Anyone else find this slightly dystopian now ?

[Whitechocolatemarshmallow]

We may be 'allowed' to see families etc. Over Christmas but should be expected to 'pay' for this with subsequent lockdowns, and hugging will be banned.

Now, there's talk of a 'freedom pass' for people who test negative twice a week to allow them to live a more normal life, which they will be able to present should they be stopped and questioned.

What's coming next, having to show proof of vaccination status ?
I'm no conspiracy theorist and i'm fully aware that Covid is real.

Why are we willing to give up our old lives like this ?

The virus is so deadly that it can take 5 days off over Christmas ?

I’m starting to feel the same now as time goes on. I resent feeling like I’ve got to get permission to do anything. More so as my son was off due to a case in his year so needed to self isolate seemed ridiculous I couldn’t take him further than the garden because ‘it’s not allowed’.
Rule-following fatigue definitely kicking in for me 😞

I'm reeling from the death of a good friend from this fucking virus. I'd happily get tired of following rules if it meant it'd bring them back. Sadly they're gone forever.

It's a brutal death.

It's starting to get scary. People queuing like mindless zombies for an hour to get into Sainsbury's.
Waiting to be told whether we are allowed to see our own parents or not.
Women having to give birth alone.
Having to leave your personal details to every pub or restaurant you go to.

I think they should be focusing more on testing for example of healthcare staff, care home staff and visitors (this is only now being introduced) rather than all this focus on healthy younger people. Really good infection control and testing in high risk places.

Agreed!

Not denying the virus at all but we do need to be mindful of the level of freedom we are giving up for not much in return.

I'm really sorry to hear about your friend, I know how horrible it must be.
I think that most people are fully willing to be sensible and take precautions, but this is new for us and it's very unsettling to have basic freedoms removed by the Government.

What's coming next, having to show proof of vaccination status ?

Yes, it seems so. It is being reported today that this is needed to give individuals more freedom next year.

Agreed but then I've felt like this from the beginning and all those months wasted when the weather was beautiful in the summer. Grandparents missing out on seeing their grandkids, they grow so quick and it's precious time.

I'm pretty horrified reading about the potential 'freedom pass' for which you'd have to be tested twice a week.

What's next, you'll have to wear a badge to identify your vaccination status?

Totally agree with you OP. Those not supporting current restrictions need to start speaking out otherwise all our freedoms are going to be stripped from us.

I agree.

I’ve thought that for months.

What's coming next, having to show proof of vaccination status ?

This is in the news today, it makes me feel very strange about how our lives are now, I'd like to imagine an end in sight, but I think it will be in the form of showing proof you've been vaccinated etc.

I'm sure I even saw an article saying shops would have to check the passes etc, I work in retail, I am not getting paid enough to deal with the grief of checking people's vaccination status etc. IF it comes to that it's ridiculous.

However they also said we'd have a world beating test and trace service and look what's happened there..

Yellow fever certificates have been about for years and no one kicks off about them. I don’t see how it’s any different to carry something showing your covid vaccination status.

It's new for us because the virus is new to humans. Of course things are going to have to drastically change and no one likes it, and I'm not denying the govt could be doing things a million times better, but no-one will ever know how they've escaped their family or health being devastated because the right people followed the rules.

Now???

It's been like some dystopian nightmare from March.

Every time I walked across a train station concourse and saw every shop shut, all the signboards displaying ads relating to key workers or Covid-19 and the station announcements thanking key workers and telling all non essential travellers to stay home and let the key workers travel, it felt like some weird dystopian world where those who worked were valued and people who didn't/couldn't were facing restrictions.

You're only getting that vibe now????

I don't get this idea thats its suddenly ok to have 5 "days off" over Christmas if its safe to mix households on Christmas day then its safe every other day of the year

I deeply despise this government and all they stand for. I also feel they have done a terrible job at managing every part of this pandemic.
However this really isn’t some great ploy or dystopian novel. Lockdowns and vaccinations are pretty essential for controlling a novel virus. No way have the governments round the world collaborated to each crash their economies with lockdowns for the sheer hell of wanting to control their citizens in some way.
Why would they do that?
Also this government can’t even plan a single rule change without it getting leaked to the papers, do you really think that we have thousands of people secretly in on some dystopian plot?
Pandemics do happen throughout history and with this one we may just be able to get through it by this time next year through science and rule following.

Yep, it's hideous. Masks, distancing, the whole shebang. And people gave up their freedoms so willingly. That's what fear does. It how totalitarian states start.

I'm no covid denier or conspiracy theorist, just a lockdown sceptic. The cure is worse than the disease. What happened to 'first, do no harm'?

How can you be free when constantly having to wait for test results?

How does that work?

It's also completely insensitive to people from other cultures; for example, Hindus who have just had a lockdown Diwali, and Muslims, who got no lifting for Eid.

I am questioning whether there is any way on God’s earth they this Gov can organise twice weekly testing or at least without having to drive to a test centre (which I can’t). It will be a massive PITA and I expect we will have to pay prescription charge for each test at least. However, out of my close family nearly 40 per cent of us have had random tests in the last couple of weeks, so maybe they can manage it if that is representative of the number of people getting random tests (I doubt it is though and is probably just a coincidence).

@Gingernaut

Now???

It's been like some dystopian nightmare from March.

Every time I walked across a train station concourse and saw every shop shut, all the signboards displaying ads relating to key workers or Covid-19 and the station announcements thanking key workers and telling all non essential travellers to stay home and let the key workers travel, it felt like some weird dystopian world where those who worked were valued and people who didn't/couldn't were facing restrictions.

You're only getting that vibe now????

It's the adverts about coronavirus restrictions on the TV and radio that always make me feel most like I'm in a dystopian film. And, to begin with, shops full of people in masks, but I'm used to that now.

I'm not criticising either thing, by the way, or saying they're unnecessary/shouldn't happen. But if you'd shown me a clip of either this time last year and said 'disaster film or actual footage of 2020?' I'd have been very confident that it was a clip from a film.

@Gingernaut

Now???

It's been like some dystopian nightmare from March.

Every time I walked across a train station concourse and saw every shop shut, all the signboards displaying ads relating to key workers or Covid-19 and the station announcements thanking key workers and telling all non essential travellers to stay home and let the key workers travel, it felt like some weird dystopian world where those who worked were valued and people who didn't/couldn't were facing restrictions.

You're only getting that vibe now????

Do you ever get that thing where you imagine yourself 1 year ago seeing the future as it is now, and realise that your past self would be like, "what the actual fuck?"

I feel like I explained that poorly...!