How long can they expect us to live like this for?

[WithLotsOfSprinkles0]

Can someone please give me some positivity or any ideas of when we can regain some normality?

Mental health, domestic abuse and suicidal rates are all rising more than ever, children losing out education, people losing jobs, economy crashing ...the collateral damage is far worse.

We have a 1 in a million chance of dying from Covid yet we are living like this, a virus with a survival rate over 99% and were living like this.

Not saying we shouldn't take precautions, such as distancing, washing hands, window visits for elderly and vulnerable etc..but for us to live like this for something that has such a small chance at killing us, is just stupid beyond words.

Is there any chance all this can stop by April? Lighter restrictions? My mental health is suffering and I honestly cant take this anymore

Op. I agree. How long are healthy people expected to live a vastly reduced life to protect those who are vulnerable? It will soon be a year. A year of my 3 dcs missing out on the things they love, a year of damage to our economy, ruined education and cancelled medical appointments. I think it is selfish to expect us to continue and I am angry and resentful .
The question is what do we do about it?

Yes it's still someone who has underlying health condition though isn't it?

I dont have diabetes or underlying health conditions and neither does any of my family so let's just put us all under the same rule despite they're being little chance to cause death to any of us.

Elderly and those with underlying health conditions could self isolate, window visits to family etc l, a small amount of the population but yet we are all living like this and its crashing the economy, education, social lives and mental health while were at it.

The collateral damage of this is unjustified - in my opinion of course

people are out there swabbing empty tests and muddly puddle and its coming back positive!

One thing to ask how we weigh the benefits of lockdowns against the really high cost it has on millions of people.

Quite another thing to pretend that there aren’t any benefits because Covid is all made up.

@LilQueenie

we handled a pandemic in 1918 alongside a world war. We have it easier this time. Its just most of us didn't live through it the first time but our grandparents did. Its in our blood to survive this. If they can do it for us we can do it too. Hard as it is we really do have it easier.

We don't have it easier. Ignorance is bliss. I bet they didn't have the 1918 pandemic shoved down their throat every 30 seconds. 24 hour news is an unnecessary evil. They also didn't have the internet where people could all go complain about "selfish" neighbours etc. I don't think they had the same level of restriction either

How long are healthy people expected to live a vastly reduced life to protect those who are vulnerable?

But we’re not doing this just to protect those who are vulnerable. We’re doing this because if we don’t, people with covid will fill up all the hospitals, and then even us healthy types won’t be able to get treatment for other things.

Op, do you realise how many people in the UK has an underlying health condition? And you want them all to self isolate.

Really.

Just because you can't get doing what you want.

I work in the events and hospitality industry, self employed, and I'm one of the 3 million people who have been Excluded from receiving help from Central Government.

All my work was cancelled in March, and very little has returned. I have had no SEISS, no furlough, no universal credit, no small business grant, not a penny from Rishi Sunak. I've paid my taxes in full all my life - the reason I was refused help is because I went self employed summer 2019.

The only help I've had so far is from the Welsh government - and even that's a very modest sum, less than the Universal Credit that I haven't been able to claim.

If the only thing you're suffering with is not seeing your family or going to the pub, then count yourself lucky. Very, very lucky. There are millions legally prevented from working and then refused help. People have lost their homes and been driven to suicide.

#ExcludedUK

@WithLotsOfSprinkles0

Yes it's still someone who has underlying health condition though isn't it?

I dont have diabetes or underlying health conditions and neither does any of my family so let's just put us all under the same rule despite they're being little chance to cause death to any of us.

Elderly and those with underlying health conditions could self isolate, window visits to family etc l, a small amount of the population but yet we are all living like this and its crashing the economy, education, social lives and mental health while were at it.

The collateral damage of this is unjustified - in my opinion of course

It’s not a small amount of the population who are vulnerable though is it? It’s around 20 million people. Furthermore, low socio economic groups are disproportionately affected. Often they live in multi generational households so it’s impossible to shield the vulnerable in those households.

I understand it’s devastating for businesses but from a personal perspective I don’t think it’s that much to ask of younger people to give up pubs and restaurants etc for a while.

@picklemewalnuts

Sprinkles, the chances of having CV and then dying of something completely unrelated within a month are pretty slim. Some will have been run over/fallen down stairs, but the vast vast majority of people dying within a month of a positive test will have had their lives shortened by Covid.

And the excess death figure is incontrovertible.

I'd be really interested to know how true this is. In my mind it's not slim at all.

Many people catch this in hospital when they're being treated for something else. In many cases I could imagine the something else will kill them. Same in care homes, your life expectancy in a care home is very very short. It seems fairly likely that if many residents catch it, and some die, that perhaps that was their time anyway and the covid was a coincidence.

I want to know who died as a direct result of covid, because dying with it isn't an indicator of anything, it's entirely useless information.

@Tootsey11

Op, do you realise how many people in the UK has an underlying health condition? And you want them all to self isolate.

Really.

Just because you can't get doing what you want.

But the alternative is everyone, including them, isolating they're being "punished" either way surely?

@JS87 it’s not just about giving up pubs and restaurants. Although devastating for those businesses that not the main issue for most of us. It’s having to completely give up our lives, seeing family and friends, with no end date. Fine for the start of the pandemic. Not fine when it’s likely to go on got a year. I’m not doing it past a year, it’s not fair if we are low risk, people cannot expect us to do that.

Couldn't take the OP seriously when you said we had a one in a million chance of dying and 99% chance of survival in the same sentence... how do you figure that then?

It's not just asking people to give up pubs and restaurants though. It's people like pp who have lost jobs, businesses, people being unable to see family, and for some of these people there wont be "next year". I know covid is real but these other problems shouldn't be trivialised

I’m not sure I can cope with much more of this tbh. I am 120 miles from my family, my DF is showing signs of Dementia, DM is struggling with her MH and is not well with fatigue,breathing problems and now has blue lips but telling me she’s fine and doesn’t need a DR. I have MS haven’t had treatment for a year due to COVID and I been told in the one appointment I managed to have in 2020 they feel it’s progressed and I need treatment urgently, but we were locked down again so nothings happened.

We have our own business and have fought to keep it going and succeeded but we are mentally and physically exhausted. The abuse and rudeness from customers has been awful at times and I have ended up in tears over it because the general public can’t or won’t understand that if factories closed due to lockdown there are no materials for the products they want, it will take longer then normal to source. Naturally it’s our fault and I’m tired of explaining the situation over and over again, that no we can’t go to different suppliers as many have gone bust due to COVID so the few suppliers that are left are struggling to keep up with demand.

The uncertainty of this situation, of not being able to plan or look forward to anything is draining. Having an evening or day out or a holiday made all the hard work worth while. I have given up planning ahead, booking tickets or even imagining we could have a holiday as the rug is pulled from under our feet everytime. My wedding is booked for April, I am supposed to start sending off paperwork etc for it at the end of the month and start planning all the details, I just can’t be bothered as I expect it to be postponed.

I have been through some tough times in my life but honestly right now I have just had enough of it all, I have no confidence anymore in this government it’s a complete shambles and their ineffective management of this pandemic has had a destructive effect on our lives

Words in my mouth again

I never said covid was made up at all..but I am questioning the reliability of tests and the statistics which they fling at us to justify these restrictions.
People are swabbing empty tests, puddles and its coming back positive.
People are taking several tests and it's coming back with different results each time (a friend works in a dementia home told me a few incidents) so just because these things are happening and I'm saying they are happening doesnt mean to say I think covid is made up.

This isn't about people being able to go to a pub or restaurant, this about the logic of it.
This about going to a restaurant, being seated in your own table with table service and taking precautions and yet hospitality are the ones who suffer while the schools and supermarkets are like cattle markets.

Fundamentally for us all to live like this to protect a small amount of the population is just crazy.
As a previous poster said, the mean age of anyone dying of covid is in your 80s and yet we were living under these restrictions.

Like I say how much longer can we go on like this? It's not viable

Probably the situation local to you changes how you feel about things. I live in one of the worst areas - hospitals are overrun. The chances of catching Covid are pretty high round here and there's the risk that you won't be able to access the necessary treatment. Or that you could need hospital treatment for something else and not be able to access it because of the pressures Covid have put on the system. I certainly feel differently about the situation now than I did a few weeks ago when numbers here were much lower.

Who is this hypothetical person who has a one in a million chance of dying? We’ve lost 73512 so far. Without getting a calculator out, I’d say that’s around one in 900. Another very divisive post, and this ‘them and us’ view is in itself toxic to mental health.

Domestic abuse is not the fault of COVID. Domestic abuse is the fault of the perpetrator.

On the bright side, NY FB tells me several friends who previously worked in hospitality have found jobs elsewhere in the last few weeks. Relatives have completed their degrees this year, won promotions. Friends and neighbours have become closer now our social circles have shrunk. I know lots of teachers but not children because I’m older, but I guess this is the same for teenagers.

Resilience is key. Nobody is saying that children can never make up their education, this is just a pause.

I dont know, but for me im working to march/april purely because of the weather. For my individual family , we hunker down in winter. We dont go on daily walks etc. But from march to sep/oct we are outside all the time. We even eat all our meals in our garden. Just being outside in the fresh air works wonders for us.
I suffer a lot with feeling down and getting anxious. Im trying to just get through each day and dont think about the next day. When it gets to about 5pm i perk up because tea time /evenings are much better.
I know the kids being in school right now isnt ideal but for me personally mine need to be in, for my mental health and to give me a break, and for the children to have a break from me and my bad moods.

@Tara336 I think if your mum has fatigue, breathing problems and lips turning blue she needs a test ASAP.

Well then op, you go live your best life and keep your fingers crossed while doing so!

There was some article out a couple of days ago from The Royal College of Psychiatrists.

It said something to the effect that the cost of the results of Covid ( people dying etc) would be worse than the effects of keeping the country in lockdown. Both are bad, but the effects of Covid would be worse.

@LilQueenie

we handled a pandemic in 1918 alongside a world war. We have it easier this time. Its just most of us didn't live through it the first time but our grandparents did. Its in our blood to survive this. If they can do it for us we can do it too. Hard as it is we really do have it easier.

What do you actually mean by ‘handled a pandemic in 1918’? And by ‘it’s in our blood to survive this’?

I’d advise everyone to stop engaging with @WithLotsOfSprinkles0 so this post floats of into obscurity. Clearly just a chance for her to rant and rave and throw out ‘facts’ that she read on Facebook and is getting into a froth about. No mental health issues or advice needed for her. I am sorry for the posters who are in real difficulty. I hope things improve soon for you all.

Covid has shown everyone’s true colours. The selfish and the selfless.

Hopefully, Mental Health issues will finally get the recognition and funding that it deserves. It won’t happen if Boris the Clown and his cronies remain in power. You know, the utterly useless gang of mates (who most of went to the same schools) who are only in power to utilise their own ends. They don’t understand or give a shit about how the rest of us live. If they did, they would not be making the awful decisions they are making and we as a country would not be going through this shit show. The constant U-Turns are absolutely ridiculous. I’m sure most people saw Wuhan partying last night!

Unfortunately, not everyone has ‘good’ common sense. Just wear a bloody mask if you can (or a face shield) and social distance! It’s also shocking that most people are unable to estimate 2 metres or are just not bothered 🙄

Fix up people, so we get out of this nightmare ASAP!

@Tootsey11 she’s had a test, results came back negative yesterday. I’m trying to get her to see a doctor as something is not right and I’m worried sick