Should restrictions be eased fully if Indian Variant case rates do not decline before June 21st?

[quantinghome]

I'm sorry to say, but why are you so selfish? OK I am guessing in your life you can carry on pretty much as normal but there are many activities that I normally, but cannot currently do. From hobbies to travelling to organising a birthday party. Then tens of thousands of businesses are still banned from opening entirely or operating profitable. Millions of people with families abroad are essentially banned from visiting them. This is not just about being grateful that the Government have permitted us to go to the pub with 5 other people.

You guessed wrong. Like you there are many things that are very important to me that I haven't been able to do since March last year, and still can't. I want things to get back to normal as soon as possible. But given we've been through 15 months of this I'd prefer the sacrifices we've all had to make not to go to waste for the sake of a few weeks while we get vaccinations up to herd immunity levels.

 

[NorthKent1989]

I would be very surprised if restrictions aren't lifted on 19th July. We've been through so much but we're nearly there - and to re-emphasise, most restrictions are already lifted. For all the concern we've got about the final restrictions being removed we are in a far far better place than back in January.

Forgive me if I remain sceptical… 3 weeks to flatten the curve, that was last March.

Comparing the "death rate" from Covid with the death rate from road accidents doesn't tell us anything useful. Road accidents aren't infectious. If you look at the number of deaths the most recent weekly figure for Covid is 78, and in recent years the number of deaths per week from road accidents has been about 35.

Covid is infectious but it has a 99% survival rate, we have to live with it and it seems some people sent willing to do that.

 

[yorkie]

It is not surprising that we have not yet achieved herd immunity...

I assume by that you mean a state of endemic equilibrium (which we have reached with four pre-existing HCoVs)?

 

[quantinghome]

Glad you have apologised; unfortunately many people do not understand the serious mental health issues that can arise from the mandating of masks and the way some people have been excluded from full participation in society in the past year.

Some people will dish abuse to anyone who is not wearing a lanyard but not everyone wants to be labelled and not everyone can cope with the anxiety of being challenged.

That being the case, surely we need to avoid giving people the wrong impression of what it's actually like to venture outside. If people can't wear a mask and are scared they will get abuse, the worst thing we can do is exaggerate the risk. The chances of actually receiving abuse are tiny, and I'd encourage people to meet up with friends and socialise now that we can, particularly if they are struggling with mental health issues.

Given all vulnerable people who wanted to be vaccinated have been, there is no justification for restrictions to continue for 4 more weeks.

The 4 weeks gives time to (i) protect more individuals (ii) achieve herd immunity and (iii) see in the real world how effective the vaccine is at preventing serious illness and fatalities.

 

[Cowley]

New thread on the updated timeline here: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...1-your-views-on-how-this-will-pan-out.218811/

Thanks for your contributions everyone.