Good News Part 5. For science, positivity, puffins and daffodils. For anyone who isn't coping with gloom and doom.All aboard Boaty McBoatface!

[FuzzyPuffling]

New thread for the positive crew. Oldies, lurkers and newbies all welcome. Keep the science and positivity coming.

I mean, if you are looking longingly at concert tickets then you might be shit out of luck but life will still be a lot more normal by spring.

I’d take my elderly parents being vaccinated, schools reopening and the chance of a haircut before my baby is born in April 👍😂

Then I like your chances!

Yes, I was just suggesting to DD she might be to have a little birthday celebration (late April). Rule of 6 outdoors would fit the bill!

Thank you litleowl1

high fives @FourTeaFallOut* *

My hopes are schools back after Easter. Tier 2 by end of spring. Tier one by summer including a chance to see family inside and go on hol in Uk. I don’t think they can remove masks and SD until everyone has had chance to be vaccinated . But if next winter goes well, then I’m hoping for a foreign trip or two in 2022.

I’ve got a few musicals booked from June onwards but that’s just a rolling programme ...as one gets cancelled, I book another! Theatre have been excellent at quick refunds (not so airlines !)

Noooooo @tootyfruitypickle primary schools open after Feb half term please!

Wow I shouldn't leave this thread.
I just read the whole "is this THE pandemic" thread 😮

Crying at the Lichfield Cathedral vaccinations on the news, the step free access for the sick... Dd thought the building was a very appropriate shape with the spires resembling needles

@Spiratedaway

Boost me up ladies !!! Whitty said not back to normal by spring 😭😭😭😭

I am all over the positivity but we also need to be realistic - of course we won’t be back to 2019 normal by spring and anyone who thinks that is a possibility is setting themselves up for a fall. And no one in any position of seniority has said that. I thought Chris Whitty was hugely positive this evening, and as he is very careful what he says I take great comfort from this. We will be in a much better position than we are in now, and that’s an amazing thought.

You lot are the best

If anyone needs a giggle www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4136946-To-feel-sad-that-there-are-people-like-this-around

I have tickets to two major concerts in June and July. One is at the 02, the other outdoors. Really, really want to be able to go.

I am especially liking point 4

twitter.com/coronavirusgoo1/status/1350154759899140099?s=21

My area (in the north) has gone green too. This morning I mentioned how it was still red, but it was only by 3. Well I look now, not only is it green, but it has gone down by 9. Of course, its only just starting to go down so might not mean too much (if anything at all) and the fact that it is going down is a good thing, but it does amuse me that its gone down by 3 times as much as went up the previous day.

In regards to Spring. I'm looking forward to it. Not just because of COVID, but the days will be longer, the weather should hopefully improve. The last 2 days have not been fun. Yesterday we had a good 6 inches of snow in less than 24 hours and today its not got above freezing. Getting some fresh air was certainly interesting today. I hate snow and I don't even have to drive in it now I'm WFH, still bloody hate it.

I do have hope that things will start to look better COVIDwise in spring though and even the small things we will be able to do will feel so good because we CAN do them again.

I'm looking forwards to spring too. The government can't cock up longer days and daffodills. Getting out for exercise gets more interesting with the seasonal changes too. Even if the schools aren't back after half term, at least there's daylight to 5:30 which will make life better.

My guess is that once we get to the end of March/ April and the respiritory illness season is past its peak, the tiers will be used to open society back up far more quickly than last year. Covid measures are in place, we're resourced and know what we're doing. Full normal? Maybe not, but if you could do it in 2020, it will become viable and outdoor events will have a much better year. The vaccination programme will give people much more confidence.

I just need to get past the next couple of months day by day first though...

Small things and all that but...
We noticed the daffodils and crocuses are starting to poke out of the ground on our way back from school this afternoon. As youngest boy said, "spring is on the way"

The daffodils growing are so good. Every day I walk past the pots and take in the change

What a great thread!

It was so good to hear Vallance say that he expects the vaccine to have some effect on onward transmission. I mean, that's a big call from a generally cautious scientist.

I think they are so loathe to make statements like this because the general public aren't very good at hearing the middle ground between a) it has no effect on transmission and b) there is total effect in transmission and because they need us to behave as though there is no effect on transmission.

But that would be awesome if it could influence the prevalence of the virus and it was great to hear him say it out loud.

@Whatever9999

Small things and all that but... We noticed the daffodils and crocuses are starting to poke out of the ground on our way back from school this afternoon. As youngest boy said, "spring is on the way"

yes i noticed this too. Also when I went out about 4pm it wasn't nearly as dark as it was at 4pm two weeks ago.

@SaveWaterDrinkGin

Noooooo *@tootyfruitypickle* primary schools open after Feb half term please!

Also hoping this. Tbh if cases come down steeply which they might, I think it's possible. My stock answer to the kids is 'I don't know' however - I've long ago stopped committing to anything which involves them

I wouldn’t dare say this on any other thread, but I’m really hopeful for schools after Feb half term. If they are going to open schools before anything else like they’ve said (unlike last time when they opened pubs first... 😡) then I really do hope it’s a real possibility. I don’t think they will be able to keep us in total lockdown once the most vulnerable are vaccinated, combined with rates being lower as a result of this lockdown.
Plus mass testing in schools (hopefully....)
There’s lots of things which I hope will come together to mean they open when he said, or at least start a phased return.... something at least.
(I also think if he didn’t think it was possible then he wouldn’t have said it. But he’s proved me wrong there before)

I think primary schools open after half term too. They were one of the last things to close and will be one of the first to open.

I'm also looking forward to anything other than full lockdown. Seeing family outdoors, eating outside in restaurants, travelling by train, walking past people normally in the street. I just can't wait.

I wonder if it will be like the roaring twenties as some commentators have suggested. The whole nation having a mid-life crisis, throwing caution to the wind and experiencing everything to the full. Oooh I hope so.