Will life ever go back to normal?

[Dunkingthebiscuits]

Just that really.

Will we ever get to go to football matches again, go on holiday abroad, go the pub? Will children get to have sleepovers with their friends, go and sit it McDonald’s, go to the park? I’m really worried about my children’s education, they need to go back to school but will it be safe for them?

Or has live completely changed forever?

What will happen if we don’t get a vaccine as there is no guarantee we will get one.

I’ve had to turn the news off as it’s making me anxious.

My oldest son is 21 and is in the shielding category and he is getting really depressed as he can’t see his friends, they have met (within the recent changes to guidelines) but he hasn’t and it’s not the same as talking on FaceTime or the phone or texting. What’s going to happen to him and people on the shielding group are we going to have to hide them away forever.

I’m so sorry if this has been covered before

Should say when I say his friends have met I mean his friends group as met he has been the only one who hasn’t met them.

Yes. Where we are the virus has been squashed. They can meet in groups with social distancing.

Pubs looking to open outdoor areas in July. Shops open. Hairdressers open.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.

I’m sure it will. All previous pandemics have come to an end at some point. All the response to this one has been about is not overwhelming the NHS, not the illness per se as there’s far worse than Coronavirus about. If there’s no vaccine we may have to live with localised measures etc but I don’t think it means life won’t be normal outside that.

Of course it will, I know they had many less cases but new Zealand is removing all social distancing measures next week..

I read an interesting thing yesterday about an epidimeologist who said he very much doubted a second wave would come
. He mentioned that at the beginning of all this people were comparing it to flu and were being shot down because of the fact its nothing like flu and behaves differently. He mentioned that second waves were very common in flu viruses but corona viruses don't show the same pattern and rarely come back for a second wave... I know it's only one scientist but a bit of positivity was nice to read!

Of course we will. Spanish flu is no longer with us, isn't it? Same as previous coronaviruses like SARS and MERS. There are a lot of very clever people working on this.

@Forgone90 I believe what he says about second wave. It's very much an unknown currently as this is a new coronavirus. SARS and MERS were both very lethal and killed very fast. I believe Chris Whitty said to the Lords in the weekend, what will happen in September when respiratory illness is more prevalent is something nobody knows. All he said is that it'll slow down over summer.

I don't think this can go on forever regardless of what the virus does. Human behaviour is what it is and this is a very abnormal way of living that we can only keep up for so long

Similar measures were in place for Spanish Flu. Look at the Roaring 20s. A year or two and (socially) all will be back to normal - pandemic wise at least.

Same as previous coronaviruses like SARS and MERS.
MERS is with us, and is quite deadly. It is a disease on the watch list, in case it mutates to allow easier human to human transmission.

Unquestionably

Nazi Germany 70 years ago
Unrecognisable to today

Of course we will. We got back to normal after 1918/19 Spanish Flu pandemic. The thing to bear in mind is, this is first real national emergency since the war so it’s bound to come as a shock. We are not used to such things. That said , some things may change. Do we really need to travel so much ?

Of course it will.

I feel you op. DS is 5 and on the shielding list. DH is wfh until at least September. The babies have barely left the house in their lifetime. I can't imagine going to Starbucks or DS going to school or the theatre. I can't imagine how life can ever just be normal again.
I know it already is for some, will be soon for many. I just think it must be easier to imagine if you don't have a shielder in your family, esp a child

Yes, of course it will. This isn't the first pandemic the world has seen and it won't be the last. It just might take a while, that's all.

Roaring 20’s happened after Spanish Flu.. and we are WAY more advanced with science, vaccines & medicine than we were in 1918!

It’ll take a while for sure. I actually feel better since reconciling in my head that 2020 is just going to be peculiar. We’ll continue to socially distance & school, work, shopping etc won’t be normal. And I’ll just try to enjoy what I can. I’m on maternity leave until Jan 2021 and I’ve been furious at times that basically, it’s ‘wasted’. But actually, it’s not. There are things to enjoy. My fav restaurants all doing take out which is actually easier with a baby, we have a date night every Sat & choose a movie and takeaway. We go get sandwiches & cake on Fridays and have a special lunch with our 3 year old (yes, I love food 😂). We’ve discovered some fab local walks I don’t think we’d ever have known where there! Now we can see family from a distance, that’s a bit easier. My mum is shielding but I still go sit in their garden with the bambino. I don’t touch anything & we do more than 2m! But it’s social interaction & oddly feels kinda normal as it’s not like we ever sat on top of each other anyway! We probably always sat 2m apart in her garden! We just can’t hug which is rubbish! Could your sons friends do something similar at your house?!

Hopefully 2021 will be much cheerier 🙏🏼

Thank you everyone, it’s nice to hear from some people that they think things will get back to normal. Gives me a little bit of hope as if I listen to the media, they have me thinking it will be like this forever.

@foregone I heard one say similar on tv as well , but it's all so confusing as they are all saying very different things

Only if you're not shielding.

It absolutely has to go back to normal eventually - simply, you can’t socially distance forever, how do people reproduce without having close social contact ?

Humanity relies on social/physical contact - this isn’t sustainable for long at all .

In the short term we have to stick with it, longer term things will go back to normal with (hopefully) changes around business travel, less unnecessary travel in general and shifts towards eg less food waste, closer communities ... but stuff like ceremonies (weddings and funerals), school, relationships, seeing family and friends and hugs etc ... that will all go back to normal eventually .

A thread with the exact same title was on here about 2 days ago - do a search.

The press have a lot to answer for. I'm not saying it won't take time, but people who casually say this is our "new normal" and life will NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN, need to stop.

It's irresponsible and bloody scary for a lot of adults, let alone children!