The end of coronavirus restrictions could be delayed by more than a month, a health minister conceded this morning

[PicsInRed]

This is from The Times today - we're already today being warned by government sources that this could drag on well beyond July 19, including possibly further "lockdown"! How does everyone else feel about this? I feel wearily unsurprised, and simultaneously angry at the directionless, incompetent drift of it all.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/19e03dea-cc88-11eb-9bfa-a3bc386e6928?shareToken=5cc2ada8bfe2082b7a4b85703fdf8c17

The end of coronavirus restrictions could be delayed by more than a month, a health minister conceded this morning.

Edward Argar said it was “possible” that restrictions could be extended again beyond July 19 as Boris Johnson prepares to announce a delay this evening.

The prime minister will appeal to the nation to be patient when he sets out the case for delay at a Downing Street press conference.

The move has angered Conservative backbenchers, with Sir Charles Walker, vice chairman of the 1922 Committee, saying he now has an “overwhelming sense of pessimism” that Covid restrictions will continued into 2022.

“If you can’t lift restrictions at the height of summer, and we are in the height of summer, then you almost certainly are looking at these restrictions persisting and tightening into the autumn and winter,” he told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme. “We were told we were going to live with Covid-19 and it now looks like most of the remaining of this year, and certainly the first half of next year, will probably end up with some form of lockdown.”

No mention of the Delta variant and how if we'd shut the flights from India sooner we wouldn't be in this bucket load of poop?

Lots of those backbenchers don't seem too smart do they. We are still in a pandemic.

Would you actually feel ok with all legal restrictions lifted?? I certainly wouldn't. Apart from nightclubs and "adult" entertainment everything is else is open. I personally love the extra space around everyone and would hate for restaurants to be packed again with loud, roaring people.

@Skinnytailedsquirrel

Lots of those backbenchers don't seem too smart do they. We are still in a pandemic. Would you actually feel ok with all legal restrictions lifted?? I certainly wouldn't. Apart from nightclubs and "adult" entertainment everything is else is open. I personally love the extra space around everyone and would hate for restaurants to be packed again with loud, roaring people.

You do realise that half empty restaurants run at a loss, or at best break even?

@Skinnytailedsquirrel Not sure that theatres are open. They have to have 75% capacity to break even.
Also, pubs cannot serve at capacity. And while you can order at the counter in a coffee shop, you are not allowed to in a pub, thus more staff required, and further costs.
There are still restrictions on weddings and funerals, although depending on size and social distancing, you can have more people than 30 in a pub.
We are also obliged to wear face masks in shops and public transport.
Night clubs are still closed.
Yes, I admit I dont go to night clubs etc, but I am pointing this out to show that lots of restrictions still exist.
Also, we have booked a restaurant lunch in July for 6 adults and 2 children (both under 5), but we will have to sit at 2 tables, as apparently, we can't have more than 6.

Not sure if life ever will go back to normal. Waiting for the announcement today and the knock on impact it will have for many industries and gatherings. No school proms, but may be allowances for weddings. Goalposts change all the time and continuous drip feeding to the media to manage our expectations.

Also, dental hygienist cannot use all equipment. Not worth going until I can have a proper clean

Not sure if life ever will go back to normal

Yes it will.

Surely this is going to push vulnerable businesses to the wall, including large employers? I will be shocked if we don't very soon see announcements about well known hosptality, entertainment, travel and retail businesses being closed down and put into administration.

There's a good reason Andrew Lloyd Webber is going so mad right now and saying he's willing to risk prison to force reopening - many business people are right to the wall and this will finish them off - and their employees with them.

Without the summer trade, and with Christmas trade again under threat, there simply won't be sufficient viability for directors to justify continued trading and they'll have no further options. This is horrifying.

Everything else isn't open. Theatres are running at a huge loss; choirs and amateur theatre have severe restrictions to the extent that many have still not returned. These things are a mental health lifeline for many people.

Did anybody actually think any different
I didn’t expect the restrictions to end
But I’ve also not been paying any attention to them apart from wearing a mask when I have to

Hospitals are working at capacity to catch up post-pandemic (also GPs and other primary services including the ambulance service). Even a small increase in hospitalisations could push treatments back even further. On the other hand some industries are teetering on the brink of collapse. Tough call.

This is a daft question.

But at the moment, it's a hypothetical scenario that opening up would lead to more cases > hospitalisations (despite 50%+ of the adult population having 2 jabs, and real-life modelling from places like Florida, Nevada, Texas showing the opposite).

We know that it takes 2-3 weeks from cases being detected to hospital numbers increasing. So surely, we want to open up now, so that July = potential increases, so August leads to the increased hospitalisations - i.e. in the summer, before winter pressures kick in.

Surely if we wait another month (and then another etc), we're kicking that can down the road again, so that when we do reopen it happens in Winter again. If we open up in August, that takes us till Mid Sept /early Oct for hospital cases to potential rise, which ties in with the start of winter pressures. So surely we want to try and manipulate it so any additional pressure comes in the summer?

But I'm also suspicious that a rise in cases would lead to hospitals. We know that the cases are predominantly in those with no jabs (the under 30s), but we've also been told those statistically are at least risk of being hospitalised.

I have now resigned myself to the fact that we are unlikely to see anything resembling’ normal’ until Spring next year, if we are lucky.

The Government probably know this but I doubt Boris will have the guts to admit this tonight.

I cannot see how, given everything scientists and ministers have been saying that ‘freedom’ will be granted any sooner.

Of course next Spring will be very much dependent on no further variants popping up.

No idea how they will deal with one that the vaccine has not effect on.

Let’s hope they have the foresight to start making plans for that scenario

@Skinnytailedsquirrel

Lots of those backbenchers don't seem too smart do they. We are still in a pandemic. Would you actually feel ok with all legal restrictions lifted?? I certainly wouldn't. Apart from nightclubs and "adult" entertainment everything is else is open. I personally love the extra space around everyone and would hate for restaurants to be packed again with loud, roaring people.

So you don't mind restaurants running at a loss so you can dine there peacefully?

Maybe you should wander around an airport before making statements like 'everything' being open. Or see what the average behind the scenes person at a festival, the theatre or a wedding has earned recently?

There's loads and loads of industries that are far from back to normal and it's not just that people can't travel or go clubbing, but there's hundreds of thousands/millions of people still out of work or running a loss making business and many of those have received little in government support.

Far from everything is open

@milveycrohn
I've been having a full scale and polish every 6 months throughout the pandemic ! Have you asked why they can't do it, seems odd.

I don't think we are ever getting real normal back. The goalposts are moving all the time.

@DrRamsesEmerson

I don't think we are ever getting real normal back. The goalposts are moving all the time.

Agreed.

It'll be 'the new normal'. And it will be very different.

@QwertyGirly

No mention of the Delta variant and how if we'd shut the flights from India sooner we wouldn't be in this bucket load of poop?

All done on purpose as far as I am concerned.

"Let" the vaccine in whichever way. Lockdown, then vaccinate.
Aim is to vaccinate people imo.
To do that, people need to be scared enough to allow the vaccine.
And we all know there are plenty of scared people.

@QwertyGirly

No mention of the Delta variant and how if we'd shut the flights from India sooner we wouldn't be in this bucket load of poop?

Given how virulent the Delta variant is, it would be impossible to keep it out even with our borders closed to India. Short of totally locking ourselves away from the world this was inevitable and will be the case in most countries around the world in the coming months.

Essentially this is a new pandemic as the Delta becomes dominant.

Surprised that it is only a month extension of full reopening but on balance to be a proactive and pragmatic to save both lives and livelihoods we (UK) actually now need a complete change of direction and credible leadership. One that is fit for purpose not always late to react with predictable last minute u turn. Pandering to political popularism wins votes but does not save lives nor livelihoods. It is a tough balance but I suspect it’s now switched from following the (partially recorded as no compulsory frequent and accurate asymptomatic testing) data and not the science. The latter naturally being a higher threshold with a balance tipped towards lives than livelihoods. Of course it is a tough balance but perhaps analysis of best in breed national leaderships eg Taiwan, New Zealand and Australia may help as they seemingly have managed to find the best mix of strong robust public health and businesses policies and evidently a more long term sustainable approach than our UK Bojo yo yo incompetent school of performative political mismanagement based on corruption and short termism but with injection of the only worthy world beating vaccination. Additionally what is generally difficult to fully understand is the attitude of many fellow Brits who (some) never adopted personal Covid risk mitigation measures and seemingly have ignored travel restrictions to mix globally and imported ever more deadly Indian and other variants as well as multiple household mixing and lack of mask solidarity with some conveniently own goal fraudulently claiming self diagnosed disability exemption etc etc etc. It’s been a circus act and national embarrassment when we compare our UK Covid mass manslaughter data with most advance first world civilised nations with a half decent tax payer funded healthcare system.

Just wait until 6pm when any formal public announcement will be made. At least you'll miss the football.

@Skinnytailedsquirrel

Lots of those backbenchers don't seem too smart do they. We are still in a pandemic. Would you actually feel ok with all legal restrictions lifted?? I certainly wouldn't. Apart from nightclubs and "adult" entertainment everything is else is open. I personally love the extra space around everyone and would hate for restaurants to be packed again with loud, roaring people.

Lots of places aren't open as normal. Universities for a start which apparently can't offer face to face lectures etc due to social distancing. Same with theatres. Lots of places may be "open" but running at a massive loss as they can't operate with enough people to cover their costs.

We cannot have a further lockdown. We have never had one, and to say so is to misuse the English language and play into the hands of some of the Tories who oppose restrictions.

I do think that some capacity restrictions could remain beyond mid-July, as could be the wearing of face coverings in some places, and above all, travel abroad will not have resumed by then.

We are in the position we are in because of the refusal to add India to the red list at the same time as Pakistan and Bangladesh. Had all countries gone on the red list at the same time, numbers with the virus could be half what they are now, and most of the restrictions would I expect be lifted next week.

Entirely 100% the Prime Minister's fault, a man who can only be on time for his wedding.

@MonsterMash2210

I have now resigned myself to the fact that we are unlikely to see anything resembling’ normal’ until Spring next year, if we are lucky.

The Government probably know this but I doubt Boris will have the guts to admit this tonight.

I cannot see how, given everything scientists and ministers have been saying that ‘freedom’ will be granted any sooner.

Of course next Spring will be very much dependent on no further variants popping up.

No idea how they will deal with one that the vaccine has not effect on.

Let’s hope they have the foresight to start making plans for that scenario

I think we're going to have to move towards closed borders for everyone except essential travel whilst there's a continued risk of new variants. Can't see any other option really. The public are going to have to accept either no internal restrictions (everything open, no SD etc) without foreign travel OR having foreign travel alongside social distancing in the UK with other restrictions on and off as needed. I really can't see how we can have open borders and unlimited foreign travel AND no restrictions within the UK. As time passes, IF it transpires that the vaccines are effective against new variants, then fair enough, scrap all restrictions and open the borders.

@DrRamsesEmerson

I don't think we are ever getting real normal back. The goalposts are moving all the time.

I hope this isn’t the case too depressing