Breaking News - Press conference

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I almost can’t stand it. What the hell will they be announcing now?

@nosswith

Universities need to be in person. So my engineering student dd who is designing a smart ventilator isn't entitled to the education she's paying for? Engineers are vital for Britain! She only gets 3 years and has already lost a few months of labs because they ended early in March and didn't restart until November.

The spread is caused by socialising and not following the existing rules, and wayward politicians, special advisors and celebs aren't helping with cooperation from the public. Secondary school kids are walking home in groups of 10-15, holding parties etc

Here we go again. Basically lockdown.

What a fucking shambles!

The only bunglecunts I see are the people warring and ignoring the guidelines.

It’s because people aren’t listening. Looking on MN - people who are claiming they are following the rules (but often they aren’t).Of course things are changing quickly. It’s the virus doing this. Not the government.

@VaTeLaverLesMains

Sofia thanks. I'm not really looking for sympathy, rather trying to make people see that even if they aren't bothered about strangers, have they really thought through the prospect of not being able to get life saving treatment for their own families in January and February??

No I know, I didn't read it as you fishing for sympathy. It just resonated with me as I have relatives in similarly worrying situations with a reliance upon the NHS being there for them after Christmas.

I have no plans to not see my family over Xmas. It’s already planned and all bought for.

@vjg13

Exactly my thoughts, perhaps with "non essential" shops closed with exemptions in place for lots of big chains because they sell 10 items of food stuffs and 6 house plants. Meanwhile poor Leicester has never come out of restrictions.

Boris Johnson is the most useless despised Prime Minister in history and he will be judged very harshly in the years to come for his part in this. It's so predictable.

People who don't follow rules are only following the example set by Dominic Cummings and Robert Jenrick, neither of whom were sacked.

@snowballer what is your point? Has any government through the course of this pandemic stuck to what they said in March? Surely the very nature of a virus is that its always changing. I think most people incl the government know mixing at Christmas will increase rates but many people will mix regardless.

@RosePetalss

What ever he says today will make no difference for a vast amount of people. People are going to go ahead with what ever plans they have already made. We most definitely will be going ahead with our plans.

The more spontaneous press conferences there are the more people are going to get fed up and do what they want anyway.

I think you're wrong. Lots of people will take notice and will do as they are asked.

Not because they like Boris, but because they are able to see that the only way to reduce the effects of this awful situation is to limit people's contact with each other.

Some people will carry on regardless, some people will refuse to follow rules unless they are enforced but some people will do the right thing.

I wonder of all those asking how things will be enforced only follow laws or rules that are enforced in their everyday life? Do they speed when driving, refuse to wear a seatbelt, steal things, and (the biggest sign of a selfish entitled person) drop litter- bet they do!

@bettxmascake

Just what I was thinking. You know the keyworkers not just everyone else. Doctors, nurses, supermarket cashiers, etc

Maybe they will ask to see your pass at the ticket barrier?

The elf on a shelf Mayor of London has a habit of mucking up tfl. First lockdown fine reduce trains because of less passengers but not so much keyworkers are crowded in and at more risk than at work.

He will cock this up too. Government will say something bad and he will make it even worse. I actually liked him before the pandemic!

@tootyfruitypickle

He’s got to cancel the bubble idea. It’s madness.

For who ? Why should folks spend Christmas isolated on their own?

Those suggesting stop railways and underground etc. Just how would the London hospitals (and other emergency services) then be staffed?

Look how many people on this thread alone have said they won't stick to the rules & I bet most of them have complied with all the other restrictions.

At least we should avert the disaster that would have happened in Jan had they gone ahead with the 5 day madness. Jan will be bad enough anyway. Christmas Day is sufficient.

This whole 'new strain' scaremongering sounds like it's to save face as they should never have gone ahead with it in the first place.

@Bathroom12345

It’s because people aren’t listening. Looking on MN - people who are claiming they are following the rules (but often they aren’t).Of course things are changing quickly. It’s the virus doing this. Not the government.

Not true. I don't know anyone who hasn't followed the rules - most have gone beyond the rules in their precautions, in fact. But some of us have been following strict rules for most of the year. Cases in the north have even come down - but we're stuck in bloody tier 3 because the PM left London in tier 2 for too long and what's happening in London has continued to define the approach for the whole of England, whether it's appropriate or not.

I wonder if a travel ban would include childcare or if DD would still have to travel 4 hours to London to visit her dad. I just don't want her to bring the new strain home to Tier 2 a week later.

Another thing which I don't think is widely explained or understood.

The pressures on the NHS aren't just because staff are dealing with covid patients.

They're having to have fewer patients in wards and clinics be because of social distancing.

So fewer slots for treatments or operations. Plus staff off isolating or with stress/burnout.

I didn't understand that until this happened and I was in hospital. That's even in areas with low numbers.

I think the gov communication strategies have been poor to explain why it matters.

I hope they don’t cancel. We’ve not seen my parents since March and my gran died last week. My Mum is in a bad place with it and has been hanging on to being able to see her grandchildren. I’m worried about her if they do row back on plans.

Given that almost every country in Europe has now announced new lockdowns it does not take a crystal ball to predict that England will also go into a new, stricter lockdown soon.

For context, yesterday Austria announced a total lockdown lasting until 18th January, with a short window on 24th and 25th December when people can mix with a very limited bubble. All hotels, restaurants and cafes are closed until 25th January. There is already a curfew from 8pm. After Christmas only essential shops will be open and during the daytime, people will only be allowed to leave their homes for a few specific reasons. Schools are closed until mid-January. There is a tentative plan to test everyone over the weekend of 16th and 17th January, and anyone refusing to be tested will be required to self-isolate for a week.

Similarly, Denmark closed all shopping centres earlier in the week, and Italy is in almost total lockdown, with people only allowed out for an hour a day.

Meanwhile, Johnson does not want to do anything that might be remotely unpopular, so he dithers, listens to those who tell him what he want to hear rather than those who have insight, refuses to lead and is scared rigid by the idiots like IDS on the right-wing of his party.

The new mutation finally gives him the excuse that he needs to make an unpopular decision. If he had the balls to actually lead and make decisions in the first place, he wouldn't be forever making U-turns and people would be able to make plans with the reasonable assumption that they might actually be able to see them through.

@Chaotic45 Going by my social media today which has gone mad this afternoon many friends/family are also going ahead with plans no matter what today’s announcement is 🤷🏼‍♀️

After being in lockdown most of the year people are getting fed up as all the lockdown did was bring the numbers down a few weeks, covid is still out there and will be for a very long time. As time has gone on people are realising that they can’t hide from it they have to live their lives alongside it.

I wonder of all those asking how things will be enforced only follow laws or rules that are enforced in their everyday life? Do they speed when driving, refuse to wear a seatbelt, steal things, and (the biggest sign of a selfish entitled person) drop litter- bet they do!

I won’t be following any Xmas rules if Boris changes the bubble thing.

Speed ... Occasionally
Wear a seatbelt? Of course I do, I want to live if I crash.
Steal things? No, I can afford the things I want.
Drop litter? Also a no

@feellikeanalien As you can tell from my post, it was written quite generally as a number of posters reflected the same thoughts. However, as you feel personally attacked, I'd point out that we use a number of different modelling techniques which we then weight to look at different scenarios. I'm sorry if you are left unsatisfied with data science. I'd be happy to engage in a discussion of these methods, and explain how they work if that is helpful for people on a different thread. My PhD is in a related area.

While I have lots of sympathy for those who lost out on time with elderly or already ill relatives, your logic could extend to those whose family members would have experienced a death as a result of an accident which then didn't occur due to lockdown. Ultimately, 66,500+ people have died of COVID this year in the UK. Governments and advisors design policies that are general, not specific to your situation - as it should be.

Christmas in countries that locked down fast and hard are having a normal Christmas this year: perhaps following the rules isn't such a bad idea.