How will ever get out of this?

[Toria84]

Cases are continually rising, vaccines don’t stop transmission, vaccines don’t prevent infection.

You can be infected with Covid more than once and by the looks of things we will need a vaccine every 6 months.

How will we ever move on from how things are now? How can things change?

It’s absolutely rife in my area and in my DS school.

Are we now just expected to accept these levels of infection, hospitalisations and death?

There are 130 Covid patients in our local hospital which isn’t far off the number of the second wave!

Look at Florida. Massive 4th wave in September (not helped by large numbers or people being unvaccinated) which has largely died away. We'll be like them and back to normal without high case numbers far quicker than western Europe and NZ.

We just have to get on with our lives. We’ll probably catch Covid maybe once a year and be sick for a couple of weeks. Annual vaccination will prevent most of us dying. Some will die, mostly elderly and CEV who are also at risk from flu and other viruses. Hand washing, sanitiser and masks in certain places will probably be here to stay.

The 1918 flu pandemic never ended. We just stopped talking about it. The flu that goes around is a much-mutated version of the pandemic flu. You just have to let it go and get on with it, treatments are improving all the time.

Yawn.

Move on!

The 1918 flu pandemic never ended. We just stopped talking about it.

Quite

There are 130 Covid patients in our local hospital

And how many are in for other things that could be prevented if we locked everyone in their homes 24/7?

[quote Toria84]@Remmy123

I think that’s a particular ignorant thing to say.[/quote]
You say that but it's the only way to move forward now. Can't stop transition etc. We need to accept that 30-50k people will die of covid every year. Similar numbers to many other illness like flu, sepsis etc that we don't bat an eyelid at.

Move on with your life. Yes average life expectancy may drop by a couple of years but I'd take that to I can live what years I have left normally :)

What do you want to happen OP ? Another lock down? Kids off school? Shops to have one way systems again?

None of that worked in the past, what makes you think it will work this time?

People have to get on with their lives.

i dont think this thread went the way the OP was hoping...

Well, getting a lot tougher over face masks might help. Even at the height of the first lockdown masses of people around here didn’t bother - and I refuse to believe they were all exempt. Just couldn’t be arsed, more like, or sticking two fingers up to anyone telling them what to do.

And even in a big supermarket, I never saw anyone saying anything. After I once saw 4 young blokes all jabbering away at the tops of their voices with masks on their chins, I asked why no member of staff said anything.
‘We’re not allowed.’
Pathetic.

I quite agree @Bordois - it’s just ‘ripped through’ my DD’s school but thankgod we aren’t faffing with endless close contacts isolations or she’d have had about a weeks education this half term! As it happens, DD hasn’t caught & had continued to have full attendance & a proper education and introduction to school (she’s just started). Even the school have said at least they’ve had their outbreak now & there should be a fair whack of immunity leading up to Christmas!

I’ve just had covid. Still feeling pretty grim although out of isolation. I’ll take my chances catching it again so long as life can be reasonably normal!

Yep. We had hardly any cases until recently in DS school. Only disruption was the actual school closures last year.

It ‘ripped’ through a few weeks ago. From zero to half the class over the space of a weekend. All stayed home for a week. Others carried on at school and there were no further cases. Then most got vaccinated last week and we’ve just broken up for 2 weeks of half term.

I hope! That’s it for us. A week of disruption (but no serious symptoms) for some. Hopefully we have immunity going in to winter and beyond.

Better than the odd case here and there for months and months with bubbles bursting and constant isolations.

Vaccinations - yes, probably with an annual booster, just like flu.

Plus mask-wearing when you are unwell (just like people have been doing in Asia for a long time).

Perhaps symptomatic testing, but optionally - a mask for cold/flu symptoms would help with everyone's winter health (and hasn't affected life expectancy in Asia, where in fact life expectancy in e.g. Japan, Singapore is higher than the UK).

Plus a bit of perspective. yes, your school may have a lot of cases, but realistically how many vaccinated teachers and pupils are in hospital as a result, how many dead. Probably fewer than an average flu outbreak.

The problem is the unvaccinated people. They are at higher risk and causing more spread. The government has really dropped the ball by not vaccinating 12-15 year olds from June onwards. Get this age group vaccinated (fully x 2) asap, then things will look better in a month or 2.

Plus boosters - don't wait to be contacted! Just get on the booking site as soon as you reach 180 days. If it says you are not eligible after a couple of days of trying, call the vaccine helpline. Don't just sit at home moaning that you haven't been issued a gold-plated card invitation by your (part-time) GP.

Another thing that needs to be tackled, but probably won’t be, is inequality. This leads to various mental and physical health problems for those at the bottom combined with a distrust of ‘the powers that be’ that contributes to vaccine hesitancy.

@TheKeatingFive

Reinfection is very rare. The vaccines are doing what they were designed to do in preventing severe disease.

If you aren't immune compromised, you get vaccinated and get on with your life. If you are, then you need to take more precautions.

I don't think they are. At dcs school currently (small to average sized primary) there is one kid off with it who had it already at the beginning of the year and a parent isolating with it for the second time after having it in 2020.

I agree with getting on with life 100% but I do think people should be testing.

I don't think they are. At dcs school currently (small to average sized primary) there is one kid off with it who had it already at the beginning of the year and a parent isolating with it for the second time after having it in 2020.

Global data is clear. Reinfections happen, but are rare. In the timeframe we have to observe.

We'll eventaully get a combined flu and covid jab - that if we're lucky will be taken/offered free to more of the population every winter than pre pandemic flu jabs.

Testing will slowly stop or reduce with charges being brought in for it.

Possibly vaccine passports for covid for oversee travel with hang around for a few years but I think welsh and scots one will slowly go.

Treatments are still being researched, with some interesting results.

@Getawaywithit

If you aren't immune compromised, you get vaccinated and get on with your life. If you are, then you need to take more precautions

Ah,so it’s the people with the underlying conditions who need to stay away from everyone, limit their contacts, just generally live something of a non-life that everyone else can get on with? How about sensible precautions taken across society by everyone so that everyone can get on with living a decent life?

Well, yes to be honest. This is life now, we are living with covid. Most of us are back to normal. Those who don’t want to go back to normal will have to take their own precautions and stay away from others. Same as everyone who was vulnerable to other viruses before covid.

Lovely, @Overthebow. What a team player eh.. I sincerely hope you and yours remain remain healthy and never have to worry about these things.

There has been thread after thread about mental health, lack of contact etc etc and how awfully is. Try facing that now for a lifetime with society at large not prepared to do the minimum to support. Very distressing,

As the overwhelming majority on this thread have said, this is life now, we get on with it.

Yes, I can see that from the replies.

I guess most people have taken the “Keep Calm and carry on” approach.

It’s turning a blind eye to the state of Covid in our country.

I’m in the south west and my dd’s school have had to go fully online due to the number of cases.

This is life in the UK, but the rest of Europe is living far better than us, with functioning healthcare and schools. We are going to have so many kids with long term organ damage, diabetes, and heart problems, while Europe does not.

Why is everyone happy to put up with this third rate response?

Although this picture made me laugh (bitterly): twitter.com/christhebarker/status/1450447268872691712/photo/1

The UK has gone mad - the politicians can get away with it because we have a weird electorate who basically do not care about health, the economy, schooling, anything.

@rrhuth

This is life in the UK, but the rest of Europe is living far better than us, with functioning healthcare and schools. We are going to have so many kids with long term organ damage, diabetes, and heart problems, while Europe does not.

Why is everyone happy to put up with this third rate response?

Although this picture made me laugh (bitterly): twitter.com/christhebarker/status/1450447268872691712/photo/1

The UK has gone mad - the politicians can get away with it because we have a weird electorate who basically do not care about health, the economy, schooling, anything.

People fear schools closing.

A huge failure for children. So it skews away from any party that look like they’d do it faster.