The Final FUCKDOWN

[Klara Sjoberg]

I expect the Jahnsan will disappear for a short period again now. Hiding from view in hes fridge, muttering about how it's actually very encouraging that only your nan will die. 

[Fambo Number Mive]

People on Mums**t are of course mainly delighted about free tests possibly being scrapped.

It's interesting how all of a sudden so many of them are concerned about the environmental impacts of the plastic in the tests. I wonder how many of these people fly several times a year, drive on a daily basis etc. Their coronavirus forum (the only one I read) is full of selfish, hateful people.

I only really read it to get an insight into what the great British public think about covid.

[Klara Sjoberg]

The hollow words of the mums. And nearly everyone else.

There's always a reason to cling to that explains why preserving your own best case scenario is actually the moral thing to do, even at the expense of others, if you grasp hard enough ime.

[Milo]

I expect the Jahnsan will disappear for a short period again now. Hiding from view in hes fridge, muttering about how it's actually very encouraging that only your nan will die. 

Sell it as some sort of inheritence dividend.

[Klara Sjoberg]

in whatever grubby little group chat these things are discussed in that idea has surely already been floated

[Milo]

A major part of the levelling up agenda.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Which paper will be first to run the headline "WHAM BAM THANK YOU VAN TAM"?

(He's leaving his post)

[Blinder Data]

So we've avoided the final fuckdown? Amazing. I know operations have been cancelled and there are extreme staff shortages everywhere and people died et cetera but there was no lockdown and, crucially, the pubs stayed open.

Things can only get better from this point. Bye-bye restrictions, free LFTs and distancing. Let's get back to normal!

I love a happy endemic.

[Ferris]

I love a happy endemic.

Brilliant.

[Milo]

I've been hoping to catch omicron as a sort of closure as it peters out. No luck so far.

[olliebean]

Thought I had it this morning, did a test, turns out it's probably just a cold. Gutted.

[Milo]

I'll probably tell the grandkids my oxygen saturation dipped to 70% during the one day but I still had to pilot the air ambulance. Don't want them to think I coasted through the war.

[shoulders]

Cases dropping sharply but currently hospitalisations still rising, seems to be uneven regionally.

I guess the major problem now is for the health care workers having to deal with excess numbers and staff shortages, to be in crisis for such a long period.

[Crenners]

Maybe cut isolation to three days?

[Ferris]

45 minutes then stick a rapid test up your arse. Comes back negative, go back to work you snivelling drone.

270 a day going into the ground so that'll clear the hospital backlog in no time, then jobs a good un.

#OpenThePubs

[Fambo Number Mive]

Boris Johnson says that after the Commons recess, he intends to come back to present the government's latest plan for living with Covid.

Thanks to "encouraging" trends, the PM says he plans to end domestic restrictions – including on self-isolation - a "full month early".

Desperately pandering to his backbenchers.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the government plans to lift England's remaining Covid restrictions - which are due to end on 24 March - a month early.

Asked at the daily lobby briefing if this meant people could go to work if they had Covid, the PM's spokesman said the government would not advise anyone who tests positive to go to work once legal restrictions end.

The spokesman said everyone would be expected take steps to reduce the spread of the virus as they would if they had flu.

"What we would simply be doing is removing the domestic regulations which relate to isolation," the spokesman added.

"But obviously, in the same way that someone with flu, we wouldn't recommend they go to work, we would never recommend anyone goes to work when they have an infectious disease."

Interesting the onus now appears to be on the employee not the employer. What recourse will there be for a covid-positive employee whose company orders them to come in anyway? Of which there have already been some examples in the news.

[gilbertharding]

Famously no-one ever used to get flu, because no-one ever went to work while they were infectious.

How infectious are these two diseases when you have no symptoms, by the way?

[Fambo Number Mive]

Good question.

The ONS survey suggests that just over 3.3 million people in the UK would test positive for coronavirus in the week ending 5 February. This is up from just under 3.1 million in the previous week.

Infections rates were on the rise in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and falling Wales. The trend was uncertain in England.

Here are the estimated numbers of people with Covid, for the week ending 5 February:

1 in 19 in England
1 in 25 in Scotland
1 in 25 in Wales
1 in 13 in Northern Ireland

So the ONS estimate that over 5% of people in England had covid in the week ending 5th February. Great time to announce the scrapping of all covid requirements.

[Ferris]

Herd immunity the order of the day then.

You can't actually announce that, but clearly seems to be the plan. Same everywhere from the looks of it.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Is it two Omicron variants we have now? Can people with BA1 get BA2 within six months?

So many things we don't know about Omicron.

[flotemysost]

Maybe cut isolation to three days?

I saw an article (can't find it now) saying that recent research on volunteers who were willingly infected with Omicron suggests day 5 tends to be peak infectiousness.

Certainly when I tested myself on day 5 (a few days ago), it would appear I was infectious as giddy fuck. Or as it'll soon be known, ready to get back in the office!!! Just have a chekky Pret and you'll be fine!

[Crenners]

Apologies, I was taking the piss but good to see the government have taken my suggestion and run out of sight with it.

Remember Covid-19? 😂😂😂

[flotemysost]

Apologies, I was taking the piss but good to see the government have taken my suggestion and run out of sight with it.

Remember Covid-19? 😂😂😂

Oh I know, sorry! Just thought the study was worth mentioning as I haven't seen it posted here (I don't think).

I'm already a pampered wfh cunt and I've barely been able to stay awake the past week - I've hardly been an asset to the UK economy. I've sent about five work emails and none of them have made any sense (not hugely different to usual proceedings, tbf).

Can't wait for them to get rid of LFTs!

[shoulders]

Now we've 'got to learn to live with it', ignoring the fact that 3 vaccines, a mask mandate and social distancing is how we got to even dream of being able to 'learn to live with it'.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Apparently Johnson has commented "to allies" that he had "got covid done"

The Mail claim "Freedom Day" is February 24th and have the headline "England tears up covid rules and leads the world" followed by "We're first major nation to leave pandemic behind as PM says curbs to end this month".

This is being done solely so Johnson can shore up support among backbenchers and Tory members. It's sheer evil.

[olliebean]

I hope they've remembered to tell the pandemic it's being left behind on the 24th February, could be awkward otherwise.

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

Oh great another "freedom day". if anyone is in the same room as someone using that phrase, it is your duty to set them alight and piss on the ashes.

[Fambo Number Mive]

On a nearly full bus this morning, the sort of place I think most people would class as crowded.

Mask wearing less than 20%. We now have an even more unequal society where CV and CEV people are expected to lock themselves away because a large portion of society don't want to take a few precautions to reduce the risk to vulnerable people. MN was ecstatic at the news, of course. The CV and CEV people on there are mostly shouted down.

Sickening, have to say I do envy people in countries like China and New Zealand.

[Ferris]

It is very odd to hear about the UK. We're all still N95s over here and will be until March at least, I've seen two people not wearing masks as directed and one of them was a bit unwell.

No idea if it's doing much good, still a lot of omicron about but what can you do.