Tier 2 length of time?

[CallmeFP]

Is the length of time Tier 2 is to be put in place initially for 4 weeks? Can’t find any info.

No mention of a time limit that I can see. Are you talking about London and Essex? Only difference between tier 1 and 2 is no mixing of households.

Likely we'll move into Tier 3 before we go back to Tier 1.

London

DC are devastated! Receiving texts saying half term will be ‘so shit’. They have amazing friends and will miss socialising terribly.

Same as that. They were just finding their feet again. What a miserable year for them.

I think they could go out to town shopping together or such for the day once not more than six. Just can't mix indoors.

It's utter bollocks. You can't expect people to comply with no indication of how long they're expected to comply for.

This:

It's utter bollocks. You can't expect people to comply with no indication of how long they're expected to comply for.

There needs to be a clear path out to incentivise people to follow the rules. Otherwise it’s pointless.

Yes, with no end in sight, people become frustrated and apathetic.

And what are they going to measure against? Essex has very low numbers, lower than places which are not in tier 2. So it can’t be judged against the numbers.

I personally think it's not down to a rate of infection per capita, but NHS capacity i.e. percentage of beds COVID related and ICU capacity. I think Liverpool in Tier 3, has an ICU occupation level of 95%. NI have opened a floor of their Nightingale hospital I believe.

I don't think that they want us to know that it's NHS capacity that's determining our freedom as that would rightly invoke fury at the government. It's much easier to blame us as individuals.

Shouldn't be 'Protect the NHS'. It should be 'Cover our asses and don't let them know that the NHS is totally unfit for purpose'. Or 'Sshh, don't mention how inadequate our NHS is'. Or 'We'll have no beds for you if you get sick, so you better watch your back'.

Just listening to Matt Hancock on Sky now in House of Commons. It's obvious that it's all about NHS capacity.

The government is taking the approach that you'd imagine a rabbit caught in headlights would take. Darting here and there, then standing still, utterly frozen. They haven't a fucking clue. Until they're honest and start increasing NHS capacity, we can expect this shit to continue. Don't hold your breath for that one. So annoyed.

And be under no illusion that this is some empathetic concern for our collective health. It's concern for their own arses.

Here in Cheshire, we're in tier 2, and although I can understand why, it does feel like a life sentence. Nobody ever seems to come out of additional measures, things just keep getting worse in areas that have had tier 2 type restrictions (yes some stabilisation may be happening in some areas but no sign of decline really). It feels like a one way street with no end to it, and that's what I have a problem with, because there will be people who see that as no incentive to comply. If we all do as we're told, it's still very unlikely we'll see a drop in numbers (Whitty has pretty much said this), so I'm not sure what happens when you're looking at people approaching Christmas, not having been allowed to see family for months....I'm not sure people will see the point of compliance.

Lady on now saying that being in Tier 3 doesn't have an effect.

Good point brought up by another lady in the HoC. The loneliness involved in care homes. It's so sad what they're doing. It's awful for older people as they are unfortunately so terribly vulnerable to this disease it appears by A. being more likely to catch it and B. more likely to succumb to it.

I'm in the Liverpool area of Tier 3, and honestly, nothing whatsoever seems to have changed here. I had to visit the bank yesterday and town was absolutely rammed, people sitting in coffee shops (I'd be very surprised if they were the same households), groups of teens messing about etc. Plus our neighbours on both sides have had visitors - neither side are vulnerable so they don't need help in any way.

I think people are absolutely fed up of it now, and are just ignoring the rules.

My dad even text me last night saying if the rules say we can't be together at Christmas he's ignoring them. I said I wouldn't be ignoring them, and DP and I would be having a quiet Christmas on our own if that was the case, and you'd think I'd shot his cat with his reaction. He says I'm upsetting the whole family and would ruin Christmas. No. Covid will ruin Christmas. Nobody should be made to feel bad for sticking to the rules.

LindaEllen can you accept that your Dad probably needs family and socialisation more than you do in your nuclear family? It's so lonely if your Dad lives alone. You have a partner. The older you get, the more joy you get from family.

I wonder if you've 4 builders or something, who go out for their lunch in a cafe every day, 4 different households, are they allowed to eat together as they work together or are they expected to sit separately?

Oh Linda your poor dad. Wouldn't that count as a care need?

In Manchester- we've had this more fucking ages. And now you give a shit.

@WithYouWhenDrinkingWasNew

It's utter bollocks. You can't expect people to comply with no indication of how long they're expected to comply for.

Welcome to our world! The north has been expected to for weeks/ months now 🙈

@Polkadotties

And what are they going to measure against? Essex has very low numbers, lower than places which are not in tier 2. So it can’t be judged against the numbers.

Presumably we're supposed to wait until the Great God that is the leader of Essex County Council changes his mind - at which point he might find that it is (it would seem) quite easy to randomly request to go up tiers, going down might not be so straightforward...