No masks after 19th July - Hoo-blardy-Ray!!!!!

[TeddingtonTrashbag]

As reported in the DM.
So happy if it’s true.

@sadperson16

So we've gone from nearly 2000 deaths per week to 20. And we are supposed to carry on adhering to this nonsense without engaging brain. I have just been to a large,independent hardware store. Owner behind a screen I chose my items,put the card on the machine and left.No mask,no risk.

This exactly. ^ The hysteria (from SOME of the British public) needs to stop now.

@UrAWizHarry

It's all very well pointing at the intake and death rates and smugly saying "look, it's all ok now" but that's ignoring the other problems we face.

Long covid is a thing. A lag in intake is a thing, and even if we don't have such a spike the NHS is running so close to capacity that even a small spike means we are back in the situation of delaying other care.

Not to mention that what we are doing at the moment is practically begging the virus to mutate -> it's spreading rapidly through young people, who are going home and basically saying "look, here are some vaccinated people, have a go".

All for the sake of maybe another month or 2 until we get the vaccine program finished.

We've now got 18 months of knowledge and experience with this thing, and still we are fucking it up in the most fucking stupid of ways.

There are currently fewer than 2,000 covid patients in hospital. The vaccine programme is as near as damn it done - anyone over 18 can now be jabbed. This insanity has to stop.

Way to completely miss the point. Well done.

@UrAWizHarry

It's all very well pointing at the intake and death rates and smugly saying "look, it's all ok now" but that's ignoring the other problems we face.

Long covid is a thing. A lag in intake is a thing, and even if we don't have such a spike the NHS is running so close to capacity that even a small spike means we are back in the situation of delaying other care.

Not to mention that what we are doing at the moment is practically begging the virus to mutate -> it's spreading rapidly through young people, who are going home and basically saying "look, here are some vaccinated people, have a go".

All for the sake of maybe another month or 2 until we get the vaccine program finished.

We've now got 18 months of knowledge and experience with this thing, and still we are fucking it up in the most fucking stupid of ways.

What do you want to see for another month or two?

Do you just mean masks or more

All for the sake of maybe another month or 2 until we get the vaccine program finished.

And then it'll be 'maybe another month or 2' because of some new scariant. And then 'maybe another month or 2' because we're coming into winter.

And so on and so forth.

@UrAWizHarry

Way to completely miss the point. Well done.

I didn’t miss the point at all. You just disagree with me.

A partially vaccinated population with a virus spreading rapidly in unvaccinated people - many of whom share homes with those who have been vaccinated - is as about a perfect breeding ground for virus mutations as you can get.

I'm as sick of all of this as anyone else but simply ignoring the problem and crossing your fingers that we don't end up with a mutation that can significantly evade our current vaccines is really fucking stupid. But here we are, this is the game the UK government is playing. They've build half a cage and are just hoping it doesn't get smashed up.

Personally I would take another month or two of partial restrictions to get more jabs in arms to avoid going back a year.

"I didn’t miss the point at all. "

Yes you did.

"It's all very well pointing at the intake and death rates and smugly saying "look, it's all ok now" but that's ignoring the other problems we face. "

And your point was.... there is low intake.

Which restrictions would you go for?

Personally I thought Whitty was good on this and made sense re using summer well. Others will disagree of course but he’s got the expertise and I always listen to what he has to say.

My point is there’s low hospital admissions, low death rates, relatively low infection rates and the majority of the adult population is vaccinated, to the point where we’re virtually at herd immunity.

You’re the one ignoring every single problem except fucking covid. Trashed economy, businesses closing, thousands of kids not being educated, a mental health tsunami, debt rising.

,That’s not smugness, chum, it’s balance.

@Blossomtoes

My point is there’s low hospital admissions, low death rates, relatively low infection rates and the majority of the adult population is vaccinated, to the point where we’re virtually at herd immunity.

You’re the one ignoring every single problem except fucking covid. Trashed economy, businesses closing, thousands of kids not being educated, a mental health tsunami, debt rising.

,That’s not smugness, chum, it’s balance.

I agree with @Blossomtoes

There's more going on than Covid and it's time to pay attention to all of that

I used to have a lot of sympathy towards those that were terrified of covid despite being low risk but honestly I am finding it annoying now that staying safe is at all costs to jobs etc and just a bit longer is bandied about so much.

Personally I would take another month or two of partial restrictions to get more jabs in arms to avoid going back a year.

The 'avoid going back a year' is a scenario you've just made up.

And there's no such thing as a 'partial' restriction. A restriction is a restriction, and another 'month or two' (and then another?) may spell disaster for many people's finances and businesses.

Covid is not the only game in town.

@Blossomtoes,correct.

@UrAWizHarry: “Personally I would take another month or two of partial restrictions to get more jabs in arms to avoid going back a year.”

What’s stopping you?

You can take another month or so and live with restrictions if you want.

Your life. Up to you.

I do completely agree with you about businesses, education. I completely agree that we should open up 19th July.

However certain measures - like masks - are perhaps inconvenient (personally I don’t mind) - but I think it’s worth keeping them on in indoor places where transmission could be a risk.

Perhaps any measure - that doesn’t have a major impact on businesses/education etc could be kept in place?

@SirSamuelVimes

letting covid rip through our kids and 20 somethings

God lord, dial down the hyperbole. The phrase 'rip through' is very violent and emotive language, with suggestions of terrible, perhaps irreparable damage. That is not what is happening.

Precisely

@Blossomtoes

My point is there’s low hospital admissions, low death rates, relatively low infection rates and the majority of the adult population is vaccinated, to the point where we’re virtually at herd immunity.

You’re the one ignoring every single problem except fucking covid. Trashed economy, businesses closing, thousands of kids not being educated, a mental health tsunami, debt rising.

,That’s not smugness, chum, it’s balance.

Well said.

It's incredibly foolish given the data that came from Australia re the spreading of Delta in a shopping mall with no masks. I don't think for most people wearing a mask to walk into a pub or round the shops is a big sacrifice.
We can look forward to higher infection rates and an autumn/winter lockdown. Problem is, even though the govt claims to have broken the chain between infection and death with the vaccine, letting a virus run unchecked in a population leads to new mutations that may not respond to current vaccines and then we are back to March 2020

@Blinky21

It's incredibly foolish given the data that came from Australia re the spreading of Delta in a shopping mall with no masks. I don't think for most people wearing a mask to walk into a pub or round the shops is a big sacrifice. We can look forward to higher infection rates and an autumn/winter lockdown. Problem is, even though the govt claims to have broken the chain between infection and death with the vaccine, letting a virus run unchecked in a population leads to new mutations that may not respond to current vaccines and then we are back to March 2020

It's hardly 'running unchecked' when nearly all adults have been vaccinated, is it?

[quote puppeteer]@UrAWizHarry: “Personally I would take another month or two of partial restrictions to get more jabs in arms to avoid going back a year.”

What’s stopping you?

You can take another month or so and live with restrictions if you want.

Your life. Up to you.[/quote]
But it's not up to me, because there are wider concerns than whether I personally get sick.

If COVID mutates because we ARE giving it a good chance to do so, that's everyone's concern.

Long COVID is everyone's concern. 500k people are living with it a year after getting infected initially.

Huge backlogs of non-covid related treatment is everyone's concern

I get why people want to be optimistic, but the current strategy of just letting it spread and to hell with the concequences is really dumb.

Isn’t that effectively what will be happen, @Hornbill123456789?

In the sense that, businesses know some of their customers will feel reassured by retaining some measures. I do, for example, expect that many of the sanitisation stations will be kept. Personally I won’t use it, but I expect many will, and that’s good I think.

Perhaps even some businesses will try to retain the mask mandate. I’d wish them luck in the general case. But there might be some (pharmacies?) where it’s more justified and will be accepted.

Likewise, I expect some events and venues will ask for vaccinated status.

It will very quickly shake out those measures that are cheap and broadly desirable from those that are more costly.

I get why people want to be optimistic, but the current strategy of just letting it spread and to hell with the concequences is really dumb.

Do you think Chris Whitty is wrong?

@Blossomtoes

My point is there’s low hospital admissions, low death rates, relatively low infection rates and the majority of the adult population is vaccinated, to the point where we’re virtually at herd immunity.

You’re the one ignoring every single problem except fucking covid. Trashed economy, businesses closing, thousands of kids not being educated, a mental health tsunami, debt rising.

,That’s not smugness, chum, it’s balance.

Nope.

It's not balance, it's sticking your head in the stand, assuming it's all about hospital numbers and nothing else.

You are the one ignoring every problem except fucking hospital admissions.

Long covid disproportionately disadvantages the poor and increases the deprevation gap but fuck them eh if you can go to Waitrose without a mask.

@MarshaBradyo

I get why people want to be optimistic, but the current strategy of just letting it spread and to hell with the concequences is really dumb.

Do you think Chris Whitty is wrong?

Yes, and not for the first time.