Is Greater Manchester heading towards another local lockdown?

[NatMoz]

The news surrounding Bolton is really worrying and the Indian variant is starting to slowly spread throughout GM.

I live in Stockport and I think we all feel as though GM has been under some sort of restriction since March 2020.

What's frustrating for me is that I'm only 2 miles from the Cheshire border.

Along with everyone else in this county, I'm pretty frustrated at the prospect of potential further restrictions which don't even seem to work.

I despair and definitely don't want to be faced with some stay at home order just as summer is arriving and I have (UK) camping weekends/cottages planned.

I think you must live near me OP.

Stockport has the lowest numbers in GM last time I checked - although I’m trying not to check too often as it wasn’t doing my mental health any good.

I’m not sure I could take another one. I’ve stuck to every rule - we went into local lockdown the day my daughter was born, she still hasn’t met most of her family. I won’t be sticking to it again - I’m having my second jab this weekend, my family and friends have all had at least their first. I’ve complied all along but I’m done now.

I fucking hope not.

I think people would ignore anyway.
Never mind the mental health crisis and the economy Covid grumps everything.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat

Well if people aren't (and won't) sticking to the rules then surely that's why it's spreading?

Which would prove that The Rules don’t work.

Lockdowns need to be an extreme measure, not something we do by default, with us allowed out when we're particularly good.

Once I'm fully vaccinated I will have no qualms about visiting my mum. I've been pretty compliant thus far. Pity the government weren't more careful: from handshakes to allowing pretty much a free for all on travel from hotspots, so slow and lax.

I’m in Lancashire, but only just. Probably a mile from Merseyside. Numbers in my area are really low. If they end up putting Lancashire into more restrictions I won’t be complying this time. I wouldn’t blame people in Greater Manchester if they did the same. Surely the point of being vaccinated is to get some sort of normal life back otherwise what’s the point?

@StealthPolarBear

Lockdowns need to be an extreme measure, not something we do by default, with us allowed out when we're particularly good.

I agree

The vaccine works. They've now taken measures to improve uptake in problem areas. It'll be fine.

I live very near one of the places with a high number of the Indian variant. I know great effort is being made to quickly vaccinate all adults, the local hospital had a walk in policy today for 24 hours open to all ages whoever wanted to be vaccinated could do so. The queue was huge. Mine is booked for next week or I'd have gone.

I think all problematic areas need to focus on vaccine uptake and we will hopefully avoid local lockdowns. I know my DC and I cannot cope with another one.

Well they did allow a football match to go ahead with thousands of people. Do you seriously think no one from Bolton would have attended? I don't want to offend anyone from these areas, but I questioned the decision to let this go ahead.

@Gothichouse40

Well they did allow a football match to go ahead with thousands of people. Do you seriously think no one from Bolton would have attended? I don't want to offend anyone from these areas, but I questioned the decision to let this go ahead.

Are you talking about the FA Cup final? You realise that was part of the Events Research Pilot, don’t you? And what the nature of that experiment was? Being from Bolton is not an illness in and of itself. An awful lot of people live in Bolton and proportionally very few of them have covid.

There probably should be a local lockdown but people won’t comply and I don’t blame them. We can’t keep locking down forever and people need to see their family and friends, businesses need to be open.

If people won’t comply, and they won’t, then there categorically shouldn’t be a local lockdown. To be justifiable, a measure would have to have some hope of working (although I don’t think it would be justifiable in GM regardless after what we’ve been through for the last year). We’re at the end of the road with lockdowns and restrictions, they’re not a long term solution because humans don’t work like that. They’ve gone on for far, far too long already.

It would feed the sentiment that when Northern rates are bad they shut down bits of the North, and when London rates are bad they shut down the whole country including the North.
Hospital Covid cases are back down to last summer's levels, and rates in most of GM are back to last summer's levels too.
The thing they're most likely to do is close the schools again, as that's where it's spreading, but they would have trouble justifying why all Greater Manchester schools should close, given school travel doesn't cross council boundaries as much as commuting.

Once I am double vaccinated I am not staying in again. If they shut the schools and colleges again I will be marching in London. The damage being done to young people is incalculable, the vaccines protect the NHS, we need to move on from this now.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat
The rise in Indian variant is primarily because the Government hadn't had hotel quarantine regulations for travellers getting off a plane from India.

Also at Heathrow, even with resrictions, people from Red List countries are right next to everyone else for a few hours. etc

Maybe if there had been the borders/airports shut since the lockdown in January - this would have helped - a lot.

@DdraigGoch

I agree with your post.

Theres no way Im locking down again, obviously if shops, restaurants shut then I wouldnt be going there but my family live in the East Midlands and theres no way im going 12 months without seeing them again.
Weve all been double vaccinated so im cracking on!

I'm in GM too and think that local lockdowns are unlikely due to the efficacy of the vaccine and the low deaths and hospital figures.