How can you do this to your children (and yourselves)?

[endoftheworldaoife]

It has been six months and it's now very clear that covid won't be doing away in our lifetimes. A vaccine won't eradicate it (just as a vaccine didn't eradicate flu).

Most of you seem to be willing to accept social distancing and masks for the foreseeable. And I don't get it. We are a tribal species. We literally die without contact and get sick without communication. Kids are learning arrange, stilted ways of being that will just worsen their digital reliance. OCD is being normalised. Dating will be neurotic and masked. Freshers won't make new loves or lifelong friends like we did. As for their working lives...

I wouldn't mind catching covid (indeed I'm sure we all will sooner or later) so can someone explain to me what on earth is happening in their heads to tip the balance? If it only affected us, I could understand (well, I couldn't but this feels like child abuse on a giant scale).

[quote NC4NW123]@EDSGFC so your saying all the ‘measures‘ in place are helping? If so I wonder why the cases are rising. I’m just saying Covid isn’t our only worry. The impact of all these measures, that aren’t actually working will be long lasting indeed.[/quote]
Because people aren't abiding by the measures, that's why some areas are in local lockdown and why the people rule is in place. Because people aren't following the previous rules. It's not hard to understand

@Teateaandmoretea

Can you explain how not controlling Covid infections will help treatment of all other conditions?

Because we need an immune system. If we all exist in sterile little bubbles in the long term it will make us all sicker. HTH.

@Teateaandmoretea

Social distancing and cloth masks is not the same as a sterile environment. It reduces the risk of sharing germs but does not eliminate it.

@Teateaandmoretea

I really need to read back a few more pages. This threadbis giving me a right laugh.

Now finding this vile shitshow funny is a whole new level of unpleasant. But as it’s shown it takes all sorts

I take it that they are looking for a reaction and trying to wind people up into 'you are going to kill us all'.

I cant take them seriously. And if they are serious then the only way i can deal with that level of ignorance is to laugh at it because i know damn well trying to reason with it, is utterly utterly pointless.

Whats the point in getting angry with this insanity? Its a result of a collapse in trust in authority that cant be fixed in the duration of this crisis.

@orangejuicer

Why do people begrudge wearing masks so much? That's what this is about, isn't it?

Well I think it's that they're ill-educated selfish dicks but what do I know 🤷🏻‍♀️

@orangejuicer

Why do people begrudge wearing masks so much? That's what this is about, isn't it?

And before anyone comes on here crying I'm talking about those who can and should but don't, not those who are exempt.

Wake up? I hope none of you need ITU. Please protect yourself and others.
This thread is despairing.

My favourite thing quoted in this thread is 'I personally know of someone who X/Y/Z.'

So you didn't know them then and what you're spouting is hearsay. Whaddasurprise!

People are fundamentally selfish with no empathy for others. There are a lot of them here. They think they are better, fitter, more deserving and so don’t give a damn about the vulnerable.

too many people simply think that compliance with the "rules" will eradicate the virus, and then we're in the clear. They are wrong. This virus, like all the others, will be around for ever. And we have to live with that, just like we do with flu and a host of other viruses. Daft "rule of six" measures and ever more laws cannot change that basic fact.

I cannot believe people think this is funny. That is just vile frankly.

Don't think 'this' is funny. Just the same old tropes that you are coming out with.

"Dancing around in snot rags" yeah the WHO recommended barriers to droplet spreading. But you crack on. 🙄

If you dont laugh you cry.

@AlecTrevelyan006

too many people simply think that compliance with the "rules" will eradicate the virus, and then we're in the clear. They are wrong. This virus, like all the others, will be around for ever. And we have to live with that, just like we do with flu and a host of other viruses. Daft "rule of six" measures and ever more laws cannot change that basic fact.

I don't think so. I comply because that's the best I can do to minimise the risk for everyone, including me.. Not because I believe we are in the clear.

This virus, like all the others, will be around for ever.

Oh @AlecTrevelyan006 course it will. Who says it will be eradicated? But in the future hopefully we will be able to cope with it via vaccines, immunity, medical care, decent testing. Right now it is brand new to us.

And these basic methods now "rule of six" etc are for fire fighting the situation at hand.

Everyone thought HIV was a death sentence in the 1980s but it isn’t now. Things do improve. Don’t be so defeatist just because it’s an inconvenience to wear a face mask.

I don’t have six people to have a Christmas with so I’m not worried about that. People can actually go places as individuals and are not all joined at the hip!

I just can't believe it's September and there are still all these restrictions in place. Unbelievable. So tired of it all...

I'm unsure what many people on here want. Apart from zero-covid, I assume, although any sensible person knows that is unlikely (even with a fast-tracked vaccine). They are blind to other issues, too, like cancer, suicides, mental health, etc. Only covid matters.

I think only an official line would change that viewpoint, but can't see that happening anytime soon. People talk of missing gigs/concerts, etc, then say "if everyone had behaved we'd be out of this now..." stuff. I can't imagine that the few not sticking 100% to the rules have influenced events that much. I think as a nation we've been remarkably compliant and helpful so far, and can't think that we'd be any better position than we are now whatever decisions we took - apart from adopting Sweden's position.

I can only speak for my own dc, but so far
this year they have learned that even a scary global pandemic is lived through one day at a time; that the small efforts of individuals can collectively have a powerful effect; that you can choose to count your problems or your blessings; that there are greater causes than individualism, yet much to be gained as an individual in sacrificing for the greater good. They are learning not to take things for granted, and that seemingly small details can become sources of great joy. They are learning to assess risk, and to take personal responsibility for decisions. They are learning now how to deal with adversity, which they will likely face again in another stage of live. They are learning not to be afraid of the future, that they have it within them to deal with what comes.
They are learning about civic responsibility, the strengths and weaknesses of democracy, the absolute importance of actively shaping the political leadership.
They are learning that history brings the benefit of hindsight and we should study the past to learn for the future, but that you can’t necessarily judge the decisions made in the past without the benefit of that knowledge. They are learning that science is a constant search for knowledge not a text book of absolute facts. They are learning that it’s ok to change your decisions as you gain more knowledge - and that you should periodically review your beliefs.

I think they’re going to be ok.

@kittensarecute

I just can't believe it's September and there are still all these restrictions in place. Unbelievable. So tired of it all...

But the restrictions are only here because Covid is.

And if people are not going to bother with easily fulfilled obligations such as masks and, er, just standing back from people a bit, then it's going to be around at this level at least until a vaccine is fully rolled out.

@kittensarecute

I just can't believe it's September and there are still all these restrictions in place. Unbelievable. So tired of it all...

A view that exists because the government weren't fucking honest and downplayed the likelihood that it would be a long problem when they said lockdown would just be a couple of weeks, whilst scientists were going actually this is going to be an issue for at least 12 to 18 months.

When i told other parents i was told i was being silly and not to be a pessimist. Im not. Im a realist.

As i say, it always comes back to trust in government and a lack of integrity. They set unrealistic expectations and people dont understand any of it. Half the time because they are paying attention.

They are blind to other issues, too, like cancer, suicides, mental health, etc. Only covid matters.

Speak for yourself.

Covid rates affect all those things.

@thelegohooverer

Agree with so much of your post.

@AlecTrevelyan006

too many people simply think that compliance with the "rules" will eradicate the virus, and then we're in the clear. They are wrong. This virus, like all the others, will be around for ever. And we have to live with that, just like we do with flu and a host of other viruses. Daft "rule of six" measures and ever more laws cannot change that basic fact.

First up, you have no idea what people think never mind how many think what you assume they think.

I don’t think that it is inevitable that the virus will be eradicated. As far as I know only one virus has ever been eradicated by human endeavour.

But many have been suppressed to the point where they pose little or no threat to the population. Or immunity has developed naturally but not without cost to human life and whole societies. See the impact of white European settlers on indigenous peoples. That’s genocide.

What works depends on the virus. We don’t know Jack shit about this virus. But we do know that it spreads insidiously and that it kills people.
In the end the virus might mutate to be innocuous, it might be managed by medicine, we might find a one off vaccine or we may have take a long haul approach to risk management.

We do this all the time with disease management. That’s why we don’t live in the squalor of Victorian times, or have unsafe sex with multiple strangers. We adapt our behaviour either voluntarily or through legislation.

We have never responded to a disease in modern times with a just do nothing approach. It changes the way we live.

Do I know what everyone thinks? No. But it's pretty clear what a lot of people think - they post their 'thoughts' on this very forum!

It's also wrong to say 'we don't know jack shit about this virus'. We don't know everything, but we know a lot and we know more than we did a few months ago - in particular we know which demographics it most affects

and I've never suggested, nor believe, that we should 'do nothing'. I do, however, believe that many of the things we are doing are having a disproportionately negative impact on the whole of society compared to the danger posed by the virus.

It’s been six months - most of them pretty comfortable with people sitting at home and maybe baking sourdough bread! My parents and grandparents put up with bombs dropping on their heads - or at least close by - for five years. I think I can manage to wash my hands, wear a mask and stay distant for a bit longer!

Well that sounds different to "too many people simply think that compliance with the "rules" will eradicate the virus, and then we're in the clear. " @AlecTrevelyan006* *

Which just sounds like sweeping generalisation given there are what 30 people on this thread? Haven't counted.