Social distancing to last all year

[Santastealer]

The media this morning are reporting on a report given to government saying social distancing will need to be in place all year and rules remain until December.

But what then? What do they expect to be different by September?

Last August I was able to go on holiday with my family as a group of 8, are thy suggesting this year this won’t be possible? If not why was it ok last year when we didn’t have vaccines but this year it’s not ok when we do?

I’m thoroughly fed up of not being able to see my family and I need to feel an end point is in sight.

What? Why? Do you have a link please?

Look at where holidaying in groups of 8 got us-back in 2 lockdowns. Some measures will stay in place for a good while.

The end is in sight. It is too early to say exactly what the situation will be in the summer, but I have no doubt the restrictions will have eased by then. It is possible there will have to be some restrictions in place for the rest of the year, but they shouldn't be anything like what we have now.

It wasn't ok last year. Most of us stayed at home because we knew how silly it was

I expect we will end up with similar rules to last summer once numbers are down sufficiently, but with much less ability to travel overseas. Perhaps with more relaxed rules around outdoor gatherings.

Then I think everyone will hold their breath (not literally!) during Sept/Oct to see what happens at that point.

Last summer wasn't great, but it was doable for many people - though of course did affect some activities/employment much more than others.

I’ve just read that the effects will carry on for 3 or 4 years. Particularly border closures as no one wants people to import or export new strains. The whole world will need vaccinating. Someone was saying this on TV the other night.

And yeah, look where international travel got us last year.

It's just all speculation, no one really knows. Social distancing went out the window when masks came into effect anyway.

All the doom-mongerers are on this thread! Hang in there op, sanity will return with the warmer weather I hope! The people on this thread are very welcome to lock themselves away till 2024 but noone else will xx

@Wankerchief

It wasn't ok last year. Most of us stayed at home because we knew how silly it was

most of us? Really?

Yep. SAGE will never be satisfied
I can't see point of vaccinations if still have social distance, wear masks, endure restrictions I really can't

But you weren't actually okay to go on holiday as a group of 8 - surely you were meant to be social distancing then with anyone not in your household or support bubble, even if on holiday together? Same rules apply now.
I don't want that to apply until 3end of this year too, but I can see why it is being suggested.

Mainland Europe are not on track to have even the vulnerable groups vaccinated by June. So I think holidays outside the UK are very unlikely this year. I also think it has been underestimatef that the main UK vaccine was never tested against the new strain and we are all really waiting with baited breath to see if it works still.

I think wankerchief has a good point
Putting aside flouters who do what they want despite lockdowns, I think that footfall in the high street, bars and out and about generally was significantly lower than normal, certainly where I was last summer

Social distancing went out the window when masks came into effect anyway.

Did l miss something? I don’t recall this.

There was that guy from Bolton who didn’t isolate when he came back from holiday last year who was responsible for a huge spike in his home area.

I’m not being gloomy, I’m just repeating what people with more knowledge than me are saying.

I’d bloody love to go abroad, but no one wants a new strain, so l just don’t see it happening. 4 months is the start of the holiday season l guess? Is it all going to have gone by then?

Lots didn’t go away last year, nor eat out etc as the virus was still with us and they didn’t want to catch or spread it.
No one needs a holiday, they do need health and lives though.

Some people think social distancing means standing far apart in a queue in shops.

It's not just that! It's no theatres, no gigs, booked slots, not visiting family, no adults setting foot in school, no school assemblies, no sports crowds, etc etc.

I can't see compliance being very high in summer, when the vast majority of older and vulnerable are vaccinated. If I can't socialise in pubs or restaurants this year I will be doing so in my home/garden. I'm in the North and we had the rule of 6 for about 5 minutes last year . By summer it will be well over a year of restrictions, and 7 months into the vaccine process. If the government can't get their shit together to vaccinate* enough people by July then it's their own failing, IMO.

*The vaccine roll out has been very impressive and fast in my area so far I have to say, so I do have some faith they can do this.

We are going to have to wait and see the effects of vaccination they dont know yet if vaccination prevents transmission. The point of vaccination is it stops the recipient becoming severely ill or ultimately death.
The quicker they roll out vaccination and the bigger the uptake the better

Personally I couldn't give less of a fuck about holidays abroad, as my passport expired 6 years ago and we don't holiday abroad. But that's easy for me to say with no family overseas/ no need to go abroad so I feel for all who do.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow I remember having to queue to get into supermarkets and limiting the amount of people inside at the same time. Everyone kept their distance. Social distancing has waned over time and certainly as soon as masks came in, it was a free for all again.

At no point did the OP say anything about holidaying abroad

@ILookAtTheFloor

Some people think social distancing means standing far apart in a queue in shops.

It's not just that! It's no theatres, no gigs, booked slots, not visiting family, no adults setting foot in school, no school assemblies, no sports crowds, etc etc.

That's not true. It just means events have to be carried out in a safer way - we have had small crowds at football matches for example. And of course you can visit family.

The issue is whether smaller audiences makes a theatre viable. But that is a different issue to not being able to go at all.

People will probably be able to go away in this country in the summer with their immediate family, staying in self catering accommodation. That would be no different to being at home except for being in holiday-like surroundings, ie countryside, beach. I wouldn't mind doing that for a few days when the weather is nice. A change is as good as a rest so they say. However no popular resort areas should be overwhelmed with tourists, an eye must be kept on how many people are travelling there at one time. I'm sure we all remember the pictures of over-crowded beaches and car parks last summer.

I can't see parties of eight being allowed unless it is one big family who live together.

[quote lunapeace]@ArseInTheCoOpWindow I remember having to queue to get into supermarkets and limiting the amount of people inside at the same time. Everyone kept their distance. Social distancing has waned over time and certainly as soon as masks came in, it was a free for all again. [/quote]
Not in my experience - for example when I went past my local Waitrose yesterday afternoon there was a queue.

I was able to talk straight into Sainsburys, but for good reason, it was very quiet.

Plymouth had a spike when a group came back from holiday in Greece.

Although people could go on holiday in the summer it really wasn’t a good idea, and was mainly to prop up the tourist industry.

Our variant has spread round the world because of people travelling.

If we get a variant that our vaccines don’t cover, we could be back to square one.