Anyone else think our reprieve might be short lived?

[Lemons1571]

The briefing just seemed so, abrupt today. Suddenly it’s ‘the last ever briefing’, most things are allowed to open up next week, keep your distance, and then a “right we’re off good luck” sort of exit. While there’s still hundreds of deaths a week.

Seems a bit premature - I would’ve thought they would at least do a weekly briefing. I can’t decide if they think taking the briefings off the air will be “out of sight out of mind”, and people will chill out and start spending and going out again. Or whether they’ve run out of steam and need a break before the autumn colds season descends. Whitty seemed sure this wasn’t going anywhere and we’re in for a year plus of this. What do you think?

@Angelil That's true, people are more aware. But you only need to see what's happening on beaches in Bournemouth and Southend to realise that there are far too many people who just don't care. I know it's outdoors, but pubs will be open soon and cinemas.

I'm not saying that those activities shouldn't happen btw. But the problem is that there are far too many people who just couldn't care less about keeping themselves and others safe.

Just to respond to post upthread re SARS. It didn’t burn itself out - there was huge global containment effort (quarantines, isolation, thermal imaging & temp checks, masks etc) & enormous international collaboration among scientists which meant it was effectively eradicated. It help that the disease was v easy to spot - people developed symptoms quickly after infection (Unlike many cases of COVID) making track, trace & isolate v effective. But the virus certainly didn’t go away of its own accord.

To me it feels a bit like the final scene in blackadder, where we are all being sent into the abyss...

My thoughts exactly. I can't help wondering if this is all part of some much darker hidden agenda. Maybe BoJo actually WANTS the virus to spread, so it will kill off the old people and save the government the cost of paying their pensions. Normally I don't have much time for conspiracy theory, but in this case I'm prepared to make an exception.

I don't watch it anyway, it's just a load of lies and rubbish decision making.

Good riddance.

what @mac said, SARS 😷 has stayed away from hong kong cos they have armies of cleaners disinfecting public buildings like libraries, all buttons in lift, deep cleaning places CONSTANTLY, plus people wear 😷 s plus schools sometimes close mid-winter whenever there is a sars like illness around. England and EU should send some people on recces to there, Taiwan and Singa to see how it’s done or talk to the doctors from Taiwan and S korea who’ve been speaking v eloquently on this since Jan 2020 but have been mostly ignored

@fortmums I quite agree. It says a lot that the only 2 countries with higher death rates than the USA and Brazil, where the Presidents don't even pretend to care about the COVID-19 deaths.

Some European countries did learn the lessons. Greece only had a few hundred deaths. And Germany had 3 times fewer deaths because they had a very good testing and tracing system and closed down early. There was a complete inertia on the part of the British government, I'm not surprised they stopped the briefings.

Sorry, I meant that Germany had 3 times fewer deaths than the UK, not Greece!

also appears that there will quite a few people jumping with glee if/when we have a second wave - some just cannot wait for the 'I told you so'.

I don't think so. This is a misconception by people who are petty. They're simultaneously terrified and malicious to the point that they'd be delighted to see their worst fears realised? Yeah right.

But we could all be on house arrest again, sure, that part I can believe easily.

The only people ever under house arrest were the poor sods shielding - the rest of us could go out for exercise and food shopping (and caring duties)

I suspect that the daily briefing is no longer working too well as a party political broadcast so it doesn't benefit them to continue.

@Poppinjay - I think you have it spot on. And with the journalists holding the government to account more than an opposition party

Still 1000 new infections a day.
What makes me sad is the attitude on MN that it's all about the individual. No consideration towards others outside their own family; that vulnerable lives that will be lost are just one of those things as it's more important to get back to how it was before.

@SunflowerProsecco - I agree, it’s sort of let the vulnerable shield for all eternity (and they were about to die anyway) so long as I can get my haircut

I dont know what the 'facts/probabilities are; so I dont know what to think about it... I watched every briefing and was reassured by the ensuing discussion. Now I wont know whether it's mainly legitimate or something issued by the tin hat brigade..... time to start turning my shed into nightingale hospital

I think that we are in for a second wave....come September/October

As with most media at the moment I believe there is always another point or view

@Legoandloldolls

I sincerely hope there is no second wave. However I'm going to do everything I need to as soon as I can including seeing my mum.

There is one or two restaurants I want to visit to combat my dip in mental health.

My kids are in school now to varring degrees so mixing for us is inevitable.

Re the referrals to children's services - those services couldn't cope before they as well went cope with this. Schools don't generally seem to be engaged with pupil welfare. Not from what I am seeing directly

Are you joking?! You probably just have no idea about what goes on behind the scenes in a school to ensure pupil welfare. The school where I teach works tirelessly to ensure the welfare of our pupils and has been been thanked by grateful parents countless times over the last 12 weeks.

You haven’t got a clue.

[quote BunsyGirl]@OneMetreWithMitigation

Must be the Guardian spouting shite again (however ITN news made the same point):

“The number of children needing foster care has risen by 44% during the coronavirus pandemic, creating a “state of emergency”, a children’s charity said.”

Whatever the actual stats are, it’s clear that lockdown has created massive social problems.[/quote]
The Tories have created massive social problems but the majority of voters seem to be ok with that, so those people shouldn't really be moaning about the affect that lockdown has had.

Premature - are you joking? We’re reporting very few cases now so it’s time to get back to normal, whether the doom-mongers and furlough lovers like it or not. Enough is enough!

@ChavvySexPond

I'd like an accreditation scheme for people who take coronavirus seriously and do all they can to avoid infecting themselves and others and some way of identifying those who aren't careful or conscientious about mixing and social distancing and go to the pub etc so I can keep them away from my grandparents. Do what you like but wear a red badge so we know to avoid you kind of thing.

Yes, & the people wearing those badges could get to the back of the queue for treatment if they got ill with it, because they were perfectly happy to take the risk.

It does seem that way.

I work in the NHS. No change for my service quite yet. Everyone is wearing masks at work all the time now even the office staff!

@Aridane

Still 1000 new infections a day. What makes me sad is the attitude on MN that it's all about the individual. No consideration towards others outside their own family; that vulnerable lives that will be lost are just one of those things as it's more important to get back to how it was before.

@SunflowerProsecco - I agree, it’s sort of let the vulnerable shield for all eternity (and they were about to die anyway) so long as I can get my haircut

I agreed with that post too when I read it. It's been how I have felt reading certain opinions on MN.

Cinemas are much easier to regulate though. I’m in the Netherlands where cinemas reopened a few weeks ago. I have been twice since. You cannot choose your own seat for example: these are pre-selected for you by staff to ensure social distancing. I’m also off swimming today for about the 3rd time since everything reopened. You have to prebook; only lane swimming is allowed; you have your own cubicle for the whole 1-hour session; you hand sanitise on your way in and out.
I also can’t get too upset about pubs reopening: here the cafés and restaurants already have. I live in a city (so it’s densely populated) and the sky isn’t falling in. Basically it doesn’t have to be a complete free-for-all and shouldn’t be. Plenty of these activities are easy enough to regulate, even if individual owners have to take some initiative rather than relying on government edicts (or lack thereof).

Sorry that was to @Mittens030869

Oh and 1000 new infections a day is actually not very much out of a population of 66 million...
Basically the reaction is no longer proportionate.

@JuneJuly

I agree... The less self-centred a society is, the better it will emerge the Covid.

The irony is it those that think we should be completely back to normal, are those that will delay return to normality.

If it wasn’t for the minority that flouted social distancing rules back in April/May, we’d quite probably have a tiny number of cases now that would have enabled schools to get back before the end of term.