Why are we not on a full, strict lockdown?

[newtierseve]

I don't understand. The rates are similar/higher than April when we were on a strict national lockdown, only this time it's a variant that is even more contagious.

Accounts from NHS frontline medics are incredibly harrowing and distressing to read.

I don't understand our government. I just don't understand them.

@Thewiseoneincognito

The ONLY WAY this will sort itself out is if we PUNISH those who consistently break the rules. By PUNISHMENT I mean jail time or internment in an isolation camp facility no pissing around with fines. Lock these dirty bastards up so we can start to escape this hell.

These kind of wind-ups are getting really dull.

A lot of assumptions going on here that I am someone with a cushy WFH job completely unaffected by this.

The first lockdown closed down my family's business and our income dropped to nothing overnight. I was then unemployed for months and have seen how dire the job market is. Now I finally have a job lined up but my start date has been delayed because I'm clinically vulnerable. A close family member attempted suicide, thankfully the NHS was able to treat her. My mental health has been in tatters.

I write all that so you know I haven't been protected from the effects of lockdown. I don't want a lockdown but I think it is needed. I'm in tier 4 and there are differences between tier 4 and a lockdown.

@Kjc39

If we have a harder lock down. This will impact on mental health. How many people would fail to see light at the end of the tunnel? How many would fall deeper into despair and try suicide, fall into alcohol and drug abuse? Hospitals would then have to deal with that aftermath. Lockdowns are not the answer. It just keeps pushing the can down the road. It’s spring/summer weather that seems to have to most impact, like with normal flu. The longer this goes on, the more people will stop complying. You can’t blame them. It’s the governments we should be blaming for underfunding the NHS so it can’t cope. It can’t cope during a normal winter. But if we destroy the economy, we won’t be able to afford a life saving NHS system. Another virus could happen another time, one that is actually deadlier!!

Do you think the government give a shit about mental health? They just don't want to take a kicking off the right wing press.

@Thewiseoneincognito

The ONLY WAY this will sort itself out is if we PUNISH those who consistently break the rules. By PUNISHMENT I mean jail time or internment in an isolation camp facility no pissing around with fines. Lock these dirty bastards up so we can start to escape this hell.

There is no enforcement though.

@newtierseve

I don't understand. The rates are similar/higher than April when we were on a strict national lockdown, only this time it's a variant that is even more contagious.

Accounts from NHS frontline medics are incredibly harrowing and distressing to read.

I don't understand our government. I just don't understand them.

Can you be more specific about this full, strict lockdown? Will you be wanting electricity and water suppliers to carry on and medical staff?

Those clamouring for harsher lockdown are welcome to weld themselves Wuhan style into their homes and leave the rest of us to struggle on in our tiers to the best of our ability.

From a purely personal view, I know four people who’ve had Covid and all four likened it to mild flu. I also have lost two friends to suicide and another friend has been given a terminal diagnosis as her illness wasn’t picked up in time. Basically lockdown has cost me more friends than Covid.

@southeastdweller wind up? I’ve lost enough family members to round the fuckers up myself.

@Iheartmysmart what about those who have lost loved ones to this not so mild flu pandemic? Get a grip and don’t be so naive.

I'm referring to the first lockdown we had in the spring, I thought that I had implied that when I referred to April in the OP.

Nobody following the rules. No one has any interest in protecting those who are vulnerable. We are a me!me!me! society

There is no difference to this tier 4 or the April lockdown. Schools are not opening next week and even car parks to the seafront and nature areas have been closed. Playgrounds have been chained shut.

I am sorry to hear of your struggles OP, truly. Having experienced all that, how can you want more, harsher lockdowns? You've been lucky to get another job, many others aren't. Who knows when it won't be illegal for me to work anymore - and I help people and take pressure off the NHS. We can't keep doing this.

I said that was my personal experience, I didn’t say that it was the same for everyone @Thewiseoneincognito. I appreciate others have a different view.

Not sure why I need to get a grip for sharing my personal experience.

lockdown 1 ,people swarmed to the supermarkets to buy bbqs , garden furniture and the weather was nice etc cos no where else was open, lockdown 2 people swarmed to supermarkets to buy xmas presents cos everywhere was shut , teir 4 every one goes to the supermarket cos everywhere is shut , basically no one follows the stay at home advice unless its essential , even if its a full lockdown

Jab and Go advert from Ryan Air just on so it will not be long before we are back to normal

The April lockdown didn't 'work' though did it? Covid is still here!

[quote Thewiseoneincognito]@southeastdweller wind up? I’ve lost enough family members to round the fuckers up myself.[/quote]
So you're serious? If so, get some therapy.

Great first post by the way OP.

Some parts of the UK are on a stricter lockdown now than at any stage earlier in the year.

@Iheartmysmart because you implied that covid was mild flu and tried to make out that lockdowns had caused more damage when that’s utterly ridiculous. 😒

@southeastdweller dfod

Because we can't afford it! It's that simple

@amicissimma and @Neron schools are not closed. Secondary schools are closed for face to face for (currently) two weeks (except exam years) & in some - not all - of the ‘hotspot’ Tier 4 areas, primaries are not face to face. But there are plenty of Tier 4 & all the Tier 3 areas where nurseries, pre-schools & primaries are scheduled to open as normal on Monday. Covid is scared of our teacher voice you see? Whether I agree with the decisions that have been taken or not, it is not the case that schools are universally closed.

@Thewiseoneincognito I can’t be arsed to argue with you but it is my personal experience, meaning my experience not yours or anyone else’s. If you choose to read something into that which wasn’t said then that’s your problem not mine.

I am in a hot spot @freddiethegreat
I'm literally equal distance between 2 major hospitals, and a third in a near by town. They've even got appeals out to feed the NHS staff here. This is no different to the first lock down.

I’m not sure what a full strict lockdown would achieve at the minute other than shaft the economy and the nations mental health further. We haven’t seen the impact of Christmas mixing fully yet-that will arrive next week (allowing for incubation period then the time it takes for an individual to either fight off the virus or need hospitalised). My DHs business has disappeared, he then got a job and was made redundant pretty instantly and has another lined up for next week but we will see if that happens with tier 4. A friends DP has committed suicide due to lockdown/job loss/finances and a relative is sectioned in a secure unit as support services disappeared during first lockdown. Multiple friends have been made redundant/lost businesses and my best mate lost her mum to a heart attack as she was too scared of covid to ring an ambulance. It’s a complete shit show, I don’t know what the answer is but I can’t help but think another lockdown is not it-the cure can not be worse than the virus.