Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

How long do you think the public majority (IRL) will put up with this for?

356 replies

Quit4me · 31/01/2021 17:00

How long do you think public opinion and action will continue to support not seeing friends and family?
I’m asking based on your real life experiences (not mumsnet views)
I’m not after ‘I’m giving up my life for as long as it takes’ views here, or ‘I’m happy watching tv and hugging my yoga mat for years.
I’m asking for realistic views of 2021 and public opinion as the year goes on.

OP posts:
IcedPurple · 01/02/2021 17:33

The thing is, so long as restaurants, hairdressers, pubs etc are shut by law there's not much people can do. Sure, they can visit family and friends - there isn't a whole lot that can be done about this and I suspect quite a few people are already quietly doing it - but you can't go swimming if the pool is shut, or have your nail done if the salon is closed.

Could there be mass civil disobedience, with businesses opening even though it's illegal? Possibly, but I dont really see it. That said, my hope still is that they're being cautious because they knew they over-promised in the past and that the country will start opening up relatively soon.

StealthPolarBear · 01/02/2021 18:24

Don't most people have quite a few family and feiends they'd like to see but can't? I certainly do

MercyBooth · 01/02/2021 18:30

@Puzzledandpissedoff wait till they get the disability benefits bill for all the new agoraphobics they have created.

And they are happy to use long Covid sufferers as leverage to keep the public compliant now but will long Covid suddenly "cease to exist" and be "all in the mind" or "just post viral syndrome" when it comes to them having to pay out more disability benefits.

BonnieDundee · 01/02/2021 18:50

I don't like the narrative that is.coming from JVT/whitty etc that the vaccine doesnt necessarily prevent you catching or spreading COVID-19 so restrictions will need to continue after vaccination. We need to know that the restrictions will come to an end and we need to know at what level of cases/hosp admissions/ deaths/ vaccinated we can ease restrictions. I will be bitterly disappointed if Boris doesnt address this on 22 Feb.

Flatcokeisnojoke · 01/02/2021 19:01

I think it’s pretty obvious we’ll be in and out of lockdown for years yet

New variants, mutations, being able to transmit it despite being vaccinated

In March (some) people thought the restrictions would be short term

I wish I had the optimism of people who think all will be fine by summer (or even by 2022)

TwirpingBird · 01/02/2021 19:13

@StealthPolarBear I was thinking the same. I dont see anyone. That's all i want, to see family and friends. It doesnt bother me when restaurants or bars or shops reopen.

Beaniecats · 01/02/2021 19:50

@BonnieDundee

I don't like the narrative that is.coming from JVT/whitty etc that the vaccine doesnt necessarily prevent you catching or spreading COVID-19 so restrictions will need to continue after vaccination. We need to know that the restrictions will come to an end and we need to know at what level of cases/hosp admissions/ deaths/ vaccinated we can ease restrictions. I will be bitterly disappointed if Boris doesnt address this on 22 Feb.
I have been extremely concerned about Whitty for a long time. He seems to think this can go on as long as he dictates
Hardbackwriter · 01/02/2021 19:54

@StealthPolarBear

Don't most people have quite a few family and feiends they'd like to see but can't? I certainly do
I always find it baffling on these threads that lots of people say 'well, if you do break lockdown what will you even do? Nothing is open so all you could do is see family and friends'. Yes, yes that is all I could do and also all I want to do currently. It would change my life enormously if I just gave up on that following that part of the law and went round to sit in my parents' or my best friend's house for a cup of tea.
StealthPolarBear · 01/02/2021 19:59

Completely agree. Apparently most people think we want cafes and soft plays.
Id love to go to a restaurant or on a weekend break. Or for a wander round our city centre. However I can do without all that pretty much indefinitely. I haven't seen my parents since just before Christmas, my in laws since September, and we've not had one of the usual family get togethers (ten or fifteen people) for a year now. We'd usually get together as a family every month or two. I do need those and I am struggling the longer it goes on.
And its not about going to the pub, and a sodding zoom call or hugging my yoga mat isn't cutting it.

Hardbackwriter · 01/02/2021 20:02

Yeah, there are loads of things I'd like to do and that I miss, but if I could remove just one restriction it would be to allow meeting people indoors. Which is, unfortunately, both one of the worst things in terms of transmission but also the most difficult to police.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 01/02/2021 20:11

I don't like the narrative that is.coming from JVT/whitty etc that the vaccine doesnt necessarily prevent you catching or spreading COVID-19 so restrictions will need to continue after vaccination

It depends what timeframe was meant about "after vaccination"
I get that they want restrictions until more are jabbed "to avoid overburdening the NHS" and all that jazz, but he won't get far with expecting more once we've reached that point

It could even be counterproductive, with folk saying "there was no point then" and even refusing the jabs if it's suggested they'll make little difference

CountessFrog · 01/02/2021 20:14

I have also heard CW mention getting to ‘an acceptable level of deaths.’

TwirpingBird · 01/02/2021 21:39

@StealthPolarBear

Completely agree. Apparently most people think we want cafes and soft plays. Id love to go to a restaurant or on a weekend break. Or for a wander round our city centre. However I can do without all that pretty much indefinitely. I haven't seen my parents since just before Christmas, my in laws since September, and we've not had one of the usual family get togethers (ten or fifteen people) for a year now. We'd usually get together as a family every month or two. I do need those and I am struggling the longer it goes on. And its not about going to the pub, and a sodding zoom call or hugging my yoga mat isn't cutting it.
I havent seen my parents since august, and before that was February. I havent seen my aunts or cousins since June 2019. They live in Ireland. I have a 3 month old. Nobody has met her. I have no idea when I will see them again. It's the one and only thing I cant do indefinitely. I miss everything else, but being essentially locked out of my country indefinitely is the worst thing for me.
Siepie · 01/02/2021 21:50

All my family live abroad. If they didn't, we'd have probably found a way to introduce 4 month old DS to his grandparents, whether legally or not. We last saw them at Christmas 2019 as nobody could get enough time off work in the summer to travel and quarantine.

Other than that, with family abroad and most of my friends living in a different city, there's not really anyone I could easily see without risking getting stopped. I can't break into my hairdresser's or the pub. So I suppose I will carry on indefinitely because I don't seem to have much other choice.

Sunnydays999 · 01/02/2021 21:57

I have noticed neighbours aren’t following the rules as they did . Friends and family round . This hasn’t happened in previous lockdowns - people are starting to struggle/ getting fed up

StealthPolarBear · 01/02/2021 22:47

That's very tough twirping Flowers

Mousehole10 · 01/02/2021 22:54

@Sunnydays999

I have noticed neighbours aren’t following the rules as they did . Friends and family round . This hasn’t happened in previous lockdowns - people are starting to struggle/ getting fed up
Not surprised. I have no idea how the government think they can ban people from seeing friends and family for so long. It’s not right. There’s only so long people will put up with that aspect.
IcedPurple · 01/02/2021 23:00

I always find it baffling on these threads that lots of people say 'well, if you do break lockdown what will you even do? Nothing is open so all you could do is see family and friends

How is it 'baffling'? If the only thing you want to do is see family and friends then you could probably find a way to do that now in most cases. I'm willing to bet that every single day, hundreds of thousands of people are breaking these 'rules', and have been doing for months. Even with roadblocks and the like, you can't police people going in and out of other people's houses to any significant degree.

However, if you want to do virtually any of the other activities most of us took for granted a year ago - go to the pub, get your hair cut, have a meal out, go for a swim etc - you simply cannot do any of that until the govt says you can. Unless of course there's some mass civil disobedience, but I don't think that's likely.

Jsnn · 01/02/2021 23:25

summer.

Nellodee · 02/02/2021 00:08

It’s so hard. I do understand how difficult it is to not see family, and I particularly feel for those with newborns who haven’t been able to take them to meet their relatives.
On the other hand, I was reading an article today about how the nhs staff are so ground down with sickness and overwork that they are having to cancel urgent surgeries (broken bones, biopsies) for children now in some parts of the country. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be told your child must wait for treatment that you know they need as soon as possible.
I really hope the situation in the nhs improves quickly now cases are coming down and that we have a smooth ride with the vaccination schedule. Everything seems balanced on a knife edge right now - we could be nearly out of the woods, but so much could still go wrong.

1dayatatime · 02/02/2021 00:30

@Puzzledandpissedoff

The ignorance of government thinking vaccines will stop this is bizarre

FWIW I'm not convinced they do believe vaccines will stop it - not with the many mutations and the ever present threat of vaccine escape

However it may be a useful delaying tactic while they try to work out, among the panic they've encouraged, just how to tell folk that there may be no alternative to learning to live with it

The problem is that if any Government admits sorry there's not slot we can do other than live with it then at the very best they will be out of power for a very long time and at worst you will have civil unrest when people rightly as so what was the point of all the restrictions and economic damage.

Hindsight of course is wonderful thing but I fear the public will not be so forgiving .

Jsnn · 02/02/2021 00:36

@Nellodee

It’s so hard. I do understand how difficult it is to not see family, and I particularly feel for those with newborns who haven’t been able to take them to meet their relatives. On the other hand, I was reading an article today about how the nhs staff are so ground down with sickness and overwork that they are having to cancel urgent surgeries (broken bones, biopsies) for children now in some parts of the country. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be told your child must wait for treatment that you know they need as soon as possible. I really hope the situation in the nhs improves quickly now cases are coming down and that we have a smooth ride with the vaccination schedule. Everything seems balanced on a knife edge right now - we could be nearly out of the woods, but so much could still go wrong.
It sucks. The government has had a year to figure this out.

Where is the investment in staff? Have they been training nurses and army medics (not sure if that would help?) non stop for last year? Have they been building out capacity. Stockpiling supplies? You have a ton of GPs who are just sitting at home teleconferencing such a waste of resources. Whole thing has been so badly managed. You have probably 10-20% of trained medical staff working 200% as hard as they normally would and burning out while the other 80% is on basically a WFH holiday.

nonono1 · 02/02/2021 07:05

@rookiemere sorry yes, I meant when the most vulnerable groups have been vaccinated. So Easter is my end point. My parents should have been vaccinated by then so all being well, there will be a big Easter family get together on the cards! Thank god our vaccination programme is going so well.

nonono1 · 02/02/2021 07:10

I don't like the narrative that is.coming from JVT/whitty etc that the vaccine doesnt necessarily prevent you catching or spreading COVID-19 so restrictions will need to continue after vaccination.

I thought he meant that restrictions will only need to continue until the most vulnerable groups are vaccinated - which seems reasonable? Especially as you’re not fully protected until 2-3 weeks after you’ve had the vaccine, if my understanding is correct.

daisypond · 02/02/2021 07:31

Where is the investment in staff? Have they been training nurses and army medics (not sure if that would help?) non stop for last year?

I know some medical students. Unfortunately at the moment, they are drafted into hospitals and are cleaning, changing beds etc, not doing the learning and training they should be as young doctors soon to be, in theory, qualified.