tigger123

Im not sure I agree with what I’m about to say but was thinking about it so thought I’d share. Is there a chance that even if the government allows everything to go back to normal, including big events like glasto, that these big events still might say they’re not going ahead, given in order to run they need medical resource, which by definition would be taking said medical resource away from the NHS Covid response? Every festival statement has said that the safety of attendees and crew is their primary concern and if we get to a scenario where scientists, not government, are still saying they shouldn’t go ahead, is there a chance they side with the scientists? I’m not expecting the premier league etc to give a shit about this as all they care about is the money, however I was thinking that maybe more ethical events such as glasto, shambala etc could take this approach. As I said not sure what I think about this but was just a thought!

Although I find it despicable, I think the guidance is deliberately vague. If/when the second spike comes they can blame it on the population for not abiding by the ‘rules’. It is clear that people are interpreting the rules in very different ways. By leaving it vague they allow themselves wiggle room to eventually blame it on us for not complying, while in turn attempting to maintain the governments reputation. Classic Cummings strategy if you ask me. His messaging around brexit and the lockdown was so effective about achieving the result they wanted, I just don’t believe that they’ve gone from that to now massively cocking up their communications strategy regarding the easing of lockdown. Something much more sinister is at play I fear...

Amazing news, surely she’s coming back to the farm too then?!

I think we will get an announcement of some sort over what was supposed to be glasto weekend this year, keep us all going!

The take up of lockdown has actually been one of the more positive aspects of our country’s handling of this. I can’t remember the exact figures but seem to remember reading that models for lockdown were based on 75% of people complying, whereas actually it has been closer to 90-95%. Yes it is starting to fray a bit now but that was always bound to happen eventually and is not something that is only happening in this country (remember pre lockdown the govt saying they wanted to delay lockdown as they were worried about people suffering lockdown fatigue? - just to add I think we should have locked down earlier than we did). Other countries have been detaining people for breaking social distancing too, it’s just that we only hear about the uk in the MSM because that’s where we are! I’m obviously not condoning those who are starting to break lockdown but the longer this goes on then the chance of people breaking it increases. Regarding your care homes point, now that this has (albeit far too late) been realised as a problem area, then this should be able to be contained far more easily than the spread in the wider community, as the only people coming in/out will be the staff. Therefore, if regular testing is done properly and efficiently (a big ‘if’ given this governments track record), then hopefully this should be easier to manage. Whether the govt get their act together to do this is another matter, but assuming that they do, then the R0 figure being higher in care homes shouldn’t act as a massive hindrance in the relaxation of measures in the wider community where the R0 is lower.

Slightly off topic but when do we think we will get our first headliner announcement? Given other festivals have already started releasing their lineups for next year, do we think we could potentially expect a nice little announcement over the weekend the fest is supposed to be on this year? I know Glastonbury don’t tend to release lineups as early as other fests but obviously these are not normal times!

I was there and I thought they were great

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-52440108 An expert from the US reckons large scale events won’t happen until autumn 2021 at the earliest

No matter how many people go back to pubs etc, what we do know is that we can’t have the economy contracting by 35% every quarter, as it has done this quarter. This will lead to vast unemployment and far more deaths in the long run. People need jobs to pay tax in order to fund the NHS and if we’re going to have to maintain extra capacity for covid on top of what the NHS was already facing, that’s going to cost vast sums of money. Even if pubs etc reopen not at full capacity (which I agree will definitely happen as some will inevitably stay away), you can’t just kick the can down the road forever. The sooner the pubs open, the sooner they will eventually be back at full capacity, as people learn to live alongside coronavirus, until we get a vaccine/effective treatment.

Waiting for a vaccine when we don’t know when it will come is unsustainable and until we have a vaccine or effective treatment, there will inevitably be a rise in cases when lockdown measures are lifted. If we delay too much, then we risk the possible, some would say probable, second peak hitting in the winter when the NHS is already at capacity, before you even begin to factor in the impact of Covid. Given the economy won’t survive an indefinite lockdown, they will have to start lifting it soon. If a second peak does happen, which of course we hope it doesn’t, in terms of NHS capacity, it is better it happens in the summer than in the winter. Tough decisions ahead for the government, thank god it’s not us having to make them!

Plus also I don’t see stringent lockdown measures lasting that long as the economy won’t be able to cope (especially if you throw a no deal brexit into the mix). This in turn would have severe implications on not only the state but also people’s livelihoods, healthcare funding via lost tax revenue from the increasingly unemployed etc. It’s also not just the ‘seen’ Covid deaths we need to bear in mind but also the ‘unseen’, which will come as a result of people having for example their chemotherapy treatments delayed etc which is what is happening currently for a lot of people (I know personally of 2 people who have had their cancer treatment impacted by covid) People will still be getting cancer, having strokes and heart attacks, coronavirus doesn’t put a stop to all normal healthcare issues which in time will need to be addressed and a year is far too long to put these on the back burner. I’m hopeful that like France who are currently predicting gigs etc will start by the end of August (and assuming they are one of the last pieces of ‘normal life’ to be reinstated), that we will hopefully see near normality by beginning of September. I can’t see the UK population accepting seeing other European countries function with near normality while we are still under elements of lockdown. Once the general trend across Europe moves to near normality, the amount of public pressure on the UK government to follow suit will be massive, plus we would have been in forms of lockdown for over 5 months by then so imagine a lot of people will be nearing the end of their tethers with lockdown measures!

Completely agree and especially if what most seem to be sadly predicting is going to happen to the US comes to fruition

cool thanks

where have you heard this from? Just interested as keep seeing rumours on social media but haven't seen this from a reliable source as yet

Given the statement said there would be severe financial implications for the festival themselves, do we think there will be any noticeable impact on the festival next year as a result of this? Really hope there wouldn't be not just for us but the festival/area organisers themselves.