Would you be more or less compliant, knowing then what you know now?

[BlowDryRat]

Thinking back to March last year...

• Terrifying daily images of Italians dying on hospital floors.
• Empty supermarket shelves.
• Thinking we'd be locked down for a few weeks and all the kids would be back to school for summer term.

I was due to get married the weekend before lockdown. We postponed it to September over safety concerns. If I'd known then what I know now, I would have just gone ahead.

How about you?

Pretty much the same now as before. I’ve always basically followed the guidelines (apart from one walk a day but we’re rural).

People would have been less afraid back in March had it been known that average age of a person dying with covid was to be 82, higher than U.K. life expectancy.

I am not minimising how sad it is to lose a loved one. But the public were duped into feeling afraid and at risk by media reports which greatly exaggerated risk.

Last February/March felt apocalyptic. Mundane things like shopping, taking trains or visiting a hospital felt unreal - there was definitely a heightened sense of panic. The scene of an empty supermarket after finishing a night shift was heart sinking. Bizarre times.

If I could redo it, I would try to be more relaxed. I was stressed to the point that my hair fell out and was semi neglecting myself. I put lots on hold (in terms of career development and work related qualifications) and wish I just carried those things on as normal.

I had zero plans anyway due to my child awaiting the 2nd lot of surgery to help her walk. So nothing to change there.

I would be less afraid, sure, but still careful. I would have enforced more school engagement, especially for my year 11 child. I kept thinking they would go back....

I always was and still am

After I got over what I now am sure was Covid I'd have packed a rucksack and gone round the world.

Less so in the summer.

Yeah I would be more or less compliant.

I would be the same. Maybe I’m a sheeple, but I followed all Covid restrictions for here to the letter from the start, and still do. Plus a few extra precautionary measures like wearing gloves, etc.

Was only compliant to avoid getting arrested, same as now. Trap shut and carry on.

I wish I had seen my family and friends more over the summer

I would have been compliant, as I am now, but at least I would not have had to spend the early months being utterly terrified of catching it.

I followed all the rules last time. I'd still follow them in exactly the same way.

I wish they'd introduced a harsher lockdown much sooner last year. Maybe then we wouldn't be in this mess.

How afraid you are of Covid should make zero difference to your actions.

Friend of a friend had to wait 2.5 hours for an ambulance. THAT is a direct consequence of the spread of Covid. THAT is what is bloody scary.

Any one of us could need health care at any time (a trip down the stairs, a lurking aneurism, a heart attack, a car accident).

You might not give a rats arse if your friends nan dies prematurely but everyone is effected by an overwhelmed health services. No one is immune to that!

AND it isn’t just 80 year olds (who incidentally have as much right to life and are just as important as anyone else and should not be ‘left to die’ prematurely because someone somewhere wants to socialise) who are dying...

sbuhb.nhs.wales/news/swansea-bay-health-news/covid-deaths-tragically-hitting-new-high-in-swansea-bay-hospitals/

This was before Christmas so goodness knows how things are now.

Honestly, I despair that still people are focusing on the individual risk to themselves. Any unnecessary contact with others runs the risk of infecting more people that then overwhelms health services.

You are most infectious BEFORE you have symptoms.

The new strain is 70% more infectious.

There is NO excuse for needlessly ignoring the rules.

I’m usually much less shouty in my posts but today I’m feeling angry at the selfish behaviour of some (the bunch of people in a minibus travelling to Snowdon from Milton Keynes for example)!

But to those doing their bit - thank you.

The thought that some people would be even less compliant is just infuriating. Given we are where we are due to compliance issues as it is...ffs why are some people so selfish...

I’d not have been less compliant, but I’d have been a lot less terrified and a lot less angry at others not being so compliant

I’d comply with the rules in the same way - I have throughout. However, I’d be more relaxed in other ways. I used to wash the shopping and change clothes after the supermarket for gods sake; in retrospect that was just insane.

I was terrified in February and March and didn't even go out for shopping or a walk.

When I was ill in March (tonsillitis or Covid - son back from Italian school ski holiday, so who knows) I did not mix with anybody in the house for a week. I did not leave my room for fear of passing it on.

If I'd known then what I know now then I'd have acted differently.

Also, clapping. I felt pressured into clapping like a sealion every Thursday when I felt uncomfortable with all the virtue signalling. There was an expectation from neighbours, even though they were having gatherings at other times and so hardly 'protecting the NHS'

Less

The government have totally squandered the goodwill of the people.

I didn’t clap the NHS, donate to Captain Tom or anything like that last year though.

I would have sent my teen in as a keyworker child either straight away or after Easter break at the latest.

I wouldn't have wasted so much time washing ALL my shopping plus all the shopping bags plus myself after every single shopping trip for two months!

I was terrified I was going to kill my whole family by bringing home the virus from the supermarket.
Apparently my husband and kids all thought I was loopy but were too polite/scared to say anything 😳

Now the shopping just gets bunged in the cupboards and my family are still alive and nobody has had covid yet!

I watched far too much news which totally freaked me out. I now limit myself to important announcements only and watch trash tv instead - I'm much calmer these days thank god and have watched loads of desperate housewives episodes haaaaa

I was scared to order takeaway. When I did (say a pizza or curry) I'd remove and bin all the packaging immediately, washing my hands after each decanting/removal and microwave the food to 'nuke' it.

My family also thought I was crazy. I can see why!

@jumpingwithjoy

I wouldn't have wasted so much time washing ALL my shopping plus all the shopping bags plus myself after every single shopping trip for two months!

I was terrified I was going to kill my whole family by bringing home the virus from the supermarket.
Apparently my husband and kids all thought I was loopy but were too polite/scared to say anything 😳

Now the shopping just gets bunged in the cupboards and my family are still alive and nobody has had covid yet!

I watched far too much news which totally freaked me out. I now limit myself to important announcements only and watch trash tv instead - I'm much calmer these days thank god and have watched loads of desperate housewives episodes haaaaa

Agree with this.

I used to obsess over the numbers, watch every briefing. Taking a step back really helped.