Is now the right time to lift Covid restrictions?

I totally agree.

Kamiso

MaggsMcG

Boris bashing again. I don't like him I also think he should resign. He is taking scientific advice but he is also taking economic advice. The Government, not Boris on his own have to make judgements on what is best for the majority. The clinically vulnerable have been fairly good at looking after themselves for the last year. They can only do what they feel they need to just like the rest of us. You can't restrict everyone for ever, the economic backlash would be even worse than it is.

Don’t let common sense get in the way of the Boris bashers finding yet another opportunity to give him a good kicking.

It seems to be an obsession with some whose refusal to accept that others have reached different opinions through different life circumstances.

It’s plain common sense that the “rules keep changing” the information from the international virologists keeps being updated and changing.

If we had stuck to the first set of “rules” we would be allowed out once a day, theatres, cinemas, leisure centres, shops, pubs and restaurants etc would have been forced to close down permanently as no government

I’ll continue to wear a mask in closely spaced environments when I feel it appropriate, and continue to carry a small bottle of sanitizer in my bag or pocket, along with tissues to wipe anything that concerns me.

Have a look at the thread posted by MayBeMaw about the BMA statement,

growstuff

westendgirl

see Sajid Javid is going to keep his mask on when shopping, "because prevalence is still high "and that Nadhim Zahawi has said that all schools should ensure pupils remove masks and that his department will contact schools that refuse to do so.
Mixed messaging ?

It's being reported that many schools are still encouraging pupils and staff to wear masks. I wonder what the effect of a "report from Zahawi's department" will be.

Can Nadhim Zahawi or Javid actually prevent pupils from wearing masks if they want - or need- to?

Perhaps Javid should lead by example and remove his mask when shopping, regardless?

... ridiculous mixed messages...

westendgirl

see Sajid Javid is going to keep his mask on when shopping, "because prevalence is still high "and that Nadhim Zahawi has said that all schools should ensure pupils remove masks and that his department will contact schools that refuse to do so.
Mixed messaging ?

That can’t be right . I read that several schools are opting to keep masks,
Surely they have better things to do than “contact schools who refuse”

MaggsMcG

Boris bashing again. I don't like him I also think he should resign. He is taking scientific advice but he is also taking economic advice. The Government, not Boris on his own have to make judgements on what is best for the majority. The clinically vulnerable have been fairly good at looking after themselves for the last year. They can only do what they feel they need to just like the rest of us. You can't restrict everyone for ever, the economic backlash would be even worse than it is.

Don’t let common sense get in the way of the Boris bashers finding yet another opportunity to give him a good kicking.

It seems to be an obsession with some whose refusal to accept that others have reached different opinions through different life circumstances.

It’s plain common sense that the “rules keep changing” the information from the international virologists keeps being updated and changing.

If we had stuck to the first set of “rules” we would be allowed out once a day, theatres, cinemas, leisure centres, shops, pubs and restaurants etc would have been forced to close down permanently as no government

I’ll continue to wear a mask in closely spaced environments when I feel it appropriate, and continue to carry a small bottle of sanitizer in my bag or pocket, along with tissues to wipe anything that concerns me.

westendgirl

see Sajid Javid is going to keep his mask on when shopping, "because prevalence is still high "and that Nadhim Zahawi has said that all schools should ensure pupils remove masks and that his department will contact schools that refuse to do so.
Mixed messaging ?

Good for Nadhim Zahawi!

Something Savid Javid said yesterday (on the news) I found quite interesting. He said they’d been made mandatory back in November to try to calm the panic caused by Omicron. This was reminiscent of what Jenny Harries (then Deputy Chief Medical Officer) said when facemasks were first introduced back in summer - that the evidence on face coverings 'is not very strong in either direction' and that they were only brought in so people would feel safer. She was soon slapped down by ‘politics’ but it reiterates what I’ve always believed.

They are only political tools - just look at Biden - almost his entire political campaign was based around “the mask”. And our politicians - the Tories wouldn’t wear them when they weren’t mandatory because they know they have no effect. The Labour party only ever whipped them out when the TV cameras were around.

Here's a quote from a report I happen to agree with:
"masks serve symbolic roles. Masks are not only tools, they are also talismans that may help increase perceived sense of safety, well-being, and trust in hospitals. Although such reactions may not be strictly logical, we are all subject to fear and anxiety, especially during times of crisis. One might argue that fear and anxiety are better countered with data and education than with a marginally beneficial mask, but it is difficult to get [people] to hear this message in the heat of the current crisis"

westendgirl

see Sajid Javid is going to keep his mask on when shopping, "because prevalence is still high "and that Nadhim Zahawi has said that all schools should ensure pupils remove masks and that his department will contact schools that refuse to do so.
Mixed messaging ?

It's being reported that many schools are still encouraging pupils and staff to wear masks. I wonder what the effect of a "report from Zahawi's department" will be.

Glad to hear that WWM2. My daughter lives there and I think she and others are being too relaxed.

see Sajid Javid is going to keep his mask on when shopping, "because prevalence is still high "and that Nadhim Zahawi has said that all schools should ensure pupils remove masks and that his department will contact schools that refuse to do so.
Mixed messaging ?

As above- and with the end of winter.

Alegrias1

When would be the right time, according to your common sense?

As far as I’m concerned when the transmission rate is back to less than R1.

When would be the right time, according to your common sense?

Definitely NOT and this is my common sense speaking.

Surely the most important thing to watch is the hospitalisation rates and death rates they show a clearer picture
We obviously still have infection that is being reported I reported my lateral flow test as required but does it really matter how many there are like me who are positive but with no symptoms. I am obviously still isolating
Surely the important thing is how many people become serious affected not those that have mild cold symptoms or nothing at all Wasn’t that why we were vaccinated

Some sensible advise from my council today.

Brighton & Hove City Council
@BrightonHoveCC
Heading out today?

Wear a face covering
Test before you meet others
Reduce your close contacts
Meet outside or open a window
Wash your hands regularly

Help keep the community safe

It's high time they were lifted. We have the vaccine so let's get back to normal. Can't live with restrictions all the time. What about the economy and people's mental health!!! Those who feel unsafe? Well YOU stay indoors and walk about in fear, and let the rest of us get back to normal.

As long as people don’t think that this is the end of the pandemic then it is the right thing to do. Many people are struggling with restrictions and being told what they can and cannot do. The responsibility for wearing masks, social distancing and staying safe rests with the individual. We have had two years of being told how to do this and must continue. I do worry that we will have another spike, we will continue to wear masks etc. for months yet.

we have no idea what proportion of the population is actually infected.

Yes we do.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveypilot/19january2022

I'm sorry if people find me pedantic, but all the inaccurate comments need responding to. The last thing we need is Private Frasers wondering around telling us we're all doomed.

Germanshepherdsmum

Your post is 8.44 is interesting growstuff. I have always believed that there are far more cases than are reported, even if that’s only down to people not reporting a positive lft result. And with the dropping of that element of reporting how exactly are we supposed to have any idea of whether new cases are going down or rocketing?

Yes I agree, I actually know people locally who have had positive LFT's and not reported them. They say there is no point, though most of them have isolated. There must be many people who have no symptoms and simply will not test because they are in hourly paid jobs and would not be paid if they do not work.
Figures all through the pandemic have been inaccurate. So few people were tested in the early stages - in fact people such as taxi drivers who asked for tests were refused unless they had obvious symptoms. Then we had a time when people were using the new, free LTS's and reporting results. Now many fully vaccinated people presumably little or nothing in the way of symptoms and we have no idea what proportion of the population is actually infected.
However I'm sure I'm not alone in knowing far more people now who have Covid than at any other stage of the pandemic, particularly in schools.

maddyone

Very few people bother to use the sanitising stations anymore. I do continue to use them, but never see anyone else sanitising their hands/trolley. I just hope the shops don’t remove them because of yesterday’s announcements.

Yes, I've noticed this. Our local Morrisons no longer has the sanitisers near the trolley park at the front of the store but by one of the trolley parks further away in the car park. There is no sanitiser in the store either, except a bottle at the entrance to the pharmacy

Your post is 8.44 is interesting growstuff. I have always believed that there are far more cases than are reported, even if that’s only down to people not reporting a positive lft result. And with the dropping of that element of reporting how exactly are we supposed to have any idea of whether new cases are going down or rocketing?

Where were you last week when the reported numbers was falling off a cliff? Were you here saying that numbers were going down? I mean I've been away so maybe I missed that.

It's not reasonable to come along when there are local maximums to tell us that cases are rising but not to come along wher there are local minimums to tell us they're falling.

Alegrias1

There is no earthly reason to say that cases are rising when they're not. And they're not. People may have an idea that they are but the powers that be are keeping it secret. That would be paranoia.

The cases may rise when everyone in England goes back to work. They may rise when mask wearing goes.

But right now, no matter what you say, cases aren't rising. And I'm not obsessed with minimising the results. I'm obsessed with telling the truth about them and not propagating misinformation.

But they have risen over the last couple of days. It could be a temporary blip, but it's ridiculous to deny the facts.

Yesterday (20 January) NHS Scotland reported 4,743 official cases, but did not include 8,262 cases from its "experimental" dashboard, which includes LFT cases.

There is no earthly reason to say that cases are rising when they're not. And they're not. People may have an idea that they are but the powers that be are keeping it secret. That would be paranoia.

The cases may rise when everyone in England goes back to work. They may rise when mask wearing goes.

But right now, no matter what you say, cases aren't rising. And I'm not obsessed with minimising the results. I'm obsessed with telling the truth about them and not propagating misinformation.