IOM Covid removing restrictions

[TerryFuchwit]

21 minutes ago, manxst said:

Do you not think that maybe it’s the other way around in that ‘these sorts of people’ are acting and saying the things they do purely and simply as a consequence of their government’s statements etc? I find it difficult to believe the government ‘pander’ to anything and anyone unless it brings them money. By using emotive and unscientific language like your ‘Covid zone’ example, the elderly and vulnerable are very likely to be disturbed and panicked. 

Wait, are you denying there is a lot of social media mass hysteria? 

[Zarley]

14 minutes ago, AcousticallyChallenged said:

Whether they’re actually using what they learnt from the last outbreak to re-assess their approach is a total unknown. You’d hope so  

This is where they piss me off. Honesty, forthrightness, and transparency about how their decisions concerning covid are being made would, IMO, go a long way towards alleviating the hysteria and fears. 

When people are kept in the dark, it's human nature to try to fill in the blanks. This leads to rumours, wild speculation, conspiracy theories and worst-case scenarios being bandied about on social media and in real life down the pub and in the shops. 

People wonder - and quite rightly, given governmental cock-ups past and present - what are they trying to hide this time?

[manxst]

21 minutes ago, TerryFuchwit said:

Wait, are you denying there is a lot of social media mass hysteria? 

I don’t think there’s a lot, no. Admittedly, there’s some, yes. But that’s to be expected when people are unsure of things, and their government who are supposed to be in charge, know what they’re doing, and setting an example, are putting out statements which include ‘the Covid zone’ like it’s something off the Horror Channel. It’s irresponsible. 

[Kipper99]

Reliably told there were another 5 positives tested after the 4pm cut off time yesterday. So 13 yesterday.

Plus whatever positives are identified this morning afternoon.

[CowMan]

51 minutes ago, manxst said:

Do you not think that maybe it’s the other way around in that ‘these sorts of people’ are acting and saying the things they do purely and simply as a consequence of their government’s statements etc? 

To answer your question I think it works both ways. I believe that at the start of all this our government was responsible for a very weird psychology being created in the IOM regarding border controls and the need to keep ‘outsiders’ out and now they are having to pander to the narrative they created as they can’t shift peoples mindsets. A huge number of people do seem genuinely fearful of one case and have the expectation that we will retreat into lockdown immediately at every opportunity. Many of the Facebook threads that instantly appear under every COVID announcement are genuinely embarrassing for their extreme insularity. 

Additionally I know a good few people in the UK who genuinely think Facebook friends in the IOM have some sort of mental illness for the way they seem to genuinely believe that the rest of the world is dirty and should be kept away at all costs and who clog their feeds basically wetting themselves about the need to keep the real world at bay at all costs. I would also expect those relationships will be hard to recover after all this as well in that when we do open up the rest of the world may well remember us as the country that didn’t want them and elected to save ourselves.

So in a long way I think that this strange public mindset has well and truly taken over dictating government policy expectations and now it’s hard for government to push against that. This is the first time we have not automatically called a lockdown and I believe that it was the right call. However there are so many people who blindly think that ‘close the borders’ and ‘lockdown straight away’ are the only answers to everything and who are online all the time flailing around tearing their hair out about it all. 

[Nom de plume]

13 minutes ago, CowMan said:

To answer your question I think it works both ways. I believe that at the start of all this our government was responsible for a very weird psychology being created in the IOM regarding border controls and the need to keep ‘outsiders’ out and now they are having to pander to the narrative they created as they can’t shift peoples mindsets. A huge number of people do seem genuinely fearful of one case and have the expectation that we will retreat into lockdown immediately at every opportunity. Many of the Facebook threads that instantly appear under every COVID announcement are genuinely embarrassing for their extreme insularity. 

Additionally I know a good few people in the UK who genuinely think Facebook friends in the IOM have some sort of mental illness for the way they seem to genuinely believe that the rest of the world is dirty and should be kept away at all costs and who clog their feeds basically wetting themselves about the need to keep the real world at bay at all costs. I would also expect those relationships will be hard to recover after all this as well in that when we do open up the rest of the world may well remember us as the country that didn’t want them and elected to save ourselves.

So in a long way I think that this strange public mindset has well and truly taken over dictating government policy expectations and now it’s hard for government to push against that. This is the first time we have not automatically called a lockdown and I believe that it was the right call. However there are so many people who blindly think that ‘close the borders’ and ‘lockdown straight away’ are the only answers to everything and who are online all the time flailing around tearing their hair out about it all. 

What a brilliant post, great input & may I say - so true.

[Newbie]

35 minutes ago, Kipper99 said:

Reliably told there were another 5 positives tested after the 4pm cut off time yesterday. So 13 yesterday.

Plus whatever positives are identified this morning afternoon.

If that turns out to be correct it means that yesterday, at least, the number of positive tests per capita in the UK and here was almost identical at just over 1.5 per 10,000 population. Probably not a fair comparison as the 13 cases here would possibly have included some from the previous evening, and they were also all found in patients already isolating. Nonetheless, the figure here is rising and it is falling in the UK, so perhaps the 'Covid Zone' language will start going the other way!

[AcousticallyChallenged]

20 minutes ago, CowMan said:

To answer your question I think it works both ways. I believe that at the start of all this our government was responsible for a very weird psychology being created in the IOM regarding border controls and the need to keep ‘outsiders’ out and now they are having to pander to the narrative they created as they can’t shift peoples mindsets. A huge number of people do seem genuinely fearful of one case and have the expectation that we will retreat into lockdown immediately at every opportunity. Many of the Facebook threads that instantly appear under every COVID announcement are genuinely embarrassing for their extreme insularity. 

Additionally I know a good few people in the UK who genuinely think Facebook friends in the IOM have some sort of mental illness for the way they seem to genuinely believe that the rest of the world is dirty and should be kept away at all costs and who clog their feeds basically wetting themselves about the need to keep the real world at bay at all costs. I would also expect those relationships will be hard to recover after all this as well in that when we do open up the rest of the world may well remember us as the country that didn’t want them and elected to save ourselves.

So in a long way I think that this strange public mindset has well and truly taken over dictating government policy expectations and now it’s hard for government to push against that. This is the first time we have not automatically called a lockdown and I believe that it was the right call. However there are so many people who blindly think that ‘close the borders’ and ‘lockdown straight away’ are the only answers to everything and who are online all the time flailing around tearing their hair out about it all. 

I'd counter that by lots of people being envious that we lead a life of no restrictions, no risk to the vulnerable, and we can all pile into the pub, safely.

Even borders within the Schengen zone closed, both at the start of the pandemic, and during the recent surge so the 'country that shut everyone else out' argument could be applied to a number of European countries, along with Aus, NZ etc. Shutting them out is a doubly moot point, as non-essential travel is forbidden under lockdown rules anyway.

There are a handful of very vocal trolls, like Johnny Walter and so on, but generally, most people appreciate being in the position we are in for the short term, and accept that it will come back as we move to re-open with the rest of the world. But, we should be in a position where we are ready for that.

The virus, assuming similar patterns as last year, subsides in summer, and we will have vaccinated the most vulnerable. But, as the UK has evidenced, open too early and watch what happens.

[The Phantom]

I was supposed to go out for some beers with a Doc friend of mine this weekend. 

He's cancelled because of the 'Rona outbreak. 

Bear in mind, he has been vaccinated.  I called him a Pussy and haven't heard back from him yet! 

[CowMan]

3 minutes ago, AcousticallyChallenged said:

I'd counter that by lots of people being envious that we lead a life of no restrictions, no risk to the vulnerable, and we can all pile into the pub, safely.

I’m not sure that is the case to be honest. I had a good chat with a friend in the UK the other day who said he had now blocked all his IOM friends from school and university on Facebook as he was sick of seeing posts from ‘gloating w@nkers’ (his words not mine I’m afraid). I think the final straw was reading about how tough a three week lockdown had apparently been for his IOM friends when he had been in lockdown since last October and the fact that he hasn’t been able to see the child he has with a partner who returned here for over a year because most of his friends seemed to think that ‘outsiders’ should be cleansed from our shore at all cost. 

[TheTeapot]

 

[Max Power]

33 minutes ago, CowMan said:

To answer your question I think it works both ways. I believe that at the start of all this our government was responsible for a very weird psychology being created in the IOM regarding border controls and the need to keep ‘outsiders’ out and now they are having to pander to the narrative they created as they can’t shift peoples mindsets. A huge number of people do seem genuinely fearful of one case and have the expectation that we will retreat into lockdown immediately at every opportunity. Many of the Facebook threads that instantly appear under every COVID announcement are genuinely embarrassing for their extreme insularity. 

Additionally I know a good few people in the UK who genuinely think Facebook friends in the IOM have some sort of mental illness for the way they seem to genuinely believe that the rest of the world is dirty and should be kept away at all costs and who clog their feeds basically wetting themselves about the need to keep the real world at bay at all costs. I would also expect those relationships will be hard to recover after all this as well in that when we do open up the rest of the world may well remember us as the country that didn’t want them and elected to save ourselves.

So in a long way I think that this strange public mindset has well and truly taken over dictating government policy expectations and now it’s hard for government to push against that. This is the first time we have not automatically called a lockdown and I believe that it was the right call. However there are so many people who blindly think that ‘close the borders’ and ‘lockdown straight away’ are the only answers to everything and who are online all the time flailing around tearing their hair out about it all. 

I'd suggest that those expressing panic on facebook are in the vocal minority, although I accept that they are probably giving the wrong impression. Most people are more fearful of going into lockdown than they are of the virus itself. 

I think most people, on and off the island appreciate that we have some sort of normality here. I was talking to someone last night from the South of England, she told me that the restrictions in her area were grinding her and her friends down. She was genuinely jealous of the freedoms we have on the island.  

[Happier diner]

9 minutes ago, The Phantom said:

I was supposed to go out for some beers with a Doc friend of mine this weekend. 

He's cancelled because of the 'Rona outbreak. 

Bear in mind, he has been vaccinated.  I called him a Pussy and haven't heard back from him yet! 

Maybe he is cleaning his own genitals with his rough tongue

[Cambon]

1 hour ago, TerryFuchwit said:

I generally agree.

The borders are likely to be opened by the end of June in my view.

Why? UK won't be open on 21 June as hoped. There first milestone of getting all schools in England back in on 08 June has already been amended and the announcements were only three days ago! 

[The Phantom]

3 minutes ago, Happier diner said:

Maybe he is cleaning his own genitals with his rough tongue

I probably would too if I could.