Britain officially no longer in a pandemic

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.

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.

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!

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

So true GreenGran78

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.

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 !

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.

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.

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!

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.

Maybee70
Well said, I couldn't agree more.

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.

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

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.

Wherever we are won’t be helped by this type of incident:
news.sky.com/story/oxford-street-shoppers-heckled-over-face-masks-as-thousands-protest-covid-rules-in-london-12285712

Daisymae

So it's a global pandemic, with the exception of the UK? How does that work then?

My thoughts exactly

Jaxjacky

Wherever we are won’t be helped by this type of incident:
news.sky.com/story/oxford-street-shoppers-heckled-over-face-masks-as-thousands-protest-covid-rules-in-london-12285712

Lemmings....

Kali2

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?

She lives alone and has a bubble with a family she is friends with. She was so looking forward to being able to go out climbing mountains again but this week the stress has really got to her badly because of lots of people at work. When she worls from home she doesn't leave her flat for days on end.

Maybee it's such odd behaviour isnt it. I have a friend who has been sucked into the conspiracy nonsense, she saw no contradiction between complaining over a government impacting on her freedom by telling people to wear masks and her telling people not to wear masks therefore impacting on their freedom of choice. Not very coherent.

However the R rate is rising again ?

Danma

However the R rate is rising again ?

Which means the death rate will follow it. All people need to do is continue with hands face space ventilate and the r rate doesn’t have to go up. Will lessons never be learned?

I really don’t understand this ............unless we have fallen off the world,,

Apparently there is still a global pandemic but in UK numbers have fallen for it to be classed as endemic. Still wouldn't stop the precautions though whatever they call it!

Although great news, we mustn't be complacent. We should continue to wear masks in public or confined places for a very long time and continue hygiene precautions.

Thank goodness Boris rolled out the vaccination programme so quickly. The news from India and other countries is horrific, they are so helpless. They must have some help with the vaccinations.