I imagine Plan C will look similar to what Ireland is doing at the moment with table service at pubs and restaurants, possible capacity caps at large events and nightclubs closing for a brief period.
I know I'm probably being too optimistic but I think 2022 will be a much better year because once the oral antivirals are in general use, it'll change how outbreaks are handled.
Coronavirus - Strange times
Considering the data coming out of South Africa now about hospitalisations and long term immunity, and the surges seem to be coming close to peaking in some parts of the country, it's hard not to be positive. As long as the world loses this idea of obsessive over case numbers if they're not leading to severe illness or death next year should be good. It's becoming quite clear that at the very least the T and B cell protection from both vaccination and past infection is likely to prevent serious illness and making the virus much less of a threat even if the virus itself isn't technically getting "milder".
And another reason I should take a break from online... a worst case scenaro that's almost so ridiculous that it's almost certainly not going to happen suggesting a million covid cases a day by the end of the month has been published by the UKHSA today, and people are jumping on it as if it's what's definitely going to happen and are in all moods of panic and doom, as if all rationality has gone out the window. Considering it's not what's coming out of South Africa, where Omicron is dominant and life is continuing mostly as normal, the idea it's going to happen here is beyond improbable.
And after getting more hostility from trying to defend myself tonight, I'm just keeping my mouth shut from now on, there's no point even trying any more, I'm just made to feel worse every time I do it. It really is yet another sign that I need to get offline for a while, but with so little else to do right now, it's hard to find something else to distract myself.
I'm not sure the hospitality trade could withstand "plan C", they're barely recovering now, especially will all the Christmas parties being cancelled on masse.
And another reason I should take a break from online... a worst case scenaro that's almost so ridiculous that it's almost certainly not going to happen suggesting a million covid cases a day by the end of the month has been published by the UKHSA today, and people are jumping on it as if it's what's definitely going to happen and are in all moods of panic and doom, as if all rationality has gone out the window. Considering it's not what's coming out of South Africa, where Omicron is dominant and life is continuing mostly as normal, the idea it's going to happen here is beyond improbable.
And after getting more hostility from trying to defend myself tonight, I'm just keeping my mouth shut from now on, there's no point even trying any more, I'm just made to feel worse every time I do it. It really is yet another sign that I need to get offline for a while, but with so little else to do right now, it's hard to find something else to distract myself.
I'm not sure the hospitality trade could withstand "plan C", they're barely recovering now, especially will all the Christmas parties being cancelled on masse.
I've never seen anyone confronting people for not wearing a mask when they were wearing a lanyard, people that wear masks generally seem to be the caring ones - hence they are wearing the masks,
I've witnessed non mask wearers confronting people who do wear masks though - more than once.
One million new cases a day is possible world wide but not in the UK alone, the man who said that often goes into rants and reminds me of an alcoholic, look at the dancing video and other things he's said before.
The government are not the brightest, for 2 weeks they've been urging people... get the jab, get the jab, get the jab - they wonder why the amount of people getting it is falling... well - maybe the fact they told us the vaccine may not work on the new variant and that the new variant will become dominant quickly.
Now they've filled tomorrow's news with "a booster vaccine will help" so I'd expect the uptake to start to take off again this week, it won't be long until a scientist leaks a story about how they are discussing having another lockdown unless the people get vaccinated.
I've witnessed non mask wearers confronting people who do wear masks though - more than once.
One million new cases a day is possible world wide but not in the UK alone, the man who said that often goes into rants and reminds me of an alcoholic, look at the dancing video and other things he's said before.
The government are not the brightest, for 2 weeks they've been urging people... get the jab, get the jab, get the jab - they wonder why the amount of people getting it is falling... well - maybe the fact they told us the vaccine may not work on the new variant and that the new variant will become dominant quickly.
Now they've filled tomorrow's news with "a booster vaccine will help" so I'd expect the uptake to start to take off again this week, it won't be long until a scientist leaks a story about how they are discussing having another lockdown unless the people get vaccinated.
I would urge people not to let Covid get their anxiety rocking though, if anything Covid should have taught people to make the most of life and enjoy it while they can because lockdowns showed freedoms can be swiped just like that... people are more than capable of visiting friends, family and partners without being silly enough to accidentally infect someone.
Yes, I've had that thrown at me several times already by various people, as I said earlier. It's completely unhelpful whataboutery. Pointing out the opposite extreme can be just as bad doesn't make it any better.
And as I've said before, for me the idea of wearing a lanyard and having to advertise I've got a problem is actually quite upsetting and while I did do it for a while, it really bothered me, left me on edge all the time and mentally I just can't do it any more, it's too distressing to walk around feeling like a leper and like you've got a big neon sign over your head. Not that wearing a lanyard is good enough for some of the people I've argued with anyway. I know this might seem like I'm being irrational, but it has become a real difficulty for me.
And the attitude of many mask wearers I've come across I wouldn't class as "caring" (certainly people telling me earlier today to "keep away from other people" and "don't breathe your air around me" even after explaining my anxiety isn't particularly caring), especially online where they say things they likely wouldn't dare in real life, even when you try and describe your problems to them and they still tell you you're selfish and spreading disease. As I said, I'm going to stop even trying after tonight for the sake of my health, but the attitudes of many have been a real eye opener, and not in a good way.
Today really is an extreme indication I need to get off the internet and find something else to do... if I can. Certainly tonight's postings on the AV Forums covid threads with their reaction to "a million cases a day by Christmas" shows for sure what a load of irrational doommongers most of them are. The way they downplay and dismiss any optimistic projections but hysterically accept this unquestioningly shows they need to be ignored (I guess being mostly made up of DS GD exiles, the irrationality is to be expected).
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all new Phil
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Totally agree with you about lanyards. Feels a bit yellow Jew badge to me.
Also totally agree that militant mask wearers are the rudest. I work in hospitality and the most aggro we’ve had has been from people who think we should be confronting anyone not wearing a mask. I suspect these same people are also very vocal #BeKind types.
I think what frustrates me is that there is clearly a subsection of society who are very anti-mask, and they are who are making it difficult for you. It almost reminds me of the ongoing trans right debates, where the vast majority of trans people want to get on and live their life in peace but are drawn into the arguments by association with the more militant and ridiculous “JKR is a terf and people want to literally stop us existing” type idiots. Extreme voices keep getting amplified.
Also totally agree that militant mask wearers are the rudest. I work in hospitality and the most aggro we’ve had has been from people who think we should be confronting anyone not wearing a mask. I suspect these same people are also very vocal #BeKind types.
I think what frustrates me is that there is clearly a subsection of society who are very anti-mask, and they are who are making it difficult for you. It almost reminds me of the ongoing trans right debates, where the vast majority of trans people want to get on and live their life in peace but are drawn into the arguments by association with the more militant and ridiculous “JKR is a terf and people want to literally stop us existing” type idiots. Extreme voices keep getting amplified.
I'm sure this came from an empathetic place, but it's hugely insensitive to compare wearing a lanyard for not being able to wear a mask (and I completely understand there are many reasons why some people are unable to wear a mask) to having to wear a yellow badge, be rounded up and taken to a concentration camp and killed.all new Phil wrote: ↑Sat 11 Dec, 2021 12.12 Totally agree with you about lanyards. Feels a bit yellow Jew badge to me.
I take your point, and I agree it is a clumsy comparison, but I have to admit there are times I have made the same one mentally.Neil wrote: ↑Sat 11 Dec, 2021 21.07I'm sure this came from an empathetic place, but it's hugely insensitive to compare wearing a lanyard for not being able to wear a mask (and I completely understand there are many reasons why some people are unable to wear a mask) to having to wear a yellow badge, be rounded up and taken to a concentration camp and killed.all new Phil wrote: ↑Sat 11 Dec, 2021 12.12 Totally agree with you about lanyards. Feels a bit yellow Jew badge to me.
The problem is those lanyards pre-dated Covid and was a means of allowing those with hidden disabilities to communicate the fact they might have an additional need which was not immediately obvious - as an example, my fiancée struggles with agoraphobia and so public transport is an issue for her. It was a great help for her to know the bus driver is aware of her difficulties and so if she had a panic attack it would be understood intuitively between herself and the driver there could be a greater risk of such a thing, which reduced her anxiety (as there was no longer a fear of just being seen as weird/difficult) which of course reduced the likelihood of such an incident in the first place.
Then suddenly 18 months ago when masks became compulsory wearing one of those lanyards was the only way to stop being asked to wear a mask repeatedly when you were unable to. People felt as though they had no choice but to wear them, even though it wasn't legally necessary.
Worse still - as this thread stands to evidence - the lanyard itself then became the personification of mask refuseniks. Such is the hostility that my fiancée has now abandoned hers entirely, and now the fear about getting on a bus and the driver not understanding is back.
When people can wear something to identify as something as they choose - that's great.
When people are literally or constructively forced to do that - that's absolutely wrong.
The "yellow star" comparison is certainly not the right one to be made for reasons already pointed out, though I do understand the point you're getting at.
For me it's a mixture of having to advertise something I don't want advertising, along with the fact, as Will said, so many people have decided people wearing them have just bought or printed them so they can try it on, so you're often treated as bad as if you weren't wearing the lanyard anyway. Lanyards SHOULD be optional, but in the current climate you have pretty much no choice but to wear them, and still can't guarantee you won't get harrassed or challenged even then.
Will's certainly put many of my thoughts here down better than I could. It's been a hard time for people with various issues, disability groups have written a fair bit about it over the last 18 months or so, sadly not got much mainstream attention though. The most I've really seen was the BBC putting up a story very shortly after masks were first mandated from a woman who can't wear them because it reminds her of being assaulted having had people come up to her in the shops and accuse her of killing their relatives and similar, but I don't think the story got much attention. Many of us just want to quietly get on with our business without drawing attention to ourselves or getting hassle from others and be independent, and the mask mandates have made that virtually impossible, wearing a lanyard or not. I hear loads of people describe mask mandates as a "minor" and "inconsequential" thing, but for some of us it's literally changed how we have to live our lives.
Until covid came in, I used to travel quite a fair bit by myself, was very easy for me- work things out, plan what I'm doing, was very easy to keep myself to myself and keep interactions with others to a minimum unless I wanted to. Now during the whole period masks have been mandated I haven't even been able to go into a shop alone, even with a lanyard, because the risk of being harrassed scares me too much. I certainly don't feel like I can get on a plane, the hoops some airlines make you to jump through to prove an exemption (one US airline I looked at, I think it might have been Delta but can't remember for sure, requires you to arrive early at the airport to be "assessed", that thought is terrifying and intimidating- I don't want to be judged by someone who knows nothing about me or my medical history, and may well not be medically trained anyway), the risk of the airline staff at some point deciding your claim for an exemption isn't good enough and the genuine hostility from airline staff on the issue in general (far too many videos and stories of people who have been clearly distressed having masks forced on them by airline staff or kicked off planes), before you even get to how other passengers react and different rules around exemptions in other countries, makes international travel in the current atmosphere actually one of the most terrifying things I can imagine doing right now, when it used to be one of the things I most enjoyed.
For me it's a mixture of having to advertise something I don't want advertising, along with the fact, as Will said, so many people have decided people wearing them have just bought or printed them so they can try it on, so you're often treated as bad as if you weren't wearing the lanyard anyway. Lanyards SHOULD be optional, but in the current climate you have pretty much no choice but to wear them, and still can't guarantee you won't get harrassed or challenged even then.
Will's certainly put many of my thoughts here down better than I could. It's been a hard time for people with various issues, disability groups have written a fair bit about it over the last 18 months or so, sadly not got much mainstream attention though. The most I've really seen was the BBC putting up a story very shortly after masks were first mandated from a woman who can't wear them because it reminds her of being assaulted having had people come up to her in the shops and accuse her of killing their relatives and similar, but I don't think the story got much attention. Many of us just want to quietly get on with our business without drawing attention to ourselves or getting hassle from others and be independent, and the mask mandates have made that virtually impossible, wearing a lanyard or not. I hear loads of people describe mask mandates as a "minor" and "inconsequential" thing, but for some of us it's literally changed how we have to live our lives.
Until covid came in, I used to travel quite a fair bit by myself, was very easy for me- work things out, plan what I'm doing, was very easy to keep myself to myself and keep interactions with others to a minimum unless I wanted to. Now during the whole period masks have been mandated I haven't even been able to go into a shop alone, even with a lanyard, because the risk of being harrassed scares me too much. I certainly don't feel like I can get on a plane, the hoops some airlines make you to jump through to prove an exemption (one US airline I looked at, I think it might have been Delta but can't remember for sure, requires you to arrive early at the airport to be "assessed", that thought is terrifying and intimidating- I don't want to be judged by someone who knows nothing about me or my medical history, and may well not be medically trained anyway), the risk of the airline staff at some point deciding your claim for an exemption isn't good enough and the genuine hostility from airline staff on the issue in general (far too many videos and stories of people who have been clearly distressed having masks forced on them by airline staff or kicked off planes), before you even get to how other passengers react and different rules around exemptions in other countries, makes international travel in the current atmosphere actually one of the most terrifying things I can imagine doing right now, when it used to be one of the things I most enjoyed.
The most eye opening was during the period where masks weren't mandated, but many of them were still getting angry and harrassing and insulting people even though they weren't actually doing anything wrong. By that point it seemed to be a way of them showing off how more "moral" and "caring" they were than the non-mask wearers rather than really thinking about public health per se- I don't like the term "virtue signalling", but it's hard to think of a better one.all new Phil wrote: ↑Sat 11 Dec, 2021 12.12Also totally agree that militant mask wearers are the rudest. I work in hospitality and the most aggro we’ve had has been from people who think we should be confronting anyone not wearing a mask. I suspect these same people are also very vocal #BeKind types.