Is this now the new way of life?

[Wannaflyaway]

Hi, I just wanted to ask those, who are a lot more knowledgeable than me, if, the way life is now, i.e. face masks in enclosed places, social distancing, the constant threat of local/national lockdowns, travel restrictions, quarantining, no theatres, no concerts, no mass gatherings etc. is really the new normal, not just temporarily, but for the long-term?. I think that it actually really is. I also feel that I'm now starting to come to terms with this new normal, which is what I thought I never would, but it isn't a nice feeling. It's a low-level depression and the feeling that I'm just existing, but not living, and that I have fuck-all to either plan for or to look forward to in the future.

Not sure if I just have lived a boring life as since June I feel like we are pretty much back to how we were, bar the face masks, trying to sit outside in a restaurant and a missed summer holiday

I see friends, I feel like we were about 1m apart anyway before this, kids back to nursery and preschool, I’m going into work. My OH is out working,

@ResIpsaLoquiturInterAlia

No it's only temporary. This temporary may be another two years or so (apparently). However if we all try our utmost to put up with the current inconvenience and discomfort we can hopefully eradicate this killer disease earlier. We need to all step up our combined Covid risk mitigation game. No superficial excuses and really be super vigilant and careful so we can all win this ongoing medical pandemic war! Life is currently still surreal as if a real life fictional movie but we will beat this if we stay focused and disciplined. Stay strong and stay safe and remember it's hands, face, space and trace!

Is that you, Boris?

@PerveenMistry

This is likely only the first of many pandemics as climate change, our ghastly treatment of animals & wildlife and other ecological shift's become irreversible, along with human overpopulation.

Get used to it. The halcyon days are over. I'm glad I got my innings in before this.

I do think we get the world we deserve.

this isn’t a ‘New Normal’. It’s abnormal.

One hopes it will be temporary - but if the vaccine isn't very good, then yes some changes will be permanent. Because people will want them.

I think we shall see more WFH, less car use for short trips (walking and cycling being preferred), masks during the autumn/winter virus season, better hand hygiene and generally staying that bit further away from strangers.

Businesses that can operate outdoors will, expand those areas, and markets will thrive. People will think more about ventilation, and there will be a return to openable windows (rather than reliance on energy-guzzling aircon).

People will take fewer overseas holidays (sharp reduction in minibreaks), and there will be a general 'Buy British' sentiment to help reduce (maybe) the number of businesses going bust

Online shopping will continue to do well, and (pipe dream here) delivery companies will up their game too - or perhaps parcel delivery will save Royal Mail (on a 'pick up from your local Post Office' basis)

I think this winter is going to be really grim as the economic impacts bite and the weather makes outdoor stuff unfeasible.

After that who knows. There is no finishing line.

Regarding theatre and eating out, it's no fun anymore. Maybe some people are embracing it but lots more are not. I can't see face masks, one way systems and temperature taking lasting a long time if the government wants the economy and entertainment industry to recover. I can't be the only regular theatre go-er who now can't be bothered. I go to shops for essentials but never linger and I am not going out. In Wales shops don't require face masks in shops but can if they want to. My view may be unpopular but i think this is more sensible. Standing in an empty Smiggle during the heatwave in a mask was a low point of my year! I couldn't leave the shop quick enough.

It's so bloody worrying.

Its hugging I miss. Really miss hugging my friends. That and going to the theatre. I can cope with distancing and wearing a mask.

I think it will go back to normal eventually but only for some people. Most will be too scared even when they are allowed. Look at what happened when restaurants and pubs opened, when people were allowed to visit beaches, when people didn’t have to wear face masks. The amount of people slating them calling them idiots etc...

Also @KnobChops you say people won’t put up with continual restrictions, from my experience a lot of people are loving that platform to judge everyone else

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross

It's temporary.

Things won't go back to how they were before (as they don't tend to after any world event) but they also won't stay exactly like this forever.

There'll be more virtual interaction - work, clubs / societies etc have all had their eyes opened to online meetings but that's a quality of life measure if it allows people to participate from home.
I'd be surprised if GP services go back to a fully in-person model - but think how we all moaned about getting appointments in the old days, and having to wait for hours when previous appointments overran.
A lot of businesses won't survive making us look at our town centres in a different way.
Those of us who have lived through this will be more distrustful of other people's germs for some time to come, and perhaps might pay a premium for more spaced out cinema / theatre seats.
It will be the end of the self-service buffet restaurant.

BUT, in a couple of years, I think life will be pretty much back to normal. Pandemics don't go on for ever. Even the Spanish flu which killed millions (because people didn't have the luxury of being able to work from home or socially distance and there was little / no medical care) only went on for two years, from first cases to last cases. I'm hopeful that by the end of 2021 things will look a lot more positive.

But @PerveenMistry is right; we need to start respecting the planet or it will happen again and again. That, I don't feel so positive about.

It will end. We can't carry on with social distancing forever. The population would eventually die out!

@Loveden I completely agree. We have always had to adapt to changes throughout history and so I think generally, people will carry on doing what they have found works well and maybe didn’t do before. I hope that some of the changes in perspective and what really matters will last for the longer term. But I do feel that we may well bounce back quite easily into old habits though too. So when the vaccine is rolled out, I think we’ll be pretty much back to normal - the good bits and bad bits of normal life!

No I still think we’ll have a vaccine. I haven’t seen anywhere that has been overly pessimistic on this.

The rules can carry on forever but I wont be following them if they do. Fair enough in restaurants where I have no choice, but im not never having a get together in my house again.
I've already seen the change since March, in myself and many people I know who honestly are giving up with the rules. So no, I dont believe the population will put up with it after a while.

Things will get better. People are so impatient. It’s been 6 months. I know it’s rubbish but sadly, we can’t just click our fingers & fix it. Through history, all pandemics have rumbled on for a good couple years. But I’m a glass half full person. If we managed to return to squash pretty awful pandemics & return to normal back on the days when medical care was pretty poor & we had nowhere near the medical knowledge, technology or science advances we do now, then I’m sure we’ll manage it this time as well.

There will be a vaccine of some kind eventually. Probably more than one. It’ll get rolled out, which will take quite a while but then we’ll either be protected from catching it or it’ll help make it less serious if we do.
We’ll also continue to learn about the virus & how best to treat it. We are already seeing big advances in treatment & saving a lot more lives.

We accept that 20-50,000 people a year die of flu. And that’s with a vaccine programme. We didn’t hide away because of it. So at some point, we’ll have to come to accept a level of death from Covid each year too.

Any pandemic will change life in some ways. I know I’ve taken a good look at what’s important to me. I hope more flexible working continues. I’d love to WFH more. Perhaps not permanently but it’s so nice to not sit in traffic for hours & be rushing around. I hope people continue to shop more locally. I actually really enjoy reduced capacity as I dislike crowds! I went out for dinner last to a fav restaurant where normally you are pretty squashed to the next table. It was so much better being 2m apart! I suppose not so great for the owner & his profits but I enjoyed it!

Try to stay positive, it’s been a hard year & it’ll likely continue for quite a while yet but these extreme measures won’t last forever. Fingers crossed for a roaring 20’s again hey!

@Wannaflyaway

I thought I could handle it all for 12-18 months, which was the timeline that was given, at least at the start. Now there doesn't seem to be any mention of this timeline. Now it's looking increasingly like this is it from now on.

Well that's not true at all. In the news yesterday the WHO was saying mass vaccinations likely by next spring/summer.

I'm a historian by background (not in academia anymore - workload is crazy) and no this really isn't just how it is now. At the moment we're trying to rewire human nature on a very fundamental level (social distancing in its various manifestations) and that never really works. Certain human instincts are just too strong & will always win through. Even extremely brutal & ruthless authoritarian regimes like the USSR and Mao's China failed at that. And Covid is actually....really not that bad in the great scheme of things & is of very limited risk to most of the population, so the likelihood of us rewiring our entire society in response to it longterm is even more miniscule, especially given the social, emotional & economic costs are already mounting up. Its much much milder than Spanish Flu, and when I studied early 20thc history to PhD level in the early 2000s I remember reading the odd article along the lines of "Hey there was this thing called Spanish Flu and it was a big deal and no one bothers studying it". It had really been forgotten. I honestly don't think Covid itself will feature that heavily when historians come to write about the first few decades of our century - the fallout from attempts to curtail Covid will feature more, because globally their impact will be worse. I think it will primarily just speed up somw things which were happening anyway (decline of offline retail, movement to cashless society) & sadly slow down others (global access to education, especially for girls). In terms of the developed world, I think it will primarily be of interest in terms of highlighting how people in our time process the idea of death & ageing & risk and the extent to which we expect to be able to control those things (basically we're really bad at coping with all those things, because we're mostly quite insulated from them).

That turned out to be a bit of an essay! I guess either there'll be a vaccine quite soon, or herd immunity will come back into fashion, just it won't be called that....and eventually Covid will just be another thing people get.

No of course it won’t be, no pandemic lasted forever and this one won’t either. Society cannot function this way longer term, there will be nothing left. Just my own opinion but while I think the next 6 months will be crappy by the time next spring and summer rolls around things will be much better.

Social distancing simply isn't normal human behaviour for most humans. We can rationalise it to a point but we are a social species and will only keep it up for so long.

No life will not stay like this because more and more people are realising that this virus is not what it was first thought to be.
ScammedOrWhat How can the government possible enforce testing on everyone? I certainly wont be having a test if I have a cold or flu like symptoms and absolutely no way am I having tests on a regular basis If I am fit and well.

possibly not possible

It won't.

I will not live this way for the long term. I'll comply throughout winter but if it carries on past spring next year I'm just going to start doing what I want. I expect I won't be alone either.

My (adult) DC were discussing how one of the possible changes in society going forward will be more to do with reactions to this epidemic than the actual virus.
That it’s setting up new forms of ‘class’.