To think there won't be another national lockdown?

[makingbacon]

I just cannot see another national lockdown happening, even in the event of an uptick in deaths.

I don't think the nation will cope economically (furlough costs, business uncertainty etc), but I also don't think people will follow the rules. After the Dominic Cummings thing I know I won't be sticking to lockdown second time around. I really really struggled with two toddlers in a flat the first time around.

Or am I wrong and we will definitely have another national lockdown over winter?

"... then it will take longer."

What will take longer? What are we trying to do? We can hide away and the numbers will drop, then come out again (if there's anything left to come out to) and numbers will rise. Rinse and repeat. How will all our support systems and jobs cope with this?

Or we can try to eliminate the virus. A multi-cultural, internationally connected country. Well, we could try. I'm not sure what 'right thing' we could do to help this.

Or we can wait for a vaccine. And do what while we wait? For how long? And what 'right thing' can we do to speed up the vaccine?

Or we can chug along, letting Covid spread throughout the community. Each individual or family decides what level of risk they can accept for themselves. I think any massive rise in cases in an area will result in a substantial number of residents minimising their social contacts, quite drastically. We would need to protect the vulnerable as far as we can and they wish. And allow community immunity to develop. Even if having had the virus doesn't confer total immunity, it certainly seems to prevent a severe infection, which is possibly all we can hope for from a vaccine.

@OpenlyGayExOlympicFencer

The politicians were forced into lockdown,against their ignorant wishes, by necessity and world opprobrium, and, yes, it could happen again.

How? It would need paying for. You seem to be arguing here that a situation might arise where it should happen, which is not the same thing.

If we go into massive daily infection rates of 100,000 a day, say, we may have little choice.

The Tories didn't opt into lockdown out of the kindness of their hearts, they were in a corner.They didn't budget for a plan, they were winging it.

And so they are still winging it now. There IS no plan to pay for any of this.

amici I think a lot of people are asking this.
We locked down to stop the NHS being overwhelmed.

But now what?

With cases rising and the fact approaching winter, I am still unsure what measures will be necessary to keep the nhs from being overwhelmed. I don't know if a lockdown can be ruled out. We can watch (and hopefully learn) from what is happening in Europe now.

No I don't think there will be another one. A bankrupt country will not the the option the govt chooses so we need to get on with it. And I agree.

If we go into massive daily infection rates of 100,000 a day, say, we may have little choice.

The Tories didn't opt into lockdown out of the kindness of their hearts, they were in a corner.They didn't budget for a plan, they were winging it.

And so they are still winging it now. There IS no plan to pay for any of this.

The Tories will have a choice about whether the state will pay for people to stay at home again, without which no real lockdown is possible. They very clearly don't want to do it, so it'll be piecemeal local lockdowns. The economy will be prioritised.