I think the most likely outcome is that Boris Johnson would no longer be PM. Given how many Tory MPs are clearly against Plan B, implementing a lockdown would tip many MPs over the edge so to speak. I think there would be a leadership challenge that he would lose. This would make any future PM, particularly if they are Tory PM, far more weary of implementing restrictions in the future.
If further measures being touted in tomorrow's papers as under consideration are brought in before the retrospective vote for Plan B on Tuesday, or even shortly after, Johnson will be in even more serious trouble than he already is, as not only are there many backbenchers against Plan B, but even those hesitantly in favour of it will not like having further restrictions brought in before they've even voted on the previous round of them. As for a future leadership challenge, I would expect many MPs against restrictions will only support a candidate who is very clearly against restrictions, such that it's possible a CRG member will stand if a challenge was nigh in the hope of automatically getting support of the rest of the CRG.
www.railforums.co.uk
Thing is current case rate would have produced a million Delta cases based on the run rate for the past few weeks. So if these are just substitute Omnicron cases there won't be a material difference. The key issue, that still seems under investigation, is efficacy of current vaccines against it and thus hospitalisation rates and it was this that was supposed to be informing the necessity for restrictions, or not, but for political necessity that's been leapt over and now they are in the proverbial they can keep ratcheting up to feed the media and keep the rest of their problems off the front page..This is the worst type of scaremongering
COVID-19: Two jabs offer little protection against Omicron - but booster makes vaccine at least 70% effective
The UK has recorded 448 new Omicron cases in the latest 24-hour period - taking the total across the country to 1,265.news.sky.com
So what? Who knows what the trends will do. The vaccines are 75% effective at preventing symptomatic disease, and way more effective at keeping people of hospital. The heat map for infections is stark. Very little in the over 60s, most in school age kids who won't get ill. Although Sky have now changed the headline where their not-so-bright hack claimed it would be 1 million cases a day!
I spotted that as well. It looks like a relatively recent change in how this is displayed, rather than the first occurence.
what do you mean by "25% or more escape from booster"?
We need protecting from the threat of lockdowns and other harsh restrictions which are incredibly damaging.
No we don't.
Regardless of whether or not that actually happens, it highlights that there are limits to what we humans can achieve, and the reality is we need more hospital staff (and to treat them better) and physical capacity, while accepting that, while we can try our best, it's not possible to save everyone.
I would quite like to see at least one survey that asks people their religion and their perception of covid concerns and see how that compares between different religions and non-religious, as I agree this is a possible reason for our reaction.
It means those who have had 3 shots have about a 25% chance of developing symptoms. When people who had 2 shots of the AZ vaccine had about a 30% chance of developing symptomatic Covid, how a lower chance of developing symptoms than we've had for the last few months suggests we are heading for a worse situation than March 2020 is beyond me.
A very good post. The pandemic has just exacerbated the tendency of governments worldwide to try to mould their citizens into a pattern where their whole lives are controlled from cradle to grave, and anyone who shows worryingly individualistic tendencies based on brainpower (other than those in the ruling cadre) is an enemy of the state. In this country, perhaps more than any other in the Western world, we have embraced increasingly invasive technology in the name of 'progress', encouraging anyone who queries its remorseless advance to be seen as a crank, or deluded, or just a Luddite who can be safely ignored and pitied, a tactic employed on this forum from time to time. I say 'wake up and smell the coffee' so long as it's not a Starbucks! I'm happy to be thought of as a Luddite in the contemporary world, lacking a smartphone or any device in my house that can track me or operate anything remotely, and refusing internet banking while it is still possible to do so.
Interesting, and this is possibly going OT - so where do you get any idea of what is going on on the world from?
Don't take my word as gospel, but I wonder if that happening might also mean many of the positive tests are actually revealing a common cold, or at the very least that might become a thing in future. False positives certainly have been a thing throughout.
I'm not 100% certain but the level of antibodies does wane over time. I think one of the main issues is some of the "experts" who have plagued our screens for the last 2 years are concerned about their fame waning and are milking this variant as though their lives depended on it.
Vaccines should be measured against their ability to protect against severe symptoms however we are obsessed with 'cases'; people who deny the effectiveness of vaccines often seem to misunderstand the purpose of vaccines.
This is true and is normal; people who claim it's a bad thing are spreading misinformation.
Yes, that applies to people like Ding, Pagel, Greenhalgh and their ilk.
I personally don't think the post concerned has any credibility but it does show how Government messaging is having all sorts of different effects on different people, such as making people angry or scared or even causing people to believe conspiracy theories.
That’s enough! I’m going to put Mariah Carey on, wake up tomorrow and it’ll all have been a dream.
