Covid 19 - Lift all restrictions?

Well we dont have that long to wait to find out what if any restrictions will be amended in June
Then it will up to individuals to make their own choices on what restrictions are lifted or altered

Rosie1959 of course urgent treatments are being prioritised. However anybody who believes that the waiting lists created by a year of major disruption to services is very sadly mistaken. If it was possible to see patients at the same rate as pre-pandemic (eg 50 people attending a clinic) then there would be some chance, but that can’t happen because of the infection control measures now needed, most services can only operate at 50-70% of previous capacity, so lists are still growing. If infection control measures weren’t needed, and all staff in elective services worked 20% more hours every week, it would take 5 years to clear the backlog. The Government needs to spell this out to the public instead of blaming the NHS.

This thread reminds me of children in a car going ‘are we there yet’ 5 minutes into a long journey. The answer being ‘no we’re not’.

It’s 7-10 days after the second vaccination to achieve maximum immunity MayBee70.

I am reading about Elizabeth 1 and at the christening of her little brother Edward there had been an outbreak of plague so the numbers attending were cut back to prevent the disease spreading. So nothing new really. It states that foreign ambassadors did not attend unless they had been staying in London for several months beforehand. Those who had not, sent a British representative. So even in Henry VIII's day they had the sense to take precautionary measures and not travel abroad without good reason. It looks like we have always had to live with virus outbreaks and just manage.

MayBee70

This thread reminds me of children in a car going ‘are we there yet’ 5 minutes into a long journey. The answer being ‘no we’re not’.

Does that include all the business owners who are struggling to maintain a living or face ending up bankrupt
This does not include me personally our company is extremely busy but many are having real problems

Casdon

It’s 7-10 days after the second vaccination to achieve maximum immunity MayBee70.

This was the problem in Israel initially. People dropped their guard after having their first vaccine. It’ll be interesting to see what happens regarding booster vaccines in the autumn. I’d certainly be more than happy to have ave one. I’m two weeks after my second vaccine so, even though I’m not going into people’s houses I’m happy to chat with people outside now. Someone even stroked my dog today, something that freaked me out when it happened last year! I’ve missed having little chats with fellow dog walkers.

Nobody is happy with restrictions! However Covid is still here and will probably never disappear,but for now we must all take great care. I like most people are fed up with masks , but this is a small price to pay for keeping myself and others safe. We are living through a pandemic for goodness sake ! we must not become complacent. We must wear masks , be vaccinated, social distance and stop moaning.

This is a discussion forum and I do find it mildly amusing how if you have a different opinion you are being very naughty you must stop having that opinion and do as you are told

Viruses tend to become more infectious as they mutate as they want to spread rather than kill their hosts. This is evidenced in the Uk along side the rise in doubly vaccinated people. The numbers of deaths here is tiny now relative to what it was and in third world countries where basic housing and healthcare is poor. Continuing the measures in place in the Uk ad Infinitum seems counterintuitive.

rosie1959

This is a discussion forum and I do find it mildly amusing how if you have a different opinion you are being very naughty you must stop having that opinion and do as you are told

Oh rosie1959, stop moaning

Alegrias1 lol

I believe it is better to be cautious & am thankful we can now see our family more..It would be lovely to go abroad again but I’m happy to wait a bit longer to see how things pan out

You can’t control a virus. We have to live with it. People have to get in with life. You won’t have stayed at home with flu viruses.

Queueing, all masked and more or less socially distanced (all at least a trolly length) in the supermarket today I watched a woman in the next queue turn round to the lady waiting to unload her trolly, and say, “You need to move back a bit!”
Quick as a flash the other lady replied, “Thanks for reminding me, I’d forgotten you might be contagious!”
It raised a smile for a few in the queues.

Paman66

You can’t control a virus. We have to live with it. People have to get in with life. You won’t have stayed at home with flu viruses.

A virus has no legs and no brain. We can have control over it if we use the latter.

I think we need longer. Variants are hitting young people. Until chikdren are able to be vaccinated err on the side of caution.

Really depends on the risk. Great if you are normally a fit and healthy person but if you are like me and others who are immuno-suppressed there are still concerns that the medicines will prevent the vaccination being as effective. And Covid is still out there and catchable

I for one will remain with mask on and continue to social distance when I go out, but that is me. As the more variants become apparent it is safer and I would hate to think I had infected another person.

Lift all the restrictions now we are nearly all vaccinated. The state of the economy is more important. We will have to live with the virus like the flu.

songstress60

Lift all the restrictions now we are nearly all vaccinated. The state of the economy is more important. We will have to live with the virus like the flu.

This is what people tend to say that have had the vaccine, survived covid and/or don’t have any co morbidities....and we are not all nearly vaccinated. Those that are currently being vaccinated will not develop immunity for quite some time. It was putting the economy before people’s lives last year that resulted in how many deaths?

Casdon

Rosie1959 of course urgent treatments are being prioritised. However anybody who believes that the waiting lists created by a year of major disruption to services is very sadly mistaken. If it was possible to see patients at the same rate as pre-pandemic (eg 50 people attending a clinic) then there would be some chance, but that can’t happen because of the infection control measures now needed, most services can only operate at 50-70% of previous capacity, so lists are still growing. If infection control measures weren’t needed, and all staff in elective services worked 20% more hours every week, it would take 5 years to clear the backlog. The Government needs to spell this out to the public instead of blaming the NHS.

Well said Casdon. And that’s not including the large number of staff who have left/are planning to leave, due to the stress of working under Covid conditions.

There have been 3,872 Covid outbreaks in workplaces and 4,253 outbreaks in education settings yet not a single employer has been prosecuted for breaching Covid regulations.
www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/22/thousands-of-work-related-covid-deaths-go-unreported-in-uk

And masks in schools are not mandatory now (regs changed last Monday)

We have been advised really to stay at home here and surge testing places are popping up in different places. We could all throw caution to the wind in my area as 'we've had enough restrictions' but if all of us catch covid, overwhelm the hospitals in my borough and neighbouring, we might end up being sent to one of your areas and hospitals where levels are low, so then what do you do when we've taken up one of your ICU beds or even ward beds and there are no places left for your local people?

This is a serious question btw

Well I certainly wouldn't be blaming anybody who needs a hospital bed and I wouldn't think it appropriate to think beds in my local hospital are for local people.

We're one country, remember?