Whitty saying we'll still have restrictions next winter

[bathsh3ba]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-55542393

Fan-fucking-tastic. And I don't swear. Honestly don't know how I'm going to get through this.

@Bluntness100

God I hate these scaremongering threads. He didn’t say that. Why do people post links to things they haven’t read or don’t understand.

He absolutely did not say we would still have restrictions next winter. Nor does the bloody article you linked to say that.

I feel so sorrry for these guys. They get asked questions about worst case, and they say something like we hope and think this will be enough and we should be fine, but if something goes wrong then worst case could occur

And someone screams “worst case is going to occur” then runs round their house with their pants on their head, before starting a thread on mumsnet so others can join in with the pretend stuff said.

I agree! honestly.

And of course they can't PROMISE schools will be back by summer. Just like they can't promise they wont be, or what will happen next year or in 10.

Oh come on. It will be pretty much over by March. Kids will be back end of February/beginning of March, back into school and life will be pretty much back to normal by then.
Rough few weeks ahead but then better times for sure.

Personally I think I may do my best to emigrate as soon as possible!

This is not really good enough. I wish we'd had Keir S. Or Tony B. Or both.

@Bluntness100

God I hate these scaremongering threads. He didn’t say that. Why do people post links to things they haven’t read or don’t understand.

He absolutely did not say we would still have restrictions next winter. Nor does the bloody article you linked to say that.

I feel so sorrry for these guys. They get asked questions about worst case, and they say something like we hope and think this will be enough and we should be fine, but if something goes wrong then worst case could occur

And someone screams “worst case is going to occur” then runs round their house with their pants on their head, before starting a thread on mumsnet so others can join in with the pretend stuff said.

Completely agree!

Well, pretty guaranteed it's not going away then, isn't it?

Until most of the entire global population is vaccinated there will always be the possibility of reintroduction from other countries (possibly of new variants) even if it had entirely been eradicated in the UK (which is unlikely anyway).

@PicsinRed @Mousehole10

People are already saying no. Which is why this lockdown is going to drag on until March, possibly longer. It is why schools may be shut for the rest of the academic year and it is why restrictions may still be in place by next winter.

@Bluntness100 I never suffered from anxiety before 2020 but this year has just been too much. I'm assuming the worst because so far the worst keeps happening. Whitty certainly seems to want to keep reminding us we'll probably have restrictions next winter of some description. Maybe they'll be light restrictions but I can see 2021 just being a rerun of 2020.

Cynical me wonders if there's an element of self-interest with Whitty. Presumably he's getting paid for all this advice. Will he be losing out when things are 'normal' again? 🤔

[quote bathsh3ba]@Bluntness100 I never suffered from anxiety before 2020 but this year has just been too much. I'm assuming the worst because so far the worst keeps happening. Whitty certainly seems to want to keep reminding us we'll probably have restrictions next winter of some description. Maybe they'll be light restrictions but I can see 2021 just being a rerun of 2020.[/quote]
@bathsh3ba I hear you. This year has been hard on so many of us. It's probably best not to slavishly follow all press briefings, disable the annoucements pinging on your phone, have a rule of only watching the headlines once a day. Too much information is just overload.

I can also recommend the Headspace app - it's really good.

“Hopefully we’ll have spring, summer, autumn, possibly winter as well, with almost nothing in place, once the full vaccination programme is through. But we just need to be aware of the fact this is not a problem that just disappears.”*

This says to me that we will hopefully have most of the year with only very light restrictions while people get vaccinated but that we might need restrictions again next winter if it starts getting out of control again like seasonal illnesses. Which isn’t unreasonable IMO, I think you are being a bit pessimistic if you are reading never ending restrictions into it.

Just read what was said. Once more people are vaccinated, lockdown restrictions will gradually be lifted, faster in some areas than in others. That makes sense. By next winter, some restrictions may hypothetically need to be reintroduced if we have another big rise in covid cases at that time. That again makes sense.

@bathsh3ba - where the fuck does it say that in your link? I get that your anxious, so are many many people and posts like yours don’t help anyone!

You’re, not your!

[quote Fieldofyellowflowers]**@PicsinRed* @Mousehole10*

People are already saying no. Which is why this lockdown is going to drag on until March, possibly longer. It is why schools may be shut for the rest of the academic year and it is why restrictions may still be in place by next winter.[/quote]
Maybe but at the moment most people I know are sticking to it. Most people I know have said they won’t after spring, which is reasonable rally. Lockdown means nothing to me if I’m freely going to see my friends and family.

Maybe things like no large gatherings, wearing masks on public transport, encouraging WFH during the winter months. I could live with that

Did he really say all that? I think not.

[quote bathsh3ba]@Bluntness100 I never suffered from anxiety before 2020 but this year has just been too much. I'm assuming the worst because so far the worst keeps happening. Whitty certainly seems to want to keep reminding us we'll probably have restrictions next winter of some description. Maybe they'll be light restrictions but I can see 2021 just being a rerun of 2020.[/quote]
I understand that. But he didn’t even say we would “likely” have them.

I think everyone is suffering op. Adding to it my interpretations something to mean something else then posting it like it’s true doesn’t help anyone.

Maybe next time take a deep breath and say “this is what he actually said, that he hopes this will be enough, and then we would get through the year with little to no restrictions, but we all need to buy in, becayse if we don’t it won’t work and it could last longer, however I have such bad anxiety I think this means we will definitely have it next winter, even though he never even intimated that”

Because that would be an accurate statement.

Would people break the rules in the Spring if the NHS is still struggling?

[quote Fieldofyellowflowers]**@PicsinRed* @Mousehole10*

People are already saying no. Which is why this lockdown is going to drag on until March, possibly longer. It is why schools may be shut for the rest of the academic year and it is why restrictions may still be in place by next winter.[/quote]
It's a pandemic with a highly transmissable and rapidly mutating virus. It is not "bad people not following the rules" causing this. It's a viral pandemic causing this and no amount of witch burning will change that. You can't "good behaviour" your way out of such a pandemic - unless you shut the borders to leisure travel and furiously test any essential travellers.

If we are to be realistic, we may need to look to recent viral illness like polio and how long it took to definitively manage.

That is what we are going to have to reconcile ourselves to and my sense is that the realisation of how big this potentially is will be a grief-like process for many.

I am preparing for the worst whilst hoping for the best. So I will just assume now it will be another year.

to anyone who is really struggling with their MH.

Yeah he really didn’t say that. I watched it.

I thought Whitty was good. I find his manner reassuring. He’s not trying to dress anything up (as he said today, there comes a point where how we move forward is a “societal and political decision”) and clearly states his opinion, which is backed by the science.

He said that we would likely see a good summer again. We did last year. We wouldn't have full restrictions but we may have to place some restrictions to keep numbers down.

I think it was setting realism for those that thought this summer meant it was over.

But those restrictions could be things like nightclubs and mass gatherings at theatres rather than stay at home.

He was asked a question and he said "Hopefully we’ll have spring, summer, autumn, possibly winter as well, with almost nothing in place, once the full vaccination programme is through" and that "We might have to bring a few (curbs) in during the next winter, that's possible, because winter will benefit the virus."

What else do you expect him to say? He can hardly say that he is certain we won't or can guarantee no restrictions, he is just stating the obvious...it's 'possible', we 'might' but 'hopefully' we wont.

(In any case, if we do, it's more likely to be things like masks in shops and public transport etc, rather than major restrictions).

It sounds like he is being both realistic and cautious instead of being a populist politician.

He is right. Covid isn't going to just go away and society isn't going to get back to normal overnight. Getting everything under control is a collective effort, because much as the government have handled things terribly some of the threads on here about how doing what you like is acceptable if you claim it's for your mental health (when mental health is synonymous for 'doing somethingI enjoy')/ nobody can tell me what to do / here's my creative interpretation of the rules to prove why I'm ok to ignore them etc show that you can't legislate for stupidity and selfishness.

He is actually being reasonable by saying if we all do our bit then things will get better and whilst it won't be normal overnight, we'll be getting back to normal with fewer restrictions as the year goes on.