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Original poster

Indian variant - will the roadmap be delayed?

523 replies

nonono1 · 12/05/2021 17:35

I was feeling very hopeful about the future until reading that the Indian variant is now spreading fast in some communities.

In light of this, do you think we will stick to the roadmap as planned, or will restrictions be kept in place for longer? It seems like we're still going ahead with the big opening up on Monday.

Also, what about weddings? My SIL is getting married in August and we're really hoping it will still go ahead!

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Thewiseoneincognito · 13/05/2021 13:14

Interesting comments from BoJo today , it seems they are adopting a wait and see strategy as to how this plays out. He will as per usual wait until the very last minute to make any changes to plans, decisive action should be taken to keep this from becoming a headache.

I’ve mentioned it on the other IV thread but Eid celebrations from today and over the weekend could pose an issue due to household mixing and large gatherings. The larger Asian communities around Bolton such as Burnley, Blackburn, Bury, Rochdale, Oldham are all areas that could potentially see spikes. Throw in May 17th loosening of restrictions and hopefully it doesn’t turn out to be the perfect storm and everyone follows guidelines and takes sensible precautions. 🙏🏻

Piggywaspushed · 13/05/2021 13:31

Just for info, DS is at a school with Indian variant and my area is now top 10 in country (again)

Received email today offering Pfizer vaccine to all staff, parent and carers over 30 today.

That does rather suggest a sense of urgency.

Piggywaspushed · 13/05/2021 13:32

ps am not up in North : nowhere near it!

savethegrannies · 13/05/2021 13:35

Why would they delay the roadmap if all the elderly and vulnerable are vaccinated? Is there evidence these vaccines dont work on the Indian variant?

RedcurrantPuff · 13/05/2021 13:38

The hospitalisations and deaths will come unfortunately, of that you can be certain.

Yes some, but even if it was kept at January’s level by vaccines, surely no need for more lockdown. It should be the last resort, not the first.

Girlmama3 · 13/05/2021 13:38

@Piggywaspushed Where roughly are you? I hate that we’re warned of the hotspots but it might actually be in our town. That’s quite worrying that they’re changing the vaccine rules because of it 😩

Piggywaspushed · 13/05/2021 13:41

Last time I said things were kicking off in my area a poster tried to out my exact location and where I work, my DH works and where my DC goes to school to accuse me of lying, so I would rather not say if that's OK.

Not North, not London, not Derbys/Notts. South of there but north of London.

pinkpanther84 · 13/05/2021 13:41

On a selfish level, I really hope the 21 June lifting of restrictions doesn't get delayed. I'm meant to be getting married in July having had to cancel 3 previous dates. I really thought things were starting to look very positive until the Indian variant started to spread.

Frazzled2207 · 13/05/2021 13:42

In Blackburn now there is an opportunity for all 18+ to get vaccinated from next week. Not sure if this is government orders or local nhs/pharmacy being proactive. E

IcedPurple · 13/05/2021 13:43

@StealthPolarBear

Are people really happy for ongoing lockdowns? Three weeks to protect the NHS is far from where we are now.
It's very clear that there are quite a few people on MN who would be happy for this to go on indefinitely, however much they will deny it and use 'concern' over the latest scariant as an excuse.
savethegrannies · 13/05/2021 13:46

I just don't get it. Have we moved from protecting strain on the NHS to something else? If so, why not tell us? We have vaccines. WHO itself has said they work against the Indian variant. They Tweeted it the other day. So why are we in such a flap?
Wtf is going on here??

Girlmama3 · 13/05/2021 13:51

@Piggywaspushed Really?? What is wrong with people! I don’t give out my exact location! Not that anyone would be interested!!

LucilleTheVampireBat · 13/05/2021 14:04

@savethegrannies

I just don't get it. Have we moved from protecting strain on the NHS to something else? If so, why not tell us? We have vaccines. WHO itself has said they work against the Indian variant. They Tweeted it the other day. So why are we in such a flap? Wtf is going on here??
I don't get it either. Well, I do, but I don't know how we have ended up in this position. It's now about what exactly? We were told, it won't be about cases it will be about hospitalisations and deaths and now every man and his dog are frothing about cases.

It's utter bollocks.

flowerycurtain · 13/05/2021 14:13

There was an interesting segment of Radio 4 World at 1 about Bedford. Cases have jumped from 30ish per 100k to 80ish in a week. The public health bod they had on was basically saying she wouldn't unlock but as the government were not going to do that she wanted more vaccines.

It does feel like we've been here before and we're still not listenekng.

flowerycurtain · 13/05/2021 14:14

Piggy & Girl I think we are all fairly close to one another!

Watermelon222 · 13/05/2021 14:29

I’m particularly interested in how this variant has spread and think the government need to learn from this before people start going away more in the summer as we definitely don’t want another lockdown!

It was illegal to travel abroad, except for a few specific reasons, so firstly how were so many people away in the first place? (Funerals and weddings were limited over here, so the same rules should have applied to those looking to travel for those reasons. Many extended family members have not been able to attend).

Secondly, those who did travel back before the deadline had to quarantine at home and get tested. I can understand the tests picking up more cases because of this, but they should have been isolated individuals and not spread further, as those individuals should not have been mixing with anyone!

I think the government need to understand how this has happened. Have people not been properly quarantining? Have they been living in close proximity with people who are leaving the house for school and work? Or has it spread by people been mixing with others on connecting flights etc?

Also, did they leave it too long to put India on the red list and give too much notice for high risk people to return before the need for hotel quarantine?

MarshaBradyo · 13/05/2021 14:37

@flowerycurtain

There was an interesting segment of Radio 4 World at 1 about Bedford. Cases have jumped from 30ish per 100k to 80ish in a week. The public health bod they had on was basically saying she wouldn't unlock but as the government were not going to do that she wanted more vaccines.

It does feel like we've been here before and we're still not listenekng.

Did she mention what vaccine uptake was like in that location?
Piggywaspushed · 13/05/2021 14:41

It's pretty good , marsha.

FlyLight · 13/05/2021 14:43

@savethegrannies quite- it doesn't matter if there's cases if people aren't getting seriously ill and overwhelming hospitals. Clearly there's now more to this than protecting the NHS (as if the government have ever given a shit about the NHS, but that's another argument!)

castemary · 13/05/2021 14:46

In India, medics who have received two doses of a vaccine have caught this variant and been ill. In the UK they are urgently looking at whether this leads to more hospitalizations and deaths. If it means more people spending a week ill in bed then no one will be bothered. But if it means soaring hospitalizations and deaths, we could be back to square one.
This is why controlling our borders matters so much.

Cookerhood · 13/05/2021 14:47

Also, did they leave it too long to put India on the red list and give too much notice for high risk people to return before the need for hotel quarantine?
Bingo. It's known that the majority of people don't quarantine properly at home, and no-one else in the household has to.

castemary · 13/05/2021 14:48

@Watermelon222 you can visit ill family and family who need care. Many people have elderly family in India. When you get back you quarantine in your house. But your children are still supposed to go to school. As I understand it the outbreaks have centred in schools.

Thewiseoneincognito · 13/05/2021 14:48

One thing is for sure, should this take off then we will know fairly sharpish what the situation may look like come June 21st and we will soon see how effective the vaccines are. May 17th could be a mistake the gov may come to regret judging from these initial clusters.

castemary · 13/05/2021 14:50

@savethegrannies

Why would they delay the roadmap if all the elderly and vulnerable are vaccinated? Is there evidence these vaccines dont work on the Indian variant?
They do not know yet. They know you can still be ill with the Indian variant after vaccination. They do not know the risk of hospitalisation and death. If this goes pear-shaped I will be in despair.
LucilleTheVampireBat · 13/05/2021 14:52

In India, medics who have received two doses of a vaccine have caught this variant and been ill

Really? Where did you read this? I could only find an article from the New Indian Express, dated 8th April and this reported that although doctors had tested positive for covid after having received 2 doses, that they hadn't been ill.