To think life will be pretty much normal by early 2021?

[itsaweddingone]

I hope we are! A colleague said today (he has no extra knowledge or info) that he can't see us being back in the office before 2021.

Do you think Covid will be mostly behind us by then or we will still be living with restrictions?

Not a chance.

Without a vaccine, no chance of near normality. Social distancing will be the norm indefinitely.

People won’t comply with this pish indefinitely. There will come a point people won’t give 2 fucks about so called “protecting the NHS”.

@BanKittenHeels

What do you know that the rest of the world don't? Surely being so negative is misery.

People won't comply with too much social distancing by then.

Nothing will be exactly the same again, even if we have a vaccine as you really don't want COVID - 19 if you can avoid it. Restaurants that had 30 covers before will now have 15. Theatres seating 1000 will seat 500. Pubs will have a limited number of customers blah blah blah. However we can't carry on like this so we will be doing the best we can. And the R rate will be a very important number. The moment it goes over 1 is the moment more strict rules come back in.

@SudokuBook

Agreed.

We can't just hide waiting for a vaccine that might never come.

I was hoping for Sep/Oct for small events etc. I don't know specifically why but maybe because they are gradually easing restrictions now. In reality no one really knows.

If theatres/small venues cant open till 2021 there will be none left by then unfortunately which is extremely sad.

I have a holiday booked in October and I am guessing it won't go ahead, I am gutted as it is a one off and we won't be able to do it again if its cancelled. First world problem I know.

Exactly @itsaweddingone and sadly this does mean lots of people more will die, but as long as it doesn’t overwhelm the NHS it is sadly just the consequence of a deadly virus being around. People all over the world live with the fear of being struck down by horrible infectious illnesses, I don’t know why people here think we should somehow be exempt from this or that it’s a good enough reason to screw our whole country for years.

Wouldn't give up on an Oct holiday just yet. But stay short haul or your own country. Personally still have a flight to Rome July 20

I hope that we'll be reasonably back to normal by October 2020.
Friends are getting married then and had sent their official invitations out a couple of weeks ago. I have RSVP'd my acceptance of the invite. I've ordered online some wedding outfit items for me in readiness.

The virus won't go away. Viruses come and go and each generally becomes less of an issue over time.

The massive over-reaction to this one resulted from the zero preparation by the Government / NHS.

As someone with a few history degrees under their belt, I'm 100% sure the deep-seated human desire to socialise and celebrate and share & create culture will triumph as it always does, not to mention our yearning for love and sex (I can't see millions of younger singles embracing years of celibacy). Strict social distancing is too much a suspension of our innate 'humaness' to endure, especially when the risk is very very low for much of the population.

@Tomasinabombadil

Fingers crossed for you and them! Something to look forward to.

Totally agree @SomewhereEast

Also totally agree!

Even without the history degrees......

We've been told we're likely to be working from home for another 6 months.

I agree with helpful further up at the beginning of the thread who said it wont be 100% 'normal' and back to what we had but lots of things will have returned and we'll have a new normal as such. Humans are very adaptable.

Regarding the comment re Restaurants having 15 covers rather than 30.
The problem with that is that prices will need to (near) double accepting that you can save a little overhead serving fewer people. Simple economics. And I doubt whether 50% of regular customers will be able or willing to pay the significantly higher cost for the same meal.
And for many restaurants the number of covers reducing means that they just won't be able to make a go of it. They will close.
2 million unemployed today - it will be a LOT MORE when they announce the figures next month.

As far as WFH is concerned I reckon most companies will ditch it when they see how productivity (usually) falls.

Productivity goes up in EVERY study about working from home

Honestly people are brilliant at it

I would be so happy to pay double right now to go out to a restaurant and to get vaguely pissed while eating food

As I think most people would

Possibly. I think this winter when flu season hits the figures will rise again and we'll be in proper Lockdown. So early next year seems optimistic

we'll be in proper Lockdown

We won't, because so many of us will refuse to go along with it. There would be civil unrest.

Not meaning to bang on about restaurant covers lol but I think any owner would be happier to reconfigure their business model in order to stay open and stay in business, not necessarily pushing up prices. What's the alternative? Everybody going bust? I do think the Wagamama "canteen" style has gone forever though

Things which we previously didn’t consider normal will be.

People will spend more time with their families,will exercise more,working from home will become more of an option.

People will go out but many will go out less because of the money they’ve saved while in lockdown and the realisation that they don’t need so many of these things.

But people will still go out,will go back to restaurants and pubs,people will hopefully be more considerate of others as they expect others to be more considerate of them.

I think that’s a new normal we should all embrace.

Am sick to the back teeth of all these doomsayers who are almost gleefully predicting that life will never be the same again/that we will have a second wave and millions will die/that we will be in lockdown for the foreseeable.

Seriously it must be fucking exhausting having to live with that much negativity.