Confused: is there are a Boris Johnson announcement today?

[Aridane]

(or have I imagined it?)

Perhaps The government know this and that a more retstrictive lockdown will have to be done when people realise the seriousness of the situations - when deaths have increased Considerably

Kitty, I think living in a pandemic is what is cruel. Unfortunately if we ignore the virus it will still spread and kill people

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

There are very few people who want schools closed. There’s quite a lot of people who want there to be better mitigation in schools. I think there’s a reasonable argument from that data to extend the remote learning to 6th form though. 18-21 were the worst groups affected, but also the 17-18 year olds.

It wouldn’t be too dissimilar to what Sweden/Iceland did in March-May/June

I see what you are saying, but IMHO I think the age group 17-18 is mostly the 18 year olds just gone to university. The age group up to 16 year olds cover most of year 12 as they are nearly all still 16. From my limited experience of my local area, it seems the sixth forms based in schools are no more likely to be sending years home due to positive cases than the lower years. In fact my DC school has 2 year groups at home right now, none of them sixth formers (or teachers, before someone starts on me). That is different at the local uni which has loads of cases - so that would be 18 years and above.

I hate to be the bearer of gloom and doom but we will need to live with this for another year , if not longer.
This is only from what I have gleaned myself from listening to the experts and interviews on the radio. Im not a scientist at all , but reading between the lines isn't that hard and even with a vaccine it will still take months to roll it out to everyone . We will need to learn to live with restrictions and curfews for a long while to come :(
I really hope I'm wrong , but this is how I see things going for now. This winter will be hard going.

very disappointed that he didn't announce his resignation.

Don't you think he's looking tired?

@The80sweregreat

I hate to be the bearer of gloom and doom but we will need to live with this for another year , if not longer. This is only from what I have gleaned myself from listening to the experts and interviews on the radio. Im not a scientist at all , but reading between the lines isn't that hard and even with a vaccine it will still take months to roll it out to everyone . We will need to learn to live with restrictions and curfews for a long while to come :( I really hope I'm wrong , but this is how I see things going for now. This winter will be hard going.

Desperately praying that you are wrong, my mental health will be fucked

The80sweregreat, I think you are right. And winter will make it so much worse. At least in the summer we can get outside easier

@Areyousureted

Do we think that cases really aren’t rising in school age children? Or Is it simply that they are having asymptomatic cases ?

He didn’t say cases aren’t rising in school-aged children. He said something about rates of transmission, which is different.

Kitten I hope so too!
It's just that I listen to a lot of tv and radio and this may be how it pans out.
I am probably wrong , but it will be a tough few months whatever happens I think.
Fingers crossed things look up soon.

Red locks I thought he showed a graph and said school age children are the only age group where cases aren’t rising. That is what one of the graphs appears to say

It could be disconnect. This is the disadvantage of just having a graph rather than the data/methodology. I also think that any data about positivity rates should probably be read along side testing rates.

You can see them trying to dispel myths such as “what about all the other treatment a why is Covid. Priority?” “Well yes that’s precisely why we need to keep Covid numbers down so other treatments can continue” and “why is it a big deal if it’s spreading when nobody is dying?” “cos we haven’t got there yet, look at these graphs”

@Areyousureted

Red locks I thought he showed a graph and said school age children are the only age group where cases aren’t rising. That is what one of the graphs appears to say

It was the % of tests for each age group that come back positive for each age group. So the % of tests that has come back positive in the school,age age groups is roughly stable, but my understand is that the number of tests in those age groups has increased a lot over the same time period. Which would mean the number of actual cases per day rising.

Oh ! So that was a bit of a sneaky graph then. Kind of presenting the data they want to say schools should stay open

I did think it odd that those age groups didn’t have rising numbers

There was more than one graph! There were multiple graphs about ages. All showed low transmission under 17-18 (and even sixth forms only have one year group in that range, with most of the range being university age).

I don't have a particular angle on this - I want everyone to be safe, teachers and pupils. But I think all the graphs shown were clear, as well as objective.

I think if we are going to be really cynical, we need to look at why the government is ignoring the huge increase in the age group 18-21 years old, and either telling this age group to behave or locking them inside their halls of residence, but not actually sending them home or closing pubs and bars.

It is like before lockdown when BJ said please don't go to pubs, but didn't close them. The only thing that stopped people going was closing them. It is very tricky politically and economically.

Plus of course the fact that student accommodation is huge business financially and sending the 18-21s home to do their remote learning at home and refunding their accommodation is going to cost someone a lot of money.

@kittensarecute unfortunately we will be living like this or worse for the next 6 months, BJ said so at his last TV appearance. I'm really hoping after 6 months things will be better and restrictions can be lifted, but this winter will be tough. It will be good for us all to start thinking now of how to cope over winter. Focus on what you can do, people you can see, places you can visit. I'm also making lists of what I want to do as soon as restrictions are over and planning an amazing holiday.

And the poor elderly - doing worst for hospitalisation and ITU.

I'm so gutted for the elderly. Dropped something off for DF yesterday. Saw one of his mates, she'd just come back from a turn around the green with her son. She recognised me and after asking how I was said "this is the first time I've been outside the boundaries of this care home in over 6 months!" That is a long time. I felt a bit ashamed to be under 40 at that moment. This pandemic is such a bloody difficult balancing act. I worry for my niece and nephews disrupted education and at the same time for my screwed career and the good months & years that are slipping away with DF in the care home. sorry rant over.

@WhiteChocTwix I agree and I meant to say I was sad to read you couldn't take your DF out for a walk.
I hope they are still having safe visiting inside their care homes though. It is sad to hear of those people who have not been able to visit their parents in care homes (Sheila Fogarty on LBC discusses this often).

I have some insight into what is going on in hospitals and I do know that if an elderly person needs hospital attention for Covid-19 they treatment will be looked at 'realistically' and they may not get the full treatment, may not be considered for ICU and worse unfortunately.

So it is sad to say but if the elderly are safe at home and not exposed to the virus in the outside world then that is probably best for them in terms of physical health (can't say about their mental health). My elderly neighbours are not going out, they just say the main thing is to be alive this time next year, and I agree.

[quote Racoonworld]@kittensarecute unfortunately we will be living like this or worse for the next 6 months, BJ said so at his last TV appearance. I'm really hoping after 6 months things will be better and restrictions can be lifted, but this winter will be tough. It will be good for us all to start thinking now of how to cope over winter. Focus on what you can do, people you can see, places you can visit. I'm also making lists of what I want to do as soon as restrictions are over and planning an amazing holiday.[/quote]
I can do six months, I'm mentally prepared for that, its the idea of living this way for a year or more that scares me.

@Disconnect thank you for the good wishes. DF home are incredibly stringent and close to visiting until monthly testing all comes back clear. I can't fault them, they're amazing. It's like "Waiting for God",DF and his friends are bemoaning not seeing family or being able to escape to the local pub! They're 70+ going on 17.

Absolutely thought he just said guns

So did the subtitles. Although he also handed over to Chris sweetie.

Love it!

@kittensarecute we won’t be living this way for a year or more. There is already a struggle to get the majority to comply. Now BJ has said 6 months there is no way people will accept it being any longer.