96 dead today...

[Homeontherangeuk]

But Boris knows what he's doing...

@Kazzyhoward

Social distancing and isolation for contacts is damaging the country, for negligible benefit.

It's fine for people working from home or retired who can do it without losing their income.

What about the self employed working in industries where social distancing makes business non viable? What about hourly paid staff/self employed who don't get paid when isolating?

There's a survey on the MSE website showing the financial implications of covid and the lockdowns. It's startling how "some" groups of society are actually better off, yet other groups are worse off. The worse off being self employed, younger people.

It's fine for the older, WFH, state employed, pensioned people to sit on their ivory towers as they're not financially crippled by the lockdowns and restrictions.

What part of mask wearing stood you doing your job?

Unless your giving BJs I can't see the problem...

You are damaging your health more by wearing a cloth mask in this heat than “doing great for whole community”

I can't imagine how utterly filthy most masks are

@Heyhohi

You are damaging your health more by wearing a cloth mask in this heat than “doing great for whole community”

Am not wearing a cloth one, a proper one, stop assuming!

Non-pharmaceutical interventions such as masks, social distancing, ventilation, working from home, testing to identify carriers, isolating contacts of detected cases etc protect everybody by reducing the prevalence of the virus in the community

We had all those things until the 19th of July, over 1% of the UK were infected and R remained well over 1, they're not particularly effective.

What's the point of ineffective measures that don't get R below 1?

@PrincessNutNuts

The more contacts everybody has, the more cases rise and the more problems will be caused.

And the quicker the wave will be over. I don't see the point in stringing it out unless the NHS is overwhelmed.

@NannyAndJohn she is far more likely to be stuck in if the wave drags on over the autumn and winter. Get it over and done with in August and numbers should be on their way down in September (which is still unlikely to overwhelm health services . Every model suggests that.

It's an exit wave. It's far better to be happening in summer than winter, when you then add in the seasonal flu/norovirus cases.

We've got it in the house, DD's BF had a few cases at work but his boss refused to isolate anyone. As a result, BF has got it but only knows because he did a LFT. He feels tired, and headachey but not unwell in any way. Same with his other colleagues. DH and I are confined to barracks too, even though we're double vaccinated which means we've had to shut our business for 10 days but we're abiding by the rules.

@Heyhohi

You are damaging your health more by wearing a cloth mask in this heat than “doing great for whole community”

Why?

@spinningspaniels

It's an exit wave. It's far better to be happening in summer than winter, when you then add in the seasonal flu/norovirus cases.

We've got it in the house, DD's BF had a few cases at work but his boss refused to isolate anyone. As a result, BF has got it but only knows because he did a LFT. He feels tired, and headachey but not unwell in any way. Same with his other colleagues. DH and I are confined to barracks too, even though we're double vaccinated which means we've had to shut our business for 10 days but we're abiding by the rules.

But we could have a slower, smaller exit wave by keeping some mitigations as law until the adult population is double vaccinated. It doesn't have to be one or the other. This is not an inevitability.

I'm glad it's affecting you all so mildly. My close friend's sister died - of Covid, not with it - just a few weeks ago. 41. Had had one jab. Otherwise healthy - a tiny bit overweight, maybe? But honestly not so you would notice. I realise this is a rare outcome but it hurts so much to see her family suffering and everyone shouting "it's just like a cold" because that is not the case for everyone.

This isn't the "exit wave", it's only the third of many to come if the government refuse to bring back restrictions.

Why is your dd even planning to go away to university, NannyAndJohn, if the outlook is so bleak? Surely online learning will be a certainty so you won’t be wasting money on a new duvet set and bale of towels…

*We had all those things until the 19th of July, over 1% of the UK were infected and R remained well over 1, they're not particularly effective.

What's the point of ineffective measures that don't get R below 1*

R would have been around 7 without any mitigations - together they were helping a lot.

@MagicSummer

I just want to go to sleep until next spring, and then maybe it will be over!

You and me both!

It's only an exit wave because that's what they've told you it is, ho estate, you people, hanging on to the words of as serial liar.

Do we have foresight to know the end is at the other side of the exit wave?

No we do not.

The only thing exit about is will be the people dying.

I feel like people think death is a new thing that only covid causes.

Don't be ridiculous, death is part of everyone's lifecycle and touches all of us at various stages of our lives, premature avoidable mass death is unacceptable

@marieantoinehairnet

Don't be ridiculous, death is part of everyone's lifecycle and touches all of us at various stages of our lives, premature avoidable mass death is unacceptable

So is children’s education and social development and having people lose their house and business. Lockdowns and restrictions bring their own misery.

Nobody is asking for lockdown, FFS

A middle ground, a PM with a modicum of common sense, jeez so black and white it's untrue, we really are a dumb nation of populists

@LemonSwan

The fuck that brigade, with their personal responsibility, which basically translates to "I'm alright jack and did everyone else"

Yeah thats you btw!

'I am alright jack' while minimum wage carers were working through the pandemic unvaccinated caring for those with covid because they kept getting sent out of hospital with covid. To those shop workers who enabled you to eat. To the delivery drivers. To the energy, water, emergency services - you name it.

Was OK for them to keep working wasn't it.

Your fucking turn now. And if you dont want to thats fine. But dont you dare getting on a fucking high horse and stop other people living their lives when thousands in this country risked theirs with no vaccinations for over a year.

You want it all. Food in your shops, delivery to your door, no risk, low infection rates, perpetual lockdowns/ restrictions and for you to be the ones continually wrapped up in cotton wool. Your just take take take. Dont want to take any personal responsibility. Because your all right jack.

And thats that.

Leaving this thread its infuriating.

Well said LemonSwan. Not all of us are scared. Keep wearing a mask, keep cowering in your home and relying on everyone else to continue with your protected lives or do what most of us have done and get vaccinated and get in with life while acknowledging that there is now one more thing amongst many others that could kill or disable us.

@marieantoinehairnet

Nobody is asking for lockdown, FFS

A middle ground, a PM with a modicum of common sense, jeez so black and white it's untrue, we really are a dumb nation of populists

On the train everyone had a mask on. I don’t get this view at all. Have you been out? Is your area different

@marieantoinehairnet

Nobody is asking for lockdown, FFS

A middle ground, a PM with a modicum of common sense, jeez so black and white it's untrue, we really are a dumb nation of populists

That doesn't work. The ONLY thing that has brought infection rates down are proper lockdowns.

I think what people don’t understand is the culture of this country and countries like the USA. We are not built on dictatorship. We are liberal countries. The fact we have had laws locking us down at all is extraordinary. Now the USA and U.K. are telling their people that the state is no longer going to nanny them and people need to take personal responsibility for their own health and well-being. Personally that is the type of country I prefer to live in. If people whining about our government not nannying us anymore then I don’t understand why they don’t move to a country which is more dictatorial.

@whistlers

I feel like people think death is a new thing that only covid causes.

It feels like that doesn’t it? We’re focussing on the deaths caused by covid, which in the majority, are over 80 and ignoring all the deaths from everything else.

Maybe if we started reporting cancer deaths every day for over year more people would stop smoking and lose weight?

I find it strange that people are talking about covid deaths as ‘avoidable’. That’s simply not true. Practically speaking, they are no more avoidable than flu deaths, cancer deaths, RTA deaths. The fact that covid didn’t exist 3 years ago is irrelevant to this fact.

We took extraordinary measures to suppress covid, measures that we’ve never taken for any disease before, they weren’t enough to stamp it out and they certainly aren’t sustainable. I don’t think lesser measures make much difference at this stage. Delta is spreading everywhere, even where I am in ROI where no indoor hospitality or indoor meet ups are allowed.

I think a lot of people are still clinging to an idea that covid will eventually be ‘over’. It won’t, or not without much more efficacious vaccines, which are years away. The mindset needs to shift to longer term management. Thankfully the vaccines we do have are taking the severity and sting out of it.