Is another lockdown inevitable?

[Flowersandjellybeans]

I just can’t work out whether it’s more likely than not we’ll end up in another lockdown (and when that might be)…

There are multiple articles in all the newspapers, often contradicting each other… I honestly can’t work out what is likely to happen or really even on the table and when it would actually happen?

YANBU = yes, we’ll end up in another lockdown
YABU = no, we won’t have another lockdown

No lockdown won't happen. The economy hasn't recovered from last time and will crumble completely. There is no money for furlough so what are people meant to live on? We can't sacrifice our children's education again. Although I had my Y11 parents evening Thursday night and her English teacher kept saying "if the exams go ahead.." so who knows?
No one will comply with not seeing friends and family either.

I think schools may close

Covid passports are the better way forward and testing (not one or the other apart from this exempt)

But getting this through parliament will be difficult (but a distraction from Johnson’s other woes)

I know a lot of people think the government want a lock down, I don’t understand why (most say it’s for control). I believe they will avoid lockdown at high cost (aka lives) and only do one if there is no other way. Lockdowns don’t profit the country or the rich people in control. I hope one can be completely avoided but worry how many will die

Yep I work in a private hospital and we treat patients on NHS funded pathways to help.

Why do we need covid passports?
Countries who have them will blatantly tell you they don’t work.
The new variant is all over the world and it was transmitted by those who had covid passports.
If it’s as mild as we think currently, what do we need it for?
It doesn’t make any sense.

I’m so baffled by how differently we are dealing with omicron compared to USA. They are just saying it’s much milder and more like a usual cold so no concerns or surge planning in hospitals. How can the UK be so different?

@Franklin12

The elephant in the room is the NHS and the unvaccinated.

Look at the NHS properly. Don’t just throw taxpayers money at it. It’s wasted, we waste it. Get a more sensible co payment system in where people take some responsibility for their health. People on very low incomes, benefits can be excluded. Learn from other European countries. The USA system is irrelevant before any one says anything. We will never accept that but there is definitely a reason why we are the only country who has a system like this (and it’s not a good one).

We cannot keep saying we are protecting the NHS, NHS on its knees etc. It’s mis management and we cannot keep doing this every time a new virus appears.

Enough has been said about the unvaccinated by others but I would start to make it difficult for them to do certain things. And I don’t mind vaccine passports either.

I work in the NHS and I agree with every word.

I also don’t think schools will close. So many dc in my dc school have had covid and they didn’t close then so why now?

I don’t think there will be another lockdown - simply because many people will not obey. Even in the first lockdown people we’re having big parties.

I think there will be venues closing or restricting numbers and places of work being forced to WFH.

I believe that schools will not close unless forced to due to staff illnesses.

@NeedAHoliday2021

Because how else will the government district us from their constant fuck ups!?

It's the British media too. The scaremongering is out of control.

*distract

@icedcoffees

Are the pubs also going to close? What about sport being broadcast on TV surely that should stop too given how many clusters have been associated with it?

No, because closing pubs means they have to bring furlough back and they can't afford to do that. Closing hospitality on the run up to Christmas (again) would be a death knell for so many businesses.

Who is going to pay millions of peoples wages if we shut down hospitality and retail for months on end?

Closing schools would mean bringing back furlough too as people can't work and look after children simultaneously.

"The economy hasn't recovered from last time and will crumble completely."

Hysterical nonsense.

The economy isn't where it should be because of the pandemic but also Brexit which according to some estimates will do more harm longer term but we are a long fucking way from a crumbled economy...

Restrictions are likely on the way sometime in the new year. It is far from clear that it will be a form of lockdown.

I don't think anyone will comply in the run up to Christmas after the do as we say not as we do revelations the last few weeks but we know from last year this will cause a surge in January.

Who knows what will happen? Right now this whole issue has become something that the government has turned into a political farce for each ambitious arse to use for thier own ends, Johnson is a bloody joke who they know that the 'chattering classes' would like to see disappear down the hole he has made for himself, I see Gove has suddenly become more visable, Sunak is looking pretty smug, It seems to me that amoungst all this politcal posturing they have all forgotten that people are actually dying.

I’m so baffled by how differently we are dealing with omicron compared to USA

Worth remembering that the US have a much better concept of freedom than we do, at least in theory. They also have a proper Constitution to exert more control on what governments can and can't do

What they don't have is an NHS to profit from selling ...

The covid obsessed folk on here wouod love nothing more than a lockdown.

But I just can't believe anyone will comply.

I think a full lockdown, like we had last March, is unlikely because there won't be money for furlough.

But if hospital admissions start to rise because of Covid they may well impose tougher restrictions. The NHS is on its knees already, loads of beds occupied by people who could go home but can't because of the crisis in social care (the wait for a home-from-hospital assessment here is 8-10 weeks). Any extra pressures and it's fucked.

The best way to prevent tougher restrictions is for everyone to be very cautious imo. Because I was in contact last weekend with someone who later tested positive, I've opted out of going to a family lunch today, and have just heard that BIL and partner have done the same. Yesterday, I cancelled lunch with a friend, just in case.

Infection rates in my area are much, much higher than in the first or second wave (1,500 per 100k earlier in the week, it's never gone above 800 up till now). There's a lot of it out there, and it's not all Omicron.

Puzzled. There you go again. Using the USA system as the end goal. It won’t be allowed in the UK but I think people are ready for a sensible cross party non political review of change. We have to do something. Not just limping along. We need a new new system. The NHS is not fit for purpose.

The nhs would be able to cope if the care sector wasn’t so neglected. 1/3 off our beds are full of medically fit patients not needing hospital but there’s no appropriate care available. That’s what needs fixing!

@Waxonwaxoff0 well the government would argue that schools aren't childcare and they're not shutting your workplace, therefore they don't need to pay you furlough.

In reality schools would have to remain open for all children of parents who couldn't work from home, which sort of defeats the point of closing schools in the first place, but it means the government looks like they're taking steps to do something without actually doing anything .

@NeedAHoliday2021

I’m so baffled by how differently we are dealing with omicron compared to USA. They are just saying it’s much milder and more like a usual cold so no concerns or surge planning in hospitals. How can the UK be so different?

I follow some medics on Tiktok and they don't think its mild. Covid has become very politicised with red states pretty much denying it exists. Yes, I do realise its a social media platform and none of this is verified information but considering how many are talking about it being a complete shit show over there I know where I would rather be.

Had a couple of notifications this morning already about theatres cancelling the rest of their pants runs (I'm in Scotland).

If I'm honest I would find it hard to comply with another lockdown and I'm a front line worker. From a nhs point of I completely support it and of course to protect our loved ones. However what leaves a sour taste in my mouth is I had to see my grandad from behind a screen in a care home pod last year. He died 3 months later and I wasn't able to hug him or kiss him one last time. And I spent Christmas Day on my own with my 2 children which I found really lonely. All the while they were raving at all of their Christmas and successful budget parties and nobbing their coworkers.

Yes it is inevitable. Just look at the way the narrative is developing. All the media outlets were reporting on a non-peer review report yesterday saying that Omicron could be a distasteful and immediately following it by ‘should we consider more restrictions’. This is yet another variant, as there will be many more. It’s more infectious but less fatal. Still, somehow the narrative is about introducing restrictions. That tells you everything that you need to know.
You only have to look at how happy people are that plan B has been enacted. It’s like people have lost the ability to feel safe without being babied. A substantial portion of these irrational people are also part of of the lockdown brigade, because they enjoyed the last lockdown so much. Lockdowns have done untold damage to childrens futures and future life prospects, people health (more than Covid ever could), people livelihoods and mental health. But hey as long as long as you get to stay at home watching Netflix with your kids and baking banana bread, that’s all that matters, right?

@sst1234

Yes it is inevitable. Just look at the way the narrative is developing. All the media outlets were reporting on a non-peer review report yesterday saying that Omicron could be a distasteful and immediately following it by ‘should we consider more restrictions’. This is yet another variant, as there will be many more. It’s more infectious but less fatal. Still, somehow the narrative is about introducing restrictions. That tells you everything that you need to know. You only have to look at how happy people are that plan B has been enacted. It’s like people have lost the ability to feel safe without being babied. A substantial portion of these irrational people are also part of of the lockdown brigade, because they enjoyed the last lockdown so much. Lockdowns have done untold damage to childrens futures and future life prospects, people health (more than Covid ever could), people livelihoods and mental health. But hey as long as long as you get to stay at home watching Netflix with your kids and baking banana bread, that’s all that matters, right?

Noo not inevitable

It’s so damaging