I think I was naive.

[Gatorgator]

In my head - when this started - twelve weeks was worst case scenario. I knew the virus wouldn’t go away obviously, but I thought after twelve weeks the nhs would be better prepared, we’d know more about the virus and there would be a degree of acceptance that we just have to live alongside it and know there’s an elevated risk. I’m in an at risk category so I’m not just dismissing this risk.
However instead it seems that we are going to live like this indefinitely. I didn’t think theatres, sporting events etc would be open for a long time, nor did I think the travel industry would pick back up, but I did think I’d be able to visit my elderly parents who live two miles down the road.

Now it seems like this is the new normal. All meetings are going to be virtual. We are having (unsuccessful) virtual play dates with other children. The few friends I’m still communicating with I’m mainly messaging but really - if I’m never seeing them again then what’s the point?

There are a couple of big Christmas things nearby that are annual events and they are cancelled. More and more I’m coming to realise that this is it. This is in fact the new normal everyone keeps talking about. Only seeing the people you live with and being terrified to even leave the house to collect something essential like a prescription.

@bluebeck was just about to say pretty much the same thing. No point getting angry with a whole country! And certainly not with the vast population of China, just ordinary people living their lives.

For an older person, time passes more rapidly - that is a fact

That isn't a fact.

You were only naive about the state of our country's systems and politicians. See Japan for example. We could have handled this a lot better.

I said to my DH the other night that in some ways people must have felt a similar uncertainty during WW2 - very very different situation but they had no way of knowing when or if it would ever end, and that went on for 6 years, but life did gradually get back on track for those that made it through.

My feeling is that until somebody says there is never going to be a vaccine then I will remain hopeful - one of the scientists in I think Oxford said on Panorama that things are going well so far with what they are developing. I also think that if every country nails the track and trace and are able to keep accurate tabs on who has got it and where then it may be controlled to a degree that way. And given time there will be work done on treatments for those who do catch it. A multi-layered approach from various angles, we will get there. I wish I knew when, but I have every hope that we will. With every country watching each other to see what does and doesn't work in terms of combatting this thing, progress will definitely be made. Even if we can't put Coronavirus back in it's box now, like any other virus we will find ways to keep it at bay, and a vaccine is not the only way. In time I forsee what we all really want, which is a safe re-commencing of hugging on a mass scale.

For me it's the endlessness of it all at the moment.

I know it will get better but we don't know when. It's hard without even a vague timeline to look towards.

Day to day we are all fine. When I think of the longer term future of 6 months plus or so I feel quite down.

I also find it quite hard to get my head round how quickly it all went bad. We too were looking forward to a UK holiday at Easter but had decided not to go abroad for a while because of the virus.

What does the 50,000 refer to; is that a forecast or does it include figures not reported for some reason?

@TempsPerdu You've summed up everything I'm feeling and put it in a far more articulate fashion than I was able to. Thank you.

My DD is 2. Every single day since lockdown she's asked can she go back to nursery. She lists the names of all the key workers that she played with, and says she misses them. We can't go swimming, or to the park. We don't have a garden.

I was desperately hoping for the nurseries to open so that she would once again have that interaction and then I suddenly realised how much more damaging it would be if they undertake social distancing and she can't have a hug or sit on her friend's lap. This isn't bashing teachers - I'm in education myself, and I get it's terrifying to contemplate going back to work and worrying you'll be ill. But the long-term implications of lockdown for our children are very frightening. And I blame the government.

Yes, these are unprecedented circumstances. But other countries, like South Korea, got their shit together and are dealing with it. We haven't because we've ballsed up the country through a decade of austerity.

Imagine the privilege of being able to ask why lockdown is so difficult.

I agree Magicpaintbrush The lack of certainty and the disruption to our usual lives is broadly comparable.

I imagine that at the start of WW2 people had similar concerns about trivial things like holidays. Is that the war that people thought would be "Over by Christmas?"

As time went on, concerns adjusted in line with the different priorities that arose. If this does go on for years then the same will apply.

Humans have survived and excelled because they are very adaptable and intelligent.

Agree mommet

Not that I think holidays are trivial! It's top of my priority list!! It's just mundane compared to loved ones dying

I’ve just heard an ice cream van outside...
It’s like seeing the first snowdrops of spring
Excited or what
Pity I can’t eat the bloomin stuff

I am at higher risk, but what worries me most is passing it on unwittingly to somebody vulnerable, for example, one of my DC's friend has osteogenesis imperfecta and is therefore at much higher risk then others, he is 7, should I or one of my kids pass the virus to him and he died... I can't even think about it, and what impact would that have on my kids, knowing they were the ones to pass the virus on that killed their friend? or if they passed it on to their grandparents?

I think that we need to get out of this^^ mindset. It is the virus that kills people not individuals. Unless, you knowingly have it but go out and about anyway/ cough in people's faces. No one blames people for accidentally passing on other illnesses and I don't see why covid is any different tbh.

@TempsPerdu I agree with you too

Tea tea
Did you see my post on page 8 about my very sick friend who recovered.
Even very elderly and frail people have recovered.
While sadly it has been a death sentence for some..it won’t be for everyone
We must step outside the fear.

I know you don't want the thread derailed OP but if your partner won't let you use FaceTime to speak to friends then you have a very pressing immediate problem.

Provided the second wave similar to the first at least the health service is a bit better able to deal with it.
For example we have 3hospitals in our area.One is now testing all patients coming for operations All all 2 week waits and minor ops,diagnostic ops are going there.
The other is moving towards cleanelective ops and trauma/orthopaedics.
The other has a big A&E so emergencies and major ops with other major electives being done in the private hospitals.
We were busy but never got to capacity and hopefully this time patients can go to the nightingale facilities so that hospitals don't have to shut other services again.
Our only problem is staffing levels with do many sheilding although some of those with asthma or diabetes may feel able to work in the clean hospitals.

After the experience that has been gathered so far, and with all the measures ready to be put into action, if the next "wave" is similar to the first, then the government really will have failed.
If there is any sort of management in place, then there won't be one big wave, but a load of little fluctuations that are quickly dealt with.

I think we need to build some personal resilience. Family in the war didn’t see their friends/family/loved ones for years. This is just a few months, albeit with a new normal at the end of it. We’ve got to be positive and get on with it.

.

I think we need to build some personal resilience.

And some need to build resilience in relation to accepting their own mortality.

The constant comparisons to much harder it was in the war are unhelpful tbh. People who were together supported each other which is completely different.

I don't think anyone is 'assuming the death rate would be this low if we hadn't locked down', clearly that has had a large impact on keeping the rate lower.
However, we DID lock down and the death rate IS this low. ( Higher than many other countries but still running at around 0.05%.)
So what do we do now? Stay at home and keep losing jobs/businesses/socialisation for ever? Or learn to live with the risk?
I really don't hear anyone shouting that things should go back to normal overnight but the price for most people is too high.
Again, protect the vulnerable and allow everyone else to take a calculated decision for themselves about their families and communities.

Yes, accepting our own mortality is important. We are all going to die. Do I want it to be 'premature'? No. But what IS premature? People have always died, some younger than others. Always.
Locking yourself away when you have no underlying health conditions and are not in another high risk group won't magically prevent you from dying. The likelihood of dying from Covid 19 if you're otherwise fit and healthy is vanishingly small and a risk I'm more than happy to take.

@stuck for.....any tips on how to shut down my life any more? because I am past it.

try Yad Vesham for inspiration.

They don't advocate getting rid of old people.