To worry that this is the start of more restrictions

[avvemarriia]

The announcement yesterday has got me really worried, starting with masks, are they going to start creeping up to gathering restrictions etc?

A relative passed away over a month ago and due to the circumstances we are only just at a stage where we are getting the death cert tomorrow and able to start planning the funeral.

I can't cope with the idea of a restricted funeral after everything our family has been through 😞

I'm going to try and push on tomorrow and get the earliest date feasible, but I'm so worried as the government has form for changing things with barely any notice.

Am I worrying unnecessary or is anyone else thinking this is potentially going to happen?

I'll wear a mask in shops, sure, but I won't be going months without seeing my family again

@Cupcakegirl13

Have you read the info coming out of South Africa ? It frustrates me that people jump to doomsday conclusions without full facts - the Dr who first flagged the new variant started looking into it purely because people were testing positive without any notable symptoms mainly tiredness/exhaustion and were recovering within a few days , so this in fact points towards the idea although it may be more transmissible it’s weakening in severity. If this is the case it will become endemic more quickly. This may not be the horror story the media are peddling.

It is way, way too early to tell. All strains of covid so far have a similar clinical picture - start mild and if they deteriorate, it happens only in a couple of days, and omicron cases have been traced for less than a week.

I've never stopped wearing a mask when in shops. I'm amazed everyone else has.

I'm sorry for your loss. I hope the funeral goes ahead as you wish.

Happy to wear a mask and avoid crowded public areas as far as possible. That's IT!
No amount of demands from the likes of boris johnson will stop me and my family and our friends meeting as and when we please.
After all, we have had very bad example set by Government personnel worldwide.
Rules only apply to " the little people".

I think we will get Christmas, but I am expecting a Jan lockdown.

I agree with Givemestrength the vast majority of people who are seriously ill and in hospital with covid have not been vacinated. I
Of course people who have been vaccinated can still catch it ,but they are not clogging up hospital wards.
You make your choice. Where I live it was chocka block at the vaccination centre when I had my booster jab. People around here seem to be choosing to have the vaccination.
I'll be seeing friends and family at Christmas. I've done the right thing in terms of what is best for society.
Make your choice but don't expect others to keep paying the price for you.

The paper has been wrong consistently and is in favour of high deaths

I can't believe someone who called me illogical would make a statement like this.

I live in Asia where masks in public places, PCR tests on landing, and self-isolation before a negative test has carried on. Seeing things go “back to normal” in the UK has been hard

Why has it been hard if you don't live here? How are you affected?

Anyway it's only gone back to "normal" in England.

At this point everyone has been offered a vaccine and a large percentage of people in hospitals are unvaccinated

I’m sure I read somewhere that a lot of unvaccinated people are pregnant women who have been completely and utterly let down by the vaccination information. First they were told not to get the vaccine, creating huge uncertainty, then it changed, but that advice wasn’t clearly communicated. This has left some women nervous about getting the vaccine with the advice change - and I’m not surprised.

So I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as vaccine refusers.

The next few weeks will be interesting. Here in Ireland most corporate Christmas parties have been cancelled. Pub hours reduced, I'm expecting further restrictions.
Meanwhile, Spain have announced closed borders to Unvaccinated people over the age of 12, and they are doing very well numbers-wise. This is a government acting pro-actively to protect it's people and economy 👍🏻

There are plenty of double and triple vaxxed in hospital. My db is triple vaxxed, 40yo and on a CPAP machine in hospital.

The majority of people who have had it are young/ish or out in the community a lot. There are loads of more vulnerable people who are still very careful (and fully vaxxed) and the problem will come if it reaches them.

Me and dh had covid double vaxxed and we felt appalling for weeks.

I wouldn’t be surprised, but I won’t be going along with them.

I live in England & don't feel like things have been remotely "normal" in my or DC's lives since about mid Feb 2020.

I'm glad the restrictions have been more relaxed at times. I prefer back and forth on the rules over sheer incessant craziness -- remember when you couldn't legally go for a walk outside with a friend you didn't live with? When people got punished for sitting on a park bench, or driving to take a walk within 3 miles of home, when nobody could define what was one's "local area", and there were hot debates about exercising for more than an hour exercise? Nuts.

@Cupcakegirl13

Have you read the info coming out of South Africa ? It frustrates me that people jump to doomsday conclusions without full facts - the Dr who first flagged the new variant started looking into it purely because people were testing positive without any notable symptoms mainly tiredness/exhaustion and were recovering within a few days , so this in fact points towards the idea although it may be more transmissible it’s weakening in severity. If this is the case it will become endemic more quickly. This may not be the horror story the media are peddling.

Yes, I think there was a scientist yesterday saying generally the more a virus mutates it will often get weaker in its effects. I get we need to err on the side of caution but overall this mutation sounds like a positive step once people calm down. Like most virus it will probably just eventually merge into the background and just be another flu the vulnerable get a jab for each year

The doctor from South Africa and the scientist at moderne were on Andrew Marr this morning. South Africa has a young population and the general message was that this is a very worrying mutation.

Masks now back in schools is an interesting step which for me suggests the government is concerned

It would be wise to have more restrictions right now, but unless there is clear bad news about omicron in the next 4 weeks (which probably isn't enough time to know), like it's at least as serious as Delta and is or likely to be vaxx resistant, the UK gov is not going to shut down before Christmas. That would lose them more votes than any extra deaths as far as I can tell.

I don't celebrate Christmas so it is kind of galling to me to see all this stuff about 'Save Christmas'. If a post-Xmas lockdown that goes into spring follows, Jewish people like me could be looking at our third Passover without our familes, as a result of 'saving Christmas'. And I accept Xmas matters to far more people than Passover does here, but it's still frustrating. Other people are having to cope with losing special family time that the government has no motivation to have to 'save'.
I think we might expect more restrictions in new year if there's anything concerning about omicron (let's hope early indications it's catchy but mild are borne out) or if numbers jump due to Christmas, which is a distinct possibility. But I think the government is aiming to press forward regardless of cost to vulnerable people now, so you'll probably get your Christmas and possibly winter afterwards.

It’s being sensibly cautious and hopefully it is milder and no real threat but they need to make sure that’s the case. If there were to be a Christmas u turn like last year people can weigh up the pros and cons relative to their family situation. I’m sure lots of people did that last year too.

In Scotland, we’ve never removed the mask wearing - and although the compliance is varied, I still wear a mask to the supermarket, garden centre, and work all day (in the office 3 days per week). I’m triple vaxxed, but still taking a lot of care. I don’t see why people have relaxed quite so much. I’ve spent 18 months largely on my own, and the impact to my mental health has been awfully significant. I’m having to measure that against risk. I see friends and family who are taking a similar level of risk to me, and testing x4 times per week (have to do it for work.)
I think that there will be more restrictions (certainly until they know the resistance levels, etc.) I’m not going partying, but I can’t spend another fortnight over Xmas, all alone again. A lot of others will be feeling the same.

Sorry for your loss. It must be particularly hard just now, without being able to do the things which help. Rituals and support are so important at times like these.
Take care.
(Sorry, hit send too quickly first time.)

I think you’ll be ok for the funeral as it’s generally the last thing to change

We are not doing plan b yet and that would presumably be first.

Sorry for your loss and I understand it feels just more on top of the grief

In Scotland we’re all still in masks. Senior school pupils too (age 12 and up).

This way of life simply cant continue; the clock has ticked for nigh on 2 years, and there is no other option now but to learn to live with this virus; and quickly learn! We cant head into the depths of 2022 still stuck in second gear; there is ever creeping evidence, in many areas of life, of the cure becoming worse than the disease. So next year is a tough one for governments the world over, because they cant allow the cure/disease balance to tip so far that the damage becomes perennial; the most pressing concern for me is the devastating effect on young people, and its getting worse - its very serious. It seems that many people are wholly ignorant to the medium/long term consequences of these mitigations, thus governments will have no choice but to spell the 'live with it' message out to people FAR more explicitly.

Boris Johnson really won't want to "cancel Christmas" for the second time especially after the fiasco last year where things were changing daily. I really think think they'll delay it as much as possible

FWIW OP, I am not worried.

There are many steps to go before they start banning gatherings. It may not even go further than these newly imposed restrictions… but if it does it’ll be WFH again and maybe vaccination passports for gatherings or something.

I too read the article about the Dr saying this appears to be mild. Although it is too soon to know for definite and that is anecdotal, it is somewhat reassuring. I don’t think we will be back to anywhere near what happened this time last year.

For most people Covid is mild. We don’t know how it’s going to hit vulnerable until sadly, vulnerable people start getting it. Precautions are wise.