Omicron variant and the measures implemented in response to it

[nw1]

All coming together now for our annual winter return to restrictions. Plan C will land just in time for Christmas, SAGE already hinting that the current lot of restrictions unlikely to be enough.

Meanwhile, try getting in touch with a GP. I consider that a bigger risk to health than Covid.

Quite. More people will suffer as a result of the 'patients go away' attitude of many surgeries I suspect.

 

[initiation]

And so much for Johnson's "cautious but irreversible Roadmap"!!!

We wasted nearly 4 months on that roadmap. I was critical that it was too slow but at least they were saying it was irreversible. Not...

In reality we could have brought step 4 forward to the end of March or April, and enjoyed months more with no restrictions.

It is a sad reality that restrictions in all forms always last longer than originally planned.



The Spectator has a list of known tory rebels, up to about 40 at the moment. I'm pleased to see my MP listed. There will obviously be more who won't go public or who might abstain. There is a good chance measures will get through on Labour votes only.

Who said they would vote against vaccine passports?

Note: This article was written in advance of Tuesday’s vote. For a full list of those who actually did – or didn’t – rebel to vote against vaccine passports, please click here. On Tuesday, a vote will be held on Boris Johnson’s new Covid restrictions to tackle the Omicron variant. They will...

www.spectator.co.uk

 

[nw1]

I don’t doubt that Plan C & D won’t happen now, but I won’t cancel my Xmas and I won’t waste another moment of my life on that failing health service ever again, and to prove I’m not a hypocrite I’ll go private if I have to, it’s ironic that these measures will ultimately kill off the NHS entirely.

I still do somewhat doubt this, in the sense that full lockdown would finish off 'Boris'. He's in a very weak position right now and must know that implementing anything too extreme would cause his popularity to nose-dive. It's not just the remainers and liberals that dislike him now, a lot of the populist-right Tory Brexiters do too. And that puts him in a very weak position and I suspect might prevent him from doing anything too extreme. I say might. There is still a risk of lockdown, but it would be political suicide for Johnson if implemented.

Not sure what the opinion polls would say about full shut-down-the-economy lockdown now, but I suspect support would now be well under 50%, particularly with the Government 'do as I say, don't do as I do' hypocrisy.

 

[yorksrob]

We wasted nearly 4 months on that roadmap. I was critical that it was too slow but at least they were saying it was irreversible. Not...

In reality we could have brought step 4 forward to the end of March or April, and enjoyed months more with no restrictions.

It is a sad reality that restrictions in all forms always last longer than originally planned.

Yes, this is true. SAGE and the like were busily pursuing dates, not data to drag things out as long as possible just in case. In the meantime, none of it made a ha'porth of difference anyway as the varient came from abroad. We may as well have been partying like it was 1999.

 

[DustyBin]

You raise an interesting point. I honestly didn't think for a minute that there might not be that much demand in poorer countries.

My “evidence” in this regard is purely anecdotal but it’s something to consider. It’s perhaps not too dissimilar to how certain countries didn’t appreciate us imposing western-style democracy upon them.

I still do somewhat doubt this, in the sense that full lockdown would finish off 'Boris'. He's in a very weak position right now and must know that implementing anything too extreme would cause his popularity to nose-dive. It's not just the remainers and liberals that dislike him now, a lot of the populist-right Tory Brexiters do too. And that puts him in a very weak position and I suspect might prevent him from doing anything too extreme. I say might. There is still a risk of lockdown, but it would be political suicide for Johnson if implemented.

Not sure what the opinion polls would say about full shut-down-the-economy lockdown now, but I suspect support would now be well under 50%, particularly with the Government 'do as I say, don't do as I do' hypocrisy.

There are a couple of things saving Boris in my opinion. Firstly, I’m not convinced anybody really wants his job under the current circumstances. Secondly, Labour want to do more of what’s making him unpopular (Christmas parties aside!). That said he’s got to be a dead man walking at this point, I simply can’t comprehend that he isn’t!

 

[dave87016]

In the space of 7 days I have heard boris and his spokesperson deny a party took place last year only for evidence to come to light

said spokesperson for Boris denied plan C’s existence and that it wasn’t even discussed yet today its looking increasingly likely that Plan C will be inplemented either before Christmas or just after New Year the lies are never ending , no thought in their decisions to inplement plan B and certainly Plan C if it happens as to the effect this will have on jobs , businesses and livelihoods and more importantly peoples well being and financially

I repeat when people go abroad in future there is always an element of risk that a new variant will come back and probably worse than omicron , and if we go back to full normality in future there may well be several variants within days , weeks or months of each other what will the goverment do in those scenarios impose more restrictions ? Lockdown ?

 

[nw1]

I'd say that the fact that there may be another pandemic in future is all the more reason not to squander the country's capacity/willingness to accept restrictions everytime a more challenging varient of the current virus comes along.

Keep your powder dry.

Maybe they should make our health system able to cope with these things, rather than imposing lockdowns all the time. They have had two years to make the health system more robust, and have done nothing. Not just in the UK, but internationally.

 

[DustyBin]

I repeat when people go abroad in future there is always an element of risk that a new variant will come back and probably worse than omicron , and if we go back to full normality in future there may well be several variants within days , weeks or months of each other what will the goverment do in those scenarios impose more restrictions ? Lockdown ?

That “if” is getting bigger and bigger.

 

[nw1]

That “if” is getting bigger and bigger.

That's the worrying thing. This is the first time in modern history that we've reacted in this way for so long - and it's the length of it that's the problem, almost 2 years now: like many I could put up with the initial lockdown. From what I make out, Spanish flu did not lead to long-term restrictions.

 

[brad465]

I get incredibly frustrated with the government and others telling us to protect the NHS. The NHS is there to protect us, not the other way round. If the NHS can’t cope with the demand of covid the government need to be supporting it to cope rather than imposing more restrictions on us.

At least 20 Tory MPs have publicly said they’ll vote against the latest restrictions. If pro-restriction Labour can be convinced to vote against on the basis either of some technicality they don’t agree with, or even just on the basis that it’ll be a defeat in the commons for Boris, then these restrictions will be quashed.

I saw reports one Labour MP was trying to argue they vote down the measures to ensure the vote fails and in turn undermines Johnson even more, but unsurprisingly there are supporters saying this shouldn't be done on "public health grounds":

https://twitter.com/kateferguson4/status/1469002698653642759

Pressure on Keir Starmer to tear up his usual caution and order his MPs to unite with Tory rebels and vote against vaccine passports to try to topple No10. Labour MP tells me: "We've a duty to oppose No10 - we should try to defeat the PM and then call a no confidence vote"

 

[nw1]

We wasted nearly 4 months on that roadmap. I was critical that it was too slow but at least they were saying it was irreversible. Not...

In reality we could have brought step 4 forward to the end of March or April, and enjoyed months more with no restrictions.

It is a sad reality that restrictions in all forms always last longer than originally planned.

That's the problem. The lockdowns last too long. The Alpha wave was pretty much on the way out by March, but they still had more-or-less full lockdown until April 12th (though I think they did remove the 'it's illegal to sit by a lake with a takeaway coffee' extreme lockdown earlier than that) and didn't allow indoor usage of pubs until mid-May - and given that April was cold and May was wet, the notion of sitting outside at a pub can't have been too appealing during that period. That was excessively long. They should have started lifting restrictions early in March and completed by April 12th.

The irony is that by then (mid May) Delta was on the way up. Inconsistency again. Why keep the lockdown going so deep into the spring, when there was full opening when Delta was at its peak?

Likewise fining you £5000 for *leaving* the country. What's the rationale for that? Surely by leaving the country, you become someone else's problem, so the government should be quite happy to let you go. And doubtless that lying hypocritical creep Hancock was behind that...

 

[AlterEgo]

Let's hope you're right. At this stage who knows?

Quite. However, the only intervention the government has instituted that has any chance of working is the Work From Home advice. How this makes any sense though, given parties have the green light, is anyone's guess.

There are really only a few things that even the most technologically minded Western government can do in the face of the crisis, without simply imprisoning people. Get vaccinated and boosted, ensure vaccine equity in the global south, test and sequence for variants. Everything else is tinkering around the edges.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

We wasted nearly 4 months on that roadmap. I was critical that it was too slow but at least they were saying it was irreversible. Not...

In reality we could have brought step 4 forward to the end of March or April, and enjoyed months more with no restrictions.

It is a sad reality that restrictions in all forms always last longer than originally planned.



The Spectator has a list of known tory rebels, up to about 40 at the moment. I'm pleased to see my MP listed. There will obviously be more who won't go public or who might abstain. There is a good chance measures will get through on Labour votes only.

Who said they would vote against vaccine passports?

Note: This article was written in advance of Tuesday’s vote. For a full list of those who actually did – or didn’t – rebel to vote against vaccine passports, please click here. On Tuesday, a vote will be held on Boris Johnson’s new Covid restrictions to tackle the Omicron variant. They will...

www.spectator.co.uk

My Conservative MP is not on the list. Then again he could quite easily be replaced with a Burtons mannequin, provided it had an 'automatically vote with the government' microchip built in.

 

[MikeWM]

Maybe they should make our health system able to cope with these things, rather than imposing lockdowns all the time. They have had two years to make the health system more robust, and have done nothing. Not just in the UK, but internationally.

Exactly so - and they've done precisely nothing.

Well, that's not quite true - they've forced the firing tens of thousands of care workers, so the number of people blocking beds in hospitals because there is nowhere for them to go is currently greater than the total number of Covid patients in hospital.

And they're threatening to fire tens of thousands - maybe a hundred thousand - NHS workers in the next few months, which will no doubt improve the situation still further.

 

[LAX54]

Let's hope you're right. At this stage who knows?

Have all the Countries, not just the UK, which in reality is behaving no different to any other, but have all the 'Leaders' now backed themsleves into a corner, and they don't know the way out, without losing face, and cries of...you got it wrong all along, although I do agreee it was done with the best of interests at the very start.
was in Harwich today, the local bakery shop had 2 CUSTOMERS MAXIMUM sign, with about 5 waiting outside shivering as it was quite cold, so if they died later of some cold related illness, that will be OK ?

 

[duncanp]

was in Harwich today, the local bakery shop had 2 CUSTOMERS MAXIMUM sign, with about 5 waiting outside shivering as it was quite cold, so if they died later of some cold related illness, that will be OK ?

At the moment there are no social distancing requirements, so there is no need for any shop to impose a limit on the number of people inside.

After all, surely those face nappies "protect" you, don't they?

When this is all over, people will remember the establishments that treated their customers well. (ie. In the future, I would not patronise a shop that made me wait outside needlessly in the freezing cold)

 

[westv]

My brother has said that WFH at the office he works is down to manager approval.

 

[Eyersey468]

Have all the Countries, not just the UK, which in reality is behaving no different to any other, but have all the 'Leaders' now backed themsleves into a corner, and they don't know the way out, without losing face, and cries of...you got it wrong all along, although I do agreee it was done with the best of interests at the very start.
was in Harwich today, the local bakery shop had 2 CUSTOMERS MAXIMUM sign, with about 5 waiting outside shivering as it was quite cold, so if they died later of some cold related illness, that will be OK ?

I have wondered if a lot of the response is now about saving face and not being able to admit they made mistakes

 

[DustyBin]

I have wondered if a lot of the response is now about saving face and not being able to admit they made mistakes

I’ve considered the “doubling down” theory and it was certainly credible last year and earlier this year. I’m no longer sure it is though; the latest restrictions across Europe go further than they’d need to if saving face was the aim. I’d expect them to be looking for a way out of this mess whereas they’re actually dragging us further in.

 

[LAX54]

At the moment there are no social distancing requirements, so there is no need for any shop to impose a limit on the number of people inside.

After all, surely those face nappies "protect" you, don't they?

When this is all over, people will remember the establishments that treated their customers well. (ie. In the future, I would not patronise a shop that made me wait outside needlessly in the freezing cold)

Just to add to that... the shop next door, which was a sewing shop, had a sign saying MAXIUM 3 PEOPLE !

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Just to add to that... the shop next door, which was a sewing shop, had a sign saying MAXIUM 3 PEOPLE !

Love it... not only the bad spelling, but also a very optimistic limit for such a business!

 

[Eyersey468]

I’ve considered the “doubling down” theory and it was certainly credible last year and earlier this year. I’m no longer sure it is though; the latest restrictions across Europe go further than they’d need to if saving face was the aim. I’d expect them to be looking for a way out of this mess whereas they’re actually dragging us further in.

Fair point, there seems to be no way out of this mess now to me

 

[matt]

My Conservative MP had said he won't be voting in favour of the new restrictions.

Statement on additional coronavirus restrictions

On Wednesday, I listened very carefully to the Secretary of State for Health as he set out new restrictions in the House of Commons at the same time as the Prime Minister gave his press conference.

www.markpawsey.org.uk

I am concerned by the inconsistency of a message that says it is safe to attend an office party, but not to go into work. I do not believe that Parliament should introduce any new restrictions which are not fully understood by the public or which do not have widespread support. I believe that we should be careful about rushing into new restrictions at a time when assessments from both the US and EU are that the Omicron variant of Covid is less dangerous than those we have already experienced. I am hugely supportive of the advice to my constituents to receive two doses of the vaccine and a booster and continue to urge them to do so, but remain opposed in principle to proposals for mandatory vaccination or vaccine passports.



All in all, therefore, I will be unable to vote for these additional new measures when they come before the House on Tuesday.

 

[DustyBin]

Further to my post(s) regarding some countries simply not caring about Covid and not necessarily wanting vaccines, there's a report on Sky News now from Gauteng in South Africa. The people they're interviewing really couldn't care less! They're literally dismissing it as flu and just getting on with life.

 

[AlterEgo]

Further to my post(s) regarding some countries simply not caring about Covid and not necessarily wanting vaccines, there's a report on Sky News now from Gauteng in South Africa. The people they're interviewing really couldn't care less! They're literally dismissing it as flu and just getting on with life.

What sort of people are they interviewing? Are they in the townships?

 

[LAX54]

Love it... not only the bad spelling, but also a very optimistic limit for such a business!

It was written, well looked like.... in haste !

 

[Bikeman78]

Already the Guardian is mentioning tougher measures may be required:



While Plan B will almost certainly pass on Tuesday, one can only hope there is enough of a Tory rebellion to disuade the government from going ahead with stricter measures.

Working from home advice never stopped in Wales but the figures are no different, sometimes worse, than in England. Why does anyone think that there will be a different outcome in England? The roads are jam packed again. Clearly people are going somewhere. I think the government will have a hard time trying to scare people into staying at home this time. Also last time the vaccine was sold as the route to a normal life. What's the plan this time?

 

[DustyBin]

What sort of people are they interviewing? Are they in the townships?

That's what it looked like to me. The people were just ordinary members of public, although they did speak to a doctor as well and they were equally unphased by the situation.

 

[bramling]

Working from home advice never stopped in Wales but the figures are no different, sometimes worse, than in England. Why does anyone think that there will be a different outcome in England? The roads are jam packed again. Clearly people are going somewhere. I think the government will have a hard time trying to scare people into staying at home this time. Also last time the vaccine was sold as the route to a normal life. What's the plan this time?

Very noticeable increase in traffic today, and every pub / restaurant car park I passed was filled to bursting. WFH = let's go to the pub or restaurant. Well done Boris! Meanwhile, you expect me to wear a mask on the train?

 

[MikeWM]

Very noticeable increase in traffic today, and every pub / restaurant car park I passed was filled to bursting. WFH = let's go to the pub or restaurant. Well done Boris! Meanwhile, you expect me to wear a mask on the train?

Similar here - the roads around Ely city centre right now are more congested than I've seen them in a long time.