Surely we’ll all be in full lockdown very soon?

[Browneyedgirl20]

With the recent travel bans and now freight banned from France, Hancock saying the new variant is ‘out of control’ etc - how long can it be until the whole UK is in lockdown? A few days maybe?

I worry about the economy and haven't always been big lockdown fans but it needs to happen soon..why can't they do it now over Christmas? Christmas has been ruined anyway. The situation is dire. It makes sense to do it now while schools are off. Schools should shut too (apart from vulnerable and key worker kids) like in the first lockdown.

If I was playing devil's advocate I'd say that maybe all school, retail and NHS staff who are more likely to have been exposed should be told to self isolate to protect everybody else who can then socialise to their heart's content.

@Chaotic45

"But I WILL NOT cancel Christmas plans a couple of days before, just because someone in the government decided to change their minds about the guidance they issued a week ago."

Things change, virus mutate, people revise their decisions- that's a global pandemic for you.

You are now a part of the problem- one of the people more important than 'the others' . I call your group 'the entitled'.

The pandemic has definitely shown how entitled a lot of people think they are

@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum I agree. It's been a really sad side effect of the whole thing for me- to realise how many people really are not very nice, or kind.

On the flip side I feel lucky that I have some lovely friends who see things as I do. They have been an enormous comfort and are the thing I am most grateful for, they make life so much better.

@xmasfairybuns

If I was playing devil's advocate I'd say that maybe all school, retail and NHS staff who are more likely to have been exposed should be told to self isolate to protect everybody else who can then socialise to their heart's content.

Please don't even suggest that in the name of science or jest.

We will end up with a load of morons trying to ban keyworkers and kids from places again. Some places tried that first time round.

Definitely there is a case for what you are saying but morally it is horrendous.

[quote Chaotic45]@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum I agree. It's been a really sad side effect of the whole thing for me- to realise how many people really are not very nice, or kind.

On the flip side I feel lucky that I have some lovely friends who see things as I do. They have been an enormous comfort and are the thing I am most grateful for, they make life so much better. [/quote]
Agree it does show how brilliant some people are too

@PandemicPavolova

Medievalist, I would say so personally, yes! Then people can plan? Surely the small advantage is to have schools off, so why not extend that?

Most places, close or have reduced hours over Xmas, even the poor hospitality industry, so why not ride this wave and do it!

I'm can't fathom however why this has been so sudden, I mean with cases building then suddenly exploding today!

My area of London we have for a couple of weeks a two mobile testing units. These will test anyone you don't need symptoms or an appointment. They are encouraging people to go get tested even if they have no know contact with a positive case.

These mobile units are on top of the normal drive in test centres we already had.

This means we are picking up large numbers of cases that we wouldn't have before.

I know these mobile units have popped up all over London. So the case numbers will also have gone up simply because we ate finding infections that we never would have.

It is only the deaths and hospital admissions that will show the real up tick. In London anyway.

@bellinisurge I'm just tired of seeing the same old armchair speculation rehashed again and again, like it could make any difference when we're about to be yanked off a sickeningly high cliff edge. Perhaps I just shouldn't click on any of the trending threads for the foreseeable, it's doing my head in!

But I loathe and detest Johnson et al with a fucking vengeance so please don't project that shit onto me 🙏

We will end up with a load of morons trying to ban keyworkers and kids from places again. Some places tried that first time round.

Did they? Morons.

I work in one of those areas, I've barely been anywhere since March to try and avoid risking spreading it, apart from work I've self isolated for a fortnight so I don't give it to anybody in the run up to xmas.

After this evening’s press conference, two things strike me:

1. if the new variant is already present in different parts of the country, it would be better to lock down everywhere as soon as possible to stop numbers building, rather than wait until they have

2. Numbers in Kent managed to rise even during the November lockdown, which suggests it isn’t enough.

So, to augment the national lockdown (a Boxing Day is my guess), I wonder whether it would actually make sense to include some lower risk people in the vaccine rollout, those who have frequent contact with others. We would need Oxford vaccine, though, for that to be possible.

Agree we've known about this since mid November. It will come to more draconian measures but it is also, in part, hiding Brexit chaos and anger.

You would think prioritising vaccinating people who are " high contact" might be a way forward.

Are you all stupid.
Why would you waste vaccines on young people and children when they are at no risk. They don’t even know if the vaccine will just leave people asymptotic and able to still spread Covid, but not get I’ll themselves!!

You would think prioritising vaccinating people who are " high contact" might be a way forward.

Indeed 🤷‍♀️.

But the government has come in for so much stick because of the care home debacle at the start of the pandemic, they wouldn't have the guts to say they're going to start anywhere else.

I would vaccinate healthcare workers (including those who work in care homes) and teachers first.

@Medievalist the trouble is that it would be impossible to come up with a solution that people could agree on which works on that basis. So more opinions, fighting and unpopularity for the government.

Much easier to go by age.

Easier not better....

The vaccines don't stop the spread do they?

They reduce the severity of the illness.

So people at the highest risk of serious illness and death should get them.

As they are.

I think the almost the whole country will be in Tier 4 for New Year. Except for the current Tier 4 places, and Tier 4 adjacent Tier 2s.

Who will be in Tier 5.

A friend sent me a screenshot of an email from Jeremy Hunt to someone saying that the remainder of Surrey & Hants not yet in Tier 4 will go in on 30th December.

think the almost the whole country will be in Tier 4 for New Year

I don't.

You would think prioritising vaccinating people who are " high contact" might be a way forward

Why? Ahead of knowing whether the vaccine stops transmission?

What we do know is that it means that people who get the disease almost invariable get it mildly - essentially that means that everyone has the risk of a healthy young adult. By vaccinating on the programme we have, we save 90% of deaths. Think of the impact on hospital admissions! And with staff not going absent, healthcare would no longer be at risk of being overwhelmed. We could start to get back to normal!

Protect the vulnerable and everyone carries on. A heartless slogan before, now becomes an actual prospect, as there is a way to protect.

What does Tier 5 involve? At the moment (and I concede it is the holidays so no school) tier 4 is a lot like the first lockdown except I can go for a run on my own and out with the children for a walk. I will be incredibly pissed off if they take unlimited exercise out and I really don’t see the need

There's no tier 5!

Exactly apart from schools there is very little we can go. The Government I think are hoping that there will start to be a drop over the next two weeks in the current Tier 4 places because the implications if they dont means there is nowhere to go.

Because in England Tier 4 - schools arent open at the moment and that is the only play left.

I'm starting to get worried now. I'm planning on staying with my elderly mum between Christmas eve & Sunday 27th (we're in a support bubble, both single-person households, her in tier 3 and me in tier 2) but what happens if they suddenly announce no travel outside of local area? Could there be police on the motorway stopping people so I can't get home?

@QuieterMass have they ever stopped people from bubbling up? Even in April/May? Surely not