All this has to stop. We can’t live like this!

[SweetsMum3]

We need to learn to live with covid like we do with all other viruses, illnesses and diseases. The elderly and high risk are vaccinated… that was the goal, remember?! Like Hancock said, we will cry freedom when the over 70s are vaccinated!

There is no reason for mass testing when the young and healthy get covid mildly. My child is in tears yet again because she isn’t allowed to go to school for 10 days. A few students in her year group tested positive and all students are forced to be locked in their homes… again.

Are the sick?! No. Half have no symptoms. The others have a slight fever and feel a little tired.

This isn’t fair. This isn’t healthy. This isn’t sane. This is harmful and destructive to children. An entire generation has been betrayed. For what exactly? Over a virus which does not affect them. Over fear. Over people being immensely risk-averse. Over loss of control and people can’t take it.

It is time we live our lives and get back to normal before it’s too late. If our children hold us accountable and never forgive us, I will completely understand. We have not stood-up for them. Instead, we cowered in fear not giving a hoot about the collateral damage all these restrictions have caused. Shame on us.

I don’t think Jannie has children in state school, she has no idea, very easy to criticise parents and children when your not going through this.

No idea about that poster but there will be a sector difference.

Lockdown. What, some places had schools shut for a whole year?!

You know that schools being shut was not the definition of lockdown?

And please don't minimise the damage to children's MH.

Agree that the idea of a healthcare system which requires everyone to sit at home "protecting it" (and getting progressively less healthy as they do so) is bizarre. I certainly feel resentful about myself and my family ending up less healthy and worse off in every way for "protecting the NHS" when it has done nothing for any of us in the last year

The problem is we have a population of 67 million ish and beds for about 100,000. And a pandemic of a virus that does very well in confined spaces. Absolute logistical nightmare.

'people like you are so beyond exhausting'

Oh what a very intelligent comment! It's annoying when people point out the 'enough is enough' and 'our dc have been sacrificed to save ancient people' posters are just so woefully ill informed.

Perhaps you could debate the points. It was/is a pandemic you see. Us and every other country needed restrictions. Our dc have suffered yes but so has everyone. I mean please i can't believe tbe op said 'we need to learn to live with covid'. It's hardly a newsflash is it.

I'm more bothered about disabled people, those who have dire financial problems, those with chronic medical conditions who are struggling.

Dc will get their education back on track and their social lives are already back to normal.

Repeated isolations for children come at a cost. No exercise outside house / garden and not everyone has a garden.

Some children are very behind.

Not everyone cares or even acknowledges it but many do tg.

people like you are so beyond exhausting.

There's another word thrown around a lot. 'Hysteria'. It's often aimed at a group so well known for putting emotion before stone cold facts... Scientists. Oh yes. All those 'hysterical' scientists and medical experts.

"Scientists" are not a homogenous group, always full of the right answers.

And there you have it children really don’t matter, it’s worth them to keep continually isolating, well I am going to go out of my way to avoid isolating for my family at all costs.

@JaniieJones

'Depends which bit of the country you’re in to be fair'

Well if mn is anything to go by many have flouted anyway as they 'had enough!' approximately last summer.

I think school closure/opening has been pretty standard throughout even if in say Leicester they had tier 3 restrictions for longer.

I declared enough was enough March 24 Last year. Once I read the government had downgraded it on March 19 from HCID

The problem is we have a population of 67 million ish and beds for about 100,000. And a pandemic of a virus that does very well in confined spaces. Absolute logistical nightmare.

This! This is why we've been under these restrictions on and off. This is why there is talk of caution getting out of this nightmare. A completely new virus where no one had any immunity and little was known about the effects to our health. We are obviously in a much better place now (I hope) but it's only been about 6 months since vaccinations began and crazy to think it can just be left to run uncontrolled.

'And there you have it children really don’t matter'

Stop being so dramatic. Children matter! They haven't however been 'sacrificed' to save dispensable ancient people. Everyone needed to restrict social contact to reduce the spread. Google infectious disease transmission for more info. HTH 👍

But for the majority of people covid is mild. And we’ve double vaccinated the majority of people who are most likely to be seriously ill/hospitalised.

And there you have it children really don’t matter, it’s worth them to keep continually isolating, well I am going to go out of my way to avoid isolating for my family at all costs

Are you going to de-register them from school ?

@JaniieJones if you don’t have children in the state education system you have no idea. I think the comments on a parents website help group are bullying, controlling and judgmental.

@frumpety no, there are no cases at my daughter’s school, most of the children have decided not to to test anymore and I agree with them.

@Baileysforchristmas So if someone does test and the bubble bursts, you are going to try and send your DD in anyway ?

@frumpety obviously not, she has 4 weeks left hopefully she will last until then. No one has any symptoms, so no one is testing.

I am not having a go at you @Baileysforchristmas, I really do appreciate how bloody frustrating it has been and I sincerely hope your DD gets to the end of term without having to isolate

@Chessie678

Agree that the idea of a healthcare system which requires everyone to sit at home "protecting it" (and getting progressively less healthy as they do so) is bizarre. I certainly feel resentful about myself and my family ending up less healthy and worse off in every way for "protecting the NHS" when it has done nothing for any of us in the last year - though have nothing against the staff.

I am concerned that lockdowns have become normalised as a way to reduce pressure on the NHS. Healthcare systems will always, almost by definition, be at capacity and healthcare will always be rationed because you could throw unlimited resources at a healthcare system and it could still not be doing everything possible for everyone. Lockdowns can't be a permanent solution to that. We seem to have put having spare NHS capacity to treat emergencies as the absolute priority for society and the view seems to be that anything, however damaging, is justified to achieve that. Running out of emergency healthcare capacity would be very bad but I actually think that what we have done to prevent this is worse, particularly as it has partially been achieved by taking the NHS capacity to deal with chronic illness and shifting it to the acute, which probably hasn't saved lives overall.

And I still think it is completely unethical to damage the health, education and future prospects of a large number of people, particularly children, to protect a minority. We would never (I hope though who knows anymore) subject children to a medical procedure like kidney donation in order to benefit someone else's health so why is it ok to lock up children, increasing their risk of obesity and all the issues that causes (e.g. diabetes) and mental health problems plus exposing them to the effects of reduction in education, an increase in poverty, less money to spend on public services etc, to marginally reduce risk to others. And for each person "saved" by lockdowns, probably hundreds have been harmed in this way but because this harm is less acute than covid and may not show up for several years most people don't seem to care.

You should be a spokes person. You’ve written what many are thinking!

That’s fine, I didn’t think you were 😊

Healthcare systems will always, almost by definition, be at capacity and healthcare will always be rationed because you could throw unlimited resources at a healthcare system and it could still not be doing everything possible for everyone.

We have a free at point of care healthcare system through our taxes, with the additional option of upgrading to private healthcare through work or private means. There isn't only one healthcare option in this country, there is one that is available to everyone though.

I'm really too busy for MN tonight but had to pop back in quickly.

Seriously?

People are trying to suggest failing to contain, just letting it freely spread, would benefit children.

Quite aside from the mental health impact on children of bereavement, if you care about children, you don't gamble with their health.

15 paediatric Long Covid clinics are being set up.

Concern for children? Let's start by focusing on getting CEV and CV children vaccinated when it's possible. It's only approved for 12+ for now but that's at least a start.

'People are trying to suggest failing to contain, just letting it freely spread, would benefit children. Quite aside from the mental health impact on children of bereavement, if you care about children, you don't gamble with their health.'

Yes it is quite staggering. Not sure who they think would teach their dc, with community cases as high as they were in Jan then lots of teachers would be off sick. Perhaps everyone should be sacrificed for our dc? that seems the gist of it. Oh, and 'this can't go on', even though it isn't 'going on' and life is pretty much normal.

@Tealightsandd sorry no I won’t, my daughter is not testing anymore, I hope she makes it to the end of the school year without isolating. It’s voluntary so we can choose not to. I will not do t&t either.