Almost 4 years ago, Lockdown started (23 March 2020)

[SparrowSally]

Can't believe it's almost 4 years ago. I feel so uncomfortable looking back at that time, we really had no idea what was to come.

We knew it was bullshit from the start.

Let’s suppose that the government did what many people think they should have done: locked down sooner. If they had done so, acknowledged at once that even a short lockdown would cause massive harm, kept it as short as they could (ie a few weeks, not months on end), dispensed with the fearmongering and infantilism, got the schools open much sooner, and most of all: once it became clear that lockdown was causing much more harm than good, had the guts to say “it is not worth the harm lockdown is causing”, I would actually be respecting the government now. But that ship sailed when they kept on lying and gaslighting and manipulating figures to keep justifying lockdowns. And the real scandal of partygate is that it shows the government knew full well that the virus was nowhere near as dangerous as they were telling us it was. They had access to far more information than we did, and they clearly were not worried about killing granny while they partied (at our expense).

@Ratfinkstinkypink I'm so sorry

I was supposed to administer an exam for my student apprentice on the 22nd. It didn't take place as the school she worked in would not allow me to go in. That was the last day I did my job in the usual way and I now work in a different field altogether. So much changed from that day.

I worked in a school and we had been preparing since 5th March. All the children issued with home learning packs, trained to use Google Classroom and practised on meets. We started with a full register at 8.30am on the first day of lockdown and taught full time every day. Children without a laptop were issued with one. I couldn't believe the DfE didn't help other schools or provide proper guidance.

It's strange to think back to that time and ponder that an earlier lockdown would have prevented so many deaths - and probably meant a shorter lockdown too. So many people I know lost someone or they continue to suffer from Long Covid. We were hugely let down.

Yep It worked so well in China 🙄

I can't see that an earlier lockdown would've been a shorter one, because in 2020 it continued beyond the point when deaths had dropped. Not obvious how locking down earlier would've impacted that. If we'd matched loosening restrictions to lowering rates then maybe.

I had a photo I'd taken of empty supermarket shelves come up on facebook at the weekend. Seems pretty surreal though we weren't affected as much as many as we did jobs that were "essential" for different reasons. Commutes halved in time!

Four years ago today I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Because of the pandemic, I was fortunate to have immediate surgery and that took place on lockdown day. The whole thing remains utterly surreal to me. All my treatment in largely empty hospitals, driving to a distant hospital daily for radiotherapy and seeing barely another car. It feels like a lifetime ago. In many ways I feel fortunate to have had that time with my children, that the weather was good, that I could relax and recover. I realise it was far from pleasant for many, however. It is one of those situations that you almost feel you imagined. Very strange indeed.

I can see how that would be completely surreal.

My mother died during the Covid restrictions. Not of Covid, but after suffering a fall at home, and then a stroke in hospital that left her unable to walk, feed herself, or talk any kind of sense at all.

She had six children and only two of us were allowed to visit, and had to share the half hour allotment. Full ppe had to be worn- she didn't seem to recognise us.

When she lay dying in her room in the care home to which she'd been moved, only one of her children was allowed to see her. My brother drove from Bristol for his half-hour slot at 11.30pm. They told him off for holding her hand, for moving his mask so she could see him for the last time.

I will never forgive those who made it such that an elderly, dying woman was denied the comfort of human touch from her loved ones.

@scalt

"And the real scandal of partygate is that it shows the government knew full well that the virus was nowhere near as dangerous as they were telling us it was. They had access to far more information than we did, and they clearly were not worried about killing granny while they partied (at our expense)."

Exactly.

So either Covid was as dangerous as they were telling us, in which case those that attended various parties didn't care about getting ill, dying or infecting their loved ones or others.

Or it wasn't as dangerous as they were telling us, that they knew this at the time and deliberately didn't tell us.

There is no "oh in hindsight" or it's easy to say now in their decision at the time to attend or not these parties.

I was considered mega rich back in the covid era, I'd bulk bought toilet rolls in Amazon's Black Friday sale and had tons of them even in the March. Traded them for pasta and all sorts, was better than money.

@scalt

The two images that I will forever associate with Covid is 1) the Queen sitting on her own for her husband's funeral and 2) Boris raising a glass at a party.

That's appalling @Shodan no one could possibly have any justification for that. I'm sorry for what you and your family went through.

My office sent everyone home, very suddenly and very abruptly - basically it was "Run! Go! Work from home for 2 weeks! We have to flatten the curve!"

I'm still working from home 4 years later.

Such sad stories.

I was following covid from December and posting on here. I knew by mid December this was going to be very very serious ( Biology degree so im always low level scanning the science news).

My eldest was due to sit his gcses. My youngest had just started reception. All if my kids was called back into school as soon as it opened for vulnerable kids except the eldest. So weird that everything he had ever worked for was binned off like that (ds has a disability social worker so all vulnerable due to his disability high needs). My daughter went from doing great in reception to falling apart which led her being diagnosed with ASD, getting her ehcp and within the past few months facing expulsion.

A bit like sliding doors isn't it? What would life looked like now if it never happened? My eldest and second eldest did OK but the eldest missed out on lot of normal teen stuff. My severely disabled son regressed alarmingly in weeks of being out of routine. A version / part of my daughter was lost forever.

If think too much I would cry. But we was together. Dh was home for a short period. The sun was out. dh baked his first ever cake for my birthday at the beginning of April.

I think I'm just glad that no one I knew died in that period of time. We didn't fo well yet we Lucker than some

Since then I’ve lost a dad a best friend, gained a friend and a husband

Four years ago today I "rescued" DD from university.

Another thing is that because I had four kids we need A LOT of food. I was scared to do shopping as people was posting others shopping on SM. Calling everyone panic buyers, selfish arseholes, threats of violence. Luckily I got click and collect slots at Tesco or in those first few months when people was baying for blood, I'd rather have starved than buy enough food for all 6 of us. I remember driving to the supermarket, having my first ever panic attack and couldn't get out of the car. That was scary.

I remember them saying the initial lockdown could be around three weeks and thinking that was an awfully long time to be working from home. Four years later, I'm still doing it.

I'm so sorry.

My now 15 year old DS told me he finds the anniversary sad because it was essentially it was his last day at primary school and all he missed was- leavers party, P7 residential, organised transition to high school.

He never saw some of his teachers again.

I still remember your FB announcement about it. So happy to see your journey and recovery xx

This is what is so terrifying: the way they gaslighted the public into “accepting” lockdown so for much longer than three weeks, and that there was not a shred of resistance. The boiling frog analogy. I had my own ways of resisting, which I told nobody about at the time, because I didn’t know which side they were on. As far as I’m concerned, we should have been resisting by May, and openly defying by June. And when there was talk of cats spreading the virus, I genuinely feared for my cats being killed by vigilantes. And now we know the government discussed killing everybody’s cats. Remember also how the governments of England, Scotland and Wales practically competed to inflict as much misery as they could, for political point scoring? It was all so mad.