Coronavirus - how is it/has it affected you?

[Deleted member 16999]

Bothers me people using the words “punished” and ”freedom” when discussing the Lockdown, nobody is being “punished” we are being asked to change our behaviour for the benefit of us all for a short period of time.

If this is the worst ”punishment” you have to face in your life, well done, it really isn’t a hardship in the big scheme of things and by changing our behaviour for a short time, think of all the lives we are saving.

 

[Papas1982]

Bothers me people using the words “punished” and ”freedom” when discussing the Lockdown, nobody is being “punished” we are being asked to change our behaviour for the benefit of us all for a short period of time.

If this is the worst ”punishment” you have to face in your life, well done, it really isn’t a hardship in the big scheme of things and by changing our behaviour for a short time, think of all the lives we are saving.

Of course all of that above is true fella. For pretty much all of us on here we could look around the world and find those less fortunate Or who had faced worse.

I wouldn’t down play how big a deal it is though. This level of restriction is unheard of for most of us. It would have been unimaginable 20 months ago.

I think punished is maybe the wrong word. I certainly feel that millions are facing restrictions they didn’t need to.

Lockdown 65m people because maybe 5m are at risk. Why not lock those 5m down until,we had the vaccine?

At close to 40 I am happy to have followed the rules (mainly), I can be honest and say the 20yr old me wouldn’t have done so.

 

[clubchamp98]

You would need some sort of vaccination passport, ideally on a phone. QR code which confirms identity, matched to name on ticket, with vaccination status.

As an aside, if any of you have the NHS App (not the track and trace one, the general app), you can link it to your GP surgery and your medication history, including vaccinations will be visible. I imagine it would not be too difficult to use software to convert that information into a more friendly digital certificate.

What about a concert where the demographic is mainly older people ( went to see Michael Ball ) think at 63 I was one of the younger ones.
If you havnt got a phone.
The great British Public are notorious for bypassing things like this.
Ever borrowed someone’s ID to get into a club / pub.?
Not being awkward genuinely think it will be difficult,

 

[SocketRocket]

So "locking away" everyone hasn't worked. We didn't implement the processes to stop the spread, we lost control.

Older people are still dying at a tragic rate, and everyone is "locked away". Hospitals are at breaking point with those high risk sections of society. People with minimal risk of hospitalisation from covid are dying due to missing other treatments, suicide etc.

A change of tact surely should be investigated. We can't contain the spread, we are in a perpetual cycle of lockdowns and then moderate normality.

IMO the problem is people still socialising, old people dying are just a symptom of these people's carelessness. We are currently seeing the penalty of Christmas socialising.

Suggesting older people should be isolated just won't work, look at the continuing deaths in care homes, how much more isolated can these people be. Also how do you police such a policy, 'Hey Grandad get back home' I can just see the social divisions that would create.

I'm not exactly a card carrying Socialist but I see us as being in this together and we should have used a much tighter lockdown program for everyone much earlier. The economy is damaged and that can't be undone so the current policy of vaccinating the most vunrable first is now the only way we can get death rates down and stop the health service crashing.

 

[clubchamp98]

They were talking about an app being developed for this purpose. A number of European countries are keen on this as well. In the instance you give, to gain entrance to the concert you would need your ticket and the passport app showing that you have been vaccinated. The ticket would have your name on it, as would the app.

So if I want four tickets for the family I am going to need a lot of info.
I have run out of time a few times on ticket websites they are a nightmare .

Identity cards that have your health status among other things.
But that’s another debate.!

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Of course all of that above is true fella. For pretty much all of us on here we could look around the world and find those less fortunate Or who had faced worse.

I wouldn’t down play how big a deal it is though. This level of restriction is unheard of for most of us. It would have been unimaginable 20 months ago.

I think punished is maybe the wrong word. I certainly feel that millions are facing restrictions they didn’t need to.

Lockdown 65m people because maybe 5m are at risk. Why not lock those 5m down until,we had the vaccine?

At close to 40 I am happy to have followed the rules (mainly), I can be honest and say the 20yr old me wouldn’t have done so.

Show me were I’ve played it down? It’s huge, I’m not for one minute thinking it’s easy, but it’s not a punishment.

A lot of opinions we are seeing expressed is based on hindsight, and I’m sure every single one of us would change things if we were to face something similar.

But imo, the 5m at risk are almost becoming resented and “blamed” for what everyone is going through.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

So if I want four tickets for the family I am going to need a lot of info.
I have run out of time a few times on ticket websites they are a nightmare .

Identity cards that have your health status among other things.
But that’s another debate.!

If you want to book a flight now you need full name, dob, passport number. All fiddly but we accept it. If you want concert tickets then maybe you will just need to be prepared with info before you start the process. In this instance I can see each person's name having to be on each ticket, some do it already to help stop touts, and then the app having to be shown at point of entry to the venue, not at point of booking.

 

[Papas1982]

Show me were I’ve played it down? It’s huge, I’m not for one minute thinking it’s easy, but it’s not a punishment.

A lot of opinions we are seeing expressed is based on hindsight, and I’m sure every single one of us would change things if we were to face something similar.

But imo, the 5m at risk are almost becoming resented and “blamed” for what everyone is going through.

It was a figure of speqch fella. Not an accusation.

I certainly dont blame the 5m at all, but I do fear they will be resented. Especially if some sort of pass is given to people post vaccine. And there are 60m less at risk who then wait longest for the pass....

 

[bluewolf]

It isn't going to happen, and was meant provocatively rather than realistically, but the point is that some people are knowingly putting avoidable risk to others and avoidable costs to the NHS, not to mention displacing non-Covid access, by their decisions, and they should be accountable for the broader societal effects as well as accepting personal risk.

I think smoking and drinking are a bit different. I hate smoking as much as anyone, but at one time it was seen as acceptable and normal, even advertised with health benefits. Alcohol has a J-shaped association with health risk, with possible health benefits at low doses, but harm at higher doses. There is no health benefit to the individual or society from vaccination refusal.

I agree completely, but something like an additional tax for anti-vaxers could be the thin end of a very disturbing wedge ?

 

[Papas1982]

What about a concert where the demographic is mainly older people ( went to see Michael Ball ) think at 63 I was one of the younger ones.
If you havnt got a phone.
The great British Public are notorious for bypassing things like this.
Ever borrowed someone’s ID to get into a club / pub.?
Not being awkward genuinely think it will be difficult,

???

Really. That's your realistic barrier to this working?

 

[chrisd]

Lockdown 65m people because maybe 5m are at risk. Why not lock those 5m down until,we had the vaccine?

Given that a huge number of us are required to look after your children, pick them up from school etc etc then just locking us down wouldn't work ??

 

[DanFST]

Given that a huge number of us are required to look after your children, pick them up from school etc etc then just locking us down wouldn't work ??

Required? Why would someone at risk be interacting with children?

Many who don't have the benefit of grandparents survive.

 

[Papas1982]

Given that a huge number of us are required to look after your children, pick them up from school etc etc then just locking us down wouldn't work ??

People can’t have it both ways mate.

If we are to genuinely believe certain demographics are most at risk, we shouldn’t be asking them to assist.

My in laws have only helped when the kids have been off school, and then only after 2 weeks had passed.

 

[chrisd]

People can’t have it both ways mate.

If we are to genuinely believe certain demographics are most at risk, we shouldn’t be asking them to assist.

My in laws have only helped when the kids have been off school, and then only after 2 weeks had passed.

I'm not referring specifically to anyone here but grand parents are more and more doing child care these days and how do people work, other than at home, if their childcare is not available?

 

[Reemul]

Required? Why would someone at risk be interacting with children?

Many who don't have the benefit of grandparents survive.

You have no idea how many families rely on grandparents, it's massive, from school collections to looking after the grand kids so parents can work and so on.

You put up some reasonable points and then continually ruining it by showing your true colours with the statement above which actually shows you have no idea how Grandparents and support works for millions of people which again shows your thoughts are based around your perception and not the bigger picture regardless of what you put out on here at times.

There are 15.5 million people over 60 and nearly 9 million over 70. As said even if we tried it we cannot isolate 15 million people successfully.

Some of you really are ignorant, there is a massive amount of elderly who support their family and have no choice in the matter, single parents who have to work, couple who are both in low paid work that cannot afford to pay for child care and so on. I know you might not be affected by that but there is a very large amount of people who have no choice. Around 40% of pic ups at my sons school are grand parents. It's even more at my wifes school.

We have unfortunately become a society where both parents need to work and so many are poorly paid that the only way they can manage is with the help of grand parents, it's not like a choice it's a must have to and however unpalatable that is it is true and does not disappear just because you want it to.

 

[PJ87]

Required? Why would someone at risk be interacting with children?

Many who don't have the benefit of grandparents survive.

So many people can't survive without grandparents.

My colleague his wife gave up work to be childcare

My parents and wife's parents do our childcare

Without them we wouldn't cope all our extra cash would be going to childcare which could lead to issues if down the line we need money and have no savings because it's being spent on childcare.

Some people aren't so lucky to have the option

Also it's getting childcare if you suddently remove all the grandparents help then many more need childcare which simply isn't there.


Let's back this up with some figures

My wife works 3 days a week

So £60 a day childcare per child

3 kids but one going into school so that wouldn't be full rate say after school and breakfast clubs

£360 a week for the twins
£30 a week for the eldest

£1560 a month

 

[bobmac]

There are 15.5 million people over 60 and nearly 9 million over 70. As said even if we tried it we cannot isolate 15 million people successfully.

However, we can vaccinate the over 70s by next month.



Then everyone can have their restrictions eased, NHS pressure reduced and businesses getting back to work.

 

[Papas1982]

I'm not referring specifically to anyone here but grand parents are more and more doing child care these days and how do people work, other than at home, if their childcare is not available?

Once the vaccine is up and running, back to normal.

until then. Look for support from work on the best ways to get by. That may involve a financial hit for some, but the alternative could be losing that childcare option for good.....

 

[DanFST]

You have no idea how many families rely on grandparents, it's massive, from school collections to looking after the grand kids so parents can work and so on.

You put up some reasonable points and then continually ruining it by showing your true colours with the statement above which actually shows you have no idea how Grandparents and support works for millions of people.

What is that supposed to mean?

We are in the middle of a pandemic. Those at high risk should not be mixing with children. Unfortunately if high risk people do mix with children, a lot of people will die. Just as many have after taking the risk and mixing with family at Christmas.

I don't have parents left, or any family support network. Are you saying It's impossible for me to raise children, or that I will just have to make some uncomfortable sacrifices throughout the early years?

Edit: You've taken me saying those at high risk. To equate to all grandparents. That's obviously not the case.

 

[PJ87]

What is that supposed to mean?

We are in the middle of a pandemic. Those at high risk should not be mixing with children. Unfortunately if high risk people do mix with children, a lot of people will die. Just as many have after taking the risk and mixing with family at Christmas.

I don't have parents left, or any family support network. Are you saying It's impossible for me to raise children, or that I will just have to make some uncomfortable sacrifices throughout the early years?

Do you have kids? Not digging out just a question