How long can we carry on like this for?

[Pseudosudocrem]

Anyone else starting to wonder just how long we can carry on like this before everything irrevocably falls apart?

How will we ever recover as a country?

Closing restaurants and bars long term would have major effects on employment and entire industries. It’s not just the bar staff or service people.
It’s the supply chains including farmers, logistic companies, factories, breweries, food shops, warehouses, delivery companies and many more. Even the fuel and utility companies that service these places.
All of these people will be effected by closing the hospitality trade. I’d argue that a lot of our GDP is linked to this.

Isn’t that the point alloutoffucks?

What I read was that this could keep mutating and come back year after year mutated. Like the common cold. I’m not a scientist, so I can’t critique this theory. But it certainly caught my attention.

@HandfulOfFlowers

"I think there will come a point where people's desperation at being out of work, or trying to work and homeschool, or isolation at home will override their feelings of societal responsibility for the lives of people they neither know nor care about".

Doesn't sound like this affects you, your kids, wider family and friends directly... How come?

I’m starting to think that once this additional 3 weeks are over, lockdown won’t be extended again. Italy’s restrictions have been relaxed and we’re not so far behind them.

Their lockdown was a lot stricter than ours in the first place. People are returning to work if they can't work remotely but they can do that here anyway .I think that they are only allowing a few shops to open. It's a long way from back to normal.

We can’t live the way we are for too long. There isn’t a realistic alternative. Other than making over half the working population redundant.
Can someone please answer me why the Chinese wet markets have opened again and the rest of the world hasn’t stopped them?!!!

I think there will come a point where people's desperation at being out of work, or trying to work and homeschool, or isolation at home will override their feelings of societal responsibility for the lives of people they neither know nor care about

If their workplaces and schools aren't open there's not much they can do about it though. The lockdown doesn't really rely on people to be unselfish as they can't go out much anyway.

What I read was that this could keep mutating and come back year after year mutated.

Yes it could but as viruses mutate they tend to get less deadly, not more.

Well, probably till the shops start running out of stuff that's been stored in warehouses.

have racked by brains to think how this could work in schools

This appears to be getting a lot of coverage recently. It could conceivably work if children went back in much lower numbers - a week on, a week off. This would allow an element of social distancing and an ability to clean classrooms.

It’ll be relaxed a bit in 3 weeks

I think a few cosmetic changes will be allowed for certain shops or certain areas, but I don't see restaurants, bars, and pubs opening for the forseeable.

@woodchuck99 I realise that it’s far from back to normal, but I think there will be at least some easing of restrictions however small. I don’t think lockdown in its current form will continue after the 7th May review.

Absolutely . We need to stay as long as it takes to stop 100s dying every day

I think some people are being extremely selfish. All the measurement s are to prevent the health system collapsing, because is not just Coronavirus, every single day thousands of people are diagnosed with different illness and they still need to have acces to NHS. The whole country needs to feel very lucky that they are not in total lock down like Spain or Italy. Every single day I read in this group people complaining, and I would like to ask them how they will feel if they were not able to leave the house for weeks. The situation is difficult for every one so please STOP complaining!!

I realise that it’s far from back to normal, but I think there will be at least some easing of restrictions however small. I don’t think lockdown in its current form will continue after the 7th May review.

I agree there may be some easing of restrictions but that probably won't involve more than a few more shops being allowed to open.

What I read was that this could keep mutating and come back year after year mutated.

But there will be a vaccine available. It may be like flu where a new vaccine will be needed every year, which vulnerable people will be encouraged to have, and which other people can pay for.

I dont think we can do this for very long if we all want to have jobs to go back to at the end of it. We are no further on in terms of vaccine, or cure, and it was only ever supposed to delay and spread out the infection to give the NHS a chance to cope.

As someone lying in bed on day 8 of infection and dreading another night of struggling to breathe, I hope it continues till we have a treatment or a vaccine which won’t be in three weeks. Even if they do relax things, I feel like I never want to leave my house again and my children certainly won’t be going to school. I’m a freelancer so have no work for the foreseeable future but I wouldn’t wish what I’m going through on anyone.

Is there a guarantee there will be a vaccine? There may not be one: what then?

As long as it takes. We will recover, it will take time but we will.
If we stop doing what we need to then we’ll be back round to this at some point.
Right first time.

Italy has stated bars/ restaraunts will remain closed until a vaccine has been found

Not going to happen I'm afraid; if lockdown goes on much longer local mayors will start taking backhanders to declare chosen restaurants somehow "exempt"

People saying "as long as it takes", who do you think is going to pay for it? The NHS won't just continue indefinitely. It needs to be paid for. Society would collapse. There would be no food.

So I'm seriously hacked off with the amazing selfishness people are showing. Not the genuinely out-of-work, having-an-awful-experience people. just the people who have got bored of trying sourdough recipes and want to be able to go down the pub again.
I can only think it's because they haven't the faintest clue of what this disease does and they are still living in the la-la-land of "it's a bit like flu". It might be for lots of people, but when we have hundreds (actually, probably THOUSANDS if you include community deaths) of people dying each day... honestly; people need to give their heads a wobble.

Society would collapse. There would be no food.

Farmers, food producers, lorry drivers and supermarkets are all still going. Food is the one thing we won’t run out of

Even if restaraunts/ bars were to open before a vaccine would you be happy to go to one? I fear most ppl would stay away anyway so they wouldn't be making much anyway. Social distancing might work for some places but not for the above.

Right first time

The government's first instincts were to do it like Sweden. The mistake was lockdown.

@csigeek

For my own selfish reasons I hope it's over soon. Working from home is a nightmare with a toddler, I'm in the middle of a house move and pregnant. I worry for my elderly parents and assume will continue to isolate for a while yet.

*elderly grandparents