CEV people, how are you feeling about today's announcement?

[SmashingBIouse]

No masks/self isolation to end in the near future etc

I fully understand that restrictions can't go on forever but I admit I'm a bit nervous. I'm considering pausing my immunosuppressant drugs for a while, until case numbers decrease (they're still over 2k per 100k here). There's a teacher in my household whose school currently has six teachers and countless students off with covid but no masks from tomorrow! Plus DH will have to go back to the office on crowded public transport.

I'll phone my consultant tomorrow, see what she says. I was advised to pause when Omicron cases were going through the roof here. I'm worried about what the lack of meds is doing to my body though (I have an autoimmune condition).

How's everyone else feeling?

Really bad for CEV, and that includes my mum. I don’t think they care. If you read other threads people are delighted measures are pretty removed. Makes me upset society doesn’t care about the vulnerable

How will this help the situation in hospitals? I'd be quite shocked if by march it's deemed acceptable for medical staff to work with active covid. If we do, we either accept that non urgent healthcare will be permanently compromised due to endless staff sickness (for many it's more that just a 'cold'), or we accept that patients will catch covid in hospital which can complicate pre existing conditions, prolong recovery and subsequently back-up beds. Neither seems like a good option for protecting health care provision.

I'm CEV. Didn't shield. Worked throughout Ditched masks ASAP, and took no extra precautions. When I did get Covid, it was no worse than a cold. So very glad I didn't shield.

The cost to my mental health would have been far worse Covid.

@containsnuts

How will this help the situation in hospitals? I'd be quite shocked if by march it's deemed acceptable for medical staff to work with active covid. If we do, we either accept that non urgent healthcare will be permanently compromised due to endless staff sickness (for many it's more that just a 'cold'), or we accept that patients will catch covid in hospital which can complicate pre existing conditions, prolong recovery and subsequently back-up beds. Neither seems like a good option for protecting health care provision.

Patients already catch covid in hospital - I think I read that something like 42% of all cases were caught in hospitals. Just isolating sick staff isn't good enough, more needs to be done in terms of infection control or as you say, we have to accept that catching covid in hospital will be one of those things.

@Toddlerteaplease ...somehow I find that just a tiny bit hard to believe. You wouldn't happen to have any Opinions about Covid, would you?

The USA is supplying N95 masks to the population at large for their protection

One mask. We are getting one mask each. The government is providing 400 million. There are over 330 million people in this country. So we will each get one and a bit mask. I’m sending mine back.

@curlymom

Really bad for CEV, and that includes my mum. I don’t think they care. If you read other threads people are delighted measures are pretty removed. Makes me upset society doesn’t care about the vulnerable

It's pretty distressing that people are trying to push this narrative even in the thread for CEV people (and loved ones). Understandably, some here are feeling upset, but the iT's jUsT a CoLd people won't leave us alone.

@BritWifeInUSA Why on earth would you send it back? Save it till you're in a high risk situation. Give it to someone more vulnerable than you, if you don't feel at risk.

[quote Innocenta]@BritWifeInUSA Why on earth would you send it back? Save it till you're in a high risk situation. Give it to someone more vulnerable than you, if you don't feel at risk. [/quote]
That’s why I’m sending it back. So thrh can give it to someone who thinks they need it. I really can’t think of a “high risk” situation that I would find myself in. And I don’t want the mask. So I’m sending it back so they can re-distribute it. Surely it’s better than binning it?

Last time the masks guidance was dropped, I barely saw anyone wearing one. Tbh, I've seen a fair few not bothering this time around - even with the directive in place.

People in this country are so caught up with their civil rights being infringed on by a bloody mask. Other countries have worn them for years, without any instructions from the government. It's pathetic and demoralising in equal measures to see how little people give a shit about others. There are very few people who really couldn't wear a mask, there are absolutely some, but the majority of people just don't want to - despite the fact it could infect others.

I can and will continue to wear my mask but as we know, for ME to be protected other people need to wear theirs. Which they won't do. So I'll be mainly protecting them from me, while still being exposed myself.

There were over 100k cases today - it's still a very, very high number daily. Hospitals are "coping" but hospital staff are exhausted and massively overstretched with trying to manage. ITU beds are full of non-vaccinated COVID patients. We're still in winter. Basic NHS care has been stripped back. But yeah, let's stop people wearing masks and force them back into the workplace. Excellent plan.

And bearing in mind we still don't know yet about the long term effects of this virus - which seems to cause lasting damage in some even when the symptoms are mild - the idea that you don't need to self-isolate when infected with COVID is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

Of course we need to edge back to normality - but that means thinking about everyone and not just the right wing healthy people who can't wait to fling their mask into a bush. What's the rush? Case numbers are still very high - couldn't possibly be to try and curry favour for a prime minister who's seriously at risk of losing his job? As if..............cough.....

CEV here and after the announcement yesterday, we have so far been told:

• full section meeting onsite (over 200 of us), will be planned to take place very soon.

• Team managers (I am) to plan f2f meetings with their teams ASAP.

• client consultancy will return to being site based.

• More management meetings will be f2f.

• flexible working is being reviewed this week, with a view to remove it.

Personally, I don't care, as I've not really worried about shielding or been worried about covid.

I can see the Exec team having a bumpy ride over this one, but the line from them will be, if you don't like it, leave.

@SpidersAreShitheads

I can and will continue to wear my mask but as we know, for ME to be protected other people need to wear theirs. Which they won't do. So I'll be mainly protecting them from me, while still being exposed myself.

I know that was the narrative pushed from when masks were first made mandatory, but that was based on simple face-coverings which only provide limited protection. The quality of mask you wear appears to have much more bearing on your protection than whether others are wearing face coverings as illlustrated in the link.

www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/a38697308/best-face-masks-omicron-covid-variant/

The figures are based on earlier variants so the times are likely too long, but the protection times relative to different mask combinations should remain.

@treeflowercat Are you CEV then? given that you are posting quite a lot on a thread about how CEV people feel?

Or are you just giving us vulnerable people the benefit of your opinion?

[quote herecomesthsun]@treeflowercat Are you CEV then? given that you are posting quite a lot on a thread about how CEV people feel?

Or are you just giving us vulnerable people the benefit of your opinion?[/quote]
No... fair enough. I'll not post any more on here.

[quote Mickarooni]@Bailey48

You’ve come on a thread where CEV people are taking about their anxieties. A few have popped up on to say “oh but what about mental health” as if we don’t know. We do. It’s crap. [/quote]
Apologies I totally misread ....... for all the anxious CEV big

Life needs to restart we cannot carry on with restrictions that are damaging businesses and the economy. Those who feel they cannot face this will have to make their own decisions about how many restrictions they decide to retain fir themselves.

@linelgreen

Life needs to restart we cannot carry on with restrictions that are damaging businesses and the economy. Those who feel they cannot face this will have to make their own decisions about how many restrictions they decide to retain fir themselves.

🥱

@linelgreen

Life needs to restart we cannot carry on with restrictions that are damaging businesses and the economy. Those who feel they cannot face this will have to make their own decisions about how many restrictions they decide to retain fir themselves.

How can we though? There is no CEV support, will be no masks and no self isolation So basically the world will be full of people with covid and CEV will be expected to live in it with no mitigation for being vulnerable

@Egghead68

At this point in the omicron wave, the best way of achieving that is to let things run their course naturally whilst those who are vulnerable and protect themselves as best they can whilst that happens

And how are we supposed protect ourselves when we have no choice but to go to work and use public transport among the non-mask wearing general public? If this strategy is being adopted CEV people should have the right to work at home (or to get furlough type payments if their job can’t be fine from home) until the prevalence has fallen significantly. But we don’t.

I agree with you Egghead68. It's disgraceful that the government are not putting any support in place for CEV people until numbers drop as this is forcing them into a dangerous situation. Stopping isolation for anyone Covid positive also seems ridiculous. I'm sorry for anybody affected by this.

@linelgreen

Life needs to restart we cannot carry on with restrictions that are damaging businesses and the economy. Those who feel they cannot face this will have to make their own decisions about how many restrictions they decide to retain fir themselves.

I think we all agree life has to carry on but simple measures like masks protect those who are vulnerable, keep outbreak/case numbers to a minimum and allow us to take care of each other.

Wearing a mask won't stop people shopping - all of the shops around me have been busy even with a mask mandate in place. Other countries wore masks before COVID - it really isn't a big deal.

The problem with this is that it's all very "I'm alright jack". There are plenty of jobs which can be done from home, but removing the work from home directive prematurely allows vulnerable people to be forced back to work before its safe. Bosses who have no genuine reason to want people in their workplace other than it's their preference will ignore legitimate concerns re safety and insist on people returning.

Surely we could keep masks in place, and amend legislation to say that it's fine to travel into work but that employers shouldn't be able to insist on it while case numbers are high unless there's a demonstrable reason why the person HAS to be physically present?

I don't understand this binary approach. People seem to think you must either just "get on with life" and "accept the risk" because "we can't hide" forever - or just stay at home and never venture out of your door. A couple of very small measures like the ones I've outlined here would allow "life to continue" while still offering protection to those that need it.

But no one gives a shit about anyone else.

Covid has shown me how selfish people are now in the world. They may do the faux empathy and caring for CEV people but as soon as it impacts on them (although I really cannot understand how wearing a mask is a massive imposition) they give zero shits about CEV people.

Basically they feel CEV people should just stay at home, have no life whatsoever, not have a job (but then would they moan about the costs of benefits?!?!?!), and let them just be able to do whatever they want.

I hate the post covid/post brexit world. We are more divided than ever, more selfish than ever and its not a nice world to live in.

I agree with Electrablue that the only reason this is being done now is to distract the public and Bojo's backbench critics from all his wrong-doing. It's noteable that Chris Whitty has not (been allowed) had anything to say on this.

@Innocenta, what do you find hard to believe? I work on a clean ward, had a risk assessment and was happy to still work. I had covid pre vaccination but am now fully jabbed.
No I don't have any opinions about covid. I was a close contact a couple weeks ago and didn't get it.

One thing I'm not clear on is how immunosuppression will affect reinfection. And we don't know what repeated infection will do. Most people with a functioning immune system will build up some immunity even between variants so it should get easier for their body to respond. But depending on whether it's all of some of your immune system being suppressed, that's unlikely to happen.
It's a bit of a live experiment for us.