Will you be angry if we end up back in lockdown?

[turnshavetabled]

/ harsh restrictions?

I feel so tired of this all - but mostly tired of feeling lied to by the government. The false promises - 'irreversible' 'final lockdown until science / the vaccines can save the day'

And Scotland are already floating more restrictions, only a few weeks after reopening. It's gutting. I wish they would just tell us what the probably already know is likely to happen over the next few months.

Most wanted masks to stay in polls most didn’t continue to wear them when they became options (no poll required I can look around me) what people say they want and their behaviour don’t match we have created a world where saying “I want strict covid restrictions” is the cool thing to say but actually people do not seem to live by that mantra when given the choice.

Yes, it's well known that even in totally anonymous polls, people will often say what they think they 'should' say rather than what they really think. Hence the 'shy Tory' phenonemon.

As for 'keeping social distancing', I think a lot of people think social distancing means having two seats to themselves on the bus and not having to queue at the bar, in other words, having superior service for free.

It's a bit like climate change. Everyone will tell pollsters 'Something must be done!' but when it comes down to it, very few will be prepared to alter their own lifestyle for that reason.

Yup.
On each lifting of restrictions people have said no one will go, it’s pointless.
And yet ... open it and they will come. Allow it and they will do it.
Even without the usual huge influx of foreign tourists, every venue, festival, football match and hotel is booked.

I don't think there will be more lockdowns - I think we will have to learn to live with Covid like the flu. Vaccines will need to continue to be developed to respond to new strains and some will be more effective than others.

I don't think the government has lied that this will be irreversible. It's very clear that as a libertarian Johnson didn't ever want a lockdown and he still doesn't. He wants us to all exercise personal responsibility.

I don't know why people always want someone to blame and be angry with. No government has got it completely right across the world and we are a lot better off than many other countries.

And no I'm not a Tory or a fan of BJ.

Also, where are all the new variants?!

Hopefully after lengthy restrictions and with the vaccines there will not be too many developments in that direction going forward.

I was talking to a scientist friend the other day who said the most important thing we can do is reduce transmission as that in turn will reduce the opportunities for the virus to mutate.

@HelloMissus

Yup. On each lifting of restrictions people have said no one will go, it’s pointless. And yet ... open it and they will come. Allow it and they will do it. Even without the usual huge influx of foreign tourists, every venue, festival, football match and hotel is booked.

Oh right, my perception was the other way round.

People kept saying that we would lift restrictions and no one will give covid a second thought. And then restrictions were lifted and pretty much everyone round here is still wearing masks in supermarkets & keeping stuff outside etc, and rates are, perhaps correspondingly, much lower than feared.

It still gives me hope.

@HesterShaw1 Re. obesity . Im tackling mine but i just couldnt do it earlier. Not while being made to feel completely not human let alone a woman. Being made to feel a biohazard and the abuse they dished out was not conducive to losing weight. I just cant cope with that and masks and all the other shit too. They cant have it all. Either its
a. more restrictions and masks and i turn to food to cope. or
b. I do what i can of the restrictions wear a lanyard and lose weight.

The time has come when people and the gits in charge have to choose. They cant have it all.

@Delatron

We’ve lifted most restrictions. We have delta circulating. Yet still we’re nowhere near the 100k cases. Cases don’t really matter if they’re not translating in to a high death rate.

Also, where are all the new variants?!

We had 797 deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported in the UK in the last 7 days, I'd call that quite a high death rate. And we aren't even into flu season yet.

I do wonder if Javid mentioned about "100k cases" so that the actual result wouldn't look so bad by comparison.

@Bouledeneige

I don't think there will be more lockdowns - I think we will have to learn to live with Covid like the flu. Vaccines will need to continue to be developed to respond to new strains and some will be more effective than others.

I don't think the government has lied that this will be irreversible. It's very clear that as a libertarian Johnson didn't ever want a lockdown and he still doesn't. He wants us to all exercise personal responsibility.

I don't know why people always want someone to blame and be angry with. No government has got it completely right across the world and we are a lot better off than many other countries.

And no I'm not a Tory or a fan of BJ.

The problem with relying on people to exercise personal responsibility is that people can be as responsible as they can but will still be affected by the lack of responsibility of others.

I know that no government has got it completely right but I think the number of easily avoidable mistakes that the government were warned about at the time that contributed to the UK's high death rate (e.g. waiting so long to put India on the red list, opening the schools and closing them a day later) is much higher than any other country in Europe.

I think what people can do to help avoid another lockdown at the moment is:

-get fully vaccinated against covid unless there are medical reasons why you can't
-get the flu jab unless there are medical reasons why you can't

• wear a mask on public transport, in shops or other indoor areas (obviously I don't include your own home in this). Wash reusable masks after usage.
• Open windows on the bus if you can and don't close them just because it's a bit chilly (obviously if it's a freezing cold December day that's different). Ventilation helps reduce the risk of covid spreading, especially as mask wearing on buses seems to have dropped this past month.

herecomes I think masks on transport etc and people attempting to give one another room where possible was always likely.

But equally, all the evidence was that the vast majority of normal punters would want to do all the activities they’d been missing.
So restaurants and bars inside. Theatre open. Gigs and football. Weddings and funerals.

An example - my mum is having a party - a belated 80th.
We’ve booked a bar. There will be good and drink and music and dancing.
So far we’ve had 4 no thank yous from the people who don’t want to socialise indoors. That’s around 5% of the guest list.
Everyone else is a yes. And lots of em are pretty old

Agree with greentea, though I'm too young for a flu vaccine on the NHS and I won't go out of my way to get one. DH is old enough to get one and I don't come into close contact with anyone vulnerable except my mum who will get hers and will hopefully have a covid booster in the next few weeks too.

But the rest, yes. Get your masks out again ladies. Please. It's not an imposition to wear them for a few minutes round the shops.

There's no point in getting angry with anyone. What would it achieve?

We've all been vaccinated or at least offered the vaccine. That offers the best chance of staying well. There will be a booster coming out before winter to help a bit more.

We all have to use our own judgement. I haven't been on a plane, still wear a mask when shopping & on the train. I've only socialised outside so far. I haven't caught it yet.

I'll send my ds (13) back to school. I know it's a risk. I'll be pleased when he is vaccinated too. But there are no guarantees in any country. We just have to do the best we can.

@lockdownmadnessdotcom

Agree with greentea, though I'm too young for a flu vaccine on the NHS and I won't go out of my way to get one. DH is old enough to get one and I don't come into close contact with anyone vulnerable except my mum who will get hers and will hopefully have a covid booster in the next few weeks too.

But the rest, yes. Get your masks out again ladies. Please. It's not an imposition to wear them for a few minutes round the shops.

Some people do find it an imposition though and yeah, realistically we just have to accept it. Not a lot of masks even on the tube and it's supposedly a "condition of carriage". I doubt anyone can persuade people to put them back on now that they have been made not mandatory!

[quote MercyBooth]@HesterShaw1 Re. obesity . Im tackling mine but i just couldnt do it earlier. Not while being made to feel completely not human let alone a woman. Being made to feel a biohazard and the abuse they dished out was not conducive to losing weight. I just cant cope with that and masks and all the other shit too. They cant have it all. Either its
a. more restrictions and masks and i turn to food to cope. or
b. I do what i can of the restrictions wear a lanyard and lose weight.

The time has come when people and the gits in charge have to choose. They cant have it all.[/quote]
@MercyBooth when I wrote that I was really conscious that it might sound rude or judgemental. That's the problem with talking about obesity - because understandably so many people take it personally. I appreciate what you're saying.

However I'm talking about genuinely tackling the problem at a government level, rather than making people feel guilty or ashamed (that never worked, ever). Taking on the food giants and the sugar industry, for example.

Doubt it will happen so not even thinking about it

@HesterShaw1 Oh i totally agree. Too many people making too much money off the back of others poor health.

Im sorry if i came across as tetchy. Im going through a mental health crisis at the moment and not coping well.

@HelloMissus

An example - my mum is having a party - a belated 80th. We’ve booked a bar. There will be good and drink and music and dancing. So far we’ve had 4 no thank yous from the people who don’t want to socialise indoors. That’s around 5% of the guest list. Everyone else is a yes. And lots of em are pretty old

My anecdotal evidence ...

I attended a 2 hour gathering in a church hall with a bar and dancing. Everyone was over 40, the windows were open and by request all attending were double jabbed. Masks were worn at the bar.

Three days later I was pinged, the next day I tested positive.

It has made me realise that if I want to do these things I do them at risk of catching Covid.

TheSunnySide sure that’s the risk.
Everyone knows it.
Yet still the majority want to and will attend (and if we’re double vaccinated we no longer have to SI if track and traced).

@HelloMissus

TheSunnySide sure that’s the risk. Everyone knows it. Yet still the majority want to and will attend (and if we’re double vaccinated we no longer have to SI if track and traced).

This is where I find the whole thing a bit bizarre. I wasn't told I had to do a test when ai was pinged, but I did anyway and then I ordered a PCR just in case (my friend who was with me was pinged too and recommended to get a PCR test). had I not done that I could easily have ignored my mild symptoms until I eventually lost my sense of smell and in the meantime spread the virus to several neighbours and friends.

[quote AllCatsAreSpecial]@NannyAndJohn

Do you not at least accept it’s a positive thing that we haven’t hit 100K cases a day yet? As others said, you were posting for months about how we would hit them by X point, and how deaths would escalate into their thousands. Obviously I don’t have a crystal ball and that may still come, but it hasn’t yet, and surely that’s a good thing?

I remember you posted recently saying you are still only going out for essentials and still doing most socialising on Zoom. Your posts used to seriously annoy me but having read that I think I try and see them through the lens of someone who is suffering from quite extreme anxiety. I’m sure you’ll deny that and say that you’re right and following the science and everyone else is burying their head in the sand etc. And of course, I could have totally misremembered what you said!

I just think… you must be able to feel relief that the awful things you have been predicting for months haven’t yet happened? Do you ever try looking for the good? I think it would help.,[/quote]
As I've said before - I'm not anxious, just socially responsible.

And one can be relieved that cases didn't quite reach the projected figures while also showing concern that ~35000 cases a day and ~800 deaths a week is far, far too high. And that's before taking into account 1) Long Covid and 2) the impact of the return of schools.

@Delatron

We’ve lifted most restrictions. We have delta circulating. Yet still we’re nowhere near the 100k cases. Cases don’t really matter if they’re not translating in to a high death rate.

Also, where are all the new variants?!

Cases don’t really matter

Tell that to all those suffering with Long Covid.

But the rest, yes. Get your masks out again ladies. Please. It's not an imposition to wear them for a few minutes round the shops.

It's not for you to say its not an imposition for me. I wear masks 8 hours a day 5 days week for work and it is very uncomfortable. I'm not wearing them out of work as well. I've had covid and am double jabbed. If I'm not safe now I never will be

Nanny with their selective interpretation again

Unfortunately we can’t lockdown for long Covid @NannyAndJohn as much as you’d like to..

Lockdown is an emergency measure to a novel virus. Not a long term strategy to keep using multiple times. I’ll keep repeating this until it sinks in.

[quote MercyBooth]@HesterShaw1 Oh i totally agree. Too many people making too much money off the back of others poor health.

Im sorry if i came across as tetchy. Im going through a mental health crisis at the moment and not coping well. [/quote]
Really sorry to hear that @MercyBooth. This has been such a terrible 18 months . I hope you start to feel a bit better soon.