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Original poster

Deaths everywhere, yet we are still going to work this morning. Why?

532 replies

TwirpingBird · 21/01/2021 06:56

I am sitting here watching BBC breakfast with another harrowing video of ITU nurses at breaking point, ambulances lined up outside, 1800 dead yesterday, and headlines of 'lockdown isnt working', 'people arent complying' blah blah blah. Its all 'you need to follow the rules, you need to stay at home. I am seething.

My husband is leaving for work in an hour where he will enter 5 houses today to do completely non essential work because the government deem him a 'key worker'. My best friend will go to work in her office in a interior design company because she is a 'key worker'. Her husband will go to work giving quotes for kitchens in people's houses because his boss deems him a 'key worker'. None of my friends are on furlough. We are all seeing nobody outside of work. We are all sticking to the 'rules'. But how could we possibly expect the rules to work when everyone is still getting in their cars this morning?

I am raging angry. I am SICK and TIRED of being told 'follow the rules'. WE ARE!!! The rules make no bloody sense. And people are still dropping like flies, and experts are saying the lockdown isnt working, and the public are still being tarred as 'lacking empathy' because we are killing people. We are going to work! Kids are still in school! And then we come home and we do what we can but its never going to be enough. I am starting to wonder why I am bothering to hide myself away, managing a 2 year old and a newborn alone 5 days a week, naively thinking I am helping to manage transmission, when in reality its not helping at all because people are still at work.

OP posts:
Wilkolampshade · 21/01/2021 07:03

Same. Husband off in an hour into Central London on the tube... His is not to an 'essential' role by anyone's description, even the government's. His employer would just rather they were all in where they can be seen.
Feel completely helpless really. 😳 Trying to remain cheerful.

icelollycraving · 21/01/2021 07:06

My dh is visiting 10-12 homes a day across different counties. Not essential by any means. Makes me really angry. Feels like a given that he will get it and bring it home to us. He’s late 50s, overweight so could well affect him badly if he got it. He can’t work from home so they insist he works. Angry

Ostryga · 21/01/2021 07:07

Because as much as covid is awful and we need to get it under control, the fallout and effects from a floundering economy is going to kill far, far more people in the decades to come than covid has and will.

I despise the tories, but it is an extremely fine balancing act of having enough money to sort out what covid will leave behind. This is going to felt for a very long time.

Shadysback · 21/01/2021 07:10

As far as I can see lockdown is working. Cases are down from 60 thousand a day a couple of weeks ago, to less than 40 thousand a day now. Unfortunately it will take a while for the number of deaths to start dropping, as we are still seeing the effects of when cases were at their highest. The number of deaths will follow the trend of cases and start to drop soon though, and thousands of people are being vaccinated every day. Stick with it, we are getting there.

eeliie · 21/01/2021 07:11

Totally agree. The restrictions need to be tougher. My dp is expected into work as normal. He sells a lot of non essential items, but because they also sell the odd essential products they can remain open.

This is going to drag on and on.

lightand · 21/01/2021 07:13

I gave up thinking this country will stop the virus, many months ago. Now I act careful, but dont see the point in going overboard. My personal opinion is that eventually, most people will by necessity, have to be exposed to it[I am not in any way meaning herd immunity]. Probably baring in mind how much viral load you are getting. And learn to live in the Uk with the virus.

iVampire · 21/01/2021 07:16

Less than 40,000 is still horrifically high

Yes it has been even worse (and those numbers are probably only just beginning to arrive in ICU)

But the numbers we are currently seeing are still the levels which over-stress the NHS

Yes the direction they are going is the one we want, but we are still far from where we need to be

And yes, I do wonder why some business decisions have been made, because the longer we are at Alert 5, the greater the overall national damage

VashtaNerada · 21/01/2021 07:17

I agree. DH and I travel on a packed tube each day (along with DC who has to go to school because we’re both working). It wasn’t like this during the first lockdown, it really was just essential workers. I don’t blame any individual people but lack of clarity and enforcement means there are far too many people out and about. And don’t get me started on how many STILL
don’t know how to wear a mask. It’s been nearly a year, surely you know how to cover your nose by now!!!

PrettyLittleStars · 21/01/2021 07:18

Same here! Im 30 weeks pregnant with a history of premature births and have 2 toddlers at home. Dh is off to work this morning and has to share a van with 2 other men to site, working with even more from all over the country when he gets there. The 2 men hes sharing a van with this morning were on social media (not dh) having a great time at a house party at the weekend Angry
If he doesn't go in, he doesn't get paid, and we can't pay the bills.
I hate this.

bookmarket · 21/01/2021 07:18

@Ostryga

Because as much as covid is awful and we need to get it under control, the fallout and effects from a floundering economy is going to kill far, far more people in the decades to come than covid has and will.

I despise the tories, but it is an extremely fine balancing act of having enough money to sort out what covid will leave behind. This is going to felt for a very long time.

If cases are not going down and hospitals remain at breaking point then the rest of us just end up in lockdown longer and the economy tanks anyway. Short strict lockdowns are advised, to drastically break the chains of transmission and ensure there is less virus circulating. This half measure serves no-one. Not that I am a fab of the lockdown, just saying if we must have one, it needs to be in line with scientific evidence and needs to be short and strict.
Mindymomo · 21/01/2021 07:18

I get what you are saying totally. I don’t now watch the news, but do look at the cases online each day. The numbers are falling here, but really slowly. It’s not a proper lockdown, but I don’t know what the answer is.

Incyra · 21/01/2021 07:23

@PrettyLittleStars

Same here! Im 30 weeks pregnant with a history of premature births and have 2 toddlers at home. Dh is off to work this morning and has to share a van with 2 other men to site, working with even more from all over the country when he gets there. The 2 men hes sharing a van with this morning were on social media (not dh) having a great time at a house party at the weekend Angry If he doesn't go in, he doesn't get paid, and we can't pay the bills. I hate this.
Oh no that's awful for you. House parties, seriously? Wow....
Whiskas1Kittens · 21/01/2021 07:23

I follow all of the rules. But dh and I still going to work and yes, us 2 and subsequently my eldest son all got Covid for Christmas. I still work with people and children and still at risk - even though I probably have some immunity now, there's still a risk. I'm in the clinically vulnerable category - not extremely - so am in that borderline section where I'm at risk but not enough to be away from work. To be honest, I've given up worrying - but I am a bit cross about it all.

rainbowstardrops · 21/01/2021 07:24

I get annoyed every time I hear 'stay at home' on the news. I BLOODY CAN'T! Well, technically I can but my headteacher is allowing every Tom, Dick and Harry in the school! And expects us all in!
I follow the rules. I stay home at the weekend. I just wish they'd be stricter on which children can be in school (therefore only essential keyworkers should be working. Just like in March) and only enough staff to safely run the school.
It's ridiculous.

Lockdownbear · 21/01/2021 07:25

@Ostryga

Because as much as covid is awful and we need to get it under control, the fallout and effects from a floundering economy is going to kill far, far more people in the decades to come than covid has and will.

I despise the tories, but it is an extremely fine balancing act of having enough money to sort out what covid will leave behind. This is going to felt for a very long time.

What she said. The country can't afford to furlough everybody. We need to keep the economy rolling or they'll be no money to pay for anything including the NHS.
Remmy123 · 21/01/2021 07:26

You cannot keep people at home not working - how will you pay your mortgage / bills exactly?

Do you expect the government to pay for them to stay home?

It doesn't work like that and if it did we wouid be SCREWED- economy is v v important.

Peppafrig · 21/01/2021 07:28

I follow every rule but my husband and I both work in non essential construction. Both traveling all over the country van sharing with 4 households. It’s not lockdown at all. It’s impossible to socially distance on most sites. Most jobs need more than one person standing side by side . Eating lunch in a tiny portable cabin with workers who have travelled from all the UK. No one i know is on furlough this time even though we all were on last lockdown .

peak2021 · 21/01/2021 07:28

Why? Because the government has not had anything remotely like a lockdown, and the 'work from home if you can' is nothing more than a polite request to employers re their employees. The so-called party of law and order has no real enforcement (nothing much more than a parking fine if you are caught).

Skipsurvey · 21/01/2021 07:31

All I hear is people saying There is still so much traffic.
how dont they know people are going to work?
where do they think people are driving to Angry

BillyAndTheSillies · 21/01/2021 07:32

DH and I both work in construction but office based. Last week was my second week back in the office after maternity leave. I tested positive yesterday. The office is the only place I've been.

No idea why DH could happily work from home earlier in the year but not now. I could easily work from home but the IT infrastructure is not set up to allow it.

Frankly it's shocking. And I'm pissed off at my employers - who are family - that put profits over their own family's health, let alone their other employees. It's disgusting.

It's opened our house to risk and putting others at risk. If I'm at work then we need childcare so we've had a nanny in and out. I'd have felt more comfortable using my own parents as a childcare bubble because at least I know what they do when they're not with us. But my Mum works in a school so she's at work. And my IL's are also both at work with myself and DH.

Oblomov20 · 21/01/2021 07:32

Drives me wild too. We follow the rules. Plenty of people don't. And those that still don't wear a mask over their nose? Hmm

BeaSmithers · 21/01/2021 07:33

Unfortunately my job can't be done from home. Tried it in the last lockdown and it just didn't work. My job is essential and effectively keeps the country going so it's just the way it is. No point in becoming angry. This virus will kill people, it's unavoidable I'm afraid. All I can do is follow the rules in every other aspect. I don't see anyone other than my husband and haven't seen my friends or my family for months.

Peppafrig · 21/01/2021 07:35

@Skipsurvey we got called selfish twats the other day in our work van at a set of lights. Don’t we know it’s a lockdown etc. They have no idea we would love to be at home protecting the NHS . It’s the government pushing for non essential construction to stay open. Even though unions are calling for a temporary halt till new safety measures can be put in place .

Tinty · 21/01/2021 07:35

You are all perfectly happy for Nurses to HAVE to go to work and nurse the sick patients or supermarket staff to work so you get your food and delivery drivers have to work to deliver it to you. Just so long as YOU don’t have to go to work and be at risk. I hope no one complaining of having to go to work, are buying non essential items from Amazon etc or sending your DC to school because it’s too hard to homeschool them, and you are a keyworker even though you are working from home.

LST · 21/01/2021 07:39

My dp isn't an essential worker and has gone out to his place of work the whole way through. If he didn't the tiny company he works for would fold. Furlough or not. I don't know what the answer is.

People who are being forced into offices when they can work from home is ridiculous though. I think it should be made law that if you can you HAVE to.