Third wave in Europe Italy going into lockdown

[Mintypylonsfryingsurplus]

Saw today ( dont watch news much now) that some countries in Europe e.g Italy are headed for third wave or going into lockdown. Will we follow as we are usually behind these places by a few weeks. Also Brazil recording highest ever deaths?

Also Italy’s lockdown is from 3rd - 5th April. 3 days...sounds like it purely to avoid Easter gatherings.

They are experiencing the resurgence of our second wave that we had over Christmas/Jan which was mainly due to the Kent variant. If you had taken those few people that were infected by Kent strain patient 0 and plonked them in Rome in October/November, then Italy would have faired the same as us.

[quote MRex]@StepOutOfLine - interesting how different decisions are taken in different places, is that the priority in all of Italy, or does priority vary by region? I couldn't figure out where they could draw the line with food workers etc if it's done by exposure rather than by risk, will they switch to risk base soon then if your parents are up next? I'm interested to know what your username was now! All ok here (well, unwell family member but not covid), have my jab in 2 days so pleased about that.[/quote]
I'm not sure really- I mean I was standing in the checkout queue near a friend, the day of my vaccine- and saying to her "but what about these poor sods who have to deal with hundreds and hundreds of people every day". I'm glad to have had mine, but in the last year I've done precisely 10 days of in school teaching! Hardly come into contact with a soul. It doesn't really seem logical.
I can't remember my name (that's the menopause lol rather than Covid) but possibly Canterbury Whales. I was definitely that at some point last year. I remember your name from the lovely strangely soothing facts and figures threads. Hope your jab goes well. We had AZ and this week there was a fake news flurry of stupidity including mocked up photos saying we'd had the lot they've withdrawn but it was a hoax.

"apart from a couple of weeks at Christmas most of Europe haven’t had strict lockdowns like we have, they have all been allowed to mix with other households."

That's a bit of a general statement. Here in Belgium we can mix with one person from outside the household. People who live alone can see two people. Different rules for outside.

I'm in Spain, we have had a soft lockdown and our numbers are falling rapidly, but I'm worried that if they don't shut the borders to France we will get another wave after Easter. The French numbers are on Par with the Italians but the French seem very anti vaccines . Would be interested to here from any French residents about thier perspective

Also Italy’s lockdown is from 3rd - 5th April. 3 days...sounds like it purely to avoid Easter gatherings.
Not sure where this is from. We've already been in lockdown for 2 weeks- it depends where you are.

I've done precisely 10 days of in school teaching!
10 days more than me!!

@StepOutOfLine - it's still going, rejoin! AZ for me I think, quite excited.

@IrmaFayLear

Well, I am intrigued because my family in n Italy report major compliance: no one around and 100% mask wearing. No travelling outside one’s “comune” (local town) and no one is mixing households. Obviously some people are (otherwise no third wave!) but it appears that people are just depressed rather than militant.

Their vaccinations are way behind; still doing over 80s. Unlike here you have to request a vaccine, and the doctor’s surgery is vaccinating between 2 and 4 weekday afternoons. There was talk of vaccination centres like in the UK, but that has petered out.

Again, depends where regarding the vaccines. My in-laws were contacted by the health authorities and we've had a card thing through the door with potential dates for all age groups. Our GPs aren't doing them though, the regular children's vaccine staff are doing them. In some areas army medics etc. Where I am they are using municipal gyms etc as Vax centres, though 8km away where MIL is, we passed a primary school with "vaccination centre" on its gates.

@Yellow85

Also Italy’s lockdown is from 3rd - 5th April. 3 days...sounds like it purely to avoid Easter gatherings.

That's Easter Weekend and at the moment they're talking about actually relaxing some of the restrictions that go into place from tomorrow so that at least with nearby relatives, unlike at Christmas when you couldn't, you can at least call in and say hi.

[quote MRex]@StepOutOfLine - it's still going, rejoin! AZ for me I think, quite excited.[/quote]
It was actually quite emotional in a daft sort of way. A feeling of this being the end of the beginning at least, and a sombre reminder of everything gone before to get to that stage.

Would be interested to here from any French residents about thier perspective

Rate not great in the north east/south east, hence local restrictions there such as weekend confinement.. Paris - in all honesty that does like that's a mess with local rate and hospitals struggling but the politicians seem to want to avoid a local lockdown for the city at all costs.

OTOH many areas across the country doing OK but as you're probably aware big problems north east and south east (local weekend confinements)..I'm sensing increasing frustration that the politicians seem to want to spare Paris from the type of restrictions that have been imposed on the likes of Nice.

Vaccine rollout gathering pace...people happier with that now.

I get the impression the level of vaccine scepticism has been overplayed in certain parts of the media (both inside and outside France).

Apologies for the duplication..

Dh works with someone who’s parents live near Rome.

Apparently they’ve been injecting the vaccine that has to be kept really cold at the wrong temperature...

Resident in France, I agree with @notimagain

Cases are rising again here with the UK varient accounting for around 70% of new cases in my region, a few months ago they had identified 19 cases on the whole of France. The Brazil/SA variants are creeping up with Dordogne on around 15% of new cases.
I honestly thought they would lockdown after the school holidays in feb/March but the government seems determined to keep everything open.

Schools are running with all pupils wearing masks. One pupil at my children’s school had to get a certified medical note and permission from the ministry of education to wear a visor rather than a mask. All other children have been told to keep a 2 mètre distance from this student at all times. They have separate class break time and greater distance at lunchtime. I’m completely online with university students.

Nobody is allowed out between 6pm and 6am ( certificates exemptions for those traveling to from work or picking up children) large shopping centers closed, but you can still get a haircut. It’s been lockdown light since December.

As for vaccines, everyone I know who is eligible has had the vaccine, and had both doses within a month. However it’s much much slower than the UK, with certain regions running out of vaccines. I have seen press reports that many people are hesitant to be vaccinated but not actually met any.

The recent figures make me think that we can’t avoid a full lockdown for much longer, but who knows what the French government will decide. I don’t think the UK will follow this time as long as the Brazilian varient doesn’t take hold.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

Dh works with someone who’s parents live near Rome.

Apparently they’ve been injecting the vaccine that has to be kept really cold at the wrong temperature...

I haven't read anything about that, do you have a link? It sounds more like something anti-vax people would come up with. (Not disbelieving your DH heard that, just wondering about his source's source...!)

@StepOutOfLine - we all long for the beginning of the end of this, I'm looking forward to that feeling!

No, it’s just what her dad told her had been happening. It wasn’t ever in the press.

@Mintypylonsfryingsurplus

Because we have in past Not sure what restrictions etc happened in EU over winter as stopped watching news as much as giving me anxiety. I just hope closing our borders finally will stop it coming back here once our numbers get lower.

Closing borders is a red herring. Just look at Isle of Man. One ferry worker has led to something like 800 infections in just 4 weeks. They had border controls. But unless you actually stop ferries/airplanes etc, there's always going to be the workers onboard, or at ports/airports etc who can catch it and pass it on.

I think the Isle of Man situation should be a wake up call as it is a perfect illustration of exponential growth. I don't think we've had that kind of illustration previously, i.e. where one person can be traced into hundreds, so people havn't realised how far and fast covid can spread.

A friend of a friend has just moved to the Isle of Man. He had to quarantine on arrival, but had several visits from his new employer and colleagues during that time!

@notimagain

Would be interested to here from any French residents about thier perspective

Rate not great in the north east/south east, hence local restrictions there such as weekend confinement.. Paris - in all honesty that does like that's a mess with local rate and hospitals struggling but the politicians seem to want to avoid a local lockdown for the city at all costs.

OTOH many areas across the country doing OK but as you're probably aware big problems north east and south east (local weekend confinements)..I'm sensing increasing frustration that the politicians seem to want to spare Paris from the type of restrictions that have been imposed on the likes of Nice.

Vaccine rollout gathering pace...people happier with that now.

I get the impression the level of vaccine scepticism has been overplayed in certain parts of the media (both inside and outside France).

Thank you/ merci

Interesting to hear from french perspective.
Was same here with London before xmas London was given special treatment being tier 2 regional restrictions and Northern England tier 3 practically lockdown when the new varient was highest in London and South East.
Then after London and South hit hit peak its like covid all over.

@Kazzyhoward that is really awful regarding Isle of Man I thought ferry workers etc had to have lateral tests?
But I see what you mean it grows out of control really fast, therefore lots of people going on holidays coming back and seeding it all over the UK.
Surely at least test snd trace/ quarantine/ essential travel only better than en masse travel?
Its a real worry given that only 18% of people actually self isolated after returning from abroad.
Thats how it got here a year ago we could have slowed it then but 18.5 million people entered UK airports from abroad between Jan 20 and March 23rd 2020

@Quartz2208

Surely they are behind us - we had found the UK variant and it hit us hard. We went into lockdown and are coming out alongside a robust vaccine programme.

They havent spent the first part of 2021 under restrictions

Why should we follow them?

I thought it was because of the UK / Kent variant and similar? We were doing okay then it ripped into the London and South East and cases shot up. I live in this area and for the first time, knew people personally who caught it and became very ill and even died. Cases were well over 1000 per 100,000. I’ve checked my council and it’s now 35 new infections per 100,000. This is for me the wave that the other countries are experiencing so we’re ahead, not behind.

Austria has been in hard lockdown from November until March, with only a two week window before Christmas where non-essential shops were allowed to open. Restaurants and fitness studios have been closed since early Nov and are unlikely to open for another 1-2 months.

There was massive pressure to re-open schools so they did that on March 8th and sure enough numbers are started to creep up again. All indicators point to a third wave, and 60% of infections are B117 strain. It seems like the wave that hit UK around Xmas has finally caught up here.

Vaccine program is slow but steady with all care homes and medical staff done and plenty of people are getting invites (teachers, policemen, close contact persons of pregnant women, over 65s). However the official stats show that only 3.5% are fully vaccinated and 9.7% partially vaccinated which is far too little to have any effect on a third wave.

Despite terrible press for AZ, the uptake is still reasonable with many people opting to have any vaccine instead of being left defenceless. Young people (below 65) are being told that if they refuse AZ, then the next appointment they can get will probably be in November.

However since the high risk groups have been done, hospital capacity is still ok, so the overall feeling is that the government is going to let this wave sweep through the population and keep schools & shops open despite rising numbers. There is a lot of covid fatigue now and while rules in the public are very strict (e.g. medical grade FFP2 masks only when indoors) most people are getting infected through private meet-ups or clusters involving children.

Correction, March 8th was the UK date! Schools reopened on Feb 15th here

I di worry about overseas travel too. We have a friend who has booked an overseas holiday in September but throughout this period has been really zealous with rules etc.