BBC news...Matt Hancock says tier 4 could last for months due to this new strain

[ssd]

He must be joking.

Months of this there will be no businesses left

@IcedPurple

I don't have a freezer, so have to shop more frequently than once a week.

This reminds me of those weird threads back in March, with people saying you only needed to buy milk once every 2 weeks, as you could make cute little milk cubes in ice cube trays in your freezer. Because everyone has a freezer, in addition to a car to carry your 10 litres of milk. Because of course.

Exactly. Not everyone has a freezer! I have a small freezer compartment in a fridge that holds very little.

A freezer would be very useful though! Will wait til sales.

@treening

FishyDog

Just for that, I'm off for a non essential walk.

Me too! 😂

Looks like rain, though...Enjoy your walk, Treening.

Children in Spain were not allowed to leave the house for two months. At all. In order to keep people safe.

And this absolutely barbaric requirement made zero difference to the actual transmission rate and the speed of drop in COVID cases. UK with its relatively relaxed lockdown in April-May did as well as other countries and managed to get infections to a very low level over summer. Virus seasonality mattered more than we realised.

What we are now seeing is the opposite trend - cases in Europe are going up irrespective of individual countries' mask policies or stringency of lockdowns/curfews. The countries are doing better than others are those that have got lower population density (e.g. Finland, Norway). Everyone else is struggling.

If those of us who actually want to save lives and keep people safe were empowered to report rule breakers (and rewarded for doing so) who show no regard for public safety, this situation would be over quicker

Best perhaps to assume this is some kind of joke - otherwise it's disturbing to know some really think like this, though there's no accounting for taste I guess

It was identified in September? What took them so long

Perhaps it was "saved" until it could be of most use as a control mechanism?

@dreamingbohemian

I know *@WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants* and to be clear I don't mean ALL Londoners should get priority, but those people in London (or any Tier 4 equivalent area) who we depend on to keep things open and functioning, including teachers.

Like, a teacher in Tier 4 probably needs the vaccine more than a random 60 year old in Tier 1 or 2 who can stay home safely.

Oh I don't disagree with at least looking at it, but I'd be dreading the whinging threads about Londoners being prioritised 🤦🏻‍♀️

They're hoping/expecting the Oxford vaccine to be approved by the end of the year, so hopefully we can start getting that into people in the first week in January. Hopefully then the priority list will become basically defunct as so many will be able to get it quickly. 🤞🏼

[quote FishyDog]@IcedPurple

Children in Spain were not allowed to leave the house for two months. At all. In order to keep people safe.

Here on the other hand we have people going out multiple times per day for non-essential reasons . We have shops open selling Christmas decorations and paint ffs.

If those of us who actually want to save lives and keep people safe were empowered to report rule breakers (and rewarded for doing so) who show no regard for public safety, this situation would be over quicker.

The vast majority of people do not need to leave home at all over the festive period. Far too many are selfish and do not care about the impact going out unnecessarily has on others.

[/quote]
One of the most terrifying things I've read on here.

Here's an idea, you STAY THE FUCK AT HOME clutching your pearls, tutting disapprovingly to your DH and peering round your ghastly net curtains for the rest of your life.

I'll be going out plenty of times over the next few weeks. Some lovely walks with friends and family, a mulled wine in the park, picnics.

@treening

FishyDog is obviously a GF.

I think we found Priti Patel on MN.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

even I am now wondering where/when this is all going to end

It'll only end when folk come to terms with what was obvious all along: that you can't "control" a virus, that the cost of this is out of all proportion to the threat and that the only thing left if the vaccines don't work is to learn to live with it

Unfortunately, the level of panic which has been encouraged is a bit of a stumbling block to that - not least because, if it happens, the cry will be "why didn't they do this in the first place instead of causing all this ruin?"

This

Well here's one casualty.

@FrippEnos

WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants

But can you imagine the whinging if Londoners were to get priority vaccines????

Do you actually mean those that would have a valid complaint about how london and the south east are once again being prioritised?

@dreamingbohemian

See what I mean?

Mention london & whether it's a good idea or not the massive amounts of chips come out to play. How their shoulders cope I don't know!

I'm not a Londoner (anymore) either. I'm in a T2 spot south of there. If they do vaccinate in T4 areas first I'll be further down the line despite having underlying conditions. My family is in the North too, but strangely enough, I can still understand the need to priories where the newer strain is more active.

I live in London and you'd never know there was a lockdown with the number of people and cats about this morning!

Cats are so stupid, they don't seem to realise there's a problem

I agree with whoever wrote about increasing homes being built ( my area is unrecognizable in places with new flats and homes going up ) yet the same hospitals cover my area with increasing number of people using them. The local doctors surgery is overflowing. That's all without covid in the mix or these new folk moving in them yet.
I was watching an old film made in 1983 last night and everywhere looked so empty : overpopulation and an aging population have not helped at all. We are living longer of course.
I don't have the answers here and if there are going to be restrictions until next year I can't see people doing it. Having non essential shops closed can't go on forever.
The NHS has to be funded somehow.
More people will die not from covid because they are being put on the ' back burner' so to speak by our health service.
It's all so grim and very worrying.

@FishyDog

It's quite clear that the tier 4 rules will need to be in place for months if people continue to not follow the rules. I live in London and you'd never know there was a lockdown with the number of people and cats about this morning!

Frankly, tier 4 is a walk in the park compared to the rules in other countries.

I'd like to see a proper lockdown implemented until the end of January at least- one hour of outdoor exercise per day (not endless gallivanting and going out for unnecessary reasons), one shopping trip per week (for essential food and medicine only, not wine and gin ) and £100 rewards for neighbours who report people out for too long or too often.

The rule should be that unless you are a key worker or out for infrequent exercise or shopping, stay the fuck at home.

This is worse than March and April. I can't believe there are people who think like this aspire to join the Stasi. Fuck off to North Korea with your one hour of exercise per day shopping trip per week for what in your mind class as essentials.

I think schools will end up closing

I hope they don't have to close en masse. Why can't children attend part time on rotation? They should have done this in September to keep numbers down.

@IcedPurple

I don't have a freezer, so have to shop more frequently than once a week.

This reminds me of those weird threads back in March, with people saying you only needed to buy milk once every 2 weeks, as you could make cute little milk cubes in ice cube trays in your freezer. Because everyone has a freezer, in addition to a car to carry your 10 litres of milk. Because of course.

lol milk ice cubes.

As mad as it sounds those people would have been shot down with the “don’t you realise there’s a GLOBAL PANDEMIC” going on

I remember one post on here when someone said milk wasn’t an essential and people shouldn’t be buying it.

I don't think primary schools will close.

It'll cause many problems in Jan when the older children go back I'm sure. Testing all the children will be a huge challenge..
that will be a nightmare for staff and the children.
I'm dreading the New Year to be honest.

@FishyDog why are you bleating about concerts? There are no concerts for the foreseeable , and when there are concerts I expect it will be because the coronavirus numbers are negligible so it will be possible.
I'd have more enthusiasm for the zero tolerance who cares if it gives DCs rickets, anxiety and type 2 diabetes lockdown, if it had proved long term effective in the countries that embraced it. Braying for closing of airports for all except freight passage might be a slightly more useful stance.

@FishyDog

Frankly this isn't about who has a freezer. We all have to make sacrifices in order to save lives- life will need to change permanently because of this virus.

We will all need to start showing more responsibility to others. There will be no more large events, no more large gatherings. Zoom will replace large Christmas dinners with family.

The same people who 'need to' go shopping every day will be the same ones proclaiming their right to go to concerts in future is more important than saving lives

You're enjoying this aren't you? You're talking as if it's going to go on forever.

And life will not need to change permanently. There is a vaccine. If I thought that not seeing extended family at Christmas or ever going on holiday again was a permanent thing, I'd seriously top myself now. As it is going for walks with friends and my outdoor exercise class are the only source of hope I have.

In that case, prioritise vaccinations for T4 residents then. Maybe but you would have to consider the logistics. You could prioritise sending them vaccine to T4 but if they can't cope with doing that number of vaccinations in a short period it would just be a waste.

I know it might be a bit dearer but the filtered milk keeps fresh longer. It might help someone.

Fishy, don’t be absurd. No more large gatherings?! What, forever? Not many people are that altruistic.

Besides, we could save the nhs in far less costly ways - food rationing perhaps. No obesity, less t2 diabetes, less heart disease, reduced rates of some types of cancer, fewer musculoskeletal problems.... then the nhs would have all the time in the world to sort out covid patients.

WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants

I'm in the south east so wind your neck in.

But then if you enjoy being a perpetual victim, carry on whinging.

Definitely think they will need to start vaccinating teachers as joint priority with over 70s next , tier by tier ideally. In order to keep schools going . Possibly also secondary parents. If our National priority is education. I have sensible secondary but home learning is hopeless.