Whitty saying we'll still have restrictions next winter

[bathsh3ba]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-55542393

Fan-fucking-tastic. And I don't swear. Honestly don't know how I'm going to get through this.

@Dongdingdong

Admittedly, the government should have taken further action sooner and done something other than the ineffective, weak as piss tier system. But they didn't. And given the current situation, what was the alternative to a lockdown?

@TheKeatingFive

The MNers calling for lockdown don’t consider that though do they? With the economy destroyed there won’t BE any NHS.

People don’t seem to get it, but the economic implications of lockdowns mean that the nhs will not be feasible in its current form in the future. I expect it will be reduced to critical care only within the next five years.

Yes to this.

@WouldBeGood

What's the alternative to a lockdown at this stage? What is going to reduce number of cases and deaths quickly. 981 died in a single day last week.

I thought the scientists were quite informative, a ray of hope tinged with caution.
He never said we'd have restrictions like we're having now, he said we may have minor restrictions. It might be masks, who knows.

Boris, I don't understand what people want from Boris, we are the unhealthiest aged nation in Europe, economy is going to go tits up in the summer.
We have multiple problems yet somehow Boris is meant to solve them all.
He's trying to be upbeat, but logistically the vaccine is going to be complex and a long drawn out process.
Everyone needs to be patient.

I say that as someone who has lost 5 months turnover last yr, a damaged credit report, loss of personal vehicle to cut costs, and no fiscal help form the government.
Better days are ahead.

From not form...

@Fieldofyellowflowers I suspect you wouldn’t agree with my views!

But the point @TheKeatingFive made is a good one. With people having no or lowered income, not paying tax, businesses going bust, how will the NHS be funded?

We’ve been in lockdown for months and months in my area if Scotland and it has made no difference to cases. For what it’s worth.

@CuriousaboutSamphire care to show where in my comment I suggested covid isn't real? Because I didn't love.
I said Whitty is a twat. He looks like he wants to sit behind his stand and cry.
I said that covid will be used as a convenient issue to cover up that the NHS can't even manage flu, look at 2019 when there were ambulances queuing outside A+E, hospitals having to shut a+e departments, children treated on floors. They didn't have Covid as a convenient excuse for the gross underfunding the government has engaged in whilst ensuring their own personal wealth then.

But the point @TheKeatingFive made is a good one. With people having no or lowered income, not paying tax, businesses going bust, how will the NHS be funded?

Maybe not throw BILLIONS to cronies?

@TheKeatingFive

The MNers calling for lockdown don’t consider that though do they? With the economy destroyed there won’t BE any NHS.

People don’t seem to get it, but the economic implications of lockdowns mean that the nhs will not be feasible in its current form in the future. I expect it will be reduced to critical care only within the next five years.

100% this.

The economic impact of this means that the NHS will cease to exist in its current form in the next ten years.

@MillieVanilla certainly, sweetheart

It will be blamed on pesky (but convenient) covid.

Downplay it all you like, but don't deny your own words!

If you think Whitty is a twat because he is obviously concerned and upset by all of this you have an empathy problem.

And it is undeniable that Covid will drastically change the way taxation and public funding happens. Successive governments caused the issues across the NHS and education roads etc etc etc. Maybe now we will get us, the voting electorate, to understand that we need to vote for local issues, to hange the nature of politicians, to get away from the careerists.

However much you, we all, are involved in politics at a local level we all need to do more! Nothing wil change otherwise.

No matter how much spleen is vented across SM accounts.

Next winter I expect to be asked to wear masks again so that we dont get much of a flu epidemic and the NHS can catch up on more of the backlog of health care. I expect people to be reminded to sanitise their hands more often. These are restrictions but not one that any decent human being should object to. Children are most at risk from flu and I'm happy to protect them.

Whether anything else will be needed depends on how many people are still listening to anti-vax rubbish. Maybe they'll all be dead by then or too sick from long covid to leave their homes.

@Bluntness100

The sun, I understand that totally. I also understand what you’re saying, but many many adults below a certain age really do not have underlying conditions.

Obesity for example is not a life limiting issue below a certain age, but couple it with a respiratory disease and both together and it can be.

But these people may not die but many 1000's will still end up in hospital and still possibly overwhelm the nhs.

Death rates will fall once over 80's are done.

Fall again after the over 70's and CEV are done.

That's the February aim.

They still have group 5 and then group 6 (which includes all the over 16's with underlying conditions to do after this).

That will take almost all deaths out of the equation beyond the socially acceptable level CW discussed.

It will not remove all the 20/30/40yo who think they will be fine but actually require hospital treatment out of the system or out of hospitals.

Therefore when we hit this winter we may need a few more curbs for a short time. And not unusual as most pandemics last 2 years and so this will be the end of the 2 years.

It's so important to remember deaths aren't the only thing that overwhelm the nhs.

Maybe not throw BILLIONS to cronies?

Doesn’t make a whole lot of different to how fucked the nhs is long term.

I really don't think it's necessary to rip people in massively difficult jobs to shreds. Covid has brought out some real nastiness which feels like a far worse virus.

Heard a couple of people say they're taking a break from MN due to such comments and I think that's a bloody good idea. It's so toxic reading it.

@TheKeatingFive

Maybe not throw BILLIONS to cronies?

Doesn’t make a whole lot of different to how fucked the nhs is long term.

Nope!

You'd have to start with the multiple layers of management, the dismantling of the sensible part of central ordering of drugs etc etc etc.

Heard a couple of people say they're taking a break from MN due to such comments and I think that's a bloody good idea. It's so toxic reading it.& That's true. It's hard if you are sort of middle of the road, cautious. All you seem to read is peple who are so very, very desperate and/or vituperative!

I took a week off and am not really sure why I came back at all!

The news pages overreact.

The editors and the questions many of the journalists (just following the crappy levels of political journalism pre pandemic) are not helping.

I made the mistake of watching because it felt like a pivotal moment.

Actually I don't regret watching the whole of Whitty's presentation and Q and A because he was fair. The problem I guess is the cherry picking of a sound bite.

It's so important to remember deaths aren't the only thing that overwhelm the nhs.

In fact deaths overwhelm the NHS less than long term ICU stays. So once the deaths in older people reduce, we have to take care not to fill ICU with younger people who won't die but will take weeks or months to recover.

People are being very blasé about this, but infect five million 30/40 year olds and you will see lots in ICU.

Maybe this thread has given a bit more info to people on why Chris Whitty is up there talking.

You can't half tell he doesn't have a PR company like the dozy celebs who are celebrated as great humanitarians!

@Bluntness100

God I hate these scaremongering threads. He didn’t say that. Why do people post links to things they haven’t read or don’t understand.

He absolutely did not say we would still have restrictions next winter. Nor does the bloody article you linked to say that.

I feel so sorrry for these guys. They get asked questions about worst case, and they say something like we hope and think this will be enough and we should be fine, but if something goes wrong then worst case could occur

And someone screams “worst case is going to occur” then runs round their house with their pants on their head, before starting a thread on mumsnet so others can join in with the pretend stuff said.

@CatherineOfAragonsPomegranate But those things you say changed after 9/11 have changed remarkably little, especially on a personal level . They haven't changed people's behaviour on an individual basis. I think thar it will take time to get back to how we were, but I think people will be desperate to get away from restrictions. They will embrace going on holiday, to sporting events and to music festivals etc.

But the point @TheKeatingFive made is a good one. With people having no or lowered income, not paying tax, businesses going bust, how will the NHS be funded?

Why, the Magic Money Tree of course!

I've always had the belief that more people will die because of covid and not from it.
They had a lady on the news yesterday who was due to have a life saving op for bowel cancer and it's been cancelled.
She was very pragmatic about it , but how many will just hang on and then keep being left by which time it may be too late to do anything? Any Cancer patients must be beyond worried and there isn't ' light at the end of the tunnel' for many of those poor people.
The death figures for these people also need to be counted up too as I bet there will be many :(
I'm not knocking the NHS , but it sad how it's impacted the ones in the loop pre covid and they are now just hanging on waiting.
Awful situation.

@inquietant

It's so important to remember deaths aren't the only thing that overwhelm the nhs.

In fact deaths overwhelm the NHS less than long term ICU stays. So once the deaths in older people reduce, we have to take care not to fill ICU with younger people who won't die but will take weeks or months to recover.

People are being very blasé about this, but infect five million 30/40 year olds and you will see lots in ICU.

Exactly. This is why I hope the speed of the vaccination programme doesn't diminish even once the elderly and vulnerable are covered...

As bluntness says, he didn't say that as such.
However this is typical of the ridiculous media-drip-feed the government has used throughout the pandemic to try to "soften people up" for endless restrictions.