How the hell

[Ellsbells12]

Can this end (sorry been asked before) I mean city's all locking down, how much longer can this go on for ? People can't take much more , jobs losses , suicides (friend of a friend killed himself weds) I am sure everyone feels the same

My nan says this is far worse than the war too. She's in local lockdown and hasn't seen anyone in weeks. How is that OK? It's shit.

I'm lucky I go to work every day. Otherwise I'd be really struggling.

The government's handling of this hasn't been good. But we do need to place much of the blame onto the virus itself. There are no easy answers.

I agree there needs to be a balance however restrictions and guidance need to be followed to help keep numbers to a minimum. Testing and tracking needs to be better. Government guidance and public engagement need improvement. Decisions carefully made for good reason not just announced for the sake of it or in panic.

Even if we learn to live with it life won’t be normal. We aren’t in a lockdown at all really and I’m in an area with further restrictions: I go to work, I can shop, I can eat out, I can see friends outside ( not perfect) I can visit a gym or pool, kids are going to school. I visit my vulnerable dad but at his door for a coffee. Single people can bubble up and also still see friends outside.

Yes life isn’t normal I go to gigs/ nights out and travel a couple of times a year so I’m not at my normal and I’ve had some tough times personally as well as working for the NHS through a pandemic but I’m making it the best I can.

It is working: less people are in hospital so far ( my trust is very busy with other sick people too, not quiet) but covid numbers are currently manageable. Less staff off sick to treat people because of the rules/restrictions so less staff needed to redeploy in covid areas too

Which means more nhs services are up and running, yes there is a backlog but covid safe restrictions are in place too which limits numbers of clinics and treatments etc but it’s happening ( in my trust anyway).

If more people get sick it does spread to the vunerable, those testing positive don’t go to work for 10 or more days, so less people working in vital services. Normal NHS services cannot resume normally in a country where a novel virus is ripping through the community.

Supermarkets/schools/energy services could suffer from staff shortages which affect normal life.

It’s a no win situation

@Newjez I find that comment insulting. There are plenty of us up north following every bloody rule. It’s spreading and cases rising in areas down south too so stop being so patronising.

Newjez. What’s with the cliffhanging, dramatic end?

Did you hear the Eastenders ‘duff duffs’ when you wrote that?

@FrolickingFannyBoots I can assure you mental health services are still working. I work in a community mental health team and we have been working throughout, going to see patients in PPE when phone or video contact isn't adequate. Yes we have been busier, but we are here (and working bloody hard!)

@Scottishgirl85

Modern life has made this harder than it needed to be. Previous generations have gone through so much worse. Focus on what you can do, which is actually a heck of a lot! And remember it's only temporary and a very small fraction of your lifetime. If COVID is all you have to worry about, you're actually very lucky indeed

I agree with this. My parents' teenage years were disrupted by 6 years of War including my Dad having to do National Service in the Far East.

I agree with the OP that it is shit out there and the Government have been incompetent in dealing with it but no one is emerging from an underground shelter to find their whole street has been destroyed. We also have the added advantage of phones, email, social media etc and can keep in touch with friends and family even if they are far away and TV and the internet to entertain us if we are confined to home. Food is not rationed and we can get it delivered if we don't want/ can't get out to shop for ourselves.

I have every sympathy for people with real mental health issues.

However, Covid have brought out a lot of adult toddlers whose equivalent of stamping their feet and screaming is going on to an internet forum and typing ' I cannot do this, my mental health is really suffering...'.

No, it isn't. You are a bit worried and miserable, as is everyone else. Now pull yourself together and stop whingeing.

I also work in community mental health, we have seen an uptick in known patients deterioration and new patients referred. A lot of staff are off sick.

@Miljea

Frolicking Q:"I'm seeing with thousands being denied screening, cancer treatment and operations. I am absolutely livid about it. I don't see how the NHS can justify allowing people to suffer and put Covid before cancer. It's a disgrace. Had I known this I would never have clapped on those Thursdays."

No you aren't. You're not seeing 'thousands'... Etc.

The Daily Mail has told you to imagine thousands, thus you believe it. Un-clever person.

And, how ignorant do you have to be to think the junior doctors/nurses/ health care assistants/ radiographers were acting 'disgracefully' in actually weighing in there, risking their lives in treating Covid patients - that now you wouldn't have clapped, had you 'known'?

Any idea how many non-Covid patients failed to attend their 'cancer-diagnosis' appointments due to Daily Mail whipped-up terror of a tiny risk of Covid, in an Out Patient clinic?

You disgust me.

Wow that is quite a rant, however it is not DM induced imagination, and it is not the DM's fault that people didn't attend, the government did that all by themselves.

I haven't got a date for my annual mammogram which is due, so don't bloody tell me it is just media whipped hysteria.

@larrygrylls

I have every sympathy for people with real mental health issues.

However, Covid have brought out a lot of adult toddlers whose equivalent of stamping their feet and screaming is going on to an internet forum and typing ' I cannot do this, my mental health is really suffering...'.

No, it isn't. You are a bit worried and miserable, as is everyone else. Now pull yourself together and stop whingeing.

Well I don't agree to some extent to be honest I suffer with mental health and have done for 20 years ...I also had a break down last year !!! People are feeling shit so in my eyes people are suffering

One example was Jasmin out of Towie who said she had depression. And it went after 2 weeks but people who never had before are suffering I also heard of someone who hung them selves due to no work for 9 months so anyone can get it in this situation

If you look at most epidemics and pandemics in history they all eventually end. Usually by mutating into something that is less of a problem. This will probably just mutate into something akin to seasonal flu.

The point of lockdown was never to prevent us all from catching it. It's not a game of hide and seek. Lockdown was to stop us all from catching it at the same time and therefore overwhelming the NHS and also to buy us a bit of time while we found out more about it.

Realistically all this may have been over quicker if we hadn't bothered with lockdown but possibly with a greater number of fatalities.

@MummaGiles that is how that guy did it in front of a train

@OutComeTheWolves

If you look at most epidemics and pandemics in history they all eventually end. Usually by mutating into something that is less of a problem. This will probably just mutate into something akin to seasonal flu.

The point of lockdown was never to prevent us all from catching it. It's not a game of hide and seek. Lockdown was to stop us all from catching it at the same time and therefore overwhelming the NHS and also to buy us a bit of time while we found out more about it.

Realistically all this may have been over quicker if we hadn't bothered with lockdown but possibly with a greater number of fatalities.

That is all I want to know IT WILL END

We cannot mix households in Northern Ireland. For those of you saying you can't see elderly parents, if it was me, if they can come to their front door and sit or stand and have a conversation while I stand 10 feet away, that would be no different to a postman dropping a parcel off or a food delivery be left off and those people talking to you from a distance. Does that make sense?

I really don't see what or how that could harm anyone if you are a considerable distance between each other. No different to doing your shopping and speaking to someone you know in a shop. I don't get all these comments of 'I can't see this person or that person'. Yes you can, just do it sensibly.

I find it grim too as I think alot of the restrictions are arbitrary, knee jerk and plainly stupid. And that's hard to stomach. I don't really have words of comfort but do symphathise massively.

Legally you cannot see them though. There's no room for "being sensible" within the current laws. Due to the layout of where my nan lives, it's impossible to see her at a distance (and also illegal).

Life really is pretty crap for a lot of people right now. I recognise parts of my life are good and I'm thankful I see people through work.

People in all groups have been shafted. The long term effects of this will be huge, both in terms of mental and physical health and economically.

I still believe asking as you are far enough away from someone, like 10 feet away, and remain so, you really aren't doing any harm.

You might not be. But it's still illegal.

Does that mean she shouldn’t?

To be fair I’m in Liverpool which has one of the most severe restrictions and nothing’s changed

I can still go cinema, for food, take kids ice skating and go theme parks

Gyms etc and kids after school dance and gymnastics all still on so it’s hardly severe

I’m still at work - off shopping in town today to L1. I can go anywhere really with my own family!

If I want to meet friends we go for walks or get a takeaway. I’ll even go to a beer garden and sit on separate tables. Technically we can’t go cinema but once ur inside no one would know!

@loulouljh me too my question ya how long can they keep doing this ? Can't keep locking people down .... it will do more harm than good in the end

Actually just double checked - even in places like Liverpool you can sit in beer gardens with friends as rules only apply indoors

You can do what you like with your own family. However there are plenty of people for whom being with their family isnt a happy time. Lots of people need to see others for their mental wellbeing.

Some areas of the country are fairing worse than others. Is it just unlucky or not following guidelines? Obviously university areas with the students returning and partying led to numbers rising in some places and if they refuse to follow lock down then will get worse.

Some people are really struggling and others seem to take the changes in their stride. It must be really hard if job losses and few options available.

For me it does feel that it is going on forever but these current guidelines are workable and so much better than the full lock down so I wish people would stick to it. The selfish are spoiling for the rest of us as usual