100,000 cases a day by August....bloody hell

[ssd]

We're all going to get it eventually it seems

Just had the dreaded late afternoon text for my 11yrs old school. Yep my son now has to isolate for 10days - Done the home test on us all and its negative (I think my son had it at the start of the pandemic) - I think there still should be restriction in place, scientists have said the same and I know who I would follow for guidance and its not the government. Yes we have to get things as normal as we can BUT we have to take precautions especially with this variant and its the kids. I've had both my jabs my son has not. Its fine saying kids don't get it that bad BUT what if there are children who no health problems get very ill with it or worse - That is the biggest fear with my son. I will carry on living my life but sorry I am a mask wearer and will be for a very long time. I think its upto the indivdual to decide but for me and my family I rather be cautious

But you have the choice to wear your mask and now people have the choice not to . Cases are going up but death rates are still low . Are we going to stop people driving as more people are dying on the roads everyday than who are dying from COVID . All deaths are unfortunate but death is inevitable it’s the only promise I can make to anyone you will die . So let’s live our short lives and stop being prisoners in our homes . I have an auto immune disease what we have had isn’t a life . If you want to wear a mask do so and those that don’t well don’t I have the right as you do to stay out of their way like I will .

@TheGlassBlowersDaughter

Are we still being inundated with UsForThem people or is it something else? Because all the stats and surveys show that the majority of the population prefer a more cautious approach; that they want to keep wearing masks.

But MN is like another world. It's not representative at all and the gung ho attitudes on these threads is completely at odds with MN's demographic and with the general feeling across the UK. It's always the same posters trying to dominate and they do the same on the feminist threads, and any discussion about intersectionality. Very vocal and yet completely detached from RL in the UK. It's very odd. It's tedious but also transparent. I wonder about their motivation. They're not changing anyone's mind. They're just focused on creating a false impression of public opinion and shutting down the genuine views of the public.

Not sure which world you live in, but everyone I know from teens to 80yos are happy that masks are going, a little nervous perhaps but still happy. But none of us are the type to do the opinion polls.

@ShortBacknSides

What's the alternative though? You can't lock down society forever.

But you can keep sensible mitigations such as:

• Masks in public indoor spaces, and on public transport etc
• Social distancing as much as possible
• Crowd control
• Testing twice weekly
• Compulsory testing for travellers in & out of the country

This.

And what's all this nonsense about forever? The only thing forever is Covid deaths and possibly Long Covid disability.

The only reason why we're still in this position (and in fact, it's almost worse due to Delta, and the risk of creating a completely vaccine resistant strain) is because of failure to deal with it. It would all have been over with long ago, if it hadn't been for countries like the UK.

[quote franfranwills]@snowflake29f the media and government won't publish these magic scientific results on masks ? 😂

Did you read that on Facebook?

Maybe they are keeping them hidden with the alien space crafts in bill gates safe.[/quote]
No I don’t have Facebook as it’s full of idiots pushing the sort of thing I stay away from is that where you read it then . See told you Facebook is full of idiots . It’s not hard to do your own research it was printed in the lancet in 2020 the reason they don’t work is because they are dirty no one puts on a clean mask they are only sterile for a short amount of time not one that has been in your pocket for a week . If masks were used properly then yes I am all for masks but unfortunately Facebook education don’t tell you you should have a clean mask every 4 hours minimum.

Some people in this thread seems to think that stopping restrictions due to covid will improve the treatment of other diseases, business, etc. Why is that?

The more peole with covid, the more people with serious infections have to wait, the harder it is for people with serious disease to go see the Gp or hospital.

Also, from what I hear a lot of restaurants and bars a loosing a lot of money because they have to close due to lack of staff....

Careful what you wish for...

2018 newspaper report" Killer flu outbreak is to blame for a 42% spike in deaths in January after 64,000 people died - the highest number since records began."
Let's stop worrying about covid. Maybe get your flu jab this year too just in case

We had to learn to live with HIV/Aids. Not many people now would take a chance of not using a condom with a new partner. HIV changed our outlook on using condoms. We now teach our kids to use a condom not only to stop pregnancy, which is all we were told they were used for when I was in sex ed classes, but also to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

I remember when wearing seat belts in cars was first actively encouraged with the 'clunk click' campaign (sadly headed up by Saville). Seat belts weren't law until the 1980s but my parents certainly used them and it saved their lives during the late 1970s when mum's forehead hit the windscreen of the car - without the belt she'd have been through it.

HIV could develop into AIDS which could kill at the time. We took precautions against it, which we still use today as a matter of course.

Going through the windscreen of a car was one of the main causes of death or injury in the 60s and 70s. We took precautions against it and that's now law.

We haven't stopped having sex or driving cars. We just mitigate against some known risks now by changing our habits and using a bit of common sense.

Let's face it, it's been a catalogue of failures which I don't need to repeat here. I think Johnson has been swayed by the right of his party who objected to any form of lockdown all along. Herd immunity was talked about at the very beginning but quickly put aside because the numbers of deaths would have been unacceptable to Tory voters and would have cut a swathe through many of them. Now, with many expressing frustration at the measures in place to combat covid he has taken his chance. The rest of the world is looking on in horror (and some curiosity) to see what happens next. You get the government you vote for and face the consequences.

Yep, the restrictions being removed soon is ludicrous !!

www.economist.com/britain/2021/07/10/some-britons-crave-permanent-pandemic-lockdown

@April506 come on honestly ?

60,000 people die in one year with no social distancing or anything from flu in 2018 and 128,000 die from covid with ridiculous lockdowns in place these are not even comparable I'm afraid.

@ShortBacknSides

What's the alternative though? You can't lock down society forever.

But you can keep sensible mitigations such as:

• Masks in public indoor spaces, and on public transport etc
• Social distancing as much as possible
• Crowd control
• Testing twice weekly
• Compulsory testing for travellers in & out of the country

You can't really expect people to do all that forever can you?!?

Yes, people should, and definately keep masks for a good year at least

Well the football crowds have made a complete mockery of it anyway.

We may as well scrap all restrictions immediately.

As much of the world has not been vaccinated a dangerous variant is inevitable somewhere or another and we have no hope of keeping it out. Even Australia has failed to keep the Delta variant out.

Yes, with you @hardworking72 - our DS is in isolation because of a classmate testing positive (LFT so we're still hoping the PCR will come back negative).

A lot of people want everything stopped because of the mental health issues with kids and kids education being impacted. Me too. I also want DS's friend, who is diabetic type 1, to be able to be in class with her friends again. She was being shielded but her mental health got so low her mum was incredibly worried so the school made arrangements for her to come back part time and work in an isolated class. She has lunch in the medical room when she's in school. Until she's vaccinated she is vulnerable but at 14 she can't be vaccinated. But that's OK because she's vulnerable she can just shield can't she? Or her friends can continue to wear masks around her - which they've pledged to do. Takes 14 year olds to think of others rather than themselves.

My friend's son had leukaemia - again he went to school as he just couldn't cope at home. But she had to take him to school and he stayed in one class with work on line. But he could speak to his friends through the window at break. She managed to get him a vaccination a little early and he's off to college in September. I hope DS's friend has the same chance. Until then, her friends will do their best to keep her safe as much as they can.

...maybe just for a bit? Until the numbers aren't so stupidly high?

@KisstheTeapot14 I am so sorry you have CFS. My friend has it too and it's been hard to watch her journey with this awful illness.

She had a flu that lasted 3 weeks. Went back to work and collapsed and never worked for a company again. She does have her own business now because she can control when she works. But it's impacted her finances a lot.

She went from someone who was at the gym four times a week, making cakes for her sister's wedding, making her own clothes, life and soul of the party to someone who had to spend the next day in bed after making us a cup of tea when we visited her when she was waiting on her diagnoses a few years ago. She now has to use a walking stick and, sometimes, a wheelchair.

If long covid is like this then people really need to wake up.

@Horehound

Get vaccinated and you'll likely be fine. Not a big issue imo.

Don't you realise that most of those dying now have been vaccinated?

Until she's vaccinated she is vulnerable but at 14 she can't be vaccinated

That’s not strictly true. She can be vaxxed if her consultant requests it. There shouldn’t be any issue with over 12s as it’s officially approved.

Even under 12s can have it if their doctor goes off license. I know of an under 12 who is double vaxxed.

Being vaccinated isnt working as the numbers are going up!

@NannyAndJohn

Tell that to the children who will spend the rest of their lives suffering from Long Covid, *@Horehound*.

My Dd and I felt unwell last April. We had C-19 symptoms but couldn't access a test where we lived at that time. I slowly felt better (though my chest has never quite recovered) but my Dd is still affected. She has gone from a cheerful girl with stamina who loved sport to a girl with 2 inhalers, asthma attacks, and no stamina at all. GP (when we finally got access to one) has said that 'it's possibly long covid, maybe 'just' post viral fatigue, maybe just asthma'. Whatever, my Dd is a shadow of her former self, can't walk 1/3m to school with friends, is struggling to eat as her throat still 'feels closed up, Mum' and the GP says there are 'no clinics for kids, and few re Long Covid in adults'.

The worst scenario is that you die from Covid (or cancer whilst the bed is being used by a Covid patient). 2nd worst is that you are seriously ill. But the 3rd worst, like for my Dd, is that Covid affects you life for over a year now, not 'seriously enough' for any help to be given (maybe nothing the GP can do anyway) but enough to make you feel unwell and depressed for over a year. Just because we are less likely to die now, I am still worried about how many people's health may be affected by a 3rd wave. We don't yet know the long term effects.

@Tealightsandd
@ohfourfoxache
@unwuthering

You're all talking sense here.

Slow opening, keeping mitigation where possible like distancing and masks in indoor spaces, ventilation, protecting children and adults from Long Covid now and into this autumn and winter.

I don't see what's controversial about these things, just seems sensible risk reduction to me.

Sadly I think society will look back in a year or two and wish things had been done with more care.

@angela99999 do you have a source for that? I know the US analysis that Fauci shared was that 99.2% of June Covid deaths weren't fully vaccinated. It'd be amazing if there's a very different pattern in the UK.

Agreed @KisstheTeapot14

It's about sensible and reasonable balance.