Further Restrictions 'Stricter than March' Needed

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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?

@Tenyearsgone

You think I wouldn't like to be all cosy working from home? I can't ,so I wish people who can would shut up telling the rest of us we are doing covid wrong.

Yes. People need to remember this before they spout the sanctimonious rubbish about staying home.

It’s also often the low paid and more at risk workers who can’t work from home, and who the “stay the fuck at home” mob expect to be providing services for them to be able to do so.

ohthatsgreat that's just not true. I am fully complying with the rules as are many people I know.

As for the girls in Derbyshire, I don't defend their actions. People think it's OK to drive to relatives or out for a walk, but what if you break down on the way, what if you have an accident? Both cases involve interactions with people that wouldn't have otherwise taken place and possibly a visit to hospital. The streets are busy here with people going for walks, so I go out for my exercise after 9pm. You just don't need to drive for miles to go for a walk. It was just a social occasion for those girls.

We're all finding this hard. My MH isn't great either but it's just tough. Honestly, we really have no idea in this country just how hard life is on a daily basis for people in other countries. We're such bloody snowflakes.

Fizzy "Being allowed to leave home is a privilege"

😱😱😱

There’s not a change compliance is that high! I’m looking out of my window at the groups of families with multi generations walking.

Support bubbles, how do they work for divorced parents? Can they form bubbles with other family members? For example mum plus kids, dad plus kids...can dad then bubble with his family, mum with hers etc?

[quote FizzyFanta1]@Pesopasodoble

Being allowed to leave home is a privilege. Too many people have been abusing that by going for multiple walks per day, buying non-essential goods from shops and meeting up with others.

Too many have abused that privilege- so it should now be withdrawn. It should be mandatory to stay indoors at home at all times unless you are a genuine key worker.

To keep people safe and save lives, as Susan Michie has said. Unfortunately, our far-right government are more interested in making their business mates richer.[/quote]
Nope. Being allowed to exercise is not a privilege.

@Everleigh2021

I’d argue with the ‘90 per cent of Britons‘ are complying statement!!

I agree. The road past my house is just as busy today as any other Saturday, you can’t say all these people are just making necessary journeys? Back in March when we went into lockdown I was able to walk along the road and not see a single car for ages, people are not staying at home this time and I haven’t seen any evidence of it being policed here.

More kids are at schools than last time, people are making excuses for their kids to be in school the same as they are making excuses to go out and travel.

I know many people who are not sticking to the rules, people that last time stayed at home and shielded but this time are going out, looking after grandchildren and working.

I do think rules should be tightened up around what is considered essential and non essential.

It looks like NS will be doing this soon as she has mentioned this in two of her daily briefings it needed looked at and so did the amount of traffic.

So many have found loopholes to enable them to carry on living as they want to without any regard to the potential impact to others. Or themselves obviously.

Far too many businesses have claimed they're essential when they're not and have printed out a page to hand out to employees claiming they're essential yet they all worked from home last time around.

It is still just as busy as usual where I am. Plenty of people wandering about and going here, there and everywhere.

People having parties and older teens all meeting up with different people nonstop. Others in and out of different people's houses all the time. People going out to the shops for something to do to pass the time etc.

People have taken it too far with all the different bubbles. I do understand the need for support bubbles but some households claim they have bubbles for numerous things and all that does is increase the risk of transmission. Especially when those other households have different bubbles with others.

It does need clamped down on.

Also the amount of kids in school is just not going to go well at all!

I cannot understand why people can't realise the extent of the pressure the NHS is under. We are all at real risk of this yet some seem to think that nothing will happen to them. Even though they could become unwell with something other than Covid and not be able to receive treatment for it due to all these people not sticking to rules and finding loopholes.

@AcornAutumn

Fizzy "Being allowed to leave home is a privilege"

😱😱😱

I find that statement very frightening

Being allowed to leave home is not a privilege, ffs.

I think @FizzyFanta1 can’t be for real

@CKBJ - & the vulnerable (as in, not safe at home without support, rather than ‘no laptop’?

Michie is speaking out of turn.
When did Lockdown 3.0 start? I think it was Tuesday 5 Jan. Michie is commenting on the situation based on data that we had at end of day 3 of Lockdown 3.

The terrible numbers now don't reflect the rules now, they reflect what people did 1-3 weeks ago.

New Cases reported today: tell us what people did 31Dec-2Jan.

800 new admissions to hospital daily in London? Tells us about exposure ~Christmas day.

1300 deaths yesterday: happened after exposures approx. 18 December.

The main thing Michie says that I can believe or agree with is that only 30% of people are self-isolating properly & the solution to this is NOT FEAR and threats but rather better support so people don't feel they have to go out to get food, help a relative, etc.

I’m in work full time, I’ve been classed as a Category 1 keyworker by ScotGov (teacher) ScotGov have also stated that vulnerable children are entitled to be in school and this includes children with additional support needs. They haven’t stated how many days though. Some local authorities have taken this to mean business as usual and have children in full time, some have went to a blended learning model with most children in 2 days a week and online learning the rest of the time. It’s been left up to schools to decide, of course, there’s a lot of disparity amongst parents just now, some don’t want their children in school at all, some happy with just two days a week to keep the risk minimal, some adamant their child must be in school 5 days a week 9-3pm. Obviously there’s no social distancing possible, some staff quite worried about their safety re covid transmission. There’s a feeling the ASN sector has been forgotten about. Primary and secondary schools up here closed apart from keyworker children - my own child’s primary school will have 30/160 children in on Monday. Last time it was a hub model staffed by volunteers, it was one hub for maybe 5-6 schools.

Out and about doesn’t feel like the first lockdown, queues around places like Costa and McDonalds

It's obvious that not everyone can wfh. Dh can't because he's front line.

What I'm pissed off about is that people who could wfh during the last lockdown are choosing not to do so now because they want to socially interact with their colleagues.

I think the government needs to start fining business who are ignoring the rules, although clear guidance does need to be given.

The government cashed their compliance chips way too early, when virus incidence was low over the summer.

Of course people are fatigued! The Telegraph reported earlier that the government are looking to enforce harder, rather than more restrictions.

Everyone I know is barely leaving their house. They are seeing nobody. They go to work if they have to, and go on a walk but thats it. Am I just seeing a ridiculously compliant section of society? Bar DH in work, we see nobody, go nowhere, and do nothing. We get food delivered, do one walk a day, dont have a support bubble (no family near). For us, it cant really get any stricter.

Why do I feel like we are heading for some 1984 situation where we will need special written permission to leave our house and we will feel like rebels for stopping to chat to someone in the street?

@ivykaty44 yes I know of several workplaces that have been doing the exact same as well.

Also some that kept employees working when they should have been at home!

Nothing surprises me anymore at all.

@Tenyearsgone

You think I wouldn't like to be all cosy working from home? I can't ,so I wish people who can would shut up telling the rest of us we are doing covid wrong.

I don't think this should be about one group Vs another. But clearly things overall are not working. Ultimately we are either going to need to find a way to get rates down further, or be stuck like this for longer.

@ParisJeTAime I don't think you are allowed a support bubble and a childcare bubble now , its one or the other surely, otherwise its 3 households mixing , when most of us can't do 2 . Even having a dh and dc , it would still be nice to have a bubble and see someone else , as its a lot of pressure all being cooped up in a small house together. Which is why I would rather see a lot stricter for a shorter time , rather than a long time with these rules

I cannot understand why people can't realise the extent of the pressure the NHS is under. We are all at real risk of this yet some seem to think that nothing will happen to them. Even though they could become unwell with something other than Covid and not be able to receive treatment for it due to all these people not sticking to rules and finding loopholes.

It’s not just people ‘finding loopholes’ though is it? If your place of work was closed in spring but is now open and your boss is expecting you in, you’ll be making another journey there and back. And so on.

This lockdown definitely isn't as strict as March, I don't think it should go further though. For example if support bubbles end my kids will need to go into school which I think is far more risky?

Maybe we should just all top ourselves. That would stop the Covid spread. Ha! Take that, Corona! We win!!

Well there was a party in a pub near me last night. In excess of 40 people - all fined as will be the landlord but it's believed this has been going on a while.

My friend has had several "bubbles" throughout and continues to mix with at least 4 other households - all single people.

My SIL and her family met to go sledging with a "same time tomorrow" plan. 4 separate families. All have "bubbles" outside of this group.

A Facebook friend has just asked on fbook where she can take her son to play in the snow. The suggestions include towns an hour or more away as there is no snow here today.

My friend (we could have a support bubble together and are considering it if we feel we need to as time goes on) is insistent on doing her shopping at the usual time of day. This means she has to take 3 children with her. It would be possible for her to wait until her husband gets home but disrupts her routine and so she's reluctant to do it.

Another friend insisted she could test her way out of isolation and return to work.

These are all examples I happen to know of within the last few days. And I haven't even left the house!

So for those saying "no gatherings here" and "90% complying" - I would say you're probably just oblivious

Just got back from walking the dog (rural). The car park around the closed Church is rammed, also another rough small one which backs onto common land.

I took a route along the lanes today, and was passed by numerous cars and god knows how many mountain bikers. The largest group was 7 - perhaps they are all one household, (a la Snow White....)

It feels like a Bank Holiday here.

What ragged said