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.

A pal just sent a link to the dreaded Mail ... if they can be believed at all, apparently the Department of Health now reckon that the deaths will come to 220,000, with 54% due to Covid and the rest collateral damage because of the measures taken

Bearing in mind where it's said to have come from, that sounds to me like the start of a change in narrative, as in "We know more will die if we release restrictions, but just as many will die if we don't"

Or maybe they're just taking a punt to see what the reaction is ...

Is it really that difficult to stay home with books, phone, internet, tv, yoga mat

A yoga mat fuck sake, some people on here are so privileged it actually hurts.

@lunapeace

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

Really?!?

And this is why we are up shit creek without a paddle now.

Sadly I am expecting SD in some form to last many years.

I don't have any desire to go abroad but I was hoping that once we're all vaccinated we can start hugging friends and family again.
Keep those borders tight if necessary - by quarantine and testing, keep general guidelines like masks and social distancing in public, restaurants etc, but please let us have normal social engagement with friends and family.

'Sadly', 'I'm afraid' and 'sorry, but' should be purged from English vocabulary when all this is done.

@Lumene

Which report OP? Do you have a link or reference we can google please?

It’s in the Telegraph here: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/30/exclusive-social-distancing-may-have-remain-place-year/

And the paper it’s discussing is here: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.27.20248896v2.full.pdf

@Poppingnostopping

Is it really that difficult to stay home with books, phone, internet, tv, yoga mat, perhaps a garden? It's not doing one of my children's mental health any good at all, lack of structure, routine, opportunities to socialize, it's a disaster actually. Perhaps if you have a companion/husband and are a fairly self-sufficient person it's fine, but for many, it's too isolating and too chaotic to live like this whilst trying to perform well at work and school. I'm normally an upbeat person and I've really struggled lately.

We have already decided as a family once restrictions lift, we are out of here. The teens are at incredibly low risk and I'm lowish risk although would qualify for a vaccine due to age. We are not scared of corona, we don't want it, would rather avoid it, but are more scared of living this half-life for prolonged periods. The main things for us are ability to travel out of our immediate area for walks/activities, eating out, being able to shop for the teens who like to socialize, and see family and friends, even with some social distancing to start with (e.g. in our gardens). Not having any of that is not a way of life, it's a temporary thing and I'll suck it up for now, but once my older relatives have been vaccinated, we are getting on out there. The vulnerable, old and those with health conditions who are most at risk will be protected, so why shouldn't we?

And if you become asymptomatic spreaders, so what, right? Others you infect can just fuck off.

@FourTeaFallOut

'Sadly', 'I'm afraid' and 'sorry, but' should be purged from English vocabulary when all this is done.

LOL!!!

Alas! I think you may be correct

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-55876866?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=60168add54a69202e80de3a0%26Hancock%20predicts%20%27happy%20and%20free%27%20British%20summer%262021-01-31T11%3A15%3A07.756Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:f63b5bde-b257-4e24-b59b-bb5d8f914a92&pinned_post_asset_id=60168add54a69202e80de3a0&pinned_post_type=share

Some glimmer for summer? But I think day at a time is my plan

If everyone's vaccinated why does that matter?

@DumplingsAndStew last summer we were allowed to meet up with another household and visit them in their homes overnight. If we aren’t allowed to do that this summer then we will still be stuck with our own household without support from external family. As a two parent family we aren’t entitled to form a support bubble.

There are five of us in our family, we can’t even meet with my parents under the rule of six for a day out. Can’t share a meal with family. A summer with a daily walk for fun is not at all appealing.

Imo it’s good and needed. Only saying this as we all became too relaxed with social distancing last summer and here we are now. If we see all a little bit more cautious this time it may be the key (as well as having the vaccine now) of getting out of this mess. I’d happily social distance for as long as it takes tbh. It is easier for me to say though as I’m an introvert who likes my own company. I know it’s harder for some people 💗

I’ve got teenage kids and I really think this is having a massive impact on young people‘s mental health. I know people will say about deaths and it is truly awful but we can’t let the bulk of the population become unemployed, mental health issues raising and people dying of other things because Covid stopped their treatment. There needs to be a balance and a plan that doesn’t involve lockdowns and the economy on the floor. Strangely enough isn’t that what track, trace, isolate and the vaccine is suppose to do?

@Beaniecats

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

Hancock has said that all adults will have been offered their first vaccination by September. So second presumably by end of October or November, allow a couple of weeks for immunity to develop, so in essence by December most adults in the UK will have some level of immunity to Covid 19 if not to other variants. So I can see why they would advise reasonable social distancing to continue until then, and possibly beyond, to reduce the possibility of further infection in the community because there are always going to be people outside the system who aren’t vaccinated, or people who for some reason can’t be vaccinated. I assume that there will also continue to be some sort of vaccination programme for a while to catch up on young adults as they reach 18.

I don’t know what will happen when the UK is mostly vaccinated, will there be an expectation that people coming into the country for business or whatever must produce a valid vaccination certificate. I expect they are already making plans for this, just as they have for everything else (irony alert).

The sensible thing would to just continue with the border ban; ie no holidays abroad and no-one allowed into the country. The tourist economy shouldn’t suffer here because obviously people here will be holidaying in this country. We can control what happens in our own country regards vaccinating and the virus. Different story if we allow people to come and go to other countries.

"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've read that it's fine, but there are concerns about the SA and Brazilian variant. Even so, they should be able to tweak the vaccine.

If they have to tweak the vaccine, does that mean those already vaccinated will ned another dose. Some people have now had the 2 doses.

Is this nightmare ever going to end? What is going to change in 2022 and beyond if vaccine uptake/effectiveness is as predicted in the report- won't there always be a number of people who will die from Covid? If 'last summer' is all we can hope for in terms of restrictions easing then that is a terrifying thought, last summer was crap.

I know less and less people following social distancing at this point. Even the most fervent pro-lockdown people I know are starting to really crack.

There's really only so long people can continue to do this. It's such an unnatural way to live, and people (especially single people who live alone) are starting to come apart.

It's to the point now where I know more people who are bending the rules just to stop themselves from going completely insane, than people following every rule anymore.

@FourTeaFallOut same picture, reducing many places but not in a minority

@FourTeaFallOut

'Sadly', 'I'm afraid' and 'sorry, but' should be purged from English vocabulary when all this is done.

Only after they've done

Unprecedented
Lessons learnt

& have shoved Priti Patel in a dingy off the south coast

Even. If we can travel it doesn't mean other countries will let us in
The world will be a much smaller place for the foreseeable.
I like a bit of sunshine same as the next person but there are so many beautiful places to explore in this country won't bother me too much.

Ofgs. I'm out.

I tell you what, why don't we fill in all the blanks with worst case scenarios? Like some have-a-go kindle authors and see who loses the will to live first, shall we?

Please can I sign up for the Priti Patel thing?