Current guidelines are irresponsible

[Rookiemistake]

I am on my second bout of Covid in 8 months despite being fully vaccinated. I have been ill both times, pretty incapacitated for two days and a bit more functional for the last three. Regardless, it has been disruptive and I am healthy with no underlying conditions. My teen ds has also had it for the first time. He was similar to me and about to start mocks for his A Levels.

Talking to someone the other day and they said it'll be like flu and we'll learn to live with it. It's not like flu. I'm 43 and I've had flu twice in my whole life yet I've already had this twice in less than a year.

I have stayed at home and will do until I either test negative or reach 10 days and am not symptomatic. However, I could if I choose, just go around as normal. My ds was allowed back into school after three days if he felt well. He didn't go but he could have as he was feeling much better by day 4. He would have still been spreading it and there are kids at school and on his bus in the middle of their GCSE's. I just think we are being entirely irresponsible. This is not a cold.

I'm not advocating a full lockdown but I think there needs to be more stringent controls if people are knowingly positive.

What do others think?

You choosing to be self employed or work for an employer who does not offer sick pay was your choice. You obviously chose not to mitigate that risk in anyway.

Your poor choices shouldn't be permitted to negatively impact others.

ApplesandBunions Err what's my unworkable proposal? I have proposed nothing other than more stringent controls than we have now. I fail to see why wearing a mask is difficult. I also think if you are symptomatic you should test. If your job has the capacity to allow you to work from home then you should. Basic common sense measures. I'm not advocating for a full lockdown but I think it is irresponsible that we can come and go as we please when we knowingly have Covid.

People seem to overlook that we had lockdown before the introduction of vaccines. We have no idea if this would have been a minor virus for many because we didn't emerge from it until the vaccine was in use. We have no idea what impact repeated Covid infection has on our body. Until we have a better idea then I think we need to be cautious.

Take some advice. Don't be so loud and so stupid.

The more stringent controls you propose are unworkable. It's telling that you haven't been able to come up with an explanation for how they'd work either, simply assumed.

Lots of the population don't want to test and can't be made to. With all this in mind, isolation policy is pissing in the wind. By all means write into into law that covid positive people who can wfh should be allowed to, but again this is tinkering really. It won't stop people avoiding testing for fear of the consequences.

I don't think you've confirmed yet whether you want to bring back free universal testing either have you, and how to fund if so? Apologies if you have and I've missed it. Because that's a really fundamental point here, and much more important than anyone's personal take on responsibility.

But in summary, you thinking we need caution doesn't mean your ideas are workable. You've missed out the bit in the middle.

Take some advice. Don't be so loud and so stupid.

Seconded. I'm cringing for her. What a thoroughly dumbarse post. 🤦‍♀️

*You choosing to be self employed or work for an employer who does not offer sick pay was your choice. You obviously chose not to mitigate that risk in anyway.

Your poor choices shouldn't be permitted to negatively impact others.*

Lol. Some people are really grasping at straws to continue the whole ‘You’re SELFISH SELFISH people’

(I’m hoping that post is just a joke it cannot be serious)

The problem is that so many assume their 'basic, common sense measures' make a difference. But there is zero evidence to back up the effectiveness of masks in the face of omincron. Posters have asked for that evidence time and time again. But there is nothing.

I’m hoping that post is just a joke it cannot be serious

I hope you're right

When will you understand that mask don't work? Wear a mask if you want to. Nobody is stopping you. Just don't try to force your beliefs on everyone else. If you think they work, you will be safe if you are wearing one. Doesn't matter about everyone else.

Oh, lockdowns don't work either. Unless you are prepared to do without food, water, gas and electric, police, firemen, binmen, postmen, doctors, public transport, schools etc. They might have worked in medieval times when each settlement was self sufficient but in a modern society? No chance.

IanOsenfrote Lockdowns stopped the spread of infection as intended. The consequences of that my have been high but you can't say they didn't work. We came out of the lockdown process once the vaccines had been rolled out.

What lockdowns? The supermarkets were open, people mixing. The places supplying the supermarkets were still open. The postal system continued working, Amazon deliveries went mental, petrol stations were still open, the refineries must have been open, the power stations were still operating and the companies that supply and maintain them. Emergency services were still operating. I, myself, went to the hospital every day for work, along with all the other staff members. Those tik tok videos didn't just make themselves, you know.

The only shops closed were inconsequential for everday life (not for owners of said shops, of course). Stuff like nailbars, tattoo parlours, vape shops etc.

The lockdowns didn't work.

This all reminds me of the song there is a hole in my bucket the futility of going round and round in circles without getting anywhere.

The lockdowns slowed the spread but had a huge detrimental effect on people's MH.

Single people were effectively put into isolation for about 2 months before Bubbles were considered.

Children were banned from seeing friends. Children are hopeless at communicating over phones if they have nothing to talk about.

Adults and children in abusive relationships had no escape.

Parents were burning the candle at both ends and in the middle. Working, homeschooling, childminding all at the same time.

I think the people who were classed as Keyworkers who got out saw othrr people probably had an easier time than many who weren't

Tbf @Rookiemistake just as much as I fully agree that there are things we need to do to try and stop the spread, I don’t think your proposal is manageable.

We are at a low infection wise atm. But still 1% of the population currently has covid. Apart from the fact som people are asymptomatic, some people test negative even though they have covid etc etc, that’s a hell of a lot of people who would to self isolate.

Mass testing and isolation has worked in China BECAUSE the infection rates were VERY LOW when they were implemented. When they waited a bit longer like Shanghai, it took months for things to settle (and they were DRASTIC in their approach). That wouldn’t work here.

Wearing a mask is difficult for many people and I pray to God we never return to the truly dreadful days of shaming, abusing and in some cases physically attacking those who were unable to.

Now tests are not free for the vast majority of people, those with symptoms often cannot afford to test. If you have hay fever you have symptoms every day for several months of the year - at £2 a test it soon stacks up.

Many companies are insisting staff come into work even if they are positive - a few weeks ago the man serving in a shop I was in was telling the lady in front of me in the queue that he had covid, he felt pretty rotten but his boss said he had to come in, just wear a mask. DD is a teacher and they're expected to be back in after five days, positive or not.

It's not about being irresponsible, as you put it. It's about not having the luxury of staying home, or even working from home. Bills need to be paid, just as they did pre-covid if you had a cold or mild flu, for example.

During the first lockdown there were around 150k cases a day. No vaccines were available then, and we know absolutely that the vast majority of those 150k cases a day did not result in death or serious illness. I'm not sure where you get the idea that lockdowns meant we had low infection numbers? In fact the lowest numbers we had were summer 2020, when there were no vaccines and no lockdowns.

I'm not dismissing the dangers of covid, nor am I suggesting that the initial restrictions weren't necessary - I think they were, particularly as we didn't know what we were dealing with. But not any more. Particularly not now even those of us who are CEV have had four or five vaccinations (and often multiple infections to boost immunity, too).

It may take decades until we know the full impact of covid on our bodies. Are you suggesting we live with restrictions for all that time? How is that workable? How is that living?

It's not a cost free measure to continue in the current vein though.

They brought the numbers down after many weeks. But the numbers didn't stay down, otherwise we wouldn't have needed three lockdowns, would we.

Also we were still in lockdown for a good few months after the vaccines were rolled out in January 2021.

I agree

Yep. There's too often a failure to understand that basic common sense and similar phrases are subjective, not objective.

Personally I'd have thought it was basic common sense that do I like this idea and is it even remotely workable are two very different questions. But it's evidently not.

Surely more emphasis on , go home if you feel unwell?
Also ventilation.
What is our national problem with opening windows?

Exactly this. We have had more than 2 years of "restrictions" and the jury is still out whether they have made any difference.

I agree

IanOsenfrote The Lockdowns didn't work or they didn't exist? Which one is it?

ApplesandBunions I do think testing should be free if you are symptomatic.

It isn't about stopping the spread but by lessening it where possible and reducing impact. Support business to enable workers to receive sick pay for 5 days thereby preventing them spreading to colleagues.
Set up a separate exam hall for any students who are Covid positive to reduce the potential impact on other students.

If lockdown's worked why did we need 3 of them? Surely if they worked then 1 would have been enough.

Both. I hate the word but a lockdown means that people are not allowed to move around at all.

The thing that we called lockdown didn't work and a true lockdown didn't exist either.