Your position on Covid lockdowns

[kellehi]

Well, I have seen a lot of people on here changing as the wind blows and the government continues to move the goalposts with respect to lockdowns, and so the same happens here. So just wondering what your position on this will be in the future, if X happens.

Please start your post with the relevant number below, you can expand on this if you want, but not necessary.

1 - we should end the lockdown and open things up now.
2 - we should open up as originally promised on 21 June, regardless of the government position
3 - we should end the lockdown and open things up when everyone over 18 who wants a vaccine can have one
4 - we should end the lockdown and open things up when adults are vaccinated
5 - we should end the lockdown and open things up when every person including adults and children are vaccinated
6 - I think some element of lockdown should continue indefinitely whenever the government says it's required, even if it means years waiting.

Thanks

Interesting article from 2007 on rapid tests:

www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/health/22whoop.html

1 but realistically that won't ever happen so will be happy with 2

@Roonerspismed

1.

We locked down to save the NHS

How the fuck did we end up here a year later?

A twat was elected by other twats.

I thought the level level of inaccuracy with a PCR test, was mainly with regards to a negative result in a person who has clear Covid symptoms, which is why medics were recommended to test twice in patients who had symptoms, but a negative early test.

Because you made the comment about No wonder case numbers are rising - if you search you will find seemed more relevant to lateral flow tests for asymptomatic cases.

Apologies if I made a mistake

Exactly what Raccoonworld said. Broadly 2, but family and close friends should be allowed in your home now. Infections are no longer at a level where it reasonable for the government to make this illegal, and this should only ever have been an emergency measure.

2, assuming cases are still very low and pressure on hospitals is minimal.

@HazeyJaneII

...do lateral flow tests with 49% accuracy everytime you get a cough... No one has said that. Lateral flow tests are for people without symptoms.

Cases rising isn't so much the issue, hospitalisation and monitoring new variants, is.

Yeah not actually said it, but that's the narrative now.

Excessive testing people (with LF tests which have less than 50% accuracy) with no symptoms will bring up cases.

Boris has mentioned cases rising a few times. Who gives a shit? As long as these people arent dying or going to hospital, it shouldn't matter. Data shows deaths and hospital admissions are falling despite variants.

Now it seems it's not on how many deaths or admissions but how many cases. Boris also mentions variants, all virus' mutate and the vaccines have showed high efficiency against them.
There is absolutely no need for this to continue after June, or even know imo, as the majority of vulnerable groups are vaccinated.

2 assuming nothing has dramatically gone wrong in the meantime, with continuing limits on international travel this year

Your choices are false. Sorry. NOthing in there about international travel and/or the risks of mutation and the vaccine not being effective and having to start the whole thing again.

As it stands, it would be a 3 but keeping some pretty strict measures in place such as face masks and distancing if possible until we are confident that transmission is low (the only way to do this is vaccination).

One of the biggest transmission now is in secondary schools - there is a possibility that Universities and secondary schools/sixthform will have to shut/open for a while until things are more in control. To much transmission in schools could mean another variant. NOt good.

I think there will be measures in place for a long time, and if we open too soon it will start again until a huge majority is vaccinated, including children.

As of March 2020, 1

Qwerty, there will be new variants regardless of whether or not cases in schools are high. Honestly, this is getting ridiculous. We can’t live our lives with the fear that something worse might happen. The flu mutates far more and could also mutate into something far more deadly but we don’t restrict our lives to prevent that happening.

The virus will mutate if it has the opportunity to mutate, ie the higher the transmission rate, the higher the chances are of a mutation. There is no need to use emotional language like 'living in fear' or 'we can't live our lives' bla bla bla.

We are living in a new reality, and I think it's perfectly fine to try and avoid future lockdowns by taking action now. It's not 'living in fear', it's living in reality.

My heart says 1, but I can live with 2 for the sake of more of groups 1-9 having their second doses. BUT I think seeing people indoors in small numbers (maybe rule of 6?) should be allowed earlier...

I really feel that the narrative has changed from ‘save the NHS’ to ‘what about the mutant variants’

This virus was always going to mutate. The scientists knew this, the government knew this. Flu mutates every year and the vaccine gets tweaked. Scientists have admitted this a similar situation. We have so many effective vaccinations, they can be easily adapted. We can not stay in lockdown hell or with this constant threat of ‘potential‘ mutant variants. If we are to live with Covid then there will always be this potential.

@QwertyGirly

The virus will mutate if it has the opportunity to mutate, ie the higher the transmission rate, the higher the chances are of a mutation. There is no need to use emotional language like 'living in fear' or 'we can't live our lives' bla bla bla.

We are living in a new reality, and I think it's perfectly fine to try and avoid future lockdowns by taking action now. It's not 'living in fear', it's living in reality.

The b.1.1.7 variant arose in a single, chronically infected person.

The reality is that we’re living with a new virus that can mutate and we can’t keep locking down.

Exactly @Delatron

1. It should have been done weeks ago to be honest. It's no longer about the virus but money and control.

1

It's really interesting as the responses on here are so different to what they would have been 6 months ago.

I'd be totally happy with 1. Can accept 2. Who knows what it will be in reality.

1 or 2 WITH international travel from June

@WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants

Who is paying you to do this?

You appear to have missed out the option of opening up as per the route map, but ONLY if we genuinely meet the criteria at each stage. NOT just on set dates.

Exactly.

None of your options. It depends on how the virus mutates and how your vaccine gets on. I'd love for life to be back to normal. But we have to see how things go.

@Doyoumindfisithere

None of your options are correct IMO, it should be:

We should ease out of restrictions from now but not on arbitrary dates but scientific data AND we should be doing much more to suppress cases so that everyone unvaccinated has a much lower risk of contracting covid.

This

However much I'd love restrictions to end right now. I think the current plan of gradually seeing the impact of lifting restrictions and potentially adjusting based on the outcome.

Then at least we know what things do and don't impact cases badly. Meaning if another lockdown is required the government can just ban the things proven to have a negative impact and let us carry on with everything else.

1 ideally but, as that sadly isn't happening, I'll take 2.