Easing the lockdown

[Amor de Cosmos]

That is precisely why I have been wearing one from the beginning

Yeah. If I lived where you do I almost certainly would too. But it's really no effort here to stay six feet away from anyone. The most challenging issues we have are similar to those residents of the Lake and Peak Districts are dealing with, weekend day-trippers. Instead of wearing masks it'd make more sense to ban people from driving on Saturdays and Sundays. (Harrumph!)

[ursus arctos]

Yes, our circumstances are much different.

Our hallways are barely six feet wide, and it can difficult to maintain that distance in the entry lobbies with two doormen generally on duty and other staff and residents around (which is why the building has mandated masks outside one's residence).

Many sidewalks are also less than six feet wide, and there have always been a meaningful number of people on the street. And while people have been good about maintaining distances in queues, it is impossible to shop in a NYC grocery without coming within six feet of at least one other human, if only fleetingly. The same is true on public transport.

At least among our circle, wearing a mask is very much seen as an altruistic, communitarian act.

[Guy Profumo]

So.

Anyone off to a "mass gathering" this weekend?

Here in Sheffield we have not one but two such events.

Hurrah!

And apparently nobody came, either to ours or to Leeds'.

[tuckwat]

Ah, OK.

I'm always on the lookout for OTFers that I might know in IRL and it had occurred to me that I might vaguely know you. You're not ex-army, are you?

Not me guv. 36 years man and boy working for a well known public transport company.

[Kowalski]

I may have missed something but have the government explained why June 1st has been named as the date for "UK" schools to return?

They seem quite insistent on the date, is date by itself significant? Was it just plucked out of the air? Is it because it will have been 10 weeks since the lockdown was announced? Is it simply because that's when half term ends and things have to get moving?

[Southport Zeb]

June 1st is the first day back after half term

[pebblethefish]

Because then they can say that they kept the lockdown in place until June, rather than until May.

Back in March I remember the regular refrain of "Look, it can't be serious - if it was serious they'd close the schools, wouldn't they?" I haven't spoken to the many people I know who said this, because they're all blokes from the pub and we can't go to pubs, but I'd be pretty confident that in a lot of psyches re-opening schools will equal lockdown over, do what you like.

[Kowalski]

I must say that it's brilliant how Covid 19 respects the sanctity of the school year, I'm just sorry to see that Eton have displayed such bad form by rejecting the natural order of things and shutting until September.

[Eggchaser]

The heroism of Eton's masters needs no proof by an early return.

[Antepli Ejderha]

?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_...29?wprov=sfla1

Chris Mullin is a former MP and journalist who led the campaign against the wrongful conviction of the Birmingham Six.

[Kowalski]

I hear the Culture War was won on the playing fields of Eton.

[jwdd27]

I get my masks from a big box at work. I only wear it on the bus though and usually slip it off once sat down if distancing is OK. It's a pain if you wear glasses as you have to work to avoid them steaming up with every breath - if they perch right on the tip of my nose I'm OK.
For some reason the "easing" of the lockdown seems to have decreased mask use among shoppers and bus users, probably about 30% now. There should be some clearer encouragement for the public to wear them, there are still infected people on the loose and a mask will bring infections down, however slightly.

The schools thing - it can't be overstated what a difference school being in or out makes to traffic on the road, public transport use, footfall in shops and general movement of people, it's not just in the classroom that there'd be an infection risk.

Not as big a risk as working or shopping in a supermarket though.

[San Bernardhinault]

Decreasing the lockdown should increase mask usage. Because there'll be more people in more higher risk situations.

I saw some stat the other day (I can't remember the source) that said that even cloth, bandana-like, masks which are maybe only 60% effective at blocking transmission out from the wearer, would be sufficient to basically end the pandemic if everyone wore them in communal indoor spaces. It would reduce the R0 sufficiently. It would, of course, end quicker if we also added other mitigating strategies, but shitty face coverings alone would be enough over time.

[ursus arctos]

It was the Gawande piece I posted

https://twitter.com/LawMediaTech/status/1261698294394191873

[That Night In Barcelona]

I get my masks from a big box at work. I only wear it on the bus though and usually slip it off once sat down if distancing is OK. It's a pain if you wear glasses as you have to work to avoid them steaming up with every breath - if they perch right on the tip of my nose I'm OK.
For some reason the "easing" of the lockdown seems to have decreased mask use among shoppers and bus users, probably about 30% now. There should be some clearer encouragement for the public to wear them, there are still infected people on the loose and a mask will bring infections down, however slightly.

The schools thing - it can't be overstated what a difference school being in or out makes to traffic on the road, public transport use, footfall in shops and general movement of people, it's not just in the classroom that there'd be an infection risk.

Not as big a risk as working or shopping in a supermarket though.

Breath through your mouth rather than your nose when you've got the mask on, that should help stop the glasses steaming up.

[Nurse Duckett]

And apparently nobody came, either to ours or to Leeds'.

Local rag reports "fewer than 10" at the Southampton (non-)event.

[Kowalski]

I can't be the only person to see molten bronze irony everywhere at the moment. There are the "Take Back Control" people that favour loosening their control of a situation that needs assertive control, then there's an arbitrary date that seems to have developed concrete status whilst other more pressing concerns like the procurement of PPE became mere aspirations.

Normality will return but we're in the middle of a public health emergency and that surely demands attention from those in power, it certainly seems to demand more attention than they seem to be paying it. As people here and elsewhere have said the measures have worked so far so why change now? Even to a layman like me the hundreds of deaths and thousands of new cases per day, as well as a rise in the R number, whatever that is, seem to suggest the situation is far from safe.

We need clear leadership and concise information but we get bluster, platitudes and divide and rule emotional blackmail. After 10 weeks we're still being treated like dupes to be conned with Comms brilliance rather than sentient adults. It's like Billy Connally once said about weather presenters "I know what a cloud looks like, just tell me, I'll understand." Why should we accept such a cavalier attitude? Surely a public health emergency demands more.

Earlier today I saw that someone on Twitter had asked why teachers are so "risk-averse" but I'd rather ask our government why they appear to favour potential risk generation. I've been lead to believe that governments of the liberal-democratic persuasion at least attempt to keep as much of their population as safe as possible. What's wrong with trying to keep as many people as safe as possible?

I realise that I'm ranting in to the ether but I'm worried.

[Gangster Octopus]

You may be worried, but I'm worried that you're absolutely right.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Not me guv. 36 years man and boy working for a well known public transport company.

Good stuff. I thought that you might have been the husband of an ex-work colleague. The only time he ever showed any animation in my company was when he was telling me about the joys of masturbating with a grapefruit.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Kowalski that's another excellent post, thanks.

I've had enough of this narrative in England, its not found in Scotland and Wales or too a great extent in the island of Ireland, even the dinosaur deniers have realised the seriousness of the situation

Look at how other countries have dealt with the problem, we could have shut borders and tested, tracked and traced but instead we did nothing bar try to discredit the scientists and reality.

And know the narrative about the schools and expecting teachers to die, that's what heroes do isn't it? This is no longer my country or my home. I cannot belong here anymore.

[S. aureus]

For some reason the "easing" of the lockdown seems to have decreased mask use among shoppers and bus users, probably about 30% now. There should be some clearer encouragement for the public to wear them, there are still infected people on the loose and a mask will bring infections down, however slightly..

Without wanting to stir things up again, I think that this ties in to the messaging that is being used over there, such as describing the situation as being 'past the peak'. Most everything that I'm seeing, while not necessarily always inaccurate, is conveying the message that the war is over and there's just some mopping up exercises remaining. So people relax and don't take as many precautions as they might have done a few weeks ago.

[Satchmo Distel]

Florida never really had a lockdown apart from three counties in South Florida. Traffic remained normal throughout in my area (SWFL).

[Kowalski]

Thanks A E

[Moonlight Shadow]

I can't be the only person to see molten bronze irony everywhere at the moment. There are the "Take Back Control" people that favour loosening their control of a situation that needs assertive control, then there's an arbitrary date that seems to have developed concrete status whilst other more pressing concerns like the procurement of PPE became mere aspirations.

Normality will return but we're in the middle of a public health emergency and that surely demands attention from those in power, it certainly seems to demand more attention than they seem to be paying it. As people here and elsewhere have said the measures have worked so far so why change now? Even to a layman like me the hundreds of deaths and thousands of new cases per day, as well as a rise in the R number, whatever that is, seem to suggest the situation is far from safe.

We need clear leadership and concise information but we get bluster, platitudes and divide and rule emotional blackmail. After 10 weeks we're still being treated like dupes to be conned with Comms brilliance rather than sentient adults. It's like Billy Connally once said about weather presenters "I know what a cloud looks like, just tell me, I'll understand." Why should we accept such a cavalier attitude? Surely a public health emergency demands more.

Earlier today I saw that someone on Twitter had asked why teachers are so "risk-averse" but I'd rather ask our government why they appear to favour potential risk generation. I've been lead to believe that governments of the liberal-democratic persuasion at least attempt to keep as much of their population as safe as possible. What's wrong with trying to keep as many people as safe as possible?

I realise that I'm ranting in to the ether but I'm worried.

As long as the influence of nihilists like Cummings is not fully appreciated and indeed his drive to dismantle society, people will carry on believing in this notion of decency when in fact we are being prepared for a Year Zero type event next year...

[San Bernardhinault]

Without wanting to stir things up again, I think that this ties in to the messaging that is being used over there, such as describing the situation as being 'past the peak'. Most everything that I'm seeing, while not necessarily always inaccurate, is conveying the message that the war is over and there's just some mopping up exercises remaining. So people relax and don't take as many precautions as they might have done a few weeks ago.

That's exactly what I was saying to my cycling-friend (literally the only person I've ridden with since lockdown started) today. Everyone has heard "past the peak" and think that it's finished. They don't seem to understand that the peak is, well, the peak. This is when the most people are infected. And therefore when most people are likely to get infected if we don't keep acting as we have. And we've only peaked because of the restrictions. They seem to think that this is time to let go, go and get a haircut, get their nails done, have a party, go back to school and the cinema...

There are ways we can relax the lockdown now because of the things we now know about C19. We have better strategies in place to control our behaviour. But we actually have to implement those strategies. That does not include going to crowded bars with no masks on...