To wonder what it is about “no overnight stays till 17 May” that is so hard to understand?

[HaveringWavering]

So many colleagues and acquaintances merrily talking today about plans to go and stay with relatives for the bank holiday. Nobody has any shame. We’re waiting till the 17th. Does nobody care any more?

Don't you think we've all already done our bit, at huge cost to a lot of people. It feels like everything we do is never enough. After a year of huge sacrifices.

You're right. People don't care. Including me.

Get something new to moan about.

Richardmarx

Again, please stop with the insults towards people who are following the rules. We're not all lacking in critical thinking and just blindly following the rules. Just like people who are not following rules aren't stupid and selfish and in need of shaming. You get on with doing what is right for you, and others get on with doing what's right for them.

Abd that’s the point. Why do you need rules if people are capable of deciding for themselves what’s right for them? Maybe some ARE lacking in critical thinking and need everything spelled out for them?

HaveringWavering

“Yes, I feel very superior about not letting my son see his grandparents for two more weeks. That is absolutely my only motivation for not breaking the law.“

We’ve complied with all of the rules.

How old is your son? If under 1, you are allowed to see grandparents

BonnieDundee

It doesn't really matter if you feel "we've done enough". This virus is just incredibly infectious, cases are rising in svhool children, most of their parents only became eligible for the vaccine in the last 3 weeks. We need to stick to the rules or in a month (1st week of June) we will see a spate of 35-55 year olds in hospital.

@Toty

It's all very well saying cases are low, people are vaccinated etc (I'm late 40's, work out of the home and not yet vaccinated though) but it's not just about making others ill. My ds has had one whole week in school since December last year, 1 fucking week and is now self isolating and once again missing out on life because 2 parents of his peers thought a sleepover was fine. He is one of 20 kids now having to self isolate because of that. He burst into tears as he had to miss out on a sports event he'd been training hard for and is once again home alone all day schooling himself. Until the government remove the the need to self isolate children every 5 minutes we all need to do our bit, these kids have lost out on so much to protect adults, we bloody owe it to them to do what we can to ensure they stay in school as far as I'm concerned, this is an entire generation being thrown to the dogs so adults can go out and get pissed.

This! Situation in schools is still very fragile. Would love to see a much better national debate about importance of education and the massive sacrifices young people have made in the last year.

Are you suggesting that society is going to crumble because people don’t stay with their inlaws this weekend?

No, but somebody's world may crumble because they haven't seen their.relatives for months.

The impact on a few individuals is not really relevant.

Ah, I get it. You're asking those that don't matter to prioritise others who are more important than them! Okaaaaaay

we bloody owe it to them to do what we can to ensure they stay in school as far as I'm concerned, this is an entire generation being thrown to the dogs so adults can go out and get pissed.

Just trivialise it all as going to the pub and getting pissed. You well know its not just about that.

I followed the rules for a year at times when those setting the rules didnt. I'm through following them now

I don't care anymore if I'm honest. My dd is going to stay at her grandparents tonight for 2 days this weekend. Dh and I haven't had any time to ourselves since September and I'm feeling pretty burnt out. So I don't feel remotely guilty.

What will make 17th safe, and 16th unsafe?

Dates, not data. Random autocratic government rules

I am sticking with the rules only because I have nobody to break rules with

I wonder if the government will ever be able to undo the “culture of fear” they created

Will SAGE still be in charge of the country this autumn and winter? If so, we’ll lockdown again

The rules and restrictions are not going away yet

@tropicalwaterdiver

The rules should make sense to follow them. And majority of adults are capable of making their own judgement rather than blindly follow the rules when PM doesn't follow the rules (and has no shame). I started using face masks in public places since last March when WHO and our government insisted that masks didn't protect us from respiratory virus (!!!). Turned out their rules were wrong back then.

I wore masks very early on before they were even being discussed, and disposable gloves, to go shopping. People were looking at me like I had two heads but I made the executive decision to wear one whilst I knew there was a mysterious disease going round but others were just realising it from the news.

I have now used those same executive reasoning skills to ditch my mask. With no cases in my local area, and those very few reported in the wider area likely to be false positive, my risk to others and their risk to me is so low. Especially when they are all still wearing masks. I feel much, much better without it as I was struggling as it got warmer.

We're still following the rules, OP though it sounds like we're the only ones

@traumatisednoodle

BonnieDundee

It doesn't really matter if you feel "we've done enough". This virus is just incredibly infectious, cases are rising in svhool children, most of their parents only became eligible for the vaccine in the last 3 weeks. We need to stick to the rules or in a month (1st week of June) we will see a spate of 35-55 year olds in hospital.

This is ill-informed nonsense which bears zero relation to the statistics, nor the pattern of the disease thus far.

@Soubriquet

What’s the point?

What’s the point in saying “no I won’t do this until the 17th”

What’s the difference between today and the 17th?

Nothing

In Covid terms, it could be the difference between life & death 😳

@HeddaGarbled

It was people not following the rules that have prelonged this nightmare

You made that up.

Are you actually kidding or are you really that deluded?!?! Do you understand how viruses spread??

Van Tam said yesterday, chance of two single vaccinated people inside together catching covid is 1 in 100,000 now.

They just want everyone to wait until everyone can be treated the same!

Which has been the case since the vaccinations started. I am happy to do my own risk assessments now.

@Temp023

Van Tam said yesterday, chance of two single vaccinated people inside together catching covid is 1 in 100,000 now.

They just want everyone to wait until everyone can be treated the same!

Which has been the case since the vaccinations started. I am happy to do my own risk assessments now.

Did anyone else see this on the BBC yesterday evening. It seems to have disappeared

Anyone? I think this is quite important..

Oh no, it’s still there. You have to search “Van Tam” to find it!

Not quite as Orwellian as I thought.

I let my dd's friend stay over last weekend for dd's birthday, they're sat together 5 days a week at school! I'm past caring myself, mental health has taken an absolute bartering, need to get on with our lives now

I'm not doing it, but I don't care anymore either.

@Temp023

Anyone? I think this is quite important..

The article is linked further up the thread, and I also commented on the fact that JVT was quoted as saying that people should nonetheless continue following the rules.

@Temp023

Link to a story on the BBC that quotes Prof VT www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56929483

"I've had both doses of a Covid vaccine and if you've had both doses too then what would be the risk if we met indoors?

Clearly, it would be completely against the rules in the UK for next few weeks.

However, England's deputy chief medical officer Prof Jonathan Van-Tam said such a gathering would be "incredibly safe"."

@Temp023

Anyone? I think this is quite important..

From the Times yesterday:

"Two fully vaccinated people would be “incredibly safe” meeting indoors but ministers are not allowing it because they want to ease restrictions for everyone at once.

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, said the country was “extremely close” to allowing people to meet indoors but urged us to “hold the line for just a teeny bit longer”.

---

And herein lies the problem.

The average Brit will bristle at the thought they have to wait for anyone and will take the opportunity to demonstrate their "independence" and "judgement" by getting back out there.

Especially if there's a chance they can "beat the crowds" or "see my own mum in her garden" etc.

So yeah: van Tam can say what he likes, but the enforcement doesn't back it up, and the average Brit believes this is all over now anyways and is doing what they like

@Temp023

I entered too soon - he went onto say -

"Prof Van-Tam said: "If two people who both had two doses of vaccine, and have both served at least 14 days after their second dose, then I would be highly confident scientifically that if they were reputable vaccines then indeed it would be incredibly safe for those two people to meet."

I prefer to listen to him and then given the virus numbers in my area are in single digits and no outbreaks at all at our local secondary of 1400 pupils since February will use common sense. I think that is what some are doing with their relatives etc now. Listening to what this professor says

It is going to be frustrating at times for people, particularly those who've had their two doses, but we just need to make sure we don't have to go backwards again on any of this and just hold the line a teeny bit longer”.

Don’t forget the second bit of what he said.