Coronavirus in the UK - news, lockdown and discussion

[FridgeMagnet]

Anecdotally I think people are actually noticeably better with masks in shops now than before the start of lockdown 3 (and friends of mine have agreed). The few who aren't seem particularly egregious now, but I'm trying not to let that skew my perception.

 

[Chairman Meow]

My mum in NI told me most of her neighbours had large family xmas days, Her and my stepdad were planning to spend it with my stepbrother, but he came down with symptoms the day before, thankfully he was negative. Three families that she knows of in the street have all came down with it. Her neighbour had his mum and dad over, they are in their 80s and were shielding since March. The old man was taken to hospital a few days ago, they were told to say their goodbyes at the ambulance. He died yesterday, the son is devastated. Its sad, but what on earth were they thinking?

 

[BigMoaner]

Just for your information, most people in London behave considerately as well, at least in my experience.

Yes.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Summary of deaths during 2020 from the ONS, note figures are for only England & Wales.

Last year was the deadliest in a century, with almost as many fatalities documented in absolute terms in England and Wales in 2020 as at the height of the flu pandemic in 1918.

More than 608,000 deaths were recorded, with 81,653 attributable to coronavirus, last year according to new figures released by the Office for National Statistics.

April was the deadliest month for the virus in 2020, with more than 33,000 fatalities accounting for almost a third of the deaths attributed to the virus in the UK to date. More than 1,000 people died in the UK on 23 consecutive days during the month, at the height of the pandemic’s first wave.

The death toll is second in absolute terms to the record set in 1918, when 611,861 people died at the peak of the flu pandemic in England and Wales. However, the mortality rate was higher in 1918, when approximately 38.4 million people lived in England and Wales, compared with 59.4 million today.

Priti Patel insists 'rules are clear'; 1,243 more deaths recorded, second highest daily toll – as it happened

Home secretary declines to say why this lockdown not as tough as March; only day with higher deaths reported was last Friday

www.theguardian.com

 

[Supine]

Working away from home in the Midlands at the moment. Things are feeling very bad. Face to face meetings are banned. 26 cases here of which 7 were asymptomatic (or pre maybe). Lost three engineers to it, replaced one and the replacement has now tested positive. It is becoming VERY difficult to manufacture pharma products now. I'm going home early tomorrow - fuck this.

In a service station this morning I was the only person out of seven wearing a mask.

 

[BigMoaner]

I think the role of misinformation is also a big factor in noncompliance. If people are constantly reading covid denial in and around the main narrative, then there is an assumption that they will fall naturally along with the "main" narrative and follow the rules. I have seen very boring local parents' facebook groups spiral into rabid Covid truth wars, with, honestly, the deniers being the largest voice (surely, hopefully, the case of the loud and vocal minority). The seeds of doubt spread - "If so many people are saying this is bullshit, do I really have to go back to the car to get the mask I forgot?"

 

[BigMoaner]

The - unsubtle I thought - point of the post you were replying to was that a focus on the petty infractions of our neighbours leads to an impression that those infractions are a bigger problem than they are, which then leads to people telling YouGov surveys that they hold the public more responsible for rising infections than the government.

Yes, fair point.

 

[kebabking]

I think that compliance - or, perhaps more importantly, safety - is pretty good out here in the sticks.

Of the 100 or do houses in our village - and I've lived here a while, I know which cars belong here - I'd say less than a handful had visitors on Xmas day or other days. Family/friends visit, but it's conversations had on the drive. Social distancing in the local town is good, in fact the one incident of non-social distancing/mask wearing stands out so much that it's a huge outlier.

We do get used as an access point for the countryside, but apart from the odd bit of parking like a cunt it's not overly problematic. mountain bikers and their vans are the real nuisance, but while they do come in groups, they tend not to be traveling together. From a parking perspective it would be better if they did...

 

[ska invita]

Are case numbers coming down for real? Or is it just a stat gathering blip?

 

[LeytonCatLady]

A friend just texted me these recommendations from psychologists for anyone struggling to cope - apologies, can't find a link. Hope it's helpful. Mods, feel free to move if it's not the right thread.


1) Isolate yourself from news about the virus. (Everything going we need to know, we already know).

2) Don't look out for death toll. It's not a cricket match to know the latest score. Avoid that.

3) Don't look for additional information on the internet, it would weaken your mental state.

4) Avoid sending fatalistic messages. Some people don't have the same mental strength as you (Instead of helping, you could activate pathologies such as depression).

5) If possible, listen to music at home at a pleasant volume. Look for board games to entertain children, tell stories and future plans.

6) Maintain discipline in the home by washing your hands, putting up a sign or alarm for everyone in the house.

7) Your positive mood will help protect your immune system, while negative thoughts have been shown to depress your immune system and make it weak against viruses.

8) Most importantly, firmly believe that this shall also pass and we will be safe!

#Health


Stay positive. Stay safe.

 

[LDC]

My mum in NI told me most of her neighbours had large family xmas days, Her and my stepdad were planning to spend it with my stepbrother, but he came down with symptoms the day before, thankfully he was negative. Three families that she knows of in the street have all came down with it. Her neighbour had his mum and dad over, they are in their 80s and were shielding since March. The old man was taken to hospital a few days ago, they were told to say their goodbyes at the ambulance. He died yesterday, the son is devastated. Its sad, but what on earth were they thinking?

One of the things that I haven't see addressed at all is the guilt and trauma that some people might have from having bent/broken the rules and ended up with dead relatives or friends as a direct result of it.

 

[LeytonCatLady]

One of the things that I haven't see addressed at all is the guilt and trauma that some people might have from having bent/broken the rules and ended up with dead relatives or friends as a direct result of it.

They're probably the same people who will dismiss their relative or friend's death as nothing to do with Covid, though...

 

[LDC]

They're probably the same people who will dismiss their relative or friend's death as nothing to do with Covid, though...

I suspect some will as coping mechanism maybe, as the reality will be too horrible to deal with. Dunno, any of the head doctors on here have thoughts.

 

[two sheds]

They're probably the same people who will dismiss their relative or friend's death as nothing to do with Covid, though...

Or "they had another condition so they were going to die soon anyway" is another good one I'm sure some will use

Once it's done it's done but the other question is whether it changes their behaviour.

 

[kebabking]

(again, hopefully...)

The barrister Adam Wenger has complied a table of the 65 bits of Covid related legislation - and amendments to that legislation.

There's nothing like clear, consistant communication of easily understandable concepts. And this is....

 

[BigMoaner]

One of the things that I haven't see addressed at all is the guilt and trauma that some people might have from having bent/broken the rules and ended up with dead relatives or friends as a direct result of it.

I think some of those who believe that this is Bill Gates doing, or is part of the "Great Reset", or that it is a government plot to enforce communistic tyranny, will find themselves in interesting contemplative spaces when, two years on from now, if things are back to normal, they will look back and see themselves as one of those who willfully broke the rules. In the absence of any of their fears having coming true, that must be a weird space to be in, especially if people reflect back on this period similar to how grandparents looked back on the "war effort."

 

[Orang Utan]

I work in a public library and we’ve been told we have to let maskless people in. I intend to disobey this instruction to protect myself and my colleagues and my family. If my employer won’t take steps to protect us, we have to take action ourselves. Luckily no one has challenged us on the issue yet. People are staying away this lockdown, thankfully

 

[frogwoman]

Noticed a lot less people out and about this time than in November.

 

[frogwoman]

I think some of those who believe that this is Bill Gates doing, or is part of the "Great Reset", or that it is a government plot to enforce communistic tyranny, will find themselves in interesting contemplative spaces when, two years on from now, if things are back to normal, they will look back and see themselves as one of those who willfully broke the rules. In the absence of any of their fears having coming true, that must be a weird space to be in, especially if people reflect back on this period similar to how grandparents looked back on the "war effort."

They'll probably be boasting about how they beat up anyone not wearing a mask

 

[BigMoaner]

They'll probably be boasting about how they beat up anyone not wearing a mask

the re-framing will be interesting, that's for sure.

 

[frogwoman]

Just received a covid test in the post. It says that you have to post it in a priority post box. It seems a bit mad that you actually have to walk there? The post box is in front of a parade of shops where there are often loads of people. The previous test I took for the Zoe study you arranged a courier.

 

[Doodler]

I work in a public library and we’ve been told we have to let maskless people in. I intend to disobey this instruction to protect myself and my colleagues and my family. If my employer won’t take steps to protect us, we have to take action ourselves. Luckily no one has challenged us on the issue yet. People are staying away this lockdown, thankfully

Good for you and good luck.

 

[Cid]

I work in a public library and we’ve been told we have to let maskless people in. I intend to disobey this instruction to protect myself and my colleagues and my family. If my employer won’t take steps to protect us, we have to take action ourselves. Luckily no one has challenged us on the issue yet. People are staying away this lockdown, thankfully

Your employer has er... not been great... through this.

 

[existentialist]

I suspect some will as coping mechanism maybe, as the reality will be too horrible to deal with. Dunno, any of the head doctors on here have thoughts.

I think that, absent a very obvious (and I mean IN YER FACE OBVIOUS) cause/effect link, many people will rationalise such a death in any way they can that absolves them of responsibility. That's wired-in - our psyches are very good at giving us soft landings when terrible things happen - and it takes a degree of self-awareness and emotional responsibility to see past the denial and recognise what actually happened.

But then people with a degree of self-awareness and emotional responsibility are fairly likely not to have made the dangerous choice in the first place.

 

[StoneRoad]

I am living with three other older adults - and I'm in my mid 60s - one of whom is almost paranoid about the risks of serious illness / death if we get covid.

We are able to get deliveries (and parcel collections) this time, in the first lockdown we couldn't get into the delivery slots as new customers ...

Therefore, we are staying in the house and garden. The only outside exercise is taking turns to walk the dog out for a change of scenery, late afternoon.
[there's only one neighbouring house, and we don't even see the couple that live there !]

I have been doing 99.9% of my work as WFH, either email or by phone. I last had a "site" meeting in September - everyone masked, socially distanced and outside !

 

[rutabowa]

my friend from the punk scene (where there are LOADS of dumb old guys who reckon it's all a conspiracy theory) just posted this, he works in one of the big supermarkets, i think it is an absolutely wonderful way to get the message accross and that he should be put in charge of covid messaging:

" So at work when all this Covid started we had a handful of people who caught it, but this new variant is spreading through our store like wild fire, we have got 7 manages off with it, and of course staff, there are giving normal members of staff managers jobs to keep the place running, NOW THIS IS THE BEST BIT , since march all ive heard from my manager is IM NOT WEARING A MASK, ITS BULLSHIT CANT MAKE ME WEAR ONE - I DONT CARE ABOUT LOCK DOWN RULES, IM GONNA BREAK THEM AND VISIT MY 91 YEAR OLD FATHER, moaned at the restaurant he booked because they cancelled his family Christmas meal because numbers of infections had risen, was saying members of staff who had phoned in sick due to Covid was liars and just wanted time of work over the Christmas period, WAIT FOR IT - YOU ALL KNOW WHATS COMING - Boxing Day he collapses at home and cannot breath, his wife calls for a ambulance , he refuses to go to hospital, he spends over a hour in the ambulance being give oxygen. anyway he came back to work a coupe of nights ago, he should still be at home resting he looks ill and scared/in shock, now the fucking joke is , he`s running round telling everyone to put a mask on , don't stand so close to each other, what a fucking hypocrite. he spent 10 months giving it all the billy big balls now he walking round shitting himself like the grim reapers up his arse. my mums best friend died at the weekend because if it, some one in her hospital ward gave it to her, took less than 2 weeks to finish her off. its been nearly a year shame it takes all this just to get someone to put a fucking mask on there face and to wash there hands. i know you can still catch it if you play the by the rules, but at least we trying. anyway rant over, back to posting pics of 80`s toys. peace out

"

(I also agree in general that we the people shouldn't be turning on each other and should focussing any anger on the government btw though)

 

[andysays]

Priti Patel leading today's press conference, so expect more news about police are about to get tough on people taking the wrong sort of exercise or drinking coffee in a public place...

 

[TopCat]

Priti Patel leading today's press conference, so expect more news about police are about to get tough on people taking the wrong sort of exercise or drinking coffee in a public place...

Really? What time is this? I need to make popcorn.

 

[Deej1992]

Should make for some fireworks that.

 

[kebabking]

Really? What time is this? I need to make popcorn.

I'm assuming 5pm.

She'll make an absolute bollocks of it. This, I accept, is not exactly a 'well stone the crows' level prediction...

I expect lots of hot air, and completely ignoring that the law bares little relationship to the (revised) guidance, let alone whatever fuckwitted drivel passes her lips....