What is your personal long term plan?

[Meruem]

So, as I understand it, the government still expect most of us to catch this, but lockdown has been implemented to “flatten the curve” right? Covid19 will still be a risk to all of us until a vaccine is found.

I was reading the thread about wiping down shopping and to me it seems a bit pointless (disclaimer - different if you are high risk). I mean, do you plan to lock down until vaccine? Surely that isn’t realistic. So you go back out maybe to work (as offices will reopen for a time at some point) or to see friends. All this work you did on sanitising everything goes down the drain does it not? I am following the rules, not going out etc but additional precautions to me seem pointless when it’s quite likely that in 3 months (or so) time, I’ll be out there mixing with everyone again. So if you are taking all these extra precautions, why? What do you plan to do long term given a vaccine isn’t likely until Spring 2021?

I am not wiping down groceries, just hand washing.
I have stopped using a hand bag, now everything in my pockets.
I don’t know if this is good or bad.

I will be remaining WFH for as long as possible. 95% of staff have been furloughed. We still have some people working in the field as their job is related to fire and security and are absolutely needed. So the rest of us are trying to keep the company running.

Those still working are stressed, working long days and knackered. But we are in touch with eachother and having a laugh and have become quite close (not physically obviously).

My personal plan is to get together with these people when its over. Take ds to Macdonald's, take dd to yo sushi as per their request. And take some time off.

In regards to the virus. I have no idea. I am just going to keep an eye in the news and do what feels right at the time.

I am not wiping shopping down or becoming overly obsessed. I go shopping once every 10 days. The local shop once in between. Sometimes do daily exercise. Sometimes not. Stay in as much as possible and socially distance and stick to personal hygiene rules. No masks, no gloves.

I hope offices will move away from hot desking, it worries me for when workplaces do finally reopen. It seems risky to be daily in and out of someone else’s space and close to hand objects like that - like their desk phones handset and keyboards and mice- for prolonged periods, now that we have heard more about thw amount of shedded virus possibly affecting the severity of CV 19 severity. Eating and drinking at desks is allowed because workloads don’t enable lunch breaks.
However many big organisations are only built for hot desking, many having say around 30% less desk space capacity than they have employees. This is because they expect a mix of hot desk office days and working from home.

We aren't doing anymore than observing the "lockdown rules" and that's it, we aren't wiping down shopping or anything like that at all. I had the letter yesterday from the NHS to say I should be shielding for the next 3 months, which is a pain in the arse and unworkable living in a normal three bedroom house with one bathroom.

I'm not at all anxious or remotely worried about this thing. It is what it is and I'll either catch it or I won't. I predominately work from home and travel to client sites when needed, so for as long as my job is still there, work is ok.

Personally, I can't wait for this to be lifted, so things can get back to normal and the main project I'm doing at work starts up and I can get back out there and get on with it.

I'm still working full in an office that has got desking inside what equates to a filthy cruise ship (prison ) and my DH is also working FT. We still wash all the shopping etc and strip and shower when we get in etc before we go near the children because even though the risk to children is minimal, I won't take any more risks than I am being made to by having to go to work still

Should say full time not just full, sorry !

My plan is to work til I get it.

None of my household is vulnerable, so it would be good for us on a personal level to go back to normal, but that would involve the schools being open and my partner is in a public facing role and with this thing you just don't know.

On a wider family issue, the rest of my family are in the vulnerable group, so we still wouldn't be able to see them, if we are not self isolating as there is a massive chance if DS is at school and DP is seeing people face to face then one of us might get it and pass it on.

Also depending on how long, we would probably have to cancel our plans in the summer to see my partner's family this might happen as he is not working anyway as alot of them are in the vulnerable groups as well.

Basically I am not too worried about getting it, but I am very worried about passing it on, if they lift this lockdown too soon despite really wanting a hug from my mum

Not looking too far ahead as there are too many variables. I am self-isolating as I'm vulnerable, DP is working from home, all shopping is being disinfected before being put away. Having shopping delivered. That's about all we can do for now, but longer term, if DP's work resumes in the form of his usual travel, then we will have to cope with that change as best we can. I am worried about catching it but since worry never changed anything, am doing my best to not think about that too much and just get on with the day to day.

@crowcat anyway I've told him to just stay away for the foreseeable and FaceTime our DD.

No one can judge you for that. You did the right thing in my humble opinion....

I think this is already having a huge effect on people’s mental health I feel it myself and see it in my partner, we are both what I would consider ‘mentally strong’ people who have both been through things in the past but this is unlike anything before.

We are a vulnerable household so I'm staying in lockdown until a vaccine/antibody test/better treatments. Next year if needs be

If this time has proved anything its that there are far too many idiots, including our PM, so I will follow my gut and to hell with restrictions easing.

I'm just going to follow government advice. I've been furloughed so I really hope I can get back to work as soon as possible. I'll be sending DS back to school as soon as they reopen. Neither of us are in a vulnerable group so we're not shielding. I'm not wiping down or disinfecting anything either.

I’m pregnant, with a section booked towards the end of August. Realistically I think our household will lock ourselves down until then. By the time the national lockdown is eased, I will be in the more risky bit of pregnancy to have Covid, so think we will be staying in until September at least.

I have a short term plan in that I’d quite like to get it now. I work for myself and there is a lull in work and there are few cases in my county. I’d like to get immunity so I can go back into the world just as soon as it starts up again.

I'm not wiping down shopping. There's no particular use in it. We are shielding and we already follow stringent infection control procedures (useful ones). I designed and built an infection controlled home for my shielded family member in partnership with the NHS so we are well set up to handle this situation - weirdly lucky.

I've changed my mind about moving to the US, is my main takeaway from this. I had been considering it for work. Tech wages might be higher but do they compensate for living in a mad max dystopia. Hmmmmm.

I've lived in a country where it's very rare that people get colds or the flu and, moving back to the UK, I do now find it weird how normal it is to get a cold/flu multiple times a year. Even after the vaccine, one thing I think (hope) will change for good is the self-isolation when you have symptoms. I find it so frustrating in the UK how people seem to think it's heroic to battle into work coughing and sneezing. People seem to think it's normal to come over for dinner saying "don't get too close, I've got a nasty cold!" - why are you here then?! I don't think we should be anxiously disinfecting our trolleys forever but long term I hope we are a bit more cognicent about how we spread disease around, especially to those who are more vulnerable.

I can't imagine not seeing my grandchildren for months on end when we are used to seeing them several times a week. We are in our 60s so not in a highly vulnerable group but I still don't want to catch this virus so will be minimising chances of catching it.. I will avoid crowded places and public transport and keep up with the good hand hygiene and just try and stay as healthy as possible. We are not washing our shopping or quarantining our post though. We will probably cancel our holidays booked for this year too and delay until 2021.

Hopefully we will have the ability to get tested for antibodies in the next few months. Once that happens I can relax or not.
I’m not worried about getting it so much but it would kill my lovely dad,

My dd (11) is in the very vulnerable shielding category.

In some ways, that makes it easier. Speculation about whether/when 'lockdown' will end/change doesn't affect us so much as we're not changing what we're currently doing for 12 weeks (10 weeks from now) at the earliest. At that time we'd then have to assess risk based on number of cases in our area etc assuming testing is more widespread by then.

My thoughts are that our focus is keeping dd out of hospital until at least the (first) peak has passed. I say keeping dd out of hospital but that includes dh and I as we do all of her medical care at home and if we're sick then she would potentially have to be admitted to hospital alone, even if she had no symptoms just to receive her daily iv infusions. We are training her to do more aspects of her care herself under our supervision so this becomes less of a possibility.
So yes, at present we're cleaning/quarantining parcels/supplies to a degree.

Whilst we do this I believe the medical community is gaining information about best courses of action/treatment and testing programs are improving.

Once the 'system' is coping well and there are people with immunity in society (acknowledging that at present we (medical/ scientific community) don't know how immunity will work for covid-19) I believe that contracting the virus will be lower risk for dd and dh and I and our other dcs.

At this point I expect we will be able to do more, as the risks will be more known and better understood. Whether that includes dd going back to school in September for example, we'd have to assess risk at that time.

Once a vaccine is developed and is available to the wider population then potentially the risk is minimal, but obviously that could be years away.

I want to catch it and get it over with, tbh. It feels absolutely certain that we will because DH is a doctor, so at some point he’s going to bring it home. So I’m at home with the kids, following the guidelines on social distancing etc but I’m not quarantining post before opening it, or wearing a mask when we walk the dog or any of the ‘extra’ precautions people are taking beyond the government guidelines.

I work in a very high risk area and have had it. Back at work now, PPE in place but likely caught it from someone without obvious symptoms prior to more universal PPE. DD has had it and other family members OK despite significant exposure. DH also has high risk work.
I found it all much more worrying when I was at home reading the papers than when I was back at work in the midst of it.
I suspect a lot of people have already had a mild version ( not me unfortunately) DD was over it in a few days and the return will be gradual and actually less scary than it is now.

This is such an interesting thread because it helps you to see how people are taking back control in some respects.

Myself and DH can wfh forever (in theory) so I’m expecting we will be doing that even after restrictions are lifted.

I also can’t see us going to pubs/restaurants for a longer time but we didn’t do that loads before because of young dc.

I’m expecting we will get it and are relatively low risk (although I am fat but no known underlying health issues) I am hoping we dont get it yet just in case.

Anyone who makes a prediction that a vaccine is likely by a particular date is a genius (or doesn't understand what is involved and is probably dosing themselves with hydroxycholoquine even though they are certain they had COVID in December or January when they live in the rural UK because a colleague had a meeting somewhere abroad and they had a really, really bad bug.)

Now I understand the resources and political will devoted to this will be significant.

I also know the meaning of the word 'likely'.

I know how many vaccines for corona viruses have been successfully developed and made available to the public to date. There are many corona viruses and several that cause human diseases before COVID emerged. How many vaccines were successfully developed for SARS and MERS? There may be fundamentals in the biology of COVID that make creating a safe, effective virus potentially difficult or impossible or quicker and easier than ever before or a novel technique might succeed or one or many firms might get 'lucky'.

I want to go back to normal as soon as we are allowed to. I read an article yesterday that they are considering letting 20-30s who don't live with parents (me, yay) out first, to boost the economy, then everyone else in stages.

I'm healthy, I'm 99% sure I'e already had it, and I'd rather just go out. I won't visit the elderly or put other people at risk but at some point we just have to get on with it. I would be fine with public transport and being back in the office.