Up to the 2nd December.

I know its reverse logic, but if Uni's can stay open then students won't be spreading whatever bug they are at present exposed to. This will protect a lot of vulnerable people. If the new quick tests work we can use them in schools so we can keep education going however interupted. Added to which one fine day Vaccines will come.

We have weak, indecisive leadership that repeatedly fails to act at the right time, and then does too little too late. Lock down, testing, travel restrictions... All done too late and, in the case of test and trace, done very badly. On top of that, millions have been wasted on unfulfilled contracts for things like PPE. I don't feel sorry for Johnson. This is our biggest crisis since the war - I am just thankful that dithering Johnson and his corrupt crew aren't leading us through an actual war.

I think that those who say that people won't co-operate underestimate our country. People are prepared to make sacrifices to save lives. What's intolerable is the confusion that surrounds so many of the government's decisions, and the incompetence which has made a fiasco of our "world-beating" test system.

If we want to see what life would be like without restrictions, look at America. The virus is out of control there. I read an article by a British woman living there who said that they watched with envy when the UK was outraged by Dominic Cummings's jaunt. Over there, there were no restrictions on spreading the virus. My DD lives in Madison, Wisconsin and says that the infection rate has soared since the University of Wisconsin reopened. In April the Governor, a Democrat, had brought in a partial lock down but the Republicans went to court and got it overturned. Now they are trying to get the rule on mask-wearing overturned. Meanwhile the hospitals are full.

Frankly, Christmas is a red herring. (And if the Hindus can do Diwali, which is 12 days away, in lockdown, we can do Christmas.) The scientists have warned that, if we don't act now, we could have 85,000 deaths. Thousands every day. A lot of us could be dead by Christmas.

And when I say us, I mean us - the grannies and grandads. We have a duty, not only to ourselves but to our families and to the country, to take every precaution. It's our lives they're trying to save.

Plunger

Until the idiots take things seriously this chaos will continue. Speaking to a local GP. GP had a call from woman wanting antibiotics. GP goes through her symptoms. Dry cough, loss of smell and taste etc. Classic Covid19 symptoms. Told to get a test. Refused and demanded antibiotics. GP reiterated for her to be tested. She refused and when told to isolate with her 2 children stated that people should keep away from her. So she and her family have infected an unknown number of people. Unfortunately Covid19 is not notifiable so GP can do nothing.

Covid-19 is notifiable, surely the GP knows that?

700 people at an illegal rave in Bristol, 300 at an illegal rave in Wigan...........and folks wonder why infection rates are rising???
(on BBC website)

Whatever legislation is brought in there will
always be those who are so totally selfish and have a total disregard for the law. The ^ I’m alright Jacks^ of this world. I truly despair and can honestly see periods of national lockdowns for the foreseeable future with untold harm to the economy, mental health, along with those folks with undiagnosed cancer and other health issues.

There was a description in the paper I read that fitted the situation really well. It's like kicking a can down the road!

What about those of us who are vulnerable but live with family members who are at school/work? Not a practical solution or a desirable one for the elderly/disabled who already have not seen anyone for months.

I'm in the position of living alone with a pre-existing condition and not having seen my son at all since last December and my partner since June 2019 (yes, both last year) because they both live/work about 200 miles away from me, and now, just as I've convinced my partner to take a weekend off work to 'support' me, we're under threat of being keep separate for even longer.
Is this thing that is (extremely loosely) termed 'life' actually worth having? It really doesn't seem that way to me if I'm not allowed to see my loved ones. Bring on the virus, maybe it'll put an end to my enforced solitude.

I am not in the extra vulnerable group, but I do have MS.

I stayed home for 9 weeks in the first big lockdown.

Tomorrow I will go out and buy the things I use for my pasttimes...sewing stuff! I`m also making Christmas wreaths. So I`ll get some bits for that too.

After that I will stay home , hoping I can see my family at Christmas.

I know not everyone can stay home, but if at least they wear their masks, wash hands etc we may have a family Christmas.

Stay safe everyone x

Newatthis

Anyone know where we can find out what the rules and regulations are for this current lockdown. Is there a website?

It’s on the government website, tells you all you need to know.

Anyone know where we can find out what the rules and regulations are for this current lockdown. Is there a website?

NanaAnnie

Assuming the decision isn't overturned in Parliament on Wednesday.

That is unlikely. There are some Tory rebels but, the Labour Party is supporting it.

Tillybelle: I agree with you. What Carolpaint said was appalling and without justification.

Jackie my heart goes out to you - life can be extremely cruel.
Wishing you well and hopefully you will see your grandchildren - even if no hugging!

I am in Scotland and Sturgeon decided a 5tier.I am high risk and Haven't left house since beginning of March.I was on life support 2years ago which resulted on me now on bipap.I live in one of the highest COVID areas there has been a big amount of cases on our housing estate alone.I don’t think I will see my two grandkids at Xmas which breaks my heart as lost my husband last Xmas and grandkids had such a very close bond with him.I just have felt Robbed since Xmas last year loosing husband funeral then COVID no grandkids to come visit or have their stay overs.But we have all obeyed rules.I think we will be hit with lockdown soon Nicola likes to be different to rest of government.I have just to accept it’s going to be lonely Xmas but there will 1000s more the same.stay safe people

All very well some saying protect the vulnerable and everyone else carry on but it will still mean pressure on hospitals, my daughter and family are awaiting covid test results as my granddaughter's best friend, also 19months has just been diagnosed as positive for it and they were at the park together last week. Mark Drakeford did the right thing of putting Wales on 17 day lockdown, only a week to go for us. We should be able to continue with other hospital treatments in Wales. Before anyone says but they have the Nightingale hospitals yes we have, just not the staff

Until the idiots take things seriously this chaos will continue. Speaking to a local GP. GP had a call from woman wanting antibiotics. GP goes through her symptoms. Dry cough, loss of smell and taste etc. Classic Covid19 symptoms. Told to get a test. Refused and demanded antibiotics. GP reiterated for her to be tested. She refused and when told to isolate with her 2 children stated that people should keep away from her. So she and her family have infected an unknown number of people. Unfortunately Covid19 is not notifiable so GP can do nothing.

I don’t feel any pity whatsoever for the government. We are where we are because of the poor decisions that have been made. Initial lockdown too late, kids sent back to education too soon. Dominic Cummings keeping his job and thus making lots of people feel that they could get away with that behaviour too. This lockdown should have happened at leat two weeks ago and in my opinion won’t have as significant an impact if education remains open. I am just left wondering how many more people will become ill before schools and universities have to be closed.

Brother and scientist laboratory techncian.mountain out of a mole hill

My brorger is a sciebtist and a kaboratory technican.he knows what hes talking about.boris is making a moubtain out of a mole hill and causing panic and stress tk the vunerable

I agree with you.from the start i said it was over reaction.abd i got called some really nasty names.more people die from flu alone each year.ok i know this one is a bit more lethal.to vunerable people.but it is an over reaction

And when the lockdown ends everyone will go to each others houses for christmas.i say we should let things ride itself out

Hollysteers

Hurray for some commonsense! All the people wining about Christmas really irritates me, too. We are in the grip of a pandemic, no-one knows how long it will last and how we will get out of it or when. Just be thankful you are still alive. We never hear, of course, about the people who find Christmas a chore and are glad not to have to do it all again. I expect most of us have had many years of coping with guests and visitors whom we invite out of a sense of duty. There are 365 days in the year, minus 2 still leaves 363.

Boris Johnson and the government have not got everything right but I believe they are doing their best. If anyone knows of anyone who could do better please tell us who you have in mind.

If people had done what was asked of them we wouldn’t be in this position. All down to selfish people who will not adhere to social distancing. We all want to be with our families, I have only seen my 98 year old mother once since the end of March. She is being kept safe and understands what is happening, just fed up like the rest of us.

The government are trying to keep the virus at bay whilst getting the economy going. It is unchartered territory and they have an incredibly difficult job to do. Some just seem to have a go at them whatever they do but what would they do if they were in charge? It is up to all of us to follow the distancing guidelines, otherwise it will keep rising until there is an effective vaccine. It is in people’s hands.

NemosMum

I have downloaded literally hundreds of papers from the learned journals and in the press (I produce a current affairs email for a local group) and this is the most appalling over-reaction to a respiratory virus ever! Using the current criteria, we would have to lock down in the flu season EVERY year. Tom Jefferson and Carl Heneghan from the Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine have handed the PM a blueprint: Planning the Way Forward, which is complete common sense and based on established practices for dealing with pandemic infections. This virus is not Ebola, it is not Spanish Flu, it is not the Black Death (I know, that's bacterial), it has an Infection Fatality Rate of between 0.1 and 0.2%. That's one or two per thousand infected, with the very elderly disproportionately infected (x1000) as opposed to seasonal flu, which kills some children and young people every year. We had a low flu season last winter, and sadly, Covid is taking away the elderly frail who would have died of the flu, or even a cold. Is it actually worse to die of Covid or of flu? SAGE is stuffed full of mathematical modellers and sociologists who are working to models and projections. It has become an echo chamber and they are now determined to 'prove' that their initial modelling is correct. However, as the physicist Richard Feynman said: "It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong." Well, the 'experiment' is real-world data: the fact is that the Death Rate is NORMAL for the time of year. Having 85 - 90% intensive care bed occupancy is NORMAL - would you want your intensive care beds running at 60%. Only 48 Nightingale Hospital beds were ever used. Does it matter that the infection rate, based on a hundreds of thousands of tests, is running higher than the 'reasonable worst case scenario'? No, it doesn't, because what matters is hospitalisation and death rates, which are NORMAL. The Zoe Covid Symptom App and study, with 4 million app users, is showing that the infection rate is mainly passing harmlessly among young and healthy people, and that the infection rate is either levelling off, or coming down. The PM is inexperienced at governing, ignorant of science, and terrified of admitting that they got it wrong. He has been taken in thrall by SAGE, who will never have to suffer redundancy, penury and the other consequences of Lockdown, and can never be voted out. Remember, infections are coming down NOW. they will claim it was their lockdown which did it, just as in the Spring, when the infection rate had already peaked. As Richard Feynman also said: "I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy." Time for Boris and the whole cabinet to look at the wider harms and issues, and put them on the balance sheet. Time for some rational thinking and honesty!

So what is the cause of 40000 ++ excess deaths this year?
Have all the other countries got it wrong?