England will have no further Covid restrictions until after the New Year.

Good move by Johnson, for a change. Let’s hope it stays this way.?

I think England has made the right call at this moment in time.
Hospital admissions are not increasing by huge amount and the death rate has remained stable and decreasing.
Our main problem seems to be the number of people getting infected not because it makes them seriously ill but because it takes them away from essential services. We also have a problem with the unvaccinated
We will see if the restrictions in Scotland and Wales make a great difference I suspect they probably won’t
Things will have to move if Covid becomes less serious as it is with Omicron

I agree LadyWee, I think it's absolute madness to give a free rein to everyone for the sake of someone's creaky position in politics.
A pandemic will always get worse before it gets better and can take up to 3 years before being wiped out. It's virulent !

Why should our NHS be made to suffer yet again, because it will ? So so selfish and totally unfair.

No use crying over spilt milk when we read about deaths in the New Year. I'm not usually a " told you so " person, but this time I hope I'm wrong !

Highest number of cases since last February and such a demand for PCRs that there was no availability yesterday -,this indicates we are still in the eye of the virus storm. The NHS is hanging by a thread and staffing levels are at an all time low. Cancellations rife. It may be fine and dandy out in the shires but it’s not great in our urban centres amongst essential workers. This should be just as much a concern as Covid hospital admissions.

At least Ferguson hasn’t told us it will be over in 12 weeks/over by Christmas etc etc….

Urmstongran

So the ‘Keir’ joke went over your head I take it as you’ve just told us her name’s Angela.

She’s as entitled to an opinion, as any of us are.

That said ...
Mr Ferguson, got it wrong again. It takes real skill to be 100% wrong 100% of the time doesn’t it?
?

Professor Ferguson hasn't been 100% wrong 100% of the time, but the gutter press does like its scapegoats. Sadly, some people swallow the myths.

Maggiemaybe

The BBC again:

Latest figures showed there were 8,474 people with Covid currently in hospital in England - the highest since March, but well below last winter's peak of more than 34,000. Not all the patients in hospital will have been admitted for Covid - about three in 10, according to the latest data, have the virus but were admitted to hospital for something else.

Now I’m no fan of Boris, but in view of those figures, and the expert advice he’s been given today, I can’t see why he should be shutting us down right now.

So how do you suggest that the spread of infection is limited?

The number of cases is currently at record levels. It looks as though deaths aren't rising at the same rate, but there are still a number of issues.

Firstly, vulnerable people are still dying - maybe some people are prepared to write them off as collateral, but you might feel differently if it were you were at high risk, maybe because you are immuno-suppressed or have underlying health issues which mean that you're at high risk of being severely affected. Nobody has ever promised that vaccinations are 100% effective, so some people are being condemned to stay in their homes without human contact or to to risk death.

Secondly, it's inevitable that some people, including staff, will catch Covid in hospital if the community transmission is rife. It's yet another reason to keep case incidence rates low. Otherwise, it will become impossible to treat people for non-Covid conditions in hospital.

Thirdly, if the virus is allowed a free rein and cases remain high, it's inevitable that there will be further mutations. Nobody knows whether new variants would be more deadly. Scientists can't predict how the virus will mutate and will always be on the back foot regarding vaccinations and treatments. While they're playing catch-up, people will become very ill and will die.

"Shutting down" society is a sign of failure because precautionary measures haven't been taken in time. Mask wearing, social distancing, good ventilation and encouragement to avoid public places, including working from home, need to be enforced.

I agree Lady Wee. Mask wearing and social distancing had become a way of life and wasn’t actually difficult to do. And it showed that we cared about other people. Freedom Day just gave people permission to be selfish. imo

Sadly I think the best way to manage throughout would have been to have some restrictions until we were out of the pandemic. Not allowing mass events, compulsory mask wearing, social
Distancing etc are all simple measures which would not affect life too greatly but would help manage the situation alongside the vaccinations. As with many other countries. The fact that thw UK is so far out on a limb comparable to other countries demonstrates, the risky, political game playing that is happening. The NHS are worried, stressed, exhausted, leaving in droves. I’m not sure that Chris whitty et al
Are particularly optimistic. I think the government has chose to ignore them.

pigsmayfly.

I have omicron right now, tested positive again on day 8 and still feel ill. So the theory of going back to work on day 7 may not work for some people. Staff shortages for essential services could be a problem in time

My first thought was will staff be forced into going back to work after 7 days if they’re still feeling ill. One of the worst things you can do after having a virus is to push yourself too hard too soon. ME still exists along with long covid. And viruses can trigger other illnesses, to.

The BBC again:

Latest figures showed there were 8,474 people with Covid currently in hospital in England - the highest since March, but well below last winter's peak of more than 34,000. Not all the patients in hospital will have been admitted for Covid - about three in 10, according to the latest data, have the virus but were admitted to hospital for something else.

Now I’m no fan of Boris, but in view of those figures, and the expert advice he’s been given today, I can’t see why he should be shutting us down right now.

Kali2

... and we just don't know, what price we will pay later.

If that price is for grand-children to again have schools closed and work from home, then I think this is much much too high a price.

I agree Kali2.

Exactly - there was no joke there at all! It is so so not funny!

Sorry I have just renamed Boris

No it didn't go over our heads it wasnt really that subtle. It's very likely that Doris made the decision or rather didnt make the decision because he knew he couldnt get it through cabinet not because of the science.

So the ‘Keir’ joke went over your head I take it as you’ve just told us her name’s Angela.

She’s as entitled to an opinion, as any of us are.

That said ...
Mr Ferguson, got it wrong again. It takes real skill to be 100% wrong 100% of the time doesn’t it?
?

Kali2

From a friend.

The only reason more measures have not been introduced is so Johnson can hold onto the vestiges of ‘power’ he has left. In reality, he is simply a puppet of the 1922 committee. Always has been.
The number of cases and enormous pressure on the NHS are secondary to what the libertarian fringe in the Tory party want.
More measures to keep us safe are needed but he hasn’t got the political power to enact them.

And so we lurch onwards…….

I tend to agree with my friend Angela here, as said previouly.

Hetty58

Katie59, I'd suspect that the 'same symptom' colds may well be Covid too - that's my bet! I'm in London and it's really bad here. Anyway 'No further restrictions' is only for five days!

It's a puzzle, Hetty58 as those with feeling ill or with symptoms of a common cold are testing but testing -ve.

Just because Covid is rife doesn't mean that colds, flu, stomach upsets have disappeared.

So far, the figures are very encouraging which is why this decision was made.

It's a massive gamble - and could go either way...

Fair comment Casdon.

I know Urmstongran. The figure is always going to be an estimate though, because as you know having worked in the NHS, numbers change constantly, not everybody is registered, new people come, and go. Full Fact is normally reliable though I’ve found, so the parameters they’ve used are worth considering.

We have two friends and two acquaintances with covid, three have symptoms of a mild cold, one has no symptoms, all have had three jabs. Local hospitality is coping with cancellations v staff off isolating. SE England is -2% people in hospital with it in the last week. Our local, large hospital has 55 patients with covid, down from 85 at the end of October.
The next 2/3 weeks after festive mixing will be telling, one way or the other.

Within that link, was this Casdon:

“The ONS figure is an estimate of the population over a year ago based on the 2011 census, and cannot be used to link individuals to vaccine status, limiting the ability to analyse data by, say, ethnicity or region. Such information is available when using NIMS.

On the other hand, NIMS is expected to overestimate the total population of England (and therefore the total number of unvaccinated people), as it includes people who are still registered with the NHS but moved abroad for example, and may double count people registered with more than one GP.”

This is where I got my figures from Urmstongran.
fullfact.org/health/expose-england-population-vaccinated/