Coronavirus

[BigT]

There is no option now but children will have to repeat a year, that’s will be nearly a complete year off.

 

[Craig]

On a general note, it looks like these measures will last until at least 15th February. The prime minister has hinted that the government would like to reopen schools after February half term, and he has also suggested that further easing could take place in late February to early March if all goes well with the vaccine rollout.

Honestly this will likely be March at a minimum. Feb half term will serve as a "stricter lockdown" to try and reduce things further as schools won't be in at all. Remember following national restrictions we'll be moving to the tier system anyway, so a lot of places will likely drop back into tier 3 or 4 anyway, which ain't all that different.

 

[Jb85]

Am I the only bugger to test positive ?

that’s not good.

tonight’s announcement was expected, but still hasn’t gone far enough if you ask me

 

[BarryZola]

Not seen the announcement or read the details yet but from the bits I've heard I'm guessing that the reality is that we'll just pretty much be going on as most of the country has for the past few months...but with the kids off school. Most people will still go to work, fast food takeaway and delivery, everyone out and about on their jollies, loads of non-genuinely-essential shops open etc.

 

[Jb85]

Not seen the announcement or read the details yet but from the bits I've heard I'm guessing that the reality is that we'll just pretty much be going on as most of the country has for the past few months...but with the kids off school. Most people will still go to work, fast food takeaway and delivery, everyone out and about on their jollies, loads of non-genuinely-essential shops open etc.

Pretty much

 

[Matt N]

What more is it that you wanted the government to do, out of interest? I’m not criticising you by any means, merely wondering.

 

[Jb85]

Ban flights in and out of the country

Stop takeaways / etc. Believe me the amount of people collected a coffee is ridiculous

police fines for people caught breaking rules - and enforced by bailiffs

mandatory 6 month break on all finance agreements

schools timetable rescheduled to give them the year they have missed

I could go on

 

[BarryZola]

Quite frankly I'm not overly bothered what they do any more. I believe there was a window of opportunity for a strict lockdown a couple of months back which would have been effective but it's just been allowed to get out of control now. With the extra money we've spent in the past few months achieving very little I don't think the government will want to spend again for a 'proper' lockdown. I was just pointing out that I don't think life is going to change much, if at all, for most people from tomorrow.

 

[BigT]

I don’t get this reporting it’s until mid Feb, that’s not what Boris said and there are already rumblings on both side of the house that they will vote against unless it’s reviewed by Parliament every two weeks.

It all pointless anyway, I will drive 100 miles to the office tomorrow and I expect the roads to be as busy as ever.

 

[Craig]

February was mentioned in the statement, although perhaps not as clearly as it should have been. It should have been raised at the first mention of closing the schools rather than further into the statement when talking about vaccination:

I must stress that even if we achieve this goal, there remains a time lag of two to three weeks from getting a jab to receiving immunity. And there will be a further time lag before the pressure on the NHS is lifted.

So we should remain cautious about the timetable ahead. But if our understanding of the virus doesn’t change dramatically once again…

If the rollout of the vaccine programme continues to be successful… If deaths start to fall as the vaccine takes effect… And, critically, if everyone plays their part by following the rules…

Then I hope we can steadily move out of lockdown, reopening schools after the February half term and starting, cautiously, to move regions down the tiers.

This is also confirmed on the gov.uk statement just after the bullet points under leaving home. My thoughts about it being March is mainly due to the not-so-certain talk about the virus where words like hope, if and cautiously are used. Got my fingers crossed for as soon as possible though. As much as schools need to go, I wholly agree that it's not the best way to learn and kids need to be back in as soon as they safely can be.

 

[jon81uk]

tonight’s announcement was expected, but still hasn’t gone far enough if you ask me

It really needs to drive home the do not enter someone else's home to socialise message, I don't think that has been made clear enough.

 

[Rob]

It really needs to drive home the do not enter someone else's home to socialise message, I don't think that has been made clear enough.

I think that is quite clear. But is also quite clear that some are prepared to show a total disregard for this.

 

[Rick]

I think that is quite clear. But is also quite clear that some are prepared to show a total disregard for this.

I think it's semi clear, could be clearer - but I think there are vast parts of the population that just don't care.

 

[Craig]

Personally I don't think you can get any clearer than "You must stay at home". For those who don't adhere to that, no amount of explaining is going to change that.

 

[D4n]

School "closed" but still 12 kids in my class. Plus a requirement to provide work for those at home.

Lockdown not the easy option for teaching staff.

Hopefully it helps.

 

[Rick]

Personally I don't think you can get any clearer than "You must stay at home". For those who don't adhere to that, no amount of explaining is going to change that.

I'd challenge that. I think the slogan is clear, but the strategy that underlines it is not and is essentially undermining it.

YOU MUST STAY AT HOME ... unless you want to nip to Costa for an oat milk latte
YOU MUST STAY AT HOME ... unless you want to go to a garden centre for something you don't need
YOU MUST STAY AT HOME ... unless you want to nip to Lidl to buy an angle grinder

I've just wandered around my local area at lunch time, Morrisons car park is full to bursting, people are queuing around the block to get into Homebase and there are 50 school kids playing tig in the McDonalds car park, Happy Meal in hand.

Wilko = open, B&M Bargains = open, The Range = open. It's bananas.

Things are really dire, arguably at their worst but it's pretty much a free for all out there irrespective of the message.

 

[jon81uk]

Wilko = open, B&M Bargains = open, The Range = open. It's bananas.

These ones bug me, I don't think these places sell large amounts of hardware or food really.

But I really think people meeting up with others inside their homes is the greater risk and some people think its safer than the pub. The message should be more than stay at home, but really hammer home do not meet outside your bubble.

 

[GaryH]

I agree about B&M and Wilco being open, as well as other such stores which mostly sell bits and pieces and a very small amount of food. The roads around here today are just as busy as a normal day. I’ve not been out but I would bet the car park at the local B&M is packed.

 

[WillPS]

I agree garden centres being open is nonsense, but I struggle to see Wilko as being anything other than an essential retailer - thinking about my (small) local store the only portions which aren't legitimately somewhat essential are the garden and homeware departments, which must be less than a quarter of the total floorspace.

B&M is a tougher sell but whenever I go there are plenty of people with trollies full of food, so I'm satisfied they have a legitimate purpose.

The Range are pushing it.

The one that really takes the Michael in my view in is the huge Ultimate Outdoors shop (former Best Buy/Kiddicare unit; a huge space) which has tiny selection of mountain bikes and so stays open on the grounds of being a 'bike shop'.

 

[Craig]

I'd challenge that. I think the slogan is clear, but the strategy that underlines it is not and is essentially undermining it.

YOU MUST STAY AT HOME ... unless you want to nip to Costa for an oat milk latte
YOU MUST STAY AT HOME ... unless you want to go to a garden centre for something you don't need
YOU MUST STAY AT HOME ... unless you want to nip to Lidl to buy an angle grinder

I've just wandered around my local area at lunch time, Morrisons car park is full to bursting, people are queuing around the block to get into Homebase and there are 50 school kids playing tig in the McDonalds car park, Happy Meal in hand.

Wilko = open, B&M Bargains = open, The Range = open. It's bananas.

Things are really dire, arguably at their worst but it's pretty much a free for all out there irrespective of the message.

Just to clarify what I was getting at, I don't think you can get clearer messaging based on the rules they have put in place. However, I'm not necessarily in agreement of those rules, and agree that the classification of what is essentially is needlessly expansive to say the least. Garden centres aren't required, the likes of B+M do sell a lot of food and DIY is still essential under certain circumstances though.

They would have been far better enforcing shopping on your own by law except under very specific circumstances, preventing them being used as meeting places. During March lockdown, my local supermarket enforced shopping with individual adults only, and it made it by far the easiest and safest shop to visit for me.

I'm of the view that click and collect should still happen, and is relatively safe in the grand scheme of things as customers can't enter the premises under those rules. There's a balance to be had, as having those sorts of things available does ultimately help in encouraging people to remain indoors. If they have DIY, gardening etc to do they're less likely to do anything away from the house.