For those who want restrictions to return...

[Warhertisuff]

When would think it reasonable for those restrictions to be eased again?

Or do you believe restrictions should be a permanent, or at least cyclical, part of life now?

@marieantoinehairnet

I think we do have to get back on the programme with masks, they're entirely sensible.

We also need to embrace wfh for those that can. It helps immensely in cities where people take public transport to work. It's a win win, the world has moved on from the Tory presenteeism this government is hanging on to.

Win win apart from the public transport and city centre shops that rely on the footfall of those working within the cities..

I personally wouldn't be objected to restrictions like masks and WFH as long as there was a realistic end date and the promise that testing would stop at some point (most likely the summer) in 2022.

Looking at the graphs of cases. I'm not a mathematician or whatever.

It goes up- we lockdown and mandate masks and social distancing.
Cases drop rapidly.

We ease lockdown, cases shoot up.
We tighten lockdown and mandate masks and social distancing.

Freedom Day and masks not mandated, cases shoot up.

Seems pretty obvious from where I am that lockdown, masks and social distancing work.

"Oh but pubs and nightclubs"
... Well instead of learning to live with a disease that can kill, that can make people very ill, how about we learn to live with fewer pubs and nightclubs...

Cash before lives seems mercenary, but that's how people will justify it... Atrocities are usually justified one way or another.

The insinuation that the health services aren't already struggling is amusing to me because I work in a health service, and we are screwed. Still.
People seem to forget that people still need non covid related healthcare, many of which has been put on hold or pushed back bc of covid surges. So now we are all trying to deal with the backlog, plus the normal routine stuff, plus in many patients worsened conditions due to not being able to access the care they needed at the right time. And we are short staffed alot of the time. Having 40k+ new cases everyday (before winter hits) feels like watching a tsunami form off shore and not being able to run away.

For now, until we have evidence of how sustained the third booster’s protection is. It looks like it could make a huge difference and if so bringing back masks and some restrictions around gatherings for a few months would be wise.

Mumsnet in the 1800s

How long must we listen to the doom and gloomster John Snow and restrict and clean our water supply to stop cholera

Probably.

Clean water was once not seen as a right but now it is (for now I guess if you’re following the post brexit sewage issues).

People should have the same right to clean air. Proper masks and proper ventilation

@IndigoC

For now, until we have evidence of how sustained the third booster’s protection is. It looks like it could make a huge difference and if so bringing back masks and some restrictions around gatherings for a few months would be wise.

Yes. Vaccine plus other light touch mitigations whilst we get to a place where the latter aren’t needed

I only received the letter telling me that shielding had ended a couple of weeks ago, I hope if things are getting worse that shielding is brought back promptly instead of the shitshow performance we have had. I only got a letter saying that I was ECV in April this year, I'm housebound but thinking about it I could have been out & about for 14 months before.

Not in the UK, but love masks in crowded public places and staying home when unwell. I don't want your germs! It was so nice not having a sore throat and runny nose all winter.

Pretty much what @lilypond has said on all her/his posts below. Sorry if that sounds creepy!
Also PP who mentioned health service being overstretched - many do realise the implications on staff, other treatments, quality and availability of treatments etc and don't understand why we are heading down this road. I think it's odd we use health service capacity as a measure of when to implement restrictions anyway though, rather than acceptable level of hospitalisations/death/long term illness. It makes me wonder how high the death/hospitalisation toll would have been allowed to reach if we had far more capacity.
PP who wanted a date when pandemic would be declared over - I don't think it works like that. We declared it over in July...covid didn't listen.

Like the PP said, I think we can learn from other countries when it comes to mask wearing. It's the natural thing to do if you're poorly. If you go to Japan or China, you'll see lots of people wearing a mask on the train, it's a normal part of their culture. I wouldn't be opposed to keeping that

I’d rather learn from Sweden.

Also, China really didn’t do the mask thing for health—it was largely for air pollution. Maybe it was more of a thing in Taiwan and Hong Kong, I can’t say.

It’s also not right to say a normal part of Japanese culture for healthy people to wear masks. It wasn’t. It was actively sick people (no one takes sick days) and allergy sufferers.

You can't choose who you learn from.

We're not Sweden however much you'd rather pretend to be them.

They don't have much to teach anyway.

@Tillysfad

You can't choose who you learn from.

We're not Sweden however much you'd rather pretend to be them.

They don't have much to teach anyway.

Well we’re not East Asia either

Too much was relaxed at once. I think masks should still be worn in
public, and proper ones not just silly scraps of fabric. My husband buys the FFP2 ones which we all prefer and wear in busy places.
I think people should be staying indoors if a family member tests positive.
Many things can be done to help before resorting to drastic lockdowns.

More them than Sweden

@HSHorror

Agree.
Running hot is a stupid idea.
Wearing masks is not a lot to ask.

Sick of people who don’t want too.

@Tillysfad

More them than Sweden

Yeah, tell me again how Britain has extremely low obesity rates just like much of East Asia 😂

But you know, it’s only just one of the major risk factors of death by COVID.

@Tuba437

I personally wouldn't be objected to restrictions like masks and WFH as long as there was a realistic end date and the promise that testing would stop at some point (most likely the summer) in 2022.

We are still waiting for info in Scotland! I would say that it's not really made much difference up here our case rate in September hit over 820 per 100,000 with multiple locations having over 1000 per 100,000.

We still have masks in secondary all day in the classroom, masks for shops, pubs, restaurants, public transport etc.
WFH is still the norm for many with no date or sign of that changing. We still had a massive peak, England is still behind what we hit at rate per 100,000 and per head of population we have a worse death rate.

It's pretty impossible to control a virus which has a quick mutation rate.
If people think masks and wfh are a magic solution just pay attention to Scotland we haven't seen it work.
Cases are falling now but still around 350 per 100,000 so still high.

I live in a city (not U.K.) where life feels pretty much normal, other than wearing masks on public transport, in schools, and in crowded indoor settings (concerts, theatre etc). You also have to show you’ve been vaccinated to enter restaurants and other indoor spaces.

I’m a teacher, so I wear a mask all day every day, and of course we’d all rather not, but it seems a small price to pay to be in-person and to have had six Covid cases in school since September 2020. I really don’t understand the U.K. resistance to masks. As pp have said, learning to live with Covid doesn’t mean it’s over. I’m terrified by the current case numbers and the potential impact on vulnerable family members still in the U.K.

Sick of the stupid idea that if you want to limit the spread of COVID at all somehow you 'want' restrictions just for fun

@rrhuth

Sick of the stupid idea that if you want to limit the spread of COVID at all somehow you 'want' restrictions just for fun

I know. It's making it all much harder than it needs to be. It will be longer, harsher measures or higher deaths/long term illness. Self-sabotaging country. Oh and if it becomes endemic with high levels, that means we've failed.

We are in the shit, everyone can see it.

Yet again, wearing a mask over the worst part of the winter (for those who don't have a psychological or physical exemption) would be very sensible. In indoor crowded spaces. Also keeping some distance where you can. Meeting outdoors where possible. And so on.

How great it would be if more people joined the millions of us already doing this without legislation being passed.

Spring would seem like a good point to review whether it seems sensible to keep doing this.

We are having a bump in cases most likely due to vaccine waning. So will Europe in a month or two.

Israel had the same and experience in August and took swift decisive action. We haven't. The focus should be on speeding up boosters and rolling them out to all adults as quickly as possible even say after 5 months not 6.

As long as we continue to struggle to see doctors and dentists etc A and e
E departments will continue to be stretched.

Boggles the mind our approach is rely on a vaccine wall and being complacent about shoring it up. ( Which we have known since last year would be necessary )

We are having a bump in cases most likely due to vaccine waning. So will Europe in a month or two.

This ignores the basic mathematics involved - if you start from a high base, doubling soon gets to very high numbers.

Europe has far lower case rates/million currently. They are not even in the same ballpark, due to sensible government choices.

The UK is not having a bump. We have exponential growth due to high base rate and zero government strategy.

Vaccines alone don't work, Israel told the world - Europe listened, UK didn't.