Seems we are not unlocking.

In case anyone hadn’t noticed the Euros started last night, players along with physios, doctors, coaches, nutritionists etc., are travelling from stadium to stadium and in the next round country to country as will the fans following their teams progress throughout the competition.

If it’s OK and safe for them and for good measure I will include the G7 circus and all that entails it should be safe for us to go about our daily lives.

There does appear to be a lot of regional differences. I actually know people who have been admitted to hospital with covid in the last few weeks, they are all in the 45-55 age bracket. All had received one vaccine but not two. All have the new variant which is more resistant to the vaccine and spreading quicker, within schools here it seems. It is very close to home for me as kids in my youngest class have tested positive and I have made the decision not to bring my daughter home (disabled/vulnerable) as planned tomorrow. I am quite gobsmacked by some of the comments on this thread

Ellan

So the 'irreversible' was indeed reversible
I feel sorry for businesses who have geared up for this
Johnson should have never given dates, he said that the Government would be led by the science and should listen to their advice and act accordingly
But he tells lies, constantly...

the dates given were AT THE EARLIEST....does no one actually listen?

janejudge quite a lot of puerile me,me,me about it seems.?

Elegran

Did you expect these measures to work instantly, even on those who were not using them?

These are precautions against the virus, not a universal weedkiller sprayed over it to kill it off from the roots. They each do something toward slowing down the rate at which people get infected,which lessens the number of people who have it, which itself slows down the rate of infection.

But there is always someone who believes that if something doesn't kill 100% of germs with one application, there is no point in using it. By not taking precautions, they contribute to the problem - which then makes them feel justified in saying that the precautions are useless!

You can blame whoever you like for the fact that variations are around, but going straight back to mixing with hundreds of people a day - without taking all the precautions we can - is a certain way of having another wave of cases.

The more people who believe all the crap about governments just wanting to control us the sooner that wave will happen. And has it occurred to them that deliberately NOT doing sensible things "because you were told to" is like a child playing chicken across a busy road, because he has been told not to?

Good post Elegran.

Biscuitmuncher

maddyone maybe if hospitals weren't underfunded we might have been ok

But you’re not telling us how you would deal with it! We’re all aware of the difficulties in the NHS but that isn’t the reason that Covid took off and we had so many deaths. In fact, I was in hospital during January during the very bad spell, and there were over 500 patients in with Covid whilst I was there. The NHS did cope, despite the situation, and my treatment was exemplary.
What I and others want to know is how you think the pandemic should have been dealt with in this country.

The view from under all that sand must be pretty limited. Perhaps by raising their heads and seeing what is happening away from their only little square yard they might see the bigger picture.

To be fair to Biscuitmuncher, she has posted to say she doesn't know what the answer is either. I agree with her point about hospitals as well; if we had had a better funded NHS we might have been in a better position to handle the pandemic. There should certainly have been some preparation for the second wave and I'm not aware of any of that happening.

I hope all this is gone into in the inquiry we've been promised.

Biscuitmuncher masks, lockdown and vaccination have actually worked very well. This is why we are getting excited about 700 hospital admissions and not 10s of thousands, which we had not many months ago.

However, we are all agog awaiting your response as to what we should have done. saying you do not know is a cop-out. How do you know the current rules have not been successful, if you cannot think of anything that would have worked better?

because zero covid is the answer apparently Can you give chapter and verse and a link to any official government announcement of that? I know one or two individuals have suggested that including posters on this site (not this thread), but then the Flat Earth Society has lots of members.

You keep setting up Aunt Sallies like this that are extreme and usually ludicrous, versions of government guidance and then knock them down, that is cowardice in the face of the enemy. A bit like avoiding the battle and priding yourself on damaging a camp site he enemy has moved on from.

Ellagran, an excellent and elegantly made post.

Yes that’s true Alegrias. I just feel if a person criticises all the measures that were put into place to try to stop the spread, then surely that person should be able to say what they think should have happened instead.

Anyway, I’m not worried about the measures continuing for a bit longer, as I think we’ve got a lot of freedoms back. The big events such as football matches, festivals, and theatre productions are where Covid would certainly be spread, and I think it would be wise to wait a little longer for these to open. I love theatre and live productions, but I can live without them. I can see my family inside my house, or meet with a bigger group of up to thirty outside (although I haven’t yet) and I can go to a restaurant and eat indoors, and I even took my little grandson to see Peter Rabbit 2 during half term. We weren’t near anyone else and I felt very safe, and it was such a lovely, normal thing to do. We have got many freedoms back, let’s go forward in the knowledge that as more people get fully vaccinated, this pandemic will drop to very low numbers later this year.

Nice post maddyone, very sensible.

M0nica, there's that "700 admissions" again. Got any confirmation of that please?

rosie1959

PippaZ to me it’s not about obeying laws our Company fortunately has not been adversely affected. But many have as I pointed out social distancing makes their business unviable or running just to break even
If death rates stay low as they are how can we keep society as a whole under continuing restrictions
These people are not idiots but they need to make a living

But you cannot let people die or destroy our health system (for all) just because of the problems particular businesses have. You will have to support them to some extent. A stimulus package as they re-open perhaps but, people being people there will always be some who set up or move into the new areas created by the pandemic.

If social distancing makes their business unviable or running just to break even then we and they have to find ways to deal with that. Restaurants and pubs may have to change over time - better use of technology may help them but we may also have to learn to pay more for the wages of the at risk, frontline staff. We may have to come to terms with it being more expensive. It is a horrible time for some at the moment but as a species, we have survived everything that has come along so far. I go back to the comparison with a war. People have to deal with what happened; the government has to rebuild for all after the war but no shouting "it's unfair" got anyone anywhere. Life is unfair and it's up to ourselves, our communities and governments to help people survive that unfairness. Opening up to a more transmissible virus does not, to me, seem the best way to do that.

maddyone football matches are going ahead with fans allowed into matches (albeit limited numbers)

You can put in your regional area I am a bit rubbish at reading data though, my skills lie elsewhere. But is does seem there is an increasing number of people going into hospital with it again? obviously this will vary by region.

This site is great for stats.

www.travellingtabby.com/uk-coronavirus-tracker/

Latest figures 4pm yesterday

You can also find your local region updated daily here:

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1APtcBmI4JeTR0Ysufjavgg2gy4MBiHz0Hf9eKIp5BSo/preview#gid=1865138965

I know GrannyGravy, but at least there is some social distancing. To be honest, I don’t think football matches are safe yet, in particular because many of the fans are young and not yet vaccinated. Look what happened in Portugal the other week. I saw that three plane loads of people were instructed to self isolate after their return as people on three of the flights tested positive after returning. It’s just a bit too soon for big events like this in my opinion.

GrannyGravy13

In case anyone hadn’t noticed the Euros started last night, players along with physios, doctors, coaches, nutritionists etc., are travelling from stadium to stadium and in the next round country to country as will the fans following their teams progress throughout the competition.

If it’s OK and safe for them and for good measure I will include the G7 circus and all that entails it should be safe for us to go about our daily lives.

I went out this morning. There were hundreds of people going about their daily lives, most wearing masks, but that was all. What exactly do the current restrictions stop people from doing? I know there are a few things, but not that many.

I look at the BBC Covid in my Area website a couple of times a week. It tells how many actual cases in your postcode in the last week. There were five in my area in the last week so we’re still very low here. Not so where my parents in law live though, it was 688 in the last week. Obviously this means we can’t yet visit them, which we had thought about a few weeks ago. My husband hasn’t seen his very elderly parents for nearly two years now.

maddyone

I know GrannyGravy, but at least there is some social distancing. To be honest, I don’t think football matches are safe yet, in particular because many of the fans are young and not yet vaccinated. Look what happened in Portugal the other week. I saw that three plane loads of people were instructed to self isolate after their return as people on three of the flights tested positive after returning. It’s just a bit too soon for big events like this in my opinion.

I agree with you to an extent, but one advantage that football matches have is that they are outdoors. I believe these big events are being monitored.

Thanks Alegrias.

maddyone

I look at the BBC Covid in my Area website a couple of times a week. It tells how many actual cases in your postcode in the last week. There were five in my area in the last week so we’re still very low here. Not so where my parents in law live though, it was 688 in the last week. Obviously this means we can’t yet visit them, which we had thought about a few weeks ago. My husband hasn’t seen his very elderly parents for nearly two years now.

Would it not be possible to take them to an outdoor venue while the weather is good?

Here in Scotland growstuff its probably a bit different, but most of our restrictions are about large gatherings of people and how many people from different groups can meet together. Its certainly not "lockdown" and it wouldn't bother me if we had to wait a bit longer for the next level. I do understand the concerns of places that are not allowed to open up properly though. I think there are still large areas of Scotland where soft play is not allowed, for instance.

Yes that’s true growstuff, football matches are outside which should make them safer than theatres or concerts. I still think it’s a bit soon at the moment, particularly as the new variant is spreading so quickly. It’s good that they are being monitored though.