Will things go back to normal faster than anticipated?

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I personally believe there will come a point, sooner rather than later, where people will want their normal back. I guess as we are seeing that already with how busy places are.

My mum believes the opposite, that the effects of this on the public will hang around for months. She believes queuing outside shops will be the norm now as will face masks and gloves.

What’s your opinion?

I think we’re all going to be surprised at the speed at which things return to normal. The Oxford study has already said it it struggling to find enough people testing positive to trial on and London infection rates are dropping extremely rapidly (let’s not forget London was estimated to be approx. 2 weeks ahead of the rest of the UK). I’m going to guess that like SARS, CV will have burnt itself out by autumn.

People who think things will go back to the old way are fooling themselves and nobody else.Universities will be online only if they follow Cambridge's example. Class size halved and part time education for all.

Social distancing in pubs and restaurants. Theatres and cinemas still closed for the foreseeable future. The list is endless.

The vulnerable need to be protected from the selfish actions of the few.

And yet there’s not enough virus left in the uk to actively test a vaccine. Time to get back to normal.

I honestly think most people have fucked the whole lockdown thing off entirely now anyway. My DH has been doing the weekly food shop because I’m heavily pregnant so he’s the one with the experience inside supermarkets.

To begin with he said everyone kept their distance, many wore masks and gloves, everybody respected other people’s space and waited for them etc. Now he said it’s like covid never happened, lots of people are just popping in for a couple of items and rushing around everyone else, not maintaining distance and not really arsed about queuing 2m apart either. I drove to a medical appointment last week and saw large groups of teenagers in a park.

Ever since he eased the rules a fortnight ago people have stopped caring.

I think it will go back to normal quickly. I hope people continue to wash their hands more and places are cleaned more frequently and companies are more sensible about sick leave. Its made me realise how much worse we make flu season on ourselves.

@DomDoesWotHeWants so you don’t view children missing out on their education as vulnerable? How about abused children being locked up with their abusers day after day with no one to notice or care? What about University students who can’t learn online - the future doctors, nurses and scientists to name a few?
Funny you calling out the selfish few...

'
mrsjg

All because of one stupid man.'

If people decide to ignore the rules to reduce the spread of Covid based on one man's actions surely they would be the stupid ones?

I’m very suspicious of this “Cummings” story & think it’s a set up to get the country out of lockdown.

MSM have been fed a line & the public attitudes is now, what’s the point

Nope, it's going to be a very long time, and I'm just resigned to that. It will change by increments - the next really meaningful change might be all kids perhaps going back in September.

I don't think anyone who can work from home and needs public transport to commute into central London from suburbs/outside London (like me) is going into the office again in 2020. That's a pretty big change!

I think a couple of years down the line we'll gradually realise the last restrictions had faded away without us really noticing that they had

People who think things will go back to the old way are fooling themselves and nobody else.Universities will be online only if they follow Cambridge's example. Class size halved and part time education for all.

Universities are indeed all planning for such an eventuality, but because it looked very likely that this would still be law by September. I'm not so sure now, and universities won't do it for the sake of it. There would be parties in university senior management team meetings up and down the country if it became clear that social distancing won't be required by the autumn.

The old normal was crap, why don't you want a better normal?

"I want my old normal back" is the refrain of a frightened, grieving person. It's gone though. Focus on how we want things to be in our new world.

I hope people continue to wash their hands more and places are cleaned more frequently and companies are more sensible about sick leave. Its made me realise how much worse we make flu season on ourselves.

Living with the virus in circulation doesn't mean we bin off vulnerable people to have no life while we selfishly and needlessly spread it around - it means adopting new normals.

Like this example above - historically we have had a culture of people almost finding it funny to pass infections to others even though it was completely avoidable. That has to change. I do not accept anyone returning to that norm.

CloudsCanLookLikeSheep

Thanks to Mr D Cummings Esquire we can now all do what the fuck we want“

So, mission accomplished. When there is another peak, the Government will lay the blame squarely at the public for failing to abide by the restrictions.

What I want is for my vulnerable loved ones to survive and come safely out the other side of this. So we shall be keeping to ourselves, social distancing, washing hands and avoiding busy places as far as possible within the confines of doing what we have to.

Anyone who decides to change their behaviour out of anger because one entitled idiot was irresponsible may well be cutting off their nose to spite their face.

I miss my elderly parents as much as anyone but they aren’t suddenly out of danger because Dominic Cummings has a messiah complex.

My normal is not what is available to do (gigs or holidays or shops) rather the freedom to choose for myself what I do, when and in what manner.

I don’t want to be told I can see 2 people on the grassy mound for 25 minutes on a Tuesday and I must say 200cm apart.

I want to phone up my friend and say see you for a walk later are the kids bringing scooters, do you want to say to Louise and Jenny too?

I noticed SCS the sofa shop was open yesterday, am i missing the bit where the government said they could reopen??!!
Lockdown is really over, all shops will be open from June 1st and i expect they will 'allow' family gatherings from this coming weekend.

I think cinemas will be open in July as has been previously mentioned. You can limit numbers and they make their money on the refreshments. Not so sure about theatres given how much a full vs half full performance makes in ticket sales - it may not be viable.

I just want them to open National Trusts for now! It seems like a good idea for an outdoor day out. We've also moved an Alton Towers break from June to September and I did think that wouldn't go ahead - not so sure now.

@DomDoesWotHeWants if you think the future of universities is online learning only and that businesses can survive with true social distancing in place then your version of the world would be out of business by October and we will all be living in dens fashioned from twigs and considering the pet dog a viable option for dinner.

I think that falling infection rates, and the lack of a second peak in the countries who are a few weeks ahead of us, means that things are likely to return to normal more quickly than I would have predicted a few weeks ago.

hammeringinmyhead - our local theatre doesnt make a profit when full. It recieves a subsidy from the local authority as its one of the few producing theatres (many just host tours)

Watched repeat of a documentary about the 1918/19 flu pandemic last night. Different virus, obviously, but the second peak, with a more lethal, mutated strain, came many months after the first. We really can’t relax about this yet.

The supposed continued lockdown in Scotland is a joke. Many people are now ignoring it for mental health reasons,among others. At breaking point yesterday, I drove to the beach. I saw one family about quarter of a mile away, and a tiny wee dot that might have been a person in the far distance. I was no risk to anyone and at less risk than I am in the local supermarket. I think people have to start making their own decisions now while maintaining social distancing precautions. I have hand sanitizer and masks in my car at all times. Enough is enough.

I think we’ve learnt and experienced a lot now that will help in keeping figures down. Hand washing, distancing, trying not to touch things, Perspex screens etc. I’m guessing that might go in for a while.

Some of the other stuff...schools closed, people wearing masks outside, it all seems very OTT now.

Personally I just want to be able to go into a shop without queuing by the time autumn comes. I find it quite depressing now, I don’t want to be doing it in cold weather. Plus the science behind the 2 metre rule isn’t that clear.

I find the officious staff really annoying. I was shouted at in Boots last week for turning a shampoo product around to see what the ingredients were (I have an allergy so I needed to check). Apparently you are only supposed to touch what you intend to buy. Despite this, they are still selling sunglasses and reading glasses. Presumably without trying them on. There are no testers, so you can’t check whether a foundation matches your skin, and you can’t even pick it up to compare. So utterly illogical a position to take, and I don’t appreciate being shouted at. If they’d just sanitise people’s hands on the way in, it would help.

Chillipeanuts but even if that is the case (which I agree with you could happen) we can't stay locked down for many months just in case. We will have to come out of lockdown (and possibly restart it if necessary).

@Grasspigeons Yes, that's the case here too. The govt (and people speaking in general) are lumping cinemas and theatres into the same sentence re: lockdown because you sit down and watch something, but I think theatres will be long behind cinemas if they are only allowed partial seating.

@Bluntness100 I totally agree with you. This is going to play totally into the government's hands, it's exactly what they want. I never rated BJ but I actively detest him and what he stands for now.

You can try on reading and sunglasses but they have to be wiped by a staff member before they are put back out. Make up testers are disgusting at the best of times, i wouldn't pick now to try out a new brand or shade of foundation.