To think the Government have done a reasonable job of handling this pandemic?

[EmbarrassedButIAdmitIt]

I’ve actually just voted Conservative in my local elections because of it . Not for Boris I might add who I cannot stand but the people actually doing the work behind him.

Considering we have not had a worldwide pandemic in over a hundred years, and the world has changed beyond recognition in terms of people movement since then, obviously it has been a massive learning curve, but I think on the whole we have been pretty well looked after with furlough, self employed support. top up benefits, vaccine production and rollout, etc.

I know there’s been ‘jobs for the boys’ but I don’t think any other political party would have been any different sadly.

We have had a higher death rate than other European countries but TBF we are a small overcrowded island populated by people who don’t like following rules and are stupid enough to believe hysterical conspiracy theories.

I am so grateful that I live in the UK and not somewhere like India, Brazil or even the US.

So AIBU?

Apart from the vaccine rollout, the government has been appalling. Corrupt and incompetent. Jobs for the boys etc.etc. and selling off the NHS stealthily. Unfortunately any negative comments on Johnson and his acolytes is censored by the mainstream media.

on the whole we have been pretty well looked after with furlough, self employed support. top up benefits, vaccine production and rollout, etc.
My sister and I are (were) self employed when this started.
Neither of us has had a penny of support.
My micro-business has been closed.
Rishi has deliberately avoided helping some of us. I didn't vote Tory anyway, so he hasn't lost my vote but a lot of Tory people I know in similar circumstances say they won't vote Tory again.

I am just astounded at the election results this morning, truly baffled as to who in their right mind would vote Tory and I say this as an ex-Tory voter, never again.

The response to the pandemic has been criminal and I have watched on in shock and amazement at the response

@DynamoKev

on the whole we have been pretty well looked after with furlough, self employed support. top up benefits, vaccine production and rollout, etc. My sister and I are (were) self employed when this started. Neither of us has had a penny of support. My micro-business has been closed. Rishi has deliberately avoided helping some of us. I didn't vote Tory anyway, so he hasn't lost my vote but a lot of Tory people I know in similar circumstances say they won't vote Tory again.

Why did you miss out?

And there has been a global pandemic since the Spanish Flu. AIDS anyone? It may not be as transmissible but 30 million people have died.

I hesitate to comment..... but.... from a very personal point of view a small tale to demonstrate that whatever you do, sometimes shit just happens:

Care Home with DM & DF, no cases all 2020, didn't accept any transfers in to the home early in the pandemic, isolated those that had to go out for medical appointments etc, had PPE, and had good systems in place for visitors throughout, with PPE, distancing, named visitors, short visits. In summary, everything handled well, no mistakes, all and everything that could be done, done. In January both my parents died of Covid within 24 hours of one another, as did several other patients. Sometimes, it just doesn't matter what you do. Someone obviously took it in, they tested regularly, but it got in..... and people died because they were old and frail, and that's what happens.

So, that's my rather fatalist and personal view of Covid.

@Hesperatum

Apart from the vaccine rollout, the government has been appalling. Corrupt and incompetent. Jobs for the boys etc.etc. and selling off the NHS stealthily. Unfortunately any negative comments on Johnson and his acolytes is censored by the mainstream media.

Agree with this... except the vaccine rollout isn't down to the Tories. The NHS has done that.

it did not need to be this bad......

@Hawkins001
Nothing wrong with strict if it means saving lots more people than they did.
Remember that it was the most difficult situation first in Italy and Spain.
Do we hear about same waves as we did here in January till March?
Australia and New Zealand were far more strickter than UK.Can you compare current situation there to the one we have in the UK?
That's what was missing here,in the UK,the government with proper balls and people who are working together to stop the pandemic.

I'm just going to leave this here for anyone who thinks the Tories have done a good job of handling this pandemic.

timeline-of-failure.com/

Vaccine rolllout: that's the NHS at work, not the Tories. I dread to think what the Tories would have done otherwise.

except the vaccine rollout isn't down to the Tories. The NHS has done that

You understand the the NHS is overseen by the DHSC which is directed by Ministers right? Tory ministers at this particular time.

@ChristmasAlone Hairdressers should never have been closed certainly not three times. Many elderly people go to the hairdressers once or twice a week because they are too frail to wash their own hair. DM broke her wrist back in Feb. (Lockdown 3) and was unable to wash her hair for two months.

@beguilingeyes Yes i posted about that upthread. And that too many equate catching a virus with having a moral failing.

We nearly had another fucking Grenfell today

twitter.com/rachaelvenables/status/1390590049071386627?s=20

Isn't the local authority there Labour?

Well I got one am THRILLED that the government didn't go the New Zealand route.

Who cares about gigs and festivals and normal weddings with hundreds of guests that you haven't had to postpone twice?!

The constant interruption to our children's education is probably character-building for them.

I'm sure they'll always get the job or university place whenever they're up against someone from another country who actually did the full exam year of learning followed by the exams themselves.

And the hundreds of thousands of soulless funerals where you can't pack out the church with mourners, or even even hug the sobbing family are a blessed relief to be honest. Stiff upper lip and all that.

🙄🙄🙄

@BigWoollyJumpers

except the vaccine rollout isn't down to the Tories. The NHS has done that

You understand the the NHS is overseen by the DHSC which is directed by Ministers right? Tory ministers at this particular time.

The actual rollout was managed at local level, by local health organisations, with local knowledge. That's been the huge difference. it wasn't handed to an organisation like SERCO or Deloitte or some other Tory donor. And that is why it has been a success.

And it earned the NHS a 1% slap in the face.

And letting the Indian variant B16172 in to seed itself around the country during a lockdown, ready to explode into action as we open up and kick that rotten U.K. variant B117 - that caused us so much trouble for the last 8 months - outta town? Genius.

And not making B16272 a Variant of Concern until after the local elections, thus preventing it being eligible for surge testing etc until this week has really helped it embed itself in our communities. (48 of them and counting.)

Bravo to all concerned 👏

@Bluntness100

I think some mistakes were made along the way which were shown to be mistakes in hindsight, snd the decisions made were done under extreme pressure and with no gift of second sight. People need to remember the pressure that was being applied to open up and that it wasn’t realistic to keep everything locked down. It was also unprecedented what they were dealing with. Every country made mistakes.

Ultimately though we have been world leading in our vaccine program, so yes, I believe in the end it’s been fantastically handled.

Totally agree.

Last August the numbers began to rise, ably assisted by Eat Out To Help Out.

On September 8th Matt Hancock said the second wave had begun.

On September 21st Whitty and Vallance took the Graph of Doom on the telly and were called doom-mongers for suggesting that we could be back at 200 deaths a day in November.

In September B117 was noted and its rise in numbers in the SE and then spread across the country tracked.

In October the Tier system was begun and failed. About 12,000 people died of covid in October and B117 was now dominant.

In November we had a lockdown for exactly 1 month. Just as it started to work we opened up again.

In December we dicked around with tiers some more, and people living in Tier 4 spent a lot of time in Tier 2. 15,0000 people died of covid, the Christmas super-spreader event was was cancelled for half the country, and the lockdown we are easing out of on June 21st began in January 5th.

52.3% of the U.K. population have had a first dose of vaccine.

24.4 % have had a second,

And 48% are to get a third in the autumn.

We still have B117 and now the government has allowed B16172 to seed itself all over the country.

Our children are in their second school year of disruption. Children who suffered through the GCSE farce last year are now having their first A level year disrupted. Young people who suffered through theA level farce are having their first year of Uni disrupted.

Yeah. Our government are GREAT at this

@Bearnecessity

Isn't the local authority there Labour?

It wasn't a council block It's very expensive private apartments. The Tories have done nothing about this in the four years since Grenfell. A friend of mine lived in a cladded block. Because she's on the first floor she's not entitled to any help (?!). Meanwhile she can't sell it and is facing thousands to insure it....and the developer is still selling flats in the same development.

I do understand the problem and I do think it should never have been allowed to happen Beguiling...

Shame on you OP. What a short memory you have.

Also Beguiling building regs apply to council owned and private property.

Nope. Total shit show. The ONLY thing they got right was the vaccine roll out.