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.

I unfortunately think you’re right. It’s just going to carry on infecting people just like colds

The economy and “normal life” will always be prioritised

Which is a bit sad really, because my mum has so many autoimmune problems she’ll likely die if she catches it. That’s even having had 2 initial jabs, a 3rd jab with a booster in 3 months. She’s got some antibodies but her specialists don’t think there would be enough for her to pull through.

But as long as schools are open and people can go to pubs it’s all fine, right?

Presumably people who aren't really ill are already working if they can work from home.

I think that’s the only way forward

Many people feel done and don’t even know unless did a lf then pcr

For those who do feel ill thr. Surely they would stay at home in bed /on sofa

Why should we try and protect those who don’t want to get vaccinated

Should the nhs treat them

Or be like USA. If need medical treatment they need to pay

People can’t isolate non stop

It went from 14 to 10 days. May go to 7 or less

I agree completely. We cannot go on like this.

@CoffeeMuggins

What do we expect the vulnerable to do when this happens? Stay inside forever or gamble with their lives every time they need to go to work or pop to the shops?

We'll have to continue to gamble with our lives

Ds tested positive. He was mildly poorly for one day right at the start. So he's had 9 days of isolation completely well and fine. Caught it off Dp who was also mildly affected and better within 3 days. So YANBU.

LOL at you lot wanting positive people out and about in public. I bet you’re probably the types who go to work with colds and flu and spread it to everyone.

Is this going to be the next echo chamber topic I wonder??🤔

I’ve said it before….at some point we need to stop testing. Never mind stopping isolating! If you’re too sick to go to work then ring in sick….like for anything else.

Exactly @CovidCorvid

@WouldBeGood

Society can’t shut to protect the very vulnerable. Particularly as it’s a tiny percentage of people, even vulnerable people, who are at serious risk

It isn't a tiny % though, its around 3 million. In the last quarter alone, one in ever 100 people with a blood cancer died of covid. That's double the number from the same quarter last year.

Even if that’s right it’s a tiny percentage of the population and public health policy cannot be predicated on that when there’s so much at stake by way of other illnesses/livelihoods/mental health/child protection.

The biggest help to the infrastructure of this country right now (including NHS) would be to scrap isolation for asymptomatic cases and reduce symptomatic cases to 7 days (as long as you feel well after that). Covid is very unlikely to be contagious after a week anyway. Ridiculous that perfectly well NHS staff are unable to work due to this rule.

* Fine not done

Covid isn't like any normal viral infection is it ? It's very different to influenza or norovirus. It's novel
right ? God forbid any of you or your loved ones out of the blue develop cancer and need chemo or suddenly find they need to take immunosuppressants I'm pretty sure you'll change your tune about mixing with covid positive patients. Stick one of you lot in a red area ICU and you won't wear ppe ? Really ? Let's see it lol. All f***g talk as usual.

*But as long as schools are open and people can go to pubs it’s all fine, right?^

Does your mum think that children’s education and a large part of our economy should be decimated for her ? Really ?

@LethargicActress

I’m looking forward to the days when we can treat covid the same as we do a cold.

Same 😴

The economy is here to serve everyone not vice versa, despite what Rishi and his pockets may well think.

And a healthy economy is based on a healthy population.

So we should ensure that our health service is fit for purpose and not only fit for the fittest.

I thank my lucky stars uk not CEV, neither are my family and we haven’t been touched by covid. But I’d like to think that if we were, the nhs would be there for us.

Sadly a lot of attitudes in this government and on this thread suggest otherwise.

All very well to say lift lockdown but where are the plans to strengthen the nhs?

This won’t be the last pandemic we face, I’m sure. We are fucked if we do the same as we’ve done this time around, letting people die all in the name of the “economy”.

I think a middle option is the best one.

Ignoring asymptomatic or mild cases and letting them transmit is a BIG mistake.

@Berlinkreuzberg

Covid isn't like any normal viral infection is it ? It's very different to influenza or norovirus. It's novel right ? God forbid any of you or your loved ones out of the blue develop cancer and need chemo or suddenly find they need to take immunosuppressants I'm pretty sure you'll change your tune about mixing with covid positive patients. Stick one of you lot in a red area ICU and you won't wear ppe ? Really ? Let's see it lol. All f***g talk as usual.

They don't understand they or someone like their child might fall into the vulnerable 'fuck it you're not worth saving group' at any point. Especially given that cancer will make them fall into this group and a majority experience cancer in their families this is quite short sighted.

I mean you can get rid of testing/isolation and ask people who are positive but only mildly symptomatic to work. But that makes the virus spread faster through the population.

The thing is some people will just get a mild reaction to COVID, others get seriously ill, some get Long COVID (which is rarely mentioned). We don’t really know enough about this variant either. We also have a significant proportion of the population who are unvaccinated who are eight times more likely to get seriously ill and be in hospital.

That means that we are more likely to run out of hospital beds/ICU spots if we let people with COVID go to work. Put yourself in the place of a triage nurse with 12 patients showing up, you have 4 beds. How would you decide who gets care? Why would we risk getting ourselves in a situation like this? Italian health care had to do this in the first surge.

It is true, COVID patients are taking attention away from other health care, but do we want to make the situation worse in a virus surge like we have now, with more COVID patients taking up even more hospital beds and occupying doctors? It is only when the numbers of those COVID patients are at more manageable levels, that normal levels of service improve. Chris Whitty said much the same thing.

As to the economic argument, public health=economic health. As an example, so many teachers are sick right now, that the gov’t is trying to get retired teachers to be supply teachers. Why is this?. Some of it is surely face to face teaching. Teachers don’t work at home, so one after another, they are ill because there aren’t enough precautions in the classrooms. And now, there may not be enough teachers to continue schooling at proper levels. So if we get rid of the WFH restrictions, how many more professions will end up like the teachers?

Having people continue to work when asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and spreading the virus around even more doesn’t sound like a great solution to me. It just spreads faster, causes more suffering, and threatens to overwhelm the NHS,. Isolating is a pain, no doubt, but as pandemics last on average 2-3 years, perhaps taking the long view is more prudent?

@Iggly

The economy is here to serve everyone not vice versa, despite what Rishi and his pockets may well think.

And a healthy economy is based on a healthy population.

So we should ensure that our health service is fit for purpose and not only fit for the fittest.

I thank my lucky stars uk not CEV, neither are my family and we haven’t been touched by covid. But I’d like to think that if we were, the nhs would be there for us.

Sadly a lot of attitudes in this government and on this thread suggest otherwise.

All very well to say lift lockdown but where are the plans to strengthen the nhs?

This won’t be the last pandemic we face, I’m sure. We are fucked if we do the same as we’ve done this time around, letting people die all in the name of the “economy”.

I'm not sure anyone has said that strengthening the NHS is undesirable.

But unfortunately, to do that the country needs people to be working and paying taxes.

@ohfourfoxache

I know what you mean but would this not be the same if she caught a heavy cold, the flu, norovirus, developed a chest infection?

I would wholeheartedly agree with spending the money on strengthening the NHS @Iggly.

The NHS is paid for by us, it’s not a charity, and it’s there too protect us, not the other way round.

It’s not a case of people being “not worth saving.” I’m well aware of risk.

I’m a realist. Health policy must be based on what’s best for the majority.

We can't bleat on about mental health being at stake while saying to one group - we're going to remove all measures keeping you safe because we are fed up and want to remove all measures but you know, your mental health doesn't matter either. Only that of others.