A 2-week 'circuit breaker' could be coming after Christmas

[dancingstars]

Reported by The Times and The Guardian which means another NYE stuck indoors...

Link?

Circuit breakers are useless anyway.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/indoor-meetings-could-banned-again-25730528

I’m not surprised, not sure what else is going to stop cases getting to 200,000 a day.

The worry is a lot of people are so (rightly) pissed off at this government they won’t comply. I will be, because I’m concerned for health reasons, but by lord january is going to be fully depressing

A circuit breaker is fine, I think most people would be ok with that but the issue would be if it lasted longer than the 2 weeks which it probably would.

Sources played down the chance of announcements in the coming days, with key scientific advisers waiting for firmer data on the risks of Omicron.

Johnson also wants to assess the impact of measures imposed over the past week and is understood to believe that with towns and cities emptying as people become more cautious, there may be no need to tighten rules further.

• the Times

A circuit breakers just kicks it down the road, what's the point? Surely low level restrictions over a longer period are more effective than harsh ones for a short time.

The worry is a lot of people are so (rightly) pissed off at this government they won’t comply.

Keir Starmer said a couple of days ago that Labour would be following the same COVID strategy as the Tories, so the non-compliance is meaningless.

@jassixa

Sources played down the chance of announcements in the coming days, with key scientific advisers waiting for firmer data on the risks of Omicron.

Johnson also wants to assess the impact of measures imposed over the past week and is understood to believe that with towns and cities emptying as people become more cautious, there may be no need to tighten rules further.

• the Times

If they don't announce it in the "coming days" when will they announce it? March?

Leaked SAGE minutes. This leak to The Times. Already a Cobra meeting scheduled tomorrow. We know where this is going.

@Ceramide in that case I think they need very public cross party agreement for any new measures.

I just can’t believe we are back here again.

Cheese and wine after work meetings ok tho? Asking for a friend…

A January circuit breaker isn't fucking fine. We're supposed to be going away with friends for new year, a trip rescheduled from last year. There's 4 of us ffs. If it gets cancelled again I'll lose my shit. What I can't share a house with 1 other household, all of us fully vaccinated for 3 sodding days cos Johnson yet again decides new year celebrations can go fuck themselves. Then everyone back to work as normal? Piss off. Sorry but this has really pissed me off.

[quote Youngatheart00]@Ceramide in that case I think they need very public cross party agreement for any new measures.

I just can’t believe we are back here again.[/quote]
I can. The public were misled to believe everything was fine as we had 40k+ cases per day in the autumn to ‘avoid the winter surge’ and that we had to learn to live with it.

Only the surge is a new variant that isn’t phased by previous infection of vaccine immunity and is a whole other level of contagious. Living with it actually means social distancing and wearing face masks for a large chunk of the year as these waves inevitably come along.

Throw in the perfect storm of cold weather and Christmas mixing et voila you have this shit show we’re now living in!

Totally believable.

I am puzzled.

Either: omicron will slow down its rate of growth over the next 2 weeks with just the measures we’ve got now, without needing anything further.

Or: the measures we have now won’t slow it. So it’ll keep on doubling every 2 days. At which point, by the time we get to the 27th/28th when this is due to start, it will have infected most of the population and numbers will be dropping anyway.

Exactly. By January if what they are saying is true about the numbers, most people will have had it or have it currently.

They always say "circuit breaker " then the lockdown happens for months on end there will be low compliance from the public and low financial support as we can't afford another one .

@GoldenOmber

I am puzzled.

Either: omicron will slow down its rate of growth over the next 2 weeks with just the measures we’ve got now, without needing anything further.

Or: the measures we have now won’t slow it. So it’ll keep on doubling every 2 days. At which point, by the time we get to the 27th/28th when this is due to start, it will have infected most of the population and numbers will be dropping anyway.

Or the measures taken and public cautious behaviour place us somewhere in the middle. I think the 200,000 omicron cases mentioned st the start of the week was a stretch. Real cases are usually 2-3 times more than reported cases. So it was probably about 100,00 to 150,00 all cases (delta and omicron). Double from there and it may become more like every 3-4 days as many stay home. Hopefully. It won’t rip through the country with some being cautious but it’s still spreading quicker than the original virus before lockdown one.

I don’t know what the answer is! My brain is just very logical it’s a coping mechanism

So not the Guardian or the Times.

Nice one, OP.

@echt

So not the Guardian or the Times.

Nice one, OP.

The Times is reporting this and everyone else is following them. A quick Google would tell you that.

@Silverswirl

Exactly. By January if what they are saying is true about the numbers, most people will have had it or have it currently.

Except then you'll have tons of people in hospital, hospitals in trouble because staff off sick, and still a background caseload of COVID and winter pressures.

It's not likely that this is "the last COVID" and once everyone's had this one, job done. In fact high prevalence breeds yet further variants, so far from it.

[quote Youngatheart00]@Ceramide in that case I think they need very public cross party agreement for any new measures.

I just can’t believe we are back here again.[/quote]
it's almost like the vaccines are not enough isnt it?
i am due for booster this weekend but feel depressed about the outlook.

@GoldenOmber

I am puzzled.

Either: omicron will slow down its rate of growth over the next 2 weeks with just the measures we’ve got now, without needing anything further.

Or: the measures we have now won’t slow it. So it’ll keep on doubling every 2 days. At which point, by the time we get to the 27th/28th when this is due to start, it will have infected most of the population and numbers will be dropping anyway.

I'm not sure 5 doublings gets us to 68 million.

@Shadeelane

A January circuit breaker isn't fucking fine. We're supposed to be going away with friends for new year, a trip rescheduled from last year. There's 4 of us ffs. If it gets cancelled again I'll lose my shit. What I can't share a house with 1 other household, all of us fully vaccinated for 3 sodding days cos Johnson yet again decides new year celebrations can go fuck themselves. Then everyone back to work as normal? Piss off. Sorry but this has really pissed me off.

I gave up seeing my son who lives in Germany for Christmas as we were to drive through France. I have only seen him once after 2 years of COVID restrictions. I also have friends and family who are Drs and nurses. One who works in a COVID ward. They are who I think about when I decided to cancel my Christmas . Not your selfish thoughts of your New Years Eve being cancelled. It is our hospitals and their staff that will suffer from overcrowding with this new variant. Quit being selfish.

The Netherlands are considering going into what I think is their first ever lockdown.

I think it's fine to be a little selfish and pissed off when you have to cancel things. It's human nature.
You can be concerned about others and also think of yourself.