Would anyone support another national lockdown?

[RubyandBen]

Same as the last one. Schools, non essential shops, hospitality etc. stretching on for a few months. If yes, can I ask what are your personal circumstances?

People forget how bad it was getting in the tail end of February. That's when things got hairy.
The weather was also dreadful and we had no idea how many people had it.
By March we had the lock down and all of a sudden the weather became amazing! That weather carried us all didn't it, biblical rain gave way to a hot march.
That weather along with the lockdown helped us. It helped enormously even between families at-home, those with gardens able to get out, warmer air......

The weather is our enemey here. In march we retreated from this. Now things are worse and we are plunging head long into it.... With the worst weather ahead. Everyone in doors, trapped inside, small rooms.. Like meat factories!

I would think we need lots of short breaks to get us through winter. Breaks and starts to buy us time.

No. They just dont work.

Absolutely yes . It's needed. There is absolutely no other option. Cases are doubling every 7 days. Tripling in some areas. Just do the maths ... and we haven't even got to the cold weather yet where the normal respiratory illnesses put the NHS on it's knees.
This trajectory will lead to over 100k dead of diseases that could of been treated with enough staff and resources .

Last time we were spring going into summer... we locked down and then opened up when the weather allowed us to spend time outside... this is very very different.

How do those who favour 'let the virus spread with only limited restrictions ' think the schools /universities/shops/bars etc will be able to make any kind of money with swathes of staff off sick and customers reluctant to leave their homes. I already know parents battening down the hatches, taking kids out of school and putting all the necessary requirements in place to completely isolate. (Booking food delivery slots, prepping in general. )

They see the writing on the wall from all the statistics available.. and the rate of increase is terrifying. They don't need any government to tell them the bloody obvious. Especially this one that has employed scientific advisers and then ignored the scientific advice !

@ConiferGate

When did we become a society that cared so little for others ?

When it meant actually doing something about it ourselves and not just being able to outsource everyone else’s problems to somebody else sadly.

When Covid came along, and everyone decided to be pious about "the vulnerable", about whom they had previously never given a shiny shit.

Oh, and when the self-employed reminded them that they, too, exist - and that they also need support when they can't WHF and don't qualify for furlough or any other handouts.

@Bailey0703

Absolutely yes . It's needed. There is absolutely no other option. Cases are doubling every 7 days. Tripling in some areas. Just do the maths ... and we haven't even got to the cold weather yet where the normal respiratory illnesses put the NHS on it's knees. This trajectory will lead to over 100k dead of diseases that could of been treated with enough staff and resources .

Last time we were spring going into summer... we locked down and then opened up when the weather allowed us to spend time outside... this is very very different.

How do those who favour 'let the virus spread with only limited restrictions ' think the schools /universities/shops/bars etc will be able to make any kind of money with swathes of staff off sick and customers reluctant to leave their homes. I already know parents battening down the hatches, taking kids out of school and putting all the necessary requirements in place to completely isolate. (Booking food delivery slots, prepping in general. )

They see the writing on the wall from all the statistics available.. and the rate of increase is terrifying. They don't need any government to tell them the bloody obvious. Especially this one that has employed scientific advisers and then ignored the scientific advice !

I take it you can WHF, or don't need to work at all, then?

Believe me, you'd have to be dying - if not dead - to fail to turn up for work if you work for yourself. I have mentioned other instances - but I've now remembered being doubled up on the pavement while waiting for a bus, because being doubled up is no reason not to go to work if you are self employed and have children. Nobody is going to pay you to sit at home in your nightie watching telly.

And given that the self-employed largely keep the economic wheels grinding along (as we have no other choice, and also employ people who are depending on us), we're not exactly going to welcome another lockdown,

The writing on the wall is nothing to do with Covid, and everything to do with killing off the economy. That's what's really terrifying.

Again, people are missing the point of lockdown. It isnt to stop people becoming sick or dying, it's to stop people bexoming sick or dying ALL AT ONCE

We, and not just in the UK, have been told since March, time and time again, that the reason for lockdown is to slow the spread of the virus down in order to save the health services. Not just the health services but other services too

If this virus is allowed to spread uncontrolled then we will not have those services and this would be a rapid collapse

People would die in the street, there would be chaos, food shortages, martial law, the army would have to be brought in. There would no ambulances to call, no functioning hospitals or GP practices, no police or social services to help. If you think it's bad now, without restrictions it would get much worse

Many 100,000s of people would require some kind of assistance from services all at the same time and many of the people manning those services would also be off sick or in isolation or quarantine

What part of this don't people understand? What part of how serious this global crisis is don't people get?

...so that's a yes

No. It would be a disaster.

We had the "short, sharp" one in March.

It achieved fuck all

It achieved a lot. What do you think would have happened without lockdown?

Flax, so how many months or years is this stupid situation supposed to carry on for? How many people are going to die of misery, poverty, fear, flu, pneumonia, etc, etc?

Or do you really think that the only people who matter are those who die with/of Covid?

@Flaxmeadow

We had the "short, sharp" one in March.

It achieved fuck all

It achieved a lot. What do you think would have happened without lockdown?

Please tell me what it achieved other than making people so depressed that they try to hang themselves, oh sorry, that's just the teenager I'm particularly close to

400 dead in a week (144 today) , 5000 in hospital with Covid ( more than March) 17,000+ positive tests today then yep complete lockdown for a month.

so how many months or years is this stupid situation supposed to carry on for?

Stupid situation? You mean this global pandemic

No one knows. This brand new virus was only named in February

How many people are going to die of misery, poverty, fear, flu, pneumonia, etc, etc?

No one knows but we need to keep services functioning

Or do you really think that the only people who matter are those who die with/of Covid?

No and that's precisely why we have lockdowns. To save the health service for everyone

Without lockdowns the services will collapse, for everyone

It's a balance between lockdowns and the economy

Without lockdowns no services
Without the economy, no services.

It's a rock and a hard place and all governments can do is find some kind of balance for now. As we have been told since March, probably "rolling lockdowns". Strict lockdown for a while to save services, then light lockdown for a while to save the economy and repeat, until we find another way

Please tell me what it achieved

It achieved services still being able to function

other than making people so depressed that they try to hang themselves, oh sorry, that's just the teenager I'm particularly close to

I have have people in my family who suffer depression. I know people who have tried to hang themselves

What do you think would happen if the services completely collapsed under the strain of uncontrolled coronavirus? It would be a damn sight worse for them. What would that do for their depression when they see chaos all around them? When they can't get vital medication? When their nurses are all off sick or treating other cases? What then?

flaxmeadow sorry to hear about yr teenager hope help is being received.💐

My Dgd spent 16 weeks being shielded in which she spent the most part on her own while her mum worked 12 he shifts and I know that her mental health was bad. She never went out the door in all that time and had to have treatment for anxiety but thankfully is now 100% better both physically and mentally. I know that this is not the case for many and I understand why people would not want complete lockdown.
But unfortunately it's going to happen because new measures will not be enough to hold the virus back from overwhelming the NHS. It has quadrupled in a fortnight in all areas positive tests hospitalization and deaths. The worst is about fortnight away where deaths will be back up to 500 a day.

The first lock down achieved nothing. Medical staff didn't even have enough protective equipment. Some care homes had none. It's been thoroughly mishandled and continues to be.

People talk about the economy being the most importabt, dead people can't pay taxes or work, sick people can't work. The health of the nation has to be priority during a world pandemic.

I overheard my horrible next door neighbour (a headteacher!) saying that she would love another lockdown

Sorry flax read yr post wrong xc

@Sostenueto

People talk about the economy being the most importabt, dead people can't pay taxes or work, sick people can't work. The health of the nation has to be priority during a world pandemic.

The average age of people dying with COVID is around 82. I doubt many of them were working...

But unfortunately it's going to happen because new measures will not be enough to hold the virus back from overwhelming the NHS. It has quadrupled in a fortnight in all areas positive tests hospitalization and deaths. The worst is about fortnight away where deaths will be back up to 500 a day

Yes and we have more and more people now saying they will not abide by the rules

I honestly despair at all the comments we see now all over social media, so many saying they will not follow the rules. It's more frightening than the virus because they don't seem to be able to comprehend just how serious the situation is and how quickly it can spiral out of control.

For days now all the hospitals in my region have been telling people to stay away unless its urgent. But no one seems to care anymore

The average age of people dying with COVID is around 82. I doubt many of them were working...

What is your point?

@Flaxmeadow

Again, people are missing the point of lockdown. It isnt to stop people becoming sick or dying, it's to stop people bexoming sick or dying ALL AT ONCE

We, and not just in the UK, have been told since March, time and time again, that the reason for lockdown is to slow the spread of the virus down in order to save the health services. Not just the health services but other services too

If this virus is allowed to spread uncontrolled then we will not have those services and this would be a rapid collapse

People would die in the street, there would be chaos, food shortages, martial law, the army would have to be brought in. There would no ambulances to call, no functioning hospitals or GP practices, no police or social services to help. If you think it's bad now, without restrictions it would get much worse

Many 100,000s of people would require some kind of assistance from services all at the same time and many of the people manning those services would also be off sick or in isolation or quarantine

What part of this don't people understand? What part of how serious this global crisis is don't people get?

@Flaxmeadow The crazed ramblings of a swivel-eyed lunatic.

Your assertion that FOOD SHORTAGES, DEATHS IN THE STREET (really?....) and MARTIAL LAW would result from a relaxation of lockdown measures is utterly baseless.

85% of COVID cases are mild/asymptomatic. Only 304 people under 60 with no underlying conditions have succumbed to the virus. Need I go on? Coronavirus would not bring our country to its knees in absence of lockdown measures.

No

@WanderingMilly

No. Last one was a waste of time since we are now back to where we were (relatively speaking) when the last lockdown began. Except that now we've ruined the economy, spoiled a load of education, played havoc with people's mental health and destroyed some families who haven't visited vulnerable loved ones for months.

The lockdown was not a waste of time. It had the desired effect. The problem is that a) The government messed up withTest and Trace and b] The end of lockdown was not well handled centrally and stupid things like allowing foreign travel in and out of the UK, opening all pubs , 'Eat Out to Help Out' were put in place which encouraged social contact, universities were allowed to open on campuses in cities and students went mad as usual, and far too many people have been unwilling to follow social distancing rules - they won't wear masks, ignore rules about socialising in large groups, do not wash their hands and will not isolate if they come into contact with someone who may be infected.

I think it would have helped control it if:
Foreign travel in and out of the country had remained strictly controlled
Test, Track and Trace had been pursued vigorously by the NHS not a private company and isolation checked up on
Eat Out to Help Out was ludicrous
Bars and pubs in city centres should have closed at 6pm as should any shop selling alcohol. There seems to be few issues with local pubs -it is city centre 'drinking strips' where younger people stagger from pub to pub.
Universities should not have opened to teaching on campus - just to remote learning.
There was a huge public education programme about mask wearing, handwashing, self-isolation etc that needed to be continually upfront and centre and it hasn't been.
Politicians have all behaved badly apart from Keir Starmer.Theincompetency,lying, self-interest and political pint scoring have been disgraceful.
Boris has not lead the country.He has been far too low key.
His instinct is always not to enforce restrictions but to rely on people doing things. It has backfired spectacularly and is now out of control.
Add to that the disgraceful reporting by the Daily Mail which has spent months exaggerating, lying and whipping the public up into a frenzy by misrepresenting statistics, misrepresenting what Chris Witty and Patrick Vallance have said and scaring people with exaggeration.

A lockdown maybe the only way to get things under control but it is pointless unless he addresses why all the ground we gained from the last one is being lost, and I wonder now if he has the authority to impose it and make people follow it. I think we may have to see a huge rise in deaths and infections across the whole country before the idiots will believe it and do it.