New Boris Statement: Where is this going?

[DadAManger]

‘We recommend masks but only recommend them’
‘Deaths will increase and we may reach 100,000 new cases per day’
‘We must open now and if not now, when?’
‘The slower we take it, the smaller number of people will die’
‘Return to the office of you can, otherwise keep working from home’

Just before Boris spoke, there was a BBC piece claiming that 10-20% of all Covid cases (mild, without symptoms, or otherwise) will be long-Covid cases of some sort or another. Now there a million long-Covid cases.

Are we aiming for herd immunity? Anyone else think this is going to be confusing for most and lead to a default setting of ‘normal’? Where is this going?

People on about long covid what about mental health It would be reasonable to assume more people suffer MH problem than long covid

“Mental health is important unless you’re a kid with long covid. Cos then even if you’ve missed even more school than your peers because of it, had to give up football club that you lived for because of it, you’ve had to live with being in pain because of it, well you can just fuck off cos covid.”

Maybe it’s possible to care about both.

@SomeKindOfFloppyWeirdo

Oh my god. I’ve been such a fucking idiot. Here’s me believing the gp and the paediatric consultant that ds was suffering from long covid, and that was the reason he’s been in pain for a year. Turns out long covid’s not real, it’s just bbc propaganda for the brainless masses and my gosh darned cheeky 11 year old was just faking it all so he could stay home on full pay from his lucrative public sector job!

I mean, he went all in I don’t know how he faked his full body rash, the swollen eyes, cracked lips, huge tonsils, fast irregular heartbeat and raised inflammatory markers over multiple blood tests for a whole year. Guess that bbc propaganda is some strong shit! Stay safe everyone!

Careful. You'll be accused of being a shill/paid by Gill Gates or something. Hope your boy will be okay. And you, obviously.

@XenoBitch well Personnally I wouldn’t know why when gyms are open! Surely you didn’t need this stage for them to be open!!
That’s the government failings there as they should of been re open when gyms and exercise classes were.

I’ve no taste, no smell, due to Long Covid. Since November. It’s absolutely debilitating, and I’ve been advised that it could be permanent. No one knows enough about it yet that they’re able to predict that it will go away. I love my food, and can’t begin to explain to people how sad I feel on a daily basis. I’m on lots of forums with similar people - there’s literally thousands of us. So It’s so different from catching the flu, there really is no comparison.

@SomeKindOfFloppyWeirdo

People on about long covid what about mental health It would be reasonable to assume more people suffer MH problem than long covid

“Mental health is important unless you’re a kid with long covid. Cos then even if you’ve missed even more school than your peers because of it, had to give up football club that you lived for because of it, you’ve had to live with being in pain because of it, well you can just fuck off cos covid.”

Maybe it’s possible to care about both.

"Whataboutism"? Oh ffs. This is the level of ignorance that's supposed to take personal responsibility? Gah. It's possible to care about more than one thing at once.

p.s. "people on about...."? You mean "people discussing", surely?

@SomeKindOfFloppyWeirdo
People on about long covid what about mental health It would be reasonable to assume more people suffer MH problem than long covid

“Mental health is important unless you’re a kid with long covid. Cos then even if you’ve missed even more school than your peers because of it, had to give up football club that you lived for because of it, you’ve had to live with being in pain because of it, well you can just fuck off cos covid.”

Maybe it’s possible to care about both.

To reduce cases(long covid) you need restrictions you have restriction you fuck mental health .

Yes you can care about both but how do you reduce covid with no restrictions .

At some point (and that point should have been a long time before now) you have to look at the entirety of life and what's required to keep the world moving, instead of getting complete tunnel vision over one illness and letting everything fall apart around you

Some of us have been saying this almost from the start, TheDailyCarbunkle (not right from the start, since back then we couldn't know what % of sufferers would be affected and how)

But all too often balance and looking at the bigger picture get chucked aside in favour of a narrative where only Covid matters

@Tinydancer321

Do people honestly think I’m winter we won’t be in another lockdown!!! That our children won’t be missing another term of term of school where we have to pay for this to get the numbers back down to manage it. I get we need to go back to some sort of normality however it maybe our normality has changed… I have 3 kids with asd, and as parents our normality had to change… it can be done. Maybe we will need to do weekly tests in the end (I mean proper ones) daily lateral flow tests even. If we want to do Normal things maybe we need small changes.

I agree the kids will be paying for this winter with more school lockdowns

I agree the kids will be paying for this winter with more school lockdowns

Why lockdown in winter, isn’t this announcement so it peaks before then?

@SonnetForSpring

Basically they are pinning their hopes on the public doing the right thing... they have more faith than I do. I just hope schools stay open in autumn. I feel that is very much in doubt.

Utterly laughable after the scenes in London yesterday.

We've seen throughout this shitshow that relying on the common sense of the public isn't good enough and is a fudge.

@UrAWizHarry

The uk government has literally lost the fucking plot.

They could wait a few weeks, push through the vaccine program and get it done, is the really obvious answer to the question "if not now, when?".

We have a save way of getting herd immunity but nah, fuck it, let's risk more people dying needlessly, more strain on the NHS and all the problems that causes, more people with long covid and let's give the virus literally the best chance possible at mutating into a form which DOES significantly bypass the existing vaccines.

It's fucking lunacy.

Yes. "When" would be when there are enough fully vaccinated (85%?).

What I find worrying is that the only reason I can see for now rather than later is that they don't think the vaccination programme is going to get much further than it is now. And the awful thing is that this may actually be true. I think the vaccination rates are slowing now, even with it now being open to all adults and second doses being brought forward. Maybe most people who haven't had a first jab yet are not going to have one at all. The programme may be winding down and we're just mopping up second doses over the next few weeks. in which case the coverage might not ever get much above 70% rather than the 85% needed for herd immunity from Delta.

It seems they want to boost immunity levels before winter by actively getting unvaccinated people infected.

I wish they would be honest about what they are doing.

@rwalker

Don't understand why people don't realise lockdowns and restriction don't get rid off it we need to learn to live with it.

The people I experience shouting loudest tend to be pensioners and people on benefits where they finical security hasn't changed .

People on about long covid what about mental health It would be reasonable to assume more people suffer MH problem than long covid

The people I experience shouting loudest tend to be pensioners and people on benefits where they finical security hasn't changed .

I take it you mean "financial security"? You do realise that parents of SEN people, as well as lots of other parents, will be in receipt of benefits, and that those benefits don't usually offer financial security? Quite the opposite. Those benefits are very challenging to secure, and a re-application has to be submitted every few years (every 3-4 years).

Quite right lockdowns don't "get rid" of a virus. They restrict the movement of said virus. You know what else restricts the movement of said virus? Wearing masks, distancing and the measures that so many here on MN have declared they're going to stop.

Never going to be a good time to lift restrictions, that’s why it’s now.

Same arguments on here, day in day out.

It’s going to be herd immunity. It’s not about never getting it, most people likely will get it in the coming weeks, months….

Thanks @DadAManger @Tinydancer321 @Tealightsandd and @Doodlebug71

It does honestly mean a lot as some of the ignorant shite and dismissive attitudes on here test me

Tupla I thought they’d been pretty direct on why to do it now, ie before Autumn / Winter

I know people are adamant there will be another lockdown but I don’t think there will. This is it. They’ve done what they can.

Kazzy we had that here re builders etc. I use to watch them on-site wearing their dust masks to remove the masks and enter the local shop and sandwich shops mask free. We have quite an elderly population around here and they'd look terrified as they entered en masse.

I emailed the company they worked for and pointed out they clearly weren't except if they could wear them on-site and how bad it looked for the company.

They were all wearing masks the following week in shops locally.

Some peoples level of selfishness and "I'm alright Jack" is unbelievable at times.

@TheDailyCarbunkle I think you need to look at the modelling and expert opinion of what is likely to happen with children. And no it’s not that the majority of children will get it in the summer. It’s that there will be a reservoir of infection which will hit from September onwards when schools return. And yes of course you can get covid multiple times, we already know that. Schools are just one example but it applies to workplaces- too many people off at the same time causes massive disruption.

I can't have my second vaccine and I'm concerned.

I'm in Scotland but I'm sure we will follow suit shortly.

Yes you can care about both but how do you reduce covid with no restrictions

I don’t think many of us here are qualified to answer that one sadly! But it would be good to see less of the “sod long covid, mental health is all that matters!” And “sod mental health, (long) covid is all that matters!” Both of those viewpoints are wrong.

Both lockdowns and long covid can affect mental health. Where are the mental health provisions in this country? Is this yet another thing that we’re going to have to lobby our mps for (and get ignored)? Protest about? (No wait, they made that illegal…)

I mean seriously, fuck off with 'in our village'and 'our market town'.

moat people who are vulnerable to issues ar in overly dense urban towns, not fucking beatrix potter hamlets.

I got out, but I know.

I spent part of the lockdowns in a northern urban are with a 300,000 population. They dod conform to restrictions, I admit, but they won't now. It's a football, fuck-you mentality, and no matter how right on you think you are, living amongst this shit is horrifying. No one gives a fuck, and experts are derided.
I truly feel sorry for those stuck in such places who aren't like that, they are a minority. Is it a cals issue? Yes, but it isn't PC to mention it.

class issue

There is no reason to say we will be in lockdown by winter. That's just scaremongering. Things are going to improve so let's stay positive.

[quote Sanguinesuzy]**@NotPersephone* and you get the vote for biggest f**g tosser. How dare you suggest that l'm milking the system. Tell that to the A/E doctor who treated me for Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia. Worked throughout the pandemic in ICU whilst you spend your time spouting garbage.[/quote]
@Sanguinesuzy I'm so sorry to hear that. It must be incredibly frustrating and distressing for you having to live with long covid after having worked in ICU, and be derided and disbelieved by those who want to pretend it doesn't exist. I feel so sorry for people with long covid, as we can see on this thread people are desperate to minimise it and even mock it which can be devastating for those suffering. People, have some empathy. I live with long term chronic illness and it sucks. But many of you want to put your fingers in your ears and go lalala about the possibility of long covid ever happening to you. You have no idea. It can happen to anyone. It has to my previously very healthy friend in her 30s who is a shell of her former self. She worked on the frontline too.

@WorraLiberty

I think we've given it our best shot and now we'll just have to learn to live with it.

Sad but true imo.

Our best shot? We've had 128k deaths, when NZ had 26. But oh well, we gave it a go I suppose, best now to surrender to it, sod those that will die or become disabled