Do you believe 2021 will be better?

[Whenismumhome]

I’m just asking this for reassurance tbh, not that anyone on here has a crystal ball.

I know that covid will not go away, there will still be cases of it and hospitalisation but do you think in 2021 we will be able to wave goodbye to social distancing, mask wearing and all the restrictions?

Surely there will have to be a day were Boris says the restrictions/lockdowns are over for good and aren’t coming back again.

I think they'll avoid a massive demasking event as half the nation will celebrate in the pub or by congregating.

Yes, it will OP.

I think providing the he numbers reduce significantly, things should be better.

I’m in Aus, our state has it under control. We are close to normal, but there are still restrictions for the number of people allowed to big events, stores and venues have restricted capacity to allow social distancing. There are hand sanitizers available in all shops. Any events that can’t have their numbers controlled are cancelled or changed.
The downside is we are stuck in Australia until there is either a vaccine or the rest of the world have got it under control, which also means we can’t have our families from overseas visiting. It’s been fine this year, but will suck if it’s going to be another 2+ years like that.
I do realise we are super fortunate to be able to live our lives as normal for the most part.

Hopefully the Uk can get there too but the leadership doesn’t inspire confidence.

Not at all, along with Covid we'll be trading on WTO rules & Kent will be a lorry park.

Yes. I'm due baby number 5

I think a vaccine will be found eventually but I think we are all going to be more wary about the possibility of future similar outbreaks and therefore I think a lot of the current measures - masks, moving things online, social distance measures- may be long term.

I think we will not lose the masks, SD, and TaT. But I think we will be better because we will not need lockdowns as strict as the first one, and hopefully no many of them after this November.
I hope the vaccine is ready by then. And further treatments.

Yes - spring 2021 things will start to get better.

Tobe honest they already are. In April 2020, you couldn't get a test unless you were hospitalised and you couldn't get hospitalised unless your lips were blue.

Now, the survival rate has been improved and we are all used to living in new ways.

That being said I think it is an awful virus and we will have a bad winter.

The WHO aren’t going to say five years though are they. Because people would probably give up now.
Pandemics are usually over in two years but this one has been slowed down and doesn’t seem to give immunity so people who’ve already had it are now catching it again.
Five years. Maybe longer. I think between this and brexit we are sunk. There isn’t much hope on the horizon.

I think Jan/ Feb 2021 could be difficult, and even if there is a vaccine it may not be entirely effective and will take a long time to vaccinate everyone. I think the masks and social distancing will be around for a while.
My DD is applying for uni for Sept 2021 and Im not at all sure how that is going to be. Some of her choices are a long way from home, which worries me a bit.

@Goawaybird

The WHO aren’t going to say five years though are they. Because people would probably give up now. Pandemics are usually over in two years but this one has been slowed down and doesn’t seem to give immunity so people who’ve already had it are now catching it again. Five years. Maybe longer. I think between this and brexit we are sunk. There isn’t much hope on the horizon.

Is there not something like about 7 cases out of the hundreds of millions of people who had it with confirmed reinfection?

But sure, you know better than WHO.

@MushMonster

I think we will not lose the masks, SD, and TaT. But I think we will be better because we will not need lockdowns as strict as the first one, and hopefully no many of them after this November. I hope the vaccine is ready by then. And further treatments.

But we have to lose SD or society cannot get back to normal.

I don’t think this will be the last lockdown. Sadly.

@Bagelsandbrie

I think a vaccine will be found eventually but I think we are all going to be more wary about the possibility of future similar outbreaks and therefore I think a lot of the current measures - masks, moving things online, social distance measures- may be long term.

I think most things will disappear but that quarantining for symptoms will remain until a negative test or 10/14 days have elapsed. It will require a total change in the British psyche of popping 2 paracetamols and carrying on as normal and also for employers

I don’t know madame I thought the same - but there’s a thread on here about people catching it again and it seemed to be more common that I originally thought.

No. We've got Brexit kicking in so it was always due to be a shit year - in fact quite a few years ahead will be crappy due to Brexit.
Coronavirus will have worsened this considerably.

Given that this is in the coronavirus topic, I assume it doesn't refer to brexit etc. In coronavirus terms, yes of course next year will be much better, once we're out of winter.

We won't see another full lockdown (schools shut, one exercise a day etc) because things are so much improved on where we were this summer.

By next winter, there will be at least partial roll out of a vaccine, and all the other improvements in testing and treatment will be in place.

If we can get through this one bleak winter, we'll never go back to the worst days of this pandemic.

@agradecida

I'm aiming to get through to the end of March, and expecting better from then on. I don't mean back to 'normal', but a happy existence, rather than just an existence!

• it starts to get warmer and sunnier - even just a walk in the warm sun on my own would help right now
• I believe that vaccination will start either Dec or Jan at the latest - even if it's only for a limited number and just results in milder symptoms, it still gives me hope
• testing will keep improving - the '20 min' test looks very hopefull
• I'll be able to meet friends for a picnic outside. I believe we'll be back to at least meeting 6 people outside by then, and much more pleasant on a warm day than in this weather.
• if rates rise again in Sept/Oct, I think we'll be in a position to treat it in the same way as a normal flu season because we'll have another 11 months of developments of rapid and widespread testing, improvements in treatment and of vaccines.

That's pretty much how I feel too, though maybe a little less sure we'll be treating it like a normal flue season next winter.

Yes, 2021 will be better in terms of the pandemic in this country. Even if the vaccine has no impact in the scale of the spread and simply prevents severe illness in half of those vaccinated - rolled out on a sliding scale of those are the most exposed and vulnerable in society then, because of the sheer scale of numbers, this will have a real impact in reducing the pressure on the NHS.

I think it will be more volatile. Because of Brexit, economic fallout and so on but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I think we will hit breaking point with lockdowns though. I also think the Tories will revolt: Boris really has until the end of the year, after that unless a vaccine is found it will be open warfare to get him out because repeat lockdowns just won't be sustainable.

I also think we need to grow up and toughen up as a nation and stop thinking that politicians have all the answers/trusting rotten governments or naively believing that life does not come with hardship because we live in fairly affluent societies...

@Goawaybird

Five years of this is my prediction.

Of the pandemic or j clouding economic recovery?

Either way I think you're off.

Pandemic - given how much we've learnt in the short time since it started, the pandemic won't last 5 years. Vaccine/treatment/testing will reduce it massively. Yes, some people will still die because of it, just like pneumoniaetc, but not like they are now.

Economically I think we will (rightly) pay back the debt over a long period (like we have in the past) & I think they'll put money into job creation & business start ups as well as 'relief' for existing businesses.

Spring will bring good things. It's a lovely morning here, it's a good reminder that spring/summer will make life seem a lot better

@Goawaybird you sound extremely down.
There has been a handful of cases showing reinfection amongst millions infected. Reinfection happens in a minority of cases in every known virus. It’s to be expected for a small percentage.
5 years. So you are expecting the population to not socialise and hug for 5 years, many people not earning for 5 years? No developments in treatment or medical advancements in 5 years? Barely any international travel from or to the UK in 5 years?

Yes it will be better. We should get vaccine news soon. While it won’t eliminate Covid, it will help enormously. Transmission rates should drop as more people are vaccinated. We will probably need to distance and wear masks for several months after rollout begins but it will end.
Stay optimistic!

Who knows? I'm optimistic of a vaccine but there could be another pandemic and climate change is also looming. The world needs to get a grip on that whatever your views on it.
There is always hope though and I really hope things are better next year. Jobs will come back I'm sure of it.
Just got to get through this winter time.

Yes, 2021 will be better. There are so many people being negative, please try not to listen to them. Hope is so important for people’s mental health. When things feel like they are hopeless try to manage your emotions by applying logic to the situation and look for positive evidence. If you read scientific journals written by people who are medical experts, the general consensus is that yes, 2021 will absolutely be better. This will be a tough winter, and then spring will feel much lighter, with a return to (almost) normality in the latter half of 2021. We have already come so far from where we were in March/April. There have been so many advances in treatments, as a civilised nation we are learning how to handle this virus more and more every day. The modern media is a collection of stories about failure, try to actively seek out positive stories about advances and triumphs. There is a website called Positive Coronavirus News which I enjoy reading. We are moving forward and we’ll get there eventually, even if there are bumps in the road. Remember all the issues with PPE initially? There are always teething problems when a situation is unprecedented, and then it gets sorted. We’re currently experiencing lots of issues with track and trace, it will get sorted. There will likely be teething problems with the distribution of a vaccine at mass scale, it will get sorted. Just hang on in there, better times are just around the corner.