The big Coronavirus thread

First.Aspect

kingstongraham said:

First.Aspect said:

Would anyone like to give any predictions as to when the next variant comes along and puts the kibosh on all the talk of the pandemic being over? I'm going to say May.

Fwiw Stevo a minority of the people I interact with think the way you do.

I'm going with never. But I'd expect another booster jab this November for us over 50s.

I've got a few tests in the cupboard because I still don't want to pass it on to anyone if I can avoid it by knowing I have it, but if the ONS survey says there's not much around, I'll probably stop doing that.

I'm 48. I only feel well over 50.

Jezyboy

We went out for a pub trip with a Scottish colleague who had been sent down to our Burton for a week (poor lad), I hadn't realised how closed up they were still keeping Scotland. I do think the English government are doing the best at the moment...

rick_chasey

Ugh train was rammed both ways today.

Grim. Did not miss that.

rjsterry

Stevo_666 said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

TheBigBean said:

rick_chasey said:

The chief medical officer of Sweden himself said he’d do it differently and probably do some form of lockdown if he did it again

Can't imagine any country would do exactly the same again.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

You don't think there will be a next time? This is the the third novel respiratory virus in 20 years.

Very likely, but it won't be identical and could be something rather different.

It's significant that the countries that dealt with SARS were generally better prepared for SARS-COV-2.

Or we could pretend that we can't learn anything and that it's cheaper to cross our fingers and hope it won't happen.

The applicability of what we have learnt may well depend on how similar the next one is to this one, as I said above.

Anyhow, this one is all but over so I can now sell my shares in sofa manufacturers and retailers

😆
Well we can certainly pretend it's over by not testing. And ignoring the huge NHS backlog.

I suppose you can argue it's not over in the same way that flu isn't 'over'. As far as I'm concerned (and most other people I think), the pandemic is as good as over and it's now endemic. Like flu etc. So people are getting on with their lives pretty much as normal. It's a bit like Brexit in some ways

I mean, if that's what you think, that's lovely, but it's not true. With about 45% of the world unvaccinated it's a question of when, not if the next variant comes along.

wallace_and_gromit

pblakeney said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

pblakeney said:

I never said it would be easy. I never said it would be popular.

Schooling was lost anyway.

That's with the benefit of hindsight. At the time closing the border / quarantining returning holidaymaking Brits would have made a difference (late Feb?) the virus was something that wasn't being taken seriously by the masses or indeed governments in the West. Forcing mandatory quarantine on the returning Brits would have looked at the time like 2 weeks lost schooling - and hence disadvantage in the summer exams - for those unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

No, not hindsight.
From May 2020.

pblakeney said:

morstar said:

Comparing densely populated, hugely interconnected, global business and travel hub London which was near to a heavily impacted continent with New Zealand is meaningless.

The most glaring comparison is that NZ closed their hub while ours maintained open. Until this week when the horse is way past long gone.

My “hindsight” comment was in reference to lost schooling. At the time where closing the borders to the U.K./imposing quarantine would have made a difference ie round HT in Feb 2020 no-one was predicting lockdowns, school closures and cancelled exams. So any mass incarceration of kids coming back from HT hols would have generated howls of protest about the unfairness of lost schooling etc.

At that time, I’m embarrassed to admit that my biggest concern was that a couple of upcoming key swimming galas for W&G Junior would be cancelled “un-necessarily”.

I’m not saying that you needed the benefit of hindsight to know the U.K. should have locked down maybe 1-2 weeks earlier. By the first week of March, it was fairly obvious which way the wind was blowing

A week is a long time in politics and in Feb/March 2020, a week was an eternity in terms of the development of the pandemic.

wallace_and_gromit

First.Aspect said:

Would anyone like to give any predictions as to when the next variant comes along and puts the kibosh on all the talk of the pandemic being over? I'm going to say May.

Fwiw Stevo a minority of the people I interact with think the way you do.

I don’t think many will be listening tbh. The scientists got it spectacularly wrong re the measurable impacts of Omicron, as they did re “Freedom Day” last summer.

Eventually their predictions of doom about a new variant etc will come true, but they are sadly now in “Broken clock is right twice a day” / “The boy who cried Wolf” territory.

Not saying that’s right. Just how my social group are now thinking. I’m testing before I go out and wear a mask in public indoor areas (covers my face, which according to Mrs W&G is a good thing anyway) but am otherwise living life as normally as possible.

My parents (86 and 82) take the view that they’ve had their jabs, will take all new jabs when offered, get on with life and what happens will happen.

wallace_and_gromit

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

TheBigBean said:

rick_chasey said:

The chief medical officer of Sweden himself said he’d do it differently and probably do some form of lockdown if he did it again

Can't imagine any country would do exactly the same again.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

You don't think there will be a next time? This is the the third novel respiratory virus in 20 years.

Very likely, but it won't be identical and could be something rather different.

It's significant that the countries that dealt with SARS were generally better prepared for SARS-COV-2.

Or we could pretend that we can't learn anything and that it's cheaper to cross our fingers and hope it won't happen.

The applicability of what we have learnt may well depend on how similar the next one is to this one, as I said above.

Anyhow, this one is all but over so I can now sell my shares in sofa manufacturers and retailers

😆
Well we can certainly pretend it's over by not testing. And ignoring the huge NHS backlog.

I suppose you can argue it's not over in the same way that flu isn't 'over'. As far as I'm concerned (and most other people I think), the pandemic is as good as over and it's now endemic. Like flu etc. So people are getting on with their lives pretty much as normal. It's a bit like Brexit in some ways

I mean, if that's what you think, that's lovely, but it's not true. With about 45% of the world unvaccinated it's a question of when, not if the next variant comes along.

I think it’s “over” in that we are into the end game of “live life as normally as possible and respond to new variants as and when they arise”.

There are no silver bullets out there in the form of vaccines, new treatments etc that are due to come on stream “shortly” and make a big difference.

rjsterry

Stevo_666 said:

First.Aspect said:

Would anyone like to give any predictions as to when the next variant comes along and puts the kibosh on all the talk of the pandemic being over? I'm going to say May.

Fwiw Stevo a minority of the people I interact with think the way you do.

Depends who you mix with I guess. Life goes on - just not beyond the sofa

As you set out to bravely walk over to the garage.

wallace_and_gromit said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

TheBigBean said:

rick_chasey said:

The chief medical officer of Sweden himself said he’d do it differently and probably do some form of lockdown if he did it again

Can't imagine any country would do exactly the same again.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

You don't think there will be a next time? This is the the third novel respiratory virus in 20 years.

Very likely, but it won't be identical and could be something rather different.

It's significant that the countries that dealt with SARS were generally better prepared for SARS-COV-2.

Or we could pretend that we can't learn anything and that it's cheaper to cross our fingers and hope it won't happen.

The applicability of what we have learnt may well depend on how similar the next one is to this one, as I said above.

Anyhow, this one is all but over so I can now sell my shares in sofa manufacturers and retailers

😆
Well we can certainly pretend it's over by not testing. And ignoring the huge NHS backlog.

I suppose you can argue it's not over in the same way that flu isn't 'over'. As far as I'm concerned (and most other people I think), the pandemic is as good as over and it's now endemic. Like flu etc. So people are getting on with their lives pretty much as normal. It's a bit like Brexit in some ways

I mean, if that's what you think, that's lovely, but it's not true. With about 45% of the world unvaccinated it's a question of when, not if the next variant comes along.

I think it’s “over” in that we are into the end game of “live life as normally as possible and respond to new variants as and when they arise”.

There are no silver bullets out there in the form of vaccines, new treatments etc that are due to come on stream “shortly” and make a big difference.

We've been doing that for months, no? We gambled on Omicron and got away with it, which is great, but there is a vast backlog of elective treatment. We might be near the end of the beginning, but people forget how much effort it takes to keep endemic diseases under control. The Anti-vax movement shows how easy it is to go backwards.

kingstongraham

wallace_and_gromit said:

First.Aspect said:

Would anyone like to give any predictions as to when the next variant comes along and puts the kibosh on all the talk of the pandemic being over? I'm going to say May.

Fwiw Stevo a minority of the people I interact with think the way you do.

I don’t think many will be listening tbh. The scientists got it spectacularly wrong re the measurable impacts of Omicron, as they did re “Freedom Day” last summer.

Eventually their predictions of doom about a new variant etc will come true, but they are sadly now in “Broken clock is right twice a day” / “The boy who cried Wolf” territory.

Not saying that’s right. Just how my social group are now thinking. I’m testing before I go out and wear a mask in public indoor areas (covers my face, which according to Mrs W&G is a good thing anyway) but am otherwise living life as normally as possible.

My parents (86 and 82) take the view that they’ve had their jabs, will take all new jabs when offered, get on with life and what happens will happen.

From what I remember of the model i looked at, and the likely behaviour changes and severity from observations in south africa - it wasn't far off.

If you only look at the headline figure of worst case, they will always be wrong.

wallace_and_gromit

rjsterry said:

We've been doing that [living life "normally"] for months, no? We gambled on Omicron and got away with it, which is great, but there is a vast backlog of elective treatment.

Agreed all round, other than testing requirements round travel which were onerous until quite recently.

I think the key point though is that "we are where we are" with respect to accumulated backlogs, and they can't be got rid of any time soon just by imposing / maintaining some restrictions. They will have to be worked through over time, which as they built up over 2 years, will probably be at least 5 years in the absence of a quantum leap in health resources.

In the meantime, the least bad thing is to keep as much open as possible, because of the huge mental health issues associated with folk being deprived of their favourite activities. (I'm no expert, but this side of things was largely overlooked or minimised in the early days of official planning.) The key thing will be to react objectively rather than ideologically to the emergence of any new variants. My reading of the tea leaves is that the public will readily stomach the imposition of a sensible range of new restrictions if Sir Chris Witty tells us it's necessary. It's the nutters on the Tory back benchers who view everything in military terms (victory, surrender, defeat, battles etc.) that are the problem.

wallace_and_gromit

kingstongraham said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

First.Aspect said:

Would anyone like to give any predictions as to when the next variant comes along and puts the kibosh on all the talk of the pandemic being over? I'm going to say May.

Fwiw Stevo a minority of the people I interact with think the way you do.

I don’t think many will be listening tbh. The scientists got it spectacularly wrong re the measurable impacts of Omicron, as they did re “Freedom Day” last summer.

Eventually their predictions of doom about a new variant etc will come true, but they are sadly now in “Broken clock is right twice a day” / “The boy who cried Wolf” territory.

Not saying that’s right. Just how my social group are now thinking. I’m testing before I go out and wear a mask in public indoor areas (covers my face, which according to Mrs W&G is a good thing anyway) but am otherwise living life as normally as possible.

My parents (86 and 82) take the view that they’ve had their jabs, will take all new jabs when offered, get on with life and what happens will happen.

From what I remember of the model i looked at, and the likely behaviour changes and severity from observations in south africa - it wasn't far off.

If you only look at the headline figure of worst case, they will always be wrong.

The best predictions - in retrospect - I saw were by JP Morgan, somewhat ironically.

Imperial College's (Ferguson et al) initial forecasts re Omicron explicitly excluded the South African data / experience re severity and voluntary behavioural changes. And unfortunately, Imperial College seems to be the media's "go to" scientists and the rest of the profession is - unfairly - tarred with the same brush when IC's rather scary predictions don't come to pass.

surrey_commuter

wallace_and_gromit said:

kingstongraham said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

First.Aspect said:

Would anyone like to give any predictions as to when the next variant comes along and puts the kibosh on all the talk of the pandemic being over? I'm going to say May.

Fwiw Stevo a minority of the people I interact with think the way you do.

I don’t think many will be listening tbh. The scientists got it spectacularly wrong re the measurable impacts of Omicron, as they did re “Freedom Day” last summer.

Eventually their predictions of doom about a new variant etc will come true, but they are sadly now in “Broken clock is right twice a day” / “The boy who cried Wolf” territory.

Not saying that’s right. Just how my social group are now thinking. I’m testing before I go out and wear a mask in public indoor areas (covers my face, which according to Mrs W&G is a good thing anyway) but am otherwise living life as normally as possible.

My parents (86 and 82) take the view that they’ve had their jabs, will take all new jabs when offered, get on with life and what happens will happen.

From what I remember of the model i looked at, and the likely behaviour changes and severity from observations in south africa - it wasn't far off.

If you only look at the headline figure of worst case, they will always be wrong.

The best predictions - in retrospect - I saw were by JP Morgan, somewhat ironically.

Imperial College's (Ferguson et al) initial forecasts re Omicron explicitly excluded the South African data / experience re severity and voluntary behavioural changes. And unfortunately, Imperial College seems to be the media's "go to" scientists and the rest of the profession is - unfairly - tarred with the same brush when IC's rather scary predictions don't come to pass.

I read a detailed article about this somewhere and they were saying that the problem was not the forecasting but the interpretation of the forecast so the politicians and media do not talk about the provisos. As you say the suggestion that people will not change their behaviour as the bodies stack up in the street is ludicrous. To build that into a model is well nigh impossible so they give worse case scenario. As discussed on here at the time the 600,000 deaths was a very basic assumption that everyone would catch it and 1% of people would die

DeVlaeminck

focuszing723 said:

shirley_basso said:

Tin foil hat moment

Does the queen actually have COVID, or are "they" trying to say

a) COVID is still out there and noone is immune from catching it, so stay alert
or
b) The Queen has it and she's fine so crack on

Or maybe she just has plain old COVID

It's more of a 5G protecting crown that she wears.

There've been no documented cases of lizards catching Covid

kingstongraham said:

First.Aspect said:

Would anyone like to give any predictions as to when the next variant comes along and puts the kibosh on all the talk of the pandemic being over? I'm going to say May.

Fwiw Stevo a minority of the people I interact with think the way you do.

I'm going with never. But I'd expect another booster jab this November for us over 50s.

I've got a few tests in the cupboard because I still don't want to pass it on to anyone if I can avoid it by knowing I have it, but if the ONS survey says there's not much around, I'll probably stop doing that.

Yes I'm not taking any precautions now.

Got taken by surprise last week when I got my hair cut and the barber was wearing a mask - I've stopped carrying one - had to ask him if he was ok with customers not wearing them - turned out he didn't care he just didn't want to put off some of the more cautious or elderly .

Stevo_666

One of the last bastions of compulsory mask wearing - TFL - now set to drop mandating it.
https://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-60471677

Stevo_666

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

First.Aspect said:

Would anyone like to give any predictions as to when the next variant comes along and puts the kibosh on all the talk of the pandemic being over? I'm going to say May.

Fwiw Stevo a minority of the people I interact with think the way you do.

Depends who you mix with I guess. Life goes on - just not beyond the sofa

As you set out to bravely walk over to the garage.

wallace_and_gromit said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

rjsterry said:

Stevo_666 said:

TheBigBean said:

rick_chasey said:

The chief medical officer of Sweden himself said he’d do it differently and probably do some form of lockdown if he did it again

Can't imagine any country would do exactly the same again.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

You don't think there will be a next time? This is the the third novel respiratory virus in 20 years.

Very likely, but it won't be identical and could be something rather different.

It's significant that the countries that dealt with SARS were generally better prepared for SARS-COV-2.

Or we could pretend that we can't learn anything and that it's cheaper to cross our fingers and hope it won't happen.

The applicability of what we have learnt may well depend on how similar the next one is to this one, as I said above.

Anyhow, this one is all but over so I can now sell my shares in sofa manufacturers and retailers

😆
Well we can certainly pretend it's over by not testing. And ignoring the huge NHS backlog.

I suppose you can argue it's not over in the same way that flu isn't 'over'. As far as I'm concerned (and most other people I think), the pandemic is as good as over and it's now endemic. Like flu etc. So people are getting on with their lives pretty much as normal. It's a bit like Brexit in some ways

I mean, if that's what you think, that's lovely, but it's not true. With about 45% of the world unvaccinated it's a question of when, not if the next variant comes along.

I think it’s “over” in that we are into the end game of “live life as normally as possible and respond to new variants as and when they arise”.

There are no silver bullets out there in the form of vaccines, new treatments etc that are due to come on stream “shortly” and make a big difference.

We've been doing that for months, no? We gambled on Omicron and got away with it, which is great, but there is a vast backlog of elective treatment. We might be near the end of the beginning, but people forget how much effort it takes to keep endemic diseases under control. The Anti-vax movement shows how easy it is to go backwards.

Nothing brave - just normal. Will be in the office 3 days this week which is a nice balance.

wallace_and_gromit

surrey_commuter said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

kingstongraham said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

First.Aspect said:

Would anyone like to give any predictions as to when the next variant comes along and puts the kibosh on all the talk of the pandemic being over? I'm going to say May.

Fwiw Stevo a minority of the people I interact with think the way you do.

I don’t think many will be listening tbh. The scientists got it spectacularly wrong re the measurable impacts of Omicron, as they did re “Freedom Day” last summer.

Eventually their predictions of doom about a new variant etc will come true, but they are sadly now in “Broken clock is right twice a day” / “The boy who cried Wolf” territory.

Not saying that’s right. Just how my social group are now thinking. I’m testing before I go out and wear a mask in public indoor areas (covers my face, which according to Mrs W&G is a good thing anyway) but am otherwise living life as normally as possible.

My parents (86 and 82) take the view that they’ve had their jabs, will take all new jabs when offered, get on with life and what happens will happen.

From what I remember of the model i looked at, and the likely behaviour changes and severity from observations in south africa - it wasn't far off.

If you only look at the headline figure of worst case, they will always be wrong.

The best predictions - in retrospect - I saw were by JP Morgan, somewhat ironically.

Imperial College's (Ferguson et al) initial forecasts re Omicron explicitly excluded the South African data / experience re severity and voluntary behavioural changes. And unfortunately, Imperial College seems to be the media's "go to" scientists and the rest of the profession is - unfairly - tarred with the same brush when IC's rather scary predictions don't come to pass.

I read a detailed article about this somewhere and they were saying that the problem was not the forecasting but the interpretation of the forecast so the politicians and media do not talk about the provisos. As you say the suggestion that people will not change their behaviour as the bodies stack up in the street is ludicrous. To build that into a model is well nigh impossible so they give worse case scenario. As discussed on here at the time the 600,000 deaths was a very basic assumption that everyone would catch it and 1% of people would die

The cynic in me wonders whether the welter of very pessimistic forecasts was a cunning plan to persuade behavioural changes over Christmas. Not a bad tactic as a one off, but I don't think it will work next time round.

surrey_commuter

wallace_and_gromit said:

surrey_commuter said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

kingstongraham said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

First.Aspect said:

Would anyone like to give any predictions as to when the next variant comes along and puts the kibosh on all the talk of the pandemic being over? I'm going to say May.

Fwiw Stevo a minority of the people I interact with think the way you do.

I don’t think many will be listening tbh. The scientists got it spectacularly wrong re the measurable impacts of Omicron, as they did re “Freedom Day” last summer.

Eventually their predictions of doom about a new variant etc will come true, but they are sadly now in “Broken clock is right twice a day” / “The boy who cried Wolf” territory.

Not saying that’s right. Just how my social group are now thinking. I’m testing before I go out and wear a mask in public indoor areas (covers my face, which according to Mrs W&G is a good thing anyway) but am otherwise living life as normally as possible.

My parents (86 and 82) take the view that they’ve had their jabs, will take all new jabs when offered, get on with life and what happens will happen.

From what I remember of the model i looked at, and the likely behaviour changes and severity from observations in south africa - it wasn't far off.

If you only look at the headline figure of worst case, they will always be wrong.

The best predictions - in retrospect - I saw were by JP Morgan, somewhat ironically.

Imperial College's (Ferguson et al) initial forecasts re Omicron explicitly excluded the South African data / experience re severity and voluntary behavioural changes. And unfortunately, Imperial College seems to be the media's "go to" scientists and the rest of the profession is - unfairly - tarred with the same brush when IC's rather scary predictions don't come to pass.

I read a detailed article about this somewhere and they were saying that the problem was not the forecasting but the interpretation of the forecast so the politicians and media do not talk about the provisos. As you say the suggestion that people will not change their behaviour as the bodies stack up in the street is ludicrous. To build that into a model is well nigh impossible so they give worse case scenario. As discussed on here at the time the 600,000 deaths was a very basic assumption that everyone would catch it and 1% of people would die

The cynic in me wonders whether the welter of very pessimistic forecasts was a cunning plan to persuade behavioural changes over Christmas. Not a bad tactic as a one off, but I don't think it will work next time round.

My point is that each forecast would have had a range of outcomes and they chose to highlight the worse case scenario, so yes it could have deliberate but the media would have to be in on it

wallace_and_gromit

surrey_commuter said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

surrey_commuter said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

kingstongraham said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

First.Aspect said:

Would anyone like to give any predictions as to when the next variant comes along and puts the kibosh on all the talk of the pandemic being over? I'm going to say May.

Fwiw Stevo a minority of the people I interact with think the way you do.

I don’t think many will be listening tbh. The scientists got it spectacularly wrong re the measurable impacts of Omicron, as they did re “Freedom Day” last summer.

Eventually their predictions of doom about a new variant etc will come true, but they are sadly now in “Broken clock is right twice a day” / “The boy who cried Wolf” territory.

Not saying that’s right. Just how my social group are now thinking. I’m testing before I go out and wear a mask in public indoor areas (covers my face, which according to Mrs W&G is a good thing anyway) but am otherwise living life as normally as possible.

My parents (86 and 82) take the view that they’ve had their jabs, will take all new jabs when offered, get on with life and what happens will happen.

From what I remember of the model i looked at, and the likely behaviour changes and severity from observations in south africa - it wasn't far off.

If you only look at the headline figure of worst case, they will always be wrong.

The best predictions - in retrospect - I saw were by JP Morgan, somewhat ironically.

Imperial College's (Ferguson et al) initial forecasts re Omicron explicitly excluded the South African data / experience re severity and voluntary behavioural changes. And unfortunately, Imperial College seems to be the media's "go to" scientists and the rest of the profession is - unfairly - tarred with the same brush when IC's rather scary predictions don't come to pass.

I read a detailed article about this somewhere and they were saying that the problem was not the forecasting but the interpretation of the forecast so the politicians and media do not talk about the provisos. As you say the suggestion that people will not change their behaviour as the bodies stack up in the street is ludicrous. To build that into a model is well nigh impossible so they give worse case scenario. As discussed on here at the time the 600,000 deaths was a very basic assumption that everyone would catch it and 1% of people would die

The cynic in me wonders whether the welter of very pessimistic forecasts was a cunning plan to persuade behavioural changes over Christmas. Not a bad tactic as a one off, but I don't think it will work next time round.

My point is that each forecast would have had a range of outcomes and they chose to highlight the worse case scenario, so yes it could have deliberate but the media would have to be in on it

IIRC, even the best case Imperial scenario re Omicron was wildly pessimistic. Their worst case scenario as Armageddon steroids.

As always, if forced to choose between c*ck up and conspiracy, go for the former!

mully79

Text message to tell me my isolation period that I never needed to do/or did has officially ended today. Thanks track and trace.
What a massive waste of money.

john80

We are currently placing bets on when they will rollback current rules in the workplace. My favourite is the laminated sign on a single occupancy toilet as before covid we were all just kicking the door in when it was locked. How could we be expected to link a locked door with the fact that someone is in the toilet. I await the next confrontation when we are meant to be doing twice weekly lateral flows through march but the government plans to charge for these.

TheBigBean

No more requirement for face masks on tfl.

Stevo_666

TheBigBean said:

No more requirement for face masks on tfl.

Beat you to it above

I'm headed into the office tomorrow. One less thing to think about.

rjsterry

Still a majority wearing them on TfL and rail yesterday. Doubt they will suddenly stop overnight.

Ben6899

Yeh I think it will continue a fair while as “the norm”, on the Tube.

It’s the one place, I’ll likely still wear a mask. Depending on how I feel at the time.

The air isn’t good down there anyway!

briantrumpet

Ben6899 said:

Yeh I think it will continue a fair while as “the norm”, on the Tube.

It’s the one place, I’ll likely still wear a mask. Depending on how I feel at the time.

The air isn’t good down there anyway!

It's worth remembering how many people from countries which experienced SARS etc. carried on wearing them BC (before covid) in airports etc. 'Back then' it seemed over-reaction to 'remote threats', but now it doesn't seem quite the same. Just because it's not a legal requirement doesn't mean it's a bad idea.

rjsterry

It's still TfL and government guidance to wear one.

rick_chasey

Can't get over how much busier the train is this week compared to last.

Doubled overnight.

TheBigBean

rick_chasey said:

Can't get over how much busier the train is this week compared to last.

Doubled overnight.

School holidays.

rick_chasey

It wasn't that busy the weeks before either, by a long way.

TheBigBean

rick_chasey said:

It wasn't that busy the weeks before either, by a long way.

Caution before the holidays.