New York are lifting all covid restrictions this week

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And yet the Daily Mail are reporting a 'leaked' document of WFH / masks forever and more restrictions in winter.

Surely the people that can will start to emigrate to countries that haven't fucked this up so badly if this way of living carries on and other countries return to normal...

Well we're not New York are we.

New York is in America. Which has pandemic border control. Entry is restricted to high risk countries like the UK.

In the US people wore masks outdoors.

Schools in New York have been closed or hybrid learning since last year.

America is vaccinating children over 12. We're not even giving vaccines to vulnerable children.

We cannot compare to other countries, who took measures to contain.

@Cafeaulait27

I really hope the ‘wfh forever’ thing doesn’t happen ☹️ But we’ll see I guess x

Same, I enjoy the office and sick of hearing people moan that they want to do 5 days at home when they have been give hybrid working Don't like it move on, plenty of people who do want to work in the office

I’m already back in the office. Almost full time. It’ll be a trickle at first, but I don’t see the great wfh revolution happening long term.

@Tealightsandd

Well we're not New York are we.

New York is in America. Which has pandemic border control. Entry is restricted to high risk countries like the UK.

In the US people wore masks outdoors.

Schools in New York have been closed or hybrid learning since last year.

America is vaccinating children over 12. We're not even giving vaccines to vulnerable children.

We cannot compare to other countries, who took measures to contain.

Yes I think a lot of this is true, of the non-southern US states at least. The South is a whole other world...

It is going to be interesting to see what happens when the Delta variant really kicks off here in the US. The prediction is that the states with low vaccine take-up will get hit hard, while those like New England, California, New Mexico will be much less affected.

I have to say I'm rather disappointed that Biden has turned out to be with Johnson and Trump in the "let it rip" school of thought.

I don't know why I expected better of him, but I really did.

@Ontopofthesunset

There are no quarantine restrictions entering New York from the UK, however, so there is a strong chance Delta will get in.

The Delta variant has got in... Delta cases doubled from 5% to 10% of all US cases last week.

I'm sorry to predict this will be a disaster for the "red" Trump-voting states where vaccinations are low and restrictions have long since been lifted.

@ZZTopGuitarSolo Unfortunately we're being pummelled by Delta despite having one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.

@LucyLocketsPocket

Delta variant currently accounts for only 10% of cases in the US. That's the difference.

But obviously it's not going to stay that way!... It was 10% here just a few weeks back.

[quote NannyAndJohn]@ZZTopGuitarSolo Unfortunately we're being pummelled by Delta despite having one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.[/quote]
Yes it will be interesting to see how it works its way through the US by comparison. It sounds like being double vaccinated is more effective, so those in the US who are vaccinated should be fine, while those who are not... it will be interesting...

@NannyAndJohn

I have to say I'm rather disappointed that Biden has turned out to be with Johnson and Trump in the "let it rip" school of thought.

I don't know why I expected better of him, but I really did.

I'm not disappointed. Everyone over 12 who wants the vaccine has had every opportunity to get it. They were vaccinating people at the brewery I visited at lunchtime. They're vaccinating people at the beach, at at schools, workplaces, amusement parks...

There comes a point where you have to reopen, and I think we'd reached it.

@NannyAndJohn

I have to say I'm rather disappointed that Biden has turned out to be with Johnson and Trump in the "let it rip" school of thought.

I don't know why I expected better of him, but I really did.

Given that Biden has championed vaccines so strongly, that's a really weird take.

The big difference between the US and U.K. is everyone has been able to get double-jabbed for weeks in the US, whereas most over 40s haven't been able to in the U.K. yet!

The U.K. still has better take up due to the much lower vaccine hesitancy here, but frankly, once everyone has had a chance to be fully vaccinated, there's no excuse for further restrictions unless things turn disastrous especially as the vaccines are so effective. If effective vaccines mean we still can't remove restrictions, we're doomed...

Life is pretty much back to normal in NJ/CT/NY. My kids are still in masks in school, but school finishes next week. I can meet up indoors and out with as many friends as I like, no restrictions in restaurants or gyms. It’s great.

Nobody I know is freaking out over Delta because we were all double-vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna by the end of April. Most kids in my town 12-15 have already been done. The positivity rate for my state is currently 0.3 percent, and yes we do have Delta here.

@zafferana

there is a strong chance Delta will get in

The Delta variant is already in the US and numbers are going up. Parts of the country (not NYC, but places like Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc) will be very vulnerable, because their vaccination rates are only around 35%. Because the US border is open to US citizens and residents they will have lots of cases, because there are lots of people with Indian heritage/dual citizenship living in the US.

The US and the UK have actually had pretty similar experiences of Covid, the only major difference being the power of individual states to impose their own mask mandates/lockdowns/or not, whereas our response has been nationwide.

No such things as dual citizenship US/India. Indian law prohibits dual citizenship. If Indian nationals wish to take another nationality then they automatically lose their Indian citizenship.

@NannyAndJohn but those being ‘pummelled’ by delta here are mostly those that haven’t been jabbed yet, or at least not double jabbed. Once we’ve vaccinated all of them we’ll be in a better place

Nobody I know is freaking out over Delta because we were all double-vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna by the end of April.

Yes, because too many people have not been vaccinated. The US did a great job hogging all the vaccines but the vaccination uptake is very poor. You being vaccinated will protect you most likely but it won't prevent the pressure on hospitals which will impact you and everything else which happens when a virus rips through a community where there is few prevention measures.

Even with slightly fewer people fully vaccinated, the UK is in a better place than the US to manage the Delta variant.

Its hard to worry about something you don't see. I get it, my area is not rampant with virus at the moment. But even I can see that the UK has some rough months ahead and other countries too.

I'm not saying things should not open up, but it's naive to think that there is no need to worry about this variant.

I have to say I'm rather disappointed that Biden has turned out to be with Johnson and Trump in the "let it rip" school of thought

Ffs. There is no other option at this point. Lockdowns caused untold damage and we haven't even begun the see the full effects yet. Just emigrate to Australia and you can be happy with restrictions for years to come.

Even with slightly fewer people fully vaccinated, the UK is in a better place than the US to manage the Delta variant.

The healthcare service in the US was never threatened to the degree the NHS was. Very few, I any, hospitals were overwhelmed and there are not millions on waiting lists for treatment. Keep dreaming.

*if any

The healthcare service in the US was never threatened to the degree the NHS was. Very few, I any, hospitals were overwhelmed and there are not millions on waiting lists for treatment. Keep dreaming.

You mean the healthcare service available for those who can pay for it?

I guess its easy to kid on that everything is rosy when tens of millions of people don't access healthcare because they simply can't afford it.

Keep dreaming if you think US is not moving forward to problems in the next few weeks.

@FromEden

Even with slightly fewer people fully vaccinated, the UK is in a better place than the US to manage the Delta variant.

The healthcare service in the US was never threatened to the degree the NHS was. Very few, I any, hospitals were overwhelmed and there are not millions on waiting lists for treatment. Keep dreaming.

I don’t think this is true.

Plenty of hospitals in area where there were outbreak warned they were over capacity as were all their nearest hospitals.

Certainly areas of Texas, Florida, Michigan at various points.

I’m not sure you can really consider the US as a country for covid purposes. It’s much more like a continent with 50 different countries.

I guess its easy to kid on that everything is rosy when tens of millions of people don't access healthcare because they simply can't afford it.

It's illegal to deny someone emergency healthcare because they are uninsured. Hospitals weren't overwhelmed and people weren't dropping dead in the streets either.

No such things as dual citizenship US/India. Indian law prohibits dual citizenship. If Indian nationals wish to take another nationality then they automatically lose their Indian citizenship.

Fine - in that case I'll just say that there are a hell of a lot of people of Indian heritage in the US who are US citizens/residents, who have the right to fly in and out of the US at any time. We're US citizens and we're allowed to go there, no restrictions, no quarantine.

In the US people wore masks outdoors.

This is very misleading. There are states which mandated very strict mask-wearing, but each of the 50 states was allowed to set its own mandates and no Republican governor mandated masks outdoors! A handful of Democrat-governed states did, but overall the US has had MUCH more lax controls than the UK has.

It's illegal to deny someone emergency healthcare because they are uninsured. Hospitals weren't overwhelmed and people weren't dropping dead in the streets either.

I wasn't talking about emergency treatment. You claimed there were millions waiting for treatment in the UK (no mention of emergency) which is not incorrect.

So are you telling me the hernias can be removed, the biopsies performed, the chemo, the dialysis - every little thing that is important but not an acute emergency can be done without question when a person does not have insurance?

@zafferana

In the US people wore masks outdoors.

This is very misleading. There are states which mandated very strict mask-wearing, but each of the 50 states was allowed to set its own mandates and no Republican governor mandated masks outdoors! A handful of Democrat-governed states did, but overall the US has had MUCH more lax controls than the UK has.

This. Banning sex between consenting adults who didn't live together. Banning adults from seeing their own families. Banning people from having whom they invited in their own homes. There wasn't a lot of that in the US.

It's incredible how many people who don't live there, have never lived there, never will live there go on about the US or any other people they don't live, have never lived, never will live as if they know the inner minutiae of peoples' lives there.

It's almost like people want disasters to befall others in other places to prove themselves right. How spiteful, bitter and just odd.