To ask what the plan is for covid this winter?

[TreeHouse8]

Winter will soon be upon us and for many, the worry is understandably how they'll heat their homes. However, covid has not gone away with hundreds dying every week and many more getting long covid.

Not that you would know it from the media, who have moved onto their best story. Am I the only one concerned that there has been no mention of what protections will be in place to protect the nhs when we inevitably have a winter covid wave? Is the message still "let the bodies like high"?

Surely the government should be setting out a plan now for common sense, light touch protections that will help the NHS get through winter? I.e. boosters offered to all, a return to testing and isolating if positive, work from home, high-quality masks indoors, social distancing in hospitality, ventilation in public spaces.

They should also list further protections that may need to be imposed depending on numbers and criteria for these, such as limits on large events, the rule of 6, ban on indoor mixing, blended learning up to full lockdown if unfortunately necessary.

Are the vulnerable and the NHS just going to be fed to the wolves this winter?

Put in place baseline measures like isolating, masking and social distancing now.

Er no thanks. The reality is that we're not going for a zero covid policy nor is it feasible. It's an overreaction to the current situation and I believe the NHS has just moved down its emergency/pressure rating measure.

Covid is here to stay and we have to learn to live with it.

Op is on a wind up or has slipped back in time a couple of years!

As far as I can see the only "plan" is to vaccinate over 50s and vulnerable people and say we can wear face coverings if we feel like it. You can bet I will be wearing mine - it may not protect me and my family very much but if it protects other people then that's something. It bugs the hell out of me that nobody's talking about social distancing any more, which is one very simple thing everybody could do that might make a difference.

No, I don't have health anxiety as I know lots of you will be about to suggest. I've had Covid once and it was very minor for me. If I was the only person I had to think of, I would probably be more lax about safety measures. DH has had it worse than me, not seriously enough to need hospital treatment, but it was unpleasant for him and he really doesn't want to get it again. There are also practical considerations - I work in a place where I am usually the only person there (where in a bigger branch with 4 or 5 employees they can usually manage with one short) and if I need to take time off at short notice then it is a hassle for my boss to arrange cover, especially if other people are off at the same time. But my biggest reason for wanting to stay safe is that I have a very elderly relative in a care home who probably hasn't got much time left - we wouldn't visit if we even suspected we might have Covid, but that leaves the possibility that we might not be able to see them when their time comes to die, which seems awfully sad.

It bugs the hell out of me that nobody's talking about social distancing any more, which is one very simple thing everybody could do that might make a difference.

It's not simple, what you actually mean there is that you don't find the downsides to be particularly personally burdensome, and the idea that it might be of any benefit is speculative. That's basically a full explanation for why nobody's talking about it any more.

PerfectlyPreserved - standing 2 metres away from someone is burdensome? I'm talking about social distancing, not self-isolating.

Not made up figures. An article in the Telegraph giving research from the following universities around the world. Johns Hopkins University, in the US, Lund University, in Sweden and the Centre for Political Studies, in Denmark.

Well given the myriad of meanings that social distancing has, you'd have been better defining which one you meant straight away, but yes even the version you suggest here is burdensome. For people in public venues to stay that far apart, there need to be restrictions on numbers and some events possibly not take place at all. There is a financial cost to that, in a hospitality sector that's already decimated after the last couple of years. It's only people who aren't going to be the ones paying for it who think it's dead easy and simple.

I don't think so. The Telegraph is an anti-lockdown (or rather, pro-death) paper.

But maybe you could post a link to the university data as I am always happy to be educated.

Enjoying the OP’s deadpan delivery in her posts. Play it straight, that’s what all the best comedians do.

Absolutely! Though unfortunately it looks like at least a couple of others might actually be serious.

You people really are never going to give up, are you?

Get on with your life and stop obsessing - it’s not going away and you’ll regret the time you’ve lost to it on your deathbed not wish you’d spent more time distancing and washing shopping. Lockdown lovers have destroyed the economy, mental health and blighted the younger generation - enough is enough.

Fuck me have I travelled back in time to 2020 in my sleep. There’s a Covid board for this nonsense OP.

It is for businesses like pubs, yes

Because it isn't possible to do that without destroying businesses. I was at the theatre last week and the seats are so close your shoulders touch. So would you halve the capacity? They can't cope with that drop income. And it's fucking pointless and likely makes no difference.
No one is forcing you to go anywhere. Stay home, wear a mask, keep your distance. Most people prefer to get on with their lives.

I'm all for people wanting socially distanced, limited number venues, even despite the lack of evidence that it actually achieves anything. As long as they understand that they'll have to pay for them.

Exactly- I can't understand why just saying a few metres apart from others seems to be such a big issue for people

I’m all for staying several metres away from people like the OP who are either Covid nutjobs or incredibly hard of thinking.

Exactly- I can't understand why just saying a few metres apart from others seems to be such a big issue for people

It's a big issue for hospitality as it limits the number of customers you can have in your venue which impacts your income.

It's big issue when teaching. I'm an academic and had to do socially distanced teaching and it was awful as it meant group discussions just couldn't happen.

the number 282 is people with covid mentioned on death certificate not people whose primary cause of death is covid, even in good years the average deaths for flu pneumonia etc etc in August is well over a 100 per week,

the OP is scaremongering with fake statistics or misinterpretation of them

so many people are aware they were silly washing shopping etc etc they know now they were manipulated by the government and media and are really cross about it , the only lockdown that was justified in part was march- May 2020 when governments did have a lack of real info the second school shiutting ni 2021 was a crime against children they knew that the risk to children from covid was less than eing struck by lightning and also that teachers were no more likely to die or get ill than other people of similar health in their age group it was mass hysteria
followed by the crime of threatening those that worked all the way through covid without PPE and vaccinations taking risks to serve others that they would lose their jobs if they didn't comply so bodily autonomy is really not a thing when it comes to covid
either person's have the right to refuse medical treatment or they don't; this has always been the case even when life threatening

People here don't seem to be able to grasp that things don't have to be all or nothing. Some industries would be able to enforce mask wearing or social distancing without any real problems. Others wouldn't. So why not require protective measures where they can be introduced without causing big problems? For every measure that is introduced and followed there will be a slight reduction in the number of opportunities for transmission. That's a good thing.

If people want to sit in a crowded restaurant, let them. But things like masks on public transport are not huge problems.

Two reasons.

One, the evidence that mask rules actually achieve anything in the face of the Omicron variant isn't there.

And two, because of scepticism that there are any industries that could actually easily achieve it. Mask wearing, as an example, is unenforceable. We have seen that already. Implementing restrictions that cannot actually be policed and that lots of people will decline to follow is a damaging thing in itself, particularly if it will eat up resources in futile attempts to enforce.

My DD started reception in the height of Covid. The teacher visited us before and we sat in the garden in the rain and spoke across a table. I wasn't allowed on the school premises and had to just shove my tiny frightened DD in the direction of the school and leave. The same teacher has just visited again as DS starts reception next week. She gave me a hug and sat on the floor of the lounge and played dinosaurs with DS. Social distancing is shit, had a horrible impact on our children and I won't do it again.

Why would the figures warrant a big plan especially when it's deaths within 28 days of a positive so not specifically just covid that could be the cause. This scare mongering. Less than 500 deaths for a population of over 68 million. We cannot stop people dying it is part of life.

coronavirus.data.gov.uk/