Am I missing something or can we slow the spread

[Roughasabadgersbum]

I am totally open to being told I'm missing a trick or not seeing the bigger picture here.
Why haven't we closed our borders off like Australia and New Zealand have? We are an island so we could, in theory, stop/ slow the spread of variants. And why have we been the only country to have variants
Think I've read that a Ryan air flight came in with 52 cases of Covid?
Please feel free to correct me on this ....
Please don't be too unkind!

Just so you know, the border was closed between Ireland and Northern Ireland due to coronavirus.

Only essential workers and supplies were allowed to pass.

Thank you

The short answer OP is that we could have an effective border control and quarantine policy.

Some pretend that proper border control means walling ourselves off from the world but of course it doesn't.

The problem is largely that our government is full of negative naysayers who wouldn't know a proactive policy if it not them in the behind.

It's always "We can't" and being belatedly reactive long after they've already created the next problem.

So instead we have the pointless and performative Red List pantomime which looks as if they are doing something useful, but actually is just useless bullshit.

We know this because India told the world about B.1.617.2 the Delta variant in January,

It arrived here in March,

The government were aware of this on April 1st.

But flights from India arrived every day bringing approximately 20,000 passengers from India in about three weeks.

Then on April 23rd India was finally put on the Red List.

And hundreds of flights from India have arrived since then.

The UK's border system doesn't stop variants arriving, or manage them when they do arrive.

Test, Trace and Isolate is another useless pantomime.

That's why we're in the third wave now.

@Thisismyname77463

Just so you know, the border was closed between Ireland and Northern Ireland due to coronavirus.

Only essential workers and supplies were allowed to pass.

The Irish border cuts through motorways, villages and streets. It is 500km long and there ae a few hundred crossings. It was not closed in any meaningful way, nor can it be under the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement.

We’re not the only country to have variants. Give it another year and every country will have had at least one. It’s what viruses (have always done) do. Most common is the ‘flu virus, for which the vaccine has to be adapted every year. We’re pretty much on top of that now and will be on top of this within the next few years. It really isn’t the end of the world as we know it.

It could be done if the government wanted it to.

Freight and deliveries are done by prior Covid testing. Or people could unload the trucks without coming into contact with the drivers.

Only essential workers and supplies were allowed to pass

It was never policed. I know because I cross it frequently.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

It could be done if the government wanted it to.

Freight and deliveries are done by prior Covid testing. Or people could unload the trucks without coming into contact with the drivers.

Of course it could,

But we don't have a proactive, problem-solving government with a positive can do attitude.

@Roughasabadgersbum

Springblossom2

Thank you ..
Yes I meant people on holidays and visiting from abroad. .
Of course food transportation is a different story.

Thank you for your comments.

You are right. The posters playing gotcha are just being twats.

Of course if fewer people cross your border, fewer potential cases come with them.

The short answer as to why we haven't is the government didn't in wave one, which was an error, but if they do it now, it means they accept the error and they must avoid admitting any errors at all costs.

The border can't be shut completely IMO, but it could and should be far tighter.

I think just look at the fact it has taken until TODAY for arrivals from red list countries to be segregated on arrival.

It just all feels quite sloppy.

While the UK could not SHUT the border like NZ did - we could certainly have done a MUCH better job at managing casual travel.

In particular, NOT addressing the import of cases from N Italy during the first wave, and NOT restricting flights from India even as cases there soared.

Allowing lorry drivers to cross the channel with LF tests every time isn't anywhere near the same level of risk as leaving air travel to people's 'common sense'. As noted by the Telegraph article calling on people to ignore quarantine when returning from Amber countries... the whole think is a joke!

In particular, NOT addressing the import of cases from N Italy during the first wave

This was insanity, watching it happen was just . We were discussing it at work all the time - my colleague was responsible for putting up the stupid posters every time there was a rule change so we were pretty aware of how lame the arrangements were.

Casual travel cannot be banned between Norn & RoI. Good Friday agreement.

@FromEden

Why haven't we closed our borders off like Australia and New Zealand have?

And then what? As we can see from Australia, they are trapped now with no plan out . They cant open borders because they will be flooded with cases, and they are at risk of being plunged into lockdown at any time because they can't accept any level of cases. For example, Melbourne this week which is likely being extended now. The number of citizens stuck abroad is growing by the month and people are looking at not seeing their families outside the country for another year at least. Its a myth that they "did the right thing". The rest of the world will be well moved on while they are still fighting outbreaks.

Excellent post. My relatives in Australia are feeling very frustrated and increasingly hopeless. I certainly don’t envy their government’s response and the position they are now in.

We’ll not know who had the correct response for many, many years.
The long term economic impact on societies, the national death toll of covid, the subsequent death toll of shutting everything down (suicides, postponed cancer treatments, missed appointments etc) will all need to be very carefully calculated. It’s far too early to condemn or celebrate.

I do not see these closed off countries as trapped with no get out plan. They obviously need to vaccinate everyone and then can open up. Are people really not able to see this?

I wish we had done this, maybe a lot of lives and businesses could have been saved.

@RelictHominoid

I do not see these closed off countries as trapped with no get out plan. They obviously need to vaccinate everyone and then can open up. Are people really not able to see this?

I wish we had done this, maybe a lot of lives and businesses could have been saved.

My relatives in Australia don’t see it. They see the roll out of vaccines as painfully slow and completely inept

@RelictHominoid

I do not see these closed off countries as trapped with no get out plan. They obviously need to vaccinate everyone and then can open up. Are people really not able to see this?

I wish we had done this, maybe a lot of lives and businesses could have been saved.

Exactly that.

My NZ family are so grateful they live there and wish we did too.

There are plenty of days when I wish we'd gone when we had the chance.

Their lives just aren't disrupted like ours is.

My cousin just had a massive wedding.

They go to gigs with 50,000 people.

Their kids' education has carried on pretty much regardless.

Their economy isn't screwed.

And they haven't had 100,000 extra funerals.

And as my Uncle says, "if you can't find somewhere to go on holiday in one of the most beautiful countries on earth, there's no hope for you."

All countries have whingers, but they'd whinge a lot more if they lived here in the U.K.

It’s far too early to condemn or celebrate. Only if you are a supporter of the government IMO.

80,000 people died in the second wave - the one we could have definitely done something about.

I'm not waiting years to condemn the needless deaths of my fellow citizens.

My family & friends in NZ don't feel trapped either. They're certainly not feeling hopeless! Life is virtually pre pandemic

My mum is still doing the 'code thingy' 🤣 when she goes into shops & cafes, but other than coming to England to see me, she's doing as she pleases, with whom she pleases, where she pleases.

As are all my friends & family.

Ah yes, it must just be my “whinging” relatives who are the only ones getting fed up

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/closures/fury-resignation-and-black-humour-victorians-react-on-twitter-to-snap-lockdown/news-story/8fe8c8ffdcb08cc5e3158863e4590492

@lljkk

ps: if people want a comparison to better management of covid given similar challenges, then look to Germany or even Italy.

I agree plus NYC as a location with high amount of travellers

People wanting lorry drivers with LF tests to come in only would still not get the normal life they’re after.

Look to Victoria re what you have to do when a few cases get in, every time.

@IcedPurple

I've never heard any of the 'Shut the borders!" brigade give a reasonable answer to the thorny question of the Irish border. Most prefer to pretend that it does not exist.

Oh but that don't mean THAT border of course, the pesky Irish will just have to agree to go along with us in whatever we decide. Like it or lump it.

What they really mean is stopping people coming in from Foreign, because as well all know, foreigners are dirty and manky and will automatically bring nasty, scary variants with them.

May I ask, what is "casual travel" abroad?

Going from UK to Nigeria to attend brother's funeral: casual travel or essential?

Jill Biden accompanying husband for G7 in Cornwall: casual travel or essential?

Visiting close relatives with terminal cancer, in France, to introduce a 1yr old grandchild to them, casual or essential?

Journalist covering elite international-sport event in Italy: casual or essential?

(I watch cycling) English wife of competitor in Tour de France going to France to spend 24 hours with husband on race rest day; first time to see them in 2 months because away at training camp before that, casual or essential?

Oil platform Engineer lives in UK works offshore in Japan, stops 3 nights in Berlin before return to UK to visit friends: 10% casual or 100% essential?

@Roughasabadgersbum

I am totally open to being told I'm missing a trick or not seeing the bigger picture here. Why haven't we closed our borders off like Australia and New Zealand have? We are an island so we could, in theory, stop/ slow the spread of variants. And why have we been the only country to have variants Think I've read that a Ryan air flight came in with 52 cases of Covid? Please feel free to correct me on this .... Please don't be too unkind!

Don’t be jealous of Australia. We’ve managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Melbourne has just been plunged into another lockdown.

As a 45 year old I have no idea when I’ll be vaccinated.

Despite all this our PM keeps telling us that Covid is ‘raging’ everywhere else, how Australia has beaten Covid and is the envy of the world and we much be eternally grateful for living in our island prison.