The Isle of Wight and the rest of the country is once again under a full national lockdown from tonight (Monday), it has been announced by the Prime Minister.
In order to combat the spread of COVID-19 and to protect the NHS, which is now under severe risk, we are all once again being told to stay at home except in certain circumstances. We are being told to do this from tonight with the lockdown becoming law during the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The lockdown is expected to last until mid-February, with the tier system then coming into effect. It could be months before restrictions are lifted altogether.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that there are ‘tough, tough’ weeks ahead as the country battles to vaccinate millions of people as quickly as possible. He has said that people need to keep ‘disciplined’.
It is hoped that almost millions of people will be vaccinated by mid-February, including everyone over the age of 70, paving the way for restrictions to be lifted. In the meantime, the clinically vulnerable are being asked to shield again.
Schools will now close and all shops and other businesses selling non-essential goods have been ordered to close. Shops that can stay open include supermarkets, pharmacies, pet shops, hardware stores, newsagents, petrol stations, banks, post offices, laundrettes and funeral homes.
Islanders are now only allowed to leave their home for:
- 1 form of exercise a day, alone or with members of the same household
- Any medical need, which includes caring
- Travelling to and from work when absolutely necessary – work that cannot be done from home
- Shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which should be as infrequent as possible
- Escape harm
Police have the power to fine any individual who disobeys the Government.
For Islanders, the impact may be less significant with the summer season now long gone, but the decision to implement a third lockdown some 10 months after the first will no doubt leave many wondering what was achieved in the first 2 lockdowns. It certainly raises the question of whether events will be able to go ahead in 2021 and how quickly the Island will be able to recover in the Spring and Summer.
The Isle of Wight was once one of the safest places in the country in terms of COVID infections and deaths, but infections have soared. Ahead of the November lockdown the total number of cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic was 637 on the Isle of Wight. That number is now in excess of 2,450.
Island Echo will continue to report throughout the third lockdown, standing by our readers as we have done throughout the pandemic. We take our role as key workers seriously and will bring you all the latest updates in an accurate and proportionate way.
About time !!!
We need to get this vaccine out ASAP .
Have to say if supermarkets are carrying on shouldn’t they be high priority as they have been at the forefront since toilet paper shortage .
Key points here are: 1 Net hospital admissions are lower now than at two points in Autumn (and much lower than Spring) 2 Total admissions normal (just those labelled COVID that have increased) 3 Winter mortality not doing anything out of the ordinary compared with previous years.
“Lockdowns,the crushing of individual`s rights, the inflicting of inhuman and degrading treatment on the population have become legitimate tools of governance in western society.Those who contributed to this legitimisation should be ashamed of themselves”
Bloody stupid idiot
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
That last paragraph sums up the State of mind of “Conspiracy Theorists” worldwide. There will always be those that do not believe accepted version of events. When proved wrong it is easy to say “ah, yes but” and come back with a modified version. Your version of the truth is no more valid than anyone elses. One day you and your fellow conspiracy theorist might have the balls to get a box to stand on and say what you have to say in Newport for all to hear, instead of typing on Facebook in the safety of wherever you live.
Thank you to all those spreaders who flocked to the Island over the Christmas period !!!! ( DFLS ) !!!
Selfish covidiots
And, of course, Stewart and his cronies who clearly failed us in not getting a ferry shut down or, at the very least, test-before-boarding at the mainland ports. But what else do you expect of him / them?
Nothing cos they are a bunch of useless idots Just getting to much more for doing nothing
Nothing cos they area bunch of useless idots just getting to much money for doing nothing
There was no law that could be enforced to stop ferry traffic, unfortunately.
Emergency measures can always be implemented.
Don’t forget the idiot’s from Portsmouth Havant etc
Popping over for a p—up and punch up !!!!
The Government should have done more to support the ferries.
Also the Police who have bore the brunt of abuse trying to do an extremely difficult job in this awful pandemic.
I for one praise them Don’t forget behind the uniform is a person doing his or her job earning a living and they are vulnerable as well .
So please let’s all knuckle down and be a community.
Remember we are all in the same boat.
What about all the islanders that went Xmas shopping on the mainland. Or are islands excused
Oh excuse me are you a second home owner ?
We were tier 1 and although I didn’t go Xmas shopping to the mainland (I did click and collect through john lewis).
I know some people who said they went shopping but obeyed all the rules etc forca tier 2 area ..
We have to realise that some people have to travel for work from the island and I am sure they are very aware of the situation and wouldn’t want to infect the family at home ,so observe the rules .
If you truly feel strongly about this pandemic may I suggest you volunteer at the covid ward.
None of know how it will affect us some don’t get so ill other’s die and who knows what the long term effects are .
So suck it up and focus where we are now once the horse has bolted you can’t change the past .
John Lewis how common, I get lady snooty to purchase through fortnum&masons ,As for being a second homer,mrs snooty and I have several .I believe some of the staff go shopping hoping behaved themselves .toodle pip
Who is to say that further mutations will not happen soon, as there has been over 17 already.
The vaccine could be ineffective if they don’t hurry up and administer such before any more drastic mutations occur.
They are already concerned of it’s effectiveness on the S.A mutant strain. We need to tighten our borders now, and prevent all those floating over here who then hide away in takeaway food places to obtain money and pose a serious risk of bringing in new strains and spreading existing ones to our land as they can’t be registered at doctors etc.
This is serious now, imagine if the young are taken with future changes to this awful virus, as it is bad enough losing the elderly and vulnerable.
Stay safe and keep indoors, and hope, is all we can do now.
What I want to know with this vaccine is that due to the virus mutating how then will it be effective against the new strain?
The flu jab is different every year depending on what strain of flu pops up? Is this not the case with COVID or am I missing something?
Covid mutates slowly.
“A typical SARS-CoV-2 virus accumulates only two single-letter mutations per month in its genome — a rate of change about half that of influenza and one-quarter that of HIV”
Emma Hodcroft, a molecular epidemiologist at the University of Basel, Switzerland
Richard, is 17 mutations in a year ‘slow’?
The so called UK one, has been deemed to be stopped by the current vaccine, but they are not so sure the South African mutant variety will be, as the spikes on the outer casing are very different in that version and that is how ‘our’ vaccine works by giving a harmless outer shell, which our immune system then recognises yet, the S.A version is perhaps ‘too’ different for it to recognise.
So, if the S.A version again mutates, surely a real worry for the clever boffins?
Not saying, just asking.
No expert, but I think the idea is, if all have the jab, then the virus not then effecting people will have no way of mutating as how can it with no place to do so in?
However not ‘all’ will have the jab, and with the whole world at risk, then Yes, I too see this whilst being curtailed, will never ever be erridicated, and no doubt we will all have to have a new jab each year.
Issue is, as we have seen now, viruses don’t work on ‘annual dates’ and can, and do mutate at any time at any place, so if we have a new jab every December there is nothing to say that the virus in non vaccinated people will not mutate the very next day, making any jab ineffective.
Maybe someone with more knowledge, NOT just more ‘hope’ can answer you better.
“She had the Covid-19 vaccine but she didn’t have any symptoms. I don’t know what happened. I just want answers” ‘I want to know what led to my daughter’s death” Portuguese health worker, 41, dies two days after getting Pfizer jab
What makes me laugh is that you see all working Vans, eg Island Roads, The Waste Companies etc.
All persons in the vehicles do not wear masks, yet they are sitting practically on top of each other.
Also does this Lockdown mean only essential workers should be working.
Last time so many Bob the Builders were out and about in their white Vans working, carrying out Non Essential work.
It has been 1 big balls up from the start.
Does anyone know the real rules!
Island Roads have given up on their policy of one man per van. I regularly see two in a van with no masks\CV protection. Especially now that cases are much higher than the start of this pandemic.
Speaks volumes for the type of company Ringway (Island Road/Vinci) is.
How is a builder supposed to work from home ?
Rishi pays them like he did last time
No he didn’t.
By all means, carry on working, as long as you pay income tax and NI contributions. We are all getting fed up with this ‘cash only’ mentality. We are all realising that you are cheating the honest tax paying public.!!
I do pay my tax Thank you. Someone has to .
Well done. You are probably in the minority of builders that do. Thank you.
Builders will always ignore current guidelines as long as they can still operate their “cash in hand guv” standards. Thus cheating us all of income tax and NI contributions. Clamp down on these cheats.
No doubt you’d be the first one to moan if your bins weren’t emptied or the island wasn’t maintained by Island roads.
Our window cleaner nor the young guy who cuts our hedges nor the young guy who does our house repairs and maintenance got a penny from the government.
All with young families. Are you going to pay their mortgages and bills?
We are just as responsible as they are to make sure they work in a COVID safe environment.
Wear masks, wash their hands before they start work in the house and distance. Which they do.
I can only assume you must be very financially secure, not everybody is.
Yea cos the first two worked so well ,let’s do it again .
What was Einstein’s definition of insanity again?
Nice one Dave whats your next trick your own p45
It comes as no surprise the island is where it is in full lockdown yet in tier 4 as we were why were the idiots complete with pull a long case allowed to travel on the final train from the pierhead with no boats arriving so they must have boarded at the esplanade, plus no wearing masks just to try and obtain a photo to sell
shame the law were not present to stop them
Buckle up everyone, this is going to be a rough year. Mark my words, they will be burying the dead in the parks as they will have no room in the morgues. They will be going door to door asking us to bring out our dead. Going to be 1000s dead every day.
Hey lumpy jumper.
Simple you can’t work from home if in the Building game , but as trades person you can still work ,whether going into other people’s house is right who knows ,prob not ,
When you look hard at the gov web site in full ,even in tier 4 carpet shops and tile and glazing showrooms should not of opened but they were
Well exactly what Mr Justice said would happen is happening……forced vaccination next…. but wait that’s just a conspiracy…….
Thank you mrs brown, I’ve tried to show people what’s going to happen, but no, I’m just a conspiracy nut! Well here we are, the fools on here said,that wont happen! And now they are getting their way with all of this plandemic, the next big thing they are ready to push is just starting to show its ugly head! But hey, what do I know.?
I think it is time that Dave and his cronies stopped being so complacent – kept very quiet over the holiday period and didn’t he say schools must open – they are safe – not so many hours ago!
Stay safe everyone!
We are working in an island estate agents tomorrow I have 8 viewings booked that’s 3 households mixing for Upto half an hour …
My bosses are thrilled the housing market is staying open !!!
When I get Covid will someone take on a corporate manslaughter case !!
I don’t think so it’s criminal .
And to all those mindless idiots who are determined to travel telling us they are allowed to view they have sold their house it’s essential they buy another i say get real …. this is a killer ….
Did wearing masks stop or slow the spread? – no. Did social distancing stop or slow the spread? – no. Did lockdowns stop or slow the spread? – no, Did closing pubs and restaurants stop or slow the spread? – no, in other words it’s all garbage. No matter what they do the virus will still spread. While we all have to breathe air, the virus will spread. For all those quaking in their boots, issue them with an iron lung to live in, oh, but you will still get the virus. Nothing that has been done so far on the advice of all the “experts” has had any effect whatsoever, and neither will this latest lockdown. Oh yeah, you can only go out to shop, exercise, get health care and go to work – so no change then!
I don’t know why people are giving you thumbs down when every word you wrote was true.This is going to go on and on forever I think.Why can I work in a supermarket coming into contact with hundreds of people each day that’s ok,but am not allowed to go near my own mother or daughter because we don’t live together. I think it would be quicker to just let everyone get it and be over with it and those who are vulnerable or scared can hide away for a year or two if they wish,after all it’s a 99+% recovery rate why do you need a vaccine for that which does not stop you getting it or spreading it!Why!
No no paul you cant say that!! That would be telling the truth!
Please watch the video attached if IE post it. Probably won’t but worth a try!!
Paul –
Did wearing masks stop or slow the spread? – yes. Did social distancing stop or slow the spread? – yes. Did lockdowns stop or slow the spread? – yes, Did closing pubs and restaurants stop or slow the spread? – yes. The fact is if these things had not happened then we would have lost more people to Covid than we already have. What you spread is as bad as a virus. You spread ignorance and complacency.
I can honestly say if I had a £1 for all the idiot’s I have seen wearing masks incorrectly i could retire !
Also holding them in there hands and then picking up items up in shop’s putting them back again !
Correct procedure is sterilise hands use the ear loops to hold it , adjust by the sides etc sterilise hands again when removing sterilise again hold loops remove place in a clean bag not your pocket ! Sterilise again .
Also please remember self distancing.
And lastly ensure the re usable 1 s are washed each time
Single use means single use .
How can you know if it “didn’t stop” the spread, you can’t, any more than anyone can say that wearing masks ” stopped or slowed the spread. All that is known is that wearing a mask etc minimises the risk of contamination. A precaution worth taking I think.
If that is how you wish to live it’s you choice, just don’t do it near me or my family.
I am wondering why garden centres really need to be open still? A place for the old folk to go browse and pick up COVID with their purchase of scented candles and discounted Xmas baubles?
Cannot understand why the very elderly are getting the vaccine.
Would it not be better to get all front line staff done including shop workers then those
70 years or younger?
Surely this would be more beneficial to the countries finances.
its because it needs to be tested and the older people are not that important so if it starts killing its not a big loss. but that’s just my thoughts
Reading the above set of rules misses out one important thing for those of us who live alone – according to the Government website we are still allowed to meet up with one person outside if we walk at a distance. Or have I misread it?
Wait until the MASSIVE global prison is built. And everyone will be happily living in it. 🙂