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?

@WouldBeGood

And mask wearing is not and never should be normal.

This. Mine will go in the bin as soon as they are no longer mandatory.

@TableFlowerss

They won’t make mask wearing outside law.

This virus isn’t spreading from people outside not wearing masks. They should still be 2 metres apart anyway. Let’s be honest, we have to wear masks indoors everywhere anyway so they’re hardly great advocates of protection control. If masks were that good, the numbers wouldn’t be sky high....

But people are not wearing them inside - go in any supermarket and you will see loads of people with no mask or wrongly worn ones. No one stops them because its not PC to challenge them. No mask no entry would be a lot simpler

Not having one rule for one person and a different rule for another.

Hypothetically, If it's mandatory to wear a mask outside and a person chooses not to wear one, why should anyone else?

Because if there's no one else around then no one will know.

If someone is mask exempt and cannot get food deliveries not letting them in shops means they would starve to death surely?

I will not wear a mask outside whilst walking. I have done everything else that has been requested, I wear a mask in all inside public locations, but I will not wear one outside.

@Xenia

If someone is mask exempt and cannot get food deliveries not letting them in shops means they would starve to death surely?

Its already been proven that masks dont reduce your oxygen so no one should be mask exempt. A lot of other countries have that policy and it works.

But people are not wearing them inside - go in any supermarket and you will see loads of people with no mask or wrongly worn ones.

I see this a lot on mn and I don’t know where these people live but I can’t remember the last time I saw someone without a mask on, (or wearing it with their nose out) in a shop.

I agree get masks on everyone where possible in schools, nurseries, hubs.

There are some seriously sick ppl in this country. I'm done.

Everyone is looking at what is going on outside their front door and extrapolating to the whole country

Mask wearing outside is definitely not necessary unless in a very crowded space (like a protest).

But kids are crammed in schools without masks. Surely that's the place to start? Most countries have kids in masks from age 6 now. They did that for a reason. France tried without then realised there was a reason why everyone else was doing it.

There is a large portion of the population spending a lot of time (hours and hours) indoors in crowds with other people. Exactly what we're not supposed to be doing. Yes, the school closures have cut down on this problem, but seemingly there are still a lot of kids in schools, and the classrooms definitely haven't got any larger: surely it would make sense to have masks too?

Maybe we should start there?

If people are genuinely mask exempt, then put something in place for food delivery for those people. I would say 75% of the people claiming exemption are lying. There should be security at every supermarket door declining entry to people without masks. If they want to kick off, get the police in.

I would say 75% of the people claiming exemption are lying.

And I would say you’ve pulled that number out of the air.

So you can go into town and for a walk in the park, but no one else can?

Don’t be facetious. Anyone is allowed out to walk for essential exercise or shopping. However if people were actually doing this though the towns and parks would be much quieter, as they were in March. Instead people are spending hours wandering round pretending whatever they doing is essential.

Various options re getting food - some ideas.

• click and collect might be possible, especially as you could explain in advance re mask exemption. They can arrange to leave the shopping out for you in such a way that there is less contact with staff. There are more click and collect slots than home delivery slots.

• local shops might be able to come to an arrangement with individual shoppers. If they know the local person, this might help things along. for example, our greengrocer delivers boxes left on the dorrstep

• local networks exist to help vulnerable people get food deliveries in many areas.

• check re milkman services, these can be very useful for milk and bread if you can't get a supermarket delivery. In our area, hotels have been only too happy to deliver milk and bread.

• Amazon also do delivery for Prime customers.

• also some people are able to get neighbours who do have deliveries to get some extras delivered for them, this can be a useful source of help.

@lockeddownandcrazy

100 % compliance on masks, no mask no entry and employers made to let people work from home not find loopholes to make them come in.

Some people are exempt. Those people still have to go to work if they're not wfh, and may have to use public transport to get there. Exemptions are essential.

@Livelovebehappy

If people are genuinely mask exempt, then put something in place for food delivery for those people. I would say 75% of the people claiming exemption are lying. There should be security at every supermarket door declining entry to people without masks. If they want to kick off, get the police in.

Someone else who clearly thinks they have the expertise and should have a big rubber stamp that certifies what other people are allowed to do. Pulling a 75% figure out of your arse, honestly, what would you know

I think human nature is to think that if you are “Good” then you can stop Bad Things happening to you.

So people want to be able to Do Something, even when it’s self evidently useless, as in the case of trying to stop a virus

@TableFlowerss

They won’t make mask wearing outside law.

This virus isn’t spreading from people outside not wearing masks. They should still be 2 metres apart anyway. Let’s be honest, we have to wear masks indoors everywhere anyway so they’re hardly great advocates of protection control. If masks were that good, the numbers wouldn’t be sky high....

Exactly, rates are rocketing because we are clearly doing things wrong. The UK has surpassed Italy for most deaths in Europe.

I wonder how other nations with mandatory mask laws (in and out) are faring...

@VenusTiger sorry didn’t mean children in schools nurseries and hubs, I meant the staff. Should have been clearer

No one stops them because its not PC to challenge them

You think asking a rape victim to tell a complete stranger why she's not wearing a mask is 'PC'?

If people are genuinely mask exempt, then put something in place for food delivery for those people. I would say 75% of the people claiming exemption are lying. There should be security at every supermarket door declining entry to people without masks. If they want to kick off, get the police in

What about other areas where people need to wear masks - workplaces or on buses, for example? Do we deny exempt people from going to work, or using the bus to get there? Are you going to pay my bills for me?

We are a hugely overpopulated small Island. No wonder the virus is spreading so fast.

A puppy seems to be the “ must have” lockdown toy for some people.. dog ownership has boomed in our area..

I wonder what will happen to these Instagram whims when people go back to work?

Troto

“I will not wear a mask outside whilst walking. I have done everything else that has been requested, I wear a mask in all inside public locations, but I will not wear one outside.”

I am happy that you are in an environment where Covid has not reached and overwhelmed the NHS.

Can one assume you are also regularly and accurately negative tested. As obviously you would not want to infect your household bubble of other people (vulnerable or not) within two metres would you? I mean perhaps you would not like the others unmasked near you or would you not mind either?

To be clear. Obviously you do not need to wear a mask when outside away from anyone else (in fact in the wild open with no one around you can even be a naturist) but in close proximity (even outside) is probably how and why it is super spreading and mutating? People in Covid hospitals and fighting for limited ICU ventilation equipment are probably not spreading it anymore unlike the asymptomatic untested but always out and about types etc etc.

Need to revisit this chart and focus on everything in the two sections on the right: (source: informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/covid-19-coronavirus-infographic-datapack/)

• churches/ mosques/ synagogues

-schools

• offices

-malls

The virus really ISN'T easily transmitted between two people walking 2 metres apart in the open air . . .

@OnlyTeaForMe

I know it's controversial, but I think places of worship should also close - they are enclosed spaces full of people for quite long periods of time.

I agree, and we have closed ours, same with most church leaders I know. Don't know what the government was thinking with this tbh. We are online as usual.

I'm forever seeing people (when I say people I mean middle aged men) wearing masks under their noses in the supermarket.

I go there at 7am when it's quiet except a few older people, staff compiling home delivery orders and there they are, swanning about.