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Coronavirus

Coronavirus - The Poll

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JAperson said:
How is making mask mandatory supposed to destroy the economy? I don't want another lockdown I just want people to wear a mask for the winter. It should make zero difference to the economy as far as I can tell.
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I was talking more generally, there has been lockdown comments.

As we've seen previously, masks are pretty much self policing, to get people on side there's got to be something to show them it's necessary. I struggle to see that having support at the moment.
 
It probably doesn't help that other countries are being slightly proactive with decisions (Austria basically telling unvaccinated people to pull their fingers out) and we're in the middle of other political issues.

The apathy towards the current government and their actions are more the issue towards doom and gloom. Especially as they've gone on record to say "we won't cancel Christmas", which usually means it'll all go wrong and it'll be "cancelled".
 
It would be this government's style to let it spiral out of control over Xmas as not to upset people only then to deal with a harsher problem in January.
 
I've just come back from holiday in Gran Canaria, at dinner in our hotel restaurant 100% of people had masks on when going up to the buffet, removing them to eat. In bars when getting up to go to the toilet almost everyone put their mask on and in many places staff were enforcing it. In shops almost 100% of people were wearing masks.

Not sure why British people have such a big problem with masks.
 
I don’t see there being another lockdown, the only way out of this is for the majority of people to catch it, recover from it and have antibodies so each year when they catch it again, it will be become less and less serious, and eventually become more like the common cold.

We have to face it, this virus won’t go away next year, or the year after, or the year after that… it’s here to stay. After nearly 2 years of lockdowns, restrictions, masks - one has to ask how long do we continue like this - I’ve had enough after 2 years and am starting to do things back to normal again, eg going to the pub, restaurants, hotels etc. I mean. What’s the point of me having 3 jabs if I still have to take all these precautions? What’s the point of everyone having vaccines if we are still behaving like we did at the start of the pandemic?

It’s a big change of mind for me I admit, and I still wear a mask when I’m a shop or public indoor space, but I would say 90% of people here now do not and I’m starting to wonder who is the silly one, them or me?
 
I can also see the frustration - I'm a double-jabbed but avid mask-wearer, really because I think it's the right thing to do for people around me who might not enjoy the same good health as I do.

Personally I agree that Covid isn't going away - it's here, and we need to adapt to be able to live with it, just like we do with Flu etc.

It's too difficult/unknown a problem though for us all to just say "screw it I give up", because the consequences are that many, many real people actually die from Covid, especially when it becomes out of control.

I absolutely despise the Tories, but I have to say that their current stance of 'leave it alone and see what happens' sits quite well with me. We can't keep locking down for the rest of time. I think we all just need to keep going about our lives, getting the vaccines and boosters as soon as possible, and trying to be sensible with masks and working from home where we can.

I think it's working. Yes, cases are high, but deaths aren't anymore. The plan appears to be working.
 
Whilst I agree with the "it's here to stay" and "we need to learn to live with it" sentiments, I cannot accept doing nothing as a viable proposition if it means hospitals become overwhelmed and cannot treat people.

What happens when we dump the influx of flu patients we normally get over winter onto our hospitals that are already full?
 
So I’m genuinely curious: of those who agree that coronavirus is here to stay, but also mask wearing should continue… when would you suggest mask wearing would no longer be necessary?

Are people suggesting that mask wearing (albeit only for winter, only indoors) should be here with us to stay?


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When I say we need to adapt so we're able to live with Covid - what I mean is, we should absolutely encourage wearing masks indoors. It's a small price to pay for apparently much lower transfer rates.
In my eyes, wearing a mask and getting jabbed asap is adapting and getting on. If that's forever, oh well.

At the same time however, I don't think we should be frightened if cases rise, because as long as the death/hospitalised figures remain relatively low it's actually a good sign, because we're able to fight it off and develop imunity.

To be honest though it's all opinion isn't it. None of us really know what we're talking about. We don't have enough information to develop anything more than an opinion.
If I worked in A&E perhaps I'd have a different opinion!
 
Alsty said:
Whilst I agree with the "it's here to stay" and "we need to learn to live with it" sentiments, I cannot accept doing nothing as a viable proposition if it means hospitals become overwhelmed and cannot treat people.

What happens when we dump the influx of flu patients we normally get over winter onto our hospitals that are already full?
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What do you propose they do then? This is the issue and I'm no Tory either. I won't vote for them for as long as I live but they really can't win in this situation.

I'd be okay with mandatory mask wearing again as it happens but I'm not totally convinced mask wearing even has that much of an impact like it does on stopping the Flu for example.

One thing is for sure.....no more lockdowns.
 
Islander said:
So I’m genuinely curious: of those who agree that coronavirus is here to stay, but also mask wearing should continue… when would you suggest mask wearing would no longer be necessary?

Are people suggesting that mask wearing (albeit only for winter, only indoors) should be here with us to stay?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Okay so I think that masks should be here for this winter or at any time when cases spiral aboove a certain point. We will get to a stage that due to lots of people being vaccinated in lots of countries we reduce the risk of the virus mutating. The virus mutating could very well ruin everything we've achieved and so we must stop the cases from spiraling past a certain point because that danger would then likely become a reality.

What we need to do is have masks as an emergency measure that can be enacted for a few months for the foreseeable future. Not forever mind, perhaps the middle of next year might be sensible. We just need the world to reach a good vaccination rate so that mutation is considerably less likely. Of course we all want to learn to live with the virus but we are not there yet. We are close and I'll admit that but we must protect our progress with the vaccinations.

Wearing a mask isn't really an inconvenience and it's something small that just helps that little bit. Ensuring a good chunk of people wear them during the virus peak spreading time seems logical to me.
 
Benjsh said:
One thing is for sure.....no more lockdowns.
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I completely agree with this. They can't. Much of the public won't take part I don't think, and I expect there will literally be riots in the streets if they ask the Police to try to enforce any more lockdowns.

It's about more than just "I want to go to the pub and you can't stop me".
It's about people's mental health, their livelihoods, entire industries teetering on the edge of disaster.
But then on the other hand, a lot of people die.

It's such an interesting topic to discuss / read about though, because it's so BIG and so much more complicated than any of us can propperly comprehend. We're literally discussing death here, and at which point "how much death is not enough death to worry about anymore".
Scary isn't it.

Interestingly we all accept that the flu kills thousands every year.. We don't wear masks for that though do we? Weird isn't it. I think one day we'll reach a point where we have done all we can, and we become numb to Covid and its impact, just like the Flu.
 
Benjsh said:
What do you propose they do then?
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I agree with no lockdowns (although the Austria approach of locking down non-vaccinated is interesting). Over the winter period I'd suggest
  • Requirement to wear face coverings in indoor settings
  • Work from home if you can
  • Vaccine passports for nightclubs and similar crowded venues
  • Recommendations to avoid close contact and reduce number of people you meet at a time
  • More of an effort by the government and media outlets to reinforce the seriousness of the situation so people don't think it's all "done and dusted".
The main issue in my mind is that people aren't taking Coronavirus seriously anymore. Hospitals risk becoming overwhelmed when we add the winter pressures. Any measures that suddenly make people take more care has to be on the agenda, in my opinion.
 
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Alsty said:
I agree with no lockdows (although the Austria approach of locking down non-vaccinated is interesting). Over the winter period I'd suggest
  • Requirement to wear face coverings in indoor settings
  • Work from home if you can
  • Vaccine passports for nightclubs and similar crowded venues
  • Recommendations to avoid close contact and reduce number of people you meet at a time
  • More of an effort by the government and media outlets to reinforce the seriousness of the situation so people don't think it's all "done and dusted".
The main issue in my mind is that people aren't taking Coronavirus seriously anymore. Hospitals risk becoming overwhelmed when we add the winter pressures. Any measures that suddenly make people take more care has to be on the agenda, in my opinion.
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Yeah that all makes sense to me. There's a good chunk of people who think coronavirus is pretty much over and it isn't. We must continue to protect the hospitals as well as the chance of the virus mutating. The measures listed here seem sensible to me and seem like they should reduce the risk considerably without having much impact on people lives and freedoms.
 
Germany have (at least where Europa is) gone for a "only vaccinated and recovered persons can visit the park" method.

Not even a negative test alone gets you in now.

Also like the locking down of unvaccinated in Austria as well. Though I presume those who are exempt and still free to go out into the world? Not looked into it much.
 
Alsty said:
I agree with no lockdowns (although the Austria approach of locking down non-vaccinated is interesting). Over the winter period I'd suggest
  • Requirement to wear face coverings in indoor settings
  • Work from home if you can
  • Vaccine passports for nightclubs and similar crowded venues
  • Recommendations to avoid close contact and reduce number of people you meet at a time
  • More of an effort by the government and media outlets to reinforce the seriousness of the situation so people don't think it's all "done and dusted".
The main issue in my mind is that people aren't taking Coronavirus seriously anymore. Hospitals risk becoming overwhelmed when we add the winter pressures. Any measures that suddenly make people take more care has to be on the agenda, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I'm double jabbed and will get my booster as soon as I can too, however I think it's a joke what's happening in Austria. Making the non vaccinated stay indoors (even though it's practically impossible to police) is a terrible way to treat people.
 
Talking to my parents (who live in France) is interesting. There, mask wearing, vaccine passports etc. have become a part of every day life. People don't think twice before getting their anti-covid app open to scan in as a condition of entry to a restaurant, bar or attraction. Therefore, people don't think 'it's all over'. As soon as Macron introduced vaccine passports, there was a surge of people coming forward for vaccination. Only a hard-line anti-vaxx group remain on the sidelines, and have their liberties curtailed. I never thought I would see a day where a higher percentage of French citizens have been jabbed than UK ones.

Part of the issue in the UK is that people think it's over. Working in a school, it's clear it isn't.
 
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But cases are shooting ups near vertically in Europe despite all these measures. Ours have remained pretty steady.
Problem with masks is unless you mandate a minimum standard then some just won’t work anyway. I wear a washable one with replaceable N95 filter. The fabric ones, or the blue surgical ones which only last 4 hours won’t stop much.
As for when is it right to stop wearing a mask….. good question but I think it’s down to the individual. I went out to a restaurant last night for the first time in ages and it felt good not wearing a mask I have to admit. The social distancing is a waste of time anyway as it lives in the air.

I have just as much of not more chance of the 9 year old bringing it home from school but I don’t wear a mask around the house all day….
 
Cases are shooting up far more veritcally in countries where the vaccination levels are lower. Germany is at 60something percent, and some countries lower still - absolute nightmare when moving into the winter.

France isn't yet seeing the same level, and indeed the French government have made statements saying that they are not as concerned because deaths/hospitalisations are nowhere near the levels of previous occasions. Germany don't have the luxury of vaccination uptake in the 80s.

Vaccine hesitancy is the biggest enemy to health systems - it's a simple as that. Get into the 80s+ and have a booster programme, and your country will likely cope.
 
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