Your idea of stable??

Daisymae

I fail to understand how literally hundreds of people a week are dying and yet not the smallest effort is being made to control or reduce infection rates. There seems to be 2 major camps - it's all over, or people are imposing their own restrictions. It seems as though the government has washed their hands of the issue.

That is exactly how I feel. I feel as though the government have washed their hands of Covid. Because there are no longer any restrictions I feel less safe when I go out. For example, I went to the Beauty Therapist last week. She wasn’t wearing a mask. Fewer and fewer people bother with masks in the shops now. And the idea of the vaccination passport was ditched. I used to love live entertainment but there is no way I would go to a theatre or concert hall now where I would have no idea whether other people who were sitting next to me were vaccinated or even had bothered to do a test before they went to the theatre. A least when you get on a plane you have to show vaccination status or a negative test.
Last week there were over 800 deaths from Covid. Why is this acceptable?

Interesting video posted by Richard Murphy in his blog today. Lancet editor, Richard Horton speaking earlier this year

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2021/10/16/we-must-tell-the-truth-that-people-are-going-to-die-from-covid-again-wholly-unnecessarily/

I fail to understand how literally hundreds of people a week are dying and yet not the smallest effort is being made to control or reduce infection rates. There seems to be 2 major camps - it's all over, or people are imposing their own restrictions. It seems as though the government has washed their hands of the issue.

The ITU consultant was on the Welsh news as well, I thought that the scariest thing about what she said was that some patients enter ITU and refuse conventional treatment, ask for ivermectin or other ‘quack’ drugs, still denying that Covid even exists. The staff must find that so difficult, particularly when younger people die having refused treatment that the staff know is effective.
I think more measures will have to be introduced in the next few weeks because the numbers are going to go up further before all over 50s have had their booster jabs, so there will be more hospitalisations.

I do think there is a level of complacency. Yesterday we had an e mail from the Chairman of our golf club telling us that the club had been contacted via Test and Trace to say 2 members had tested positive and were in the club on a certain date. (not us) We were warned that members had not been abiding by the conditions placed on and by EGU and the club itself. Hand sanitising was rarely seen and members not logging in to the Q code. I have to say from my point of view many of the lady members gather in the locker room for a chat which we didn't used to do but we have got slack. we will undoubtedly have this much valued facility closed if we are not more careful. Numbers are rising sharply in that area.

I went to Sainsbury yesterday afternoon most customers breezed in past the sanitiser stand not wearing a mask.
My daughter went to Wilko where a notice at the door said STRICT MASK WEARING POLICY- she was the only person wearing a mask. I really think we must tighten up - live life yes of course but with caution.

nanna8

The alternative is to live like we do in Victoria and after nearly 300 days of isolation it has become a living hell. Hasn’t done much, either because it is still spreading.

I understand that dying from covid isn't much fun, either, nanna8.

I appreciate your frustration, but at least you have a government that seems to care about its citizens.

maddyone

I’m becoming increasingly afraid. I’ve already had Covid as probably many of you know. I’m afraid of being so ill again. I wear a mask and sanitise when shopping. Hopefully I’ll get my booster in November. In the summer I was relatively relaxed about it all, but as winter approaches, and numbers climb, 45 thousand positive cases yesterday, I feel worried. My dear friend from school (friendship of 50 years) has now got Covid although she’s double vaccinated, and when speaking on the phone to her I can say she sounds dreadful. Numbers appear to be much higher in the rest of Europe. I read an article in The Guardian yesterday saying government appear to have given up trying to control Covid. That’s how it feels to me.

I agree, maddyone. That's how it feels to me, too, and I believe it is the truth.

They've no interest in the rising numbers of children and young people getting covid and being at risk of Long Covid, which can have long lasting and even life changing effects. Financing schools and colleges to enable them to fit good ventilation and effective air filtration, revising the ridiculous 'guidance' on isolation and attendance when children or parents test positive for covid, and mandating mask use in schools and colleges would be a great help. But no, some may die (or be permanently impaired) and that's fine. Just the luck of the draw, eh...

Yes, some will get COVID and a few will die

A curious and rather chilling echo of our PM's words early on in the pandemic, MOnica.

We will be paying for the economic disruption caused by the pandemic for many decades,

Would you like to tell us who we 'owe' this money to? Seeing that most of it was created through the QE mechanism. And that most of our 'debt' is actually people's savings and investments in the very safe vehicle of treasury bonds and NSI. What would paying that back achieve? Apart from lots of people searching for alternative 'safe' investments...

My son and daughter in law live in London and still wfh a couple of days and travel to the office in the Tube the others. Even though the Mayor made mask wearing compulsory on public transport they say only about a third of passengers and a lot of the Tube staff don’t wear them. I live in a rural area but few bother with masks now in our local market town. I’m amazed at the extent of the relaxations in England - no ‘covid passes’ for nightclubs, further travel relaxations including testing requirements, especially coming up to winter with the double threat of covid and flu.

I’m becoming increasingly afraid. I’ve already had Covid as probably many of you know. I’m afraid of being so ill again. I wear a mask and sanitise when shopping. Hopefully I’ll get my booster in November. In the summer I was relatively relaxed about it all, but as winter approaches, and numbers climb, 45 thousand positive cases yesterday, I feel worried. My dear friend from school (friendship of 50 years) has now got Covid although she’s double vaccinated, and when speaking on the phone to her I can say she sounds dreadful. Numbers appear to be much higher in the rest of Europe. I read an article in The Guardian yesterday saying government appear to have given up trying to control Covid. That’s how it feels to me.

Alegrias www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-58890309 Interview with a hospital consultant in Wales saying the majority of those in hospital and those dying are not vaccinated

Actually what she said was that the vast majority of people in ITU were unvaccinated.

Not incompatible with the other stats.

but I think our daily death rates are much higher than in other European countries

They're not.

www.gransnet.com/forums/health/1302155-With-UK-Covid-deaths-the-highest-in-Europe-is-this-living-with-Covid#prettyPhoto

Thanks Esspee.

Alegrias1. Thank you for that “travellingtabby” link. It should be read by everyone.

nanna8, there has to be a sensible middle road between isolation - and our peculiar 'it's all over' behaviour. Mask wearing and social distancing should still be encouraged, wherever possible.

Dorsetcupcake61, the 'government who cares little for the vulnerable' is spot on. In fact, I'd take it further. Someone, somewhere, is gleefully calculating the 'savings' in pension and disability payments.

It all comes down to money, after all. Installing good ventilation systems in schools, discouraging socialising, travel and Christmas get togethers - never - what about the economy?

I am so happy I live in Scotland where mask wearing in public enclosed spaces is still the rule. Yes, some people ignore it but it is a tiny percentage.
Cop26 will be interesting as delegates will have to comply with Scottish laws……..or will they?

COVID has become and will remain an endemic disease, like flu. We need to get back to normal. This means getting vaccinated and then living without fear.

Yes, some will get COVID and a few will die, but that applies to almost any infection you can get. DH came close to death last Christmas when he picked up an antibiotic resistant infection when he was in hospital for another reason, my father died as the result of a similar infection.

We will be paying for the economic disruption caused by the pandemic for many decades, probably as long as it took us to pay off all the debt we accrued during WW2, (60 plus years).

Much of what some people see as lack of concern in others is the opposite, it is the conscious decision of other people, once they were vaccinated, to assess the risk and decide life had to go back to normal. In every age group, it is the unvaccinated occupying the hospital beds, and, sadly, a few are dying.

Three weeks ago my DS's family went down with COVID. The children tested positive but were asymptotic. My DDil , who is vaccinated, but has an auto-immune disease, was mainly bed bound for a week, but a week after that was entirely recovered and rushing rund as normal.

This is not a lot different to what is happening with a whole lot of other diseases we are inoculated against. Both my children had all their jabs at children.Both later caught whooping cough and one had measles, despite the innoculation, but the diseases were mild. For whooping cough they both had a slight cough for a few weeks and measles lasted less than a week.

We cannot live our lives in fear for ever. We need each to make our own risk assessments, based on our own risks and who we are. Some people are more anxious, or have reason to be more anxious than others, but look at the number of obese people in the country who know the risks of type 2 diabetes - and probably have it - , heart attacks and strokes, and have a worse prognosis if they do get COVID, yet do nothing to remedy their condition.

The alternative is to live like we do in Victoria and after nearly 300 days of isolation it has become a living hell. Hasn’t done much, either because it is still spreading.

I am amazed at the complacency when we appear to be in such a poor situation compared to other countries. For a short while after "freedom" day people seemed still to be wearing masks. Now it's an odd mix of seeing people wearing masks outdoors or none at all. Both my daughter and I have noticed-and its just an observation, but the majority of people who do wear masks are young people.
Certainly the vaccine offers protection but the fact we have to continue to be cautious has not been emphasized.
I'm sure I will be shot down in flames for this but we have a government who cares little for the vulnerable. Society is just been left to it's own devices. Those who are least able to protect themselves whether due to health or occupation are on their own.
What appears to be a total lack of concern by the rest of society baffles me.
I think the Government is still riding high on the vaccine success of January. Since then we have slipped backwards but no one seems to be at all concerned. There are articles that the booster jabs for extremely CV are not effectively being rolled out.
My booster is due in a few weeks. I have everything crossed it will go ahead.
I think the winter will be harsher than it need have been. What it will take for people to open their eyes I really dont know.

imacmum

Other countries are not testing like we are in England. Discovered this whilst in Spain on holiday recently, none of our Spanish or Norwegian friends there had ever even had a test whilst we are still doing 2 a week. However they all wear masks inside and in the street and they say there are no cases. Possibly because nobody is being tested We need to bring mask wearing back as majority seem to have given up wearing them

I agree that some other countries are not testing as much as us but I think our daily death rates are much higher than in other European countries - that’s nothing to do with more testing.

I also struggle to understand why people seem to accept these death rates as “ living with Covid”. Maybe there ought to be more precautionary measures against the spread of Covid like in countries with lower death rates.

I was in a shop yesterday. The man in the queue in front of me clearly took exception to my FFP3 mask. He had a LOUD conversation with the cashier about the same old anti mask tosh (breathing in my bad air crap) BUT they both also referred to the pandemic in the past tense.

I briefly considered responding to him as he left, like for like, but decided to pretend I hadn't heard a word, because I think he was looking for a reaction.

(ONE of the things that really annoyed me was his diatribe about going for a hospital appointment and INSISTING on not wearing mask. F***ing idiot.)

DD messaged me tonight to say she’d nipped into the Coop and no one was wearing a mask. I’ve got to go to Max Spielmans next week to get my passport photo done. It’ll be the first time in eighteen months that I’ll be in a shop without wearing a mask, albeit only for a few minutes, and I’d be much happier if other people in the shop were wearing masks.

Ridiculous to have ditched mask wearing. Such a small thing to do

Noticeably fewer masks here too. Some shops still insisting on masks, others relying on people’s good sense, so very few wearing masks at all.
Our friends who visited from France recently said they had never had a test until they decided to come here.

I read the article earlier this evening. Yes, I am totally bemused by the attitude to covid in this country. It does just seem like mass brainwashing to me. But what do I know