How long can we carry on like this for?

[Pseudosudocrem]

Anyone else starting to wonder just how long we can carry on like this before everything irrevocably falls apart?

How will we ever recover as a country?

[ilovedjerrymore]

After the next 3 weeks we need urgently got get some kind of normality back! All shops need to reopen but have measured in place like supermarkets only so many in and social distances etc.
Schools...well I have no idea how that is going to work in regards to social distancing I must admit. But for our economy to have any chance of survival we can not carry on like this after the next 3 weeks are up!

[PerspicaciaTick]

On a household level we could carry on indefinitely, we aren't missing being sociable at all.
At a country wide level I would rather take a little longer to see that we clearly passed the initial peak and to ensure that the return work and school is properly planned.

[Pseudosudocrem]

I agree with you @ilovedjerrymore How can we social distance in schools etc? I work in a large cafe, how can we social distance in there? It's not feasible. Struggling to see how we can realistically return to normal, or how much of an economy will be left. And I think that it's all going to take a lot longer than 3 weeks...this is going to take months and months.

[ilovedjerrymore]

@PerspicaciaTick I have racked by brains to think how this could work in schools and to be honest the social distancing isn’t going to work here ☹️
In regards to cafes and other eating places all I can think of is less tables? So social distancing between tables?? Obviously I know that would mean less people but with a takeaway service still available would this work? You would know better then me if that would work??
I work in construction not a lot has changed for us apart from we are finding it hard now to purchase materials as they are all stuck at docks etc.
We really need to reopen everything as much as possible as yes the coronavirus is very scary but looking at what could happen to our economy If we don’t that is equally scary very worrying times.

[Redglitter]

I cant see anything changing for a few months yet certainly not at the end of this 3 weeks - not a chance

[BirdieFriendReturns]

The upcoming austerity will kill more people than CV. The people we are shielding now will be hit by the brunt of health and social care cutbacks.

Longer NHS waiting lists. No dentists. Unemployment will hit 20%.

[5zeds]

I think it’s forever, just nobody wants to say so.

[HandfulOfFlowers]

I think there will come a point where people's desperation at being out of work, or trying to work and homeschool, or isolation at home will override their feelings of societal responsibility for the lives of people they neither know nor care about.

[TeddyIsaHe]

It’s not forever 🙄

It’ll be relaxed a bit in 3 weeks. The Tories want the economy back up, they won’t hang about. And as a pp said the ensuing austerity is going to be worse than CV.

[BirdieFriendReturns]

5zeds - do you really think this is “forever?” I’m intrigued to see your thinking behind this.

[ilovedjerrymore]

@5zeds please tell me how this will last forever??? Very intrigued

[IcedPurple]

I think it’s forever, just nobody wants to say so.

Oh but YOU want to say so!

Life has got back to normal after pandemics which were much more virulent than this. What is the scientific basis for your believing this will be an exception?

[5zeds]

Because there is no cure and until there is how can life go back to how it was before?

[LilacTree1]

Please write to your MP if you want lockdown to start easing

If, as some people think, the government are influenced by public reaction, it’s worth doing.

[HermioneWeasley]

Outside care homes and hospitals the infection rate is less than 1 - another 3 weeks and the main population infection rate will have flattened and be manageable in terms of NHS. Large gatherings, theatre etc will probably be banned for a while.

I don’t see how any of the shielded group can go out until there’s treatment or a vaccine though?

[shineaflight]

@5zeds well that won't be the case forever will it?

[DeathByBoredom]

Why would most people agree to it being forever? The risk isn't that high for most people or most age groups.

[LilacTree1]

Teddy “ The Tories want the economy back up, they won’t hang about. ”

I see no sign of this, despite desperate searching.

[Wannabangbang]

I think we will have lockdowns and releases until this is over. Which could be up to 18 months until a suitable vaccine is found and that's if one is found that actually works. Scared for the future tbh, this isn't going to be over properly for a long time. Think businesses will have to think of new ways to trade remotely and cafes etc have one in, one out, eat at home rules. Not sure how schools can realistically open safely as kids aren't exactly good at staying distanced from eachother and it will risk staffs health and parents who drop off health. Whilst people don't follow lockdown correctly this will make the whole situation last longer and unfortunately people are still not always following the rules. Witnessed this yesterday in my local corner shop, staff protected all in ppe, markers on floor, signs up, 10 people rule but some cow in there kept going over the lines and thinking she could just keep getting close to me, behind my arse picking up beans then she gets far to close well over lines at the till again. Stupif woman

[5zeds]

@5zeds well that won't be the case forever will it? well we have yet to find a cure for the common cold.

[Hippofrog]

I’ll not being going back to normal, shopping fortnightly, working from home and staying home. My new normal, I’ll take the kids to parks etc but nowhere crowded.

[LilacTree1]

Hermione “ I don’t see how any of the shielded group can go out until there’s treatment or a vaccine though?”

The only shielding I know is desperate to get back to his life. He wasn’t supposed to hit 30, never mind 49, and he doesn’t want to spend in isolation and lose his career.

[user1477391263]

"Forever"?

We'd be Venezuela before too long.

The lockdown will be lifted no matter what. It's just a question of how many deaths we'll have to accept in the process.

[user1477391263]

well we have yet to find a cure for the common cold.

The common cold is not a virus. It's a collective name for a whole group of viruses. We can't develop a vaccine for a whole group of viruses because that is not how vaccines work, and it would not be economically worthwhile to develop a vaccine for one single cold strain.

In veterinary medicine, coronaviruses frequently cause enough mayhem that it is economically worthwhile to develop vaccines for them. The scientists manage to develop such vaccines just fine.

We don't even need a perfect, permanent vaccine. Something that stops the great majority of people from getting the disease in its severe form would be more than enough.