To those who think it's over

[user1497207191]

The Weston Super Mare hospital has announced this morning that it's closed it's A&E due to an increase in the number of Covid patients the hospital is currently treating.

This highlights why "tourist" hotspots have been trying to persuade people from away not to visit them.

Also highlights that there are still plenty of Covid cases around and it's still spreading.

This is why the lockdown needs to carry on, with very slight relaxations over a long time period. Those who think it's all over and we can get back to normal are deluded.

Paf I’m in north west and my local hospital serving 4/5 towns hasn’t had a single case for ten days

People seem to want things to just go back to how they were, but it would be like pushing a self destruct button.

Sigh. Not this strawman again.

Who has said they want to go back to football stadia with tens of thousands of spectators? Jam packed public transport? Heaving pubs? I mean, yeah, I'd like to go back to that eventually but nobody here is proposing it should happen immediately, or even within the next few months.

What people want is a phased return to normality - or something close - along the lines we have seen elsewhere in the world, with none of the much feared 'spikes'. And no, the occasional flare-up is not a 'spike'.

For those who want lockdown to go on and on and on...

Stay in, get your shopping delivered, don’t dare go on holiday, to the pub, stay in forever but realistically it’s over. We need to try and get back to normal

They think it's spreading within the hospital rather than from outside.

I agree

For a while now it’s been low in communities

It’s mainly hosp and care homes

Those dying now were likely diagnosed 3-4 weeks ago and so actual infections now is much lower

Iced, there are plenty of people claiming that lockdown is pointless, that we just need to get on with things now, the virus isn’t going anywhere so we need to get used to it.
I have family with this kind of attitude.

The obvious way to move forward is slowly, but there are many people not happy with that approach.

There are clear reasons why things need to be reopened carefully, but I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been told I’m scaremongering for saying that. Because it’s not a straw man, there are actual people who believe that enough’s enough now.

Government advice has been confusing and ambiguous. The latest issue with Dominic Cummings isn’t helping.
They need to do better.

I find @Devlesko one of the most depressing, uncaring posters on here. He/she pops up on every coronavirus thread and just saps the positivity out of everything. I care about the economy @Devlesko as I work for the NHS. If the economy falls flat how will the NHS be supported?

Testing in other countries have revealed that up to 5% of the population has been infected. All this chaos with 5%.

There is increasing evidence that many are naturally immune based on having had a cold in the past. Maybe up to 60% of people. A study was just published and it fits with what we know about what happened on cruise ships (lots of old passengers, highly vulnerable population, only 20% of people got the virus in perfect conditions)

What do I want? A gradual loosening of restrictions, mask-wearing in particularly crowded spaces, contact tracing to happen ideally. Schools going back and life tentatively going back to normal (museums opening, social events happening with up to 10 people and then 50 later on in the summer for example) - all as long as the numbers don't start rising exponentially. Resources poured towards the vulnerable who need or want to shield for longer.

what do you want in practical terms

Yes, I would like to see a phased reopening of all the things you mention in your post, with the ones involving large groups of people (eg sporting events, concerts, festivals) well behind the others.

Social distancing and masks should be encouraged rather than mandatory.

Low risk people may well choose to return to normal before those at higher risk. At the outset, this was not possible because of the issue of overwhelming the NHS (so one person's rash behaviour could affect another person's chance of survival), but now I think it's time to encourage individuals to make their own risk assessment, within reason.

Iced, there are plenty of people claiming that lockdown is pointless, that we just need to get on with things now, the virus isn’t going anywhere so we need to get used to it. I have family with this kind of attitude

I didn't ask about your family though. I asked about people on this thread. I haven't seen anyone here asking for a complete, immediate lifting of lockdown.

Have you?

@IcedPurple agree that if mass gatherings like football crowds, packed pubs and overcrowded public transport etc can be avoided for a while then it should control numbers enough.

But people descending on small towns to go to the seaside etc is another mass gathering as infrastructure can't cope. Elderly populations live there and are left more vulnerable.

Multiple people have now outlined "what they want" and noone has said anything about suddenly returning to normal or having stadiums full of crowds pressed together just for kicks.

All the suggestions have been eminently sensible and based on sound medical advice. Does that satisfy the people who keep asking WHAT DO YOU WANT? because as far as I can see, that question has been well and truly answered in a very sensible fashion.....

Where is that study TheAdventuresofTheWishingChair? Interested to see if it's based on modelling or the more reliable antibody testing.

@Devlesko

Either you are a millionaire, and you don't care.. Fair enough.

Or, like the rest of us you work and pay your own rent (rent being a catch all term including all food and bills) or you don't work and someone else pays your rent for you...in which case you bloody should care because if the economy collapses you may not be able to continue doing so, and if its other people doing it for you then they need to be able to continue earning money and paying tax in order for the government to do so.

In short, unless you are staggeringly rich, then the economy directly affects your continued wellbeing, and you better start caring about that.

None of this I can live without money nonsense. You can't.

But people descending on small towns to go to the seaside etc is another mass gathering as infrastructure can't cope. Elderly populations live there and are left more vulnerable.

There's an MN obsession with "people descending on small towns to go to the seaside". What is the evidence that this alleged 'descending' has caused any much dreaded (or anticipated?) 'spikes'? Gatherings in the open air seem to be low risk, provided people aren't crowded together as in say, Glastonbury.

What are you proposing? Travel bans to all seaside resorts? Spain, one of the worst hit countries in the world, has announced the reopening of tourism from July. 15th June for Greece. What if your solution for this supposed 'descending' on British seaside towns?

Lots of people in the country have started to largely ignore lockdown and social distancing.
There may not be any on this thread, but there are lots in real life, in a way that will affect how everyone is able to move forward.

The reference to my family was a clumsy way to express that there are intelligent people who are ignoring why we are in lockdown in the first place. I realise I didn’t say that at all though.

Lots of people in the country have started to largely ignore lockdown and social distancing.
There may not be any on this thread, but there are lots in real life, in a way that will affect how everyone is able to move forward

How do you define 'lots'? What statistics have you used to come to that conclusion? And when you say 'in a way that will affect how everyone is able to move forward', have you got any evidence for this? I've watched most of the daily briefings and I've not heard anything like this being said.

@IcedPurple A hospital in Weston Super Mare has had to close for new patients this morning

It really depends where you are in the country, in my area cases are on the increase as it hadn’t really hit here yet.

A hospital in Weston Super Mare has had to close for new patients this morning

Yes, there's already a thread about this. Most seem to agree that for the A&E of a small underresourced hospital to close temporarily is quite normal and would never usually attract attention.

Again, what's your proposal. Do you believe visitors should be banned from visiting towns like Weston indefinitely?

Last week 4 out of 6 older ladies on one ward tested positive at this hospital.
A family member who'd just returned there from Bristol after heart surgery was very luckily one of the two who were negative.
For now.

I haven’t used any statistics at all. I’m using anecdotal evidence of reports of people going out, heading to the seaside (there are other threads about this, and newspaper articles).

The virus hasn’t gone. It is quieter for now, but as people mingle more it’s likely to spread again, which may well lead to further lockdown. As has been seen in other countries.

@icedpurple It should be the same rule as Scotland or Wales. Local travel only (within 5-10 miles of home).

Hello there all,

As I'm a mum living in Weston Super Mare - less than a mile from our hospital, guess I'm entitled to comment eh?

There are many primary schools in the catchment area, and several secondary schools, the pupils of all of them rely on the hospital, as do their parents.

We are not a 'deprived' area. Not culturally deprived, not deprived in human terms, although we live in an area of economic deprivation according to the government index.

Living walking distance of the beach as we do, due to the influx of people coming to our town when they shouldn't, due to lockdown regulations and Covid selfishness - we, as a family are unable to access local green spaces and the beach, due to the irresponsible behaviour of people who evidently do not live here.

No. You do not have more rights than we do. Neither do you have the right to make assumptions about our town and our hospital.

As the kind poster said, it is terrifying being without a local A and E and knowning that the hospital is shut due to Covid. As parents will know, accidents happen with kids and even a simple bike ride is a greater risk than previously. The nearest hospital is not accessible by bus, neither is is possible to get a taxi. The situation seems to be that you cannot rely on an ambulance to turn up either.

So, stop coming to Weston, advice you should have heeded way before now. Yes, the hospital was affected in recent years due to funding cuts, but it was open, and functioning until Covid idiots decided to be the selfish ones that they are.

Stay away. Just wait until it happens to your hospital and you think twice about letting your kids out to the park as if they have an accident, you are Stuffed. to those insulting Weston on this thread, you don't like it, don't come and leave it to those who do appreciate it.

I haven’t used any statistics at all. I’m using anecdotal evidence of reports of people going out, heading to the seaside (there are other threads about this, and newspaper articles

Right. But people are allowed to go to the seaside, aren't they?

The virus hasn’t gone. It is quieter for now, but as people mingle more it’s likely to spread again, which may well lead to further lockdown. As has been seen in other countries.

It has not been seen in 'other countries'. No country which has relaxed lockdown has yet felt the need to reimpose it. Yes, there will be rises in numbers of cases, and some hot-spots, but that is to be expected.

Anyway, what do you propose? You seem to object to people acting within their rights, by - the horror! - going to the seaside, and seem to dread the thought of people 'mingling again'. How long do you want lockdown to continue, and how do you propose dealing with the sever economic fall-out?