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 ?

Yep. Whatever it takes. I clearly recall back in March someone in power saying life would be nowhere normal for at least18 months.

God knows how our relatives ‘back in the day’ survived nearly 6 years of war.

Different time yes, but horrendous hardships/losses that make WFH, not being able to head off to Corfu for 2 weeks, soft play being closed, etc etc pale into insignificance really.

But then most of MN seem to just flaunt the restrictions anyway.

lockdown hasnt worked wher ei live the numbers for the last week of it went sky high one of the worst in the country

But surely that means lockdown hasn’t worked? Indeed, cases were going down before England went into lockdown. Is lockdown now a blunt tool

Shutting the pubs doesn't mean lockdown. The recent measures was not a lockdown. It's basically what tier 3 is now.

People are aware, when they are saying screw the government, they are actually screwing vulnerable people if they are meaning they will not be social distancing and going back to "normal"

The government need to be held to account for the negligent compete disregard it has shown "its people", but putting others at risk is not the answer.

Marsha, Australia requires huge spending stimulus also (which is mostly happening).

I carry a mask with me everywhere. I wear it on public transport and in the shops. Masks are unpleasant in the Australian heat and give me pimples. It's a small price.

Unfortunately Boris did the UK no favours at the start of the pandemic, and continues to be sub standard. Aus PM was just lucky the Australian state leaders knew how to listen to science and lead.

Life wasn’t too hard for us here in July and august this year. We could travel within Scotland, eat out (with wine!!) and see friends in small groups. I’m hoping we’ll be back there again by late March / early April. In fact I’m hoping we can travel within Scotland for Feb half term (but not banking on it).

June-September was pretty great, I naïvely thought that would be it, cases would stay low, and here we are now.

Honestly, I think past February all bets are off on what restrictions might be in place.

I don't think things will be carrying on in the same way as they have been.

It's politically untenable for them to continue in their current format...

@hugchocolate

Marsha, Australia requires huge spending stimulus also (which is mostly happening).

I carry a mask with me everywhere. I wear it on public transport and in the shops. Masks are unpleasant in the Australian heat and give me pimples. It's a small price.

Unfortunately Boris did the UK no favours at the start of the pandemic, and continues to be sub standard. Aus PM was just lucky the Australian state leaders knew how to listen to science and lead.

Timing on the curve is key. London is an international hub the way NYC is. Both got hard hit.

Whether closing down earlier was better I don’t know. When would U.K. have had to have done this to be comparable? But I do know that there’s no point in comparing Aus with U.K. on this. Unless you’re here you won’t know the comparisons.

Bloody well hope not. My business is in tatters, my mental health is crap, my DC's education for the entire year is fucked and I've had a gutfull now.

@HazeyJaneII

You can't just decide a date it will all be over, it doesn't work like that. Exactly this. What the fuck is this thread...stamping your foot and saying I'm not joining in, isn't going to make the virus have a huff and piss off.

It kind of does actually. We can all make our own decisions what we are or are not going to follow. Look at what's happening now, MPs rebelling, more and more people ignoring rules and seeing people inside. All it takes is the majority to ignore the rules and you've got a population decision.

I will do whatever is necessary to stay alive and well, and enjoy my retirement.

If I have to socially isolate for another 12 months in order to be alive and well for another 20+ yrs then that's a no-brainer - of course I will.

@Correlation

Aren't the restrictions in place to protect the NHS? Therefore once hospital admissions start going down (which hopefully they will once the most vulnerable have been vaccinated) the government should ease the restrictions on the rest of us. However I think a lot of people will still be very cautious, but only initially.

Yes! That is the number 1 reason that we have these stop/start restrictions and why the levels vary from region to region. It's down to maintaining safe capacity levels in the NHS. It's pretty clear using the nightingales is to be avoided as there simply isn't the available staff. Our hospitals are doing ok but what state would they be in without the restrictions?

Stokholm in Sweden is looking pretty dire with recent reports of 99% intensive care beds occupied and hundreds of covid patients in emergency care. What next for them? I don't want our country to be in that position so will go along with the restrictions. It doesn't mean I'm enjoying it though.

Someone said the cases are rising after lockdown? Well certainly not in my area.
I heard cases are rising in London, Kent and Essex. This isn't everywhere?

The problem with 'just another 12 months', is that it will be 'just another few months' after that.
Also for some people, it might be their last 12 months alive.

[quote wizzbangfizz]@hugchocolate you can't compare - we have been living like this for months - only Melbourne had an extended period and it still doesn't touch what we have been through.[/quote]
Well what's the solution, start again and do it properly this time?

I don't see a lot of support for that on these boards. People are too busy complaining about rights being taken away or labelling people as snitches.

A choice was made not to eliminate the virus in the UK and to open things up to 'protect the economy', but that choice comes with consequences and those are what we face now. Australia not having a long lockdown isn't due to luck it's the result of different decisions they took.

@PicsInRed

I'm also a dual citizen living in the UK. The UK has done it hard and the antipodean experience doesn't come close. It really doesn't. Attempting to suggest any similarity between the covid experience of the UK and Oz and telling us to buck up and try harder...

We did what needed to be done - we got on with it and made a vaccine.

Go the pharmaceuticals

The rest of the world is grateful the UK is acting as a giant trial for the vaccine.

Australia has effectively imprisoned its citizens.

I'll keep the working from home, the masks and the social distancing in Sainsbury's, but having everything closed, sending whole year groups/schools home and not seeing family and friends can do one.

Yes, I AM fed up with restrictions. I am tier 3. Cases now 120 out of 100k. By the time tiers came back in, we were under 200 per 100k. Soooo fed up. Why do restrictions need to stay in place if people are vaccinated. Ludicrous

The luck is timing on the curve. In the same way NZ shut down in same date with 105 cases.

It’s pointless comparing.

All of Western Europe and USA are in the same boat because we got hit earlier.

Go the pharmaceuticals confused

Well don’t have it then. Stay shut off.

I really believe we'll be back to almost normal with very minimal recommendations by February! Because I am planning to travel to see family at Easter so I really need it to be the case, vaccinations for the most at risk at least.

So do you think that a magical day will come in May/June where the entire extended family sits round a table with no masks or distancing and says 'wow, what a year !' we did it !' after not meeting for one year ?

Nope. Enough already. The amount of debt incurred already is going to cripple us all for decades. The economy is in tatters. This garbage of sending home whole year groups when one child tests positive needs to be knocked on its head.