I thought we'd had a 3rd wave!?

[ssd]

Johnson saying we must prepare for a third wave from Europe

Are we not in the 3rd wave???

Does he mean we're looking at a 4th wave???

Jesus christ

Funny how bojo mentions a scary third wave the day before he bans holidays abroad till the end of June

It's worth remembering a few key things which I feel the scaremongering media are neglecting (because it's far more clickbaity to shout about deaths and waves)

In early 2020 (February-May) the testing system was appalling. It feels like 10 years ago but I remember Hancock on GMB promising "100,000 tests a day" by end of May I think it was. And I think they managed that for one day but otherwise, the numbers tested were tiny. There was no tracing. No app. Just phone and hope you don't get asked to travel for 4 hours as there were so few testing sites they were booked solidly. I'm in Berkshire and it was all over the news that people here were told to go to Isle of Wight.

Up until very recently, you could only get tested if you had actual symptoms, were about to go into hospital for an op, or you lied that you had symptoms. There was nothing available for people living or working with a positive case.

Now, we are testing over a million people a day. Children and parents, and those working in offices and shops, are encouraged to use lateral flow tests twice a week, whether they have symptoms or not. I test my DCs on Sunday and Thursday. That's picking up asymptomatic cases which previously would have led to outbreaks until someone had the symptoms to get a test.

As a result, actual like for like averages of number of tests and number of positives is 20 times lower than last year.

Hospital admissions are shrinking, 8 out of 10 will not be unwell enough to end up in hospital. Deaths are down 80%. And that's the huge bit of all this, it's not really case numbers it's if the NHS can cope with lots of seriously ill people.

The vaccine is now 100% affective at preventing serious illness. You're also 30% less likely to transmit the virus after the first dose.

It all seems bleak when you read the press headlines. And yes we are being far more cautious than we were last year with the roadmap.

But I don't think we will be as badly off again as people have for the most part had their vaccines. That's the difference between us and the EU.

Totally agree @Tiktokersmiracle (great user name by the way)

@Allmyarseandpeggymartin

Totally agree *@Tiktokersmiracle* (great user name by the way)

Thank you!

I hope it continues all the positives and we do have to brace for changes but honestly, when the vaccine was announced I was sceptical on how many would agree to be jabbed. To hear that over half the adult population has had it is immense, I'm so proud of us.

Johnson is drumming this up as 'Europe's third wave' but of this is just smoke and mirrors really, it is our wave washing up on their shore, not the other way around.

@cryh

Johnson is drumming this up as 'Europe's third wave' but of this is just smoke and mirrors really, it is our wave washing up on their shore, not the other way around.

I think it's been misinterpreted as the virus coming here again, when I think it's more likely to be politically speaking. EU leaders like Merkel and Macron have dropped a clanger over the Oxford vaccine, they're now trying to save face by demanding our supply when they said it was awful and making people ill originally. I think financially speaking, closing off travel now (which should've been the case since last year) will hit Spain and the likes more than it will hurt us. And I think the EU wil retaliate.

@ssd

I'm in Glasgow. Weve had lockdown here forever. And the feckin cases are going up.

Not surprised theyre going up after the Rangers celebrations were allowed to go ahead.

@cryh

Johnson is drumming this up as 'Europe's third wave' but of this is just smoke and mirrors really, it is our wave washing up on their shore, not the other way around.

Yes - Christina Pagel had a good thread about this last night As she said, it is an attempt to blame Europe - rather than inadequate mitigations here - for any further resurgence in infections.

twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1374092822350020617

Johnson also needs to tread carefully because we need exports from Europe to make the vaccine and we will be screwed if they prevent that coming. We need friends not enemies right now.

Indeed, if the govt are to reach their ambitious vaccination target we do need the exports so we will have to reach an agreement with the EU. I expect the "washing up on our shores" rhetoric is part of selling this to the UK public.

I agree with second wave, 3rd lockdown.
The November lockdown was totally pointless and did nothing much to change matters in my opinion.
In my area everything was business as usual and people were acting like there was no rules/regulations in place.
So many businesses bent the rules in order to stay open etc.

@RoomAtTheEndOfTheWorld

I agree with second wave, 3rd lockdown. The November lockdown was totally pointless and did nothing much to change matters in my opinion. In my area everything was business as usual and people were acting like there was no rules/regulations in place. So many businesses bent the rules in order to stay open etc.

I think I realised how stupid the November lockdown was when the annual firework shop was open

I couldn't see how on earth fireworks were essential.

What also didn't help was keeping schools open past the October half term. It was painfully obvious where the outbreaks were stemming from in most areas but Boris continuously said it was safe. And the whole Christmas is saved rubbish, even after Boris said no to the rules being removed, people still ignored this and carried in as planned. On our street, an elderly neighbour had her relatives over as usual. We had offered to bring her some dinner over so she wasn't without a Christmas meal and she said "oh no my family are coming, I don't care".

I think that's a huge thing for me, the willfull ignorance of many. The police bwing pretty inept, certainly where I live. You'd think the death rate would put people off but no.

@FaithfullyYours

All I have to add to this thread is that the user *@Thewiseoneincognito* is always scaremongering with absolutely fake "facts", always spreading misinformation and feeding into people's anxiety about Covid. I think Mumsnet HQ needs to look into this poster for how much he/she enjoys scaremongering/sharing false news which he/she states like a fact. ALL her posts reek of false information and seeks to spread distrust in the vaccines. The constant gloom and doom from her is surely taking a toll on lots of posters who are so close to breaking point.

I agree with every word of this.

When people talk about a third lockdown, are they referring to London?
Up here in Yorkshire we had a lockdown from March till August, then from November, which hasn't lifted yet.
So - two lockdowns as far as I'm concerned.

But the European third wave is off-season (ish) as it's emerging in spring. This is concerning.

but is this not mirroring what happened last year...? We're exactly a year from lockdown #1. (Feels like a lifetime) which was just after the shit first starting hitting the fan and cases were out of control (but not widely tested) and then deaths were at their peak in April ...

@deydododatdodontdeydo

When people talk about a third lockdown, are they referring to London? Up here in Yorkshire we had a lockdown from March till August, then from November, which hasn't lifted yet. So - two lockdowns as far as I'm concerned.

Officially the time period from November to the start of December was the second lockdown. Are you referring to coming out in December and straight into tier 3 then 4?

That happened in my area (not north) and I would agree it feels like one long lockdown but technically it’s not.

This is the second wave we are coming out of. It was severe because of the new variant identified in Kent Europe is experiencing a third wave as the variant is now rampant there.

Officially the time period from November to the start of December was the second lockdown. Are you referring to coming out in December and straight into tier 3 then 4?

Where I live we didn't come out in December.
Well, put it this way - non essential shops, pubs, restaurants, cafes, closed in November and haven't been open since.

@FaithfullyYours

All I have to add to this thread is that the user *@Thewiseoneincognito* is always scaremongering with absolutely fake "facts", always spreading misinformation and feeding into people's anxiety about Covid. I think Mumsnet HQ needs to look into this poster for how much he/she enjoys scaremongering/sharing false news which he/she states like a fact. ALL her posts reek of false information and seeks to spread distrust in the vaccines. The constant gloom and doom from her is surely taking a toll on lots of posters who are so close to breaking point.

I also agree with this. There’s a few others too. The same ones on every thread. The minute a poster is struggling or posts anything about lockdown they are the first to pop on with some doom mongering bollocks (normally with a ). How we’ll defiantly be on lockdown all summer and probably for years. Now we can see through it but I’m sure many with struggling mental health can’t. I wish Mumsnet would look in to their posts. It’s constant, all day posting.

Definitely be in