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 ?

Yes but the likes of JVT have hinted that we will still have restrictions even after vaccinations for some time. So people are just getting sick of it now, because they can't see an end to it.
It was 'just 3 weeks' in March, then it was 'just a few months', now 'just a year' is questionable too.

We’re not going to have 6 months of tier 3 restrictions- that’s ridiculous! Yes we may well be wearing masks, but I reckon by spring the majority will be working at least 2 days a week in from home and the rest on site, in Covid friendly environments. There is no way the government will enforce tight controls, not with Brexit kicking in, the damage economically is too high a price. Please do not set yourselves in a panic, more vaccines are on the horizon, things will improve.

Maybe if more/all people followed the guidelines then we wouldn't need a further lockdown...*

Ah the old people aren't following the guidelines crowd talking utter rubbish again, when most are following.

People followed the guidelines and in the summer the guidelines encouraged people to eat out, in September the guidelines allowed university students to return and secondary schools where spread of virus is rife.

Rafal where is your family? NZ or Aus I’m guessing. Mine too. It’s hard to see sometimes given where we are.

But anyway. Ok thanks for dates. My question would be around whether that would be sufficient, France and Spain were earlier. Italy earlier still (but arguably hit earlier). Germany said to have acted well - although did same date as us (not sure where narrative of them being earlier came from) - but still not living normal lives and entering further restrictions atm.

To eliminate you need to be very early on curve I reckon. And then the other difference to Aus and NZ is the huge amount of road freight coming in daily rather than ports.

I don’t see people being as willing to wear masks once the weather warms up and significant numbers of vulnerable people are vaccinated. I’m starting to get mask fatigue in quiet situations.

Re op as soon as hospital pressure goes down we will be freer. So get going with vaccine - which they are tg.

But when will hospital pressure start going down, and how can we believe a word they say anymore ?

@maddiemookins16mum

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.

Oh let’s have a guess at how many of these apply to you

Wfh in naice well paying job or SAHM with husband with naice well paying wfh job

Naice house and garden

Ocado delivery pass

Children who are toddlers or in early years of primary school.

They're all in this together... it's a pretext for war on Iran. They need the shutdowns to make sure noone organizes. They've studied how the resistance worked last time.

Seasonal pressure reducing will help and vaccine hopefully around Easter. I reckon anyway

I'm not that concerned about it TBH. Apart from missing family birthdays my life hasn't changed at all because of the pandemic.

I think six months is about right but we need a proper lockdown, there is no other way.

"I think the government has manipulated people into thinking, 'if I see my parents, I WILL/very likely kill them.' and that is so wrong."

Completely agree with this - all these "hug Granny at Christmas and attend her funeral in March" headlines/soundbites - it's outrageous manipulation and scaremongering.

@sticksticks

I'm not that concerned about it TBH. Apart from missing family birthdays my life hasn't changed at all because of the pandemic.

I’m alright, Jack.

@MatildaMainly

I'm willing to do what's required to help with the good health and safety of the majority.

The majority wouldn’t be particularly unwell with Covid. So protection the health and safety of the majority would mean abandoning all restrictions.

@jessstan1

I think six months is about right but we need a proper lockdown, there is no other way.

What’s a ‘proper’ lockdown? No daily exercise? Not letting children leave the house for months, like in spain? Welding people’s front doors shut, like in China? When does it become a ‘proper’ lockdown?

Some people will be creaming themselves at the thought of a 'proper lockdown'. It's what they have always wanted

Marshall law, doors welded shut, one person per household allowed out once a month for gruel, no fun or enjoyment whatsoever.

@jessstan1

I think six months is about right but we need a proper lockdown, there is no other way.

No thanks

I don't think it's a case of just blindly accepting the restrictions, as a PP put it. I question them, I do my research and then form an opinion from there. I have chosen to follow the guidelines as I have an elderly father, being 50 myself I am still in a risky group and I have a husband with Diabetes. The young might not be worried for themselves but, unless they live a totally solitary existence, they can't just think about themselves. It's bloody selfish if they do.

Just because I choose to follow the guidelines doesn't mean I'm not aware of the jobs that are being lost as businesses are closing, the people who are lonely and isolated at home, the number of people who have waited more than a year for surgery they need and so on.

I'm worried sick that cases are going to rise after the 5 day xmas 'free for all' that is coming. Having read some of the threads on here, I've been shocked and disappointed at the number of people who intend to just ignore even the relaxed guidelines.

They said: "We can turn this virus around in twelve weeks."
"Normal by September."
"Normalish by Christmas."
"Significant normality by Easter."
And they've been peddling "past the peak", "light at the end of the tunnel" and "end in sight" since last summer, to keep us docile, and to try to prevent public rioting. This strategy will not work for ever.

How many more times does bellend Boris with his messiah complex think he'll get away with fobbing off his taxpaying voters for three months at a time? Sooner or later, the public simply will not stand for the shits and giggles. I don't mean the virus is fictional, but I'm certain the way the government keeps toying with our heads and telling us as little as they can get away with is very, very deliberate, which is what I mean by "shits and giggles". Keep the public blissfully ignorant.

And I'm much more worried about the long-term political issues that are going to come from this, long after the virus has been forgotten: a MASSIVE precedent of shutting down the entire country has now been set, and that the public were coaxed into pleading for it (having been given the right scary spin), meaning that it could easily happen again, on a future government's whim. A zealot like Tony Blair might call a lockdown for a terrorist threat, if he had his way. So far, the message the government received is "it was so easy to lock down, and there was barely a shred of resistance from the public". I'm very worried that this thinking will be used again before very long, unless there is a massive backlash against the government from the public. The red mist might descend some time after restrictions are eased, when people realise just how badly they've been financially and emotionally screwed by the government, while Boris and his merry men retire on their millions, or come back to meddle in the house of Lords.

Many people would be shocked at the overweight old people who get the virus and survive, they just have an illness at home and don't require ANY treatment. Even if you're at risk, you're still far more likely to be ok.

And a fact of life is death. It comes to us all. There shouldn't be any fear. If this was predominantly affecting the young then hell yes, these restrictions make sense but when you're 80+ death should be something to expect one way or the other. The elderly people we keep alive in care homes unable to move or talk, sitting in their own shit. Nature has to do it's thing sometime. And I have one elderly relative who has NO life at all in a care home, it's fucking depressing. I also have a 90 year old relative who is as sprightly as they come and fit as fiddle but he's got no life either because he's not able to live a full one with these restrictions.

I'd be happy with some restriction staying to be honest. Like lower numbers at attractions or in stores/bars/restaurants, I'll happily pay an extra few quid to not go back to being overcrowded.

However, I've seen it suggested that it could be autumn next year we see any real relaxing.

When the vulnerable or high risk groups are vaccinated we may see some restrictions lifted, eg. Being able to meet people outside of our bubbles, but 'getting back to normal' will be a longer road. It will be interesting to see how the vaccine programme performs (cue the conspiracy theorists screams of 'WHAT ABOUT THE SIDE EFFECTS!')

Marshall law,

Wish people would stop with this it's Martial Law not Marshall.