Covid rules nonsense....

I turn on the TV and see thousands of people sitting or standing in a stadium watching soccer, hugging, singing and kissing each other and that is OK but my Uncle is not allowed to have a 100th birthday party next week! If we have to wear masks indoors why don't the crowd at Wombledon have to put the on when they shut the roof?
Something is a little skewed here surely.

( Yes and I know not to call you Shirley

My son is in the entertainment industry,  booking venues for tours for bands and booking acts for venues he manages. This is a post on FB that he re-posted today from someone else in the industry.?.

"In light of the behaviour of millions of people across England last night, unrestricted, unpoliced, and positively encouraged by government, the continued ban on full capacity live music, theatre, cinema and other cultural activities serves no further purpose in any serious attempt to contain the virus. 


That government approach to the containment of the virus, where you can sing, dance, socialise, hug, chant, snog a stranger and hold a mass party PROVIDED THAT it’s not at a cultural event, is populist nonsense. It’s unjust, unfounded, unreasonable and very likely illegal. 


As far as the majority of the public is concerned there are no restrictions if the ball goes in the net. This behaviour is everywhere, it’s happening, and the public therefore accept the risks that go with it. We are achieving less than * Inappropriate Word * all to contain the spread of the virus by not permitting cultural events to proceed with similar behaviour. We are just damaging people’s lives, businesses, jobs and livelihoods. 


Note for football fans: This post does not contain any criticism of the behaviour and is not seeking to censure or condemn anyone for anything. Please can we have a grown up conversation about the reality of where we are and what is actually happening."

As for your Uncles party, I wholeheartedly agree with you.

Agree with the above, no has ever given a toss about face masks around here anyway.
Boaby

My grandsons aged 9 and 11 just don't understand why their parents are not allowed to attend their (outdoor) school sports day next week, yet they watch thousands of footie fans slinging beer about and hugging each other on TV...
Al.

We were surprised by the substantial number of children apparently holidaying with parents or grandparents at various campsites we have visited over the past weeks. We knew it was still term time and not half term or holidays.

Took some time to put 2 and 2 together but I suspect they have all been sent home to isolate having had someone in their class test positive. How safe it is for them to be mixing with other children and adults from all over the country I don’t know but it does make a nonsense of the rule about going home to isolate.

It was reported here that over 2000 football fans have tested positive as a direct result of Euro 2020 activity, almost half following them going to Wembley for the England V Scotland match. They are described as mainly young men in the 20 to 30 yo age range.

Askit wrote:It was reported here that over 2000 football fans have tested positive as a direct result of Euro 2020 activity, almost half following them going to Wembley for the England V Scotland match. They are described as mainly young men in the 20 to 30 yo age range.

Will those stats force that nice Mr Javid to extend the "freedom" date again?

He seems very keen to get back to normal, but having seen the usual stupid, irresponsible behaviour among football fans (no surprise there then!!  ) he may be left with no option.

I hope the vast majority of sensible people don't have to suffer yet again because of the minority of selfish idiots!!

(And before I get flamed for attacking football supporters - of course it's not only them, but they are the current reprobates!)

Down here in Falmouth the covid rate was about the National average 150 per 100,000. Nothing to do with the thousands that were here for the G7 or the number of students acting like its all over but the rate has gone up this week to 686 per 100,000 according to the BBC. Face masks and distancing seem to be a thing of the past now. Are we now coming in to the "most are vaccinated so let's just live with it" mode I wonder.

Reported in Evening Standard that all night clubs will reopen on July 19 with no proof of vaccination needed.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/dance-clubs-reopen-no-covid-tests-lockdown-vaccine-passports-b943401.html

Crowds can gather at Wembley and Wimbledon (no mandatory masks albeit in an enclosed building); nightclubs to open; a couple of thousand FIFA "officials" allowed into the country...... but my little choir of 16 isn't allowed to practise indoors notwithstanding the site of the building and the precautions taken.  

Cymro

I wonder if now that the majority of the groups most vulnerable to become seriously ill with COVID have been vaccinated, there is a deliberate policy of letting it spread among the rest of the population who are younger and fitter so less likely to develop symptoms serious enough to need hospital treatment?  

The recent Delta and other variants seem to be more transmissible but less harmful, with symptoms more like a dose of heavy cold in many cases.

The phrase 'herd immunity' is very emotive and was leapt on by the press last year when it was used by the scientists, but maybe that is now part of the policy, even if not publicly referred to as such.

There has to come a time when we try to get back to some semblance of 'normal', the problem at the moment seems to be the very unfair inconsistencies as several posters have highlighted above.

Our daughter is due to give birth within the next two to three weeks and has not had the vaccination as it's still not known to be completely safe for pregnant women. She has been very cautious throughout, keeping herself as isolated as practicably possible so gets very cross when she is still told that her partner will only have limited access when she is in hospital giving birth yet hundreds of thousands have been able to gather in close proximity in stadia and pubs with no distancing or masks.

It is the inconsistency of approach that is causing people to become more and more frustrated with the rules. Bad enough that the rules and guidelines change so frequently that it's hard to keep up and don't get me started on the confusing differences in laws between different parts of the UK. Bearing in mind we have a foot in both Scotland and England, which resulted in enforced lockdown separations between me and my beloved, including over Christmas and New Year when caught by rule changes.

Rant over, I'm off to mow the lawn and hang the washing out as it's a gorgeous sunny day here in the East Neuk.

Managements family in Brisbane were devastated that COVID had come back and they had to isolate for a week. They really. can’t cope with real life.
My sister is flying to Gibraltar next week. She can’t see our concern about being on a flight crammed in close confinement with other people to a country next to Spain. There is only a causeway connecting to a country that is still wearing face masks at the moment. 
The idiots in charge don’t get the message even after  there leader has been hospitalised.

rogerblack wrote:I wonder if now that the majority of the groups most vulnerable to become seriously ill with COVID have been vaccinated, there is a deliberate policy of letting it spread among the rest of the population who are younger and fitter so less likely to develop symptoms serious enough to need hospital treatment?

The phrase 'herd immunity' is very emotive and was leapt on by the press last year when it was used by the scientists, but maybe that is now part of the policy, even if not publicly referred to as such.

That's been pretty much my thinking but, if so, why are those making the decisions not being honest with us? Despite the significant numbers testing positive for the virus up here, it's not being reflected in either hospital admissions or those requiring treatment in intensive care. What other way could the current practice be interpreted?

Askit wrote:It was reported here that over 2000 football fans have tested positive as a direct result of Euro 2020 activity, almost half following them going to Wembley for the England V Scotland match. They are described as mainly young men in the 20 to 30 yo age range.

Not strictly true. Over 2000 people who tested positive told T&T they had been at a Euro 2020 event. There's no indication that they caught the virus at the event.

Doesn't make it any less annoying that football fans appear to be exempt from the restrictions that the rest of us are still living with.

Difficult to know exactly as the British press are simply not interested in fact just creating a good story.

Great, the new proposals for dropping all our precautions have come at the right time. We are really looking forward to having a meal outside our family home.

I hear hospital food is very good now 

Askit wrote:Great, the new proposals for dropping all our precautions have come at the right time. We are really looking forward to having a meal outside our family home.

I hear hospital food is very good now 

That sounds about right.

Looking forward to a quiet Christmas, looked down.
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Richard

Maybe - hopefully not Richard???

I'm also of the opinion that herd immunity is the government strategy. What other option have we, if you think about it?

The virus is not going away any time soon (and I'm thinking of years) so we have no choice but to learn to live with it.

We shall soon reach the point where almost everyone has a good measure of immunity, and perhaps our leaders have got tired of imploring the vaccine refusers and Covid deniers, and are thinking, "Tough tit. You made the choice, so if you get the plague it's your own stupid fault!"

They could never admit it of course, but I would have some sympathy if that is the case. There can be no doubt by now that the vaccines are safer than paracetamol **, very effective, prevent serious illness and save lives . . . and are the singular key to getting back to (almost) normal.

**  Not my opinion. It was quoted as a comparison by one of the eminent Profs.

If we have freedom to travel abroad but only with two jabs I wonder how many non believers will suddenly change their minds

Gromit wrote:...

I'm also of the opinion that herd immunity is the government strategy. What other option have we, if you think about it?

... 

Herd immunity is, and always was, the only strategy available - it is the only way a virus can be contained at an acceptable level. 

How a society achieves herd immunity is another matter. In the UK's case, it's now a combination of vaccination and post infection immunity. The early days outcry over a herd immunity strategy was caused by * Inappropriate Word * poor communications. 

As has been said above, the virus is here to stay, and, sadly, that means we'll need to come terms with an 'acceptable level' of deaths, just we do with flu, cancer, road deaths, etc.