How would you feel about a return to a tier system

[RosieLemonade]

Seen them mentioned a bit in the news today despite hearing previously they wouldn't be returning. Do you think they are a good idea and do you think you previous tier has a bearing on your opinion?

Tiers don’t work if movement between tiers is allowed.

I think they never got away from the sense your tier could only get worse not better. Those that did move down briefly in December yo-yoed back within days - look at Herefordshire who moved from 2 to 1 to 2 then 3 all in about a fortnight!
The other issue is that people will travel to nearby lower tier areas to access things that are open

Tiers affected me very little. I was quite happy to be in tier 3 if it made schools safer.

I’m not sure how I feel about it. I didn’t want tiers, but now think they may be necessary as we can’t open up the whole country with some areas still having higher case numbers. If they are going to have them there needs to be a clear map out of tiers as some areas just might not get lower cases for a long time but they can’t be in tier 3 forever.

My opinion...
Tiers were good as they helped with hotspots. But where they failed were the boundaries. People's lives don't exist neatly along county lines. I'm not meaning people deliberately going to the next town for the pub, more things like going to work, school, the supermarket, vets... Essential trips.
At the same time they can also be too broad. In our 'district' there are several large towns, quite spread out geographically as it's a rural county. Plus villages. The majority of the population of Stamford for example doesn't really have cause to mix with the population of Grantham. But these two towns, 30minsish drive apart, are in the same district. Let alone County, which they decided tiers on...

@ShanghaiDiva

Tiers don’t work if movement between tiers is allowed.

This, unfortunately. We haven't the capacity to police them to the degree we'd need to for them to be effective.

I'm happy with tiers, as long as I'm in tier 1 or 2

In seriousness, I don't think they worked. There were too many low risk areas lumped into a high tier because they happen to be in the same county as a hotspot, even if they were 50 miles away. There was no way to enforce movement between tiers, and many people had to cross boundaries to get to work, school or support bubbles which made it a bit pointless.
When we were tier 2 and a nearby town was tier 3, they all just came to the pubs and shops in our town so it didn't make any difference.

I think the Basic idea of them is good, Why should those in low Rate areas be locked down just because other areas are high. but if people are allowed to move between them for any reason, they are pointless. And there are always ‘legal’ reasons to do that, work, children seeing non resident parents, visiting elderly relatives in care homes, I know a couple of people who made support/childcare bubbles with people in other areas. So unless all of that stops (which will never happen) tiers are a bit of a waste of time I think.

We were in a high tier area and i know Several people who went for meals/social things in other areas to get round the rules.

It’s also a problem for those with family in different tiers. If family is in tier 1 but your in tier 3 are you really not going to visit after not being allowed for so long?

No, too many people piled into pubs etc from high tier into low tier.

Great. Cases are less than 50 per 100.000 where I live.

@GintyMcGinty

Great. Cases are less than 50 per 100.000 where I live.

How do i find this out please?

I don’t think they work. We were tier 2 next to tier 4 so some of the DC going to local school we’re from tier 4 area and our town centre was packed as people went there to shop instead.

I like the tiers in theory but when you’ve got people crossing from higher tiers to use the pubs and restaurants in lower tiers that’s when the problems happen. They need to be policed better and people need to stop acting so selfishly.

It's not just selfish behaviour though is it? There are loads of legitimate reasons for people to travel between tiers so the system can't work.

So many examples of workplaces, schools, even different sides of the same street being in different tiers that the system was doomed to failure.

No. Tiers are lockdown under another name.

People needed to move across "tiers" last time anyway so it is a pointless exercise.

Bad idea. We were an area with low cases but placed into tier 3 due to hospital capacity (large area, few hospitals). Surrounding areas had higher cases but remained in lower tiers, so people just travelled out of area. It defeated the point and as with many decisions just caused division.

Unless the army are out on the streets preventing the selfish fuckers who insist on leaving high infection areas to places with very few cases it's completely pointless.

It doesn't work because the minority are selfish.

Tiers only work if people don’t move between them and we don’t have the resources to police them and stop travel.

digital.nhs.uk/dashboards/coronavirus-in-your-area?fbclid=IwAR1_3FGvQSkPtkIwj0EQ8hz19ZHQxlLFlHvJHv1KFINNEtrfF7o5NxIO7OI

This will help you find your local area cases.

Tiers contribute to the spread across wider areas IMO. My town was Tier 2 in the middle of a few Tier 3 areas. Cue train loads of sports fans coming to watch any matches in our pubs 🤦‍♀️ We went into Tier 3 not long after. Unless you have to stick to your tier they are useless.

@lunar1

Unless the army are out on the streets preventing the selfish fuckers who insist on leaving high infection areas to places with very few cases it's completely pointless.

It doesn't work because the minority are selfish.

Around us the higher tiers were the areas where there is the most poverty, overcrowding and poor housing. Those 'selfish fuckers' were the people coming in to ensure food was delivered and on shelves, the hospitals were clean and the care home staffed. They took takeaways and deliveries to the doors of the 'unselfish' who then felt fit to judge them for living in a higher tier. Thank to everyone who takes these risks and accepting a lifestyle where the risk of catching Covid is low is a luxury would be a better response.

I dread this. We are in a low rate borough but have never really been out of lockdown due to other borough rates being sky high (Manchester). I live 1 mile from the border of an area that was tier 2...we never crossed to take advantage of things being open elsewhere but I’d think twice if we were put back in this position and we had the same low rates. My mental health is through the floor, we haven’t seen anyone since this all started and we just crave some semblance of a normal life.

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/01/boris-johnson-suggests-england-will-not-return-to-regional-covid-tiers

It isn't going to happen anyway so not sure what the point of the thread is, other than to give the usual suspects an opportunity to use their favourite S word.

Tiers don't work, because it creates an artificial border. People can live in Tier 4, work in Tier 2 and shop in Tier 3. Not everyone can work from home. Not everyone can afford to have their shopping delivered... It's all very well shouting that people in Tier 4 should "stay the fuck at home", but unless everyone sits in the dark, eats only food they have grown themselves, defacates in a bucket and doesn't use any form of telephone or mobile this really isn't possible.