AIBU to think this can't go on for a whole year??

[cola2019]

AIBU in thinking that this cannot go on for a year?? My husband seems to think that until there is a vaccine available life cannot go back to normal. I can't envisage not seeing my parents for a year (my dad has cancer so is currently in the sheilding group). He keeps telling me that I need to face up to the fact that we can't see our parents until they have been vaccinated. No shops, no bars, no events, no schools. Surely economically life will have to resume slowly we can't wait till 2021 surely. But as soon as lockdown is lifted and people start mixing then it will spike again.

The economy needs to take priority.

I very much doubt it will be lke this for an entire year. I also doubt we'll go back to complete normality within a year.

I don't think we will live with this degree of restriction for the year but I do think distancing measure will remain in some form or another till a vaccine. If your parents are extremely vulnerable and shielding then I think that it may well be a long time till you can see them face to face but otherwise it will be much sooner.

They have already said social distancing will need to be in place until at least Christmas. I can't see my parents either and am shielded, but I see it as better that than potentially condeming them to a horrible death. It really sucks but there isn't much choice.

Social distancing will be maintained and in imagine we will have further periods of lockdown throughout the year as cases rise again

@BarbedBloom who said that? have you got a link for that please as I haven’t seen anything that mentions social distancing until Christmas?

This will not be able to go on for a year it’s just not possible @cola2019. Places are starting to put new measures in place so that businesses can re open etc. So a gradual process of seeing others even at a distance will also start to happen. There is no way I would not see my grandparents until there was a vaccine available as it would do them more harm not seeing us for a year or more. I am hopeful that I will be able to at least be in the same room as them again soon just to sit and have a chat face to face (at a distance) not seeing them is making them very unwell, my nan (has Alzheimer’s) is very distressed over it all
And making her worse.

Whilst I don’t want this to go for a whole year I’m psyching myself up for it.
My DP is vulnerable (not shielding) and he’s said he happy to wfh for the foreseeable. My youngest is in YrR - how do get 4-5 yr olds to keep two metres apart (even the gov scientist had trouble answering that one at today’s press briefing).
But I am very worried about the economy, wander how many people will die as a result of poverty.

@ilovedjerrymore

Social distancing until the end of the year was mentioned in one of the gov briefings earlier this week by (I think) Chris Whitty.

Your husband is a bit extreme in his views. Restrictions will slowly be lifted from May onwards I'd expect and id expect schools to reopen from June. But there is likely to be some element of social distancing until the end of year yes.

My workplace are hoping we are all happy to work from home so they dont have to reopen the office and save lots of $$$$$

This might not be much help but I've seen a story about a man in the US who visited his dad in a care home. They both sat in chairs but had a window between them (the son was outside and the father inside) and they spoke on their phones to each other. I know it's not the same but is that something you could try and do ?

I think I would actually have a breakdown if this carries on for a year

I've already had to rearrange our wedding once (to early 2021) that would mean rearranging it again and I'm not sure I could go through the stress of it (and the emotion) a third time 😫

Worth also bearing in mind that I believe they've never yet managed to create an effective vaccine against any kind of coronavirus. If so, where does that leave us? Fuck knows!

No, it won't. The point of the lockdown is that it's a short term extreme policy to stop the disease peaking at a rate that will overwhelm the NHS. Nobody could go on like this for much longer. There will be some measures but it won't be full lockdown.

Have a look at the "Some people enjoy patronising and depressing others" thread, it might help.

We were talking about this at work today. All office based employees have been told to expect to work from home until there is a vaccine. I think the restrictions will be eased, but I really can't see life going back to normal for a very long time. Social distancing will be in place for the foreseeable future.

If social distancing measures continue until the end of the year how will schools be able to open? It would be impossible.

I believe they've never yet managed to create an effective vaccine against any kind of coronavirus.

They have! For chickens I think it's chickens anyway, it's a veterinary one. There haven't been coronavirus vaccines for humans because most coronaviruses that have affected humans until SARS/MERS/this are really mild so it wasn't worth developing a vaccine, and then SARS and MERS were stopped fast so there wasn't much investment in vaccine delivery. The team at Oxford working on a Covid-19 vaccine could go as fast as they have because they were previously working on a MERS vaccine though.

There are loads of viruses that don't have vaccines because vaccine development is hard and (usually) long and costs a lot and isn't that profitable, and it's just not worth it to develop a vaccine that would protect against 12% of colds or whatever.

It can’t possibly go on for a year as suicides, murders and preventable deaths will go through the roof.

People are not seeing the woods for the trees here.

Your husband is being dramatic, I don't expect things like big festivals to happen this year but we won't be in our current state for that long. The government has always known there are limits on how long people will comply/how long they can sustain the economy/how long people can go without seeing others. Just take each day as it comes

Getting back to any semblance of normality and keeping social distancing is a pipe dream. Don’t care what anyone says. If they want to keep shielding some people that’s a different thing altogether.

I hope not.
I work in hospitality and I really want to go back to work now, or as soon as possible.
Im sure the company or the government are not going to pay me and hundreds of thousands of others who work in the industry to sit at home.
Im hoping we will reopen end of june with social distancing, extra cleaning, tempurature checks, testing and tracing.
The numbers of cases in the community should be low enough by then to make it safe.

It's not all or nothing. There will be changes to ease the restrictions, and then probably there will be more phases of tighter restrictions again. For those who are most vulnerable, it will probably be advised they continue to isolate for much longer.

I personally wouldn't say a year. We were supposed to be getting married this coming sunday...re booked for September 25th but cant see that happening either haha. However I think restrictions may slightly ease to a point where we can see members of family and friends but maybe in very small numbers. Problem is, the unknown is the worst part, and i honestly believe people are eventually going to rebel anyway xx

Yes the shielded group will have to avoid others for a long while. Unless you did is terminally ill, surely you want him to recover and have amny more years?

No it won't but the most vulnerable will need to shield whereas the rest of us are likely to get it