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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think Mark Drakeford has fucked up by announcing post-xmas lockdown?

42 replies

immortalstone · 16/12/2020 13:21

I just think it might encourage people to think ' fuck it - we have lockdown coming anyway, we might as well all meet up now and have a good Christmas before things get all shit and lonely again.'

Whereas in areas where they don't know if lockdown is coming they might be more likely to think 'well, if we don't all meet up now and infection rates don't increase we might avoid another bloody lockdown.'

(I have no skin in the game. I'm not meeting family over Christmas anyway - just wondering if this has been a big tactical error).

OP posts:
Original poster
immortalstone · 16/12/2020 13:22

Mark Drakeford is the FIrst Minister in Wales, btw, for those who don't know!

OP posts:
lughnasadh · 16/12/2020 13:31

People will do whatever they want to do.

I hardly think many people will have had great plans for January anyway.

Politicians are just making noise for the sake of it, there'll be no enforcement.

Hobnobswantshernameback · 16/12/2020 13:32

We all knew it was coming anyway
No one is the least bit surprised
The idiots will be idiots no matter what over Xmas

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 16/12/2020 13:36

Wales numbers are through the roof. I'd hope people would be relieved about this announcement, rather than decide to go out and spread it around even more.

araiwa · 16/12/2020 13:38

As long as the UK population continues to behave like toddlers, it doesn't matter what he says

TheTrashBagIsOursCmonTrashBag · 16/12/2020 13:40

Wales is getting absolutely fucked on by covid right now so I would have thought most people here would have realised that another lockdown is imminent. And the people who think ‘fuck it’ and do whatever they like would be doing that anyway and have most likely have been behaving that way since earlier on in the year.

Natsel84 · 16/12/2020 13:40

Trouble is in Wales, the hospitals are sending people out into the community with covid , also there are people not following the rules , it's like a ticking time bomb and it's about to explode .
It is spreading like wildfire , but in saying that , people will do what they want . I think they gave lost all faith in the government. Nobody really knows the answers . It only seemed to slow down when we went into a full lock down .

SoupDragon · 16/12/2020 13:41

@araiwa

As long as the UK population continues to behave like toddlers, it doesn't matter what he says
This
Original poster
immortalstone · 16/12/2020 13:54

Politicians are just making noise for the sake of it, there'll be no enforcement

Well, there will be enforcement as nowhere will be open again, so nowhere to go.

I wish they had been stricter in the run up to Christmas. The two week firebreak did nothing, it was too short. So that we didn't need to go into another full indefinite lockdown.

OP posts:
InTheLongGrass · 16/12/2020 14:02

Business need to know.
Dad has poured thousands and thousands of pints of beer down the drain, because Pubs just can't shift the volumes. Telling him this is coming prevents him brewing more on the chance he can sell it (although I dont think alcohol is for sale in Wales?)
It will prevent food venues ordering stock that cant be sold.
Basically, it allows people to plan.
Yes, some will go wild - but frankly those are the people who probably would have any way. But it might just give business time to adjust things to prevent further hemorrhaging of cash.

TheQueef · 16/12/2020 14:03

It'll be interesting to find out.
Lockdown has diminished returns already so I hope not.

Snowrabbit · 16/12/2020 14:08

Not in Wales but feel so despondent seeing people blaming other people for the spread of the virus. Family member is a nurse in supposedly safe non Covid area of hospital. Hospital keep sending people to the Covid ward when the non Covid safe areas are quieter - for an hour here and there . Fancy getting a procedure done by a nurse who had been dealing with Covid patients the day before they treat you? The NHS management is utterly reckless in this respect with it spreading through hospitals and outpatients attending clinics.

TrufflyPig · 16/12/2020 14:09

I think it's too little to late to be honest, the case rates in some areas are through the roof, hospitals are struggling. Christmas celebrations will cause many more cases and much more pressure on the NHS.

I don't think people are adhering to the rules and it's not really being enforced. I'm not sure what the answer is.

nosswith · 16/12/2020 14:22

I agree with the post Christmas non-essential shop closure, just wish it applied to England as well. Food shops only on Boxing Day I am 100% behind.

I've been unimpressed by Mark Drakeford, even though nowhere near as bad as Boris Johnson.

Christmastime4 · 16/12/2020 14:27

Following

houseinthesnow · 16/12/2020 15:02

Honestly the horse has totally bolted, and I agree op, I think people will sense another proper lockdown is imminent and 'make the best' of the time they have. It is a very dangerous situation. All you can do is keep yourself and your family safe. Stay out of hospitals as far as possible and wait for the storm to pass.

I am extremely worried about this attitude prevailing across the whole country, not just Wales. What have we got to lose type of scenario....well your grandparents, your livelihood, your kid's education to start with...

halcyondays · 16/12/2020 15:18

I guess people in Wales knew it was coming anyway. In NI most people are expecting we’ll have one too. I think it might make shops more crowded before Christmas if people know they won’t be able to go to the Boxing Day sales.

SomewhereEast · 16/12/2020 15:21

I think the OP's right, and I think the behaviour she predicts is absolutely inevitable once you roll round to a third lockdown, this time with no fixed end in sight (just a review at three weeks). I wish we'd just accept that popular engagement and compliance is a finite resource to be drawn on carefully.

At least now we can now acknowledge that two week 'circuit breaker' lockdowns are pretty pointless I guess. And that awful though the tier system is, its probably better than trying to treat an entire country with massive regional variations in infection levels as one. I'm just sad for Wales that they ended up being the guinea pig on both counts.

Ultimatecougar · 16/12/2020 15:23

I don't think it's much to do with people not following rules. This is a virus, spreading is what it does. Most of the cases I know of are either caught from schools or hospitals, or are people in the households of those who have been in schools or hospitals. I am tired of people blaming others for something that isn't preventable in most cases.

Ultimatecougar · 16/12/2020 15:26

If you think about it there are probably a majority of households that contain at least one person who works in a school or hospital, or who attends school or hospital appointments. That is how it is spreading.

JustCallMeGriffin · 16/12/2020 15:28

I think the fucking idiots spreading covid we seem to have a disproportionate amount of covid deniers only pay attention to what the government says so they can mock it. This announcement won't change their behaviour.

For perishable goods services, I think this does them a massive favour. They have over two weeks notice to run down stock to prevent wastage. For them alone I think announcing now is a great idea.

What I'm more worried about are the stockpilers who will go out and clear the shelves because they still can't comprehend that even in the strictest version of lockdown food shops are considered essential and will remain open.

I really feel for those who are yet again facing no wage certainty because they simply cannot legally work. I'm not sure advance notice will make a blind bit of difference to how worried they must be.

JustCallMeGriffin · 16/12/2020 15:29

BTW I know not all of the spreaders are covid deniers...but we do have an awful lot of them!

SomewhereEast · 16/12/2020 15:41

@Ultimatecougar

I don't think it's much to do with people not following rules. This is a virus, spreading is what it does. Most of the cases I know of are either caught from schools or hospitals, or are people in the households of those who have been in schools or hospitals. I am tired of people blaming others for something that isn't preventable in most cases.
I also don't see how Welsh people are magically more fatigued or less compliant than the rest of us though. Welsh rates are very noticeably worse than elsewhere because the Welsh Government bought into the idea that circuit breakers actually did anything longterm....and now they're shifting the blame onto their own population
TheKeatingFive · 16/12/2020 15:44

I wish we'd just accept that popular engagement and compliance is a finite resource to be drawn on carefully.

This. Can the powers that be get this into their heads and start acting accordingly.

Short ‘circuit breakers’ achieve nothing and this shouldn’t have been a surprise.

IndigoHexagon · 16/12/2020 16:11

I’m finding it hard to understand while the whole of Wales is being lockdown when the massive rise in cases is primarily in the south part. West and North Wales being subject to the same lockdown when their case numbers are so much lower is ridiculous. England has the tier system which is done in an area by area basis and I don’t understand why Wales isn’t looking at things on an area by area basis like they did before the ‘fire-break.’