For everyone who's bending the rules!

GrannyRose15 The first lockdown worked while it was happening but as soon as it was lifted people went bak yto living exactly as they had previously, which wasn't enough to keep the impetus that the lockdown had given us. There was a feeling that the worst was over and we could relax and get together again. It wasn't, and we couldn't.

The time while everyone was kept at home, watching TV or the internet, should have been filled with "Public Service Announcements" getting information rammed home about how we would all have to continue taking the utmost care not to spread the virus.

Wellness, very confused, walking is a good thing surely? We go out with our dog every day, come into contact with no one, and see no one in between walks how is that risky behaviour to ourselves or others?

Thanks GG13.

This is not criticism of the NHS at all - more criticism of the government. I think most of us knew that there would be a second wave, is there nothing they could have done to prepare? Maybe they did, I just don't know about it.

BTW - DH and I have had to use the NHS twice over the past year and both times the attention and treatment we got was excellent.

I think the problem was Alegrias1 that over the summer the NHS was trying to catch-up with all the cancelled operations and treatments due to the first lockdown (according to several senior Healthcare Professionals that we know)

More nurses and doctors are coming through the system, but it’s a long training period.

I used to chat to a young mum on the bus in the summer, who worked at The Range.
They had one fridge freezer in the shop, which meant they could stay open, and she had to leave her young child and work there as a "keyworker".

GrannyRose15

MayBee70

But it did work because the r rate came down.

But it didn't get rid of the virus. It didn't give the NHS enough time to prepare for a bad winter. Instead it caused untold damage to the economy, family relationships, mental health and our democracy and still didn't prevent the chaos we are seeing today in our hospitals. Lockdowns don't work.

We'll never get rid of the virus. The only disease we have ever completely eradicated is smallpox.

Lockdowns are a way of keeping infections as low as possible until we have other things in place that will help us manage the virus to an extent that is acceptable to the general public.

Its nearly a year since the first outbreak in the UK and we are still being told that its our fault if the NHS is overwhelmed, but as far as I can see the governments in the UK have done nothing to shore up NHS services. I know you can't just magic up nurses, but there must be something we could have done to prepare for a second wave.

Maybe somebody with better knowledge of the NHS than me would be able to tell me what would have helped?

If only they would!

MissA I agree with you, as for Poundland, B & M, The Range etc I think they are allowed to stay open because they sell cleaning products and the odd food item.

I cannot see why Garden Centres cannot operate a click and collect system, there is no need to walk aimlessly round a garden centre mid-winter surely?

We have decided since New Year not to go to any supermarkets, we phone the butcher down the road with our order and pop into get it this reduces the amount of time spent in the shop. We are fortunate in as much as we both drive so we can go to the nearest farm shop if we are desperate for something before our next food delivery.

It is much harder for those who do not drive as they cannot be expected to carry a full two weeks/one week shop in one go.

We are all in this horrendous storm together, unfortunately we are in different boats!!!!

As long as customers and staff obey sensible rules re distancing, masks, hand sanitizing but it doesn't sound as if they are.

Yes, that is why.
We also have a sainsbury's, Morrison's, Iceland, Lidl, open, as well as corner shops, the bike shop...

we still have Poundland open.

Do they sell food, eg tea, sugar?
That may be why.

Not necessarily.
Calling something a lockdown doesn't necessarily mean it is one.

We now have a more virulent variant, we now know that teens can spread the virus, our hospitals are in a state of emergency, and we still have Poundland open.

And isn't saying "lockdowns only work if..." the same as saying lockdowns don't work.

I don't think any lockdown has been consistent enough for long enough to draw that conclusion.
A more regulated one, coupled with the vaccine is really our only chance.

Have you got sources for this Growstuff? I’m a health professional who is required to do home visits and I’m trying to argue that point. Not getting anyway so far though!

MayBee70

But it did work because the r rate came down.

But it didn't get rid of the virus. It didn't give the NHS enough time to prepare for a bad winter. Instead it caused untold damage to the economy, family relationships, mental health and our democracy and still didn't prevent the chaos we are seeing today in our hospitals. Lockdowns don't work.

I see them because I have to go to work.
Zero hours contract and keyworker.

By hiding behind their curtains, Monica or watching the news!

If all the people who obey all the rules and are staying in and going nowhere are really doing as they say, how do they manage to see all these people they claim are breaking the rules?

Where I live, I would say 60 percent are wearing masks on buses, perhaps 80 percent in shops.

Where I live I see nearly everyone being cautious, rule conscious and concerned for others.

Blaming, shaming and scapegoating are easy go-to ways of feeling better but this is a virus and a pandemic. On the whole, no one's to blame unless you want to criticise the country that hatched it and hushed it up. Even then, the people themselves are hardly culpable.

People seem to blame walkers and yet at least you are outside! A lot of people still meet family and friends indoors which is much worse!

I think only walk alone and for an hour locally. I say this as I'm slowly going round the bend seeing no one and a walker. People are meeting in groups, with drinks,starting off in twos, for many hours of the day and not use your car to meet up. Also one visitor in your bubble. Not many of them throughout the day, unless you need medical attention and help with everyday activities. People should be told in no uncertain terms the rules, it's been nearly a year and still locked up, I'm furious that my freedom is taken away by this virus and that there's people who won't help it stop spreading. In certain households up to 6 cars arrive every Sunday for family lunch, we see it but they not bothered what neighbors think as they have always done it.

*here/hear ... typo, I know! Hate not having edit function!

Lockdowns only work if they are done properly, and rules are adhered to by the public ... all of them.

I live overseas, and all of my family (most in the UK), and many of my friends, live in various countries throughout the world. It's been very interesting to see/here how other countries have handled their lockdowns, and quarantines/travel restrictions over the past year.

The UK did far too little, far too late. Far too much toing and froing. Rules made by the government were met with many people digging their heels in, and bleating that they weren't going to be told what to do by others. And any lockdowns you've had have never been what most would consider proper full-on lockdowns, like in other countries ... far too lax to be of much use, and too many people not bothering to follow restrictions anyway.

I don't think that either the government, or the public, are solely to blame. But I do think it's about time that everyone started to pull together, if we ever want to get back to some kind or normality again.

I, like so many others, am desperate to see my family again. A year without them is a year too long. Anyone, who is still intent on bending the rules, should take a long hard look at themselves, and stop being so darned selfish! Sooner or later, one of the many HUNDREDS of deaths each day in the UK will be someone close to them. Sadly, probably only then will it hit home.