When will this shit end?

[Reckoner]

10 hours ago, steviewevie said:

Classic Pagel.

 

I honestly don't understand what people actually find contentious in this? 

[zahidf]

 

[Homer]

Got the cricket on from India and they've got a reduced crowd in this week for some reason. Interesting decision to only let a few in and then let them all crowd into a small area together with no distancing though!

[JoeyT]

The good news keeps rolling out this morning.

An Easter bank holiday knees up is what Jesus would have wanted 🍻

[Chapple12345]

4 hours ago, Gregfc15 said:

I honestly don't understand what people actually find contentious in this? 

I think it's mostly her always focusing more on the negatives, even if theres a glimmer of hope for something improving she'll seemingly find a way to shoot it all down

[Guest]

Looks like we haven’t learnt anything from Christmas.

[RobertProsineckisLighter]

3 minutes ago, Chapple12345 said:

I think it's mostly her always focusing more on the negatives, even if theres a glimmer of hope for something improving she'll seemingly find a way to shoot it all down

I find it interesting that that the areas she says are falling slowest were all in T3 before lots of other parts of the country they never reached the highs of the case numbers in the North West, London and the West Midlands really though - so is it a suprise they are falling slower? Is the effect of lockdown just not as great in these areas, did they falls happen sooner? Are they at 'normal'? 

All this is really important narrative that needs to be discussed alongside the numbers - the numbers alone only tell you so much. Personally that is what I find frustrating about these style of commentary. 

Its like football results showing the score but not red cards. 

[mattiloy]

7 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

Looks like we haven’t learnt anything from Christmas.

Half the country will have been vaccinated. It’ll be fine.

[steviewevie]

13 minutes ago, Chapple12345 said:

I think it's mostly her always focusing more on the negatives, even if theres a glimmer of hope for something improving she'll seemingly find a way to shoot it all down

most of that thread seemed pretty positive to me...

[zahidf]

14 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

Looks like we haven’t learnt anything from Christmas.

that being indoors in the cold with family is less safe than being outside after testing?

[RobertProsineckisLighter]

6 hours ago, stuartbert two hats said:

They big unknown is how much they will actually react to the data.  Back in August, it was clear cases were going up, but they took forever to actually do anything about it, letting the cases get high enough for runaway growth.  Will they really delay the reopening if the R isn't low enough to safely continue?  We just don't know.

Totally agree it's an unknown. I just think it's pretty tricky to disagree with the outline of the plan - how that plan is implemented time will tell. 

Cases are going to rise after all these changes because there is going to be more interactions - the big unknown is by how much. 

[steviewevie]

21 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

Looks like we haven’t learnt anything from Christmas.

Not sure much has changed...schools open next month, shops open in April, pubs open in May. Maybe pubs will open for outdoors only sometime in April but with other restrictions still there. We'll see, but sounds like lockdown has worked in bring cases right down, and hopefully with warmer weather and thevaccines hospitalisations and deaths can be kept down as we move through spring and into the summer.

[gazzared]

In my opinion which doesnt mean anything - Schools need to re-open ASAP. The amount of kids out and about now playing and mixing in the streets with eachother and playing on the local parks together along with their familys has really increased these past few weeks (Probably because parents are at breaking point and need a break). So surely its better that they go back to school ASAP and mix in a controlled enviroment instead.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

Not sure much has changed...schools open next month, shops open in April, pubs open in May. Maybe pubs will open for outdoors only sometime in April but with other restrictions still there. We'll see, but sounds like lockdown has worked in bring cases right down, and hopefully with warmer weather and thevaccines hospitalisations and deaths can be kept down as we move through spring and into the summer.

That could well be the case but if we open things up too quickly then we risk being back here again. They should go much slower than the proposed plan as I’ve said, opening up a smaller amount of things every few weeks but to have pubs and shops open by Easter could be a disaster.

They haven’t learnt from any of the previous mistakes especially Christmas when they tried to do something near normal.

[duke88]

28 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

Looks like we haven’t learnt anything from Christmas.

How are the situations comparable? That was during a time when cases were rising quickly, virtually no one was vaccinated, and was about allowing people to socialise with other households in houses in the middle of winter. None of that applies with this.

[Fuzzy Afro]

1 minute ago, gazzared said:

In my opinion which doesnt mean anything - Schools need to re-open ASAP. The amount of kids out and about now playing and mixing in the streets with eachother and playing on the local parks together along with their familys has really increased these past few weeks (Probably because parents are at breaking point and need a break). So surely its better that they go back to school ASAP and mix in a controlled enviroment instead.

Schools should be back in the second it’s apparent that there’s no immediate risk of the NHS being overwhelmed.

 

I don’t know if we’ve reached that point yet. Hospital numbers are still very high so I’m not sure the NHS could have the capacity to absorb a sudden increase in hospitalisations, but once we get to the point where that sudden increase would be acceptable then the schools need opened ASAP. We are going to pay a huge price as a country in 20-30 years time for this generation of miseducated children. 

[zahidf]

2 minutes ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

Schools should be back in the second it’s apparent that there’s no immediate risk of the NHS being overwhelmed.

 

I don’t know if we’ve reached that point yet. Hospital numbers are still very high so I’m not sure the NHS could have the capacity to absorb a sudden increase in hospitalisations, but once we get to the point where that sudden increase would be acceptable then the schools need opened ASAP. We are going to pay a huge price as a country in 20-30 years time for this generation of miseducated children. 

Yeah if the numbers and hospitalisations keep going down and the vaccines are working, open the schools in March.

Plan seems fine. Schools March, shops and outdoor dining April, and indoor places May. One month or so in between to assess the impact and how vaccines are working. 

 

[RobertProsineckisLighter]

6 minutes ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

Schools should be back in the second it’s apparent that there’s no immediate risk of the NHS being overwhelmed.

 

I don’t know if we’ve reached that point yet. Hospital numbers are still very high so I’m not sure the NHS could have the capacity to absorb a sudden increase in hospitalisations, but once we get to the point where that sudden increase would be acceptable then the schools need opened ASAP. We are going to pay a huge price as a country in 20-30 years time for this generation of miseducated children. 

Its half term in most of the country next week I'm surprised that wasn't that date that was talked about rather than the March 8th. 

[sisco]

If this Euros/Wimbledon plan is going ahead then surely outdoor gigs and 1 day festival type events (APE, BST) have to be looking at the same?! 

[steviewevie]

11 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

That could well be the case but if we open things up too quickly then we risk being back here again. They should go much slower than the proposed plan as I’ve said, opening up a smaller amount of things every few weeks but to have pubs and shops open by Easter could be a disaster.

They haven’t learnt from any of the previous mistakes especially Christmas when they tried to do something near normal.

if pubs are open by easter it will be outdoor only I think. Anyway, we'll just have to see what is the actual roadmap...this is all just coming from papers at moment.

[steviewevie]

1 minute ago, sisco said:

If this Euros/Wimbledon plan is going ahead then surely outdoor gigs and 1 day festival type events (APE, BST) have to be looking at the same?! 

you'd think...but at same time Euros and Wimbledon gets global tv coverage and Bojo can show off to the world how we're so over it.

[st dan]

10 minutes ago, duke88 said:

How are the situations comparable? That was during a time when cases were rising quickly, virtually no one was vaccinated, and was about allowing people to socialise with other households in houses in the middle of winter. None of that applies with this.

Yep definitely, it’s like comparing apples with pears say they say. And actually, by opening areas areas such as pub beer gardens, town centres etc it will mean not everybody rushes straight to other people’s houses like they did over Christmas, and this will help slow the spread, despite assuming it would increase it. 

[steviewevie]

This in guardian live feed...

According to this morning’s Times, internal UK government projections are predicting a halving of the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals over the next month.

Estimates presented to the prime minister reportedly showed infection rates falling faster than anticipated, with numbers expected soon to drop to October levels. According to the paper:

The projections are likely to lead to more pressure on Boris Johnson from Conservative MPs to accelerate the reopening of the economy. They have called for all restrictions to be lifted by May. Ministers remain concerned, though, that the emergence of mutant strains could derail plans to ease lockdown restrictions. Social-distancing restrictions are expected to remain in place until the autumn.

The august Times’s tabloid stablemate, the Sun, carries a similarly hopeful message on its front page. According to the red top, pubs and restaurants will be able to serve customers outdoors by April if coronavirus cases continue to fall at the same rate.

As the paper’s political editor puts it:

The reopening of hospitality is being fast-tracked in a major boost to the blighted sector - and thirsty Brits.

Both the Times and the Sun are known for their proximity to power, with messages from top government officials often recycled through their pages. With public patience over lockdown measures apparently wearing thin, it seems that there is a major communications campaign underway to persuade Britain that we’re nearly there.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, steviewevie said:

if pubs are open by easter it will be outdoor only I think. Anyway, we'll just have to see what is the actual roadmap...this is all just coming from papers at moment.

I admire people’s ability to put their trust in a group that consistently failed us.

The government never learns their lessons. The only lesson they learn is that no matter how badly they screw up they never seem to suffer any consequences. 

[stuartbert two hats]

3 minutes ago, RobertProsineckisLighter said:

Its half term in most of the country next week I'm surprised that wasn't that date that was talked about rather than the March 8th. 

Cases are still really high. Another few weeks of card reduction and vaccination and we should be in a much better place. If we put kids back next week and found that schools were enough to get positive case growth, the whole plan would be set back more than a few weeks. And there would be more death.

The timelines feel about right to me - as long as the government really does put the brakes on if cases start going up again.