Disgusted at VE celebrations

[runrunrunrunt]

I absolutely cannot believe what went on last night in this country.

The government should never have encouraged this nonsense and instead should have firmly nipped the idea of celebration completely in the bud.

Absent Boris should have never implied lockdown will be eased on Monday a couple of days before a fucking sunny VE Day bank holiday when we still have 5,000 plus new cases every day.

It isn't rocket science.

I am absolutely appalled.

People had their bunting up and chairs and cushions set up on their driveways. Within a couple of hours they were all standing about chatting in the street while the children ran around together. I live in a very naice area and the houses on my street are all band G or H.

call anyone still strictly observing the rules a variety of names ranging from curtain twitchers to the fecking Stasi brigade

No they dont

Ive seen people called those names but not for observing lockdown rules

My dad died just before lockdown in England. We had to wait weeks for his funeral.

Then I had to go on my own. No support for me. No ability to support or comfort my own family. Sat 2m apart at one of the saddest occasions you will experience in life. Watching my mum cry and not being able to hug her. The poor funeral directors doing their best in impossible circumstances.

So I'll pass on the street parties thanks. I'll defend freedom to the hilt but this is something else. In 'normal' circumstances people would be shocked and appalled at that kind of a funeral.

When it happened to us we were suddenly grateful that we could attend and that the option to live stream meant others could 'attend' too. We've all had to adjust our expectations and I would not wish that experience on anyone else.

I’m sorry for your loss KavvLar

We have 9000 people in my town. Three have died and they already had serious illnesses and were in elderly care homes. That’s it. We have two large care homes in our area.

It’s hard to have a blanket lockdown when some areas are really not being affected it. However you can’t really say - this area can ease up but that area has to stay in lock down - or can you? I’m not sure?

If you live in a area where it’s largely untouched by the virus should those businesses go under just because larger areas businesses have to stay shut? Should the three schools that are in my area stay shut because the other schools are having to stay shut?

People are starting to look at the figures themselves and make their own risk assessments.

Furlough stops in three weeks? People need money to pay for their families/ pay the mortgage. Maybe this is subconsciously on their minds and it’s making people venture out a bit more in preparation.

You can only judge what you do. What other people do is actually none of your business.

Tiny temper

I live 5 mins drive from the each...can see it from my house. However, in Wales I am not permitted to drive there for exercise as exercise must start and finish at my house but I am allowed to drive to the nearest garden center which is about 8 miles! Crazy!

This I think is the problem. If things are logical, thereS far more of a chance of people complying with the rules. I agree with you it doesn’t make sense.
I’ve driven to one of of our various beaches most days or the parks . It makes me more sense to spread out on our huge beaches, approx 10 miles of coastline, than pass on narrow footpaths In built up areas

I knew once Boris announced on Thursday that there was going to be an easing of lockdown rules, a big slice of the population heard, ‘its over ‘
and acted accordingly.
Are the government testing the waters to see what will happen?

Time will tell.

unfortunately the young men and women sent to war didn't have the option to self isolate ! personally I think it was lovely yesterday , and the queens speech , just what we all needed a day to celebrate and be thankful , take your disgust elsewhere

Over 100 people have died at a hospital that is less than 4 miles from my street.

Also proves the infrastructure isn't there to actually police lockdown.

Are we really such disobedient children that we need the police to make us obey lockdown? Surely we follow the rules because we're adults who understand WHY we're doing it?

Which is what the end of my post I said nobody knows how long because people are idiots

Is it your position then that you would continue lockdown for as long as it takes to get the numbers under control, no matter how long that is?

My plan would be that I agree with the three week extension that’s just been announced That’s 9-10 weeks of lockdown. After that, gradual easing, so people can see immediate family, have gatherings up to 4 outside. Schools back in September.

Maybe that would lead to a spike but I think what it important to remember, horrible though it is, is that there is no way out of this where shitloads of people don’t die. Staying i lockdown doesn’t prevent deaths, it prevents covid deaths. It causes other deaths, other hardship, other problems, and there has to be a tipping point. I don’t think you’ve outlined where you think that tipping point should be @runrunrunrunt because your answers imply that we continue lockdown indefinitely till the numbers come down.

I also have an open mind about the line of thought that lockdown doesn’t prevent deaths or infections, just delays them. We had no choice but to lock down as we couldn’t allow hundreds of thousands to die by letting it go unchecked, that would be immoral. However who knows how it will play out in the long term. Who knows how countries with stricter lock downs and better numbers now will manage to keep the virus in check in the long term. I think Chris Whitty is right that an early stage like this is too soon to say.

’unfortunately the young men and women sent to war didn't have the option to self isolate’

To channel Victoria Wood, my grandfather was a desert rat and spent WW2 up to his knees in sand dealing with scorpions, camels and Americans and he would think you’re a bloody idiot.

I find your discription of disgusting very offensive! Seems your problem stems more from your political views and like some, you use lockdown and covid to try and disguise what you really believe...if you dont like whats happening in outside world close your blinds and stay off social media instead of snooping around looking for reasons to vent your offensive remarks!

@RoosterPie yes basically. however I would caveat that with a much firmer leadership is needed to try and get the numbers down. Other countries have managed it. I'm humiliated that we can't.

The alternative is we have stalled the economy, thousands have been put into emotional distress all for nothing? For us the. To turn around and say lockdown isn't working lift it? Worst of both worlds.

Our numbers are down though aren’t they?

I find your discription of disgusting very offensive! Seems your problem stems more from your political views and like some, you use lockdown and covid to try and disguise what you really believe...if you dont like whats happening in outside world close your blinds and stay off social media instead of snooping around looking for reasons to vent your offensive remarks!

What's happening in the outside world affects me directly so no thanks. I'll comment on what I like and look where I like. People behaving like arseholes is what's offensive. Honouring the dead by screeching along to 'sex is on fire' into the early hours while hugging neighbours in the middle of a global pandemic is what's offensive.

@RoosterPie our hospital admissions are down but daily infections are actually up although we have been testing more. Our hospital admission are down but our new daily rate of infections are still exceptionally high. The ar rate is still very close to one.

I think there sadly will be a spike though I would live to be wrong
That's unlikely, though there might be a levelling off of the downward trend. That's because infections are low in the general community now, the rate is nearer R.5 than R.9. They're getting better at identifying primary sources of infections, and small gatherings in the open air aren't very high risk.
The government was always on a model of 75% compliancy factor and in fact we turned out to be more compliant than they expected, so really events like yesterdays are really just a blip.

just what we all needed a day to celebrate and be thankful

How does getting trollied and disregarding guidelines in place to protect one’s health equate to thankfulness?

The rate is nearer r.5 in London ... in other areas that were not so initially badly affected it's .9

My teenage daughter was very cross to see the amount of adults and older people socialising yesterday when we went on our daily walk. She said, I’m sacrificing my education and mental wellbeing and not seeing my friends and they are all mixing with each other. I agreed with her completely...

Thank you @Glowcat. Dad served in the Air Force himself and I am all for marking the occasion.

However I don't think many people would breach guidelines if they had to commit to accepting any consequences of taking those risks. I can't believe they would take unnecessary risks if they fully understood what it is like to be bereaved or sitting through a funeral right now.

Absolutely and then it becomes harder to justify why we are doing this.

My little girl couldn't understand why all the kids in the street were playing with each other.

@Roosterpie
*
Staying in lockdown doesn’t prevent deaths, it prevents covid deaths. It causes other deaths, other hardship, other problems, and there has to be a tipping point* ...

I also have an open mind about the line of thought that lockdown doesn’t prevent deaths or infections, just delays them.

... or converts them into non-covid deaths?

Very interesting comments. A very clever friend of mine was asking the other day whether any modelling has been done to quantify all this along the lines that NICE uses to decide whether to fund new drugs (they look at quality adjusted life years, good explanation here):

www.rnib.org.uk/services-we-offer-advice-professionals-nb-magazine-health-professionals-nb-features/how-nice-decides

On the basis that the average age of a covid death is 80.5, could experts start to model the life years lost to suicide, the health impacts of economic depression looming (didn't the last recession cause many thousands of early deaths?) preventable cancer deaths, complications arising from disruptions to health services for diabetes.

I'd just like to understand that tipping point before I decide what my opinion is going to be.

We will all die but a premature death is a premature death and those non-covid prem deaths down the line (which are harder to count and will be another government's problem) should be something we worry about too.

Who is looking at how many (in number terms) will die prematurely as a result of the lockdown policies and what the ages of those people are likely to be (in terms of life years lost)?

Stair gate “ Why wasnt we all told to log on and donate a £1 to a charity in respect instead?”

What fresh hell is this?!

barbites couldn’t agree more.