Will we????

[saundra]

Have lockdown for Xmas??
Or riots !?

[cromwell]

I don't think that we'll have either Saundra.
Fingers crossed anyway.

[Suff]

By removing masks and unlocking almost all borders, the government gave themselves room to take "action" without really doing much of anything. Reinstate a few border controls, reintroduce pcr testing bring back masks in shops and other public places.

Revisiting the "We did something" that has been going on all the time.

Without actually doing much of anything.

Having made these changes, they can then say "we need to look at these data before going further"

Germany and Austria didn't give themselves much change leeway in their quest to prove they are being proactive. Leaving only draconian changes.

Watch and see, but this government has been pretty consistent over the last 6 months or so. The hospital admissions and deaths data will have to rise dramatically before they take more action.

[Workingman]

I said it on the other thread; Andy Burnham is the most prominent of a handful of politicians who have openly stated that a large proportion of the public now has restrictions fatigue. For them enough is enough.

A big problem for scientists and government is that there is an asymptomatic period between infection, detection, and illness and during that time the person will be spreading the virus. The fact is that there is not enough real world data to say much about Omicron's transmissibility, vaccine evasion, fatality rate or any other capabilities or weaknesses. We will be in limbo for a while yet, At the moment everything is speculation, but caution is warranted.

The first case was reported on November 11th in Botswana.

[TheOstrich]

The latest information from South Africa seems to be that Omicron presents itself firstly with rather mild symptoms, i.e. no loss of taste or smell, but does manifest fatigue and a racing pulse. What is unknown yet with any certainty is what happens in the second stage of infection.

As for lockdowns or riots, my gut reaction is we could well see both.
Lockdown depends on what they find out about Omicron's transmissibility and infectiousness over the next few weeks, and I don't think anyone would be bold enough to absolutely rule lockdowns out at this stage.
And judging by social media, there are enough upset punters out there to mass protest further restrictions, and as we know from past experience, rioting follows not far behind that.

Consider my views jaundiced by all means, but nothing would surprise me these days.

[saundra]

nore me ossie

[Workingman]

Yes Ossie, I saw the interview with the SA doctor on Andrew Marr and she was clear that it was mild. She was also clear that two or three weeks down the line things might be different but not to panic just yet.

Then I went to the BBC website where a shorter version was to be seen. It carried much the same info as the original. However, it was accompanied by an article telling us very definitely just how bad this thing is. That article had a link to a BBC video with scenes of mutants and werewolves etc from famous films explaining just how this VoC (variant of concern) was going to get us.

I see that the article and video have now been taken down. Unfortunately more people will have read the scare story and seen the video than watched Andrew Marr so the damage has been done. Totally irresponsible journalism.

I expect resistance to the not-so-new "new" rules.

Sajiv Javid: "It will be a legal requirement by government regulation to wear masks in shops and public transport."

And one that cannot be enforced. The British Retail Consortium and major retailers know this. They are asking shoppers to respect new rules on mandatory face masks in shops, but are also saying that they cannot force shoppers to wear masks and this it is down to the police.

My bet is that lockdowns and civil disobedience are not far off.

[cromwell]

I said it on the other thread; Andy Burnham is the most prominent of a handful of politicians who have openly stated that a large proportion of the public now has restrictions fatigue. For them enough is enough.

It's taken a long time but it has begun to penetrate the head of some politicians that many people have indeed had enough. Humans are social animals and we need to socialise with each other.
The media ceaselessly shouting for another lock down doesn't help, and imo the number of politicians who would lock down at the drop of a variant is still in the majority.

[Workingman]

So how did this happen?

The UK has identified its third case of Omicron, but the individual is no longer in the country!

Excuse me but how did a person with a positive test result get on a plane, boat or train and leave? Is there no link between test results and passports? If not, why not? Why did the person have a test in the first place? Did they suspect that they had Covid or was it just a random test? Where did they go!?

More importantly why are these and other questions not being asked of those in charge?

[Suff]

WM, it is only a mandatory requirement to get on a plane with a negative test if the destination country requires a test. Not all do. If a person takes the test but bolts, before the results come through, to a country which doesn't require a negative test, there is not much to be done.

We have neighbours who have cancelled their trip home to have Christmas with family because they don't know what travel restrictions are going to come into play in the next 3 weeks. They're going to be on their own this Christmas so we've invited them over.

My BIL and his family have a Christmas holiday booked in Tenerife for the third year running. They're hoping it doesn't get cancelled for a third year in a row but they are in Scotland and Sturgeon is agitating for yet another hard lockdown this Christmas. So far Boris is brushing her off with the rabies bargepole.