Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[MikeH72]

they should be, if not scared then cautious - this is going to be with us for years

No they shouldn’t be. Scared and cautious aren’t the same thing. The media are not promoting caution, they are promoting fear.

 

[tsubaki]

Vaccines and their effectiveness also exist.

I've benefited a lot from the ability to WFH but I am aware of the 'I'm alright Jack' attitude because I am seeing it a lot on here and other social media. People don't care about the suffering of other people, in this case the working class who predominantly work in hospitality and have been the most severely impacted, as long they can continue to get out of bed 5 minutes before they're due to start work, so they'll regurgitate any sort of news they can to maintain this. It's not surprising but it is sad.

This is completely backwards though - you are right to point out how vulnerable many people are economically (indeed some of us were pointing that out years before this pandemic), but the answer to that problem is to ensure we as a society take this seriously.

Going down the “carry on” route as you and others appear to be suggesting will only ever result in lockdowns, because the government has no other option when it loses control. I’d have hoped this happening twice already would have demonstrated this to people, but it seems not.

Yes, vaccines are helping but as has been repeatedly said their efficacy is not going to last forever, nor is it currently the case that enough of the country has the full protection anyway.

What we need as a society is to demand that we (and especially the government) adopt a much more aggressive attitude to this, with outbreaks identified and stamped on much quicker than they are currently. That is what is going to prevent lockdowns in the future.

 

[ToffeeTim]

Wrong decision for me. There has to come a point where we go back to normal. If during the summer with three quarters of adults vaccinated isn't the time, then I don't know when is.

If we don't give back freedoms to people who have been vaccinated then some will lose faith in the vaccination process, and that could become a problem.

 

[Deckard2049]

We need to get a poll going on whether people think:

a) in four weeks, it really will be “freedom day
b) that’s it for restrictions

 

[bluelife]

Wrong decision for me. There has to come a point where we go back to normal. If during the summer with three quarters of adults vaccinated isn't the time, then I don't know when is.

If we don't give back freedoms to people who have been vaccinated then some will lose faith in the vaccination process, and that could become a problem.

But we know two doses is vital to keeping hospitalisations low, and not enough people have that at the moment. In four weeks they will.

 

[coollino]

Wrong decision for me. There has to come a point where we go back to normal. If during the summer with three quarters of adults vaccinated isn't the time, then I don't know when is.

If we don't give back freedoms to people who have been vaccinated then some will lose faith in the vaccination process, and that could become a problem.

Festivals with 10,000 people in a field, all sharing a toilet, mainly young with one dose was never going to happen.

The government should have never given this date in the first place.

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

Wrong decision for me. There has to come a point where we go back to normal. If during the summer with three quarters of adults vaccinated isn't the time, then I don't know when is.

If we don't give back freedoms to people who have been vaccinated then some will lose faith in the vaccination process, and that could become a problem.

Young people (under25) won’t have much in the way of symptoms generally so letting them wonder in to clubs unhindered is ridiculous because if one has COVID they will all leave with it. As they can then pass it on to older family and friends and remember that the vaccine protects 90%, not 100. And people can catch COVID multiple times, so having had it does not necessarily give immunity.

They should drop all restrictions only when everyone who can be vaccinated is vaccinated including younger children where deemed safe and get that job done ASAP.

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

I blame the people who decided to allow flights to continue from India for weeks whilst they had extremely high case numbers. Works well the red list..

It was a political decision based on Boris wanting to get in with India for a trade deal before the EU did. He was desperate not to cancel his visit or any restrictions generally.

It's the only explanation unless someone has another. Thus far one has never been presented.

So Boris is getting Brexit done remember, it's the entire mantra of him winning the election!

 

[ToffeeTim]

Young people (under25) won’t have much in the way of symptoms generally so letting them wonder in to clubs unhindered is ridiculous because if one has COVID they will all leave with it. As they can then pass it on to older family and friends and remember that the vaccine protects 90%, not 100. And people can catch COVID multiple times, so having had it does not necessarily give immunity.

They should drop all restrictions only when everyone who can be vaccinated is vaccinated including younger children where deemed safe and get that job done ASAP.

90% vaccine effectiveness is a very good thing, in fact it could actually be higher. But 100% effectiveness is impossible. We will never have zero risk of covid at any point in the future so there has to be a point where we accept the risk, mitigate it best we can, and allow people to make their own choices.

We should have moved on to personal responsibility at this stage. No one will be forced, and certainly should not be forced into doing things they don't feel comfortable with. But most people want a return to normality and should be allowed to make decisions on what they feel comfortable with. At the very least, there should be a distinction made between outdoor and indoor when all the evidence suggests they are quite different in terms of risk.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

I think cases will be higher in 4 weeks than today.

I think cases will be higher in autumn than today.

 

[Brennan]

Wrong decision for me. There has to come a point where we go back to normal. If during the summer with three quarters of adults vaccinated isn't the time, then I don't know when is.

If we don't give back freedoms to people who have been vaccinated then some will lose faith in the vaccination process, and that could become a problem.

As others have said, vaccinated with one dose is not particularly helpful against the current dominant variant.

Apparently we would be able to second dose another 10 million people in the four weeks from June 21st. That is massive in terms of keeping the spread down and hospitalisations low.

I would much rather a four week delay that helps to lower the growth curve sufficiently to avoid lockdowns in the autumn, rather than get back to normal on the 21st and see us back in heavy restrictions in a few months. Those extra second doses really could make all the difference.

Hospitality will certainly struggle with another 4 week delay, but an autumn lockdown would kill many of those businesses off completely.

 

[ToffeeTim]

But we know two doses is vital to keeping hospitalisations low, and not enough people have that at the moment. In four weeks they will.

The goalposts seemed to have moved to me. In the winter it was that hospitalisations were too high and we needed to help our hospitals and medical staff. Almost everyone supported the lockdown because it was clear what we were trying to avoid and it was necessary.

But now it's about variants and cases, despite 3 quarters of adults being vaccinated and we are entering the summer. Will much have changed in 4 weeks? I have no idea. But we are never going to convince everyone to get a jab.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

As others have said, vaccinated with one dose is not particularly helpful against the current dominant variant.

Apparently we would be able to second dose another 10 million people in the four weeks from June 21st. That is massive in terms of keeping the spread down and hospitalisations low.

I would much rather a four week delay that helps to lower the growth curve sufficiently to avoid lockdowns in the autumn, rather than get back to normal on the 21st and see us back in heavy restrictions in a few months. Those extra second doses really could make all the difference.

Hospitality will certainly struggle with another 4 week delay, but an autumn lockdown would kill many of those businesses off completely.

If daily cases and deaths are the same or higher in four weeks than today - what then?

 

[grandjoeblue]

I think cases will be higher in 4 weeks than today.

I think cases will be higher in autumn than today.

Completely agree. By September SAGE etc will be screaming for a lockdown.

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

90% vaccine effectiveness is a very good thing, in fact it could actually be higher. But 100% effectiveness is impossible. We will never have zero risk of covid at any point in the future so there has to be a point where we accept the risk, mitigate it best we can, and allow people to make their own choices.

We should have moved on to personal responsibility at this stage. No one will be forced, and certainly should not be forced into doing things they don't feel comfortable with. But most people want a return to normality and should be allowed to make decisions on what they feel comfortable with. At the very least, there should be a distinction made between outdoor and indoor when all the evidence suggests they are quite different in terms of risk.

Its going to take longer than 4 weeks maybe at least 10, especially as the next thing will be everyone will need 2nd doses, with in a couple weeks, by which time the Summer will be practically over.

They can keep venues and nightclubs closed for all I care, but the government really is going to have to start compensating more and improving insurance for large scale events and the artists, crew, DJs etc who have had next to no support this past 16 months.

Yep its consequence of listening to politicians (conservative) who tell people things they want to hear. 16 months in and it's still March 2020.