To think we soon won’t be isolating even when we have covid.

[Grida]

If covid is spreading as rapidly as it seems to be, surely people who have tested positive but who don’t have symptoms/aren’t feeling ill will have to carry on working. The country will stop functioning otherwise.

Erm, it is Heneghan again, saying there may have been a peak on 15th Dec, but the sort of temporary peak where cases will be rising again quite soon.

@Awalkintime
Road traffic accidents are the leading cause of death in young people worldwide, and the 8th cause of death for all age groups. 5 deaths in UK a day is not insignificant by any stretch of the imagination.

The COVID safety measure that makes most sense to focus on is the vaccine. That is the single most important way to protect the NHS from meltdown, and causes the least distribution and negative impact to our lives and the economy. So no I don't agree with the removal of covid safety measures, I agree with increasing them by more people getting vaccinated.

Using the numbers of covid deaths before the vaccine to compare with road traffic accidents doesn't make sense, we are in a totally different place now that we have the vaccine. Triple vaccinated people are much less likely to die of covid now than when they were unvaccinated.

I just think people should think about the risks and potential harm they may cause to others in other aspects of their lives too, rather than disproportionately focussing on covid and making people feel bad for going about their daily lives, doing activities that are important for their wellbeing. People are selfish all the time, what about all the single use plastic we use that contributes to global warming which is killing millions of people.

@JellyOnAPlatewithicecream most road deaths are caused by under 25s drink driving, "joyriding", or driving far too fast. By the time you hit 25 your risk of dying in an RTA plummet.

@RoyalFamilyFan
I think that's partly because as you get older your chance of dying from other things increases, such as illness.

Still though, maybe we should ban under 25s driving then, sounds like they are a vunerable group for whom the current safety regulations aren't working? I just think people need to stop calling other selfish for going about their daily lives and doing things vital for their mental wellbeing, when they are more than likely risking causing harm to people themselves in some way or another. Where do they buy their clothes? How have the workers who made them been treated, what are the safety regulations in the factory etc. Thinking of the bigger picture.

JellyOnAPlatewithicecream
You were the one who decided to compare road safety with covid, I just responded to your comment about banning driving vs lockdown of which I had not said at all on this thread about wanting a lockdown.

@Awalkintime
Ok fair enough! I guess I'm talking about people saying we should be careful / not go and socialise now, and judging people if they do, which is a kind of voluntary lockdown if you don't want to be called 'selfish'. And I was saying we don't ban driving even though that causes lots of deaths so why should we be effectively banning social contact now, there's risk in everyday life and we just get on with it because it would cause too much disruption and unwelcome effects on our lives not to.

Although I do get that it's probably sensible to limit social contact in the next few days until they can confirm that we are not in danger of the NHS being overwhelmed due to people less likely to need hospital treatment with this variant.

@JellyOnAPlatewithicecream no it is not. Most road deaths are in under 25s for the reasons I mention. And that is why insurance can be so high.

@JellyOnAPlatewithicecream I am still socialising. I am not personally worried about catching this variant. But for the country, no restriction is a massive gamble.

Still though, maybe we should ban under 25s driving then, sounds like they are a vunerable group for whom the current safety regulations aren't working?

I’d be for a ban on under 25s, we under 22/23s really and if we have to be tough about it, young men! We also need regular yearly checks on drivers over a certain age, say 75, as physical/eye sight etc can deteriorate quickly and that age group do have a higher risk of knocking down pedestrians!

With over 75s we just need to insist on an annual eye check. I agree people can deteriorate quickly when they are older. I have seen it in relatives.