what will be the new norm

[woofmachine]

I'm thinking that we will see an end to some things we take for granted like cash, handshakes, etc. as well as a rise in others like permanent glove-wearing, and a major fear of germs leading to some people maintaining social distancing outside. What else could change dramatically?

In an ideal world, people would stand up against the state of the NHS pre-pandemic, and actually do something about it.
What will happen is nothing.

People will scream and shout against any tax increase, which WILL happen to cover some of the current outings, people will scream for anyone earning more than they are to pay more tax (whichever their own level, it's always someone earning MORE than should pay, no you)
but will not consider for a minute that it's necessary.

It's going to cost a fortune to go back to the level we were at pre-pandemic, so improving health and education is not going to happen.

Then the next catastrophe will happen, and even more people will die.
And repeat.

as well as a rise in others like permanent glove-wearing

I feel a bit out of the loop because I’ve been at home for about 15 days now trying to shift a cough and wheeze but I didn’t see anyone wearing gloves outside before..? Is this normal now?
In my area of London I only saw one person wearing a face mask too (good, because I understand they aren’t all that helpful and should be left to medical staff) and no plastic gloves. I saw a lot more hand sanitiser everywhere.

From my side, I will no longer be scared of the idea of spending a few days in a row inside with the DC. I ran myself ragged before trying to think of somewhere for us to go every day even if just the playground or a library. Now I have no idea why I had it in my head that every day with DC was easier if you got out and did something.

Phew, thank goodness, I too have suffered from OCD thinking in the past and terrible agoraphobia and I know if I start disinfecting shopping and post it will tip me right back there again, and it's a scary scary place that I don't want to revisit, so my heart goes out to all of you have admitted the same, I have been over thinking it and getting myself in such a tizzy and doubting myself.

Hopefully an awareness that we really do have to look after the planet and Greta is right, so ban SUVs.

I suspect that we'll never go back to straight-forward access to GPs (not that it was that straight-forward anyway) and everything will go via telephone or online triage before you can see anyone.

My mum said she lived through rationing after the war and this is nothing and she can make food stretch. I hope she doesn't have to.

As for companies looking for survival modes, I know of someone who has just been asked to go to 80% of hours (for 80% of pay, not just a pay cut for the same hours).

@GreyHare and anyone else who is struggling with their OCD in the midst of all this, feel free to message me. It's a real struggle to keep strong when others are acting so out of character.

In 5 years hardly anyone will even remember this happened

I wonder if an OCD support thread would help?

I think that people will become more compassionate. All those children spending time playing games , being read to instead of going to childminders they are being as a family and doing things together. Hopefully it'll make families a bit closer

@Pishposhpashy that would be really helpful.

Schools will stay as schools because of the childcare element.

Support thread here

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3866008-OCD-support-thread?watched=1

I expect there'll be some financial political sop for the NHS front line who don't die due to insufficient/expired/inadequate PPE then austerity round 2 for the public sector, some general tax rises and some targetting of IR35/self employed/disguised employment (the Chancellor mentioned last week) and offshore property ownership. Quantitative easing will persist and the austerity measures that helped the wealthy/financial services' elite make financial killing round 2 like many of my wealthy acquaintances did post 2008.

The UK government probably won't want too waste a good crisis so some changes to health care and teaching and other public services will persist to save money.

The housing market will probably have a cold shower for reasons stated elsewhere.

Regarding societal changes, probably little given human nature to ignore/forget/keep calm and carry on and path dependency.

Huge hoo hah for the restarting of Premier League football.

Those with health anxiety/OCD before will probably carry on being anxious distancing, disinfecting and so on. The rest, probably not so much. I expect a few will boycott what they may consider to be the unconscionable actions of whichever corporates they noticed but most will be back to Wetherspoons/Virgin/Ramseys/Wilkos/others as soon as the lockdown ends.

The high street and commercial property will probably struggle more.

What happens to the UK's post-Brexit trade negotiations will be interesting.

Some corporates will probably invest a little time around BCP and look again at lean/offshoring but as changes would involve cost and many corporates will be facing straightened times, they will probably tend to keep to the status quo while making the right noises in CSR statements, like they do for climate change.

Friend & I were chatting ( on line! ) about things like going away on holiday & how people might be more wary of going out of the country after this. Buying British produce might become more the norm, if businesses start doing more from home, child care providers/ dog walkers etc might struggle.
Who knows, just need to get through this & see what happens.

Businesses may indeed hotdesk and prefer smaller premises whilst I think we will see freelance clubs, cafes and rental spaces really take off. High-speed broadband will be considered essential and it's availability will be factored into house and rental prices.

The real question is whether or not the high street survives. I can see us moving towards hubs within easy walking distance or with good public transport. With so many high street giants going bust, it's going to be interesting to see what takes their place.

Schooling, NHS, universities and the care sector are all going to have unexpected outcomes from this virus, but it's too soon to say what that will be.

People no longer blithely wasting perfectly good food, I hope.

Higher taxation, yes. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see charges for visits to GP/A&E, same as plenty of other countries e.g. Sweden, do, though until now any suggestion of it would have produced howls of outrage - and probably still will.

I would like to think we’ll become less dependent on China for so many things, even if it means paying more for them.

And maybe even some children who’ve had to learn to be less hyper-fussy eaters, since the only 3 things they like have often not been available. That might apply to some adults,too.

@AmputatedSoul

Yes, I agree - we will feel more insecure about food supplies and try to keep some in reserve at home.

I think fresh food will be much harder to get. Spain is suffering horrendously and they produce most of our fresh fruit and veg.

@Treaclepie19 I had to take DS to a hospital appointment the week before last.

When we got there we sat in the car until it was almost his appointment time to minimise how long we were in the waiting room. When we went through the clinic was really quiet anyway as most people had cancelled or rearranged. We chose a seat in the waiting room 2m away from other people, if there hadn't been one then we'd have stood. Staff were very visibly cleaning after each patient, lots of bottles of hand gel around, and aside from being unusually empty it was pretty much the same as always. I made sure we washed hands on arrival, after going into the room (hand gel), before we left the building, and then again when we got home. Fourteen days has passed and neither of us is ill so didn't pick anything up.

Will anyone want to go on a cruise?

Thank you @TimeAintNothing. That's really helpful.

I was thinking of just using hand gel and then washing hands when I got home but I'm not sure about using my phone and things.
It's a pregnancy scan.
I've heard people talking about showers and getting changed so its been playing on my mind.

And maybe even some children who’ve had to learn to be less hyper-fussy eaters, since the only 3 things they like have often not been available

Perhaps you need to expand your understanding of "hyper-fussy eaters" who "only eat three things"? Our local autism charity and several of the support groups are doing food parcels and swap schemes to try and get acceptable foods to those of our children who are "hyper-fussy". DS has ARFID and will literally starve rather than eat something not on his list of safe foods.

People will keep essential food etc at home in case and there will be financial implications obviously.
Apart from that absolutely nothing will change 😂

and stop respecting/following the vapid, insipid, useless celebrities. God I hope so but there is still a rash of them popping up transmitting their nonsense from home.
On another note, I was disgusted to see Stephen thinking he could travel 100 miles from Wales to London to visit his father for his birthday. Twat.

*Stephen Kinnock

I think people will holiday abroad far less often (the world is going to start feeling a lot smaller!).

We will therefore see a revival of the UK holiday market.

An upsurge in online dance/fitness classes as we have seen just how easy it is to take part in a class from your living room

I forecast a dip in ecoli, norovirus etc as more folk will wash hands.
More people will have discovered home cooking, batch cooking - and now have freezer room to store it. Many will also have done a bit of growing their own veg too.
Many employers will have discovered their employees can work just as effectively from home, so will reduce their office space to smaller but plusher HQ, and many existing office spaces will convert to blocks of flats.
Several shops will remain shut, there will be less 'cheap' imported clothing shops (as people learn that less is more and have discovered how to darn). Likewise a lot of coffee shops will shut as folk have realised how expensive it is.
People will continue to support their corner shop - these have been the lifeblood of the community, many near me have roped in volunteers and organised deliveries to those on isolation, so less of these will shut.
Some employers will go to the wall - and there will be a return of unemployment for a while, but there will be sectors that will need employees - agriculture, NHS, carers, where often these came from other countries.
I think places to eat out will just go back to normal, but for holidays many people will be frightened to venture too far from home, so UK holidays will boom.
I'd like to think made in Britain will mean more to people and they will support this.
Brexit finalising will be postponed despite Boris's deal or no deal: these are exceptional circumstances.
Car use will decline - less people commuting to work, will encourage smaller cars that use less fuel and in turn increase electric car use too, and greater priority will be given to cycle only lanes being built - not as a sub-part of roads but in their own entirety away from cars. I don't think HS2 will be built but it'd be nice if they could just put it on hold as a cycleway for now (original plans had a cycleway along side now scrapped)
We will all know the names of all of our neighbours not just immediate next door.

Tax rates will increase by 5% at lower levels up to 20% at higher levels. VAT will increase by 3-5%. And anyone thinking they might retire on a pension by the age of 68 will find they've got to work 4 more years (unless sufficient elderly pensioners have pegged it from Covid-19)