Breaking News Boris press conference tonight 14/05/21

[Whichjab]

So, is Monday under threat? Change to school masks or hugs?

@NoMLMbots

'Nope' to yourself.

Announcement this morning that Indian variant hadn't led to more deaths!

It hasn't even been here a month yet!

They need to impose restrictions in Bolton so hopefully that's what it is along with stuff about Portugal, app etc as @JustMeAndWheatley says

@cuparfull

Its time all ethnicities start playing their part for the good of all and take the vaccine. That's what nobody wants to say....that some minorities put the wellbeing and livelihoods of us all at risk because of their selfishness.

Our children will be paying for this for years....we need to get real now.

Some also have higher death rates - think on why.

@superspreader

The vaccines do not work as well against the Indian strain. we have to be careful releasing lockdown. vaccinated people are getting it, here and in India

Next month it'll be another strain. What happened to South Afircan and Brazilian variant panic?

Surge testing should automatically be accompanied by surge vaccinations, where they go in asap and get everyone over 18 jabbed* to contain spread/serious illness as much as possible. It would also stop a new variant circulating in a mixed vaxxed/non-vaxxed environment which I think is a concern for creation of vaccine-resistant mutations?

*everyone who wants to be, obviously

Surge vaccination will have limited impacts in places like Bolton/Blackburn due to vaccine hesitancy of the South Asian community.

Healthy marathon running friends and family, like no longer able to work, continue and adding to the NHS staff shortages.

I'm sorry for the real people you're talking about.

I have to say though, only since covid started has this belief that marathon runners = healthy been repeated to such an extent that it's almost like a religion.

Marathon runners aren't automatically healthy. You might want to look into some of the studies on effects of heart health, muscle and kidney damage, increased cortisol levels etc.

There is currently a whole hidden population of people with long covid that other young people are saying “crack on we’re fine”

Well that's just human nature, isn't it? People can go on and on about they all know "healthy" marathon runners, "healthy" 46 year old who just happened to be obese... but the statistics developed by Oxford University and used by the NHS are based on real data during the first wave. For the most part, younger, healthier people are not effected... and for every young healthy person who is saying "crack on we're fine" (which BTW - is after well over an ENTIRE YEAR of sacrifices and restrictions) there is an older, less healthy person saying "lock down and don't Kill Granny"

Then

"Lockdown and flatten the curve"

Then

"Lockdown and protect the NHS"

Then

"Lockdown until the vulnerable are vaccinated"

Then

"Lockdown because variants"

And now we have....

"Lockdown because post-viral fatigue"

But yeah it's those pesky young-ins soooooo impatient (after 14 months!) to crack on.

The 5pm ones are usually just a reminder of what the changes are, repeating the roadmap and showing slides.

Anything ese is conjecture, media doing what it has been doing for over a year now!

Oneof the suggestions for heard hit areas is not more lockdown but vaccination by geography rather than age groups. The number to be vaccinated should be manageable without impact elsewhere - theoretically!

We shall see...

I've just noticed the NHS app now has a link to 'check your COVID-19 vaccine record' on the home page, and a dedicated page, instead of having to search for it via your health record. Good news.

Also - why do I keep seeing people comparing this situation to the December lockdown? All this ‘they never learn, we locked down too late back then etc etc’

The two situations are not comparable. Not one person had received a vaccine in December. We now have over 68% of the population who have had a least one dose, and many in the remaining 32% who will have some form of immunity from previous infection.

The most sensible thing in my opinion, to balance Covid risks with lockdown risks is to carry on with the road map - carry out surge testing and watch the variant closely to see if there is an uptick in hospitalisations and/or deaths (NOT an uptick in cases - higher case rates aren’t an issue if they don’t overwhelm hospitals)

If they do start to see evidence of an increase then they need to review the roadmap.

Not lockdown now ‘just in case’. Lockdown is too devastating for too many people to warrant dragging it out to prevent something that may never happen anyway.

@AlmostSummer21

I expect just blah blah blah bout being careful etc no actual action.

They should stop Mondays removal of masks in schools - it's a no brained & easy to reverse.

They should put a stop to the indoor socialising & hospitality venues opening etc.

Basically, they should put May 17
'Easings' on hold until further notice, but they're too wet to do it.

We will, again, wait until it's far harder to control, jut like they have every bloody time. They do not learn.

And again things will be much worse than they need to be, more people will die and more will have long Covid. All because they don't want to have to take an unpopular stance 🙇🏻‍♀️

Wow you really love the lockdown life don’t you!

As someone in the US can I point out:

• we vaccinated with Pfizer and Moderna and we now have quite good evidence that these vaccines stop transmission and work against variants
• we are also vaccinating on a 3 week schedule. Many people in the UK have had one vaccine but won’t have a second for many weeks.
• many many states had outdoor mask mandates alongside indoor ones. My kids have been in elementary and pre-school in masks since July 2020 (and have been fine btw).

So the guidance being loosened in the US is not comparable to the way it is done in the UK.

@KurtWilde

Look I've stuck to this shit for a year. I'm sick of this one rule for one and a different one for someone else. If it's ok to gather in droves for Eid it's ok for me to hug my FULLY VACCINATED mum.

But people were saying this a year ago about the BLM gatherings.

I don’t know what the UK data is but in the US vaccine hesitancy is MUCH higher about white right wingers than among Latinos and Blacks. Many of the latter found it hard to GET vaccinated. But it is that first group that is vaccine hesitant. I would love to see the UK data on who is refusing to be vaccinated (in the UK since it is NHS handled I am assuming access is not an issue per se).

@SaskiaRembrandt

I've seen a suggestion that they might vaccinate people over 16 in surge areas - maybe it's to announce that?

They should just offer it to all adults everywhere now those who are vulnerable have been offered them imo.

@Wherediditgo

Also - why do I keep seeing people comparing this situation to the December lockdown? All this ‘they never learn, we locked down too late back then etc etc’

The two situations are not comparable. Not one person had received a vaccine in December. We now have over 68% of the population who have had a least one dose, and many in the remaining 32% who will have some form of immunity from previous infection.

The most sensible thing in my opinion, to balance Covid risks with lockdown risks is to carry on with the road map - carry out surge testing and watch the variant closely to see if there is an uptick in hospitalisations and/or deaths (NOT an uptick in cases - higher case rates aren’t an issue if they don’t overwhelm hospitals)

If they do start to see evidence of an increase then they need to review the roadmap.

Not lockdown now ‘just in case’. Lockdown is too devastating for too many people to warrant dragging it out to prevent something that may never happen anyway.

I completely agree - well said

I am tired of the Chicken Licken approach to Covid19. Either the Indian variant is not causing more hospitalisations and deaths as reported or it is.

Sky News is saying the government are saying Mondays easing of restrictions will be going ahead - which is the correct decision imo

Nadhim Zahawi just on there now

@Wherediditgo when are you running for PM. Got my vote

@ChaBishkoot

I don’t know what the UK data is but in the US vaccine hesitancy is MUCH higher about white right wingers than among Latinos and Blacks. Many of the latter found it hard to GET vaccinated. But it is that first group that is vaccine hesitant. I would love to see the UK data on who is refusing to be vaccinated (in the UK since it is NHS handled I am assuming access is not an issue per se).

I am curious where you get that conclusion? CNN?

The data shows higher vaccination rates amoung white people in US vs Hispanics or Black people. I truly doubt this is due to Hispanics and black not having access to vaccines as they are in much more urban areas.. that seems like a stretch.

Bravo, Wherediditgo. I'm going to see a friend in another city on Monday. She's near to death thanks to lockdown. Not doing this shit anymore.

I'm watching Independent Sage at the moment and the data does indicate that the Indian variant B1617.2 is more transmissible than the other variants currently in the UK (Brazil and SA variants haven't gone away but they peaked and fell), including the Kent variant that is (was??) the dominant variant here. At the moment they're thinking that the Indian variant isn't necessarily vaccine resistant, it's just more transmissible, but that in itself is worrying if you get large outbreaks in contained areas, as they can provide a 'reservoir' for further mutation.

I don't know why we wouldn't be worried about this. I am also very 'oh FFS' - we have a break booked in the UK for half term and I am really looking forward to going into museums and maybe having the odd coffee inside while the weather is so shite - but what else are we meant to do? BJ should probably put the breaks on further lifting of restrictions for at least a couple of weeks - it wouldn't have a massive impact on our lives and the economy (2 weeks) but might be enough to put into place local measures to try and stamp out this new variant.

We are still doing really well. Why would we want to throw it away by saying 'well fuck it, I'm done'? I just don't get it.

[quote Crazycatlady83]@Wherediditgo when are you running for PM. Got my vote[/quote]
Yep - and mine. Happy to be your Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. I have literally no experience but I understand that doesn't matter.

@AlmostSummer21

*The vulnerable are no longer at risk. Restrictions can no longer be justified. If people want to stay locked up and wear mask etc. let that be personal choice. The rest of us want to get on with our lives*

15 months on you'd think people would understand more about how a virus spreads, but no, this shite still being peddled. Infecting OTHERS is NOT 'a personal choice'

FFS

Quite. Especially since it's an airborne virus. Some of us were laughed at for saying that last year (it's carried on droplets of exhaled breath, amongst other vectors, ffs!), and the WHO have finally conceded that it is indeed airborne (lasts between 30-60 minutes if a carrier has breathed it out).

When I walk the dog in the mornings, we SD chat about this stuff, as well as gardening/weather and life in general. All one has to do is take note of world events to understand that what's going on in India could very quickly happen here in the UK. All it takes is one person to refuse to adhere to rules or guidelines.

The vaccine doesn't prevent people from contracting or spreading, it just (hopefully) prevents people from dying of it. It's shit, but that's what it is. I just hope Johnson doesn't fuck it up again.

With the death rate declining, I was just thinking a few days ago that - for the first time since last March - the end really is in sight! And now this. FFS.