To think that this surely will get better.

[Theneverendingcleaningcycle]

I've been trying to be optimistic about the cornovirus situation. In my head September will be better... by september it will be nearly over... but now having listened to plans over what schools will look like in September (Wales) I'm having a serious wobble.
I have alot of friends who are now saying they won't be sending their kids back to school in September. Another who says that they're preparing to live in lockdown for the next year AT LEAST!
So mumsnetters have I been living in cloud cuckoo land? Is THIS the new normal?
What do you think?
Yabu - it will get better
Yanbu - suck it up buttercup this is the new world

It will get better. It already is, very slowly. People won't accept this for a year.

Death rates and infections ARE going down in the UK.

Also in Wales. It is getting better, very slowly, but it is getting better! Keep focusing on the positives! I have a child with special needs who attends a special school, some parents are saying they are keeping their children home until the virus has gone - I will be sending mine back once I feel confident that the number of cases in my area is stable and the track and trace system is working well.

It's hard, and I don't think the MSM are helping with all the worst case scenario sensationalist stories they churn out daily.

I've long thought we should be given the recovered numbers with the new cases and deaths, I think it would help keep things in perspective.

The thing that used to scare me was the daily death numbers. They do appear to go up and down like a rollercoaster where other places just slowly dropped an dropped.
What helped me was hearing that the numbers announced are never specifically for that 24 hour period. Some can be from over a month ago as the nature of registering deaths in the UK is pretty archaic when it comes to having to find someone to register, make an appointment and then physically fill all the forms out. It's been harder in places to even get an appointment and of course not everyone has family to register their death. It's why Tuesdays there is always a spike in numbers whereas Sundays and Mondays are pretty low.

When you see it a few weeks later the levels have shifted and it's true that slowly, numbers of deaths are falling. Numbers of new cases requiring hospital admission are too which in the longer term should mean less deaths.

I think it's better to have a slow burn rather than a sudden stop as to me that would mean people are either ignoring symptoms or don't know they have them which could cause a second wave. I don't buy that we will have a second wave, obviously we can't be sure.

I really do hope the children can go back even part time in September, it's having a really detrimental effect on both mine, my DD especially and we have all as a family started to get on each others tits at this point!

Try and be positive

It will get better. Drs are understanding more about the virus so are looking at other ways to treat people. If we still keep social distancing to some extent, numbers will stay low.
There’s a vaccination that’s being trialed.
I’m hopeful.

It is getting better and will continue to do so allbeit more slowly in countries like the UK which have handled the situation appallingly.
Look at Italy. Look at Italy 3 months ago.
This weekend the resorts all opened and foreign tourists were interviewed on the news. Although mask wearing is compulsory in spaces where you come into contact with people, everything else is almost back to normal.
I was not one of the relentlessly optimistic (and frankly batshit) Covid deniers who were plopping in and out of MN a month or so ago telling everyone it was like a bad cold and the govt were right- completely the opposite.
I now feel that where I am- we made it. We did what we had to do- lockdown, SD etc. And now we are (in my region) almost totally Covid free.

It will get better it already is. I live in Ireland and today for the first time in months I can travel further then my 5km radius up to 20km now!! Shops are starting to reopen, playgrounds and so on but it is going very slowly which i think is the right approach. Out schools won't reopen until September. I will be sending mine when they do because they need to be back for their mental wellbeing. But, despite all I have said. It won't be like it was before covid. We will be social distancing for a longtime yet but we will get used to it and it will be become our "new normal". The way I look at it society have done their bit they locked down, they closed businesses, life went on hold. The curve has flattened our health service coped. It is now up to our governments to test and contact trace effectively so the virus doesn't get out of control again and is isolated quickly so it doesn't spread

New Zealand has eradicated it. Guess it takes a woman in power to do that!!!!

@AlwaysCheddar

New Zealand has eradicated it. Guess it takes a woman in power to do that!!!!

Now there's a lady who needs a statue

I hear Bristol has a space...

You're all right. Thank you for not letting me spiral off into despair.

I did think back in March we would be going on our family holiday (for 11 of us) at end of June and now the holiday company has cancelled it.

We had a morning without water to drink last week and now cannot have showers - I think low water pressure in the area must have damaged my system and I bet that costs a lot to put right so I will leave it a few days... not helped by the house being quite full.

You just have to make the best of things in life and for those of us lucky enough to have work get on with working to support our families.

@Theneverendingcleaningcycleits easy to panic, my anxiety was through the roof at the beginning of April, all I kept thinking was what if stuff.
But someone online gave me advice to switch off the media, don't watch the live updates every day, and try and do some wellbeing exercise. I've also chosen to use the time I would never normally have to sort my house and garden, I've had huge clear outs, I've painted walls, I've pulled up carpets I hated and started sanding original floorboards (which made me feel really grounded. My house is really old so it made me think of all the people and their issues that these floorboards have seen, and they're still here, holding us up). My garden is now lovely, I've got a whole veg and herb and fruit garden and some beautiful flowers too, along with some little lights and flamingos (you can't see a flamingo and not smile). I've had time to sit and read and cook.
I still have down days of course but for the most part I fill my time with worthwhile pursuits that will last far longer then the virus will.

Can I please thank you for this. I have been desperate since the beginning and I have avoided the news as much as I can, but it’s impossible to stay away from the negativity and some folk seem to take pleasure in voicing the worst case scenario all the time.

I really need people to tell me it will improve/ is doing so and give me hope that I will be able to see my family again, that I will be able to go out to shops again, that there will be a more normal life at some point. I know it won’t be immediate, but I need to have some hope. So thank you.

@Foxyloxy1plus1 well here's good news- 2nd day in a row no deaths in N. Ireland or Scotland. And the lowest here (minus lag/catch up of course) since long before lockdown

We will get there.
I think there will be changed in place for quite some time, I'm quite used to being more cautious of going out to shop if I don't need to, I'm used to not having take away, I'm used to shopping my own wardrobe. In our village as the second hand stores are shut we've been placing some lovely things out for others on their daily walks, we have got some lovely things like a posh pod coffee machine and plants and plant pots, and likewise have been sorted out books and CDs and bits and bobs we no longer like. Our local village pub made a point of depositing crisps, sweets, fizzy drinks and the odd bottle of wine on Doorsteps as he would've had to chuck it anyway which has been really well received with us all missing our pub, and when he gave a shout to anyone who may have spare plants to make the beer garden look nice again for when he can open, as he's really been hit hard, he opened the door to a huge amount we all dropped off!

It's the caring in the neighborhood that I would miss if it went. No one is in such a hurry.

I went to give blood today. It's the first Tim's someone's touched me that I dont live with in months. Was crazy.
I'm feeling more grounded thank you. I don't watch the news much bit I have been reading lots into viruses etc.
My main problem is some of my mum friends who are very smart and sensible have completely given up trying to be positive. They're not sending their kids back to school. Won't entertain the idea of a walk with anyone outside their houses etc.
I don't need people to make me feel happier or safer normally. But trying to look at the positives when I'm getting the doom from all sides is exhausting. God forbid I try and say somthing positive..
Thank you all for giving me some perspective.

Another who says that they're preparing to live in lockdown for the next year AT LEAST!

I know people (not on the shielding list) who point blank won't go anywhere, other than occasional essential shopping trips, until they've had the mythical vaccine.

Think it's already getting better?

I've met my mum now and a couple of close friends for distance walks.

Dh and I ate kfc in the green park near our house.

I took a bus to go rockpooling.

Obviously it's all still really messed up and I miss hugs, close contact. Ds really misses school and his friends. It's not yet ok by a long stretch.

But it's getting better. It will keep on getting better (I hope!!!)

covid19.healthdata.org/united-kingdom

Here's the predictions for the uk

Thanks for that @JimMaxwellantheshippingforcast
@hotstepper4 we did the same with KFC the other day! We took our kids and met with a friend and his son as a surprise and we ordered it to the park. They were very impressive

Things are getting better already. There will always be people who peddle the most pessimistic view and now that there are improvements they are scrabbling around looking for the way to project doom and gloom. Don't forget that the lockdown lifestyle actually suits some people, but not when they are in the minority, so they may well have a vested interest in trying to get everyone else to do it with them. Stay off social media, listen to the facts and form your own outlook.

@JimMaxwellantheshippingforcast Thank you for that link, interesting to see and as a shielded person very reassuring that we might get our lives back! There’s a strong fear we’ll be isolated until a vaccine is found.

It does feel sometimes that the whole internet is full of gloom and belief things won’t change so this thread is great.

Things are improving gradually simply because of the social distancing - the virus has not gone away so once the SD is relaxed to a certain point then there will be more cases unfortunately; and those in a vulnerable category really will have to wait for the vaccine.

It is a delicate balancing act - if only the government had acted properly in the beginning, we would not be in this situation.

Assuming that having the virus confers immunity for a reasonable length of time, then eventually the virus will run out of hosts. But I do think that will be a slow process, with further peak or peaks to come.

People won’t have an appetite to live this way forever, OP. Even for another year. It isn’t sustainable. We had a high incidence of adherence to lockdown at the start. Now, not so much. I’ve always stuck to the guidance but I’m starting to get seriously fucked off with it all now and we are lucky in that DS is back in private nursery and we are both WFH!!

This can not carry on. The effects would be far, far more devastating than the disease.

@mischance, this is what I’m talking about. What qualifications do you have to condemn the shielded to isolation for potentially years? If a vaccination is found, if not what should 2.2 million of us do?

It can’t carry on for a year - employers have been reasonable with parents juggling child care and working but at some point they will say “we just need you to work”.

I can’t understand why of all things schools have remained closed when children are the most affected by being at home but the least affected by the virus.

In Australia (where I live) schools have been open for a month and we have not had any more cases than we expected, and only two or three amongst every school child back at school (which is pretty much all of them). And we aren’t social distancing at school either!

I wasnt someone who thought we'd have a quick 3 week lockdown. But I dont think this will go on for another year

Think how much better things already are than a few weeks ago. We can meet up with family and friends (albeit at a distance). We can leave our town, we can go out for the day. Round me a few cafes/restaurants have opened for takeaways. Schools are starting to go back.

It just takes time. We need to do it slowly so that we can see what measures work and dont, and so that we dont just create a second wave and go back in. We can then take small steps forward and back rather than big ones.