Will the new variant affect your socialising plans?

[User135644]

After things looking promising, the panic is back over this new variant which is causing devastation in India; and has been allowed into this country, some might say due to laxity from the government.

Although things are going ahead as normal on Monday, will it affect your plans at all? I'm not sure i'll feel comfortable in an indoor pub or restaurant yet, but i'm due a vaccine soon so in my case what's a few more weeks after 14 months?

@Waxonwaxoff0

Absolutely not. I'm unvaccinated (30 with no underlying health conditions) and I live in Erewash which currently has the highest Covid rates in the country. Couldn't care less, I'm off to the pub next weekend with friends and cannot wait.

Such rebellion.

Not at all, the only sense of "panic" I'm seeing is reported in the media. I plan to enjoy the next phase for as long as it lasts (should be forever but the lockdown noises are already starting and we're not even out yet!) I've not been worried about Covid for a long time and cannot wait for life to restart.

Boris: use common sense
MN: we’re going to do as much socialising and mixing indoors as we can while we still can.

As much as the government can be blamed for the situation we are in because of inaction, there does appear to be a major flaw in the trust the ability of the public to reason and use common sense policy.

The naivety and defiance from some is disturbing.

Nope. I am worried but we are still going for our dinner plans, cocktails inside with friends and a hotel stay in London this week after much deliberation.
We are going to be extra careful as always but I want to live life again. Waited last summer and then ended up not seeing anyone or doing anything

@Thewiseoneincognito as is your insistence on posting dire warnings on every single coronavirus thread tbh.

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay then why let people do it? It’s common sense that after
Months, nearly a year for some places, of not being able to see friends and family inside OF COURSE a lot of people are going to have them over the first chance they can.

Why open hotels etc if you don’t want people mingling inside?

Defiance! It's now defiant to socialize according to the very careful road map laid out months in advance, the conditions of which have been met.

At what point will meeting up and spending money in the economy be considered a reasonable thing to do? Supposedly we're at that point - Hospitalisations and deaths are very low, vaccine uptake very high, and seasonality is perfect.

But now it's back to being thick and disobedient. Based on what?

[quote Pivotthesofa]@Thewiseoneincognito as is your insistence on posting dire warnings on every single coronavirus thread tbh.[/quote]
A follower.

hi!

Boris: use common sense
MN: we’re going to do as much socialising and mixing indoors as we can while we still can.

And why do you think people might be reacting that way? If everyone stopped having a canary over every fucking variant perhaps they’d feel confident that there is a way out and they’re not going to be put back into lockdown. Lots of people made that mistake last summer and won’t make it again.

Not a chance. We’re in greater Manchester and made the mistake of waiting during the few weeks of freedom we had last summer only to be under restrictions again and we’ve never come back out. I will be making the most of it while we can thanks very much.

Same here. Plus I've been keeping a very close eye on the figures.
My wider area has the lowest number of cases in the whole of greater Manchester and they've been falling consistently for months. My immediate area ( as in my postcode) has had a rolling average of between 0-2 since Christmas so I think it's as safe as it's ever going to be.

I'm desperate to support our local businesses as the additional restrictions we were under made it especially difficult for them.

The Indian variant has definitely been detected in the USA, Europe, Australia. It’s probably everywhere. Not everywhere is making a ginormous fuss about it though.

I really think people should get vaccinated and shut off the news.

Refreshing to see that the fear propaganda is starting to have less and less effect. I for one am cheered up by it and long may it continue! It’s time to get everybody’s lives back and love alongside it as we do all other respiratory viruses.
Covid is always going to be around but now we have vaccines and effective treatments, so what’s the actual problem with cases? Variants will emerge with or without lockdowns and herd immunity. Surely gently allowing a dominant strain they know doesn’t look any more likely to cause serious illness or death to spread around a mostly vaccinated population is better than fending it off until a deadlier one is forced to evolve!
The panic started last night by the press conference and the media is abhorrent. If we are supposed to be all scared back into our homes for a daily case count of 2000 then we may as well never come out again.

@Lostinacloud

Refreshing to see that the fear propaganda is starting to have less and less effect. I for one am cheered up by it and long may it continue! It’s time to get everybody’s lives back and love alongside it as we do all other respiratory viruses. Covid is always going to be around but now we have vaccines and effective treatments, so what’s the actual problem with cases? Variants will emerge with or without lockdowns and herd immunity. Surely gently allowing a dominant strain they know doesn’t look any more likely to cause serious illness or death to spread around a mostly vaccinated population is better than fending it off until a deadlier one is forced to evolve! The panic started last night by the press conference and the media is abhorrent. If we are supposed to be all scared back into our homes for a daily case count of 2000 then we may as well never come out again.

Try living alongside a variant that is more transmissible than the Kent and see how long normality goes on for. I’d say it’s impossible, you have people who can not be vaccinated, large numbers of young people not eligible yet and anything from 5-20% of no protection for some vaxxed people. No sane government would be able to take those risks.

It’s not Fear propaganda it’s asking the public to be responsible and cautious, essentially trusting people to do the right thing in a safe way to keep the numbers low enough to continue opening back up.

It is not more transmissible.
There is a realistic possibility it could be. Which imo is not sufficient to cause the panic we’ve seen over the last few days.

It's possible to socialise and do things that are allowed and also use common sense. They're not mutually exclusive.

To be honest it’s made me more determined to enjoy it before the COVID hysterics get freedom taken away again. Going to Devon on Monday and have restaurants booked every night!

No, we live rurally in the south

@PrincessNutNuts

God no.

Airborne virus 50% more transmissible than the last one - which was already 70% more transmissible than the first one?

In an indoor setting?

With 46% of the country completely unvaccinated?

Only 29%!of the country fully vaccinated?

And 99% of the country champing at the bit to get out there and mingle because our government's inept handling of covid has kept us in restrictions for 12 months out of the last 13?

What could go wrong?!

I think people just want to go out while they can now before it all goes tits up again.

Not a chance. I’m staying at a friends this weekend anyway so breaking the rules already lol

There are about 30 people in my whole local authority area with Covid. I’m fully vaccinated, still wear my hateful mask, wash and sanitise my hands, maintain distance. Hardly throwing caution to the wind to go out with a couple of mates.

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

Boris: use common sense MN: we’re going to do as much socialising and mixing indoors as we can while we still can.

As much as the government can be blamed for the situation we are in because of inaction, there does appear to be a major flaw in the trust the ability of the public to reason and use common sense policy.

People are people.. That's why sociologists are part of the science team and it's factored into decision making. Boris can't change human nature, any more than he can stop the tide.

People were told to use common sense regarding the shops in February/March and they responded by emptying out the toilet roll aisles, quicker than they could be restocked.

You don't run policy by appealing to people's common sense.

No. I spent a year cowering indoors last year and shielding. I took so much time and fun from my kids because of my own fears and I won't do it to them again. I'm fully vaccinated now and just hope that will be enough.

Absolutely no way.

Not changing plans at all.