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?

"The less mixing the better"

A bubble may no more contribute to mixing than say an ordinary household. Perhaps we should force all adults to live apart from each other. That might be fairer and would reduce mixing.

Sounds like a majority want people basically locked in their homes.
As there has clearly been no cost/benefit analysis done of any of the measures, the one thing that could be tried to keep SM happy is a law that all businesses should close, including those which supply food, electricity, water etc. It would not only bring down Covid deaths but it would toughen us all up too. We could drink rainwater and we'd certainly all lose weight (great as that takes away one of the Covid co-morbidities). Obviously, the NHS, being the biggest employer in the country, would also have to close because one of greatest transmission points for Covid is hospitals.
Does this go far enough, or should we have done with it and all self-immolate?

You just don’t give a shit, I get it.

Sorry quote fail

People need to think is this trip essential or am I being entitled before heading off out from home

Sounds like a majority want people basically locked in their homes

No one wants anyone locked in their homes, people can go out for exercise, my village is full of people out exercising today, none have driven 20 miles to exercise because there’s no need too.

I made a journey today to collect medication, the only pharmacy open was 15 miles away but I decided it was essential (I needed the medication today). I only go out for work, medical reasons and for food. I guess my idea of essential might be different to others.

I seriously doubt that would ever happen. For some people, 'mask exempt' is a useful cop out, meaning they don't like wearing them. I suspect there are very few people who are genuinely unable to wear a mask for the short time it takes to go shopping

Glad you only suspect. I've tried wearing a mask, my god I've tried. I can manage 5min total throughout a day before I'm stimming so badly I'm hitting myself in the head. I stim just at the thought of wearing one, it is that distressing. Hell I stim wearing my bloody lanyard.

I have sensory processing disorder as part of my autism. So what for you is just uncomfortable is actually painful and takes over all my other senses so that I can't actually remember what I've gone in a shop for. Same went for crowds and loud noise before covid, my reaction to sounds, sight, smell, touch etc are just not the same as most people and it's all my senses. Does walking in to a noisy room feel ike you're walking in to a brick wall to you? Because it does to me. And I have the same issue with touch, all labels are cut out of my clothes, I can't wear a hat even in the coldest weather, I can't stand the feeling of wool against my skin so cant wear 99% of gloves (and can only wear the ones I do for a few minutes at a time).
And I'm in no way the only person to these issues, some have them worse than me.

@annevonkleve

Had a water leak and needed an emergency dash to B&Q. The cashier said I was the first person she had served with essential items only

And how is she qualified to judge what is "essential". Dear god we had this with Boots and then the supermarkets and now we have cashiers in B&Q policing their customers' trolleys. If the shop is open, it's open.

Exactly. DH ordered a new kitchen tap on click and collect as ours is dripping constantly and leaking onto the worktop - essential or not? I say yes as the sodding thing is driving me mad and the worktop will rot but I know a lot of people will say not. However as the shop was open I don't see an issue

@maddiemookins16mum

Do the people who ‘can’t wear masks’ never go out on a really cold day then with a scarf covering their mouth and nose?

Nope, don't wear a hat no matter how cold it is either.

@VinylDetective some people cannot shop alone. I shop with DH or DD - we don't drive and are avoiding public transport, so it takes a couple of us to carry the shopping home. I walk with a stick and need help shopping (pushing the trolley/carrying the basket/reaching for stuff). Even on days I don't need my stick I still need help, so I suppose to some people I look perfectly fine and as if me and DH/DD are having a little family outing.

You never know why someone isn't shopping alone - best not to judge.

"my village is full of people out exercising today,"

That sounds safe.

We’ll be locked in our homes soon enough.

@Fragileandcomposed

We’ll be locked in our homes soon enough.

Of course we won’t. Who the hell would enforce that?

"We’ll be locked in our homes soon enough."

You might be.

Happened in Spain.

@Fragileandcomposed

Happened in Spain.

And how is Spain doing now? I would imagine such a harsh lockdown would have reduced cases to zero and that they are all now back to the old normal.

I’m not sure.
I’m not suggesting it makes any difference longer term.
I’m not in favour of it.
I’m just expecting it will happen here.

Where do you all live that you can exercise starting from home? Or are you really just walking around residential streets?

Most people don’t live within walking distance of a park or woods etc. It just seems like we’re punishing mothers with children again with this one. Not only homeschooling but literally confined to house unless you fancy a schlepp around the housing estate/walk alongside a busy main road/roads with no footpaths.

@Overoptimistix

Um, you might need to include children of school staff...

🙌🏻

@CKBJ

I posted this on another thread:

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. Yes work places will suffer, including those that are critical, however with the way numbers are increasing it calls for drastic action. This should be known as Total Lockdown,we then revert back to the current lockdown and as soon as possible (End Feb/Mar) move the country back down the tier system.

Who is going to staff the school?

@WeAreShiningStars

They need to clamp down on the school places and stop advocating that more parents should have them.

I'm a KW in a primary school; I'm making my own 3 children work from home because there's an important reason we're doing this! The schools are not safe as they are indeed spreading the disease at home and into communities. Our primary had a rash of positives and isolation notices that came out over the last few days of the autumn term. Ruined christmas time for many as they couldn't (or weren't supposed to) leave their homes.

And the numbers are even worse now. People really aren't getting it.

You leave Primary school children at home alone?

Didn't the kids get rickets in Spain from being locked inside?
Hey though I guess at least they were alive .

I get that the numbers are high and we need to get them down, hysterically locking everyone up so we can have a "proper lockdown " isn't really the answer. There are unintended consequences from every action taken or not taken and not letting people go outside once a day seems to have more drawbacks than benefits.

It's all a bit deja vu from April 2020, just need someone to start banging on about selfish covidiots and we've got a full house.

@Downtothelastbottleofwine

Quick look on my local FB has over 20 People offering things to collect/exchange and aren't bothered about making journeys for them. Even had over 100 People cheer on someone doing a sponsored walk to the next county and shouting down anyone who suggested that maybe it's be better to wait. Wouldn't need to make it step her if people just followed the rules that are there

You don't know what's essential though.

We are part of the 3 million that are self employed with no Govt assistance beyond £500 a month furlough.

We are having to sell off our possessions on FB marketplace among other places to raise money for bills and food.

Thing is, there’s some stuff that’s unenforceable and people wont comply with. You can’t pretend to enforce those things because the public will see that the government is powerless.

Multiple walks outside for example. Masks on country lanes. There’s no way I’d comply with such nonsense.

Our household is an interesting case study - we didn't go anywhere except for occasional walks around the village and grocery shopping in the March lockdown.

In this lockdown:

• We have a lodger who is out every day for a long walk with friends (different one each time so within the rules)

• She is also looking to move elsewhere as she sees our risk as too high so she's out to several properties a week looking around

• DH runs a 121 personal training studio in our converted garage. We have stayed open this lockdown because if we close we will be bankrupt very quickly

• I am out to work 2-3 a week doing a temp job in a COVID test lab working very closely with 20-30 people (in PPE) because we need the money to survive

• We are out once a week extra to the 'community cupboard' which gives away food near its sell by date because we are needing to cut our food bills down where possible

• We are going to the Post Office once or twice a week as we are selling possessions on eBay to raise money for bills and food

• We have items listed on FB Marketplace for the same reason which means people dropping around (to front door) to collect several times a week.

None of this was happening in the first lockdown but we can't stop because of the financial situation.