Circuit break lockdown at half term?

[Midlifelights]

So I started a thread a couple of weeks ago about this and got accused of all sorts including being ‘one of those people that wants police on the streets who loves the drama & wrecked lives and other similar shite.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4041654-To-think-we-are-heading-for-a-full-2-week-national-half-term-lockdown

Now Kier Starmer is asking for it at the recommendation of SAGE so aibu to think we will get a 2 week national lockdown at half term?

As before, I don’t want another lockdown but it seems much more likely with everything that is going on?

Without a lockdown or circuit break, I MIGHT catch covid. I MIGHT feel ill I MIGHT got to hospital and I MIGHT die

With a lockdown or circuit break, I WILL NOT have enough money, WILL NOT be able to pay my mortgage, bills and buy food. My children WILL go hungry, and depending on the length I WILL lose my house.

I'd rather take my chances of the current restrictions rather than a lockdown. It's an obvious choice for me.

Op why are you wishing so badly for another lockdown? You’re practically frothing over the prospect. Weird .

@Namechange313

Op why are you wishing so badly for another lockdown? You’re practically frothing over the prospect. Weird .

She's perhaps a very loyal Labour Party member who likes to promote what they (newly) support?

Starmer has chosen lockdown as the ground on which pandemic responsible me becomes clearly political. I hope he is goain't to follow up the headline with at least some of the obviously required parts of announcing support - such as what the hell he actually means (aka defining the extent, duration and exit; what closes; support measures for those most affected)

*Why don't people understand it's easy for the opposition to agree with the popular public ideas as it has absolutely no bearing on anything?? They do not have ANY repercussions from going along with any old clap trap so they can and they do

It's not any old claptrap though hmm it's what the government was advised three weeks ago by SAGE
The longer we leave it, the longer the lockdown we'll eventually end up with AND more deaths. So a 2 weeks now to try to reduce numbers seems a good idea to me and I think Starmer was right*

Yeah but the point is that Starmer might not even really believe there should be a lockdown. If the government had imposed a lockdown Starmer would absolutely be jumping up and down about the effects of it - like Labour leaders in the north have been. He will support the opposite of what the government chooses to do - it’s just the political game.

I fully supported the lockdown in March, and I still think the virus should be controlled, but let’s be clear that there are no easy choices right now. The government failed to capitalise on the gains of the last lockdown, so its likely they’ll fail again now. Are they going to revamp test and trace so it actually works at a local level? Kick out Dido Harding? Introduce sustainable mitigation measures for places like schools?

The fact is though, with these tiers we’re basically doing f all. Even in the highest tier, pubs which serve meals can remain open. How they expect the transmission rate to go down, I have no idea.

But there’s no complete contrast between the economy and public health, as previous posters said. With rates rising, stories from doctors/nurses about the state of hospitals, high deaths being reported by the media, the economy is hardly going to be booming is it? Already people are dining in less and taking more precautions.

A lockdown won't help if people are not isolating when they are infected or came in contact.

According to a Guardian article last week 75% of people who should isolate are not doing it. No wonder the numbers rise. A tiny lockdown won't help.

Saying that, I actually understand why. With absolutely no financial help like paying salary and not putting people on unpaid leave/statuary sick pay, what can the governement expect?

In Germany your employer has to continue paying you if you need to isolate, hence a lot less infection rate.

I was one of the first to post back of the start of the year about stopping flights to China. Turns out I was wrong - I'll own that, we would have got Covid 19 here anyway from other countries, including ski resorts in Europe.

You know what now though? Its too late to do a New Zealand and handle this well. Even if we tested everyone, today, our borders are still so ineffective what's the point?

You clearly want a half term lockdown - what I get to stay in my home, again, whilst half a million people get on Easyjet and spread it round a bit more. No chance. Until those airports are shut, I'm not doing it. Its just so half assed. Even if we 'circuit break' (that's a bullshit spin term right there, viruses are not electricity) we'll be in the shit again within a month or two.

Yes and no

Yes because I think we are backed into a corner now with the rates of (I would say inevitable with schools and unis back) infection again.

No because bar the odd eat in restaurants, children have had a 2020 so far of having nothing whatsoever to do, nothing open, no mates over for tea and no school until now for 6 months. I wouldn't personally be taking mine to cinemas and the likes but it's bloody horrid for them all isn't it? The effect on their mental well-being is massive, I worry my DD will end up getting used to being indoors all the time and will just stop socialising.

Mille I know what you mean but didn't yours get out and do stuff when infection rates dropped?.

To re connect while they could....

We did loads of socially distanced picnics, when allowed play dates, etc... Got into London and visited the musuems...

Quite likely I would have thought, lots of uni students would be travelling home, people going on holidays generally could also add to the r number. It won’t be popular, but I think most people would prefer the inconvenience at Oct half-term, if they can see family at Christmas. Going to be a very long winter. But we will get through it.

@Namechange313 oh here we go, stupid fucking comments yet again. I am really worried about infection rates- i work in a front line job seeing lots of people and I am worried about getting it. One of my kids had to shield the last time as they are in a high risk group. Seriously, jog on with your ‘frothing for another lockdown’ comments- some of us are really anxious and worried about it and the risk to our families.

Saint Boris probably bribed Kier Starmer and Sage to say their bit; or as @Fundragon said, Starmer is saying the opposite of whatever Saint Boris says. That way, Saint Boris can say later "I didn't want another lockdown, but people bullied me into having one".

And it won't be short. They'll tell us it's two weeks, just like the original "twelve weeks", but it will be:
"Just another week..."
"Just another week..."
"Just another week month..."
Until it's time for Mr Nice Guy to say "you've been so good, you can have Christmas after all", only for him to say on Boxing Day "you spent Christmas Day spreading the virus, so it's lockdown again."

Kier Starmer’s lockdown wants schools open according to the news this morning, how is that a lockdown.

@Doyouknowwhat

Without a lockdown or circuit break, I MIGHT catch covid. I MIGHT feel ill I MIGHT got to hospital and I MIGHT die

With a lockdown or circuit break, I WILL NOT have enough money, WILL NOT be able to pay my mortgage, bills and buy food. My children WILL go hungry, and depending on the length I WILL lose my house.

I'd rather take my chances of the current restrictions rather than a lockdown. It's an obvious choice for me.

Same here. I’m sick of having to ‘protect’ other strangers from getting it when my own life is teetering on the edge of being totally screwed.

The chances of myself and family getting seriously ill from it is less than 1%

@MiracletoCome

Kier Starmer’s lockdown wants schools open according to the news this morning, how is that a lockdown.

It isn’t!

The news about schools in NI closing for two weeks this morning is sensible though.

Looks like schools will be closing for at least two weeks in NI.

@MiracletoCome

Kier Starmer’s lockdown wants schools open according to the news this morning, how is that a lockdown.

It isn't.

I think the idea of a two week 'circuit breaker' was to cover the peak English half term dates ('oh they're off for a week anyhow, adding just one more won't seem too bad')

But there wasn't enough certainty that a brief lockdown would be effective, which would be the worst outcome. Plus, short notice for 14 days indoors would precipitate panic-buying.

Start saying more than 2 weeks and it becomes a much harder sell in the first place.

They have to wait until people start begging for it. That will only happen if we see reports of overflowing hospitals. In the NW we’re 2-3 weeks away from that.

Its too late to do a New Zealand and handle this well. Even if we tested everyone, today, our borders are still so ineffective what's the point?

NZ does not have a long term plan out of this. A vaccine will be like a flu vaccine - eg very effective but people still get flu. Countries cannot just shut their borders for months on end - they need to work out short term ways of dealing with Covid which address the immediate healthcare squeeze and don’t let people starve and then longer term “how we live with it”. Not a border shut down.

I don’t know what your situation is OP, but I’d hazard that you are not living in a one bed flat with an abusive husband, trying to support a family through a job that would disappear in the event of another lockdown, or waiting for critical surgery or treatment that was cancelled back in Spring. If you were, you might be less keen for another lockdown. It’s not just about the economy. For many people, the risks of Covid are way less terrifying than the reality they live with every day.

@Autumngoldleaf

Mille I know what you mean but didn't yours get out and do stuff when infection rates dropped?.

To re connect while they could....

We did loads of socially distanced picnics, when allowed play dates, etc... Got into London and visited the musuems...

No not really, not much reopened here, our cinema decided not to (not that there was anything my pair would've been interested in), we didn't fancy trying to wrestle with a rammed McDonald's or the likes. DS was shielding as well so we were still a bit cautious. And our local leisure centre hadn't reopened after being rebuilt for the last 2 odd years, had been due to reopen in April and didn't for obvious reasons, it only opened when the local schools did sadly. Our council has been extremely careful, way before lockdown hit, they cut the bus services to Bank holiday level, and all their council owned gyms, clubs and libraries shut before Lockdown. Even now our cases were really quite small considering where I live, they've only just started to rise a bit because the students came back. They're at that weird age where the park isn't interesting anymore.

@HandsDownRoundTheTown

Its too late to do a New Zealand and handle this well. Even if we tested everyone, today, our borders are still so ineffective what's the point?

NZ does not have a long term plan out of this. A vaccine will be like a flu vaccine - eg very effective but people still get flu. Countries cannot just shut their borders for months on end - they need to work out short term ways of dealing with Covid which address the immediate healthcare squeeze and don’t let people starve and then longer term “how we live with it”. Not a border shut down.

Countries can and have shut their borders for months on end. NZ may not have a long term plan out of this, but at 25 deaths in total, I'd say their short/medium term plan has been pretty fucking good. Was allowing us all to go on holidays worth the extra 40k deaths? Genuine question, not trying to be goady.

Following up on that, are we really saying that for two weeks we aren't allowed to see family, go out, enjoy life but we WILL allow people to travel in a tiny metal tube of contagion for four hours jammed next to strangers just to sit on a beach? Why's that then?

So we’ll ruin the economy again and people lose their jobs while people continue to party in the street as per Liverpool last night and round each other’s houses. There is no point in further lockdowns as the window for compliance has closed.

Lasttraintolondon

What makes me so annoyed about all this is that it was so plainly obvious that casual holidays needed to be stopped during lockdown if we were ever actually going to get the virus under control, but they weren't. They were encouraged, and more COVID was brought in and we contributed to further spread abroad.

Yes, the travel industry would have been impacted badly - but now the entire economy is being destroyed so that a few hols could take place. It was total folly.

@Doyouknowwhat

Without a lockdown or circuit break, I MIGHT catch covid. I MIGHT feel ill I MIGHT got to hospital and I MIGHT die

With a lockdown or circuit break, I WILL NOT have enough money, WILL NOT be able to pay my mortgage, bills and buy food. My children WILL go hungry, and depending on the length I WILL lose my house.

I'd rather take my chances of the current restrictions rather than a lockdown. It's an obvious choice for me.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. And who said " the window for compliance has closed", yes, I believe it really has