For everyone who's bending the rules!

I have been shielding since March, but all efforts to keep safe and protect the NHS, went to pot on Monday night, when I was admitted to hospital after suffering a heart attack.

I was put in an acute medical ward until a bed could be found in the coronary care, high dependency unit. There wasn't a single bed available in the whole hospital.
When I said I was shielding, the nurse in charge said there was nowhere to put me and no possibility of me continuing to shield, she was powerless to do anything about it.

The technician carrying out my heart scan was in tears, saying she hadn't signed up to put her life on the line.

So I am in total agreement with you Hetty

I think just blaming other people breaking the rules is an easy way out and a way of wrapping one self in the comfort blanket of self awarded virtue.

I do not think that many people are breaking the rules, certainly not enough to explain the explosive growth of new cases over the last month all over the country whether urban suburban, rural or deeply rural.

I think that there must be another vector involved in its rapid spread other than being more infectious and aerosol spray. We know that covid is a zoonotic disease; that Denmark slaughtered its farmed mink population after the disease was found on the farms and it has been found on occasion, in the cat population. Could this vector be an animal that has a symptomless version of the illness and can pass it to humans; cats, dogs, guinea pigs or any small animal that is handled. Just an idea.

and still some people insist on their right to walk to the village every day because they prefer to buy produce every day.
others say london hosps are not overwhelmed. wonder why mayor khan declared a major incident then. guess they'll say it's part of a grand conspiracy or something.
there's no reasoning with stupid, or selfish, arrogant.
take care Marydoll, that must have been a shocking experience in itself quite apart from the medical condition that took you there.

Hetty58,who are you talking to?

So fed up with people lecturing others,I accept it from our Government,but not random know it alls on an anonymous forum.

I take it you're not bending the rules heath40, so nobody's lecturing you.

Get well soon Marydoll!

Good post, Monica. Thank you. Points to ponder indeed.

Marydoll!!! So sorry to see this. Sending very best get well wishes your way xx

Are you still in hospital?

Are any scientists working on this theory MOnica?

If the virus can spread through droplets in the air and we are advised not to touch our faces, I wonder if the virus is caught through our eyes. Will goggles be the next protection requirement?

Viruses mutate all the time. Some of them disappear and some are less virulent than others. The current theory is that this mutation arose in a patient taking immunosupressant drugs. Tests were less likely to pick it up. The new mutation has a selective advantage and it doesn't take much for it to be transmitted to other people and to spiral out of control.

www.livescience.com/uk-variant-coronavirus-faq.html

Wherever it came from, it's more important than ever that people take precautions to avoid infecting others, especially as younger people don't seem to be protected.

It only takes a small percentage of the population to transmit the infection. I'm not "blaming" anybody and I'm certainly not "wrapping myself in the comfort blanket of self awarded virtue". However, more than ever, people need to be aware of the risks. Apart from people in the Orkneys, nobody in the UK is at low risk from community transmission. The number of people of people bending the rules is enough to explain the spread of a virulent mutation.

Law enforcement in the UK is historically by consensus and peer pressure to "do the right thing". I don't have a problem with people putting pressure on their fellow citizens.

SpringyChicken

If the virus can spread through droplets in the air and we are advised not to touch our faces, I wonder if the virus is caught through our eyes. Will goggles be the next protection requirement?

There are questions about whether the PPE which healthcare and care workers wear, is adequate.

Yes, SpringyChicken I read last spring that the eyes were a possible point of entry.

Could this vector be an animal that has a symptomless version of the illness and can pass it to humans; cats, dogs, guinea pigs or any small animal that is handled. Just an idea.

Pangolins?

MissChateline

Could this vector be an animal that has a symptomless version of the illness and can pass it to humans; cats, dogs, guinea pigs or any small animal that is handled. Just an idea.

Pangolins?

Any evidence?

Do people in Kent eat pangolins?

I have just spent half an hour searching for any credible suggestion that a non-human animal could be a vector or that the virus could have mutated in another species and couldn't find anything.

It doesn't mean that it didn't happen, but it's not something which any scientists seem to be considering.

It is far more likely that it originated in a random mutation, which happens to be better adapted to its environment than the original variant.

It was worrying last evening to see pictures of people taking legitimate exercise in London parks. All of them out with good reason. Each doing the right thing and following the rules, but all at the same time in the same place. It seems people think their right to do something overrides common sense.

I think that there's plenty of evidence for the increase in cases especially bearing in mind that the new variant is much more transmissible: Insufficient use of masks, 50 percent more people using public transport in London than first lockdown, Christmas bubbles, majority of transmission is asymptomatic, people have to go out to work, much less compliance than first lockdown. In the first lockdown we stayed in, this time we are looking for ways to get out. Why are NT and other gardens open? Why are garden centres open? Why are people getting in their cars and going?

^ It seems people think their right to do something overrides common sense.^

Well said NfkDumpling

Stop blaming the people. This government is 100% to blame for not closing our borders at the start. We were put in lockdown, whilst all & sundry from all over the world were allowed in. We’re the worst affected country in Europe - I wonder why?
Stop blaming Brenda from down the Road who waves to her friend whilst out shopping for food. Blame this government who have put the economy before lives.

We need a total lockdown no ifs or buts. Everyone in and a pass for only essentials.

A professor on BBC this morning said it is the only way to stop the carnage.

And they’ve allowed places of worship to remain open - brilliant move.

I think people must take their share of responsibility Kandinsky we are in the main responsible thinking adults. On one hand we blame the government for being a 'Nanny" then also want to blame them when things go wrong..