Covid Rules Collapsing

[lisvaneblue]

None of the above proves what I said about a later variant being more deadly than the first one wrong though. Covid is new and so predictions that it will gradually get milder come across a bit like wishful thinking to me. It may be right, but abandoning all restrictions so quickly seems a move driven by politics more than science - especially in the absence of info from the likes of Whitty and Valance as to why it is justified.

I’m sorry to bring Johnson up here, but I suppose the decision to end all restrictions may be driven by a realisation that he is such damaged goods to a significant proportion of the country that any move led by him towards more restrictions or a reintroduction of them would be a failure because many people will just do the opposite of what he tells us. Maybe by the time the next variant comes Johnson will have regained the trust of the British public sufficiently for what they are being asked to do to be more important than who’s asking them to do it, but I very much doubt it - the character of the man at the top will always be an issue under this PM I believe.

Let's go back to January 2020 when it kicked off in UK with two Chinese visitors in a hotel in York. A new virus, people had no natural protection to it ( no antibodies) it was deadly. Things have moved on in 2 years and while new variants may seem to have the potential to be more deadly when examined in the laboratory, we are now able to fight back from a position of strength...96% population have antibodies, vaccines, antivirals, steroids, overall better understanding of how to manage the virus etc.
The evidence indicates that transmission is easier but as individuals we can handle it better so the illness appears milder. I see no reason to believe that this will change. It's not wishful thinking it's what has happened to viruses in the past and Covid is highly unlikely to be different.
What does worry me is the ability of politicians to continue to impose a varying range of restrictions on our lives according to which part of the UK we live in, as if the virus itself acts differently in, for example Wales than it does in England, and their reluctance to let people get on with their lives and make their own choices about how they protect themselves against the virus.

[Eric Cartman]

Let's go back to January 2020 when it kicked off in UK with two Chinese visitors in a hotel in York. A new virus, people had no natural protection to it ( no antibodies) it was deadly. Things have moved on in 2 years and while new variants may seem to have the potential to be more deadly when examined in the laboratory, we are now able to fight back from a position of strength...96% population have antibodies, vaccines, antivirals, steroids, overall better understanding of how to manage the virus etc.
The evidence indicates that transmission is easier but as individuals we can handle it better so the illness appears milder. I see no reason to believe that this will change. It's not wishful thinking it's what has happened to viruses in the past and Covid is highly unlikely to be different.
What does worry me is the ability of politicians to continue to impose a varying range of restrictions on our lives according to which part of the UK we live in, as if the virus itself acts differently in, for example Wales than it does in England, and their reluctance to let people get on with their lives and make their own choices about how they protect themselves against the virus.

I have been able to do whatever I want for the past few months. I am a bit miffed by the idea that people feel like they haven't been able to 'get on with their lives' already this year and during/prior to Christmas as well.

[goats]

Let's go back to January 2020 when it kicked off in UK with two Chinese visitors in a hotel in York. A new virus, people had no natural protection to it ( no antibodies) it was deadly. Things have moved on in 2 years and while new variants may seem to have the potential to be more deadly when examined in the laboratory, we are now able to fight back from a position of strength...96% population have antibodies, vaccines, antivirals, steroids, overall better understanding of how to manage the virus etc.
The evidence indicates that transmission is easier but as individuals we can handle it better so the illness appears milder. I see no reason to believe that this will change. It's not wishful thinking it's what has happened to viruses in the past and Covid is highly unlikely to be different.
What does worry me is the ability of politicians to continue to impose a varying range of restrictions on our lives according to which part of the UK we live in, as if the virus itself acts differently in, for example Wales than it does in England, and their reluctance to let people get on with their lives and make their own choices about how they protect themselves against the virus.

The whole way that politicians and the police are controlling our lives like never before doesn’t sit easy with a lot of people I know either. Do you trust politicians? The police? Hhmmmm….I’d never even heard of mark Drakeford 2 years ago. I foresee quite a bit of social unrest coming in the next few years.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

I'm not certain of this, so correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Delta a more virulent and deadly strain than Alpha which preceded it? If that's true, then it rather gives the lie to the line that variants get progressively milder.

As I understand it, Delta goes for the lungs and tended to cause more damage than Omicron,which is supposedly 7 times more virulent, but which goes for the throat.

[lisvaneblue]

I have been able to do whatever I want for the past few months. I am a bit miffed by the idea that people feel like they haven't been able to 'get on with their lives' already this year and during/prior to Christmas as well.

Like not watching live football in Wales until very recently

[the other bob wilson]

As I understand it, Delta goes for the lungs and tended to cause more damage than Omicron,which is supposedly 7 times more virulent, but which goes for the throat.

That's what I've heard as well, the only point I'm making is that Delta was more virulent, and just as harmful, or maybe more so, than the original version or the one which arose in Kent - it doesn't seem to me that we can conclude yet that future variants are going to get milder.

[the other bob wilson]

I have been able to do whatever I want for the past few months. I am a bit miffed by the idea that people feel like they haven't been able to 'get on with their lives' already this year and during/prior to Christmas as well.

Agreed, compared to what we went through in 2019 and last winter, life is very close to what was considered normal pre pandemic.

[jon1959]

What does worry me is the ability of politicians to continue to impose a varying range of restrictions on our lives according to which part of the UK we live in, as if the virus itself acts differently in, for example Wales than it does in England, and their reluctance to let people get on with their lives and make their own choices about how they protect themselves against the virus.

When this line is trotted out the bit about how people should be free to make a choice about how they protect other people always seems to go missing!

Restrictions - major or minor - may or may not be justified at any point in time, but they have never been solely about self protection.

[goats]

As I understand it, Delta goes for the lungs and tended to cause more damage than Omicron,which is supposedly 7 times more virulent, but which goes for the throat.

A bit more like a regular coronavirus then….the one we have never had a vaccine for and probably why the one we do have struggles with omicron.

[lisvaneblue]

When this line is trotted out the bit about how people should be free to make a choice about how they protect other people always seems to go missing!

Restrictions - major or minor - may or may not be justified at any point in time, but they have never been solely about self protection.

Of course you're right. Generally if people protect themselves by definition they will also be protecting others.