Lockdown report/Covid enquiry - if you supported lockdown do you regret it?

[Hell121]

I haven’t seen a thread on this so sorry if it has been done. In light of the report yesterday I wander if people have changed their minds on whether lockdown was a good idea. I remember the threads of utter lunacy on here and the mask hysteria/schools debate. I was against lockdowns and masks very early on but complied - I don’t think I’d ever do it again. I genuinely think it was a massive overreaction which has damaged things in this country irreparably and left many children and adults far worse off than they were pre covid.

Do bear in mind that yesterday's report was produced by the Institute of Economic Affairs, a right wing think tank that was opposed to lockdown throughout. It's not impartial. I'm struck often by Fauci's remark that any successful intervention will look like an over-reaction as by definition the things feared won't happen- the Y2K effect.

(I say that as someone who strongly opposed locking down to the extent we did, especially closing schools and care homes, and I still believe that it was a huge mistake to do this and that decisions were taken without due regard to their effects. But I don't think a report from the IEA proves me right.)

What really shocked me though was the lack of understanding of data and statistics, as well as the inability to have critical thinking.

My own parents thought I was a conspiracy theorist, purely because I didn't believe everything the Daily Mail wrote. My degree taught me to learn about media bias and journalist bias. The best advice I can ever give anyone is to read the same story across multiple media types - you'll start to see how different reporting can sway opinions and give you better critical thinking skills.

In terms of statistics, how many times did we see the reports "xx amount of people died in the last 24 hours?" No they didn't. Their death certificates were logged in those hours. Some of those, had died days, weeks or even months earlier but there was a backlog, especially over BH weekends. Yet the media (the BBC I'm looking at you) insisted on claiming that people had died in those 25 hours.

There was also the fact that the initial figures were skewed because it showed ANY death was due to covid if they'd previously had an infection, even if they had been hit by a bus or had a heart attack months later. And again, on these very boards, posters were trying to argue against this logic accusing anyone of minimising the pandemic.

'Twas very strange indeed.

It wasn’t unprecedented. Look at the history of flu pandemics and lockdowns in cities in the United States in 1920’s. We need to stop using that word.

It was a new virus, we needed time to pause the spread and catch up with how to treat it and understand it. In my opinion the initial lockdown was needed, but not for as long, and not the subsequent lockdowns.

I am not sure what point there is other than using it as experienced learning for future events.

The first lockdown (and perhaps second) were right at the time - there is no way any regular person can say with any evidence that they didnt believe it was needed as if they were more experienced than Doctors/Scientists/Experts.

It was the ridiculous tiers/levels and constant changing coupled with a then lack of enforcement that made subsequent lockdowns and rules a farce.

Happy about mask wearing and not mingling too much as its been proven that both made a difference. But I've been really really annoyed about the multiple enforced lockdowns since I found out that Wanker Johnson, his dreadful wife and the rest of his mates/sycophants/employees weren't bothering with the rules and instead were drinking/snorting Charlie/shagging in downing Street the whole time.

I did support the lockdowns and still feel it was right. I’m not one of those people still wearing masks and refusing to meet indoors though. I know someone who hasn’t met anyone else indoors since 2020.

we took part in eat out to help out
but it turns out that that was a bad idea!

We knew pretty early on what we were dealing with - in terms of age risks etc

It was also pretty easy to see the damage from shutting down society to a large degree. And data from that came in pretty early eg impact on children’s safety.

Re people being afraid yes it was the Covid campaign and headlines causing panic but that was a decision

I agree with hindsight etc.
I learnt Russian online to stop myself going mad.
Spoke with a g/mum in primark last week who was issuing polite basic instructions to her g/son in the queue. As we chatted she expressed concerns for all 3 of her GC born during lockdown & all 3 suffered social fears & anxiety. I welled up with admiration for her. A quiet shining example.

The thing I didn’t support was the ludicrousness of not being allowed to drive to go for a walk in a deserted place, with no risk to anyone. That was daft.

I supported lockdown. I believe it saved lots of lives. If anything it should have been done earlier. We lost family and friends.

I think anyone who didn't in the early days when thousands were dying was selfish. How soon some forget.

Nope. I saw a medical friend die and the sheer number of young people coming into A&E and preparing to turn people away from hospital and people dying in car parks.

what was ducking stupid was denying it was air borne, saying pubs were magically Covid safe and the jab gave you a force field but you still couldn’t meet outside in your own garden.

so many people died,
i dont know any alternative methods of keeping people safe.

I think rather than saying people like that were weak I’d say their mental health was suffering (does not excuse what some people were saying). Lockdowns were traumatic, and people react differently to traumatic events. The fear mongering by the press was horrific.

I think the first lockdown was inevitable given how little was known about the virus. Subsequent lockdown could have been avoided with a bit of common sense. Not having done Eat Out to Help Out would have helped, for instance.

The purpose of lockdown was to resist as far as possible overwhelming the medical services. I’d support another lockdown on that basis.

Well said.

The fear mongering by the press was horrific.

Not just the press.

I absolutely hated the lockdowns and think they’ve caused so much damage.

However, what is the answer if the hospitals are overflowing with sick people? You can’t have them dying in the streets. I remember the news reports when it was bad in India and people were dying in the hospital car parks because they couldn’t get in, there were no beds and no oxygen left.

So what is the alternative to lockdowns to stop that happening?

And the "look them in the eyes" campaign was from January 2021.

"I think we have to be really careful not to judge each other, no matter which side of the fence we fell."

Indeed. And it is those who feel that they have now been proven right that are the loudest, angriest and most judgemental. They ignore the nuanced reasons many had for obeying lockdown rules.

I have a friend who says she "knew it was all nonsense and everyone acted like sheep". Except for her of course. When she talks about it she loves to add that I was one who didn't break the rules. And every time I point out my main reason for that she says, "yes well, you had a good reason but others didn't".

Honestly, judgey fuckers who just love to judge.

Hard to say without knowing all the facts. I understand that the hospitals were full and struggling, so wouldn't have wanted to completely not lockdown, or many more would have died.

However I think some of the rules were completely ridiculous, like only allowed out for one hour once a day. WTF.

I supported the initial lockdown, I wasn't a shopping washer and didn't fall out with people with different perspectives, it just felt like it was a sensible measure in those early days whilst the world figured out how to move forward.
@Hell121 do you have a link to the report stating lockdown was completely the wrong course of action ?

@Nutella22 - if it had come to that - and it was a big bloody if - in the temporary morgues that were being set up (they looked at using the NEC as one) - also funny how the Nightingale hospitals were never required. Would love to know the cost of them.

However I think some of the rules were completely ridiculous, like only allowed out for one hour once a day. WTF.

Never a rule.