Did anyone watch Peston tonight?

[Likeoneofyourfrenchgirls]

I don’t recommend it.

I now can’t sleep as I feel so depressed by it all.

Professor John Edmunds of SAGE implying we’ve got another year of this and we’ll be lucky to have rule of 6 by autumn. Even with vaccines. What’s the point?

Does anyone else feel like we're never going to get out of this? Say we produce another booster for the Autumn and stay locked down (or similar restrictions to last summer, which wasn't much better than a lockdown for many people) until then - surely another 'variant of concern' could pop up in the meantime- which may not work against the new vaccine? That cycle could go on forever.

I wonder if highly effective treatments that people can administer at home will become our main way out of this instead of vaccines e.g. you get a positive test result/are identified as a close contact and get delivered an inhaler/tablet. Could have the same issue with new variants though.

The proliferation of the media has a lot to answer for, not least during the pandemic.

During the Spanish Flu, the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, contracted the illness. He spent ten days in a special ward in Manchester Town Hall and months recuperating. It was “touch and go” in the early stages although he made a full recovery. It was barely reported on.

Turn 2020, Boris gets I’ll and the media are all over it like a cheap suit. 24/7 rolling updates. Catastrophe. Crisis.

@RedcurrantPuff

SAGE are pricks

Unelected unaccountable people with secure jobs and a full education looking to deprive the rest of society of the same. I seriously doubt their motives and would take no notice of them.

This.

I suspect they'd take a very different view of the science if it was THEIR livelihood that was being destroyed.

I cannot see people being able to cope with lockdown for much longer, the fall out will be insufferable. I look at my local town and see the closed shops and premises , many of which will not recover. The town will be descimated soon.The local people are losing jobs and poverty is rife and getting worse.
We cannot continue like this the government needs to invest in the NHS so that I’ll people can be seen. Children and young people not being properly educated, the effects are far reaching. Single people suffering from overwhelming loneliness. Families and friends not being able to meet. Im quite lucky in the fact that I’m still going to work and can separate my work life from loveyouu hone life but I can’t imagine how hard it must be for others.
Then there is the cost of holidaying in your own country, huge. I haven’t had a weeks holiday here for years mainly due to the cost. If that increases it’s hardly an option for many people. The poor people will yet again suffer and it’s not on.
The actual infection and death rate where I live isn’t even that high. The root cause is that my local hospital has been virtually closed down and reduced to a clinic type place. So we have insufficient health care.
This needs to be addressed not expecting the working poor to tolerate lockdown for the whole of 2021.

@friendlycat

I agree it did make very depressing viewing. Especially when they showed the graphs on easing lockdown and timescales and how far into the future high death rates would occur.

It set me back a bit frankly what Professor Edmunds was saying versus say Chris Whitty. I'm also beginning to think that last year the Government opened up too quickly, had travel corridors etc and this year they quite simply cannot afford to do the same and then be back with a third wave, especially since the virus has mutated. Hence I really do think it will be a cautious approach.

I think you are correct last year was disaster we had rates low and we squandered it with travel corridors, eat out to help out and education going back as normal. Unis should have e only done face to face for practical courses and maybe prioritised medicine dentistry nursing and social Work and rest online. Schools should been smaller bubbles masks in class . Hospital need be totally separate buildings covid/ non covid.

Its quite possible we have 3rd wave.
As I estimate under 50s and children lot bigger % population than the the top 9 groups vaccinated many of whom don't go out often anyway.

I don’t care about the rules anymore - I will be seeing my parents at Easter, by which time they’ll have had both doses of vaccine, so there’s absolutely no reason not to. I refuse to put my life on hold any longer. Just a month and a half more of this shit and then I’m done!

@vera99

Forever may be understood in the context that there isn't a vaccine for HIV but effective drug therapies are available but aren't exactly pleasant. So don't practice unprotected sex 40 years on down the road.

There is much more firepower being put towards solving this problem so forever might just be 5 years before we have it fully beaten but like the flu it will take its annual toll of the very frail and very weak. Edmunds also said it would effectively be licked for most people by Christmas. Let's hope so.

Not quite true. HIV treatment has moved on massively and is well tolerated by most. Where it isn’t a change can be made to a regime that is more suited to that person. For context this in in the U.K. and I appreciate there might not be so much choice in other countries.

We also have injections on the horizon instead of pills - once every 2 months with hopefully longer intervals to come.

Prevention is of course always preferred!

@RedcurrantPuff

SAGE are pricks

Unelected unaccountable people with secure jobs and a full education looking to deprive the rest of society of the same. I seriously doubt their motives and would take no notice of them.

So how would you elect scientific advisers?

In your own time.......:o

@3asAbird you think this?
the top 9 groups vaccinated many of whom don't go out often anyway.
The top 9 groups include everyone over 50 plus anyone Cv over 16...the vast majority of those do go out and Ben (shock horror) work. Some of them even front line. The very elderly are a small proportion. I think you’ll find from say under 75 down people are out and about all the time, and ffrom 65 and u def they are full time workers.