National lockdown needed

[Ilovegreentomatoes]

Record breaking 40,000 new cases today why on earth is boris not calling for a national lockdown now? Why is he so slow at acting on a fast moving virus?

If anyone gave a shite about the rules and actually followed them it would be a start.

Just about everyone I speak to broke/ twisted the xmas rules in T4 here. They all had a special case to do soon course

I think everyone is so fucked off they won't abide by full lockdown rules.

And if joe fucking wickes reappears I might shoot myself.

Ps I will abide but I won't survive the schools shutting mentally...

We were locked down for 10 weeks from March 2020 including school closures - and cases STILL ROSE. The lockdowns don't work, open the nightingales, use army medics as staffers and accept that some people will die, as they do everyday around the world. Before anyone accuses me of being heartless, I appreciate it's upsetting to see people dying and I've lost people myself this year, but we cannot kill the economy and the opportunities of our children for the 0.3%

we can't afford to...

The tiers are fucking useless while borders are still open. They’re trying to localise little outbreaks and cut them off, while we are still open to the whole world. Barmy. I was really sympathetic to open borders in the spring for everyone who lives and works on a global scale. Have run out of sympathy. They need to close them IMO! Certainly before (or at the same time as) a national lockdown.

@HopeYourHighHorseBucks

Targeting specific hotspot areas and controlling things there is a better plan. You would have to have better systems in place though (which we will never have) trying to minimise the strain on the NHS. Ensuring people can still work if the risk is low.

The tier shite could have been a great plan. Shame like everything else it's gone tits up.

Unfortunately, localised tiers require agreement of the local authorities. Just look at the Manchester fiasco with Andy Burnham playing politics for 2 weeks when it was blatantly obvious increased restrictions were needed "now". Then you have the fiasco of a street where one side is in one tier and the other side in another because they were in different local authority areas. And, of course, people travelling from one tier to another where pubs/restaurants were still open. In theory, the local tiers were a good idea. In practice, national govt, local govt and normal people messed it up.

@StylishMummy

We were locked down for 10 weeks from March 2020 including school closures - and cases STILL ROSE. The lockdowns don't work, open the nightingales, use army medics as staffers and accept that some people will die, as they do everyday around the world. Before anyone accuses me of being heartless, I appreciate it's upsetting to see people dying and I've lost people myself this year, but we cannot kill the economy and the opportunities of our children for the 0.3%

No, this is bollocks, cases fell between March and July. Do you not do data?

46,000 cases by specimen date from the 21/12 in the U.K. 44,000 from the 22/12 which is the last date we data for the whole of the U.K.

Doubled in about 9-10 days by the look of it. I doubt this is a high number due to reporting backlog.

Why haven't we utilised the nightingales ? They must have cost a fortune to build/ set up...

Surely if it's staffing the numbers of staff can't have changed significantly since the decision was made to create them.

Honestly- I'm no fan of Boris but I'd like to see everyone slagging him off have a go at being PM... what ever he does he's slated..

I believe whoever was in that position would have been the same.
Damed if they did and damned if they didn't.

@Katie517

Cases are high today because of reporting backlogs over the Xmas period, if you look at cases by specimen date rather than reported date it’s not such a significant jump but then again that won’t fuel the lockdown loving headlines will it. Let’s face it if they put the whole country into tier 4 there is no where else they can go than closing schools, faffing about closing garden centres or putting restrictions on exercise or banning meeting 1 person outdoors will do absolutely nothing while ever secondary schools are still open. I will not be taking notice of any further restrictions above tier 4 if they keep schools open. Meeting a friend outside for a walk or a run kept me sane in the November lockdown it would be inhumane to take that away and to be frank people just won’t take any notice.

Don't think it makes it any better by actual date. 46.8k on the 21st.

Why do you think people will respect a national lockdown if they are not respecting Tier 4? Do you think we have enough police to enforce it? Do you think people here will fill in paperwork before leaving the house?

@StylishMummy

We were locked down for 10 weeks from March 2020 including school closures - and cases STILL ROSE. The lockdowns don't work, open the nightingales, use army medics as staffers and accept that some people will die, as they do everyday around the world. Before anyone accuses me of being heartless, I appreciate it's upsetting to see people dying and I've lost people myself this year, but we cannot kill the economy and the opportunities of our children for the 0.3%

Cases fell massively and we had very, very, low numbers of infections/deaths in July. So, the 3 month lockdown "did what it says on the tin". Trouble was that in Summer, too many people thought it was over and went on holidays, went to pubs/restaurants, had parties, etc., and covid came back. Loads of people on here and other SM claiming London "must have reached" herd immunity because there were barely any cases. What fools they must feel they are now!

@Musicaldilemma

Why do you think people will respect a national lockdown if they are not respecting Tier 4? Do you think we have enough police to enforce it? Do you think people here will fill in paperwork before leaving the house?

You close things down, i.e. airports, non essential shops, schools, play areas, pubs, restaurants, etc. All those can be "policed" by the police and local authorities. Shops, particularly supermarkets, could start enforcing entry restrictions again via their own security staff. Obviously, you can't "police" people having a small gathering at home, but you can certainly stop larger gatherings and riskier activities by closing the venues.

@thebearschairs

Why haven't we utilised the nightingales ? They must have cost a fortune to build/ set up...

Surely if it's staffing the numbers of staff can't have changed significantly since the decision was made to create them.

Honestly- I'm no fan of Boris but I'd like to see everyone slagging him off have a go at being PM... what ever he does he's slated..

I believe whoever was in that position would have been the same.
Damed if they did and damned if they didn't.

Apparently too many NHS staff are isolating, shielding, etc., so there are barely enough staff to run the normal hospitals, let alone the Nightingales. Obviously, whoever planned the Nightingales didn't plan for huge numbers of staff being unable to work due to being vulnerable due to health conditions, etc.

When I read some of the replies on here I can fully understand why we are in this mess.

@Kazxyhoward - I mean the youth if you close schools and colleges. In my part of South East London they might riot etc- and then you have more problems/casualties in A&E. Have you been on Twitter and observed the sentiment amongst the young? I can’t see them staying home even if you threaten criminal charges/huge fines and if you have poorer parents out at work, how is that fair?

It really troubles me when in the face of this, people comment on why it can’t happen because of xyz of their own personal circumstance. As if they’re the only ones to be inconvenienced or as if it were someone’s fault.

It’s a mutating life threatening virus.

Why can't we think outside the box for this.

Shut schools. Cancel June exams. Open schools end of may till mid august.

Don't bugger about with online learning. It doesn't work for anyone in primary and I doubt very much for most senior school kids. It's stressful on kids, parents and staff. So just swap the year about. Have exams in august. Get examiners sorted out to do a big rush on sept. Or unis go on grades.

I also think we need to start fining people. I will be so angry if my kids education Is screwed but local
Families still have sleepovers etc. A distance walk or play in the park. Sleepovers, teenage boyfriends visiting and gangs of teenagers around McDonald's is par for the course here.

I cant work from home, I work with horses and animals that have to be cared for every day. My husband is a key worker. All of my staff have children of school age. How do you suppose we work within child care/ nursery / schools etc. Some are also single parents.

Its winter, we cannot take the children to what is essentially a cold , wet, dangerous environment, no one in any other sector would be expected or allowed to take their kids to work.

We have also all had covid so we have already had that to contend with.

I agree with looking at the percentage of deaths in comparison to the number of cases

We also need to be told daily the number of people that have recovered without hospital treatment.. but there is no shock factor in that.

Shutting the schools will only work if every single parent in the country makes sure their children do not leave their house/ side for the entire time to ensure they are not socializing with other children .
We all know that this will not happen.

@flowerycurtain

Why can't we think outside the box for this.

Shut schools. Cancel June exams. Open schools end of may till mid august.

Don't bugger about with online learning. It doesn't work for anyone in primary and I doubt very much for most senior school kids. It's stressful on kids, parents and staff. So just swap the year about. Have exams in august. Get examiners sorted out to do a big rush on sept. Or unis go on grades.

I also think we need to start fining people. I will be so angry if my kids education Is screwed but local
Families still have sleepovers etc. A distance walk or play in the park. Sleepovers, teenage boyfriends visiting and gangs of teenagers around McDonald's is par for the course here.

Because the teachers won't work during school holidays - it's their contract innit!

@Kazzyhoward don’t make this against teachers. Get a grip.

I'm sorry but the majority of replies on this are hysterical! Why not just lock us all up forever? Why don't people look at alternative information/opinions rather than fear mongering mainstream media outlets which have infested our lives for months now.

Within should read without

Non essential shops/takeaways to close (no excuses or loopholes).

Why should takeaways close? Do you want restaurants to go under? If it's delivered then I don't see the problem - takeaway kept our local Indian going during the first lockdown.

I guess that contracts for teachers and staff can be changed if they did decide to change the terms around?
I know it would be a big job , but it's doable and could come in before people started booking holidays next summer as well.
It makes sense to me but I bet someone will say it can't be done.
I'm not teacher bashing by the way ; it's sad how they are treated in general I think. They want the schools open regardless which is a worry and they will need to ramp up the testing in schools.

@Musicaldilemma The sort of youths in London who would "riot" (read loot madly like the 2011 riots) couldn't give a shit if schools/colleges are open!