Some thoughts on covid 19 restrictions

Unknown said:

There's still too many people who are not taking this seriously enough

I agree Tony,   it really beggars belief how after so much effort has been put in to emphasising the dangers of not adhering to the safety rules;   pleading to people not to put additional stress on the NHS and other covid workers.        I see it where I am living in our communal block where non bubbles/non residents are constantly visiting (one younger couple in particular who frankly don't give a fig)  and although we always wear our face coverings and disposable gloves when using the communal areas to access our daily walk,   I was half way down the staircase when 3 people were coming up with one of the residents who were visiting together when they are well aware they are breaking the law.     This has happened so many times (particularly with this one couple)  that I had the management company send a general circular to all residents (I gave no names)  to remind folk that there are vulnerable people in the block and that they should obey the rules.    One poor resident lady is now living with her son as it is not safe for her to be here;     it's time people took a look in the mirror at themselves and remember that their actions could result in not just one but multiple deaths.    They are totally selfish when the majority of people are continuing to do the right thing having not seen friends/family members for months and months.    What is it going to take for those who think they are unaffected by this virus and the more dangerous new strains.       

Yes, the scientists have been excellent in conveying the latest figures, news and advice,   we just need everyone to listen and take heed or we'll never get out of this mess.     

Really sorry to hear your news Wendy, but best in the long run for you. No point in taking chances with the unknown, you "just"have to keep safe at home. Ron had his today & no problems, for now we have an appointment for his 2nd jab, just hope the supplies keep up.
Hazy : It's just the same here, the 1st lockdown & everyone complied, 2nd lockdown & the numbers of people out & about never changed. The numbers of cases didn't drop much before they opened it all up for Xmas & so the numbers have been rising steadily ever since. It's frightening. They are now saying it's back to 2m distance but people nevr stuck to 1m. They say the rewashable masks won't do unless they are category 1 (whatever that means) & throw-away masks have to be a higher standard too. I think this is going to be with us for a long time & we just have to do everything we can to protect ourselves & others too. In the end people wandering around in communal areas without masks will pay the price.

Thanks H, pleased to hear Ron had his jab OK, some peace of mind for however long immunity lasts ... virus such a new occurrence, they're having to learn on the job ... might be my turn some day?

Wendy, sorry to hear you were unable to get the vaccine. I trust you will carry on staying safe. We were told a couple of days ago that our local surgery are about to begin vaccinating the over-75s, so we have a while to wait. Finger crossed we can have the first dose before the end of March, although that might make meeting-up at the end of June with Forumates a bit questionable. Just remains to be seen what transpires.

Unknown said:

Crikey, just been watching the briefing. We've still got a long haul in front of us. There's still too many people who are not taking this seriously enough.

I find the medics and scientists are quite impressive and telling us how it really is without trying to put a gloss on things. Even Boris is being more cautious.

TJ, I fear you're nearer the truth than you realise!

A very long haul, esp if the govt pursues only a single dose rather than the prescribed two doses. There are areas where many vulnerable people are overdue their first dose, so the program isn't going to plan.

As for folk not taking it seriously enough, with the adverts for international holidays, I fear among the positivity, things are not going to be as rosie as hoped. There are a lot of folk talking about booking holidays abroad in hope and out of frustration of the lockdowns we've endured, but unless internationally all countries complete to the same time scale, we've still a long way to go.

I still feel it'll be 2022 before we really see some final progress.

I'd like to be wrong, I want to be wrong, and I'd welcome folk telling me I'm wrong.

I think you are right, Mike.  Clare is still living in hope that a break in Mull will be possible in autumn but nothing has been booked.

Limpy said:

I think you are right, Mike.  Clare is still living in hope that a break in Mull will be possible in autumn but nothing has been booked.

I'm living in hope that I'm wrong, but I'm too much of a realist.

Both Mrs PR and myself are unanimous no hols this year.

After I read your post, Robbo, I checked out the AirBnB website to enquire about a theoretical stay in Inverness next month. It had a link to their Covid policy at the top of the page, but it also showed me a whole host of places I could book. Just unbelievable - isn't anyone tracking how many bookings are still being made through sites like this? I wholeheartedly agree about demanding contributions from the profiteers and they should start with bloody Amazon.

I take statistics with a certain amount of reservation for reasons Rob has pointed out. Still so much is unknown about this virus and its variants and how we should respond in order to get it under control; although science has learned so much more about Coronavirus since beginning of last year, so much more still needs to be understood about the efficacy of the vaccine, how long it protects for, time between doses and re-infection chances, new strains etc, I think any government would struggle (economically too) to get the right decisions with so much to consider and organise with new information appearing constantly the longer this continues. As others have said, I think we are in for the long haul and every human being must take personal full responsibility for their own actions and be acutely aware of what failing to comply with basic guidance could ultimately lead to. I hear a lot of people saying they don't understand and that is why they break some rules but if they were totally honest, the majority do know what is expected of them in general terms but choose to ignore and flout the guidance and blame it on the governments lack of clarity ...... which in part I can agree with but at the end of the day it isn't rocket science to understand the very basic requirements of social distancing, sticking to bubbles and if taking exercise ...,, although government haven't set this in stone .....start and end at your front door on foot unless you have a valid reason to have to drive to your exercise area. It is ultimately down to common-sense and the respect for your fellow human being.
As for AirB&B's I find it incredulous that people are still intent on vacation breaks at this worrying time - we are all sick and tired of being cooped up like battery hens and having our freedom curtailed but how can we regain our lives and some semblance of normality unless everyone starts to take this deadly virus seriously. I hear people say we haven't had a holiday in a year to which I reply (apart from mini breaks in UK) we haven't had a proper holiday for 9 years where we actually got on a plane to the sunshine and although disappointing that our trip to Australia to see our family has had to be postponed, we completely understand why this has to be and the fact I haven't seen 4 of my elderly relatives for almost half a year who live just 7 miles away !
I still hold a faint hope of being able to get to one of the rspb nature reserves at some stage this year and an outside chance of a forumate meet up at Leighton Moss in June but until we get through to Easter and see where we are with vaccinations, we really have to sit tight and grin and bear this awful time in our history.
We all need hope and the dream of opportunities to keep us going otherwise how can we endure the lockdown without a glint of light at the end of this long dark tunnel. I'd rather go down the road of a tighter lockdown despite feeling weary of restrictions if it means we can get a better grip on this virus earlier. For now we have to learn how to use Zoom or FaceTime .............. made a little progress with the purchase of two new iPhones this month ! Older I get technology begins to out-smart my aged brain LOL
I have an exciting day planned today sorting my sock and top drawers out ha ha !

Out of interest: there seems there is a bit of a stuff up with the covid vaccine appointments and lack of communication with health records at NHS as Mike has today just received a 2nd invitation for a first vaccine at our own local doctors surgery - and it is TODAY ! so he will go today and we'll have to cancel the other one for Thursday.as we both prefer to go to our own surgery. Talk about waiting and then two "buses" come at once LOL