Your thoughts on when life will be normal-ish

[charcb]

I realise this is purely speculative but what are people's thoughts on when we will be back to a semi-normal reality? Knowing what you know on vaccinations, when, according to you, can we expect the most simple of things to be back up and running again? I am referring to the simplest of things such as getting people back to their offices/places of work, having shops/gyms/entertainment venues permanently open, and the like?

I know we are a long way away from normal as we know it and that it may take several years to go back to it so I am not talking to getting back to total normality - ie no masks, no social distance, no restrictions.

We were repeatedly told it was a mild illness for the majority.

That's because it is.

What evidence do you have that hospitalisations have increased as a proportion of the total case numbers?

but the slight change in tone I believe is noticeable. How come? Is that due to the new variant?Whether people think it’s a valid concern or not, I do.

There's no evidence that the 'new variant' leads to a more severe illness, just that it is more transmissible.

Agreed, if last summer is the best we can hope for we're screwed. It was crap- most people still WFH, SD with anyone you don't live with, rule of 6, table service in pubs etc.
Also agree. I was beginning to think I was the only person who thought last summer was rubbish and not at all normal.

@RichardMarxisinnocent so what actually are your thoughts them?

CaughtInTheCovid

For all those saying summer will be like last year that makes me so sad. We haven’t been able to have my parents inside with us since this whole shitshow began.“

💐
Know exactly how you feel. We don’t want to eat out, go to the pub, a theatre, the cinema, we don’t want to fly to sunnier climes, visit the beach, browse the shops or party. We just want to see our mums and dad and hug our daughter and grandson 🥺

@CKBJ

I think from March / April things will start to improve. We will have a close to normal summer (Tier 2 and only being alllowed to socialise with people outside is not even close to normal in my opinion).

I think we will need to be careful over A/W but as the majority will be vaccinated (and unless any catastrophic new variants emerge that we can’t predict) I think we’ll have relative freedom.

Likely still masks and testing / isolating for some time yet.

I hope you’re right @namechangewed I want “normal” just as much as the next person. My dear nan,who is no longer with us, motto was “Always prepare for the worst and you’ll never be disappointed at what lies ahead”

[quote CKBJ]@RichardMarxisinnocent so what actually are your thoughts them?[/quote]
Honestly, I'm trying not to have any thoughts about when things might be normal because I don't want to start looking forward to normality in, for example, the summer, only to have my hopes crushed when it turns out to be shit again. I'm doing my best to just get through one day at a time at the moment. If I assume each night when I got to bed that tomorrow will be rubbish, I can't be disappointed.

I do think it won't be 5-10 years though, the economy and society just won't survive that.

@IcedPurple
From today news.sky.com/story/covid-19-patients-are-younger-and-sicker-than-in-the-first-wave-12189178

From 5days ago
www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/uk/25-of-covid-19-admissions-to-hospital-are-under-the-age-of-55-mps-told/

Never posted links before hope they work.

@RichardMarxisinnocent

Agreed, if last summer is the best we can hope for we're screwed. It was crap- most people still WFH, SD with anyone you don't live with, rule of 6, table service in pubs etc. Also agree. I was beginning to think I was the only person who thought last summer was rubbish and not at all normal.

Can’t see original quote but there’s a difference between summer version in Spring which would be ok but I’d expect it to lessen then be pretty much normal

So Summer would be better than last year but Spring will be better than now

I can’t see it as crap given how reduced I feel right now - which really is shit

[quote CKBJ]@IcedPurple
From today news.sky.com/story/covid-19-patients-are-younger-and-sicker-than-in-the-first-wave-12189178

From 5days ago
www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/uk/25-of-covid-19-admissions-to-hospital-are-under-the-age-of-55-mps-told/

Never posted links before hope they work.[/quote]
Neither of those links provide evidence that the hospitalisations have increased as a proportion of overall cases.

*houseofbrieandbanter

Your thoughts on the matter are doom mongering. I’m not surprised you’ve been called out on them. And what the hell is ‘mental health shaming?’ - did you just make that up to pick a fight?

Spanish Flu wouldnt be a problem if it happened today because we have flu virus vaccines and also antibiotics to treat secondary infections like bacterial pneumonia.

What we have now is a brand new coronavirus. Back in the early days it was realised straight away just how serious the situation is and it still remains so. As a leading scientist in the field said back then, "this virus is stealthy and robust".

But it isn't all doom and gloom. What we do have are these new vaccines and testing. With vaccines, and in the future rapid cheap easy testing, we can get back to some kind of normal but this virus is not going away anytime soon, if ever, but we will just find ways more efficient ways to control it and find by research exactly how it is being spread and so modify restrictions.

Its too early to tell what is going to happen, how the virus will behave in the future, we are not even a year in, but also It's easy to forget all the backroom research going on. We have some amazing science, and sharing between scientific communities, going on and on our side, even if we don't see it happening. So many scientists are working on this. So that's good and hopeful

[quote WishingHopingThinkingPraying]@Annamaywong25 keep trying. It will be worth it to feel better. When I became unwell (diagnosed with GAD in May after a lifetime of perfect mental health) it felt like everything had emptied the cup of happiness in my head. There was so little in it that any small knock put me in a really bad place. I got better, with drugs too, but hugely by finding little moments of joy (pleasure of a tidy bedroom with fresh bedding, cup of tea and chat with sister, cuddle with one of the kids watching a movie in my bed etc.) to fill my cup back up again. So now when I get a knock, just a splash falls out of the cup and there's plenty still left that it has no effect. Honestly at first all the 'nice' things felt like nothing but as I repeated them and kept a schedule I started to look forward to the little things and actually the good feeling got longer and longer.[/quote]
I think this horrible time has brought emotional illness to many, so glad you have found a way forward and are on the mend. I'm trying to get by with the little pleasures in life and am ok most days, but the doom and gloom reported and talked about really gets me down. I miss my kids, my grandchildren, my friends. My whole support network has been swept away and I'm left with work colleagues as company. I'm grateful for the human interaction though, the first lockdown I was out of work so that was even lonelier for me, but the better weather seemed to make it more bearable. But Spring will be here soon! My favourite season.

I've started to accept that we'll never get back to the 'old normal'. I really do think things have changed forever. It's utterly devastating and we should be allowed to grieve for our old lives. I can't imagine I'll ever feel safe in a crowd again, go to a bar, get on a busy train without the worry of covid hanging around.

Most of the economic devastation is still to come (businesses cannot survive with social distancing restrictions) and it is going to be horrific. Sorry if this sounds gloomy but it's probably realistic. I'm actually envious of younger children as they won't remember what our old world used to be like as with all its faults, it was amazing compared to this.

@charcb

Simple about Easter 22 or 23

@GintyMcGinty

I hope things will gradually begin to improve from late spring onwards and be getting back towards normal by the autumn.

I’d agree with this

To be honest though, it is fairly pointless asking on here as many people seem to think it will never happen. I think it’s their anxieties talking and they aren’t thinking rationally so I don’t blame them, but take the hysterical over the top cries of ‘the world is nigh’ with a pinch of salt

I would imagine that this summer will give at least the freedoms that were available last summer (to those who live in most of the country, rather than the areas which went back into restrictions early on.

Schools back in April (if not before), travel within the UK, cafes , restaurants, all shops open , although it's possible (likely even) that face coverings will stay, certainly I would expect distancing to stay. Probably need to pre book places again due to less people allowed . But I think we'll be allowed to see family indoors again , even if there are recommendations to stay distanced
If possible and reduced numbers (like we did last summer ). I read somewhere that hospitality venues have been given 1st May as expected reopening, don't k or if that was rumour but sounds reasonable . I doubt there will be music festivals etc where people squash together , but maybe a few outdoor events with distanced audiences, the same for sport. Actually , indoor too with smaller distanced audiences, and cinemas too.

Maybe this level to be continued until all adults vaccinated and into next winter just to be on the safe side ? But the family and friends contact indoors will be a recommendation not law .

It's likely there will still be hospitalisations from people who have caught it who were given the opportunity to vaccinate but chose not to. That would be annoying , but, it is a choice and this shouldn't be in numbers to overwhelm NHS which is why we are locked down at the moment .

It would be great if I could still work from home though !

@shinynewapple2021

I would imagine that this summer will give at least the freedoms that were available last summer (to those who live in most of the country, rather than the areas which went back into restrictions early on.

Schools back in April (if not before), travel within the UK, cafes , restaurants, all shops open , although it's possible (likely even) that face coverings will stay, certainly I would expect distancing to stay. Probably need to pre book places again due to less people allowed . But I think we'll be allowed to see family indoors again , even if there are recommendations to stay distanced
If possible and reduced numbers (like we did last summer ). I read somewhere that hospitality venues have been given 1st May as expected reopening, don't k or if that was rumour but sounds reasonable . I doubt there will be music festivals etc where people squash together , but maybe a few outdoor events with distanced audiences, the same for sport. Actually , indoor too with smaller distanced audiences, and cinemas too.

Maybe this level to be continued until all adults vaccinated and into next winter just to be on the safe side ? But the family and friends contact indoors will be a recommendation not law .

It's likely there will still be hospitalisations from people who have caught it who were given the opportunity to vaccinate but chose not to. That would be annoying , but, it is a choice and this shouldn't be in numbers to overwhelm NHS which is why we are locked down at the moment .

It would be great if I could still work from home though !

Very rational and balanced view

We were repeatedly told it was a mild illness for the majority.

It is. It really is. Obviously its not for the people who are hospitalised or die, but the vast, vast majority will get 'mild' symptoms ranging from absolutely nothing at all to feeling like shite for a few days/weeks.

Last summer was OK, not great but OK - anything better than that (which I think this summer will be) will be bloody great!

I think after the most vulnerable have been vaccinated people will no longer comply

God, I hope this is true.

@RichardMarxisinnocent
We went on holiday last year with family members we didn't live with , shared a car, an apartment and sat around tables together in restaurants . We were probably meant to be SD while we were doing these things, but they were all allowed and some of them you can't do while keeping 2m apart .

One of the issues for the economy is with the distancing though- there is just no way that businesses can survive with distancing in place which limits customers/footfall. The events industry cannot run with distancing in place, it's just not economically viable and so on and on. The govt cannot just scrap all SD either with the majority unvaccinated - while hospitalisations are generally low for the under 50s - if SD is scrapped and millions get Covid the NHS will not be able to cope. I think we need to build a completely new way of life from now on if we are to co-exist with this disease for the next few years.

@Sirius99

The only silver lining is at least nobody seems to have colds and flu this winter, masks and social distancing has stopped the spread of that

Huh? If masks and SD have stopped people catching colds then how is corona spreading?

Also, everybody I know, family, friends, colleagues and clients have had colds.