Omicron variant and the measures implemented in response to it

[bramling]

It was always going to be "too quick" for people like this. Don't forget they already delayed it once. I'm sure if this person ran a business or had a job in the real world instead of a nice well paid secure job in the cosy world of academia he might think differently.

Exactly right. These people need to be called out for what they are.

 

[Eyersey468]

It was always going to be "too quick" for people like this. Don't forget they already delayed it once. I'm sure if this person ran a business or had a job in the real world instead of a nice well paid secure job in the cosy world of academia he might think differently.

I agree. I wonder if his view would change if a close friend or family member lost their job as a result of restrictions.

 

[nw1]

Michael "you are only allowed one hour of exercise a day" Gove.

Yes. Michael "you are a dangerous Covid spreader if you go for a walk in three hours in isolated countryside, don't use public transport, and meet no-one" Gove.

 

[Yew]

According to ITV news ( which the following is utter claptrap in my opinion ) a London school for tropical medicine specialist estimates between 25,000 and 75,000 odeaths in the UK in the next 5 months from this omicron virus yet IIRC there hasn’t been a single death yet anywhere !!!

We had 44000 flu deaths over the winter of 2014/15, and we considered it fine to have no restrictions on anything at all.

 

[adc82140]

Meanwhile in France, the Prime Minister has told everyone to enjoy Christmas as normal, whilst using common sense, and has explicitly ruled out any form of lockdown that restricts public events and social gatherings.

Who would say now that all this panicking here is not a means of distraction from the imploding world of Boris. Note also there is a general election in France in 2022.

 

[kristiang85]

According to ITV news ( which the following is utter claptrap in my opinion ) a London school for tropical medicine specialist estimates between 25,000 and 75,000 odeaths in the UK in the next 5 months from this omicron virus yet IIRC there hasn’t been a single death yet anywhere !!!

Well, in 5 months 255,000 die anyway, so the midpoint of that estimate is 50,000, thus 20% of deaths. And I'd say 20% of people who die in winter will die within 28 days of contracting a cold...

 

[Yew]

Well, in 5 months 255,000 die anyway, so the midpoint of that estimate is 50,000, thus 20% of deaths. And I'd say 20% of people who die in winter will die within 28 days of contracting a cold anyway...

I do wonder about that metric, as it was developed in the pre-vaccine days; I don't think it's unreasonable to think that it should be re-evaluated to take account of the vaccines effect

 

[brad465]

There are currently 65 Tory MPs who have said they will vote against Plan B next week, having increased from 60 at the start of today. The list so far also includes some names who would be considered relatively moderate, and/or household Tory names, such as Tom Tugendhat, Chris Grayling, Tracey Crouch, Tobias Elwood, Liam Fox and David Davis:

Who said they would vote against vaccine passports?

Note: This article was written in advance of Tuesday’s vote. For a full list of those who actually did – or didn’t – rebel to vote against vaccine passports, please click here. On Tuesday, a vote will be held on Boris Johnson’s new Covid restrictions to tackle the Omicron variant. They will...

www.spectator.co.uk

Below is the full list of Tory MPs who have so far promised or indicated they will vote against the measures next week. The list will be updated ahead of the vote. At present, it looks as if Johnson will need Labour's support to pass his measures.
1. Steve Baker
2. Ben Bradley
3. Brendan Clarke-Smith
4. Graham Brady
5. Philip Davies
6. Richard Drax
7. Simon Jupp
8. Stephen McPartlandhttps://twitter.com/johnredwood/status/1468701238724374531
9. John Redwood
10. Greg Smith
11. Dehenna Davison
12. Marcus Fysh
13. Gary Sambrook
14. Pauline Latham
15. William Wragg
16. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
17. Iain Duncan Smith
18. Christopher Chope
19. Craig Tracey
20. Robert Syms
21. Anthony Mangnall
22. Greg Clarkhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-orders-return-WFH-masks-Covid-passports.html
23. Esther McVey
24. Liam Fox
25. David Davis
26. Mark Jenkinson
27. Alicia Kearns
28. Mark Harper
29. Darren Henry
30. Steve Brine
31. Craig Mackinlay
32. Simon Fell
33. Andrew Bowie
34. David Warburton
35. Siobhan Baillie
36. David Jones
37. Tom Randall
38. Ben Spencer
39. Andrew Rosindell
40. Charles Walker
41. Douglas Ross
42, Karl McCartney
43. Anne Marie Morris
44. Johnny Mercer
45. Tom Tugendhat
46. Richard Fuller
47. Giles Watling
48. Desmond Swayne
49. Andrew Bridgen
50. Andrew Lewer
51. Christian Wakeford
52. Adam Afriyie
53. Julian Sturdy
54. Peter Bone
55. Chris Grayling
56. Chris Green
57. Tim Loughton
58. Tracey Crouch
59. Miriam Cates
60. Jackie Doyle-Price
61. Lee Anderson
62. Jonathan Djanogly
63. Mark Francois
64. Jill Mortimer
65. Tobias Ellwood

 

[adc82140]

There are currently 65 Tory MPs who have said they will vote against Plan B next week, having increased from 60 at the start of today. The list so far also includes some names who would be considered relatively moderate, and/or household Tory names, such as Tom Tugendhat, Chris Grayling, Tracey Crouch, Tobias Elwood, Liam Fox and David Davis:

Who said they would vote against vaccine passports?

Note: This article was written in advance of Tuesday’s vote. For a full list of those who actually did – or didn’t – rebel to vote against vaccine passports, please click here. On Tuesday, a vote will be held on Boris Johnson’s new Covid restrictions to tackle the Omicron variant. They will...

www.spectator.co.uk

There's quite a cluster of objectors in my part of the world from adjoining constituencies: Chope, Swayne, Ellwood, Drax.

 

[nw1]

There's quite a cluster of objectors in my part of the world from adjoining constituencies: Chope, Swayne, Ellwood, Drax.

What's interesting about this list is that it includes a very large number of Tory MPs who have got on my wick in the past, mostly over right-wing approaches to law and order, welfare, the economy and/or support for Brexit. Chope, Drax, Rosindell, Redwood, Duncan Smith, Fox, Francois, Bone, Bridgen and Duncan Smith stand out amongst that list.

Steve Brine (who has also got on my wick, but for different reasons - swinging one way then the other repeatedly over support or otherwise for Brexit) is an interesting one and something of a contrast to the list above.

Plan B isn't too extreme (though I do object to vaccine passports on civil liberties grounds) but its possible successors are, so I think there is a good argument for dissent by MPs at this time otherwise the government might try to push through a full-on lockdown two or three weeks later.

 

[adc82140]

Agreed. I have discussed Covid restrictions at length with Desmond Swayne, but if we ever got on to the subject of Brexit we'd fall out very quickly.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Who would say now that all this panicking here is not a means of distraction from the imploding world of Boris.

That is a pretty ludicrous statement. When you consider The Guardian is one of the worst offenders regarding pushing the panic, it's the end of the world narrative, are you seriously suggesting they are trying to deflect criticism from Boris Johnson?

 

[Merseysider]

The media will of course want to get us all into a panic at every opportunity. Big scary headlines sell newspapers and clickbait headlines on websites drive ad views and revenue.

I was perusing the Guardian online the other day and almost every “article” about C19 contained the words ‘panic’, ‘worrying’, ‘alarming’, ‘risk’ or ‘overwhelmed’ in the first few paragraphs plus a doom and gloom headline.

I dread to imagine what the Daily M*il articles looks like.

 

[nw1]

The media will of course want to get us all into a panic at every opportunity. Big scary headlines sell newspapers and clickbait headlines on websites drive ad views and revenue.

I was perusing the Guardian online the other day and almost every “article” about C19 contained the words ‘panic’, ‘worrying’, ‘alarming’, ‘risk’ or ‘overwhelmed’ in the first few paragraphs plus a doom and gloom headline.

I dread to imagine what the Daily M*il articles looks like.

Yes, the wonderful media - briefly - scared me sh*tless for a short time in October 2001 over the anthrax scares and worse, some story, repeated several times, about there being a realistic chance of al-Qaeda breaking into a lab storing the last known sample, and infecting us all with smallpox. This was in serious broadsheet papers, not junk tabloids. Absolutely disgusting to spread that sort of fear around just a short time after 9/11 in the name of profit. The media really are the most shameless, immoral industry out there. The problems the wretched newspapers have caused over the years are immeasurable.

 

[Cdd89]

There are currently 65 Tory MPs who have said they will vote against Plan B next week, having increased from 60 at the start of today. The list so far also includes some names who would be considered relatively moderate

I expect Boris’s unrelated political troubles are contributing to this (which is great news). I suspect many voted with Boris just because he was popular and they trusted his political antennae. Now he is unpopular and his antennae have repeatedly got him into trouble, so what is in it for them to support him if it goes against their own consciences/antennae?

 

[adc82140]

That is a pretty ludicrous statement. When you consider The Guardian is one of the worst offenders regarding pushing the panic, it's the end of the world narrative, are you seriously suggesting they are trying to deflect criticism from Boris Johnson?

It means that Plan B(oris) has worked. A lot of attention on the new restrictions (which the Guardian love) means they have relegated government scandal way down the agenda. The Guardian have swallowed it hook, line and sinker. This wasn't done for the benefit of the Telegraph.

 

[duncanp]

I dread to imagine what the Daily M*il articles looks like.

SHUT PUBS TO SAVE THOUSANDS

is the ridiculous load of b******s on their home page at the moment.

 

[Merseysider]

SHUT PUBS TO SAVE THOUSANDS

is the ridiculous load of b******s on their home page at the moment.

Bloody hell.

You’d think we were on the Titanic about to sail into an iceberg.

Whatever happened to “Keep calm and carry on...”?

 

[DanNCL]

I *never* thought I'd find myself agreeing with Chris Grayling on something...

 

[greyman42]

Javid and Johnson previously said they would only implement "Plan B" if hospital admission start to rise significantly! As it stands, they've gone completely against what they said! Also Javid said last week that if it's found that Omicron is no more dangerous than Delta, that restrictions can be scrapped immediately. So far they've gone against that too!

Why are the media not challenging the government about these statements?

 

[dave87016]

I don’t really have a problem with plan “B” it’s anything more than that that I have a issue with

 

[brad465]

I expect Boris’s unrelated political troubles are contributing to this (which is great news). I suspect many voted with Boris just because he was popular and they trusted his political antennae. Now he is unpopular and his antennae have repeatedly got him into trouble, so what is in it for them to support him if it goes against their own consciences/antennae?

Yes I would expect that for as long as he is in charge this is the minimum number of rebels for any further covid measures. There may well be more abstentions on top, and it's also possible some Labour MPs will also note vote against this simply to try and undermine Johnson further (there were reports I saw of a Labour MP suggesting they vote against Plan B to defeat Johnson, although that won't happen here).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Dec 2021 ==

Just to show not all doctors take the covid narrative:

https://twitter.com/ClareCraigPath/status/1469602306698133508

If you are working in an overflowing NHS hospital you need to share pictures now. There are patients being treated in corridors at the moment because of the non-covid health crisis. In a couple of weeks the press will share pictures and blame it all on covid.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Positivity rate doesn't suggest any material change in infection rates currently

 

[greyman42]

To be fair, I don't care if we have a full lockdown as I have happily been working from home in my main job since March last year and I've put in for permanent home working. As long as I can get my Greggs delivered and my online shop selling stuff, I'm happy!

Well that is fine if you do not have a social life which it sounds like you don't.

 

[Drogba11CFC]

To be fair, I don't care if we have a full lockdown as I have happily been working from home in my main job since March last year and I've put in for permanent home working. As long as I can get my Greggs delivered and my online shop selling stuff, I'm happy!

Yeah, and to hell with everyone else and their mental health. Just as long as you're happy!

 

[brad465]

Positivity rate doesn't suggest any material change in infection rates currently

View attachment 106780

Isn't 5% the threshold deemed to denote pandemic conditions are present? If so it looks like we've generally avoided that level this autumn and winter so far.

 

[Class 33]

Why are the media not challenging the government about these statements?

They really should do. But it's blatantly obvious that a lot of the press and media not only have no objections to restrictions, but they're actually pushing for more restrictions! It really is absolutely disgraceful.

In that press conference last Wednesday when Johnson announced this "Plan B" nonsense, not a single one of them questioned why exactly this was going ahead. Most of them were asking pretty much the same questions about the Downing Street Party last year!

In the press conference on Saturday 27th November one of the journalists(can't remember who) even asked Johnson "Do you not think, that these restrictions don't go far enough?"!!!

I also remember much earlier in the year when on ITV News there was a report by Emily Morgan about the number of people seeking help with mental health problems due to the restrictions had risen rapidly. Good I thought, as there is barely any mention in the press and media about the mental health implications these restrictions were/are having. Yet barely only a few days after that report in a press conference, Emily then asked Johnson "Isn't it about time you introduced tougher restrictions?"!!!!

 

[Merseysider]

In that press conference last Wednesday when Johnson announced this "Plan B" nonsense, not a single one of them questioned why exactly this was going ahead.

That’s shocking.

“Cautious but irreversible” is yet another reason not to trust the snake in No. 10.

To be fair, I don't care if we have a full lockdown as I have happily been working from home in my main job since March last year and I've put in for permanent home working. As long as I can get my Greggs delivered and my online shop selling stuff, I'm happy!

I would echo @yorkie‘s comments - if this is satire you forgot to include a smiley. If it isn’t satire, it’s woefully out of touch with the reality of millions of people.

 

[brad465]

They really should do. But it's blatantly obvious that a lot of the press and media not only have no objections to restrictions, but they're actually pushing for more restrictions! It really is absolutely disgraceful.

In that press conference last Wednesday when Johnson announced this "Plan B" nonsense, not a single one of them questioned why exactly this was going ahead. Most of them were asking pretty much the same questions about the Downing Street Party last year!

In the press conference on Saturday 27th November one of the journalists(can't remember who) even asked Johnson "Do you not think, that these restrictions don't go far enough?"!!!

I also remember much earlier in the year when on ITV News there was a report by Emily Morgan about the number of people seeking help with mental health problems due to the restrictions had risen rapidly. Good I thought, as there is barely any mention in the press and media about the mental health implications these restrictions were/are having. Yet barely only a few days after that report in a press conference, Emily then asked Johnson "Isn't it about time you introduced tougher restrictions?"!!!!

Probably the media love this so much for the money and clicks so would like to keep it going as long as possible. The reality is unless the masses start avoiding them financially and even more get protesting outside their offices, nothing will change.

 

[nw1]

Just heard someone on the radio (unclear whether it was the DJ or comment from a caller that the DJ was reading out) apparently seriously talking about "the annual lockdown restrictions are coming back", without it sounding like a complaint or humour (as in, the tone was deadpan and serious, and wasn't some far-out person with fringe views). Not sure if they were talking about merely Plan B, or a potential actual lockdown, but I wonder if there is a significant proportion of the population who appear to accept that this (the risk of a full-on lockdown in the winter months) is the way we're going to have to live our lives from now on? An annual lockdown in Jan and Feb being an accepted part of the calendar?

Worrying if so. I sincerely hope this is not the case. It would be a truly extreme measure if so.