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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be depressed that lockdown would happen again tomorrow if there was another new disease

816 replies

Pavementworrier · 05/01/2026 07:35

We talk about all the things that are worse "since the pandemic"but government prep is based on all the same mad nonsense that caused the worsening

Grim

OP posts:
EasternStandard · 05/01/2026 08:49

Happyjoe · 05/01/2026 08:48

"Too little, too late" was the inquiries findings.

‘Too little’? So do more, such as?

EasternStandard · 05/01/2026 08:49

Parker231 · 05/01/2026 08:47

My view - if you ignore advice to lockdown should there be another pandemic, you aren’t entitled to medical care if you then get the virus!

That’s not going to work, I’m glad it’s just your view though

JLou08 · 05/01/2026 08:50

I think a lock down would be very, very unlikely. The negative impact on children and young people was too great. Increases in mental health, SEND, unemployment and disability benefits would put off any government.

SpringsOnTheWay · 05/01/2026 08:50

lovescats3 · 05/01/2026 08:48

Vaccines enabled us to come out of lockdown. Also young, healthy Drs and nurses died. People including children with no previous health issues have been left with long term illness, such as diabetes, asthma and cardiac problems just to name a few conditions- there was a sting in the tail with covid for some people, it wasn't a mild illness

My MIL was front line NHS. She’s got long covid, had to leave work, can’t manage her stairs without sitting down half way. It’s awful how it’s left her.

chaosmaker · 05/01/2026 08:50

Liondoesntsleepatnight · 05/01/2026 08:47

History of the whole includes pandemics, you and I are not bigger, stronger or smarter than a Global Pandemic.

There wouldn’t be a knee jerk reaction to lock down, as there wasn’t before. Look at the devastating numbers affected by the Spanish Flu, between 50 - 100 million people died, more than the number of WW1. The plague killed a third of the population of Europe.

I work in risk, Astroid, Pandemic and Cyber Are the big worries for mankind.

Isn't human overpopulation one of them. Nature will keep us in check somehow and something like a pandemic is a pretty good way to do it

x2boys · 05/01/2026 08:51

LittleDeeAndME · 05/01/2026 08:48

I think we would have a lockdown but not as strict - with just the vulnerable looked after, and we would go on with life with the right PPE

Unfortunately " the vulnerable" often have families ,they are your GP,s your teachers ,your supermarket cashier .

Iocanepowder · 05/01/2026 08:51

MrMucker · 05/01/2026 08:48

During the lockdown I saw, a selfish streak to the human race which I hadn't known could exist., and this thread proves it's not only still there, but greater.

A lockdown is for everybody, for the greater good, and those who resist it are all about themselves. My children, my welfare my fun, my freedom. Me me me.

So sad about this aspect of the human race.

So at what point do people get to think of themselves rather than others then?

SpringsOnTheWay · 05/01/2026 08:51

MrMucker · 05/01/2026 08:48

During the lockdown I saw, a selfish streak to the human race which I hadn't known could exist., and this thread proves it's not only still there, but greater.

A lockdown is for everybody, for the greater good, and those who resist it are all about themselves. My children, my welfare my fun, my freedom. Me me me.

So sad about this aspect of the human race.

Covid seemed to accelerate it didn’t it. People are so angry and so selfish now.

TheKeatingFive · 05/01/2026 08:51

SpringsOnTheWay · 05/01/2026 08:48

those things are what help with Covid. That doesn’t mean they’ll help with the next one

Which equally applies to a lockdown strategy. It was feasible for Covid because (generally speaking) healthy people of working age were at little risk, so essential services could be maintained.

But try convincing essential workers to put themselves at risk everyday if the mortality rate was high for them.

Newbutoldfather · 05/01/2026 08:52

What a lot of people don’t seem to get is that there is no good way to manage in a pandemic, just the least bad way.

Once you have a pandemic, it will hurt society a lot.

So, lockdowns are very damaging in many ways. There is no doubt of that.

But a lethal virus, even not that lethal, burning through a population like a wildfire is far worse. Fortunately we never got to see this alternative.

x2boys · 05/01/2026 08:52

JLou08 · 05/01/2026 08:50

I think a lock down would be very, very unlikely. The negative impact on children and young people was too great. Increases in mental health, SEND, unemployment and disability benefits would put off any government.

Surely there would be more peoole becoming disabled needing disability payment ,s with no restrictions?

Womaninhouse17 · 05/01/2026 08:53

PInkyStarfish · 05/01/2026 08:23

People won’t fall for it again.

I remember a few days before lockdown when we first heard that it was a possibility and all my friends saying they weren't going to stay home and the government couldn't tell them what to do. Then we had lockdown and they all stayed home.

Fulmine · 05/01/2026 08:53

TheKeatingFive · 05/01/2026 08:36

A lockdown as we knew it during Covid wouldn't work in these circs. If young people were dying, no way would essential workers skip obediently off to work. You'd be looking at societal collapse.

But more young people would be dying without lockdown, and I think most people are sensible enough to realise that. There are also basic imperatives like needing to keep your job that incentivise people to go to work.

Happyjoe · 05/01/2026 08:53

EasternStandard · 05/01/2026 08:49

‘Too little’? So do more, such as?

Instead of doing your normal thing on here, I suggest you go read the report. Cheers.

landslide51 · 05/01/2026 08:53

Why on earth would you be depressed over that OP?

You might as well be depressed about the fact that you might die from sudden death syndrome tomorrow. Or that you might be run over by a bus next week.

It's utterly, utterly pointless.

EasternStandard · 05/01/2026 08:54

MrMucker · 05/01/2026 08:48

During the lockdown I saw, a selfish streak to the human race which I hadn't known could exist., and this thread proves it's not only still there, but greater.

A lockdown is for everybody, for the greater good, and those who resist it are all about themselves. My children, my welfare my fun, my freedom. Me me me.

So sad about this aspect of the human race.

Not at all, people mostly complied. And for some there was damage from that.

BringBackCatsEyes · 05/01/2026 08:54

vanillalattes · 05/01/2026 07:37

Nobody would comply if they tried it again.

I would. Of course there were incorrect decisions made last time, many of which they only learnt in hindsight. I’d like to see the collective MN know it alls make a better job of it.

SpringsOnTheWay · 05/01/2026 08:54

Iocanepowder · 05/01/2026 08:51

So at what point do people get to think of themselves rather than others then?

It’s like people forget others are humans. It’s little things like blocking roads instead of letting people go, pulling out on people at round abouts. Being rude to serving staff etc. it’s those sort of things

EasternStandard · 05/01/2026 08:56

Happyjoe · 05/01/2026 08:53

Instead of doing your normal thing on here, I suggest you go read the report. Cheers.

I’m good, I don’t care that much. Repeating lines from it is probably driven by politics so wondered if there was more to your views based on the virus. If not, fine.

5128gap · 05/01/2026 08:56

Samdelila · 05/01/2026 08:42

We would be - by our own choice. The risks should be spelt out clearly and honestly so that people could make an informed decision about the risks they were prepared to take. It shouldn’t be mandatory.

When something is considered a serious enough risk its never left for people to choose. We can't even choose not to wear a seat belt, take certain drugs or ride a motorbike without a helmet. We're certainly not going to be allowed to choose whether we go about risking catching and transmitting a potentially deadly new virus.

TheKeatingFive · 05/01/2026 08:56

Fulmine · 05/01/2026 08:53

But more young people would be dying without lockdown, and I think most people are sensible enough to realise that. There are also basic imperatives like needing to keep your job that incentivise people to go to work.

I'm not talking about lockdown or no lockdown - it wouldn't come into it.

If mortality rates for young people were high, there is no way people would risk themselves going to work everyday to keep your fridge stocked and your lights on. The country just wouldn't be able to function. A paltry salary wouldn't be convincing them.

HeddaGarbled · 05/01/2026 08:57

But the saying goodbye to dying loved ones on a phone held in front of them by a medical practitioner, not giving your bereaved mum a hug at your dad’s funeral, trapping old people alone in their homes for weeks, taping up park benches, all that, that’s what people won’t comply with. It was inhumane.

Binus · 05/01/2026 08:59

MrMucker · 05/01/2026 08:48

During the lockdown I saw, a selfish streak to the human race which I hadn't known could exist., and this thread proves it's not only still there, but greater.

A lockdown is for everybody, for the greater good, and those who resist it are all about themselves. My children, my welfare my fun, my freedom. Me me me.

So sad about this aspect of the human race.

This shows total lack of understanding.

Lockdown is a pandemic management tool that involves prioritising the welfare of some groups over others. The same with not locking down. The government is choosing who are the collateral is.

Hopefully the last one was for the greater good. It would be very unpleasant indeed to think we did all that harm and the pros didn't even outweigh the cons. At this point it's guesswork either way, but I know what I would prefer to be true. However, even if we do one day get into a position where we can prove that lockdown was the least worst option, it will still be true that it massively fucked over some people. The same would also have been true if we'd chosen not to lock down (I don't think we could actually have avoided it, but theoretically).

EligibleTern · 05/01/2026 08:59

TheKeatingFive · 05/01/2026 08:56

I'm not talking about lockdown or no lockdown - it wouldn't come into it.

If mortality rates for young people were high, there is no way people would risk themselves going to work everyday to keep your fridge stocked and your lights on. The country just wouldn't be able to function. A paltry salary wouldn't be convincing them.

Exactly. Covid was unusual in that it was serious enough to prompt lockdown, but not serious enough for societal collapse, which enabled a version of society to function even under lockdown. A more virulent illness, like the haemorrhagic fevers which some people sound a bit too gleeful about the prospect of on here, wouldn't allow us to have the same kind of "normal life lite" lockdowns again.

Jugendstiel · 05/01/2026 08:59

Bobiverse · 05/01/2026 07:51

All this “no one would comply” stuff is nonsense. If a new hemorrhagic fever with no cure started spreading around the world, you’d all be inside and isolating.

I think we'd comply in more intelligent ways. No way would I let any family member suffer what my dad suffered: six months in a hospital two hours from anyone he knew, no visitors allowed except my mum who has dementia so someone had to collect her wait for her drive her back but not visit him, unable to use his phone as his hands were so swollen but nurses far too busy to help him so he couldn;t even get our phone calls 90% of the time. Then moved to a truly horrible nursing home as it was the only one that would accept him at the time. he died there.

My son developed anorexia in his 'bubble' of none in his first term at uni as no one else in his flat turned up and he wasn;t allowed to mix with other flats because computer said his flat was 'full'.

I would happily break such cruel, pointless laws which swap one potential danger for a genuine one of chronic isolation and depression which creates severe health issues. too.