Covid-19. Exactly 1 year today since 1st UK lockdown..

[CeramicMX5ND2]

So exactly 1 year today since Boris locked us down for the 1st time due to Covid-19.. I have been lucky, no family or friends lost in the pandemic, but so much has changed for so many! I hope that you Pher's have come through what has been quite a year, and here's hoping that with the vaccines, maybe, just maybe, we'll see and end to this in 2021.......

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-56490107

[anonymous-user]

Well the goalposts keep changing, now we are banned from holidays, yet the key people have been vaccinated, so not really sure why they want to keep dragging this on.

i also found it interesting the Liverpool Mayor was arrested for doing pretty much what the Gov did back a year ago, i guess when you are in power you decide the rules. I worry for the future of country after all this, too many new laws, too much freedom eroded.

[Terminator X]

The Spruce Goose said:

Well the goalposts keep changing, now we are banned from holidays, yet the key people have been vaccinated, so not really sure why they want to keep dragging this on.

i also found it interesting the Liverpool Mayor was arrested for doing pretty much what the Gov did back a year ago, i guess when you are in power you decide the rules. I worry for the future of country after all this, too many new laws, too much freedom eroded.

Someone else saying today that social distancing, masks etc may be needed for years! Totally nuts. Once all the vulnerable people have been vaccinated (like now), just get back to how it was pre Covid and acknowledge that Covid will be seasonal just like flu so some poor souls will pass away every year from it.

TX.

[Mr Tidy]

Right, it has been a real barrel of laughs.

My Mum moved into a residential home in July 2019 at 97 years of age because she just couldn't cope living on her own in a retirement flat, even with our regular visits and private carers.

I think I was the last visitor there on 11 March because the home sensibly stopped all visits on 12 March 2020 and then everything changed.

Eventually my sister and I both managed to visit her in August and actually both saw her on 9 September, but all of those visits were outdoors and distanced so not having her hearing aids in place wasnt ideal.

Her niece and nephew weren't allowed to visit so she also didn't see her great-grandaughter for over 6 months and sadly Mum passed away in November 2020 (not Covid related) but she must have felt abandoned in her more lucid moments.

The funeral service had limited numbers and distancing in place with masks required and no singing allowed so we couldn't even give her the send off she would have wanted.

My sister and I being older have both had our first AZ jab a few weeks ago which is certainly reassuring, but way too late to be of any use to our Mum.

F*cking Covid.

Edited by Mr Tidy on Tuesday 23 March 02:12

[speedy_thrills]

Terminator X said:

Someone else saying today that social distancing, masks etc may be needed for years! Totally nuts. Once all the vulnerable people have been vaccinated (like now), just get back to how it was pre Covid and acknowledge that Covid will be seasonal just like flu so some poor souls will pass away every year from it. TX.

Good luck with that. It's obvious to most of us that rules and restrictions will be unwound this year as cases decline.

However certain efforts, like developing new vaccines to deal with emerging mutations, will have to continue to be funded.

[powerstroke]

2020 the government had an excuse !!
2021 the government is making excuses!!

Hopefully they will be held to account for ignoring there own and the WHO pandemic plans But you can bet
tt Hancock will be knighted along with the sage bellends witless, unbalanced, van tampon and
The bonking Ferguson...

[poo at Paul's]

Terminator X said:

Someone else saying today that social distancing, masks etc may be needed for years! Totally nuts. Once all the vulnerable people have been vaccinated (like now), just get back to how it was pre Covid and acknowledge that Covid will be seasonal just like flu so some poor souls will pass away every year from it.

TX.

This is all going to depend on the vaccines, their efficacy and more importantly how long they last, (and connected to that, a method for people to check if they have protection from them still).
Until then, social distancing etc will be a thing, whether by regulation or just social convention.

Covid may have a heavy seasonal element to it, but since Europe appears to into wave number 3 as we enter spring at the 12 month stage, it’s not clear how much seasonal influence it here is yet.
I think the world has a long way to go until it learns how to manage and live with Covid.

If with the vaccines, it transpires once you have your two jabs, you’re set for life, that’s one thing. If it is a case that you need a jab every 3 months that’s quite another. In the latter scenario, the industry and infrastructure that will grow up around vaccination will be massive.

[anonymous-user]

poo at Paul's said:

Terminator X said:

Someone else saying today that social distancing, masks etc may be needed for years! Totally nuts. Once all the vulnerable people have been vaccinated (like now), just get back to how it was pre Covid and acknowledge that Covid will be seasonal just like flu so some poor souls will pass away every year from it.

TX.

This is all going to depend on the vaccines, their efficacy and more importantly how long they last, (and connected to that, a method for people to check if they have protection from them still).
Until then, social distancing etc will be a thing, whether by regulation or just social convention.

Covid may have a heavy seasonal element to it, but since Europe appears to into wave number 3 as we enter spring at the 12 month stage, it’s not clear how much seasonal influence it here is yet.
I think the world has a long way to go until it learns how to manage and live with Covid.

If with the vaccines, it transpires once you have your two jabs, you’re set for life, that’s one thing. If it is a case that you need a jab every 3 months that’s quite another. In the latter scenario, the industry and infrastructure that will grow up around vaccination will be massive.

Jab every 3 months? fk that - absolute madness

[Lotobear]

BBC and ITV were 'celebrating' it this morning (BBC had wheeled out that mournful cello music again). NHS heroes, key workers and all that - even 'hardworking' GP's got a cheer (are politicians and health workers ever just 'working' rather than 'hard working'? - rhetorical question BTW)

....'Covid day' from now on anyone, what about a bank holiday to mark it where we all do lockdown again.. just for one day?

Edited by Lotobear on Tuesday 23 March 08:31

[Coolbananas]

I've understood the general strategy from day one, social distancing works, wearing masks can help reduce risk if social distancing is compromised, lockdowns absolutely work if too many do not adhere to the former two preventions properly. Lockdowns only happen because idiots force them upon us and are entirely avoidable if everyone just did the right thing and correctly social distanced and masked up.

However, the 'endgame' was always the vaccines. They were created very quickly, a credit to what can be achieved when enough resources are thrown at a problem such as this pandemic.

Once the most vulnerable have received the vaccine, restrictions need to be relaxed. I get that there must be a period to confirm that the vaccines actually are working and this is, for me, the most contentious part of the strategy; all that came before was to be expected but I am now in the camp that would want to see lockdowns and all business restrictions removed and only social distancing and masks being required going forward while we see how it all goes.

This is where I believe the UK and other countries similar in terms of vaccine rollout should be - only social distancing and masks, otherwise fully opened up. I would agree that international travel from and to the UK should only be with countries with low infection rates too. This virus is not seasonal, it is bloody obvious if you look at Brazil, India and others not to mention Europe's impending 3rd Wave arriving in Spring, hence why I am supportive of the two very easy measures, social distancing and masks (only the entirely immoral selfish and adult nappy-wearing babies truly complain or seek ridiculous 'medical' exemption to this - I think they should be permanent along with no more handshakes and the like to help reduce the spread of colds, flu etc too), while we see how the vaccines live up to their promise.

[JagLover]

Just another three weeks to "save" the NHS

[A Winner Is You]

It's the children I really feel sorry for, their educational, social and emotional development has been stunted, and when they enter the workplace it's going to be their taxes paying this off. All this for a disease so deadly most people don't know they have it.

[Dog Star]

Coolbananas said:

Once the most vulnerable have received the vaccine, restrictions need to be relaxed. I get that there must be a period to confirm that the vaccines actually are working and this is, for me, the most contentious part of the strategy; all that came before was to be expected but I am now in the camp that would want to see lockdowns and all business restrictions removed and only social distancing and masks being required going forward while we see how it all goes.

It's already becoming very very obvious what the vaccine rollout is achieving - and give it another couple of weeks to see what schools reopening has done and we should have solid proof. If this downward trend continues as it looks like it is doing then I really don't see why almost every single restriction can't be lifted. We cannot continue to see the whole country crippled and closed when we are likely to see excess deaths in single digits and manageable hospital bed numbers.

I'm actually of the opinion that this foreign travel restriction from next week is fair enough, until those places can get their infections etc under control. I really don't get all these people who rushed out and started booking holidays when this was a huge risk - they'll all now be bleating in the papers about it. But let's get the rest of the UK open and running again.

I do however wonder about these reports I keep seeing of "test everyone twice a week" blah blah - with that level of testing you will get huge numbers and even though deaths will be single digits if number of infections is high - carry on lockdown! I'm suspicious.

[poo at Paul's]

purplepenguin said:

Jab every 3 months? fk that - absolute madness

I hope youre right! But when the vaccines were first announced back in late Nov / early Dec, there were a few articles and news programs where "experts" brought this scenario up, ie they may only last 3 months. It's pretty scary, numbers wise, near 500 million jabs per year would be needed for UK!

But if the vaccines we are using at the mo do have some lifespan once in the arm, there may be a stage when the first "vulnerable" people that had the vaccines "run out" of protection, and need doing again. This may be before everyone else has been vaccinated, and just as we try to come out of some form of lockdown / restrictions!

I just hope someone has an idea about how long they last already and our plans as a nation take that into account.
But any vaccination program if it is an ongoing one, say yearly, will still be near 250k jabs (based on two jabs like AZ and Pfizer) that is going to need some serious long term investment and infrastructure.

Will be interesting to see how this all pans out.

[Wiltshire Lad]

Dog Star said:

It's already becoming very very obvious what the vaccine rollout is achieving - and give it another couple of weeks to see what schools reopening has done and we should have solid proof. If this downward trend continues as it looks like it is doing then I really don't see why almost every single restriction can't be lifted. We cannot continue to see the whole country crippled and closed when we are likely to see excess deaths in single digits and manageable hospital bed numbers.

I'm actually of the opinion that this foreign travel restriction from next week is fair enough, until those places can get their infections etc under control. I really don't get all these people who rushed out and started booking holidays when this was a huge risk - they'll all now be bleating in the papers about it. But let's get the rest of the UK open and running again.

I do however wonder about these reports I keep seeing of "test everyone twice a week" blah blah - with that level of testing you will get huge numbers and even though deaths will be single digits if number of infections is high - carry on lockdown! I'm suspicious.

I actually take a different view on the regular testing - it's what we should have been doing all along and is actually the key to avoiding another damaging lock down. Countries like South Korea never locked down - but instead relied upon an excellent track and trace system - which had regular testing at it's core. It's the key to identifying any new variants early and stopping them spreading and therefore avoiding lock downs - local or otherwise. And that has to be the key aim.

[ShoooRn]

Well what a year. When it all kicked off I was concerned for the country, my family, friends and work colleagues - began working from home immediately. I enjoyed a slower pace and had some more time with my toddler. Keeping away from people was tough and of course we started zoom quizzes with friends on a weekly - this stopped by the reopening in the summer and hasn't restarted as I've not had the drive to do so.

The toughest part for us was not seeing my Aunty (nurse on palliative care) and seeing friends during the strictest lockdowns measures. With my mother and sister being part of our bubble this was always beneficial especially for my son.

I haven't lost anyone but my wife did lose her job (from a very toxic workplace) but she's proactive and found a role within days and now works at a school.

By the September I had begun to lose faith in the government and now I don't give the BBC or the announcements the time of day. I watched all announcements at the beginning but now it just feels more and more farcical. Most of my older relatives (and some younger) are jabbed. My wife and I are not (both young, although wife has asthma). Mentally the lockdown in the winter hit me hardest and I felt more drained. My family somehow keep me sane it's just the repetitiveness and this being no way to live that's got to me.

I was confident when it all kicked off we'd be out by the summer - now I'm not sure what to think now in 2021. I am just looking forward to seeing mates again, the pubs reopening and going for walks in the peaks/lake district.

[Brave Fart]

Wiltshire Lad said:

I actually take a different view on the regular testing - it's what we should have been doing all along and is actually the key to avoiding another damaging lock down. Countries like South Korea never locked down - but instead relied upon an excellent track and trace system - which had regular testing at it's core. It's the key to identifying any new variants early and stopping them spreading and therefore avoiding lock downs - local or otherwise. And that has to be the key aim.

South Korea's approach is much, much more than regular testing. Crucially, it relies on almost all citizens using an app and being content to be monitored by the authorities. How do you think that might be viewed in the UK? In addition, South Korea has stringent border controls, CCTV facial recognition and state monitoring of credit card transactions. Also only one land border, with North Korea, so tightly controlled. Whereas we have a land border with the EU (Ireland, obviously) which isn't a border at all, really.
I simply cannot see how a South Korea style system could ever be acceptable in the UK, whatever Devi Sridhar might say.

[anonymous-user]

speedy_thrills said:

Good luck with that. It's obvious to most of us that rules and restrictions will be unwound this year as cases decline.

Well it ain't obvious to the media, the Government, they keep talking about a 'hard winter', third wave etc. Which is very confusing to the normal man on the street who has done everything asked on them, mostly.

Also considering how even back in Jan, the highest amount died from CV19 can we really trust such an incompetent Gov?

And the patently obvious lies, 70% more infectious virus mutation, that was in reality 7% more infectious. There is no more trust left in them.

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 23 March 10:39

[Murph7355]

Coolbananas said:

I've understood the general strategy from day one, social distancing works, wearing masks can help reduce risk if social distancing is compromised, lockdowns absolutely work if too many do not adhere to the former two preventions properly. Lockdowns only happen because idiots force them upon us and are entirely avoidable if everyone just did the right thing and correctly social distanced and masked up.

However, the 'endgame' was always the vaccines. They were created very quickly, a credit to what can be achieved when enough resources are thrown at a problem such as this pandemic.

Once the most vulnerable have received the vaccine, restrictions need to be relaxed. I get that there must be a period to confirm that the vaccines actually are working and this is, for me, the most contentious part of the strategy; all that came before was to be expected but I am now in the camp that would want to see lockdowns and all business restrictions removed and only social distancing and masks being required going forward while we see how it all goes.

This is where I believe the UK and other countries similar in terms of vaccine rollout should be - only social distancing and masks, otherwise fully opened up. I would agree that international travel from and to the UK should only be with countries with low infection rates too. This virus is not seasonal, it is bloody obvious if you look at Brazil, India and others not to mention Europe's impending 3rd Wave arriving in Spring, hence why I am supportive of the two very easy measures, social distancing and masks (only the entirely immoral selfish and adult nappy-wearing babies truly complain or seek ridiculous 'medical' exemption to this - I think they should be permanent along with no more handshakes and the like to help reduce the spread of colds, flu etc too), while we see how the vaccines live up to their promise.

I agree with your opening paragraphs.

On the rest, that's what's happening in essence. So agree there.

"Holidays banned" - (edit as wasn't OP. Sorry). Spruce Goose, get a grip. Holidays abroad this year are likely to be curtailed. Reason? No idea on longer term efficacy of the vaccines or on other variants that will inevitably spring up as countries take longer to vaccinate their populous.

Is your 2wks in Magaluf worth a wonky variant hitting people and us going through the last 12mths again? You might think so, I do not. And I think you will be in a minority frankly. Holiday in the UK, spend your money here. Or sit at home whining.

Edited by Murph7355 on Tuesday 23 March 11:23

[Murph7355]

Dog Star said:

It's already becoming very very obvious what the vaccine rollout is achieving - and give it another couple of weeks to see what schools reopening has done and we should have solid proof. If this downward trend continues as it looks like it is doing then I really don't see why almost every single restriction can't be lifted. We cannot continue to see the whole country crippled and closed when we are likely to see excess deaths in single digits and manageable hospital bed numbers....

There is a plan with phased reopening and a 5wk firebreak between phases to allow a good body of data on the impacts of the phase to be collated and assessed. It's a solid plan. It is learning from experience (not that some of this learning should have been required frankly).

We need to quit moaning about it and quit encouraging the govt to rush as we now have 12mths of experience of what happens when we prompt panic mode.

All stay calm, let the phases go through and the likelihood is that all meaningful restrictions will be lifted by 21st June.

fk about and we'll still be having the same conversation this time next year.