Does it feel like this in other European countries? (COVID)

[OrrAppleCheeks]

Just that really - feels like things are out of control and the government has no strategy and no skill. Endless u-turns in education, veering between tiers/lockdowns, health services struggling to cope, wondering whether the vaccine will manage to roll itself out, people chanting outside hospitals...

Is this just England/my view of what it’s like here? Or do other countries in Europe feel equally edgy? (And I know we’ve left the EU, just can’t think how else to phrase it). I think what I’m asking is this - does it feel like this because of our government/something particular about England or is this what it’s like for other countries?

Didn’t turn off voting - please ignore!

British but live in Portugal. The uk seems very frightening at the moment and out of control all of a sudden compared to here. However, our numbers also increasing quickly and I’m worried now

I'm in Spain. It's not as bad here as in the UK but there has been a jump in cases and all my friends have cancelled stuff and are scaling down. We're seeing some friends outside tomorrow, but other than that are not making any plans. It feels a bit tense but not out of control.

I’m in Italy. You can draw a lot of comparisons with the UK.
Similar size, population, NHS, death toll, victim age and until recently infection rates.
But we’ve been doing it for about 4 months longer.

There is lockdown fatigue but people are following mask rules and social distancing.
The government has made sweeping rules recently. Nationwide Christmas lockdown until 7/1 except next Tuesday, 10pm-5am curfew, two visitors max and no traveling outside your region. You need to carry a declaration if you set foot out of your home and you can be stopped and challenged or fined if your journey isn’t necessary. Massive testing numbers and vaccinations rolling out to hospital workers now and the vulnerable/over 80s soon.

I’ve had to think again about Italian vs British attitudes to rule bending. I always thought the British had a slightly subservient attitude to rules made “from above” and that Italians each considered themselves an exception to the rules. Maybe Boris and Co are such a blatant set of rule breakers and opportunists that nobody trusts the rules they dish out any more.
Italy has a strong regional identity. The region governs schools, hospitals and police . People identify with their region and see that, like London, Veneto is struggling with a super-spreader strain of Covid while the neighboring regions are not.
I’m personally in one of the regions with the lowest incidence of COVID, but rates are rising now, as expected. We were like a tinderbox waiting to ignite. A bit like New Zealand could be.

On the news we see empty London streets and Boris getting Brexit in the back door while the nation is being hypnotized by the COVID pendulum.
Or maybe that’s just my point of view!

feels like things are out of control and the government has no strategy and no skill.
That's how YOU feel, I don't feel like that and I'm sure lots of other people feel like you and lots don't.

I'm in Ireland. My perception is that people are feeling fatigue, frustration and a little worry. But the restrictions are well communicated and understood.
We just started the third level 5 lockdown yesterday but I think most people feel that this will be the last one and that things will improve as the year progresses and more people are vaccinated.

Please move this to the Coronavirus topic.

My daughter is in Germany

Very strict but residents have respect for the guidelines anyway.

Db and some of my friends are in Belgium, where the rules have been loosened and then tightened again.

This is a list of one set of current rules (it may be different for the different regions)

Wearing a mask (that covers both your nose and mouth) is obligatory throughout the Brussels-Capital Region, in both indoor and outdoor public spaces.
Gatherings in public are limited to a maximum of 4 people. At home, each member of the household has the right to contact without social distancing (one close visit is therefore allowed, and a second person is allowed for persons living alone, but not at the same time as the first person)
A curfew is in place between 22:00 and 6:00. It is forbidden to be out between these hours (except for essential and non-deferrable journeys).
We would like to remind you that these measures are in addition to the 6 golden rules:

• Respect the health and safety measures;
• Outdoor activities are preferred to indoor ones;
• Pay special attention to vulnerable people;
• Respect 1m50 social distancing;
• Limit close contact with others;
• Follow the rules on gatherings.

Other rules are no more than half an hour in a shop, and only one person can do the food shopping. At one point, if you were found not using your local supermarket (and the police were checking ID cards), then you were sent home to shop locally. You had to justify why you were out.

@Davros

feels like things are out of control and the government has no strategy and no skill. That's how YOU feel, I don't feel like that and I'm sure lots of other people feel like you and lots don't.

I agree. I don't feel like that either. Reading Mumsnet is terrifying but real life is going on, albeit in a constrained way here

British, I don't live in Portugal but I've been here since March, I saw what was coming and fled to our holiday home, I've been here ever since, I really didn't think I'd be here as long as this. I have no intention of returning to the U.K. I consider myself to be extremely lucky to have this option.
There has been a jump in positive cases here lately. I'm in the south and most of the infections are much further North.
The U.K. looks to be completely out of control now. I'm staying put for the foreseeable future.

Also in Ireland and while we're all fed up of restrictions/lockdown, going by my circle , there's a general feeling that it's a necessity and it's the only way forward, if there any hope of keeping it vaguely manageable

The difference that strikes me, between here and mumsnet, is that I get the impression that its looked at more, as being optional in the UK, rather than necessary

British in the Netherlands.
I don't understand why the education system in the UK is in such a mess.
This has been going in for months.That's plenty of time to have put together work packs, email accounts, online working, Teams lessons etc for pupils who can study at home. And to offer school places to those children whose parents don't have computer access.
It's not ideal but it's still better than the nothing that the UK pupils seem to be getting.

*that's plenty of time.

My sister lives mostly in France. They have had to have a signed form every time went out, could only be out for an hour and no more than 1 km from home unless it was for food or an emergency. Far stricter than in the UK.

Our government is following the advice of medical and scientific experts, not sure what else you expect them to do.

@thegcatsmother

Db and some of my friends are in Belgium, where the rules have been loosened and then tightened again.

This is a list of one set of current rules (it may be different for the different regions)

Wearing a mask (that covers both your nose and mouth) is obligatory throughout the Brussels-Capital Region, in both indoor and outdoor public spaces.
Gatherings in public are limited to a maximum of 4 people. At home, each member of the household has the right to contact without social distancing (one close visit is therefore allowed, and a second person is allowed for persons living alone, but not at the same time as the first person)
A curfew is in place between 22:00 and 6:00. It is forbidden to be out between these hours (except for essential and non-deferrable journeys).
We would like to remind you that these measures are in addition to the 6 golden rules:

• Respect the health and safety measures;
• Outdoor activities are preferred to indoor ones;
• Pay special attention to vulnerable people;
• Respect 1m50 social distancing;
• Limit close contact with others;
• Follow the rules on gatherings.

Other rules are no more than half an hour in a shop, and only one person can do the food shopping. At one point, if you were found not using your local supermarket (and the police were checking ID cards), then you were sent home to shop locally. You had to justify why you were out.

Yes, I’m in Belgium, and we’ve had these rules since early October so in effect a second lock down for 3 months. And absolutely no relaxation for Christmas or new year either - you can only see one person indoors (who is outside your household) if you are living in a single member household (no, each member of a multiple household cannot have their own social contact indoors). They won’t even discuss it again until 15th January (where apparently the hospitality industry will not be on the agenda). I don’t know how they expect businesses that have had to shut for nearly 10 months out of 12 to survive. I’m not going to lie! It’s hard and no matter how good we all are (as enforced by law with harsh fines for infringement) it feels like it won’t make any difference to when we may get some freedoms back.

What is happening with schools in other countries?

I'm in Ireland too and although quite fed up of lockdowns and particularly the 5km rule I feel it is being handled as well as it can be.

I feel safe sending my children to school which doesn't seem to be something a lot of people on mumsnet feels safe with. They have had uninterrupted learning since going back in Sept with no cases in either of their schools. I just hope they go back as planned on the 11th.

@Davros

feels like things are out of control and the government has no strategy and no skill. That's how YOU feel, I don't feel like that and I'm sure lots of other people feel like you and lots don't.

Yes this. It’s clearly concerning and the U.K. government are plums but I really don’t recognise this arsehole Brits all ignoring the measures and breaking rules not giving a shit that I keep reading about on here. Everyone round here and all my friends and family have been sticking to restrictions fully.

Really struck by the difference in mask wearing, so many people in the UK not wearing them compared to in Spain where you need a mask outside your own front door, the moment you step into a communal area if you live in a flat.
Family in the UK were complaining about wearing them in shops in summer, we were out walking with temperatures of 42°C in August and barely saw anyone without a mask, same on the metro. The compliance rate seemed high on the Tube in London but in UK supermarkets and shopping centres it seems very lax. Yes, exemptions exist but I think many (not all) just can't be bothered.
I don't know which government I'd have more faith in tbh but can't think of any politicians who would do a better job.
It's hard to know what to believe about the NHS, some saying it's at breaking point and others talking about empty hospitals. I hope it will cope. I think hospitals in Spain are probably better prepared.

Re the schools - we are in Scotland but I truly think the schools have done a good job. Kids have been offered laptops, work packs, constant access to emails to / from teachers during school hours and lessons online.

In Italy all schools were closed in the first lockdown with patchy online teaching. Personally ours were running smoothly a week later with school laptops available if necessary.

In the second lockdown primary and middle schools were open whereas 14yo+ went into fully online lessons from mid November and will be back 50/50 from 7th January.
At least that’s the plan...

@thaegumathteth

Re the schools - we are in Scotland but I truly think the schools have done a good job. Kids have been offered laptops, work packs, constant access to emails to / from teachers during school hours and lessons online.

That seems to depend on which local authority. I asked someone on here before and they refused to answer - which LA had given out laptops? Because I've never heard of it in the Central belt.

I'm British living in rural Sweden. Never any lockdown, schools stayed open but colleges and universities shut. It's a bloody disgrace. Anders Tegnell is the state epidemiologist. He initially said Sweden wouldn't be effected by Covid as we are a healthy nation that spends a lot of time outdoors. He refused to advice on lockdowns as he was believed in free will, lockdowns went against the constitution and that people would do the right thing. Then he went down the 'herd immunity' route and the Sweden would not have a second wave. There was no proper herd immunity and of course there is a second wave. He is still in a job. Even the king some out in early December saying that Sweden had failed in its handling of Covid.

In the summer, I pulled my kids from school two weeks early when I found out my daughters best friend had tested positive with Covid yet her three kids were at school. When we contacted the school they said they were unable to confirm or deny in case of repercussions. We contacted the mother in question and she there were at least two other parents in the class officially positive and their kids were also at school.

No I don't feel safe.