Get rid of all restrictions

[AnEpisodeOfEastenders]

I think it's time for all restrictions to be removed. There has been plenty of time for people to be vaccinated / boosted that want to, those that can't or don't should take their own precautions.

If we test positive then we shouldn't need to isolate, shouldn't need to declare it and should just treat it as a normal cough / cold / illness. If you feel up to going to work, out to the pub, seeing friends or family then do so. Everyone I know who have had it say they feel fine.

Life has been disrupted for far too long, the costs associated are astronomical and will be a crippling debt for generations to come.

@BambinaJAS

Publish what?

They don't care what the experts say. Isn't this painfully obvious at this point? We are all holding HUGE red neon signs warning them.

I can think of several top of their field experts (far more experienced than I am) who have been rebuffed via official and unofficial channels. These people are all highly competent, and they truly to care about avoiding a catastrophe.

The only thing Boris cares about right now is his own survival & ambition via maintaining his hold over his party.

Its terrible to watch it all unfold, because the coming deaths and economic problems in early 2022 could have been largely avoided with a reasonable plan (which did exist).

So not on SAGE or other?

Journals?

Not even a Twitter account to put own views. Let’s face it it’s been pretty easy for scientists to communicate

If it’s just I know but can only say it on mn then no, I doubt any weight

These people repeated shrug at the idea of vulnerable people dying. It does feel pretty heartless when you are in or love someone in that group.

@PastMyBestBeforeDate

These people repeated shrug at the idea of vulnerable people dying. It does feel pretty heartless when you are in or love someone in that group.

I don’t shrug, exactly, but what do you want the rest of the nation to do? We can’t (and shouldn’t) keep going with restrictions indefinitely, can we?

Did you see what happened on twitter?

Fraser Nelson (quite possibly one of the biggest dimwits I have ever seen) questioned a SAGE member on their stress and scenario modelling.

Pandemics cause problems because they are based on volume: too many infected people landing in hospitals will overrun them, causing even more excess deaths.

So of course you measure worst case scenarios: you need to make 100% sure that you have the healthcare resources to meet that increase in patients.

What does the guy do?

He wants SAGE to weaken their modelling based on incomplete data so that the numbers look more "realistic".

You honestly cannot make this up.

And ministers actually call this guy up (Fraser Nelson) to get advice from him.

This is what is happening right now in the UK.

Ministers are more interested in what is written in The Telegraph vs what the experts say.

Let that sink in.

Does that sound ok to you?

I agree 100% OP. Time for common sense to prevail

I agree that the UK is in a pretty deep populist mess currently and the behaviour of the government and some of the media wrt covid has been extremely concerning.

What we actually do about this situation as a country is not clear!

@AnEpisodeOfEastenders

I think it's time for all restrictions to be removed. There has been plenty of time for people to be vaccinated / boosted that want to, those that can't or don't should take their own precautions.

If we test positive then we shouldn't need to isolate, shouldn't need to declare it and should just treat it as a normal cough / cold / illness. If you feel up to going to work, out to the pub, seeing friends or family then do so. Everyone I know who have had it say they feel fine.

Life has been disrupted for far too long, the costs associated are astronomical and will be a crippling debt for generations to come.

All restrictions were removed on freedom day in the summer and Boris made very clear that removal was irreversible.

And right on cue someone mentions 'common sense'

@BambinaJAS

Did you see what happened on twitter?

Fraser Nelson (quite possibly one of the biggest dimwits I have ever seen) questioned a SAGE member on their stress and scenario modelling.

Pandemics cause problems because they are based on volume: too many infected people landing in hospitals will overrun them, causing even more excess deaths.

So of course you measure worst case scenarios: you need to make 100% sure that you have the healthcare resources to meet that increase in patients.

What does the guy do?

He wants SAGE to weaken their modelling based on incomplete data so that the numbers look more "realistic".

You honestly cannot make this up.

And ministers actually call this guy up (Fraser Nelson) to get advice from him.

This is what is happening right now in the UK.

Ministers are more interested in what is written in The Telegraph vs what the experts say.

Let that sink in.

Does that sound ok to you?

No it sounds a bit odd and focussed on ministers ‘calling this guy up’ tbh. It doesn’t sound data driven.

By all means build an argument using normal links and facts.

There’s a good thread on here based on data. Many posters who are good at interpretation and reason. You could try out your argument on there.

I agree Op!! I have followed every rule but o think it's time to get back to normal.

All restrictions were removed on freedom day in the summer and Boris made very clear that removal was irreversible

Johnson makes a lot of things 'very clear', I remember how clear he was that schools were going to be open in January 2021

@BambinaJAS

Did you see what happened on twitter?

Fraser Nelson (quite possibly one of the biggest dimwits I have ever seen) questioned a SAGE member on their stress and scenario modelling.

Pandemics cause problems because they are based on volume: too many infected people landing in hospitals will overrun them, causing even more excess deaths.

So of course you measure worst case scenarios: you need to make 100% sure that you have the healthcare resources to meet that increase in patients.

What does the guy do?

He wants SAGE to weaken their modelling based on incomplete data so that the numbers look more "realistic".

You honestly cannot make this up.

And ministers actually call this guy up (Fraser Nelson) to get advice from him.

This is what is happening right now in the UK.

Ministers are more interested in what is written in The Telegraph vs what the experts say.

Let that sink in.

Does that sound ok to you?

The Sage guy says they don't use real world data to make models but instead making the model they've been told to make. It's very clear when you read the tweets.

www.spectator.co.uk/article/my-twitter-conversation-with-the-chairman-of-the-sage-covid-modelling-committee

And I've two young children, I don't want them missing out on life any more than they already have. Not even to protect the elderly. Sorry!

Let's hope that it's not you or someone you care about who has to wait hours for an ambulance and dies as a result, OP. The system is already full to bursting and creaking very loudly at the seams. Who knows how many unnecessary deaths there have already been and Lord knows how many people will not get the treatment they need if nothing is done to slow down covid infections.

I hope you're right, OP. I hope we are at the end of this and there will be no further issues. But that seems a dangerous path to be treading with the minimum of data and days now of household mixing.

@MaybeHeIsMyCat, how did the treatment work out for your friend, if you don't mind me asking?

My point was that these treatments should be given way before people are so sick they need to be in hospital.

I don't think we're quite there yet, but I do think we're headed that way and that we'll be there part way through next year. I mean everything - compulsory isolation etc scrapped. I suspect we may be in for another booster or two for good measure too.

Would we have to rewrite the laws about all notifiable diseases?

Legal powers allow people with notifiable diseases to be isolated from those they might infect. The provisions relate to exclusion from work, from school, from using public transport and from 'places of assembly'

The current restrictions (in England) are quite tame.

The UK made a mistake in not giving permission for parents to vaccinate all children. This is going to come back to bite us over the next few months.

Could someone explain what this means please?

Completely agree OP. The costs of restrictions have been devastating and we can’t trample on our young people any further.

@rrhuth

I agree that the UK is in a pretty deep populist mess currently and the behaviour of the government and some of the media wrt covid has been extremely concerning.

What we actually do about this situation as a country is not clear!

It's too late to do anything about it right now.

Thats the unfortunate reality. Boris has chosen his political survival over the fate of tens of thousands of people.

On the other side of the winter wave (Feb/March 2022) there is only a slim possibility given his majority in HoC. It is possible we could have a challenge in the Tory party but thats tough to prognosticate.

I expect people will very likely change their tune once the bodycount starts increasing over the next few months.

I will bump this thread in about 1 month as we will know the direction of travel then (in terms of severity).

@Chloemol

Ooo another one who wants everything to collapse!

It’s a finely balanced act at the moment, imagine what happens if we remove all restrictions, and anyone who has covid goes to work

At the moment out of 100 employees 5 are off , they come to work, then that’s 50 who get it, and share then to 10 more each via family, and they share it

Not everyone will be well enough to go to work, the great majority will be ill and off work, some will be hospitalised, some will get long covid

Let’s hope the next variant is even less illness causing than omicron and less transmissible, and it reduces in both ways each time

But in the meantime some restrictions are necessary to allow everyone to work and the economy start to recover. We do as you suggest now and there will be issues with businesses not able to work

It doesn't have a R rate of 10 though.

In terms of op yes I’m looking forward to next stage wrt dropping more but I’d give it to March or so.

[quote doublemonkey]@WiseUpJanetWeiss Who's administering the monoclonal antibodies?[/quote]
Treatment centres co-ordinated by the hospitals.

@Blubells

The UK made a mistake in not giving permission for parents to vaccinate all children. This is going to come back to bite us over the next few months.

Could someone explain what this means please?

Children act as reservoirs of the virus. They get infected at high rates and pass it on because most are not vaccinated.

Before Omicron, if parents were fully vaccinated this was a minor problem. They would likely test positive (breakthrough infection) and have a mild illness.

With Omicron, the parents are much more exposed (5.4x chance of reinfection vs Delta variant), so transmission from children to parents (and grandparents) is very likely to increase.

By vaccinating children, you cut down on infections in their cohort. This then works to dampen not only child to child transmission, but also child to parent/grandparent transmission.

southeast Well personally I would like to be able to keep my unvaccinated primary school child home from school when cases are high until they are vaccinated without fear of fines or losing their place. That for example would be helpful. And if some light restrictions mean I might stand a fighting chance of an ICU bed rather than losing out in a rationing situation, that would be good.