Is this really the end

[Beatinghearts]

It look like. It’s finally the end of this and everyone will be getting back to normal.

In one school or a few ? I guess there are going to be outbreaks for a while ,but the more people are fully vaccinated,the less of a problem it will be ?

[quote User135644]@GoldenOmber

A major outbreak in school.[/quote]
And?

Cases have been plummetting for weeks if not months. There will always be localised outbreaks, but it's highly unlikely that that will change the overall downwards trend.

I really hope so. But it doesn't feel like it.
I flew to the States last week (I'm a dual citizen) and it was a bit of a grind getting over there. I had to pay privately (no choice but to... it's how it is when you travel) for a rapid covid test before departure, another rapid covid test in the States, and now a Covid test on days 2 and 8 of my 10 days isolation back at home here in London. Whether you're vaccinated or not, this is how it is. Masks for 10 hours on the flight. That was a bit tough.
It was all doable and ok, just a pain in the arse and bloody expensive. My 19 year old son flew with me. Between the two of us, we spent £900 on covid tests... and you HAVE to book with private companies. You can't come back home and do the NHS tests. It is SUCH a racket.
And if you don't book the tests before you board the flight, you don't get on. Lots of form filling too.
So... yeah... it feels far from normal.

@IcedPurple

I think that testing, vaccines, increased hygiene, and possibly masks and social distancing will be needed for a while.

If social distancing goes on much longer, thousands of businesses will not survive. Whole industries - entertainment, the arts, hospitality, transport, tourism, hairdressing, lesiure - simply cannot operate profitably with SD in place.

And why would it be needed if the vaccines work, as it very much appears they do?

Because I suspect caution will still be in place throughout the winter. I don’t think they want to risk another wave like last year.

Boris has spent a lot of time really downplaying the effectiveness of the vaccine, despite lots of studies stating otherwise.

The overall attitude during this easing of restrictions has been very different to last years.

Last year they were encouraging us to get out there and have fun. This year they keep telling us we are all still very much at risk.

I may be wrong, I hope I am wrong.

@MonsterMash2210

Possibly the beginning of the end for us at least yes.

I think that testing, vaccines, increased hygiene, and possibly masks and social distancing will be needed for a while.

This Autumn/ Winter is looking promising at the moment, but it’s possible that some restrictions may need to be back in place. I think (hope) a full lockdown can be avoided though. I wouldn’t want to discount it completely though.

I guess my thoughts are we can be cautiously optimistic.

Covid will never go away completely, and other Countries are still really struggling. This is why I don’t really think we can completely let our guard down. Especially since it’s looking like we are not going to prevent foreign travel in and out the country.

Pretty much this But yes the fall out financially, mental and physical health wise will be felt for a very long time

@SmidgenofaPigeon

Yeah but some people honestly won’t know what to when they’re not hand-wringing over covid. Some have bloody loved it

And some people won't know what to do with themselves when they can't criticise other people's insecurities , do what they like, and minimise covid

And some people won't know what to do with themselves when they can't criticise other people's insecurities , do what they like, and minimise covid

We'll be in the pub.

@CarrieAntoinette

*Q) What is the same?

A) B117. The U.K. variant is still here and it's still dominant. The U.K. government covid policy still has no plan or mechanism to suppress the virus and prevent another wave, or adequate controls to prevent new variants entering the country and seeding the community.

Q) And what is worse now?

A) The other variants that are also here, General fatigue with restrictions after more than a year of this shit. The pandemic worldwide is accelerating, not slowing down, the latest variants of concern demonstrate no sign of covid becoming less dangerous, we're opening up and done people seem to think the pandemic is somehow over.*

Wow what a doom mongering post.

The science says otherwise. There is no variant that is vaccine resistant so far. The flu vaccine is only 43% effective and all of the Covid jabs are higher than against each variant.

Real-world data out of Qatar (380,000+) shows Pfizer’s vaccine is 100% effective in preventing severe, critical, or fatal disease caused by variant B.1.1.7 (UK) and B.1.351 (SA).
t.co/0awxS2bF6f^

Novavax’s updated trial results are in:
^• 100% protection against severe disease
• Final analysis in U.K. trial confirms 96% efficacy against original strain of COVID-19^
•Efficacy against variants confirmed in U.K. and South Africa.
^(ir.novavax.com/news-releases/news-release-details/novavax-confirms-high-levels-efficacy-against-original-and)^

Researchers found ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222- AstraZeneca Oxford) protects against SARS-CoV-2 variants B.1.351 and B.1.1.7 in vaccinated Syrian Hamsters. Complete lack of disease.
^www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.11.435000v1^

There are many many more studies I can link but can't be arsed.
Viruses mutate and will continue to mutate. We've kept on top of each variant so far.......let's not to mention the plummeting death rate despite variants.

[quote User135644]@GoldenOmber

A major outbreak in school.[/quote]
I live near that school. Not concerned. Huge effort is being made to contain it. Situations like this are going to happen. It's a right pain for those who have to isolate, but the most vulnerable have had their vaccines so this should not be a big issue.

@x2boys

In one school or a few ? I guess there are going to be outbreaks for a while ,but the more people are fully vaccinated,the less of a problem it will be ?

One secondary school. All siblings of pupils at that school have also been asked to isolate to prevent it spreading to the primaries.

Did I hear on the news yesterday there will be no lockdowns again?

I am cautiously happy but I will believe it when I see it. Everything has changed so much the last year, anything could happen i guess

@StressMagnet

Did I hear on the news yesterday there will be no lockdowns again?

I am cautiously happy but I will believe it when I see it. Everything has changed so much the last year, anything could happen i guess

I heard it on the news last July...

God knows what some people will do when they can't disinfect their eyelashes every time they look at someone walking past outside their closed window who might have covid.

[quote MrsHastingslikethebattle]@CarrieAntoinette

*Q) What is the same?

A) B117. The U.K. variant is still here and it's still dominant. The U.K. government covid policy still has no plan or mechanism to suppress the virus and prevent another wave, or adequate controls to prevent new variants entering the country and seeding the community.

Q) And what is worse now?

A) The other variants that are also here, General fatigue with restrictions after more than a year of this shit. The pandemic worldwide is accelerating, not slowing down, the latest variants of concern demonstrate no sign of covid becoming less dangerous, we're opening up and done people seem to think the pandemic is somehow over.*

Wow what a doom mongering post.

The science says otherwise. There is no variant that is vaccine resistant so far. The flu vaccine is only 43% effective and all of the Covid jabs are higher than against each variant.

Real-world data out of Qatar (380,000+) shows Pfizer’s vaccine is 100% effective in preventing severe, critical, or fatal disease caused by variant B.1.1.7 (UK) and B.1.351 (SA).
t.co/0awxS2bF6f^

Novavax’s updated trial results are in:
^• 100% protection against severe disease
• Final analysis in U.K. trial confirms 96% efficacy against original strain of COVID-19^
•Efficacy against variants confirmed in U.K. and South Africa.
^(ir.novavax.com/news-releases/news-release-details/novavax-confirms-high-levels-efficacy-against-original-and)^

Researchers found ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222- AstraZeneca Oxford) protects against SARS-CoV-2 variants B.1.351 and B.1.1.7 in vaccinated Syrian Hamsters. Complete lack of disease.
^www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.11.435000v1^

There are many many more studies I can link but can't be arsed.
Viruses mutate and will continue to mutate. We've kept on top of each variant so far.......let's not to mention the plummeting death rate despite variants.[/quote]
Thank for all of that, but I don't consider what has happened since B117 was discovered last September as having "kept on top of all the variants so far."

Our government ignored all the warnings which led to another massive wave that killed more people than the first and has required even longer restrictions plus vaccines to tamp down.

I think there might be some restrictions in winter eg on mass gatherings but hopefully not a full lockdown

Thank for all of that, but I don't consider what has happened since B117 was discovered last September as having "kept on top of all the variants so far."

The poster is quite obviously talking about vaccine efficacy.

Knowing our luck we will just get out of restrictions & Boris will declare war on France.

@LucilleTheVampireBat

And some people won't know what to do with themselves when they can't criticise other people's insecurities , do what they like, and minimise covid

We'll be in the pub.

Aaah assuming that i am someone who hides away from covid? Nope wrong. I will probably be on the (socially distanced) next table

But well done for fitting your own stereotype

@sleepwouldbenice - there won't be any socially distanced tables!

It's looking likely it's mostly going to be ok. Except for London (and possibly a handful of other cities and towns). It's only people the government and most of the public don't care about still at risk, i.e. disabled, ethnic minorities, and mainly only those in London, so yes I should imagine most or all restrictions will be lifted soon.

I am slightly involved with an outdoor event that was to happen this summer. The organisers had to commit to hiring ££££s of equipment, grounds, insurance, etc by the end of March and had to have enough bookings to cover the costs.

There was not enough confidence either among the organisers or among the potential attendees to make such a commitment, so they decided to cancel. It might have been a different matter if they hadn't had to decide until, say, the end of May, but that wouldn't leave enough time to get everything sorted - a lot of it takes many months.

So events cancelling doesn't necessarily mean that we're doomed, just that decisions had to be made before things were looking as optimistic as they are now.

I should add that I personally do care about those people but I strongly suspect I'm in a minority.

[quote Puppylucky]@sleepwouldbenice - there won't be any socially distanced tables![/quote]
How far in the future is this pub?!

@Tealightsandd

It's looking likely it's mostly going to be ok. Except for London (and possibly a handful of other cities and towns). It's only people the government and most of the public don't care about still at risk, i.e. disabled, ethnic minorities, and mainly only those in London, so yes I should imagine most or all restrictions will be lifted soon.

If they are, it won't be for long.

Last year Lockdown officially ended on August 1st with the pausing of Shielding, and the second wave was declared on September 8th.

On September 21st Whitty and Vallance took their Graph of Doom on the television and were decried as doom-mongers for suggesting we could be back at 200 deaths a day in November. (It was October.)

And then another 80,000 British people died. And the rest of us were in restrictions from October to well, now.

The vaccines might mean it takes longer this year.

The more transmissible variants might mean it doesn't.

But given we're opening up long before herd immunity is reached and we still don't have effective strategies to suppress covid, or stop variants spreading when they come in it's just a case of when.

@Tealightsandd strange comment re : london they have been offered the jabs the same as everyone , obviously cities social distancing etc is harder so cases may spread quicker but what do you want the goverment to do