Further Restrictions 'Stricter than March' Needed

[Bewareoftheblob]

From the Telegraph today:

Sage advisers are calling for a lockdown tougher than the one seen in March as they argue the current restrictions do not go far enough.

Professor Susan Michie, a health psychology professor at University College London who sits on a Sage subcommittee, said more stringent action was needed.

While around 90 per cent of Britons are sticking to the rules there are also "more people out and about”, Prof Michie told the Today programme.

"It should definitely be tightened,” she said. "This is quite a lax lockdown because we’ve still got a lot of household contact, people go in and out of other’s houses. We should have stricter rather than a less strict lockdown than we had in March.

“You have this wide definition of critical workers and therefore you’ve got really busy public transport. There's also this new variant, and we have the winter season and the virus survives for longer in the cold.”

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Do you think they'll follow through with this? Reduce the amount of children in schools, ban support bubbles, heavier policing of people going about their daily lives?

I went out for the first time in days today, to collect a prescription. My high street was full of people, a lot of whom weren't wearing masks. It was lined with stalls, none of the stallholders were wearing masks with queues for some, none of which were socially distanced. Lots of people standing around chatting.

I was horrified. I feel like I've just swum in covid soup. I've doused myself in hand sanitiser and just hope I don't come down with it.

@annevonkleve

parents will have to share their childcare between them

Oh I do like the quaint MN belief that everyone is friendly enough with other parents to share childcare. Anyway how would that be any better than childcare support bubbles?

I think takeaways need to stay open so that essential workers can get food on the go - although I guess you could say they can take a picnic (is that ok for the Derbyshire police though?)

I meant look after their own kids. The ones they made, you know as their parents Half the people working could be at home and really aren't that vital. Food (supermarkets are open) Roof (if you lose your home, you'll not be homeless you'll be given accommodation) Warmth, put another jumper on. Or one of your friends or family could get ill and die.

Bagamoyo1 - M&S allows couples. It’s not illegal.

But inadvisable and unnecessary unless one of you has a disability.

This is the issue. People aren’t thinking about why, or if they know they ignore if it suits.

I’ve just taken my dad for his second jab at a community centre hub. He is quite frail but manages with a walking frame. I sat in the car and waited for him and in that half hour or so I noticed that almost all of the cars were empty and that most people were accompanied into the building even those who managed perfectly well to walk across the car park and navigate the traffic coming and going. Some of them might have needed psychological support or an advocate. If half of them genuinely couldn’t manage alone, there were still 50% more people in the building than actually needed to be in there.

That’s 90% of people complying with the lockdown rules, though. If your shop is open and Costa is open then someone wandering through with a Costa coffee is not breaking the lockdown rules.

I blame people not the government. Go to Costa when you’re a key worker on a 12 hour shift and need a coffee. Don’t go to Costa when you’re on daily walk and you can have one when you get home.

Stay home and don’t increase transmission. Yes, you may have to go into work and therefore it seems stupid you see colleagues more than family. But the less you do, the less the transmission.

It’s a few months until those most of risk of being in hospital are vaccinated and we can regard it as just another virus we don’t want to catch.

People spying on neighbours and thinking leaving your house is a privilege is terrifying

So many different reasons. I'd say there is a high level of compliance, but people aren't going beyond it as they were in March. More non-essential trips to the supermarket rather than waiting. People have lockdown fatigue, but are also exhausted by the constant rule changes and drip feed for every single one. There was a lot of confusion about the rules previously, contributing to the fatigue.

Ever since the release from lockdown in summer where the government gaslit us and told us we were not going out and spending enough and started Eat Out to Help Out, they have struggled to get us take it quite as seriously. Cummings and Barnard Castle was
a turning point. Most people stick to the rules, but when the rules allow you to go in essential shops and get takeaways, there is more mixing in this lockdown. It doesn't help that Boris was saying schools were safe only two days before he closed them. They are between 30-50% open so there isn't as much point in closing them.

I'm sticking to the rules apart from the odd extra walk away from other people but I am going to start using the childcare bubble as I need support with one of my children and my DH and I have coped since March but cannot cope for the next few months. I have applied for one of the vulnerable/SEN school places for the same reason. I've been more cautious than the rules since March to try and limit the spread but I cannot do it any longer.

It seems to be business as usual in my Rea of London.

Really? Are all the pubs, restaurants, cinemas, hairdressers, gyms, cafes, salons, bars, theatres, museums etc doing a roaring trade too?

@BarbaraofSeville

Bubbles would be fine if contact was limited to what's essential, eg dropping off a child with a grandparent.

But many will be 'in a bubble' but hugging, eating together, sharing cars and other behaviours that aren't allowed.

Presumably you're talking about childcare bubbles? The things you mention aren't allowed in childcare bubbles but are allowed in support bubbles. The whole point of support bubbles is that they act as one household so can hug, eat together etc.

@AcornAutumn

Fizzy "Being allowed to leave home is a privilege"

😱😱😱

Fucking hell did someone actually write that?!

Support bubbles should 100% stay.

The problem is, employers are taking the piss. People who should work from home are being forced into work. Hence all the journeys, etc, etc.

Schools are therefore still overcrowded because too many households are mixing when a pandemic is raging out of control.

I would expect 1 and 2 to have some form of changes, ie; tougher penalties, possibly law rather than guidance at some point soon.

Telling a single parent, or lonely relative they can’t form a support bubble will do more harm than good.

@pinotgrigio

I went out for the first time in days today, to collect a prescription. My high street was full of people, a lot of whom weren't wearing masks. It was lined with stalls, none of the stallholders were wearing masks with queues for some, none of which were socially distanced. Lots of people standing around chatting.

I was horrified. I feel like I've just swum in covid soup. I've doused myself in hand sanitiser and just hope I don't come down with it.

You don't have to wear a mask outdoors.

[quote DinosaurDigestive]@GoldenOmber they are eligible for the support. They have chosen to take advantage and class themselves as being essential.

Same as what many others have done this time around.

Which is why I stated in my post that NS has mentioned this in last two briefings and it seems extremely likely that this will be getting some more clarification so they can't continue.

As all this does is cause more possible places for the virus to be spread.[/quote]
Not every business is eligible for support and furlough and is just ‘taking advantage’ by staying open. That’s not how it works.

If NS requires more businesses to close, then those businesses will be able to access more types of financial support from the government.

@FizzyFanta1 going outside is not a privilege. I know others have said it but your posts are so ridiculous I had to say it too.

@BungleandGeorge

People spying on neighbours and thinking leaving your house is a privilege is terrifying

It is. I'd love to know how the stasi wannabes intend to live alongside their neighbours when this is is over.

I’m surprised at how many people have previously never realised how many people are working in essential services to keep the country going. It’s like some people still see “jobs” as a basic list you might get in a children’s book and haven’t considered the wider range of things we rely on to keep society functioning.

@peak2021 It might be a small fine but it would cause me massive inconvenience, more than a speeding fine. As with a lot of people, I need to self report things like that to my employer, regulator etc. I could lose my job.

When I say groups, I mean 4 or 5 plus not hoards of teenagers roving about. But they’re all a similar age etc so possibly not bubbles or one household. I don’t know. Yes, parents to blame. I suppose it’s boredom but still, it’s really not good.

@PinkSparklyPussyCat it's the same as all the other threads where people are unable to see things from another point of view. Someone who hasn't been in a pub in 25 years not understanding why some people might enjoy them or even rely on them to pay their mortgage.

I blame people not the government. Go to Costa when you’re a key worker on a 12 hour shift and need a coffee. Don’t go to Costa when you’re on daily walk and you can have one when you get home.

But my point is that the people buying a Costa coffee are not breaking the lockdown rules. You might think the rules should be changed, but as they stand at present, Costa is not operating for keyworkers only.

So it makes no sense to say that 90% of people complying has to be wrong because people are buying takeaway coffee at Costa.

@C0NNIE

I think schools including nurseries should only offer places for NHS/Care/Police/Fire staff for the next 2-3weeks. As this would stop many people with children from working it would become a very harsh lockdown for 2-3weeks and therefore disrupt the covid transmission

Except NHS staff would have to walk to work if there’s no filling stations open or garages or repair their cars or maintain the roads . Or bus and train drivers and maintenance staff.

And they’d all be very hungry as no food shops open, drivers, logistics and distribution staff.

And NHS staff wouldn’t get paid if no bank staff.

And hospitals would have no light , power or water without the people who run utilities. And no clean laundry, food or drugs.

And lots of people would die at home with no power, water or food. And more would die of dysentery with no clean water and the streets full of rubbish and rats.

Housebound frail elderly would starve to death at home with no carers or food.

But apart from that it’s a great idea.

And my husband who works for Royal mail, he has been delivering covid tests to schools and peoples homes. I do think bubbles need to be sorted though, single people most deffo needs to have a bubble. But there is people who have a bubble for childcare,a single bubble and a bubble because they have an under one all at the same time. Should only be ONE bubble and it needs to be made clearer.

I agree with some of the points here. Particularly with workplaces, people who can wfh shouldn’t be forced into offices because they have a manager with control issues who feels the need to see them physically at their desk.

I also don’t understand the few posts I have seen saying “why is everyone obsessed with takeaway coffee”

People obviously aren’t obsessed, but they are taking advantage of the small luxuries and pleasures that are allowed and available, especially when all socialising has to happen in the cold weather.

There are big differences between this lockdown and the first one.

In March FIL was able to close his business, because government grants allowed him to do. Those grants aren’t available this time (he’s enquired). He has no choice but to carry on working, and asking his staff to come to work.

In March MOTs were suspended, allowing garages to close and people to stay at home. That’s not the case this time. There are almost 25 million MOTs a year. That works out as almost 500,000 journeys a week that people are currently LEGALLY forced to make.

My husband was due to start jury duty during the March Lockdown, they contacted him to say it was cancelled and sent a letter changing the date he’d be required to attend. The new date is in a couple of weeks. He contacted them on Friday to ask if this was still the case, and yes he is LEGALLY required to attend.

No, you don’t HAVE to wear a mask out doors. I choose to because I see it as a barrier for me... and those I job past. I also wash masks each day. Have loads of them and shove them in on a towel hot wash 😉

M & S are greedy and should close off their clothing section.