Britain Prepares to "Live with the Virus" and Remove Nearly All Covid Restrictions

[c.d.]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/britain-prepares-to-live-with-the-virus-and-remove-nearly-all-covid-restrictions/ar-AALNj8x?li=BBnb7Kz

c.d.

[Herlock Sholmes]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...j8x?li=BBnb7Kz

c.d.

I wish Boris would adopt the slogan “sorry, I, resign” but he’d only be replaced by another idiot that you wouldn’t trust with the task of doing your grocery shopping for you.

[DJA]

April Fools Day in July!

[Ms Diddles]

I wish Boris would adopt the slogan “sorry, I, resign” but he’d only be replaced by another idiot that you wouldn’t trust with the task of doing your grocery shopping for you.

Agreed, Herlock!

[String]

Johnson said that by July 19th there would be 50,000 cases a day, the day the restrictions are lifted.

He also said it’s better to lift the restrictions now rather than later in the Autumn which is better for the virus. Surely building up a base of infections in the summer will give the virus a head start in the Autumn with a bigger base from which to grow never mind possibly breeding a new variant.
Much better to give the vaccination program a chance with another month or two of restrictions and schools closed.
He has obviously given in to his right wing ‘let the virus rip’ section and isn’t it strange that Hancock was ‘unfortunately’ caught on that cctv just before this announcement.

[etenguy]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...j8x?li=BBnb7Kz
c.d.

I guess all the older and clinically vulnerable people have to go back into isolation.

They keep saying - if not now, when?

I'm waiting for someone to answer:
* when everyone who is going to be vaccinated is vaccinated
* when we have a track and trace system that can crack down on outbreaks
* when the number of cases per day is low
* when the R number is less than 1

I don't like wearing a mask - but it's better than the alternative.

[Al Bundy's Eyes]

I wish Boris would adopt the slogan “sorry, I, resign” but he’d only be replaced by another idiot that you wouldn’t trust with the task of doing your grocery shopping for you.

Don't worry Herlock, it's all just a big conspiracy theory!

[Al Bundy's Eyes]

April Fools Day in July!

It's been April Fools Day every week over here with that mop headed twit ( yes, I said 'twit', although he really is a twat) and his crew of public school gravy train cavaliers.
He did set a good example by having a Covid safe, low key wedding. Not that anyone gave the slightest of shits.
I'd sum up the UK'S response as 'a day late and a dollar short', consistently, since day one.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Don't worry Herlock, it's all just a big conspiracy theory!

[caz]

I guess all the older and clinically vulnerable people have to go back into isolation.

They keep saying - if not now, when?

I'm waiting for someone to answer:
* when everyone who is going to be vaccinated is vaccinated
* when we have a track and trace system that can crack down on outbreaks
* when the number of cases per day is low
* when the R number is less than 1

I don't like wearing a mask - but it's better than the alternative.

Agreed, etenguy.

The most unselfish thing to do is to continue wearing a mask in indoor public spaces after other restrictions are lifted. If the main object is to get the economy moving again, it's insane to relax the mask rule, which will only increase the number of infections and deaths among all those contributing to the country's wealth, and invite new variants which could prove resistant to the vaccines. I simply don't understand why a person's freedom not to wear a mask is considered more important than the protection masks give to everyone.

Love,

Caz
X

[Damaso Marte]

Not sure what alternate policy you all are advocating. Because we will clearly not be able to eradicate COVID-19, this is the policy that every country will eventually adopt, whether officially or just de facto. COVID-19 will become an endemic disease just like the flu (which indeed kills a significant number of elderly/vulnerable people each year). Even countries like Australia and Singapore will be forced by economic pressure to eventually open their borders, at which point foreigners will inevitably bring COVID there, making it an endemic disease.

Ideally, the vaccines remain effective (or indeed become better) and vaccination rates become high, meaning that for the vast majority of the population COVID will be a minor infection rather than life threatening.

There's no putting this virus back into the pangolin: we're all going to have to learn how to live with it.

[Abby Normal]

Not sure what alternate policy you all are advocating. Because we will clearly not be able to eradicate COVID-19, this is the policy that every country will eventually adopt, whether officially or just de facto. COVID-19 will become an endemic disease just like the flu (which indeed kills a significant number of elderly/vulnerable people each year). Even countries like Australia and Singapore will be forced by economic pressure to eventually open their borders, at which point foreigners will inevitably bring COVID there, making it an endemic disease.

Ideally, the vaccines remain effective (or indeed become better) and vaccination rates become high, meaning that for the vast majority of the population COVID will be a minor infection rather than life threatening.

There's no putting this virus back into the pangolin: we're all going to have to learn how to live with it.

i think you mean back in the lab

[etenguy]

Not sure what alternate policy you all are advocating. Because we will clearly not be able to eradicate COVID-19, this is the policy that every country will eventually adopt, whether officially or just de facto. COVID-19 will become an endemic disease just like the flu (which indeed kills a significant number of elderly/vulnerable people each year). Even countries like Australia and Singapore will be forced by economic pressure to eventually open their borders, at which point foreigners will inevitably bring COVID there, making it an endemic disease.

Ideally, the vaccines remain effective (or indeed become better) and vaccination rates become high, meaning that for the vast majority of the population COVID will be a minor infection rather than life threatening.

There's no putting this virus back into the pangolin: we're all going to have to learn how to live with it.

Hi Damaso

You're right that we have to learn how to live with the virus. The choice is about how we reach that point.

There is the current policy which is being touted - basically do nothing, rely solely on a partially vaccinated population and a paired back self isolation policy as a firebreak, and let the virus rip through the country and hope for the best. If that goes wrong, we might expect longer and more restrictive lockdowns in future. My biggest (but not only) fear with this approach is accepting high case numbers will simply provide a breeding ground for new and potentially more harmful variants.

Or there is an alternative policy that introduces reasonable restrictions while ensuring the economy can reopen and we can be as safe as possible in the circumstances. I would have thought mask wearing was one such reasonable restriction that would not really impinge on day to day life (we soon adapted to seatbelt wearing - which I think is a good analogy). Another precaution which we might introduce is to legislate for minimum standards of air replenishment/movement/filtration in public buildings - certainly crowded buildings and maximum capacity in the building can be linked to that. And perhaps make the track and trace and isolate system work well so that outbreaks can be properly contained without massive disruptions in schools and businesses. And so on...

[String]

Mass infection is not an option: Press conference

https://youtu.be/VYTyi2pFXxk

[Damaso Marte]

As an American I'm closely watching the UK right now because I think whatever happens in the UK in the next 1-2 weeks is going to happen in the USA shortly thereafter. US and UK have similar vaccination rates, have similarly largely moved away from any kind of government imposed lockdown/mask measures, only difference is that Delta got to the UK a bit earlier.

As of this morning, cases are up bigly in the UK but deaths are not. If that trend holds, it is a positive enough scenario and shows that despite Delta being more contagious and able to infect vaccinated people, the vaccination campaigns have succeeded in preventing outright death (remember, the populations most at risk are probably also the most vaccinated). If deaths in the UK do spike bigly, well, it was nice knowing all of you and arguing with you about Chapman TOD all these years.