(Covid) To think these recommendations are bonkers?

[NoCharnce]

So the government commission into how to memorialise the Covid pandemic has recommended the government implement “A UK-wide day of reflection should be established and held annually.”

Other recommendations include national memorials (10 sites already identified!), oral histories and museums plus additional funding for local authorities to set up their own memorials.

I can’t be the only one who thinks this is nuts and hope the government ignores the recommendations? I genuinely cannot believe people get paid to produce this crap.

"You use terms like cherry picking and cite papers as if you have authority, but as far as I can tell this is merely emulating other people who actually have degrees in this field who come onto threads and pass comment. And you’ve latched onto the Lucy Easthope train because it fits your agenda"

a. im entitled to my opinion But you have demonstrated my point beautifully that it wasnt enough to follow the restrictions We had to like them as well. And yes i damn well will say something about what I had to follow.

As for the "Lucy Easthope" train" She has over 20 years experience in pandemic planning. You were the one asking what quals and experience people had. I told you but quelle surprise it STILL wasnt good enough. Oh and Lucy is the one posting under her real name on Twitter. Instead of under a psudenyum on Mumsnet. Anyone could come on here under a username and say they are an expert. I never said i was but i stand by what i said It will be the minimization and rubbishing of what people sacrificed in the lockdowns that will make people say fuck it if there is a next time. Not Partygate

🥱

Hopefully the experts know not to use passive aggressive emojis. So you find what people sacrificed during the lockdowns boring as well as inconsequential I shall make sure i remember that for the next pandemic THIS is what people really think of your sacrifices general public

@JenniferBooth I find your ranting boring.

What do you hope to achieve with it?

If you are so incensed set up a petition online, contribute all of your views to the inquiry, study to become involved in future, get into politics. Do something.

I don’t understand what you think 3 years of rants online does to improve your life or anyone else’s. So it’s a bit dull.

Tbf people can post, it’s kind of the point of mn

Others can read or scroll past

I agree on one thing though, submit to Covid enquiry if anyone found it affected their mh or their dc’s

The more it’s known the more it’ll be taken into account. I did it a while back but hopefully still open to submissions

Im simply posting my opinion Are you saying any opinion you find boring should not be allowed? And i do have a life outside of MN OH BOY do i have a life outside of MN largely because of the lockdowns changing my perspective on something pretty important. But a lot of people on here wouldnt approve. And i actually spent ten months where i didnt post at all. im not constantly on MN looking for Covid threads But i do realize now that the only one allowed to be invested is you Sparkle so i sincerely apologise <bows>

Jesus @JenniferBooth

There is no issue with people posting. More about the same people jumping on threads and derailing.

The thread is discussing the recommendations and whether or not they are a good idea.

Not “I’m angry about covid restrictions and here’s why they did this this and this wrong and it was an outrage”

If you’re angry go and do something about it there are avenues out there to effect change and to submit your opinion.

"But I still think that people who are qualified trying to make the best of a terrible situation is better than a bunch of people with no education experience, or even a biology gcse in some cases trying to shout the odds"

++++

This reminds me of "we need to follow the science" mantra at the time, as if "science" is the one truth and forgetting that in science there are different views. During COVID any scientific view that differed from the orthodoxy of the "one prevailing true science " was dismissed as anti vaxx, COVID deniers or peddling false information.

In particular I remember the criticism levelled at the NHS doctor saying that he wouldn't be having the vaccine as there wasn't much point given he had already had Covid:

amp.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/08/nhs-doctor-challenges-sajid-javid-over-covid-vaccination-rules

Lastly with regards to your comment about "people with no education experience, or even a biology gcse in some cases trying to shout the odds" , you don't really need a biology gcse to realise that using an anti bacterial hand gel to counter an airborne virus is going to have bugger all benefit, in fact you just need to read the sodding label. But again when pointed out at the time it was shouted down as anti vaxx / covid denier.

I think the problem is that the qualified people who were being listened to didn't include all of the expertise we needed. We can't make that mistake again.

@Sparklecats

The Covid enquiry has so far spent £40 million after hearing just 23 days of evidence. The legal fees so far for the 62 assisting lawyers has cost almost £14 million.

@1dayatatime

The cost to us if we fuck up pandemic preparedness in future is potentially billions and complete economic collapse.

I consider the above quotation to be a pretty cheap quote to avert future disaster.

+++

I don't think you understand that the Covid inquiry has SO FAR spent £40 million hearing 23 days of evidence.

Given that the inquiry is not due to finish until 2026 then I am sure you can do the maths that the final cost of the inquiry will be staggering- my guess is somewhere around £1 billion.

I think we pretty much have to have an enquiry though. It was inevitable.

Just to give feedback on the transmission pathway.

In the beginning covid was a novel virus and transmission pathways were not elucidated.

While airborne transmission as the main route is now well established, in the beginning this was not the case.

Therefore guidance given was typical for infection control, which includes sanitiser.

Most recent discussion around transmission via fomites suggests the risk is low but can’t be totally dismissed.

You can find the papers yourself there are plenty.

Agree with you @TrashedSofa that we did not have all the expertise needed, nor the infrastructure, funding etc to be able to deal with a pandemic well. Austerity, compartmentalisation across government and a lack of prioritisation led to us being ill equipped.

I am glad of the inquiry and the opportunity to have my say, I did find the situation on very many levels destructive and I wasn’t happy with what happened on a personal level.

Sitting reading the stats every week, every day sometimes, realistically I knew they were backed into a corner.

So it was very conflicting - professionally thinking ok they have no choice something must be done, but personally thinking this is unbearable in every regard.

I really hope that the inquiry is worthwhile. Would be good to have an executive summary for the public to read at the end of the inquiry. I would like to see the outcome of it all.

Does anyone know if there is an opportunity for the public to feedback on these recommendations for the legacy of covid?

Don't forget the obligation to make banana bread!!!

My husband was admitted to hospital where he caught Covid and died during the pandemic.
I think an annual day of reflection where people can either get upset or argue is a horrible idea.
It's terrible that people who were doing their jobs were given inadequate PPI and some died but I still think an annual remembrance day is not a good idea.
Perhaps the government could reflect on how they treat public servants?
Personally, I can reflect at my leisure and in private.

Ingognito im sorry for your loss

We generated 786bn in tax in 22/23 alone…. The inquiry runs for what 4yrs… and you’re worried about 1bn. When the insights garnered from this will contribute to us being properly prepared for pandemics, potentially save trillions and prevent economic collapse.

I think it’s really important and I think it’s money well spent. But I respect that you feel differently.

@Sparklecats

"We generated 786bn in tax in 22/23 alone…. The inquiry runs for what 4yrs… and you’re worried about 1bn. When the insights garnered from this will contribute to us being properly prepared for pandemics, potentially save trillions and prevent economic collapse. "

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Alternatively the insights garnered from this inquiry are ignored because "well it happened so long ago", put to one side because another crisis is more important in 2026, dismissed as hindsight or lastly great ideas but unfortunately the Government doesn't have the money to implement them.

Meaning the inquiry was a waste of time and taxpayers money for everyone.

Plausible scenario.

But I’m trying to be optimistic.

Perhaps the Tories will be out by then.

@JenniferBooth

a. im entitled to my opinion But you have demonstrated my point beautifully that it wasnt enough to follow the restrictions We had to like them as well. And yes i damn well will say something about what I had to follow.

Pardon? I've not heard this one before.

From the little I heard of the enquiry at the beginning politicians on all sides sounded like they were playing politics

There was a film at the beginning setting the scene reminding people of ‘loved ones’ (bad term but it was soppy)

If you wanted to talk about people’s roles and how they responded who would you talk to to understand the impact on children? That was the issue, no group or senior person existed as the voice of children.

Those things concern me, if we are weighing up damage from all this there needs to not be a tip towards one side, although it’s not been reported on for a while so maybe it’s improved

If you wanted to talk about people’s roles and how they responded who would you talk to to understand the impact on children? That was the issue, no group or senior person existed as the voice of children.

Well however they reckon they're going to achieve this, it doesn't currently include accepting personal submissions from anyone under 18 in the listening exercise.

https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/blogs/2023/include-children-in-covid19-inquiry

Supposedly they're in the process of designing something to 'engage with children and young people'.

https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/every-story-matters/

Taking a while over it, though.

I did submit and mentioned dc but hadn’t thought about under 18 doing their own

There was no allocated voice for children, every sector had their own, unions and everyone demanding their needs were listened to

One big gap was no set up for young people. Whatever the enquiry unearths I hope it addresses this and we learn from it

I hope that it also examines the appalling way in which Uni students were treated. They were conned and lied to by the Unis to get them to sign up for expensive Uni accommodation and once the contracts/payments were made, some Unis changed their websites which previously promised blended learning, i.e. a mix of in-person and online, and removed the "in person" promises. That left students paying for expensive Uni accommodation but no actual need or use to be at the Uni because literally everything was online and the Unis knew that a couple of months before, because they'd told lecturers etc that they'd be working online and not on campus. Money grabbing bastards!

@EasternStandard
@TrashedSofa

At the time I remember any concerns being raised about the impact of the measures on children (school closures, club closures etc) being dismissed as:

"Children are resilient, they'll bounce back"

"Any impacts are not as severe their parents dying and being orphaned "

There will be additional catch up funding for education

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57335558.amp