3 Tiers

[ScrumpyCheddar]

Well I expect everyone in the country is thinking this .... What the hell is going on with this stupid Tier system... Who and what dreams up these stupid ideas ... Puts everyone in a nationwide lock down then comes out with this Tier rubbish... Sorry to say this but this is going to push people over the edge mentally ...

Why iam i writing and posting this is due to the fact that my quiet village in North Somerset is in Tier 3 .. I live literally 5 mins walk from the Somerset border what’s in Tier 2.. I really can not except and get my head around all this .. No thought or care has gone into the people and business who are going to suffer severely... It’s like Kent who have to suffer to when the big cities are in Tier 2s .... This is never right..

 

[floydraser]

Predictable there would be a thread for this.

Leicester went into lock down first and what happened? Did it make everyone else think they should tighten up their defences against covid? No. Everyone had parties. The BBC carried on propagating the message that it was all very confusing and the infection rate went up.

So the regional thing didn't work and it was confusing (mostly because it was cool to say so; you could say so without being thought of as being thick).

Not confusing anymore is it? We brought it on ourselves. 

I'm in tier 3 btw and someone has to be near a border. BBC kindly showed a reporter standing by the Kent border saying this pub can open and that cant. Oh please. Stand by a speed limit sign and for two yards either side there's no justification for the difference. 

[SteveP]

Agree 100% with this, I emailed my MP yesterday to suggest he thinks about his employment status after the next election. He says he's already complained to Boris, sadly I don't expect common sense to break out any time soon.  That's the original post I was replying to.

 

[annv]

how else can they different between areas if not by city or county my brother lives in nottinghamshire but because he is on other side of river he doesn't come under nottingshire rules like any rule it won't be perfect for every body just grin and bare it you could be in China and then be shot if found breaking the rules. John

[Ray]

It hardly matters now that the Christmas "amnesty" has been announced. 

We are all now pretty much in a situation where we try to keep ourselves safe until a vaccine is fully rolled out.

We know what to do, basically try to keep away from those who don't care.

[FairTmiddlin]

22 minutes ago, annv said:

how else can they different between areas if not by city or county my brother lives in nottinghamshire but because he is on other side of river he doesn't come under nottingshire rules like any rule it won't be perfect for every body just grin and bare it you could be in China and then be shot if found breaking the rules. John

Then Why in the Tory heartland of Berkshire also home to the queen, they are in tier 2. but Slough is in tier 3 from December 2nd. That's the one i find difficult to fathom.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Don`t forget the free spaces left in hospitals and the capacity of the NHS in general in your area comes into it. (So I understand).

[annv]

Berkshire is relatively rural Slough is industrial city. If only they could get a instant test we would be able to control it , BUT!!! John

[Gracie]

Well said Ray. Unfortunately there are lots of those who don't care especially in the Supermarket when people lean across you to get something from a shelf which I've had happen and when you ask them politely to keep their distance they look at you like you've got two heads or something

It will be just my parents, my children and I at Christmas, no extended family visiting this year like we would normally have. It's terrifying to think how things might be in January after Christmas get together's and the threat of a new wave because of it x

[Chelsea14Ian]

Since the start of Covad,whatever not only our Government but Governments everywhere  are on a hiding to nothing. The only way is a total lockdown.In doing we are all in the same situation, however businesses suffer long lasting  damage. What's the answer, I don't know.If and when a vaccine  comes in and is effective,I fear this will be like a rollercoaster. 

[ExSurveyor]

You can't please all the people all the time…

Lockdown, wrong.

Open up, wrong.

Close schools, wrong.

Open schools, wrong.

Regional restrictions, wrong.

Borough restrictions, wrong.

Ask 100 people and you will get 100 different versions of what is essential.

Boaters, fishermen, golfers, gym bunnies, students, retailers, surveyors,  all have different priorities.

However we have a few experts on the subject, that is their full time job, they make recommendations that governments follow or not.

I am aware of only one person here that is anywhere near an expert in this field, the rest of us just have an opinion based on our particular bias.

My area has gone from T1 to T3 because a certain section of the community ( referred to by a very good friend as the ' submerged' 10% ) refuse to follow simple instructions.

Strangely the two highest areas in the county are amongst the top 3 in the country and are islands on the Kent coast.

The Isle of Sheppy has a very large prison population with massive infections, the local population also have high transmission. These cases end up in the very overcrowded local hospital in Medway, this pushes up my areas weighting for tier assessment.

 Not ideal as I can't spend my birthday on the boat but it is what it is.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

14 minutes ago, FairTmiddlin said:

Then Why in the Tory heartland of Berkshire also home to the queen, they are in tier 2. but Slough is in tier 3 from December 2nd. That's the one i find difficult to fathom.

 

7 minutes ago, annv said:

Berkshire is relatively rural Slough is industrial city. If only they could get a instant test we would be able to control it , BUT!!! John

Both Windosr and Slough are in Berkshire guys though one is Blue and the other is Red.

[Hylander]

10 minutes ago, psychicsurveyor said:

You can't please all the people all the time…

Lockdown, wrong.

Open up, wrong.

Close schools, wrong.

Open schools, wrong.

Regional restrictions, wrong.

Borough restrictions, wrong.

Ask 100 people and you will get 100 different versions of what is essential.

Boaters, fishermen, golfers, gym bunnies, students, retailers, surveyors,  all have different priorities.

However we have a few experts on the subject, that is their full time job, they make recommendations that governments follow or not.

I am aware of only one person here that is anywhere near an expert in this field, the rest of us just have an opinion based on our particular bias.

My area has gone from T1 to T3 because a certain section of the community ( referred to by a very good friend as the ' submerged' 10% ) refuse to follow simple instructions.

Strangely the two highest areas in the county are amongst the top 3 in the country and are islands on the Kent coast.

The Isle of Sheppy has a very large prison population with massive infections, the local population also have high transmission. These cases end up in the very overcrowded local hospital in Medway, this pushes up my areas weighting for tier assessment.

 Not ideal as I can't spend my birthday on the boat but it is what it is.

The Management here thinks that everyone should be lockdown until the vaccine is rolled out.  Believe me we have family in Kent in the worst area  (Tier 3) and when I mentioned this I was told,  oh well nothing has changed really,  today said family member has been out running with a friend and tomorrow is going Christmas shopping with someone else.   I mean , is it me or are some people just not getting it.    As for this daft idea about Christmas and 5 days of Mr Covid not being around, is absolute ruddy nonsense.   There will be more people die if it is allowed to happen.     Christmas will happen whether people are allowed to mingle with others or not.   As for parties someone mentioned,  I must be Billy no mates because there has been no parties up here for nearly a year.

None of us are allowed to visit our boats or second homes - just watch this space ,  I bet the Royals will be off to their various palaces as per usual.    It is either one rule for everyone and that is it or we just forget the whole thing and just carry on regardless and suffer the consequences.

 

[YnysMon]

We are in a dilemma.

We had been planning to bring my father-in-law down here for Christmas  and then try to persuade him to stay with us longer term. However, we were thinking maybe we should allow a gap between picking my son up from Uni next week (Government advice is for Uni students to travel home between 3rd and 9th December) and then going to pick up Dad a week before Christmas. Government advice is not to travel to family for Christmas until 23rd though. Well, that makes things a bit awkward as both Graham and I are supposed to be working until Christmas Eve. Obviously, we don’t want him using public transport.

However, we have started to wonder if it’s right to bring Dad down here for Christmas, given both Graham and son Harry are working outside the home right up to Christmas. The number of cases per certain number of population in Milton Keynes is over 10 times that of Anglesey, so we would be transporting him from a very low risk area to a tier 2. Graham is starting to think it would be better to wait until Dad has had a Covid jab (we are assuming he would be high on the priority list, being in his 80’s), and then bring him down to live with us.

Its so difficult to know what to do.

[Lulu]

We’ve just had a family conference (via FaceTime) and we have all decided we are not getting together at Christmas. We will be having a family  Christmas dinner in the spring/summer instead if its safe to do so. Its too complicated to keep everyone happy with the limited bubbles/households or whatever is allowed.    My parents are elderly, mum hasnt been in the best of health recently and we are not prepared to risk it for the sake of a day.  

[grendel]

with large proportions of the country in tier 3 with non essential shops closed, Once they do open things up again for the christmas break, there are going to be a lot of men rushing into the shops to buy christmas presents (I will acknowledge here that most women will have already bought all their christmas presents months ago)

I have noticed in kent that where there are universities there are correspondingly high outbreaks, I cant find any demographics that split it by age group, but once the students start heading home for christmas, I predict a sharp rise in cases (probably between christmas and new year. meanwhile I will carry on as i have been for the last 9 months, shopping once a week, and about once a month visiting my aged parents to take one of them shopping for their monthly bulk buys.

the other place in kent there are high numbers is at dover, where we have a lot of foreign and domestic freight traffic through the port, a lot of people coming into a small area from all over the country, and abroad.

meanwhile my plans to pop into the office one last time before christmas have been dashed, because the office is now in a tier 2 location and I am in a tier 3, so should not travel to a lower tier. (as yes I can work from home) in the 9 months i have spent just one day in the office, and that mainly to pick up a laptop to facilitate working from home, I saw just 5 of my work colleagues for 1 day, and while working from home gets the work done it destroys the team cohesion as everyone works in isolation.

[MauriceMynah]

Ok, My situation is a little different. As many of you know, I had to rush back here to Harlow from my broads holiday in mid July. I have not seen my boat since. My friend Rufus is still in a nursing home and I am looking after his mother. I am starting to think I'm not going to see my new boat for some months to come.

The only break I was getting from 24hr care, was the occasional visit to my local pub, and shopping trips to Tesco. Whilst I still get to go to Tesco, that now is the only break I get. It is the only break I think I'm going to get for the foreseeable future.

Does not going to the pub hurt, You bet your sweet ******** it does.

I admit I don't fully agree with the three tier system, but it is what it is and it is what we've got. We as a forum can't change it, and we can't challenge it. all we can do is live with it.

Moaning about it is not only a waste of time, it's also depressing to those of us who only have this forum to retreat to.

Some here are prisoners of their own health, others are prisoners from their desire to do the right thing and I would imagine that I am not the only one who's just a prisoner of circumstances.

Obviously I hope everyone has a good a Christmas as they can, but for me, all it means is Tesco will be closed.

[Ray]

1 hour ago, psychicsurveyor said:

You can't please all the people all the time

I'm not sure that even a few of the people are being pleased even some of the time! But your point is correct of course 👍

[ChrisB]

I think you will find that Slough had a very high rate of infection during lockdown prior to "tiers" and was an area of concern due to a high proportion of multi-generational housing.

[Vaughan]

In my truck driving days, I spent one Christmas Day parked up in a "Routier" restaurant, just north of Rheims, which is said to be where Douglas Bader was re-captured by the Germans after he had escaped and was trying to steal an aircraft from the nearby fighter base.  I was stuck there for the whole weekend, among a lot of French truckers who enjoyed their red wine!  A time I shall never forget.

Several of my other Christmas Days and New Year's Days have been spent on ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary or on gas platforms in the North Sea, and memorable, they were!

Let us spare a moment to think of those who keep the country running, and defend the country, even though it is Christmas.  For them, it is just another day's work and right now, I wish I were still out there with them!  

 

 

[AndyTBoater]

Actually I think everyone going into Tier 2 or 3 is a great idea. Personally we should all have gone into 3 as far as I am concerned.

What seems to have happened is that areas that are getting high transmission rates have been "punished" by being put in a higher tier. This "punishment" will almost certainly cause a minority (or even the majority) to rebel and shout about infringing civil liberties and so on. Punish people and they push back.

Now we have a new reward based system. Play the game and in a couple of weeks we will review and move you down a tier if you have been good. If you cant observe the rules then you stay in a higher tier. Its up to you. You do the right thing and get rewarded.

I spoke to a person a few days ago who said they were really angry that they were not allowed to go to the pub. I asked them how many times a week they went and the reply was about once a fortnight. Why was she getting angry and hateful because she was not going to be able to do something she rarely did? She has missed 2 trips out to a pub in a month. 

She went on to moan about missing her MONTHLY family trip to the cinema. 

Anyway. That's about it really.

Lockdown 3 or any of the tiers wont be a problem on January 1st because after Brexit no one will have any money to go out and spend anyway.

[ExSurveyor]

53 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

We are in a dilemma.

We had been planning to bring my father-in-law down here for Christmas  and then try to persuade him to stay with us longer term. However, we were thinking maybe we should allow a gap between picking my son up from Uni next week (Government advice is for Uni students to travel home between 3rd and 9th December) and then going to pick up Dad a week before Christmas. Government advice is not to travel to family for Christmas until 23rd though. Well, that makes things a bit awkward as both Graham and I are supposed to be working until Christmas Eve. Obviously, we don’t want him using public transport.

However, we have started to wonder if it’s right to bring Dad down here for Christmas, given both Graham and son Harry are working outside the home right up to Christmas. The number of cases per certain number of population in Milton Keynes is over 10 times that of Anglesey, so we would be transporting him from a very low risk area to a tier 2. Graham is starting to think it would be better to wait until Dad has had a Covid jab (we are assuming he would be high on the priority list, being in his 80’s), and then bring him down to live with us.

Its so difficult to know what to do.

Helen

The thing to remember is the vaccine is two shots 4 weeks apart and most vaccines are not fully effective for 3 to 4 weeks after the full course.

For him to actually get the jab in MK may be difficult if here is not registered with you GP.

Nothing is ever easy is it.

 

[ExSurveyor]

36 minutes ago, grendel said:

with large proportions of the country in tier 3 with non essential shops closed,

Bad news Peter, All shops open up 3rd December, no excuse.

I like online shopping, I have a bandsaw and sash clamps on the way for Christmas

[rightsaidfred]

Sorry but I thought this forum is non political, given that the thread is still running all I can say is thank god Corbyn and Trump are not running the country, if you want to blame anyone then point your accusations at those that nick picked the law or those that think they are above it, they are the ones spreading covid not the government.

Fred 

[Gracie]

Helen, I liked your post but not your dilemma. It's all such a mess isn't it. I hope you manage to get sorted. I understand people wanting to get together over Christmas but fearful of the consequences. I'm lucky in that my Parents are in my 'bubble' otherwise it could have been a very lonely Christmas all round

I feel for people who are alone, I really do 

Take care and stay safe x