UK’s over reaction to Omicron.

MaggsMcG

What happened to the Nightingale Hospitals that were set up. I understand there will be a staffing problems but at least they could be isolated from the general hospital population. Because that's what killed my husband in February lack of isolation in our local hospital. He went in there Covid free and caught it 5 days later.

You just said it! Staffing was the issue.

Septimia is spot on . It’s the transmissibility factor 4 times as contagious in an older population with less effective vaccine against it it’s those kind of numbers that could over run our hospitals and the reason to react!

Epidemiologists warned about the likelihood of new variants long before Omicron was reported from SA. (Just as new variants of the Coronvirus were predicted years ago. Remember the lack of PPE & etc spring 2020.) Johnson et al are more concerned with trying to stay in power and keep people happy rather than taking root and branch measures to deal with this pandemic. Eg why are masks not mandatory? Why is ventilation not mandatory? Why is social distancing not mandatory?

What happened to the Nightingale Hospitals that were set up. I understand there will be a staffing problems but at least they could be isolated from the general hospital population. Because that's what killed my husband in February lack of isolation in our local hospital. He went in there Covid free and caught it 5 days later.

The NHS is, as usual, ‘‘overwhelmed’ despite the vast amounts of money pumped into it and the vast salaries paid to vast amounts of ‘managers’.

That is utter nonsense.

The NHS is short of 100,000 staff for a start. Its budgets have been cut in real terms by the tories over the past decade. It is forced to run at maximum capacity in 'normal' times which allows it no spare capacity for emergencies such as this pandemic. It has coped brilliantly so far in impossibly difficult circumstances.

Chemtrail

And almost everyone in the UK has been exposed to covid

??

I think we (the general public) should be wary of reading too much into media reports that use the words 'may', 'might' and 'could' in articles about Covid and the NHS.

I think it's sensible to take precautions to avoid catching/spreading any virus. I've had a cold lately and I've stayed home, mostly, worn a mask in shops and kept a good distance from others if I've had to go out. I won't wear a mask outside because I do believe we need to breathe the outside air and that transmission is low outdoors.

If I lived in a town or city with crowded streets I'd reconsider that but I feel sorry for people I see wearing masks outdoors when the nearest person to them is me and I'm across the street. The same goes for people driving alone in their car, wearing a mask. Masks get wet with prolonged use so their protective effect, for the wearer and others, is lost. If you wear it outdoors or alone in your car, and then enter a building (other than your own home) you, and others around you, are probably more at risk than if you leave it off until you are about to go inside.

No, the government are not overacting. They have a duty to act on the best information available. The UK is vastly different from South Africa. This is about protecting the NHS ensuring that it does not get overwhelmed. How anyone could think they could not take action is beyond me. I hope all predictions are wrong and this all becomes a non event. It's not a gamble the government could possibly take.

But people who have had only 1 jab are still going on public transport and in shops

Dr Hilary Jones on Good Morning Britain always explains Covid developments very clearly. He says it is the problem of the hospitals being overwhelmed that is top of the list. This is the time of year when hospitals are fuller than Summertime and many are struggling to find beds for sick people anyway. Add folk suffering with the Omicrom variety and you have a recipe for disaster.

And yes, I think Boris J has jumped very happily on the bandwagon to divert attention. He's good at that.

What a poisoned chalice Boris took on when he became P.M. I don't think there are many who would take in the job - he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't! Just try and leave his personal life out of political arguments - after all French P.M.s have second families and no-one turns a hair! I don't write the above as a supporter or otherwise of Boris, just think he has had a load of s****to cope with since becoming P.M.

Even though symptoms might be mild, if enough people need to take to their beds and self isolate, including doctors and nurses, surely the outcome will be a self created lockdown anyway.

esgt1967 In an ideal world where people will look after themselves and others and also take responsibility should they fall ill, is but a pipe-dream. Not everyone abides by such rules and thus need to be told, as ministers are setting out to do.

As is seen, many do the opposite to what they're asked and it's this albeit a minority is all it takes to undo the good that others are trying hard to enforce.

Jenny Harries, head of the UK's Health Security Agency and Test and Trace, has just given evidence that Omicron is probably the biggest threat to the NHS since the start of the pandemic. It is so contagious that the infection rate is doubling every two days. Even if it isn't as lethal as other forms, the numbers needing hospitalisation could be overwhelming.

The trouble is that being fed up, and not wanting to be told what to do, isn't how only some feel.
We all feel like it, and the fewer people who knuckle down, the longer we all have to put up with being restricted.

If people feel fed up with things, how do they imagine others feel, who have lost loved ones and been unable to even see them when they're dying?

esgt1967

I really think it's about time we all took responsibility for our own health with Covid as we did with all other things that can make us ill/possibly cause our untimely death.

I am really sick to the back teeth of being told what I can and can't do in my personal life by the Government and beyond annoyed about the constant talk of "protecting the NHS". Sorry, but this has gone on for far too long now, we know what we need to do to reduce our risk to Covid exposure so please just let us get on with it.

We are not living at the moment, just existing and launching from one crisis to the next it seems with nothing really being achieved. Enough is enough.

In an ideal world. But the poor decisions taken by some ignorant people can lead to the deaths of others.

the government dare not restrict us legally because there would be revolts and trouble. The only resort is the 'panic' us because then perhaps we will be guided by common sense. The science is real. the numbers of the escalation are real. Doubling up at the speed it does gets stratospheric very fast. It is too risky to wait for further information on how serious Omricon is. To anyone with breathing difficulties or heart complaints...and there are very many indeed it is not worth the risk. And we are responsible to everyone. And to die of covid is not a peaceful easy death. Let's hope there are very few indeed. And thank goodness they have ramped up the boosters.

Whitewavemark2

Are you saying that Johnson is cynical enough to react to omicron as he has in order to move the focus away from his lies over the parties?

Some may say so - and are- I couldnt possibly comment.

Not just moving the focus away from the lies over last year’s parties - they’re trying to get some very scary legislation slipped in under the radar while we’re all busy with Omicron.

Cases in South Africa are rising but might well be milder if initial studies prove correct. However by their own admission the first cohort of test results included over 35,000 positive test results from way back when which had not been previously counted due to bureaucratic delays and therefore would be highly unlikely to include Omicron. This doctor from SA may work as a GP now but has had considerable experience both presently and in the past and sits on numerous expert committees in SA. And virologists around the world, including many in the UK, hardly seem to agree on many of the issues surrounding Covid. I think Boris has overreacted, panicked the nation, having failed to plan for the occurrence of variants when his own ‘experts’ have previously warned of the likelihood of just such a scenario. The NHS is, as usual, ‘‘overwhelmed’ despite the vast amounts of money pumped into it and the vast salaries paid to vast amounts of ‘managers’. The booster target therefore is unlikely to be reached and the nation, misinformed and misled, is terrified, the economy slowing and the country in massive debt. How on earth do we get out of this mess? I suppose a competent government would help, but that really would be a Christmas miracle!

Just been told of a school closing early for Christmas owing the number of staff off sick with covid. Maybe it is a milder version to what we have been subjected to so far but being highly transmissable the sheer number suffering from it might well bring the country to its knees. Make your own minds up whether its all lies but please don't breath in my direction as I don't want it.

Spiked WOULD say that.
It’s a far right publication run by people who are against the vaccine and want freedom to do what they want even in the midst of a pandemic.

The truth will out!

she’s actually the Chair of the South African medical Association.

"The South African Medical Association is a non-statutory, professional association for public- and private-sector medical practitioners in South Africa. Registered as a non-profit organisation it acts as a trade union for its public-sector members . It is affiliated with the Congress of South African Trade Unions."

The South African Medical Association is a Trade Union. It is not a learned body.

Boris has messed up on various ways but he is right (and supported by real experts like Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer) that action to limit Omicron is needed now. It is obviously highly infectious and if very large numbers of people are infected then (1) large numbers will need NHS treatment and (2) it may reduce NHS staffing at a critical time. Better to err on the safe side, I think. The UK experience of Omicron is not likely to be a carbon copy of the SA experience for all sorts of reasons.

She’s actually the Chair of the South African medical Association.
I agree it is an over reaction.
We will have to deal with many variants as we move forward destroying lives and livelihoods is not the answer.Yes to vaccinations .. yes to shielding the vulnerable but no to politically saving an nhs that needs to be re-engineered