To feel like we are just existing now

[Ghostlyglow]

In a miserable, joyless world of queues and masks. A couple of friends have lost their jobs this week. Where are we going with this?When will it end?

I think a lot of people are very depressed and very angry. .

What has struck me personally is how my emotions are not much different to what they were before all this. The sense of futility and thinking I can't be bothered with anything etc. Then a few days ok, then back to being completely unmotivated and depressed . I don't emotionally generally feel.much different though my life is very different. I am obviously a very depressed person generally

The worst is I have plenty of time to consider all the stupid mistakes and missed opportunities I did over the last two years. It feels now like i was living in a dream then. If I had been a bit less of a wimp and a lazy cow I would be in a much safer position now, instead of potentially soon having to ask my family for money.

It's hard that's for sure. Some days are worse than others. I've just started to be able to go back to work and that helps. I just took a long drive with DD as we had something we needed to do at her old school and then I treated her to drive thru KFC (we live 19 miles from the nearest drive thru so it is a rare thing for us!) and it felt good to do something normal. Exercise helps. Friends help. Decent food helps. But DH and I are both very worried about finances and what the future looks like for this country when recession really kicks in. Lots of things about the current situation sucks but I think it's important to try and stay positive - think what people went through in the war, or are currently going through in other parts of the world. It is what it is, and like anything else in life it's how you respond to it.

@biddybird
“Saved 450,000 lives in the UK according to the BBC yesterday, and several million throughout Europe.“

Scary how many people’s brains don’t seem capable of computing this fact. We had 60,000 deaths from it hitting, at most, 10% of the population.

Hancock said:
“We have now had the results of our antibody surveillance study. This has told us that around 17% of people in London, and around 5% or higher in the rest of the country, have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies”.

The original “plan” was for 60% to get it. There would have been no “normal” without Lockdown (especially given Brits lax social distancing) - just mass death.

My husband and I feel the same. Today we just woke up deflated. Everything has changed and will it ever be the same again? We have a 6 month old son but I can't even find enjoyment in that.

Existing is better than dying

You don’t get to say that applies to everyone.

Time to get everything open as far as possible, 1m distancing and masks as required, and those who don’t want to take their chances with a virus with a less than 1% death rate can stay home. This has gone too far.

Similarly flawed thinking in saying that Italy banning China flights at the beginning of Feb didn’t work, as they still had chaos.... Imagine if they hadn’t cancelled those flights from the 2nd worst hotspot in China, flying directly into Northern Italy for textile trade....

I thought the easing of lockdown restrictions would help, for me they have almost made things worse, now we live in a twilight world of seeing the odd person at a distance, but then not being able to do anything else.

I watched a film, they had live music and I burst into tears. I miss live music so much, people close to me, noise, life, hugs from friends, feeling lighthearted and free. It has all gone for now, and it is dreadful.

But remember the R number people ….. that meaningless number that is just made up so you are constantly told that it is just under the CRITICAL level of 1.

So you must do exactly what you are told to avoid the apocalypse......

When the dust settles on all this shit Johnson and his SAGE buddies should all get Life Sentences at best.

Sadly the truth is that for people saying things haven't been too bad I think you may change your mind when lockdown is lifted.

Once there is no more furlough and people start to lose their jobs unemployment will rise and there will be less tax money to cover the payment of benefits.

Our overstretched NHS will become even more overstretched as the number of people on waiting lists for treatments that have been put on hold during the pandemic increases.

The "new normal" which will include social distancing sounds pretty grim.

I don't think I am being pessimistic but realistic.

Add to this a totally inept government and the increasing divisions in society and I am really fearful for my DD growing up in the "post-pandemic" world.

The original “plan” was for 60% to get it. There would have been no “normal” without Lockdown (especially given Brits lax social distancing) - just mass death.

There's a growing number of researchers saying this is simply not true. The government just went with Neil Ferguson's modelling, which was already proved wrong with swine flu, BSE and several other epidemics.

@Ze1tGeist have you contacted your local mutual aid about this? I run mutual aid for a local group in London and we had a shielder with a broken washing machine. I put a call out for repair help and I had someone offer to buy a second hand one for her within an hour. You may well find someone who would be willing to do the job if you can afford the part.

And Neil Ferguson didn't even believe his own modelling as it transpired.

Thank you for this thread op

Existing is better than dying

"You dont get to say that applies to everyone "

I find that when people disagree with that first statement it's never themselves that they picture dying. They are not offering to make the ultimate sacrifice to let life return to normal, they are just cool with other people dying so they can get back to their normal.

When the dust settles on all this shit Johnson and his SAGE buddies should all get Life Sentences at best.

what would you suggest they had done instead?
Ignore, carry on as "normal" and then deal with the backlash about the death rate?

They can't win anyway. Too strict lockdown (which we didn't have) and too good results: dementors would scream it was for nothing.
Not good enough results: measures were not enough.
Insight will be such a wonderful thing...

It's funny, countries like New Zealand are in a much better position, but no one is pretending their measures had been a waste of time.

porcupine people assess risk differently. In the end we’re all going to die it’s the only thing that’s certain in life. We are all mortal.

The UK’s slow recovery is the fault of the UK government. France - hardly a country which has handled it brilliantly with - but they had around 6/7 weeks of 1000+ daily cases, and then this dropped to the midhundreds . Same even for Italy and Spain (both around 8 weeks).
The UK meanwhile is already on 10/11 weeks. 1500 official recorded today. The incompetence has disallowed any feelingof “getting back to normal”. Terrifying to think this lot are now also in charge of navigating Brexit.

@Homemadeandfromscratch they shouldn’t have cleared the wards of hospitals where covid was already rife into care homes. Regardless of lockdown policy....

@Homemadeandfromscratch
The UK got it all wrong. The numbers speak for themselves. 11 weeks now of 1000+ case. An utter failure, even compared to France, Spain, Italy. Incredible.

And with an approx two week grace period on those above countries. Shocking.

An utter failure, even compared to France, Spain, Italy. Incredible.

this is exactly why I despair that we didn't get a stricter lockdown... but I get abused when I write it.

cam I don't think it is as simple as that. Heathrow is the largest aiport in the world, it is attached to one of the largest, populous world cities in the world by an underground system that is forever packed and boiling hot. The UK was always always going to be a big hitter. Least of all due to the numbers of British people that travel, the millions of visitors to the UK every week and the direct connections of skiing British families travelling to and from very infected regions at half term.

We have to be balanced, our hospitals were never overrun with people dying on the floors/corridors. Everyone that needed one had a ventilator. Care homes would not abandoned by staff and people left to die. In all the countries you listed, and many more that you didn't, this was the reality on the ground. They had a very bad run in hospitals, people did die in the corridors and care homes were abandoned. So lets try to give an accurate assessment if we can.

The R number is a total red herring -yet more pseudo science. How many cases? In London -9 million people 6 deaths yesterday. I agree that we will look back at the remits were were /how were we so easily fooled into this lockdown. Like we look back at those who were conned by Tulipmania /how could they be so gullible?

An utter failure, even compared to France, Spain, Italy. Incredible.

So how much very worse would it have been without lockdown?

And it'll be heading that way again if everyone acts as if things are back to normal.