Worried this pandemic will never end

[JuneMoonstone]

Just watching Dr John Campell's Coronavirus update on YouTube. He said that the new variant of the virus has implications on herd immunity; that scientists had hoped herd immunity would be reached when about 70 % of people had been infected with covid 19, but with the new variant being so much more contagious, we may now need about 80% of people to be immune, in order to reach herd immunity. As a result the pandemic could go on longer as it'll take longer in order to reach this herd immunity. I honestly don't know how much more I can take of this horrendous situation. There is no end in sight. Just when there seemed to a tiny glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, the news of this new variant has snatched it away. I honestly believe this pandemic will never ever end and even when we think we've got it under control, some new mutant strain will crop up and we all get thrown right back to square 1. It seems like life will just be totally shit from now on and it breaks my heart, especially for my 5 year old daughter and all other children and young people. I'm sorry to be so negative but I am so utterly low and depressed and the news just gets worse and worse.

When I go to the park I’ve experienced more random conversations with people. A care that people might be alone. The overall mood is kinder. It’s nice to see.

I've noticed this too. It's tempting to focus on the negatives, but a lot of people are going out of their way to be kind to each other.

@SasKiaRembrandt can you recommend any texts? That sounds like a pleasant way to spend some free time over a very quiet Christmas

"Possibly, but the world wasn't unconnected in the past, that's how we ended up with plague, the Spanish flu, etc. in Britain."

It was a lot less interconnected and the Spanish flu spiked up again with World War 1 travel. In the early 20th century it was common for people living not too far away from the coast never to have seen the sea, now people are jetting off all over the place.

"You seem to be struggling to be optimistic, I'm really sorry about that. It must be hard for you at the moment."

I'm just trying to be realistic. We are already heading into a recession. Some hospitality companies are already on the verge of closing.

Yes, fewer people travelled but there was still economic interdependency. In the Great Plague the wool industry was fucked because nobody wanted to buy English wool in case it carried the plague on it.
Not a million miles from recent events...

Covid is new virus, other pandemics were existing strains that mutated.

So older people were less affected by spanish flu because they had had similar flu's before, younger people had not.

Black Death lasted for centuries, only ending when brown rats, which were much more aggressive and therefore humans avoided them, became the dominant rat.

I think we will be able to vaccinate our way out of this pandemic but i do worry that if we don't get a move on, we are giving the virus a chance to mutate to a strain that want work with present vaccines.

It is vital we get vaccine to all parts of the world, we need to eradicate CV not have it as a low level infection in the west and endemic in the developing world.
The Chinese seem to have realised this very early on, which makes me think it came from one of their labs.

It will end! This pandemic has been made worse in my opinion by the media and the 24x7 coverage . We have been through similar (and without lockdowns) and come out the other side.

This is a good article that may put you at ease and give you some positivity that we have come out before and will so again

www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31201-0/fulltext

Things will get better but I think 2021 will be similar to this year. Hope I'm wrong as otherwise we're writing off two years of our lives

The Spanish Flu is still out there, it never went away. The Flu as we know it IS the Spanish Flu but over time it's mutated and changed see Wikipedia

Covid 19 will never go away, what will happen is the same as what happened with the Spanish Flu. We vaccinate and learn to live with it

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel

Yes, fewer people travelled but there was still economic interdependency. In the Great Plague the wool industry was fucked because nobody wanted to buy English wool in case it carried the plague on it. Not a million miles from recent events...

There was a bit of that with the earlier SARS. I remember at one point people not wanting goods made from China, but I haven't heard of that being an issue with this pandemic. It's all about the movement of people rather than the movement of goods. It's not really possible to close borders any more. Even a small island like New Zealand can't really do it and has had cases come in via foreign visitors and workers.

[quote whatswithtodaytoday]@SasKiaRembrandt can you recommend any texts? That sounds like a pleasant way to spend some free time over a very quiet Christmas [/quote]
Mostly I've read primary sources for academic purposes, but if you wanted to look at that kind of thing you might find your local library either has a collection or has access to a database that does. If you want something you can easily get hold of and then sit and get absorbed in, Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year that TheCountessofFitzdotterel mentioned is really interesting, and like most of his work a good read. Or you could go really old school and try Boccaccio's Decameron.

If you want non-fiction, I'd recommend Paul Slack, he wrote one of the Short Introduction series about the plague.

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel

Yes, fewer people travelled but there was still economic interdependency. In the Great Plague the wool industry was fucked because nobody wanted to buy English wool in case it carried the plague on it. Not a million miles from recent events...

That's so true. And you can't underestimate how busy British port cities were, and of course, from them, goods (and contagious disease) were carried inland.

The Defoe is free on Kindle.

Thanks@SaskiaRembrandt! I'll definitely read the Defoe, I studied him at uni and enjoyed what I read. I'll have a Google for other sources

**It also deeply saddens me to think of a future without theatres, cinemas, pubs and so on. What a miserable existence, but hey ho, we still will have Zoom and Tic Toc so a lot of people will be happy about that.

Sorry but I don’t care about Zoom or Tic Toc. How would these be a substitute for cinemas or pubs? Do you really think that theatres, pubs and cinemas won’t open again?

@Hearwego

**It also deeply saddens me to think of a future without theatres, cinemas, pubs and so on. What a miserable existence, but hey ho, we still will have Zoom and Tic Toc so a lot of people will be happy about that.

Sorry but I don’t care about Zoom or Tic Toc. How would these be a substitute for cinemas or pubs? Do you really think that theatres, pubs and cinemas won’t open again?

It is something that worries me. Certainly theatre will take a long time and it’s....well, sorry to sound cheesy but theatre is in my heart. It means a lot to me. I’m lucky enough to be invited to read throughs and things.

Haven’t Germany fixed furlough for two years?

I’m so glad I have some souvenirs and did things like sit up in the gods at the Royal Ballet etc even if you can’t see that well!

If anyone is so inclined - I’m really not at the mo - The Plague and the Fire by James Leasor is a great read.

I only watch Dr Campbell now if I want updates, I find him reassuring and honest on the whole. We need the vaccination programme accelerating asap.

@Hearwego

The pandemic will come to an end but I’m worried about the long term effects and economic damage. Some of these changes will be irreversible and won’t go fully back to how things were. I think some industries will be gone forever or atleast dying a death. The point is, I want it to go back to how it was...

Same

It also deeply saddens me to think of a future without theatres, cinemas, pubs and so on. What a miserable existence, but hey ho, we still will have Zoom and Tic Toc so a lot of people will be happy about that.

That won't happen ok possibly cinemas actually things may well be smaller and start off slowly for a while but as confidence grows businesses will get back on their feet and new businesses will grow. It'll take time and things will change for sure (but the world's constantly changing anyway) but there'll be an end to this and there'll be new growth in the years to come I'm 100% sure of that.

20 years ago we would have had a decent government who would have been on top of it all.

Schools would have absolutely shut. There was no pressure for students to pass exams. I’ve been teaching 25 years.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

20 years ago we would have had a decent government who would have been on top of it all.

Schools would have absolutely shut. There was no pressure for students to pass exams. I’ve been teaching 25 years.

I think government of 20 years ago wouldn’t have made such a fuss. They might have closed schools and cinemas as per Spanish flu but generally I think they’d have been more accepting that these things happen.

Acorn are you sure?

Blair is pushing to change the vaccine roll out to make it faster. At least he’s thinking outside the box. I think they would have done much more than close schools and cinemas.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

Acorn are you sure?

Blair is pushing to change the vaccine roll out to make it faster. At least he’s thinking outside the box. I think they would have done much more than close schools and cinemas.

I’m sorry, I forgot my age.... I was thinking of 30 years ago

That said, Blair wasn’t quite the maniac he is now if you go back 20 years. We also didn’t have all this tech and an obsession with preventative pharmaceuticals- I won’t say healthcare because that’s not what it is.

It WILL end OP, I promise. I’m normally a very pessimistic person but even I can see light at the end of tunnel now.

We’re the first country in the west to start vaccinating our population - a bloody fantastic achievement! We’ve already vaccinated over half a million elderly and vulnerable people and NHS workers. It’s only going to get better from here on in. Keep the faith!

30 years ago!!! Yeah l remember that. John Major? I have Millennialls!