Britain officially no longer in a pandemic

MollyG

Really?? I live in France (though I’m English) and it’s very much still in full swing

Probably a result of the Kent variant that should have been contained but has now spread everywhere. Genomic sequencing meant that the government were well aware of it. Government were too desperate to open everything up for Christmas to nip that in the bud. That crisis was only averted at the last minute. Too late for other countries though.

Really?? I live in France (though I’m English) and it’s very much still in full swing

Couldn't agree more Maybe70. Why on earth would anyone make allowences for an incompetent who grew up wanting to be world king and never stopped to think that he was so ill equiped to come anywhere near.

As for Brexit ... Some people will always find an idol to worship.

Maybee70
Well said, I couldn't agree more.

GreenGran78

MayBee70. Far be it from me to make excuses for Boris. Many people agree that he is an idiot.
To be fair, though, how many PMs have had to cope with two such major situations at once? I flew in from Australia at the end of February, smiling to myself at the over-cautious travellers wearing masks, and it was some time before I accepted the fact that Covid was going to be a major problem. Trying to cope with both situations at once must have been a nightmare for the Government, and I feel that we should make allowances for many of the errors of commission and omission.
I have always held the opinion that anyone who wants to be Prime Minister must be mad, and therefore not eligible for the job!

I knew more about the virus than Johnson did last year. He didn’t attend Cobra meetings. He gave people notice of lockdown so they could go out and party for several days beforehand. Saw the infection rate rise after that but made the same mistake again. Said he didn’t know about asymptomatic carriers months after I knew about them. Constantly said the crisis was going to be over in a matter of weeks. Gave contracts to people that couldn’t fulfil those contracts. Saw other leaders contain the virus but didn’t follow them. Then caught the virus himself because he was boasting about shaking hands with people with covid. He has been useless and inept right from the start but has been saved by the NHS vaccination programme. I will not make allowances for the thousands of people that have died due to Johnson’s failings. He was the one that wanted brexit, not me, so if he had to deal with it sobeit. His priority, not mine. I thought people’s lives were more important.. He was also happy to run with a no deal brexit which would have been even more catastrophic in the middle of a pandemic.

Is it?......no I don’t think so! The pandemic is still very much not over!.....unless the UK has managed to remove itself not only from Europe but also the globe!

Fact check:

Prof Sarah Walker, who is professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at Oxford, said in an interview that in Britain we are not in the pandemic stage any more. Prof Walker may be very respected in her field but she doesn't get to say the pandemic is over, here or anywhere else. And its certainly not official. Its a pandemic, it ain't over here till its over everywhere, and WHO will tell us when that is.

She also said that Covid was here to stay and always has the potential to come back, but that bit didn't make the headlines in the press.

Non-story if ever there was one.

This is the first I have heard of it, utterly ridiculous. Is this from government? Or something out of the DM? R rate is already rising after short period out of lockdown. Does the claimant not understand the meaning of the word pandemic. I am constantly flabbergasted at people’s stupidity.

Where I live the numbers go up and down weekly so I am still being careful and not complacent!
If , as a nation , we had shut our borders as soon as the two visitors from Wuhan had been identified it then we would not have suffered from the deaths we have! I respect our scientists, our NHS, our vaccination wonders but we could have done much better!
Our people will soon forget the incompetency of our elected Government in 2020! I shall never forgive them !

how many PMs have had to cope with two such major situations at once?

One was a situation of his own making that he campaigned for and wanted to make happen.

The other was a situation that every other leader in the world has had to deal with.

My sympathy is a bit lacking.

anyone who wants to be Prime Minister must be mad, and therefore not eligible for the job

So true GreenGran78

MayBee70. Far be it from me to make excuses for Boris. Many people agree that he is an idiot.
To be fair, though, how many PMs have had to cope with two such major situations at once? I flew in from Australia at the end of February, smiling to myself at the over-cautious travellers wearing masks, and it was some time before I accepted the fact that Covid was going to be a major problem. Trying to cope with both situations at once must have been a nightmare for the Government, and I feel that we should make allowances for many of the errors of commission and omission.
I have always held the opinion that anyone who wants to be Prime Minister must be mad, and therefore not eligible for the job!

I am still being cautious as the numbers are up in the town where I live. And a doctor in India on TV said large gatherings there probably led to the surge in numbers getting the virus recently.

The virus thrives on complacency. Look at the countries that we’re doing well but now have high infection rates. We’re in this for the long haul and mustn’t drop our guard. Having said that, I do feel more optimistic at the moment, having been very upset by the problems with the AZ vaccine. I do think we’re at the beginning of the end but there’s a long way to go. I also heard that there have been cases of outside transmission in Canada so we mustn’t start to think that being outside is totally safe.

My worry after reading that, is that there are some who will interpret it as "we're done with it now - you can go back to your normal lives and forget all the measures that we've had in place for the last year".

It is wonderful news that the vaccination programme has had such a huge impact on the number of cases, but don't let us lose sight of the fact that Covid19 is going nowhere for a very long time, and whilst our measures can be relaxed, we must not fall into the trap of complacency.

jocork. I feel so sorry for your daughter. If you’ve been working from home and then have to venture out into an environment that isn’t as safe it must be terrifying. Having shielded for so long I don’t know how I’m going to adjust to any sort of normality. My daughter, who no longer works, set up a covid support group last year but admitted to me recently that she was terrified of catching it. Can you just advise your daughter on all the things that will keep her safe? We all take VitD. Now, I know many people on here say it doesn’t work but for the past year, as a family we’ve felt protected in some way by taking it. Ok it may be a placebo effect and we’re all very careful anyway but it has helped me mentally. We also listen to DrJohn Campbells utube blogs. Have done so for over a year and find them very informative and empowering. He often does web chats with people from all over the world and we get to know the various contributors. Stops you feeling alone.

If Labour had handled the beginning of the pandemic as badly as the Conservatives did I would have been equally as critical. It seems to me that Labours problem is that it’s members are always criticising their leadership whereas Conservatives remain loyal no matter how badly their leaders behave. Johnson was far more concerned about getting brexit done than protecting the country from the looming covid crisis. I don’t see how anyone can defend him on that count.

We are still being very careful, avoiding crowded spaces, socially distancing and I notice that virtually everyone you pass in my corner of N Yorkshire gives a wide berth. Cautiously optimistic but we have to be careful. I hope people can curb their overseas holiday desires a bit longer. Shame we allowed flights from India to keep coming for so long.

The role of the opposition is to question and hold the government to account kamiso. It's the nature of a democracy.

As so many of you said, until the virus is manageable across the world then we are still in a pandemic. There are new variants that are with us and the vaccines will have to be adjusted to deal with them. Let us still be very cautious.

jocork

Can someone tell my 31 year old DD that! She is so stressed at the thought of catching it then giving it to someone else who then dies that she is a nervous wreck. She had to go to work twice this week instead of working from home and this morning she was so stressed she was crying down the phone on her way in! Meanwhile as the vulnerable member of the family, over 65 and diabetic I'm completely chilled. I had my second jab this morning. Some people are going to take a long time to get over this and I don't know how to help her. She lives 400 miles away so there is so little I can do to comfort her!

Does she have a partner and children?

Let's hope...

a large proportion is NOT beign careful- and with variants - we are not out of the woods yet, I am very sorry to say.

Even with strict precautions it can still sneak in again. A man who flew to Perth, Australia was quarantined in a hotel for 2 weeks. He then stayed with a friend, and went out on the town for a few days. Then he flew to Melbourne, and tested positive on his arrival. Now Perth, and other places, are having a lockdown again, which has put a spanner in the works for all the Anzac Day celebrations this weekend.
My son’s theory is that the quarantine hotel’s air-conditioning must have spread the infection around. WA has been very pro-active at keeping its borders safe.
He is also very annoyed at the extremely disorganised way that the vaccination programme is being implemented over there

Yaaaaaaa. Still being careful though ♡

Can someone tell my 31 year old DD that! She is so stressed at the thought of catching it then giving it to someone else who then dies that she is a nervous wreck. She had to go to work twice this week instead of working from home and this morning she was so stressed she was crying down the phone on her way in! Meanwhile as the vulnerable member of the family, over 65 and diabetic I'm completely chilled. I had my second jab this morning. Some people are going to take a long time to get over this and I don't know how to help her. She lives 400 miles away so there is so little I can do to comfort her!