It's just a cold

Still plenty of testing going on Ro60
Just ordered 2 testing kits on line this morning They weren't available early on but ordered a bit later

MayBee70

If he was right it was more luck than judgement. And he was gambling with peoples lives.

'IS' not 'was'.

I'm finding the data hard to interpret at the moment. No wonder England has the lowest number of cases - we can't get testing kits!

Perhaps Johnson could see these restrictions made little difference at the expense of business

Could be MayBee70. I'm not defending him.

If he was right it was more luck than judgement. And he was gambling with peoples lives.

Well done Scotland and Wales- it takes courage.

Thanks Kali2 but right now England has the lowest case rate of all the four nations. The extra restrictions in Scotland were set up when we weren't sure what was going to happen with Omicron. Nicola's on later and she may well remove some of the restrictions.

Unfortunately, there's not a set of levers that can be pulled, or buttons pressed, that have the desired result. Its still a matter of judgement. Maybe Johnson was right and the others were wrong.

And forgot to ask- do you have loved ones and close friends working on the front line in hospitals currently? Probably not, or you wouldn't make light of it like this.

A couple of months- wait for the worst of winter to be over. Live as normal as possible, but take care- for yourself, for others - and then hopefully, move on then. Well done Scotland and Wales- it takes courage.

Aveline

May not be 'just a cold' but it's not necessarily a desperate illness either.

It wasn't for me when I got it.

How many loved ones, friends and neighbours have you lost to the disease, I wonder? I have, quite a few. One of my nephews, healthy, early 50s, father of 3, gone within a couple of days, day after his father.

Maize D, I do take Covid seriously, but if you are depending on any government to look after you, then think again. I follow the guidance given by the epidemiologists, no one else and make my decisions based on either Prof Whitty or Van Tam. People who have studied these things for about 40 years or so. Twitter is the most poisonous site I have ever been on. I left it years ago and will advise anyone who will listen to do the same. There are many strange and weird people on that forum.

May not be 'just a cold' but it's not necessarily a desperate illness either.

Because we know for sure, it is NOT just a cold.

Aveline

I was interested to read the 'Good Morning' thread this morning. Looks like a lot of us are out and about shopping, eating out and going to various classes and meetings. Life as we know it seems to be creeping back.

And that is wonderful- just depends how you do it and the care you take- and if vaccinated or not.

This is not what we are talking about though. We are talking about travel in from abroad without pre-testing. About football crowds, about the large % on public transport, etc, who do not wear masks or take any precautions.

Why can't we have a middle ground. Jumping from strict restrictions to none at all for many, again, in the middle of winter, with numbers rising- just give it a couple more months of just being careful and sensible, and testing those coming into the country before they travel home.

And enjoy life as to the full as possible. We can do this, honest.

I really hope life is creeping back, far too much damage has been done through unnecessary lockdowns, I am amazed at how compliant most people were throughout the whole pandemic.
I want to weep when I think of all those people dying alone in hospital, people missing out on life saving cancer treatment and elderly people only experiencing life through a window.

Aveline

I was interested to read the 'Good Morning' thread this morning. Looks like a lot of us are out and about shopping, eating out and going to various classes and meetings. Life as we know it seems to be creeping back.

I agree Aveline. First thing in the morning I flit from thread to thread and am amazed at the disparity between posters' activities. I don't think the bold go getters are any less caring or worried about the virus, or any less aware or informed. Just perhaps a bit more impatient not to miss out any more and to regain pleasure from what life offers?

I was interested to read the 'Good Morning' thread this morning. Looks like a lot of us are out and about shopping, eating out and going to various classes and meetings. Life as we know it seems to be creeping back.

growstuff

Alegrias1

Don't read this article, if you don't like some rationality:

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/05/covid-19-from-pandemic-to-endemic-this-is-how-we-might-get-back-to-normal

The last paragraph of that article is interesting:

"Like all the infectious diseases that gripped the world before it, Sars-CoV-2 will hopefully fade into distant memory, for better or worse. This forgetfulness can bring relief, growth and recovery, but it could also leave us woefully unprepared for the next pandemic. The 1918 flu taught us that masking and social distancing could reduce deaths, says Kenny – a lesson that we relearned too late in 2020."

Is that what you mean by "normal"?

What I mean by "normal" is that we don't spend our days worrying about a thing that might happen, and that we can live lives that are worth getting out of bed for.

Putin might invade Ukraine; we might get hit by a comet; climate change might mean a catastrophic change in sea levels. (Look up Thwaites Glacier). So continual warnings about how bad it could be just a bit like those scenes from Up Pompeii with Senna; remember her?

Perhaps if we actually paid attention to what "living with it" means instead of pretending that anybody who advocates it is a granny-killing disingenuous sybarite, we might actually get somewhere.

Algreis1 thanks for that article. Very interesting and thought provoking in many aspects.
If only the vaccine had been made freely available to all those in non-first world countries immediately, then the world might be a lot further along the post-pandemic route by now.
We are already seeing a lot of that 'change of behavior mentioned in the article.
/

It has now been reported that the number of deaths from/with? covid is half as many as when we have a bad fly year. Regardless of how you see or have seen covid, it is now time to move on and indeed allow those that wish to get back to normal living.

JenniferEccles

That was an interesting article growstuff, explaining quite clearly how although some viruses do evolve to become less dangerous, it’s by no means a forgone conclusion.

Of course we all hope that with Omicron, the former is the case.

Thank you.

I thought it was interesting - and factual - too.

Allsorts

I don’t like the Guardian, so don’t read it, having tried a few times. I do think we shouldn’t overthink everything we hear about though. Covid will be with us some time, take all reasonable precautions as advised, have the jabs the scientist recommend and get on with it. We can’t not live waiting for something that might happen but probably won’t.

I agree. Some of the myths surrounding Covid are rubbish, but sticking one's head in the sand doesn't seem like a good option either.

Alegrias1

Don't read this article, if you don't like some rationality:

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/05/covid-19-from-pandemic-to-endemic-this-is-how-we-might-get-back-to-normal

The last paragraph of that article is interesting:

"Like all the infectious diseases that gripped the world before it, Sars-CoV-2 will hopefully fade into distant memory, for better or worse. This forgetfulness can bring relief, growth and recovery, but it could also leave us woefully unprepared for the next pandemic. The 1918 flu taught us that masking and social distancing could reduce deaths, says Kenny – a lesson that we relearned too late in 2020."

Is that what you mean by "normal"?

I don’t like the Guardian, so don’t read it, having tried a few times. I do think we shouldn’t overthink everything we hear about though. Covid will be with us some time, take all reasonable precautions as advised, have the jabs the scientist recommend and get on with it. We can’t not live waiting for something that might happen but probably won’t.

That was an interesting article growstuff, explaining quite clearly how although some viruses do evolve to become less dangerous, it’s by no means a forgone conclusion.

Of course we all hope that with Omicron, the former is the case.

Don't read this article, if you don't like some rationality:

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/05/covid-19-from-pandemic-to-endemic-this-is-how-we-might-get-back-to-normal