Tighter restrictions? What else can be "tighter"??

[R2221]

Schools closed, work places closed, nailbars, hairdressers, clothes shops, closed. My high street is dead and a couple of big shops are permanently closing down. We've been totally indoors, going out only to get grocery and exercise.

Oh, gyms are closed, no play dates, birthdays, dinners or even coffee with friends. WHAT ELSE CAN BE DONE TO STOP THE SPREAD??? What would "tighter" restrictions mean? To me, next tighter level means no grocery and exercise :(

My local hospital is totally full. I don't understand why.

@alexdgr8 my nearest supermarket is 8 miles away should I starve?!

*Why does Boris need to be in a support bubble?"
I wonder if the support bubble for those with children under 1 came about because of a suggestion/pressure from Carrie.

They need to shut offices not click and collect shops / support bubbles etc

Far too many employers are arguing their staff can't possibly work from home when it's absolute rubbish.

Shutting down ‘enjoyable things’ like McDonalds drive through and take away coffee won’t make any difference! Some people seem to think the more fun an activity is, the more is spreads covid!!
Ban all fun!!! Anything remotely nice, ban it!! Enjoyement = covid!? Let’s make everyone as miserable and desperate as possible, that should get rid of this virus! Misery=safety?
Get a grip and actually think and research about his this virus transmits most. It’s not takeaways and outside walks

@TriSarahTops I don't think they will stop exercise for meeting one person as then too many would consider what you said.
Isn't Starmer asking them to reconsider nurseries ?
They may not actually do anything for a week or more as current restrictions haven't been long enough to show to much of an effect yet

@Calmandmeasured1

They could restrict support bubbles to households where there is only adult in it

Be careful what you wish for. Unpaid carers provide £132 billion worth of unpaid care in this country. How do you think the NHS would fare if we all stopped it at midnight tonight. The collapse would be a lot quicker.
I am an unpaid carer myself. There is an exemption to provide care anyway but I may have worded my suggestion incorrectly. I didn't mean support bubbles between two households that only have one adult in each. I meant going back to forming a support bubble where one of the households with a single adult could join with another household of any size. (Doing away with a household being able to form a support bubble where there is a child under 1 year old where there are two adults).

If they stop baby under one support bubbles I'm not complying.

It's just cruel, expecting new mums to be isolated and looking after new babies without any support. When my baby was born in summer it was awful, I had no help at all whilst my DH was working full time. When we were allowed a support bubble in December it made so much difference and I'm not going back to being isolated again. Anyone who says we shouldn't get one hasn't had a baby in the pandemic.

Dentists and vets could reduce service

What good will that do? NHS dentists have reduced their service to nothing already and why should animals suffer? My cat saw the vet 5 times last year, most of which were during lockdown. Should I have left him?

To those posters exercise should be walking from home, what about cycling? Surely that's a good thing?

@Littlewhitedove2 but if only meant to go for essential travel a coffee shop in a high street isn't ? Yes drive thru could argue on peoples way home from work and very limited contact , not inside a place etc.

It would be good if everyone could wear masks outside rather than forcing everyone who wants to go for a walk to do it in daylight hours.

I love a takeaway but when I look into most of their kitchens I find it hard to believe they’re really Covid secure workplaces.

Workplaces in general are probably a weak link. There’s a lot of horror stories on here of unscrupulous employers and unsafe conditions. We can’t shut down hospitals, food manufacturing, water plants etc etc etc, but there are a lot of non-essential workplaces that could be closed, (if absolutely necessary, and at a huge financial cost),

The government needs to really crack down on businesses taking the piss and forcing workers into the office because they simply prefer it that way. Plenty of people I know can work from home but their bosses are so set in their ways they can't possibly get their heads around zoom meetings being effective. They want to micromanage and hover over their employees simply because that's the way it's always been and they can't adapt. There needs to be heavy fines for businesses who do this. They need to be able to prove it can't possibly be done from home. Of course factory workers need to be on their machines but the vast majority of office jobs don't need people gathered together in one spot. I'm at a loss for suggestions to my friends on how to tackle this, there needs to be somewhere to report them to that will actually take action as HSE don't seem to give a shit.

If the police want to waste their time arresting people for sitting on benches then they should randomly inspect business premises as well.

[quote Katie517]@alexdgr8 my nearest supermarket is 8 miles away should I starve?![/quote]
You should be using up what's in your cupboard, what do you need to go shopping for?!
When you've completely exhausted your cupboards, make like Marjory Dawes.
Dust! Dust is good lol

not being entirely serious

@TriSarahTops

If they stop exercise outside the house with one other person I will form an illegal support bubble with my friend and see her indoors away from prying eyes. I’m not prepared to only have DH for company indefinitely (I’ve been WFH since March (as has DH) and I HATE IT SO MUCH. It’s incredibly isolating and slowly destroying my resilience and my mental health. I’ve had months and months of barely any social contact (we’ve been in tier 3 or lockdown since - well, since before tier 3 existed). I can’t cope with reducing my social contact any further.

Agreed.

I'm on mat leave so while my husband works all day, my walks with my friend also on mat leave or my mum save my sanity. Take this away from me and ill just meet them inside. Sorry but the more ridiculous the rules I just think what is the point.

Enforcement of mask wearing. People who are genuinely exempt need to show a Blue Badge equivalent from their GP or consultant.

Enforcement of one adult per shop.

Closure of coffee shops.

Closure of places like The Range and B and M.

Closure of places of worship. God is omnipotent - you can worship at home.

Larger fines for companies and individuals breaking the rules. Fine money to the NHS or charities helping people.

People just need to follow the rules, that's a start!
You cut down to just one keyworker parent children allowed in school then you will loose a lot of critical workers who need to them look after their own children,
Removing support bubbles will destroy people, but people need to stop taking the piss and having as many as they want!
And maybe, just maybe it's Carrie who needs the support of her mum and not Boris who probably works a ridiculous amount of hours a day.

These threads are very entertaining. It's like chicken licken off to tell the king the sky is falling.

@Splodgetastic why we also need to breath in some fresh air, just stay away from people outside

@alexdgr8 what is your (or anyone else who cares to comment) issue with the support bubble for those with babies under 1? I have a 5 month old my husband works 8+ hours a day do you know how hard it is to be alone with a young baby for that amount of time without all the usual activities and things to do that many of you people calling to take my support bubble away would have had for your maternity leaves? How dare you flippantly say my support should be taken away without a second thought of what that would do to new mums!

Well, our Asda supermarket could try re-introducing the limited entry and the one-way system: seriously, the entrance is a free-for-all with no lmitation on the number of customers at any one time (they haven't re-introduced any queuing system) and no limitation on family size (so families of 4, 5, 6 are shopping as a group). And they got rid of the one-way path that was marked on the floor of the shop too.

I suspect local Tescos are similar, it won't just be Asda; but I do note that Iceland and Aldi are controlling the number of customers at the door. Guess where I'm shopping in future.

Every store now seems to offer click-and-collect when they were closed during the first lockdown. So round here, people are driving to click-and-collect their tech from Currys and then browsing round B&M and B&Q whilst out for the day. If you got rid of click and collect for most stores, the browsing of neighbouring stores would stop.

@Calmandmeasured**@Calmandmeasured1
I tho k your suggestion is

@Calmandmeasured1

(Doing away with a household being able to form a support bubble where there is a child under 1 year old where there are two adults).
I think your suggestion here is horrible and cruel. I have a friend who has spent 90% of her maternity with her first baby in lockdown of some sort. Her husband works frontline nhs and long long shifts. She is isolated enough as it is with being able to see her mum for support and you would take that away?
I don't know about you but I have 2 kids, and remember how difficult the first year of their life was for me mentally and physically - and I had a village of support.

For the people suggesting that support bubbles will be ended, you do realise that the much lauded New Zealand had them in their “hard” lockdown.

I did notice when I went to get click and collect asda today that they had gone back to one way and were requesting people shop alone that can and making sure people washed trolleys again , which is good as supermarkets had turned into a free for all
Most were shopping alone apart from a couple families but nit as many as there were ,

[quote Katie517]@alexdgr8 what is your (or anyone else who cares to comment) issue with the support bubble for those with babies under 1? I have a 5 month old my husband works 8+ hours a day do you know how hard it is to be alone with a young baby for that amount of time without all the usual activities and things to do that many of you people calling to take my support bubble away would have had for your maternity leaves? How dare you flippantly say my support should be taken away without a second thought of what that would do to new mums![/quote]
I know some people really don't get it do they. Support bubbles for under 1s are vital, which is why they were brought in in the first place.

Masks wherever possible.

It's the law of diminishing returns. We're already doing all the things that are practical and effective. We've been doing them for weeks or months.

The only things left are things that are impractical, like closing essential workplaces, or ineffective, like curfews or outdoor masks.