Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[grandjoeblue]

Just the start. Full lockdown by January.

Horrendous.

 

[BlueToff]

They should have never taken it away really. I just can't see someone who hasn't wore a mask for the last 4 months or whatever now wearing one

but the grey area if they hadn't taken them away - and this is @Tubey 's point, I think (which I half agree with, half don't) is that how would they have been applied across the board?

You can't have gigs - like, not counting going the theatre - and mass events etc with masks, it defeats the entire purpose. So how could you have opened those up with a mask mandate? Would you have said, as they are doing now it seems, it's fine in those places not to wear them, but in shops and on transport etc you have to?

And I see the logic behind that btw, but it does lead to a grey area where you'd probably just get those who are adamantly against wearing masks would have used that as an example anyway for the last four months.

 

[LinekersLegs]

Am I missing something? Are you talking about Omicron? If so, as I understand it, the scientists don’t know the above and won’t know for two or three weeks minimum

Initial signs from South Africa are encouraging but agree way too early to know for sure on either symptoms or vaccine effectiveness.

 

[BlueToff]

Just the start. Full lockdown by January.

Horrendous.

I'm not sure where you're getting that from mate. I doubt we'll ever see a full lockdown again in this country because, as shown across Europe, people aren't standing for it.

 

[ToffeeTim]

We definitely can't react to every possible new variant forever, or we'll be doing this for the rest of our lives. I don't understand how there are still some out there who believe we can completely eradicate this or it will disappear. It's gonna be here for the long term, probably the rest of our lives. It's something we need to be realistic about and accept. Life has to go back to normal and people are not selfish for feeling this way.

 

[grandjoeblue]

I'm not sure where you're getting that from mate. I doubt we'll ever see a full lockdown again in this country because, as shown across Europe, people aren't standing for it.

The fact they're already putting restrictions in place is the warning sign for me. Depressing.

 

[Tubey]

Here’s a reason for you to wear a mask in a shop.

A lot of small independent shops are generally run by one person or a couple of people.

If they catch Covid from customers who refuse to wear a mask then that means they have to self isolate for 10 days, during which time they have no source of income and they don’t get sick pay. The shop is usually their primary source of income and selfish [Poor language removed] who refuse to wear a mask for whatever reason need a good kicking.

It’s about thinking of other people and their circumstances, it’s about opening your tiny mind and looking at the bigger picture.

Ah I see. But it's fine for the owners of a small café to have customers unmasked because they're hospitality. If they catch it and have to self-isolate etc., oh well, nevermind.

No, again it's a fundamental contradiction. The reality is that small shop should be paid to stay shut if the situation is dire enough for health emergency restrictions, or they should be allowed to get on with business if it isn't.

 

[woomy]

To be honest. The more I think about the announcement, the more I think this was always happening. Comments about if the public still have an appetite for restrictions. Then suddenly here we are, sudden new variant and restrictions. We will soon see if the public still have an appetite for the restrictions.
Also with all the news on sleaze and Boris's mental state, the government needed a distraction.

I don't doubt the variant, not in the least. But this to me feels like an exercise in seeing just how far people will still go. But go to full lockdown, or close to it and I feel the idiots in society will have looked at Europe's riots and gone, I will have some of that.

It's winter, people are going to die. They always do. I just hope the media report those usual winter deaths for what they are, and not go into hyperbole.

 

[Runub]

Initial signs from South Africa are encouraging but agree way too early to know for sure on either symptoms or vaccine effectiveness.

Thanks for that and @Tubey
I suppose a case of suck it and see then….not literally of course that would be dangerous

 

[LinekersLegs]

 

[Tubey]

but the grey area if they hadn't taken them away - and this is @Tubey 's point, I think (which I half agree with, half don't) is that how would they have been applied across the board?

You can't have gigs - like, not counting going the theatre - and mass events etc with masks, it defeats the entire purpose. So how could you have opened those up with a mask mandate? Would you have said, as they are doing now it seems, it's fine in those places not to wear them, but in shops and on transport etc you have to?

And I see the logic behind that btw, but it does lead to a grey area where you'd probably just get those who are adamantly against wearing masks would have used that as an example anyway for the last four months.

My entire point is that the threat of Omicron is that if you allow a new variant to spread then it can mutate/be a bad one. Fine. But in that case you put in measures to actually stop it spreading, which means not putting a stupid mandate on shops while allowing gigs and pubs to stay open. It doesn't make sense.

The measure isn't to protect people in supermarkets, because they're all vaccinated and the virus is endemic, so if that was the case we'd have had the mask mandate perpetually and the virus would be breaking through vaccines a lot more regularly to justify additional measures.

So my view is quite simple - we're being mandated at supermarkets for optics; to give the appearance of doing 'something' rather than 'nothing', just in case. A political gambit, a bit of nonsense, while also being a lovely experiment in seeing how much the public will tolerate.

 

[Deleted member 48881]

Well sure. But you said, cos you disagree with the new rulez, you wont comply. Cos I assume you think you know better.

If mask wearing became a normal thing, in shops and transport, in the future, cos the benefits showed up as sound, I would not have a problem with that in 10 years time.

If you mean a normal thing as in voluntarily, then fine.

When I visited Japan in 2015, everyone was wearing mask everywhere (indoor/outdoor) I wasn't (same goes to other foreigners including my friends) nobody told us anything mean nor any police issued a fine.

OK, we are in a pandemic still (almost 21 months tho) but you are talking about 10 years ahead, so that's like the West adopting Asian culture long term without the emergency. (for respect or prevention of future diseases) And in that culture, nobody's getting forced when it comes to masks. As I experienced it.

 

[Wizard]

As said, I have voluntarily done it throughout this whole thing.

From July.



But we're now in a position where I'm not harming anybody and nobody is harming me, and that's the case for 99% of the population. Everyone afraid of COVID has been offered or had vaccination. Only those unvaccinated are being killed by it. Yet I'd have continued to wear a mask voluntarily on the tiny, infinitesimal chance it made someone feel better.

But I draw the line at being told to by Johnson for no logical reason. Because there's no logical reason a mask mandate is required now when it wasn't two, three, four weeks ago, or four months ago. Just as there'll be no logical reason to ever lift it now, because COVID is endemic.

You do realise some people can’t have the vaccine because of health issues? They still need to go to shops and use public transport. I think it’s pathetic really this weird stance you are taking. Just put a mask on when you go to the shops and stop being so whiney about it. It’s a piece of cloth ffs

 

[grandjoeblue]

To be honest. The more I think about the announcement, the more I think this was always happening. Comments about if the public still have an appetite for restrictions. Then suddenly here we are, sudden new variant and restrictions. We will soon see if the public still have an appetite for the restrictions.
Also with all the news on sleaze and Boris's mental state, the government needed a distraction.

I don't doubt the variant, not in the least. But this to me feels like an exercise in seeing just how far people will still go. But go to full lockdown, or close to it and I feel the idiots in society will have looked at Europe's riots and gone, I will have some of that.

It's winter, people are going to die. They always do. I just hope the media report those usual winter deaths for what they are, and not go into hyperbole.

The NHS cannot cope anyway on a normal winter. Even if this variant takes 10% off vaccine effectiveness the health service will be struggling extremely badly. Full lockdown is on its way back. Maybe they'll allow us to see family for one day at Christmas.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Ah right, so what you’re saying is that a large proportion of governments around the world picked this particular variant out…just so the UK and some other countries can go into lockdown over the winter?

Did Boris Johnson just announce what every country is doing? ?

I thought we were talking about the UK and what was announced.

Am I missing something? Are you talking about Omicron? If so, as I understand it, the scientists don’t know the above and won’t know for two or three weeks minimum

Well South Africa did say yesterday it only causes mild symptoms. It's worldwide news it seems that it only causes mild symptoms in the cases it detected.