Should we go into lockdown before Christmas? Bristolians have their say

As the Omicron variant of Covid-19 becomes increasingly more prominent across the Bristol and the rest of the UK, many are wondering whether or not the country should enter a lockdown.

The views of the people of Bristol were very mixed when BristolWorld spoke to residents today (Monday, December 20) as some thought a lockdown was the best option to keep people safe.

But others, such as Simon who owns a business, thinks that lockdown will have a detrimental effect on firms after what has already been a challenging few years.

He told BristolWorld: “I own a business in the city and however much I think we need to be careful and of course safety is paramount, we need to make sure we look after businesses such as mine.

“If we do go into lockdown then there needs to be some allowances that see businesses cared for.”

Simon isn’t the only person who thinks that a lockdown isn’t the best idea and all the people who agree with him are thinking of the economy.

Doug Searle who is from Bristol but lives in America, thinks that a lockdown would damage the economy further.

He said: “I don’t think there should be a lockdown in that you have to think about the damage it does the economy.

“Yes, Omicron is more infectious but the number of people in hospitals hasn’t gone up by that much so I think that we need to ensure we get everyone vaccinated.

“We are all now very aware that we are going to have to live with COVID so locking down the country every time there is a new variant means we won’t be able to function as a community”.

But Bethan, a mum from Bristol, said: “To be honest every is kind of locking down themselves but we could do with some leadership that way everyone will be on the same page.”

Pretty much all the people who thought a lockdown was a good idea did call for clearer instructions on what people can and can’t do.

Have your say and join in the conversion on Twitter.