Will we end up in lockdown again?

[jennyjj01]

I do hope government will listen to their own teams of medical advisors. They assembled Sage, but seem to be ignoring them.

Sorry. I'll get off my soapbox and back to my prepping for a long harsh winter lock in.

I actually disagree, people need to take responsibility for themselves maintain social distancing, wash your hands, use handgel and wear a mask. We don't need the government to interfere, if you're at all concerned and aren't doing any of these common sense measures well...

Covid-19 isn't going away, the powers that be and all their medical advisors are in uncharted territory, who remembers the propaganda in favour of the vaccines at the start?... Yet now we need booster jabs and now we have virus mutations reducing the viability of the vaccines that were originally touted as the key to it all.

No problem being in disagreement with each-other.
In an ideal world, we could just use individual responsibility. But just as we have a highway code and traffic laws, society has shown for centuries that we cannot self regulate. It only needs a few prolific 'minglers' to be superspreaders. Do you think those not masking up are self testing every week? No. me neither.

I remember back when all this started, the overwhelming sense of relief knowing that everyone in the supermarket would be protecting me by wearing a mandatory mask. Now, with about 2/3 unmasked and prolifically mingling, we have 1 in 55 of those [plural expletive deleted] wandering around trying to infect me. and for the unmasked, probable more than 1 in 55.
And, yes. I do mask up and distance and gel up and self test weekly. Now, i'm back to FFP3 masks to give me and mine the best defence.
I see some local councils are trying to maintain bye-laws to keep us a bit safer. That's all I want: A decent attempt to get this lurgy under control. Vaccines help, but they were only ever one part of the armoury.

As DD says, watch all these kids bring it home and wipe out granny.

[Smudge]

I do hope government will listen to their own teams of medical advisors. They assembled Sage, but seem to be ignoring them.

Sorry. I'll get off my soapbox and back to my prepping for a long harsh winter lock in.

I actually disagree, people need to take responsibility for themselves maintain social distancing, wash your hands, use handgel and wear a mask. We don't need the government to interfere, if you're at all concerned and aren't doing any of these common sense measures well...

Covid-19 isn't going away, the powers that be and all their medical advisors are in uncharted territory, who remembers the propaganda in favour of the vaccines at the start?... Yet now we need booster jabs and now we have virus mutations reducing the viability of the vaccines that were originally touted as the key to it all.

No problem being in disagreement with each-other.
In an ideal world, we could just use individual responsibility. But just as we have a highway code and traffic laws, society has shown for centuries that we cannot self regulate. It only needs a few prolific 'minglers' to be superspreaders. Do you think those not masking up are self testing every week? No. me neither.

I remember back when all this started, the overwhelming sense of relief knowing that everyone in the supermarket would be protecting me by wearing a mandatory mask. Now, with about 2/3 unmasked and prolifically mingling, we have 1 in 55 of those [plural expletive deleted] wandering around trying to infect me. and for the unmasked, probable more than 1 in 55.
And, yes. I do mask up and distance and gel up and self test weekly. Now, i'm back to FFP3 masks to give me and mine the best defence.
I see some local councils are trying to maintain bye-laws to keep us a bit safer. That's all I want: A decent attempt to get this lurgy under control. Vaccines help, but they were only ever one part of the armoury.

As DD says, watch all these kids bring it home and wipe out granny.

At the risk of offending: Why don't you take the initiative and go into self imposed lockdown if you're that concerned?

Calling for the government to intervene is the same vein as our draconian gun and knife laws, it doesn't solve anything it just infringes on our freedoms. I've seen Songbird and I don't want to live like that.

I'm double jabbed, I take reasonable precautions to keep mine & me safe, everyone else isn't my responsibility.

[jennyjj01]

At the risk of offending: Why don't you take the initiative and go into self imposed lockdown if you're that concerned?

Calling for the government to intervene is the same vein as our draconian gun and knife laws, it doesn't solve anything it just infringes on our freedoms. I've seen Songbird and I don't want to live like that.

I'm double jabbed, I take reasonable precautions to keep mine & me safe, everyone else isn't my responsibility.

LOL. No worries. You won't offend me.
We have medically vulnerability issues, so have been pretty much socially distant throughout. Not that we were particularly sociable before
Now double jabbed x 1 and triple jabbed x2, we are taking a measured approach to protecting ourselves. That we effectively protect others is just their good fortune. Life is full of risks and we each decide our own tolerance.

It would be a shame to be fully prepped for TEOTWAWKI and then die from a disease caught in a venue that wasn't fun to be at.
It would similarly be a shame to cancel life, just so as to survive.

So... somewhere in-between as the mood takes us. Situational awareness!

As to guns and knives.... I applaud our gun and knife laws. Have friends in the US, who cannot understand.
I haven't seen Songbird. Might have to look it out. Enjoyed the film 'Viral'

[jansman]

I'm trying to avoid being argumentative. Apologies if I'm treading into controversial territory. Moderators, Please edit or erase my post if I overstep.

We preppers are practical folks. If there's an adult in the room, I like to think it's us.
Telling it as I see it, we need some more restrictions, and we need them now, else Christmas will be worse than cancelled.

In terms of infections, we have as many as at the worst of previous waves and the charts are flying upwards as fast as ever. IMHO, we need to look past the counts and look at the up-trends. It looks grim.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51768274

And the R rate is steadily about 1.2. With the best rollout of vaccines, we are still losing ground and losing lives to this darned thing.

Whatever plan they apply NEEDS to bring R below 1. It NEEDS to bring the hospitalisations and reath rates down. Those charts are not having a bit of a blip. The longer we drag this out, the greater the total impact will eventually be
.
Our leaders have some of the best advice available. They must know by now what steps give maximum bang for our buck. It might be as simple as mandated masks in public indoor spaces, or strongly recommended working from home. They need to judge what steps will be tolerated and apply them. Heck, it wasn't so long ago that we were all virtually under house arrest. Now, 1 in 55 of us is actually infected and incubating and spreading covid! 1 in 55 !!!!

I do hope government will listen to their own teams of medical advisors. They assembled Sage, but seem to be ignoring them.

Sorry. I'll get off my soapbox and back to my prepping for a long harsh winter lock in.

I actually disagree, people need to take responsibility for themselves maintain social distancing, wash your hands, use handgel and wear a mask. We don't need the government to interfere, if you're at all concerned and aren't doing any of these common sense measures well...

Covid-19 isn't going away, the powers that be and all their medical advisors are in uncharted territory, who remembers the propaganda in favour of the vaccines at the start?... Yet now we need booster jabs and now we have virus mutations reducing the viability of the vaccines that were originally touted as the key to it all.

The general population are ignorant, selfish pigs. I work in retail and we were TOLD by government we had to enforce mask wearing etc etc at the height of Covid. The abuse was unbelievable.Nuff said.

[GillyBee]

The trouble is that too many people have decided that they have had enough of having their life upended and are no longer prepared to follow guidance such as masks

We have used the bus several times recently to save petrol. TFL state that everyone must wear a mask unless exempt. So we were the only people wearing masks on the bus. It would be a brave bus driver that would pick a fight with every maskless passenger onboard. Murphys law says that if they did stand their ground for once, they would manage to get the one person who is genuinely unable to wear a mask and who has the ear of the press.

I think the government is persistently too late because they have to wait until Joe Public is so scared that they accept the restrictions instead of deciding it is cause for a riot. This time it will be left even later as everyone is so tired of it all. By which time we will be in a real mess, vaccinations or not.

[Arzosah]

No problem being in disagreement with each-other.
In an ideal world, we could just use individual responsibility. But just as we have a highway code and traffic laws, society has shown for centuries that we cannot self regulate. It only needs a few prolific 'minglers' to be superspreaders. Do you think those not masking up are self testing every week? No. me neither.

Just reading this thread through now - my problem is that I'm agreeing with several points from all sides of the discussion

I work hard at isolating and staying safe - but its getting other family members, one of my younger nephews has just tested positive, with symptoms. Age 41, with a holiday booked next week.

[diamond lil]

Masks stil law up here and everybody is wearing them, apart from a busload of English tourists I saw in Jedburgh yesterday who were wandering around moaning that they couldn't get into the shops without them. The bus driver should've explained before they left.

[GeraldTheBonzai]

At this point in time I would suggest that there are too many unknowns, in particular what sort of flu outbreak we have this winter. Saying that, I suspect that some sort of restrictions will be enforced- most probably suggesting people work from home again. That's the premise I'm working on.

[izzy_mack]

Still having to wear masks here by law, don't see that as a big deal even although I can't see as my glasses steam up after coming in from the cold. I have noticed that the cleaning stations for trolleys and hands , no longer have a queue and the vast majority of people just march in. suspect hand washing has slipped back too. Keeping a distance was always the hardest to implement and few seem to even try now

[jansman]

My wife and I are wearing masks when we go out. Hand hygiene is second nature to me,being in the food game. It isn’t difficult. One of my more senior customers bitched and moaned every time he had to queue,and about wearing a mask. Yesterday he was back wearing one,and it turns out that his wife is seriously ill with Covid.