AIBU? To think that a second wave isn't inevitable just yet?

[Littlemeadow123]

I know that the government/medical experts have been that a 2nd wave will arrive during late autumn/winter. Maybe it will.

But...now they are saying that a second wave will probably happen in the UK in a few weeks, because of holiday makers bringing it back from mainland Europe. Am I being unreasonable to think that if that is such a likely consequence then the government should grow a pair and ground the bloody airlines and stop people going? Like loads of other countries had the bollocks to do at the very beginning.

I know doing this could just be putting off the inevitable, but at least that way, we will only have another wave at the back end of this year (if it comes) instead of having an extra one in August as well.

Everyone's been banging on about this second wave for weeks. Hasn't happened yet.

Id rather have a second wave now than over Christmas/ middle of winter.

I agree OP. Follow the rules and we won't get a generalised outbreak. You can't help some of the local outbreaks but people can help it whether or not they go to crowded pubs (and the pub owners/managers can help whether they make the punters follow the rules). You can also help whether you wear a mask, whether you wash your hands, whether you wipe down your gym equipment and whether you continue to give people space when you pass them, especially in confined spaces.

OP, people staying in the UK but heading to other parts of the country for a break are just as likely to spread it. Most European countries have lower rates than us. I think the R is rapidly rising in parts of France though.
So banning all movement, not just by plane, would be required to keep the rate low and limited to local hotspots, such as Rotherham, Blackburn, Luton etc.

Even though there are talks of another spike / lockdown, in reality things are still opening up. Ive heard from 1st October large scale events are allowed so for now I think we are ok?

In my opinion, 2nd wave comes for sure when lockdown is eased and people go back to 'normal' (=previous) without much caution. I know everybody (me including) is tired of all the limitations. And politicians are cowards (at least in the UK and here as well) and will not say out loud that we need to create new normal.
Here we were in full lockdown fairly quickly, by mid March, we had less than 100 cases per day that time. Opening became in late April, first slowly, however in June almost all was opened and all was normal. Only restriction remained on large events and masks were required in the underground (only is in the capital city). No longer masks in shops and buses / trams / trains. You do not see people have 2m space in a queue (not even 1m).
Now, late July, we have more than 200 cases each working day for more than a week. Restrictions might come back, so far only number of people on one event is restricted and mask mandated on all events over some number of people indoors. As far as I know the virus spreads now most on workplaces - mostly where people share cloakrooms (big local outbreak was among miners) or have party (one infected on a birthday party in a club lead to more than 100 cases)
Not sure when it qualifies to be called 2nd wave :-) but for sure, coronavirus is not going to disappear easily. Most cases are mild here now, hospitals are not stretched by no means. What will happen during autumn or winter time when the immunity is weaker and people spend more time indoors ... We'll see soon.
Some say coronavirus is just like a flu. My mom is 78, has high blood pressure and had a stroke in December. I'm now worried about her getting a flu. But I'm worried she might get coronavirus.

I can't believe you think it's not inevitable 🤯

You are practically back to life as 'normal', Brits jetting around Europe.

There will be a second, and continuous waves, after that. It's how to address each wave that will dictate how bad it turns out.

Since our borders closed everyone returning must quarantine for 14 days. Very few exceptions.

We have been doing this for months.

We are Covid free and back to normal.

I’m not sure why you are all comparing. Take the risk, go abroad but protect your county on return. It’s simple.

@BooseysMom

And into that we're being mandated to throw our children back into classes of 30 plus in bubbles of 100s!

Exactly! I know it's a priority to get kids back in school asap but I think we're not so far away from getting a vaccine and if online platforms are working well and work is actually marked by teachers, then why can't we continue this way until it's safe to to back to normal?

In a lot of cases online platforms are not working well, or at all, which has been the case for the primary schools in our area. There is a difference between what might be acceptable for a very temporary situation of up to 3 months say, and what is appropriate for a more medium to long term situation. Online platforms can't be considered to be working well until there are consistent education quality standards and expectations applied as they are the rest of the time, and that the responsibility for delivering the curriculum doesn't sit with parents who as well as having their own jobs, are not trained or qualified to teach. There is a very long way to go until the online approach could be considered to be working well.

People need to stop concentrating on the death rate.

The important figure is the infection rate, because even if you survive (and most people do) you still have the capacity to be seriously ill and/or left with lifelong complications.

And people need to be responsible for their own decisions. Just because the government opened up travel didn’t mean it became compulsory. Anyone travelling abroad right now knew the risks, and no, being told they could do so doesn’t mean there weren’t risks. People have been told that things can change at a moment’s notice and would do so, and yet people have decided to throw caution to the wind and travel anyway, and then blame the government when that goes wrong.

I have absolute sympathy for anyone who had a holiday booked before the pandemic and is left cancelling at short notice. But I have 0 sympathy for anyone who decided to book a flight to Spain on a win thinking that the worry was all over. Those types are stupid.

As for COVID, putting everyone into complete lockdown is not possible. COVID is going to be here for a while. Even once there is a vaccine people will still catch covid, and people will still die from COVID, much as they do now from the flu.

Like it or not we are going to have to learn to live with it, and localised restrictions are the only way to be able to do that. The country and the economy cannot cope with another lockdown.

As for sending children to school, those are the children who are going to be responsible for rebuilding our economy when this is all over, it’s not reasonable to expect them to forego an education indefinitely, and most parents don’t have what it takes to home school.

@Star81

I'm not asking people to never go on holiday again. Just wait a little while. Do people really need to go abroad this year? Especially while the situation is still so precarious? We are just out of one lockdown, and not miles away from requiring a 2nd.

Also, the death rate will drop in future spikes because treatment options are improving.

When we first went into this nothing was known about it. Now treatment is making progress all the time meaning that many people who might not have survived will.

@AndAllOurYesterdays

Exactly! I know it's a priority to get kids back in school asap but I think we're not so far away from getting a vaccine and if online platforms are working well and work is actually marked by teachers, then why can't we continue this way until it's safe to to back to normal?

Because not all schools are using those online platforms, because some kids are too young to engage with them, and because lots of parents have to work and are exhausted by months of juggling childcare, home schooling and working from home?

None of these things are an argument for mass school reopening with no social distancing though.

The school proposals are ridiculous at the current time.

@AlternativePerspective

I'm not saying that no one should go on holiday ever again, just wait a while. We are only just out of one lockdown. I'd rather not go straight back into another one. Just wait one flipping year. Or we are going to have tight restrictions for a very long time.

Anyone else receive a letter from BJ begging for money? He wants a donation of either £25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000, 2000 or 50000. My nan signed up to their emails and now gets these letters.... İt's called the unleash Britain fund.

@Hannah1773

No we are really not. Unless you don't live in the UK?

If you do live in the UK, then we cannot be thinking We are ok now, we can go back to normal'. In terms of large scale events, there will still be social distancing in place, possibly masks, hand sanitation places etc etc.

Online platforms are grear short term if you are lucky enough to have the tech. My year bright studious 8 has been off school since Marchanged and even he is struggling without teacher led classes and student discussions in class. They need to be in school. Education should have been the priority not holidays and pubs.

@bigknickersbigknockersgknicker

The big wave or spike in August won't be instead of a big wave/spike in winter. It will be as well as.

Because not all schools are using those online platforms, because some kids are too young to engage with them, and because lots of parents have to work and are exhausted by months of juggling childcare, home schooling and working from home

Not a good enough reason to risk staff, children or their families. Most staff will have been juggling home commitments and work, not to to mention had to give up annual leave to care for children of others.

@DianaT1969

At least, if we grounded flights, we'd only have to deal with outbreaks happening locally from people on uk breaks. And we wouldn't have drives of tourists bringing it in from abroad on top of that.

I really believe this wont be a '2and wave' thing. It will be a 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, forever wave. Antibodies dont stick around long. People are getting it multiple times. I really think it's going to be a new thing we all have to live with. Unless you want to sit in your sitting room forever, or ground airlines so nobody ever travels again, this is our world now. You cant shut borders for the rest of time.

I think it's inevitable largely because of the depressing stupidity of a significant percentage of the population. I honestly think some people believe this pandemic is over or at least want to stick their fingers in their ears and pretend it is over.

@ShesMadeATwatOfMePam

That doesn't mean it never will. We are not going to know the exact date.

I'm not saying that no one should go on holiday ever again, just wait a while. We are only just out of one lockdown. I'd rather not go straight back into another one. Just wait one flipping year. Or we are going to have tight restrictions for a very long time. but people need to be personally responsible for those decisions.

I have said all along that the more people actually used their own common sense and did as they were asked, the less likely it would be that the government would have to bring in more draconian measures.

But people want to live in a nanny state where they are told what to do rather than making those decisions for themselves.

I’m not going on holiday because it would be a stupid idea. I don’t need the government to tell me that.

I’m shielding but when shielding pauses in August I won’t be rushing out to eat in restaurants because I’m not yet confident that I won’t be at risk. But I don’t need the government to tell me that, those are my decisions to make.

It’s not the government who are to blame, it’s the people.

The people who jump on a plane abroad as soon as they can.

The people who flock to Bournemouth beach (sitting on a beach with half a million people doesn’t sound like my idea of a fun day out COVID or no COVID,)

It’s the people who refuse to wear masks (study out yesterday showed that if 95% of the population wore a mask then the infection rate would drop by at least 30%) and yet everyone is complaining they shouldn’t have to/can’t wear a mask - the number of exempt is small compared to the number of the population....

The list goes on, but ultimately the decisions that individuals make are the circumstances that lead to second spikes and second waves.

I agree. When our boarders do open I shall be avoiding all pubs and restaurants. I will shop away from the main tourist areas and avoid tourist hot spots.

Happy to go to garden centers home stores type places, anywhere they are unlikely to congregate!