Are you ready for another 6 months of restrictions ?

[Xtfc123]

Does anybody think that this will all be normal by March/April, no more masks or restrictions ?
Ready to 'do your bit' and not see family and friends and have restrictions on your lives until potentially summer ?

Timing of what? Speed of their lockdown? Fair enough potentially but they're much more self sufficient than us (and more sparsely populated as before, not sure why that's being dismissed - it's hugely relevant to inter household transmission ) I doubt we could have been able to lock down as long or as hard as them regardless of whether we went a couple of weeks earlier.

@PinkFondantFancy

Timing of what? Speed of their lockdown? Fair enough potentially but they're much more self sufficient than us (and more sparsely populated as before, not sure why that's being dismissed - it's hugely relevant to inter household transmission ) I doubt we could have been able to lock down as long or as hard as them regardless of whether we went a couple of weeks earlier.

Yes lockdown same time as us when so early on the curve. Much easier to do this late March as rest of world is than in U.K. with comparable cases. At roughly 105 the date would have been? Feb for us?

And I still don’t think we could have done the same btw so agree on that

We are going to have restrictions around us for months they should start to ease by spring

It makes me feel quite low when I think about it so I put it to the back of my mind and get in with things

I am anticipating some pretty heavy duty restrictions in January. I think by April life will be more normal.

I think everything will have to go back to normal by Easter, the first sign of good weather in 2021 and everyone's going to be in the parks and down the beach, and outside the pubs, the beach crowds this summer will be nothing compared to next year.

New Zealand is a sparsely populated island in the middle of nowhere. I don't know why I keep seeing them discussed as an example, there's no way we could follow their approach. We're a major transport hub on an overpopulated island for starters.

No, you probably couldn't have followed NZ's example in some ways - but in others you could have. Not letting hordes of people go off skiing and then just waltz back home for one thing. Insisting on people coming into the country quarantine, instead of letting them come in from anywhere and go their merry way. Thinking that maybe the virus could run its course and let herd immunity develop - that was just stupid! Even the original lockdown could have been more strict - but no, you just keep coming up with the excuses.

eaglejules

I agree with you that we could have done much more but don’t agree about the first lockdown being more strict. I think a good balance was struck between getting the virus down and trying to be fair to the population as far as possible. The issue with the first lockdown was it came too late, and we came out too early.

Even the original lockdown could have been more strict - but no, you just keep coming up with the excuses.

No I disagree. It didn’t need to be more study. Like Spain? That didn’t help.

Even the original lockdown could have been more strict - but no, you just keep coming up with the excuses

What would you have suggested we did in the first lockdown that we didn’t do?
Ban outside exercise (known to be extremely low risk)?
Keep children inside like they did in Spain?
Not allow keyworker’s children to attend school?

We were only permitted to leave the house for essential work, daily exercise (once per day) and essential shopping. Which of those should we have forgone?

The first lockdown was hugely effective - it just arguably happened a week or two too late.

It’s been the reopening and half arsed and confusing measures, along with high profile politicians and celebs thinking the rules don’t apply to them, which has meant restrictions have lacked bite since the summer.

Perhaps the poster meant like we should have locked down like China did- literally chaining people indoors?

The only thing that could be argued is that we could have closed the borders, or at least properly quarantined people coming in, but it's doubtful how much good that would have done- they were pretty restricted where they could go when they got here anyway.

I think it will go on most of next year too

I do hope I'm wrong though

Well thats more reason for people to take advantage of the Christmas relaxation of the rules if they think this is going to drag on no?

@Requinblanc same here. Reality is that in a British winter you can’t expect people to comply with not seeing close friends and family indoors for any significant length of time. We are social creatures. We are meant to live in extended groupings. It’s not that surprising people have found it really difficult. The police have no man power or inclination to start raiding Sarah whose mum popped in for a cuppa.

The interminable nature of the restrictions isn’t helping compliance. Once the vaccine starts being rolled out to a wider group, any semblance of compliance will go out the window. Already I’d say most people I know are publicly supportive and privately bending/breaking the rules in quiet ways with trusted people. Ironically we’ve been amongst the most vocally critical and yet probably the most compliant. I don’t blame people though. It doesn’t feel proportional to not see your sister in your house when your kids are at the same school for example.

Im so fucking sick of the abuse and guilt tripping and emotional blackmail from Gov and SAGE and the media that i no longer want the vaccine. Ive had every other vaccine im supposed to have but i am so pissed off and angry and upset at the way we have been treated that i no longer fucking want it.

@Notthe9oclocknewsathon Or the fact that strip clubs are open.

My points with lockdown is they haven’t suppressed the virus, we are still being told hospitals will be overwhelmed - why are we doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

We're doing the same thing over and over expecting the same result, not a different one. Hospitals being overwhelmed is like a cliff edge we're driving towards whenever cases are rising. Restrictions slow us down and turn us round so we're driving away from the cliff edge. Opening stuff up turns us back towards the cliff edge. The best we can hope for right now is to get restrictions and relaxations finely tuned enough that we end up driving along parallel to the cliff edge, never getting so close to it again that we need a really serious lockdown. But if we do find ourselves with rapidly rising cases and are dangerously close to hospitals being overwhelmed, we will need more lockdowns, because we need something capable of turning us quickly away from that cliff edge, and when we're really close only quite severe restrictions can do that.

And I suppose, in that analogy, mass vaccination builds a fence between us and the cliff edge, so then no matter how we behave we'll never go over it (i.e. we'll never fill up the NHS with so many covid patients and so much covid risk that normal treatment can't happen any more).

@AlwaysLatte

I don't blindly accept the restrictions. I have my eyes wide open and am seeing the devastation this virus is causing. So I'm following the restrictions and will do until it's safer. Years down the line we won't remember so much the lack of nights out at the pub for a year but we'll remember our loved ones' deaths forever.

I'll remember not seeing my great uncle for the last 9 months of his life. He died in November (nothing covid related, was fairly old). I didn't see him for 9 months because I was repeatedly told I'd kill him if I went, to just wait on seeing him now so I could see him more later. Well now he's gone, we don't have a later, and I never got to see him. I'll never get that back.

It's not about the pub. Its not about wearing a mask, it's annoying sure but I'll happily get on with it if that's what it takes to have any real semblance of life back. It's about human interaction and socialisation, seeing friends and family. I don't care if I get to do it down the local boozer or with a cup of tea, but I need to see people I love and care about, I need a hug. I lost precious time with my uncle and I'm done now, I'm not losing it with anyone else.

I don't agree with "we won't remember the restrictions, but we will remember the deaths of our loved ones". People WILL remember in years to come how their businesses were destroyed, and as @OhReallyThen said, how they hardly got to see elderly relatives who were confined in care homes. The young will remember how their education was severely disrupted, and they will be the voters and keyworkers of the future.

Those who keep baying for a "proper lockdown" like Spain had: are Spain better off than we are now?

This whole saga might be the government's "last hurrah" with really being able to screw the public over like they have done: if this happens in future, the public will now be much more ready to fight back. Maybe the government realise this, and they're trying to milk it while they can. Politicians think we'll forget what they think are "minor inconveniences" like business-destroying lockdown, but we don't. I haven't forgotten Tony Blair, with his lies, spin, illegal war, nanny state, Blair-Rich project, and Cheshire Cat grin. Even when Boris tries to say "look people, I've saved you all with the vaccine, you should be grateful, you can go to the pubs now, I might even lower the booze tax because I'm very, very sorry I destroyed the hospitality industry, I might come with you", people will be bearing extremely serious grudges against him and his government; and I think we'll be seeing a lot more in the way of protests as people start to get really angry about their damaged lives. Perhaps people might even wise up to government lies and spin in general. If any canvassers darken my doorstep in a few years' time, I'll be grilling the hell out of them on if they're going to destroy the economy like Boris did if too many people start coughing.

Yes wanderings, people are waking up

My neighbour was all for a hardline lockdown... until her husband (in the leisure industry) lost his job

We had a chat and it was such a surprise to her that this happened, she had not thought of the consequences and thought people were saddo’s for complaining they could not go to the pub/days out . Forgetting her husband’s job would not exist if people stopped going

Some people think we can just stop the economy for a year, and then “go back to normal” But the damage and job losses and closed businesses have not even begun to show yet, and we are already past the point of being able to “go back to normal”, sadly

Im a 47 year old child free by choice woman and i am wondering how much longer im being expected to make sacrifices so schools can stay open.

Schools being open benefits all of society. It enables parents to do their jobs, which may be key worker roles or revenue producing to help with the recovery. Both hugely important.

It also ensures a generation of educated children. I presume you’re keen on doctors and nurses being available to you in the future, for example?

And as someone else pointed out, no doubt you yourself had the benefit of an education.

@DdraigGoch

Minor irritant to you, bigger irritant to others. Considering that most of the other measures introduced by our esteemed First Minister pretty much take away everything in life worth living for (I can't even go to a nature reserve any more - you can't get more covid-secure than a bloody nature reserve!) and don't actually do anything to stop the spread, I'd say that masks are minor by comparison. If wearing masks for a bit longer means that life can resume then I'm happy to wear them.

Most of you will only have to wear them for short periods of time while in shops, I have to wear them for far longer at work.

That's the thing that pisses me off most about Drakeford - that hideous puritanical streak which suggests "ALL enjoyable things - including nature reserves - are sinful virus spreaders and must be banned"

This when there is zero evidence to suggest that sensible outdoor enjoyments spreads anything other than mud, and that they are actually very beneficial for people's physical and mental health.

An outdoor Christmas lights walk near where my mum lives is S Wales has recently been banned. She was going to take the grandkids. But there's a risk that people might enjoy themselves so it's a no from Drakeford.

He seems determined to take away every last vestige of joy from life, whether or not there is a "risk" involved or not.

Maybe the Welsh government ought to look harder at why Wales and its NHS is being hard hit - poverty, awful public health and rubbish healthcare provision on their watch for a starters. Not at outdoor nature reserves.

I could easily do another 2 years if needed. I’m quite liking it really

@Megan2018 I'm genuinely intrigued. What are you enjoying about it? Are you retired/furloughed?

@Megan2018

I could easily do another 2 years if needed. I’m quite liking it really

Then you can go ahead and live the rest of your life like that if you want to.