To think there's still that teeny weeny bit of a pandemic thing happening?

[IAmOldNow]

Not complaining, just observing:

Figures say: cases rising, hospitalisiations rising, fatalities: flat at best but if anything that'll be thanks to large scale immunisation, largely due to vaccines that may not prevent infection altogether but are, largely, proving to be pretty good at making sure the vast majority of us don't end up on a ventilator and/or: dead!

Currenrt reality says: huge client party tonight. Cue some 3k people crammed into a mostly indoors space, free alcohol, hugging, air kissing, any old thing you'd imagine from people who, literally, know and do not actively hate each other and haven't met in the flesh for two years.

AIBU to think that this is a) human and understandable but also b) bound to see 1/3 of the organisation out cold with COVID within a week?

For the record: I don't know the right answer! I went, too!

Where are you? In England cases and hospitalisation are falling rapidly, we peaked a couple of weeks ago.

You're not wrong - nobody wants to hear it or live it and that's the reality of it

Not England - British by birth but an expat (continental Europe). Cases rising here.

Having said that: even if I were in the UK, my fundamental question would remain the same, regardless of "cases momentarily rising/falling":

Is it a great idea to cram 3k people into an indoors space (arguably not, objectively speaking), and how much of this is "acceptable risk" that we buy into in exchange for "but people like a good party"?

I know Covid hasn't gone away, and it's still around, but honestly I don't think twice about going to parties or the cinema or wherever now.
It wouldn't bother me at all, it wouldn't cross my mind!

Same here, I’m back living 100% how I was pre-covid now.

I went to the Natural History Museum during Easter break and I don't think I've been that close to 100s and 100s of people in a confined space in years. The central bit is voluminous but the side galleries are not and everyone is touching the stair rails etc. I doubt a third got covid from that! Plus my daughter takes a crowded train in every day to work and can't be more up close and personal than a rush hour tube!
Covid is here to stay, but life has to go on, including the dreaded work parties.

I'm on my 4th day of Covid after a couple of nights of crowded clubbing. I'm completely unvaccinated to boot. After all this time, I finally got the bug.

Was really tough two days/nights but I'm on the mend now.

My conclusion? Dunno. No regrets. I'm OK with being unvaccinated and I'm glad I went dancing.
We need to carry on.

I think we’re probably on the cusp of it being classed as endemic rather than pandemic in Europe and the US.

Covid is here to stay, but life has to go on, including the dreaded work parties.

Can't possibly disagree with you on that one! Tonight, I have been called "darling" and "love" more times than I care to remember, groped (bum x2, breasts x1), hugged/air-kissed more clients than I even remembered I had ...

Just living my "best life" as a female corporate executive, just like pre-COVID, basically!

Still, it struck me just how "back to normal, at lightning speed" people were. It's as though none of it had ever happened. Was still happening.

Personally, I'll rather resent it if I end up desperately ill because someone thought grabbing my bum (told him to get lost or else, for the record) was just a good old throw-back to more carefree times!

Is it a great idea to cram 3k people into an indoors space (arguably not, objectively speaking), and how much of this is "acceptable risk" that we buy into in exchange for "but people like a good party"?

From the start of the pandemic there have been the "but life must go on" people who valued their socialising over the mass deaths (then) of others.

I am of the mind people should be wearing masks in crowded indoor spaces, but those are not the kind of masks party people are thinking of!

I'm sure most will be fine. But it will be interesting, and sobering for some, I expect, to see the statistics on post-infection early onset Parkinson's and other chronic and limiting conditions (as per post Spanish Flu pandemic) as a result of the high number of Covid infections, benign or otherwise.

From the start of the pandemic there have been the "but life must go on" people who valued their socialising over the mass deaths (then) of others.
There's also those of us who stuck to the rules 100%, but now are going about our business as normal, and don't think anything of going to concerts or parties.

@milkyaqua, beginning of it all, I have a vivid memory of "colleague X" stating, in a leadership meeting:

"Let the weak ones die for the sake of the economy and everyone's social lives!"

I shall forever be grateful to my then boss for jumping in and saying "no statements of that nature on my team call, I shall not tolerate any dehumanising sentiment being voiced!". Personally, I might have expressed it more like "Hitler arguably would have approved of these sentiments, you insufferable arse!", and then-boss saved me from going there.

It probably matters: my mother is a school teacher in her early 60s, was (still is) high risk, and I've just never had much time for the "so what about everyone else?" crowd because, to me, they have always read as "so what if your mum never gets to see the other side of 70?"

How was your childhood? Full of fear? Lots of adults keeping their distance and disciplining you if you did the opposite? Did your childhood resemble rainy day activities for the best part of a year including summer time - did you pine for something more than elbow touches when you were little?
No?
Don't you think the next generation deserve what you grew up with and more?
They've literally just removed screen separations in some supermarkets. It may have been challenging for adults but it was horrendous for children.

... and, yet, yes, I went to that party, and- gropers aside - had a bloody good time!

Are we, as a species, just too primed to value social interaction to be any good at managing a pandemic? I suppose that's why I'm questioning this hard!

But who cares if there are 3000 people crammed together? Covid is like a cold for most people now - 5 years ago would we have avoided parties because we were worried about catching a cold?

I am back to normal now. So is just about everyone I know.

I do have a couple of pals who seem determined not to let it go. My friends’s baby was christened a few weeks ago and our mutual pal was going off her head because she had asked people in the group chat to test “out of courtesy” before the event and was given short shrift. No reason for this, by the way, other than her own fear. You can’t dictate to people like that. If she’s still scared I think the onus is on her to stay away, rather than impose testing on everyone else and then berate them when they aren’t prepared to comply.

Look, I went out and got what can only be described as a full-on flu. I've had the flu and this reminded me of that time exactly.

And yes, I'm NOT dropping what's left of my youth - all the dancing, shagging, socialising, laughing in a group of friends, spontaneous beach trips and lazy brunches and summer camps that my kiddo loves so much and...so much more! I'm not dropping all that in case I get down with flu (Covid ) symptoms.

Bring on the Bubonic plague or something and I will re-evaluate.

Oh, yes! There is nothing a virus respects more than rules, and those who followed them.

I should stop wading into these, but...
Are we, as a species, just too primed to value social interaction to be any good at managing a pandemic? I suppose that's why I'm questioning this hard!

If, like me, you lived alone and don't have a partner or children, it was thirteen whole weeks before you were legally allowed to see, speak to or touch another human being after lockdown started in 2020. Solitary confinement for prisoners who have done the very worst things is limited to 22 hours a day alone, and only recommended/sanctioned for up to two weeks. Not all 24 hours a day for more than three months without let up.

And we can't never have big gatherings again. My Mum is CEV and my Gran has a hole in her lung so probably wouldn't do brilliantly if she caught it - and they are both back living normal lives and encouraging me to do the same. I give them a wide berth for a week or so if I've flown, been to London or been to some kind of big conference/gig/event, but otherwise we are back to 2019 norms, pretty much.

I'm glad you had fun - but if you don't think it's a good idea, when does it become ok to do this again? What's the baseline? How do you measure when it's "safe" to put 3000 people in a room together? There will never be a day when humans don't have germs that can spread 🤷‍♀️

Our neighbours have spent a lot of time visiting southern Spain. Many many weeks this year so far. Deaths in that region were 31 per week in February. Deaths, not cases.

Just recently they’ve said how delighted they are to be free and no longer have to wear masks for travel and whilst there.

They were thrown out of a pharmacy while there a couple of weeks ago, as they had no masks with them to use. They’re avid users of sunscreen but won’t wear a mask in crowded places. I know what I think, and we keep well away from them.

How come nobody ever mentions the vulnerable, CEV, or NSV people on these threads?

Thanks for all the responses, and, look, I genuinely don't know!

Truth be told: I think/know that I'm personally somewhat traumatised by the whole thing, and in rather ambivalent ways, too:

There is "me" me, who hasn't been out and seeing people for what feels like ages. Hell, meeting friends and even - gasp! - my boss or my reports for a sneaky walk and chat by the river, bring your own beer, felt like an illicit affair! Sitting on opposite ends of the same park bench was "you may want to take a pregnancy test" levels of intimacy.

On the other hand, there is "me", daughter of someone whose employer - sorry, not sorry, this is just a fact - basically accepted the risk of them potentially falling ill and dying because ... reasons! There is "me", boss of some 120 people, some of whom I had to order to either leave the country or not to (depending on nothing but my best judgment at that moment), knowing that whatever I told them may be wrong and that it may cost them their job or their sanity, depending on my unqualified judgment call, if I get it wrong!

I'm not saying it's wrong to go back to "normal". I'm saying it feels ... dissonant!

Sorry, just seen a mention of CEV...

I’m more worried about the fact that you’ve been groped, multiple times! 😳 That is not ok!

I very much agree with you @milkyaqua.

I think there’s a lot of “it’s just a cold, I don’t care” “life has to go on” blah blah because people are just sick of restrictions. Admitting that there’s still an issue means making compromises, and people here just aren’t prepared to do that.

I look at Asia; they were wearing masks before COVID was a thing. Partly to prevent passing on/catching germs. No big deal. Here half the population screeched about personal freedom and celebrated getting round the rules by claiming an exemption.

I do understand that life couldn’t pause forever. And that some people are happier with the potential risk than others. That’s normal and of course, fine.

It’s the outright refusal to do anything at all to protect others unless they’re FORCED to by the government. And even then loads of people wiggle out of it because “personal freedom”.

I know two people with Long Covid. One is a child. The other had a very mild dose of COViD but it’s morphed into a horrible case of Long COVID that’s pretty much put her on her back. For months - and with no end in sight.

Scientists have already warned that there are whole body effects from covid and that we don’t know what the end result will be.

I think the government rolled back masks too quickly but we all know why. Boris was trying to win a popularity contest, as per usual. We know how little he cared about potential deaths from his previous comment about letting bodies pile up.

I don’t expect everyone to be as cautious as I choose to be. A very quiet life suits me and DC (we’re all autistic). I just feel that could have been a midway point which offers the vulnerable some protection without stopping those who want to get back out there again.

And I also think a bit of understanding in both directions wouldn’t go amiss. I’m not going to criticise people who choose to mix even though I personally think it’s not the right call. I understand and appreciate their reasons even though I don’t feel the same. A little less sneering about masks and being accused of “health anxiety” etc in return would be appreciated. Protecting my very poorly DM and not wanting to be exposed to the effects of an unknown virus shouldn’t be something to scorn at.

I'm very aware of covid but because DF is immuno suppressed so before seeing him my DS comes our of nursery for a week and we go to outdoor spaces only which are quiet then take tests for 2 days prior to seeing him.

I don't think it's unreasonable to have a work event or the number jut yes likely that some will come down with it.

I do think it's completely unreasonable for you to be groped at a work event and be treated in such a sexist manner!