‘People behaving as if pandemic is over’, Wales’ Chief Medical Officer warns
Too many people are behaving as if the pandemic is “over” , Wales’ Chief Medical Officer has warned.
Dr Frank Atherton, has pointed to people ignoring Wales’ face mask laws and not social distancing, amid a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Wales’ case rate is the highest of all the UK nations and is at a record high 716.9 cases per 100,000 people, which has led Welsh Government ministers to look at extending the use of Covid passes for a wider range of venues.
Dr Atherton told BBC Wales Breakfast: “A very significant proportion of the Welsh population is still behaving with extreme caution and realises that we are not out of the woods with this yet, but there is a sense other places that it is all over.
“When we see people not using face coverings, even though it’s a legal requirement to do so, that worries me.
“When we see people crowding into taxis – as I saw down in Cardiff Bay last night – without face coverings and not being challenged, that worries me.
“When I see leisure centres which are overcrowded and people not social distancing, that really worries me.
“This is how the virus is spreading and, unless we can, as a society, organise ourselves in a way that we follow the guidance that we know will stop transmission of the virus, then unfortunately some of those more draconian measures and the legislative requirements may have to be brought back in. But that’s for ministers.”
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We have a whole raft of crises and a Prime Minister who thinks it’s a good time for his third overseas holiday of the year. No wonder people are confused.
Sadly people think being double jabbed means you are safe. You’re not. You can still catch & transmit Covid. Fact. I know all too well I have a relative (sister) extremely Ill with Covid along with her 15yr old daughter. I still wear a mask, sanitise my hands and follow social distancing measures when out, but I’m continually seeing others young & old flouting rules, even in taxis and in shops. No wonder there’s a 3rd Covid wave occurring. Wake up Wales! And it doesn’t help when we have English media beam England’s Covid rules into Wales whilst largely ignoring… Read more »
Drakeford et al did not wear masks or distance in Brighton…!! I thought people who support J.Corbyn well Mr.Drakeford does had more sense.
Why do the politicians use data..as in 700 in 100000 having Covid .In percentage terms the number of people in Wales with Covid is..wait for it…….. 0.9 % of the population, meaning 99.1 %: of the population do not have it. There has been not one scrap of positive reporting by our 30 strong Labour A.Ms who run our population of 3.3 million in 19 months….. who then went to Brighton and sat in halls with hundreds of people without distancing or wearing masks shaking hands etc……and then tell us not to travel…or mix…and they wonder why people are going… Read more »
… and fetching back a whole load of assorted bugs to pass around. Splendid stuff !
0.9% of the population is near enough 1%. That may not sound like a lot but if you went into a supermarket with 1,000 people in it that would be 10 people with Covid. Now ask yourself: would you go into that same supermarket if you knew that 10 people in there had rabies or Ebola? Probably not, even though Covid is easier to catch than either rabies or Ebola (to catch rabies or Ebola requires very close contact. By comparison you can get Covid by being coughed or sneezed on). OK so Covid isn’t the same as rabies or… Read more »
Have you been asleep for the past 2 years?
No…my disabled brother died after being shipped out of hospital to a care home in March 2020..died alone..nobody would tell us anything. I have had 3 jabs plus flu jab test every week. Got Covid in July minor symptoms like the.loss of smell and cough only like the vast majority…ordinary flu made me Illfor 6 months..in hospital etc. .most people in hospital are unvaccinated. and elderly….they and the rest of the anti vaccers have been sleeping or in cloud cuckoo land. 6000 people have died in Wales in 18 months while 10000 have died of heart attacks in the same… Read more »
Currently holidaying in the second home centre of Cumbria – i am yet to see a mask in use.? Yet i note from the local press that the local nhs is at breaking point.
Some social distancing to be sure – but i wonder where all the door step nhs clappers are mow ?
I was at a meeting in Wrexham last week and out of 8 people, I was the only one wearing a mask inside the room. The message isn’t getting out there, people are slacking off and things are getting worse. I have been double jabbed but it doesn’t stop me catching it, it doesn’t stop me passing it on to others and it doesn’t stop it mutating.
Every word of the above ⬆️
For me the mask-wearing will persist until we get the all clear, how ever many years that takes – the guilt if I gave it to my wife, elderly parent or other would be just too much. I do not think I know better than our medical experts, Wales has been fortunate in ours, I am certain that I know better than most of the Tory cabinet!
Every day i look out the window and see 8 ambulances outside A+E for hours. The hospitals cannot cope with the current situation due to demoralisation of staff, lack of staff and staff off sick as a result of working the last 18 months during pandemic. More covid patients as a result of people’s stupidity is the last thing we need. Clinics and elective surgery are all cancelled, and we have not entered winter yet. So wear a mask, and keep on keeping your distance
Tell that to Drakeford ..ever seen him in one ?
Is it always neccessary to twist everything into an attack on the Welsh government? And yes, we have all seen him wearing one. It’s just not neccessary when he is making a speech infront of cameras and at a distance from others.
The public are only partly to blame – the UK government in particular has given the impression the pandemic is over. Blase, libertarian, blinkered politicians haven’t learnt the lessons from the beginning of autumn 2020 believing the jab is the answer – it isn’t. There will probably be a lockdown before or even during christmas due to inaction now.
People are bored with it and just want it to go away. Exactly the same sentiment as they held about Brexit before the landslide last Westminster election.
Perhaps a name change is in order. How about Bubonic Covid?
Hardly surprising when leading supermarkets in Wales have been told by their English HQ’s to turn a blind eye at non mask wearing in stores…. Fact.