nonsense then?

Do you always make such wild leaps with anything someone says, or just the one's who don't share your views? Sorry the government isn't locking us all up forever and have permitted shops to open and that bothers you, but well, that's sort of your problem. They are opening back up and people are patronising them. You don't have to go if you don't want to. You can be as angry, passive aggressive guilt trippy to those who do but well, that's your lookout.

I think that the government ought to be providing clearer information and guidelines to help people who are shielding move forward in a safe way. And I’m not even going to mention schools.

I’d say we are all in a terrible dizzy mess because we have been given so little clarity from those ‘at the top’.

I’m not interested in party politics, But our elected politicians need to be continuously held to account. I’m not interested in left or right, politicians are not socks, we actually pay them to sort this type of shit out, and they’re doing it badly.
Political division gets nothing accomplished and blinds us all to how miserably our infrastructure has been sold off and underfunded - even though we are all still paying for it.

I said they’d ‘permitted’ it. So last week I could have decided that for me, the benefits outweighed the risks, but it wouldn’t have made a difference because I wasn’t permitted to do so anyway. Now I am, so my personal risk assessment becomes a more useful tool.

Nope, wasn't directed at you at all, Driving, because I completely agree. Can't wait till things start opening up here.

Oh I forgot how black and white you are hooves.
The risk of catching it is small. However if we catch it, the risks to you are far higher than to others. So it makes sense that you should be at greater pains to about that risk than others. Unless you don’t want to, in which case you can do what you want. My shielding friend (CF) is taking her daughter out to NT places, going for runs etc. Because she has done her risk assessment based on the information available.
Approx 1 in 1600 people have the virus. You van make a decision as to whether that’s a risk you want to take.

@DisobedientHamster

I said they’d ‘permitted’ it. So last week I could have decided that for me, the benefits outweighed the risks, but it wouldn’t have made a difference because I wasn’t permitted to do so anyway. Now I am, so my personal risk assessment becomes a more useful tool.

Nope, wasn't directed at you at all, Driving, because I completely agree. Can't wait till things start opening up here.

Sorry DisobedientHamster when I reread your post I realised you were agreeing with me

Argh my SPAG was awful in that post!

Where did I say the shielded don't need to shield?

But what are we being shielded from then? Either the rate of infection is high enough to pose a risk or it isn't. I'm not more likely to catch it than anyone else, I'm just at a much higher risk of serious illness or death from it. So, what am I being shielded from? If there's a miniscule chance of catching it (according to many on here, why are we shielding?)

If you need to shield, shield, if you don't, stop being so bloody dramatic about it and revelling in the misery.

And yes thanks, I'm shielding. Not hiding from monsters or being bloody dramatic, thanks.

Looking foward to being able to return the jeans i bought for dd and getting a refund as customer services been shut.

Sorry, haven't RTFT, but in the Channel Islands we've been doing 'non-essential' shopping, eating and drinking al-fresco, visiting our zoo etc. for the last month already.

We've already got our dentists back doing routine work, our hairdressers and beauticians are already open and taking customers, and our indoor coffee shops, cafes and restaurants are also now open to paying patrons.

The only sector yet to open are pubs for drinking only (they can serve alcohol with food at the moment) but we're looking to reduce our physical distancing rules from 2m to 1m in a couple of weeks.

Our students for whom school has been reopened are back at nearly 100% figures and the teaching unions are positive and encouraging of that step (unlike in the UK!).

We have, sadly, had 30 deaths (although only 15 of those are definitely related to Covid, and - apart from one person - no one was under 60) but we haven't had a single death in a care home since March 31st. We didn't have any cases where it ran riot in a care home, or in the hospital.

All possible because we closed our borders right at the start. Oh, and also because we have a properly thought-out, and organised, 'test, track and trace' system in place. We are also actively 'chasing down' the few remaining asymptomatic cases on the island by testing 3.500 key workers every week (they are offered it, they don't need to ask or apply for it - a family member is one of them) and currently we now only have 5 active cases left on the island. You'd have to try very hard to catch the virus now.

We've also been trialling a testing regime for the potential opening up of our borders, but that is still a while away in reality. In the meantime we are opening up to 'staycations' within the island, and we're being encouraged to book weekend stays and spa breaks in local hotels.

But we haven't seen any of the 'mass gatherings' seen in the UK/big cities in the last 2 weeks. We've had our own, well-distanced, gatherings for BLM, and shops have been well-organised when opening. We do worry when we see what's happening on the mainland though. (But, frankly, Boris should have closed the borders and he didn't - which is why you're miles behind us in opening up the economy, getting children back to the education they have a right to, eating out, going to the cinema, getting hair cut... the list goes on).

And now it looks like Boris will push on too quickly with reducing from 2m to 1m 'just because', not because it's safe to (like it is over here). I worry for my elderly relatives who now live in the UK... and I wonder why no one's been drawing attention in the media to how well we've done. Embarrassment, maybe?

Hearhoovesthinkzebras you have approximately a 1 in 1600 chance of encountering someone with Covid. That’s the same if you are shielding or not shielding. You can make a decision as to whether that risk is acceptable to you.

3 months on and you still haven't grasped that no one has to explain to the world to you, Hooves, you are free to figure it out for yourself, make your own judgements and decisions and risk assessments.

@Musicforsmorks I'm not for a moment suggesting that there is not enormous room for improvement in terms of government guidance. However, I don't see what they can do in terms of clearer guidance for shielded people.

No amount of advice can remove the fact that shielded people are at an increased risk of becoming extremely unwell if they catch Covid 19. Their specific risk profile is best discussed with a medical professional as it will be so personal and specific to them.

It's down to the individual as to whether they want to take a risk with their health or not.

the huge peak said to be here in a few weeks

Said by...... who exactly? The same people who predicted the end of hte world when the Maya calendar ended perhaps? Or someone's sister's hairdresser's friend's cousin's next-door neighbour's friend who works in the NHS?

Drivingdownthe101

But the risk of catching it very much varies depending on where you live. I don't have access to that data (and nor does government thanks to their failure to set up track and trace) so it's virtually impossible for me to accurately guage what the risk is.

If I had somewhere available where I could walk without having to negotiate crowds then that's one thing. As it is I don't and most people now seem to be disregarding social distancing, quite happily brushing up against you or walking two and three abreast on pavements or cycling in family groups.

Those of us shielding are just being left behind now and no one seems at all bothered. If we all decide to ignore it though and then get ill we are going to increase pressure on the NHS, which will mean fewer beds available for everyone else. Is that ok with you? Two and a half million shielded - how many ITU beds?

3 months on and you still haven't grasped that no one has to explain to the world to you, Hooves, you are free to figure it out for yourself, make your own judgements and decisions and risk assessments.

Give it up as a bad job, there is literally no point in reasoning with her. Thread after thread. Gets no-one anywhere.

@Chaotic45 I know what you mean with regards to shielding itself and bigger picture, I just don’t think they have communicated well throughout, in fact I can barely string together much of it.

For example, PM is asked to comment on situation women are in regarding returning to work and childcare.
PM replies ‘mmmm, good question, thank you for your question, I understand, wash your hands’

It’s poor communication, sadly.
They could have done far better in that regard.

Let's get back to shopping.. Has anyone been to a normal high street clothes shop? Is it weird?

Is that ok with you?

It’s fuck all to do with me what you decide to do. You’re an autonomous adult.

@Drivingdownthe101

Hearhoovesthinkzebras you have approximately a 1 in 1600 chance of encountering someone with Covid. That’s the same if you are shielding or not shielding. You can make a decision as to whether that risk is acceptable to you.

No, that's across the country. What is my risk based on where I live? In some places it will be lower than 1:1600. In others it will be higher. And 1:1600 doesn't sound that great to me.

@Hearhoovesthinkzebras

Where did I say the shielded don't need to shield?

But what are we being shielded from then? Either the rate of infection is high enough to pose a risk or it isn't. I'm not more likely to catch it than anyone else, I'm just at a much higher risk of serious illness or death from it. So, what am I being shielded from? If there's a miniscule chance of catching it (according to many on here, why are we shielding?)

If you need to shield, shield, if you don't, stop being so bloody dramatic about it and revelling in the misery.

And yes thanks, I'm shielding. Not hiding from monsters or being bloody dramatic, thanks.

Can I refer you to @Drivingdownthe101 above who says that you have about at 1 in 1600 of catching the virus?

For most of us, those are acceptable odds as if we do catch it, it will likely not be catastrophic. If those odds are not acceptable to you then you must carry on shielding.

You will have noticed from my earlier post that I said "If you are shielding, then carry on doing that, if you are NOT then stop being so dramatic" or whatever it was. If you are shielding, and you feel you need to then please carry on.

I'm sorry that you have something that means you have to, but I don't see that the rest of the population should be held to ransom because of it.

And 1:1600 doesn't sound that great to me

Then don’t go out! Honestly what do you want people to do?

What is my risk based on where I live?

I don’t know, get the data, figure it out yourself, decide for yourself.

Those of us shielding are just being left behind now and no one seems at all bothered. If we all decide to ignore it though and then get ill we are going to increase pressure on the NHS, which will mean fewer beds available for everyone else. Is that ok with you? Two and a half million shielded - how many ITU beds?

Yep, fine with me. You make your own risk assessment and decisions.