"Don't worry, we can just do it at mine instead"

[rainbowrain107]

Lunch booking for group of 6 friends in London booked for Saturday. Obviously, can't go ahead now as the restaurant likely to be funny about 6 adults traipsing in. However the organiser has already announced to everyone that she'll just host at hers instead.

This attempt at lockdown just isn't going to work is it?

Restaurants really won't turn you away, I work in a big chain, we have been told to greet customers with a leading question "Good afternoon ladies, if you could just check in or leave your details here for track and trace, all of the same household yes? right let me get you all seated" kind of thing, the trick is to say the yes and then immediately speak afterwards, sometimes with a little wink we have been told, so that legally we have done our job of asking. Absolutely no proof whatsoever, it is not for us to enforce.

PS. I am on the side of go to your friends house.

I'd trust the guidelines more if the government followed the rules themselves. In the case of Christmas I imagine a lot of people will say oh sod it lets do Christmas anyway.

I’ve had this too with friends saying we can pretend we all live together. Apparently that’s what their friends up north have been doing

I politely declined and said I don’t feel comfortable.

@DappledOliveGroves Absolutely agree with you.

If my city goes into a different tier I'm not complying. There is no plan, the government couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery and the first lock down was bad enough for my mental health.

If I get Covid and die then so fucking be it. I'm sick of everyone wanting immortality. At a personal level I'm sure my family will be upset but at a macro level the world is overpopulated and I'm wholly insignificant.

Can you guarantee if you get Covid you won't infect anyone else? @DappledOliveGroves. You might be happy to die but what right do you have to inflict that on everyone else you might encounter? Are you happy to infect your family and friends? Are you expecting hospital treatment if you get ill?

Also people who live alone can bubble so they won't have the same isolation issues as in the inital restrictions so thats not an arguement for not following the rules set out by the government.

Nice dig at the north @turnedouttoes.
We went into lockdown led by London in March but now sotherners are pointing the finger. Have you listened to that buffoon who is running this country ? He can barely string a sentence together that makes sense - well not to a northerner at least.
We haven't socialised or had anybody in our home since February because we work with a vulnerable adult. Our beloved widowed sister in law came for tea every week and hasn't since February because she works in care. We are making sacrifices to work and not take the virus to the invulnerable
For every finger you point at us we can point back.
It is the idiot in government who needs the finger pointing at him for his failings and his cabinet and track and trace cronies
What rules was Matt Hancock following last weekend in London? The man is a disgrace yet you point the finger at the Nirth.

Restaurants really won't turn you away, I work in a big chain, we have been told to greet customers with a leading question "Good afternoon ladies, if you could just check in or leave your details here for track and trace, all of the same household yes? right let me get you all seated" kind of thing, the trick is to say the yes and then immediately speak afterwards, sometimes with a little wink we have been told, so that legally we have done our job of asking. Absolutely no proof whatsoever, it is not for us to enforce.

I hope restuarants that don't make a proper effort to implement the rules don't complain or demand handouts for themselves and their staff if they are forced to close completely for a few weeks if cases continue to rise and hospitals are overwhelmed

It wasn’t a dig at the north at all @Luddite26 I was simply repeating what I’ve been told by multiple friends today.
Whether it’s fact or not, I won’t be breaking the rules for the sake of a night out.

@fluffi If you are adamant that you don't want to catch Covid at all costs then stay in your four walls at all times and never leave the building. But bear in mind you could still fall down the stairs and die, could have a heart attack or some other horrible thing.

Life is inherently risky and we all die one day. We like to pretend we know when, and that we'll all live til we're 80+, but you have no idea what's in store. I'd rather live my life free from restrictions and if that means I die then so be it. If you're so insistent on not catching Covid then stay at home.

@fluffi If you are adamant that you don't want to catch Covid at all costs then stay in your four walls at all times and never leave the building. But bear in mind you could still fall down the stairs and die, could have a heart attack or some other horrible thing.

Of course I could die from falling down the stairs and die, but thats an accident. And its unlikely that I'll take anyone else with me or affect anyone else health in anyway if I fall or have a heart attack! Its not the same at all!

I follow the restrictions because a) I don't want to risk my family and friends unnecessarily and b) I don't want our hospitals to be so overwhelmed that they fill up completely, the staff are overworked and system can't cope. And possibly (selfishly) I'd like a hospital bed if me or any of my friends/family do suffer a heart attack or non-covid life threatening condition which is looking increasingly unlikely if we don't bring the infection rate down soon.

I live in a tier two are and I know the nhs is not under strain. A family member has their partner visiting this week. I've encouraged them to see them. There is only so much that can borne. People are at their limit. Lockdown, unable to see people, unable to plan even coffee with a mate is intolerable.

Mean the nhs locally by the way. can't speak for everywhere 😀

I live in a tier two are and I know the nhs is not under strain

Fortunately not yet - but hospital admissions are increasing. The point of tier two restrictions is to prevent the NHS getting to the point where it is under strain.

Although I'm sure there are some cases where people were unable to meet anyone over the summer, many people were able to socialise, see family and go out so they've had a break. Surely if you've been able to go out over the summer then it shouldn't be so intolerable to avoid mixing indoors for a few weeks?

Aren’t most places in tier 2 now? Can’t be many still on tier 1.

I’m normally a bit of a rebel by nature but right now I just want everyone to be sensible, try and stick to the rules and fingers crossed we can have our families home with us for Christmas. As I write, my daughter is isolating on her own, in 1 room, feeling very ill with COVID-19 and I can’t help her or be with her. My only hope now is that she can come home at Christmas.
If anything jeopardises that......my anarchist punk side might reappear

@RonaLisa

I'm also fucked off with this "Long Covid" business, as if Covid had some kind of magical qualities which meant that, in some cases, it drags on with coughing, fatigue, etc, etc, etc.

Bit like several other illnesses I've had, then. I'm now going to adopt a tone of reverence and talk about my "Long Pleurisy".

I think you are ill-informed. Long Covid involves more than a bit of fatigue, or coughing, which can be debilitating enough for some - it also involves more serious long-term effects, such as ongoing lung disease, with severe lung scarring; and heart disease, meaning a high chance of having a stroke, or having a heart attack; and also neurological decline.

Other people are still having significant Covid symptoms: headache, chills, sore throat, breathlessness, six months after infection.

There is also a suggestion of increased prevalence of Parkinson's disease emerging in some Covid sufferers, including those who were only minimally impacted by Covid at the time.

TheOrigRights

"What does "mixing" mean? I am now in a tier 2 area. Can I swim in my covid-safe pool? nb the pool is in a tier 1 area. What about classes which are also covid-safe?"

I'm a fitness instructor and latest update from fitness professionals insurance is that exercise classes are OK in covid secure buildings, you will already be 2m apart in the class and sticking to the other rules in place so you are not mixing as such. Swimming is the same, my son is a lifeguard and pools are still ok. We are in tier 2.

Agree with @cbt944 about long covid. Those comparing it to other post-viral illness are ill-informed. Covid denial is strong in the UK.

Long covid affects all age groups and is a serious concern to those who are involved in patient care.

On a society level, we will have high costs to the NHS and welfare state potentially.

@GabsAlot

hmm no not supposed to but ive had enough tbh

essex county council requested to go into tier two without consulting its residents and the government have agreed

even though our numbers are quite low-people are not happy and alot say they wont comply

i assume i can go to a different county in tier one or is thatg against a law aswell

Lol Essex steamrollered us. It’s a joke since Southend and Thurrock are unitary councils and aren’t going to tier 2. So the bit between is and the outside bits aren’t.

I left Essex for my sisters wedding in Hampshire yesterday. Sod a part baked lockdown. Sorry, whilst kids are in school and I’m still working I have no intention Of going back to work sleep work sleep.

Similarly, this "two week circuit breaker" than people keep touting as the magic bullet: if it happens, I'll bet my bottom dollar it won't finish two weeks after it starts.

Yup, the circuit breaker is totally and utterly pointless. Cases will fall for two weeks then go straight back up again, whilst the economy tanks even more. I had high hopes for Keir Starmer but unfortunately he’s clueless.

She understand sacrifices have to be made if we want things to get back to normal sooner rather than later.

@ApolloandDaphne And how will making sacrifices now magically make things go back to normal exactly?

Of course they will fall but go back up but the point is the fall just reduces the pressure a bit for a period. That’s the point.

And all these people saying ‘let’s just get on with’, no restrictions etc....,,do you think there would be no economic and social consequences to a high rate of virus infection left unchecked?

Like it or not there is no govt that will allow unrestricted exponential growth.

Successful countries in general have a more responsible and respectful to others approach and less public undermining of their government.
Perhaps they also have leaders who behave with more integrity, who don't break their own fucking roolz, who are not constantly trying to gaslight and deceive the public, and are not buffoons who say silly things like "obey me, or people will die", or "squeeeeeeeeeeeze the brakes".

Dominic Cummings - got off scot-free, and we plebs are told to "move on".
Margaret Ferrier MP - likely to get off scot-free.
Danny Kruger MP - fined for bare face on train?
Stanley Johnson - fined for bare face on train?

And we're supposed to RESPECT them and their dictats, which are clearly picked out of a hat??????

wanderings
Denmark’s PM, Erna Soldeberg sounds incredibly sensible. She’s a not terribly glamorous and unassuming middle aged woman; the sort of person, who would have zero chance of being elected in the U.K. She is much respected and the infection rates there are very low. Much as I appreciate Denmark isn’t a busy international hub, our government could have prevented a lot of initial infection coming here had they taken her approach.