Will there be another lockdown?

[Kate3150]

Read a few articles about this this morning… I didn’t watch Chris Whitty speak. Can’t imagine him actually saying those words?

Thread title edited by MNHQ with OP's agreement

Oh, no! Any written articles?

Chris witty said this?! Really?

Doubt he said that. Can you link the articles?

www.thesun.co.uk/news/15606007/chris-whitty-lockdown-covid-five-weeks/

Hes been misquoted.

From an article I found online.

"He added that more people could be fighting the disease in hospital "in five, six, seven, eight weeks' time", and went on: "They could actually be really quite serious... at that point if it looks as if things are not topping out, we do have to look again and see where we think things are going. "

www.google.com/amp/s/www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/health/england-could-plunged-back-lockdown-21065987.amp

Not the most reputable but tbh the most reputable aren't reporting it.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/chris-whitty-warns-england-could-24546061

So he doesn’t mention lockdown at all. OP, The Sun etc leaping to alarmist conclusions, quelle surprise!

"But Prof Whitty cautioned that if vaccines weren't "topping out" the virus the PM may have to "look again" at reimposing restrictions in in "five, six, seven eight weeks' time"

So if the vaccines stop doing what the vaccines are doing....its just sensationalist irresponsible reporting.

I know the papers who have reported this tend to sensationalise but I still get caught up in it. That’s quite a bold statement to make mentioning an almost imminent lockdown

But he didn't mention an almost imminent lockdown.

I know, I meant the media

Apologies @Kate3150

Sensationalism sells papers. Let’s see what does happen, not what The Sun says will happen.

Johnson said there would be no more lockdowns and now he’s back tracking - once again - and has refused to rule them out.

From googling the reports I think he's concerned. And theres an interesting discussion to be had there...

But thats not the same as lockdown.

I work in the NHS, it's all going downhill again.

"The further out in time we go, the more tools we have at our disposal from science, the less likely that is but you can never take that possibility completely off the table," he said.

"But you know, science has done a phenomenal job so far and it will continue to do so."

www.google.com/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/covid-19-uk-not-out-of-the-woods-yet-and-pandemic-has-got-a-long-way-to-run-professor-chris-whitty-warns-12356827

More balanced article from Sky News (never thought I'd say that a few years ago 😁)

I kind of want to have this conversation with a less sensationalist title!

It does seem the nhs is struggling.
Schools are shutting bubbles left right and centre.
From the links in the papers some businesses have a hugely reduced workforce due to isolating.

Highest numbers since Jan...

@Shehasadiamondinthesky- ohhh I’m so sorry to hear that. I feel for all you guys the most. Only answer if you feel comfortable but do you mean downhill with Covid cases? X

What we are doing now is a massive risk. It may be the right decision, on balance, but it is fraught with danger.

We are not ‘living our lives’, what we are doing is a rotating lock down (through illness and isolation). We are hoping that we get enough immunity through vaccination in 30s+ and infection in the children and 20s (few of whom are double vaccinated) that, even with an r number of 5-6, the wave ends while hospitals can still cope.

Will it work? I guess the modellers think it will. However, if we get any sort of rapid vaccine escape, we cannot put the cat back in the bag and, if we have population infection again, from a high base level, an r number of 6, and a whole (now) non-immune population, we will have a lot of dying in homes and make shift ‘hospitals’.

I guess the upside is that we should be through with COVID next year, however painful it ends up being.

@GiantToadstool- agreed. Just to clarify I didn’t set this thread up because I want a lockdown or I’m obsessed with them. Just a general discussion about some of the articles out today

If numbers are going up in summer, you've fucked it up.

The media always does that for click bait

I think Chris Whitty has always felt that removing everything was not sensible - we should be going into this with measures in place

After the summer it is possible (like Israel etc) masks become mandatory again, working from home, social distancing where possible and things such as nightclubs and events have limits placed on them. Indeed I suspect it is entirely probably that some of these will come in

Will we have a lockdown again as per January no I don’t think we will unless we get a vaccine escaping variant

Yes very predictable. They are banking on vaccinations slowing hospitalizations before a certain point and there really is no way of knowing that at all. At the moment hospitalization are just beginning to take off

I think Chris Whitty has always felt that removing everything was not sensible - we should be going into this with measures in place

CW is a scientist. He only has to deal with the science.
The government has to deal with economics and sociology too.