58 parties broken up in London on NYE - we've no hope.

[itsgettingweird]

apple.news/A0WqosXo8RE2sEuuHJbHpkg

London. Where this new variant is spreading like wildfire and often very asymptomatically (mistaken for a cold in mild cases) and thousands are mixing at parties and then most likely with their families.

Surely we need a new strategy now from government. A serious message and no waffling and slogans.

What if someone at this party got too drunk and/or injured? They'd expect healthcare. Are they relying on some poor consultant to decide if they get life saving treatment above an 80yo covid patient because they are more likely to survive.

I think we need to stop fining the organisers and five EVERYONE who attends. Then put that money into the NHS.

@HistoryKitty that is quite a leap.

Didn't you ever go to parties before Covid? Some parties will have under 10 people.

Anyway one of the reports I read today was the police breaking up a party in a flat. The flat could hold 6 people so a studio or small one-bed flat, but there were 30 people there.

@FeelingBIue

So there were no parties ANYWHERE else in the country?

Just London?

There's been parties everywhere since the start.

But this news article was specifically about the ones in London - and we know London is currently in crisis.

It's the 2 things together than made it even worse imo.

Didn’t Manchester police break up a rave and a pub that was still open as well as house parties

@Panickingpavlova

What constituents a party? What is the classification?. . What is the difference between a party for 30 in someone's flat and 30 dc plus additional tas and teachers in a classroom?

Have you seen the news? These were big parties not just sneaking uncle Bob and aunty sue in under the radar for a bit of prosecco

In London, police were called to 58 unlicensed events and parties, with 217 people handed fixed penalty notices and five reported for a possible £10,000 fine for organising large gatherings.

The large gatherings numbered five!

None of the parties were acceptable, but the idea that thousands of people were out partying is nonsense.

They also had to disperse crowds of hundreds in Edinburgh. Not sure why the focus is on London when this will have been repeated all over the UK.

I'm surprised it's that few tbh. 58 is pretty good going for the size of the city. Still 58 too many but it could have been much worse.

That's a tiny amount for a city of millions

I hope everyone concerned about a few dozen parties is equally concerned about the thousands of students and teachers going back to school on Monday in London.

You'll always have foolish people breaking the rules. The bigger impact comes from the government not setting proper rules to begin with.

@Panickingpavlova

What constituents a party? What is the classification?. . What is the difference between a party for 30 in someone's flat and 30 dc plus additional tas and teachers in a classroom?

This. I didn't go out, haven't been anywhere for ages, except work, in a school. That means i haven't been able to see my elderly mother, or friends over Xmas, but I'm expected to go into work on Monday, working with 90 different children in 3 classrooms that you have to turn sideways in to squeeze your way through. Most other London boroughs are closing, but ours is not, yet the classrooms I will be in are more crowded than most parties I have been to. So no, I'm not that bothered that over the whole of London there have been a few parties. The government is sending a very clear message that being in close proximity to lots of people is fine. So it's hardly surprising that some people are are ignoring Tier restrictions, even though personally I haven't/wouldn't.

@Lockheart

They also had to disperse crowds of hundreds in Edinburgh. Not sure why the focus is on London when this will have been repeated all over the UK.

I'm surprised it's that few tbh. 58 is pretty good going for the size of the city. Still 58 too many but it could have been much worse.

I think its because London hospitals arnt coping and they are a hot spot personally I think the more patients they have to send to other areas the more likely the new strain will spread to other areas

I know they were everywhere and I've read media reports of weddings and wakes and raves all through this.

Just more alarming to me now with the new variant strain centered in London, hospitals in date of emergency and primary schools shut.

But just because this news article focussed on one thing and it happened elsewhere - it doesn't make what happened in London on either

@Panickingpavlova

What constituents a party? What is the classification?. . What is the difference between a party for 30 in someone's flat and 30 dc plus additional tas and teachers in a classroom?

Education is essential, parties are not. It's a pretty important difference.

It’s a tiny number for a large city.

A man in Essex was killed at his own house party NYE.

You don't know whether to be empathetic or annoyed at them

Yes and another in Milton Keynes. However there were always going to be some people who would ignore the rules. 58 parties is so minimal that it’s a good result.