1000+ in ventilator beds already & school return with no household isolation

[RumblyMumbly]

Number of people in ventilator beds 1,014 on 31/08/21

It has been a steady / manageable rise since restrictions lifted in mid May when there were 125 patients in ventilator beds & while obviously awful for the people affected and their families this means the NHS has coped while there has been a lot of Covid cases

Does anyone else feel we may be at the tipping point? Schools in England mostly return this week for Autumn term.

If we compare with last years school return there were only 71 ventilator beds occupied on 31/08/20. Yes, we now have 64% of the total population double vaccinated which puts us in a far better situation than last year when the population had no protection. However, we had household isolations this time last year for positive cases, this year other household members of a positive case will be attending school and workplaces alongside everyone else and generally people will begin meeting indoors much more over the next few months.

Purpose of my post - nervousness about what will happen next...I don't want schools to close at all, children have already had 2 years of disrupted education. But to give my own personal experience - obviously other peoples differ - secondary remote learning can work if absolutely necessary (full schedule of lessons / homework) but primary remote learning (1hr lesson per day) did not work AT ALL & the vast majority of primary aged children are not ready to become independent learners while parents are in an impossible situation as they can't work and moonlight as a teacher.

I hope SAGE / the Government are watching the figures very closely and if we need a circuit breaker in October to keep the NHS manageable they act fast.

although a bit harsh as they are not mandated. Why aren't we putting in some minor stuff now to stop things going so steep - isolation of household contacts, mask on public transport etc.

@beentoldcomputersaysno

although a bit harsh as they are not mandated. Why aren't we putting in some minor stuff now to stop things going so steep - isolation of household contacts, mask on public transport etc.

Because politically Johnson is hamstrung by the fuckwits in the 'CRG'.

Our whole national public health strategy is being determined by the colossal intellect of the likes of Mark Harper

@lannistunut

Personally I will be really pissed off if we have longer holdiays and more missed schooling when we could have asked people to wear masks in shops etc and kept just a bit of a dampener on things

All these cunts pretend to care about education but they are more bothered about not wearing a mask in Tesco.

I feel similarly.

Our children have missed enough months of school because of covid minimisers and covid deniers stamping their feet like tantrumming toddlers at being asked to do what is necessary.

It might not come to that. It's seriously annoying though and I agree with the sentiments. It seems that the ones who shout loudest about needing to go back exactly as 2019 was are the ones slowing the rest of us down getting closer to that.

If they need to reduce / slow cases (to reduce the number needing ICU) it's such a difficult scenario now. Furlough ends so they can't ask businesses to close wholly so off the top of my head the remaining options are:

1. reduce numbers attending events again? Vaccine passports for attending. Reintroduce masks and distancing?
2. extend the school holidays - but how can working parents manage this especially now back in offices? Detrimental effect to childrens education and wellbeing. If schools are closed but other things aren't won't children meet elsewhere instead?
3. postpone other NHS treatments to ringfence bed space - no-one wants this option as detrimental to health outcomes elsewhere.
4. ban mixing within homes - there would be a lot more non-compliance now as so many are vaccinated they feel less personally at risk (and know their nearest and dearest probably have some level of protection).

It really is a nightmare - Delta being so transmissable has put a massive spanner in the works in their roadmap.

@beentoldcomputersaysno yep it's annoying being called a lockdown lover / doom monger when actually that's what you want actions to prevent. Most realists can see that all is not tickety-boo!

I’d add contact isolation for household contacts and possibly school (back to bubbles?) and work contacts too @RumblyMumbly. Problem with that is that the higher infection rates are the more people are caught up in it. It’s is an effective way of bringing down case numbers without restricting larger groups of people though.

@Cornettoninja totally agree reinstating household isolations could definitely be used as a measure to reduce spread

If they go for two weeks break at half term grandparents will have to pick up the slack. In our case four for the break from two families who are working . It's just impossible . I'm done

[quote RumblyMumbly]@beentoldcomputersaysno yep it's annoying being called a lockdown lover / doom monger when actually that's what you want actions to prevent. Most realists can see that all is not tickety-boo![/quote]
After all this time I don't know why people don't seem to understand that removing NPIs such as isolating contacts, masks, social distancing, etc, is what leads back into a lockdown. Either they all come back or we spend a lot more time in lockdown.

I don't know why people expect to have it both ways.

The virus hasn't gone anywhere.

Let's hope we don't have to have one, but if we don't get rid of some of the stupid measures now, we will have a lot of unnecessary illness and death (covid and non-covid) or a lockdown. I can't see it going any other way.

Heard on the radio the Gov said there won't be a firebreak lockdown in October (but they have been known to change their mind if circumstances change.)

People on ventilators 06/09/21 1062 (up 48 from a week ago) so similar number to early November but the number was rising far faster on a daily/weekly basis then.

@RumblyMumbly

Heard on the radio the Gov said there won't be a firebreak lockdown in October (but they have been known to change their mind if circumstances change.)

People on ventilators 06/09/21 1062 (up 48 from a week ago) so similar number to early November but the number was rising far faster on a daily/weekly basis then.

Boris Johnson said that last year too.

We ended up in lockdown for all of November.

The government have today broken a manifesto pledge not to raise taxes and a manifesto pledge not to break the pension triple lock - excuse me if I don't give any weight to anything they say!

We all remember the one day school return in January 2021!



@PrincessNutNuts we did have a November lockdown but crucially schools remained open

@lannistunut oh yes the one day debacle what a display of complete political incompetence from Johnson

I think we can all agree this government is utterly useless and that anything BJ says should be taken with a bucket of salt and tends to mean the opposite to what actually happens.

Irreversible. Ok let’s see…

As PPs have said most of those on ventilators haven't had the vaccine - for those whom decided not to - that's their risk. For those who can't - they have to make the choices that are right for them with regards to what risks they want to take. For everyone else - thankfully - life is, and should be, returning to normal

@whatthejiggeries

As PPs have said most of those on ventilators haven't had the vaccine - for those whom decided not to - that's their risk. For those who can't - they have to make the choices that are right for them with regards to what risks they want to take. For everyone else - thankfully - life is, and should be, returning to normal

Well this would be a fair point - if it wasn't factually incorrect.

Latest stats from PHS show almost 60% of those on ventilators are double vaccinated, and 70% of deaths are double vaccinated.

@lannistunut

The government have today broken a manifesto pledge not to raise taxes and a manifesto pledge not to break the pension triple lock - excuse me if I don't give any weight to anything they say!

We all remember the one day school return in January 2021!

i'm really not a Tory but I can't really criticise them for raising taxes to pay more for heath and social care in a pandemic. I agree with the principle anyway.

@herecomesthsun

It is NI, very regressive, and low-paid workers are subsidising wealthy homeowners. But yes, I am sure those in Hartlepool are thrilled to pay some of their minimum wage to protect the inheritance of the landed in Surrey.

I can pretty much always criticise them because every action they take is to their voters - the rich and the old.

It depends where the taxpayer money goes @herecomesthsun Matt Hancock's exlandlord landing a lucrative contract to deliver parts used in testing springs to mind. Or the raccateer private companies the gov were using to provide free school meals during lockdown that were so poor they had to apologise for the content.

More money in the NHS, social care and education are all desperately needed but the money should be spent wisely. Remember the report by the Public Accounts Committee on the 37billion spent on test and trace 'Yet despite the unimaginable resources thrown at this project Test and Trace cannot point to a measurable difference to the progress of the pandemic, and the promise on which this huge expense was justified - avoiding another lockdown – has been broken, twice.

Now just where is that catch up funding for children? I think they cost it at 50p per child, I think DC2 being provided with a pritt stick should adequately make up for the 6months of missed primary school.

@herecomesthsun don't forget it was the Conservatives austerity measures that have run down so many of these services over the last decade until Boris and co decided to start splashing the cash (quite literally over his own walls) last year.

no I hadn't forgotten that, I'm still broadly in favour of more government expenditure on health and social care