Stats on the up

lemongrove

Hospitals were not overwhelmed at any time in the last 18 months, so considering how many people are double jabbed, as the saying goes, and there may be a booster jab coming up, it’s an unlikely scenario that hospitals won’t be coping in a few months.
Unfortunately some people are imprisoning themselves for no good reason, hiding in their houses still.Others are going out and about with a bit of caution ( sensible) and others are living life entirely normally.

(Sigh) Another one! If people want to stay at home, they're not imprisoning themselves. They're doing what feels right for them and being sensible.

Jillyjosie

250,000+ with Long Covid... more women than men and often the young are affected. Interesting discussion on yesterday's Woman's Hour.
Learn to live with it? Maybe, easy to say when it doesn't affect you or your family and you don't stop to think about an already beleaguered NHS.

What's your suggestion then Jillyjosie? What's the alternative to learning to live with it? Becuase I think that whenever we open up there is going to be a spike in cases. We can't continue with restrictions forever.

Also I'd point out that you have no idea of how I, or anybody else, have been affected by Covid, nor what my relationship is with the NHS. Comments that are basically about "easy for you to say" is just a way of discrediting the view that we've got to get on with it.

rosie1959

Alegrias1

Really? Lockdown? Who will pay for everyone to stay at home this time instead of going to work? What was the point of being vaccinated?

Totally with you companies can just keep locking down as you said who is going to pay for it
Perhaps we are learning you can't go round this virus you have to go through it If not it's the definition of insanity trying the same thing expecting different results

Why shouldn't companies continue to let staff work at home, if it's financially sustainable? I'm not talking about "lockdowns" either, but there is no reason people should be out and about, if it's not necessary.

Alegrias1

Jillyjosie

250,000+ with Long Covid... more women than men and often the young are affected. Interesting discussion on yesterday's Woman's Hour.
Learn to live with it? Maybe, easy to say when it doesn't affect you or your family and you don't stop to think about an already beleaguered NHS.

What's your suggestion then Jillyjosie? What's the alternative to learning to live with it? Becuase I think that whenever we open up there is going to be a spike in cases. We can't continue with restrictions forever.

Also I'd point out that you have no idea of how I, or anybody else, have been affected by Covid, nor what my relationship is with the NHS. Comments that are basically about "easy for you to say" is just a way of discrediting the view that we've got to get on with it.

What does "learning to live with it" mean to you? I'm genuinely interested because I think it's become one of those catchphrases which people interpret differently.

Daisymae, I think things have moved on and the situation has changed drastically.

Infection rates don't lead to such high hospitalisation and death rates as before vaccination. Now that we know vaccination doesn't prevent infection and transmission, there's no more talk of herd immunity.

We have to accept that the virus will circulate and we'll all be prone to catching it several times in a lifetime (rather like flu).

Those of us with recent vaccination are unlikely to be very ill with it, thankfully. I do hope the booster jabs will be available sooner, rather than later, though.

The term "lockdown" gets bandied about without people thinking about what it really means. It means we stay in our houses, business and shops are closed, no social interaction. If we get back there, then its a massive failure of the reaction to this pandemic. We've got one of the most effective vaccines ever and we've had 18 months to prepare a tracing system. So if that's not good enough, we've failed. Restrictions might return - limited numbers at events and so on, but not lockdowns.

Your comment about people not being out and about if its not necessary, I just can't agree with growstuff. DH has just popped down to the shop to get some nice bread. Is that necessary? I went to see a local RHS garden earlier this week. Was that necessary? I think people are not prepared any more to put their lives completely on hold. I wouldn't go to a festival, that's my choice, but I went to the local Farmers Market at the weekend just for a look round and to meet my friend for coffee. Not strictly necessary, but I felt a lot better for it.

What does "learning to live with it" mean to you? I'm genuinely interested because I think it's become one of those catchphrases which people interpret differently.

I think that's for me growstuff? I'll answer anyway.

We have to realise that rising case numbers are not the direct link to serious illness the way they were earlier in the pandemic. We have to realise that this is never going away. We have to realise that we now have something else that is going to affect our health, possibly seriously. We have to realise that lockdowns are not a sustainable way of managing this for years on end - as NZ are learning to their cost. We have to accept that most of us are going to get it, and for most of us its going to be a mild illness. We have to accept that for some it won't be, and that we need to gear up the NHS to manage that as best as possible.

It doesn't mean ignoring it and soldiering on.

Learning to live with it means what some posters have described. Going out and about pretty normally, but probably avoiding crowded places, and taking a few simple precautions such as hand hygiene and wearing a mask indoors in venues such as shops, especially through the winter time. If the numbers go really high in the winter I might curtail meals out and so on, but possibly continue to meet friends outside. A bit like we live with seasonal flu. I won’t lockdown completely unless told to so by government, and I suspect that’s unlikely.

Alegrias1

Really? Lockdown? Who will pay for everyone to stay at home this time instead of going to work? What was the point of being vaccinated?

Absolutely!!!!
Can all the doom mongers not think ahead and see what could happen if that were to happen.
Forgot your empty shelves, there might not be any shops !!!
Let your imagination go to the nth degree and see what could happen.
Sheer bloody madness.

Good post Alegrias. You’ve summed it up better than I did. And MerylStreep as you say, what would happen to the economy? Anyway, many, many people don’t have the luxury of locking down because they have to make sure we privileged ones can lockdown. They’re called key workers and there are thousands upon thousands of them. Not to mention children and students, who have already paid a very high price during previous lockdowns. I don’t think there’ll be anymore lockdowns. I hope not.

Another lockdown would be catastrophic. We have to accept risk as life has always been risky from the beginnings of time. We can all assess our own risk and live our lives accordingly.

growstuff

rosie1959

I am not implying they are cowards growstuff but just pointing out that everyone is not the same By reading some comments on here and other media some are still afraid of doing the most basic of outings

So why use language such as "knee trembling"? Or even "afraid"? It's up to them how they want to lead their lives. There are people with underlying conditions, who are being sensible and are sick of people implying they're being overly cautious.

And perhaps Growstuff some of us may be sick of the posting police If you don’t like a post then move on
Do we have to run every post through you first to see if it’s acceptable

Figures are rocketing

ok i will modify my post alegrias and borrow maddyones expression to say figures have gone really high in my area

600 per 100 000 this week as opposed to just over 300 last week
i would say that is quite considerable and it does make people in my area do a sharp intake of breath and reconsider their choices

i will however be just as happy to use the words plummet or nosedive if the figures return to the level they were here before the summer

But there’s no reason for people to be out and about if it’s not necessary
Because the human race is a sociable animal. We need interaction with others.

If we all did what you wanted ( stay home ) wouldn’t Amazon & EBay be rubbing their hands. Not that they’re already going doing that.

If some people want to scrub their cabbages and bleach their post, carry on. Meanwhile the majority will live a normal life.

Alegrias1

^It's shocking how the rates are rising and that there is now data showing that vaccine efficacy is waning.^

Figures are rocketing

Its standalone sentences like this that chip away at any positivity, and add to the general feeling of impending doom.

The rates are rising comparatively slowly and actually fell after the English "Freedom Day". Rates are going up very fast in Scotland, where the schools are already back.

Deaths are going up slowly and are around 100 a day. There are between 6,000 and 7,000 patients in hospital. Like everyone, I'd like these numbers to be zero, but they 'll never be zero again.

The vaccine efficiency is waning for protection against infection but no signs yet of it waning for protections against severe illness and hospitalisation. "Waning" doesn't mean we're back to page 1.

Now I expect this will be a bit unpopular but for 18 months we've been "protecting the NHS". Well the NHS is supposed to protect us. Going about our normal business shouldn't be considered as anti social. And before anyone tells me that you can't just throw money at the situation, I know that, but its been 18 months. What has been done to get ready for any potential winter surges in health provision?

Algerias1 Never thought the day would come but I totally agree with you. Now I better go and have a lie down and a Cup of tea

Shinamae

The government has told us to - basically fend for ourselves. If they did anything else we would have had riots, protests and unrest.
The sobering coronavirus facts:

30 August 2020
People in hospital 764 On Ventilators 60 Admitted 109

25 August 2021
People in hospital 6874 On Ventilators 957 Admitted 859 (6172 in last 7 days)

MerylStreep

^But there’s no reason for people to be out and about if it’s not necessary^
Because the human race is a sociable animal. We need interaction with others.

If we all did what you wanted ( stay home ) wouldn’t Amazon & EBay be rubbing their hands. Not that they’re already going doing that.

If some people want to scrub their cabbages and bleach their post, carry on. Meanwhile the majority will live a normal life.

Some people seem to need to go out less than others. Maybe some don't have the capacity to entertain themselves and need other people. Personally, I often find such people rather shallow, but we're all different. I don't have any time for people who mock others, who might want to stay at home buying stuff on EBay or Amazon (or even doing something more interesting). Frankly, your life wouldn't be very normal to me MerylStreep, but you carry on. I can't say it bothers me.

rosie1959

growstuff

rosie1959

I am not implying they are cowards growstuff but just pointing out that everyone is not the same By reading some comments on here and other media some are still afraid of doing the most basic of outings

So why use language such as "knee trembling"? Or even "afraid"? It's up to them how they want to lead their lives. There are people with underlying conditions, who are being sensible and are sick of people implying they're being overly cautious.

And perhaps Growstuff some of us may be sick of the posting police If you don’t like a post then move on
Do we have to run every post through you first to see if it’s acceptable

If I don't like the content of a post, I have every right to express my opinion and you have no right to dictate what I post. Look in a mirror if you're accusing of somebody of bullying.

Maybe some don't have the capacity to entertain themselves

That's really dismissive growstuff. I'm an only child and can quite happily keep myself occupied for days on end. Most would call me an introvert. But like most people I want to meet other people face to face, even for a few minutes. That doesn't make me shallow.

Lol growstuff I have never bullied anyone in my life do you really make stuff up as you go along where did I accuse you of bullying
I certainly have no right to dictate what you post but that works both ways
Will leave it at that

It’s like another world to us here in Victoria reading about how you are living there. It’s been nearly 2 years now and we are in our 205 th day of total isolation. Can’t wait to see my family and friends again but it looks like it will be a while. Not one person is allowed to visit outside the family we live with. Your country is the other extreme, somewhere in the middle might be good.

For normality to resume on an indefinite basis we should be in a better place with regards to Covid. We have the benefit of high and recent vaccination rates, Sumner weather. The writing is on the wall for a very difficult winter. I think that the messages are contradictory and confusing. Covid needs to be managed otherwise it's going to manage us.

i was reading on the sky news website that the vaccines could wane after 6 months and could drop below 50% for elderly and healthcare workers by winter, so we could be facing the same problem we have every year of hospitals filled with very sick and elderly people not just from winter flu but from covid as well, i am still very carefull and have had both jags and test twice a week at home but i have friends who don't bother as the response from them is.....i will be fine i have had the vaccine. i am in scotland and our FM is talking about bringing back some restrictions as the positive covid rate is very high.

Sounds awful nanna8 don’t honestly think many uk citizens would comply with such low rates