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

[Quit4me]

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.

@Flatcokeisnojoke

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)

What an utterly ridiculous thing to write, clearly designed to mess with people's mental wellbeing when they are probably at their lowest

I want everything open and to go out and do normal things, like have a boozy lunch out, or a wander round a city, or a gallery. I want my roots done, my brows done and to get back in the gym.
I want my child back in school.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting this.

@Quit4me I think people’s tolerance is wearing thin. Most people are making their own judgments. I think it would be much safer if there were public places open, as it’s much more likely to spread in homes. This has gone in too long, with poor choices made by governments and it needs to be ending.

Asrui, those are my thoughts

I was thinking we’d have multiple lockdowns for the foreseeable from last summer

I’d like to be wrong, so far I’ve been right

My own mental health is as shot as anyone else’s

Should we only write fake positive thoughts?

To me it helps to be allowed to speak my fears

I am just one person out of millions on the internet

The majority will follow most rules for as long as they’re in place.

I know a lot of people who follow rules slavishly despite stark evidence that they need to bend.

For example, a parent who’s child has started self harming, ‘crying all the time’ and yet they don’t make a balanced decision to let them see friends.

@Flatcokeisnojoke

Asrui, those are my thoughts

I was thinking we’d have multiple lockdowns for the foreseeable from last summer

I’d like to be wrong, so far I’ve been right

My own mental health is as shot as anyone else’s

Should we only write fake positive thoughts?

To me it helps to be allowed to speak my fears

I am just one person out of millions on the internet

Flatcoke When you say "in and out of lockdown for years yet", this could mean any proportion of lockdown/no lockdown, from 100% lockdown for eternity to lockdown for 1 day in 2 consecutive years and no additional lockdowns.

Many people who are in a fragile mental state will read posts like this and be dragged down into a dystopia where they see their quality of life never ever improving. As some people are hardwired to prepare for the worst they will naturally be pulled downwards with every new definition of the worst that they see.

Then there is the insidious psychological effect of your use of brackets. (or even 2022) adds a subtle air of menace to the proposition of what is considered optimistic. So this summer is optimistic. But then there is the addendum of a whole additional calendar year that begins 6 months after summer 2021. The implication that some may read in is that if 2022 is possibly optimistic, well perhaps 2023 is also somewhat optimistic. Perhaps 2025 is realistic?
The use of the phrase "for years yet" at the start is also strikingly open-ended. Years is obviously plural and for many people carries the implication of being more than 2 years (for which many people they would say "a couple") and probably also more than "a few". Not overtly stating precise expectations is bound to have the effect of encoding veiled implications of quasi-eternal lockdowns on others whose mental health is as or more shot than yours at the moment. I hope you feel better amidst this ongoing catastrophe. I am personally close to despair.

Are you doing an English assignment @Asrui ? Your dissection of the exact meaning of a PPs thoughts is strange.

If your fragile mental health is concerning you, have you considered interacting on posts aside from obvious ones about Covid?

Makes me laugh when people spout:

‘The public will follow rules indefinitely for as long as it takes’.

People have no clue what others get up to and what they’d breaking point is. The obviously can’t go to pubs/restaurants and most people probably wouldn’t have a huge party in their garden.

That doesn’t mean they won’t see close family and friends behind closed doors in the coming weeks/months. They probably won’t shout about it, but it’s likely they will.

I’m lucky in that I work in a job classed as critical so I’m not stuck in the house all day. I get to see friends at work etc...My DC is at school and we don’t have a big family and I’m not one hosting big BBQ’s etc so I won’t be breaking the rules because I’m lucky I don’t to for my sanity. I also have a DH so I don’t feel lonely, but people that are single must find it so difficult and their experience will be different to mine.

Many people will be on the floor with all of this in the next few weeks. They’ll do what they can to survive and forming relationships and having social interactions is what makes us human.

When the vulnerable are vaccinated then it’s unreasonable to expect everyone to let their MH suffer and crack.

When people know how well the vaccine is doing both in terms of keeping recipients protected and reducing transmission from those who had the vaccine then yes I think most people will rethink.
If it is working the danger is that the disobedient minority will just carry on their merry ways. I think the majority will still be cautious for a good while after the official announcements however.
If it is not working then hopefully the disobedient minority may realise they will have to change and put up with things

FlatCoke I completely understand. I nearly did the deed when lockdown began last year.

For me, it's the false hope that's the killer.

@LunaHeather yes, the false hope, the carrot dangled in front of us but always just out of reach

That is what is doing my head in

The simultaneous headlines of politicians hoping we can have a normal summer, whilst at the same time there is a panic with public health officials about the new SA variant

The simultaneous optimism over vaccinations, whilst hearing we’ll be social distancing at least until the end of this year from other officials

It’s like some kind of cognitive dissonance in my brain trying to process it all

The poster analysing my comments and hoping I feel better for making them feel worse: I suggest you steer away from the Covid topics maybe? I am just 1 person with 1 opinion. I intend no harm.

Happy to be told my assumptions and my way of trying to make sense of things are wrong though

I HOPE I am wrong, and will happily listen to why

I'm struggling to see the possibility of a mass uprising ....broadly speaking I feel we have no choice but to go along with the government's wishes🙁

Asrui

You are absolutely spot on. Excellent post. Surmises what I noticed, too.

The language of covid is fascinating generally, no more so than on anonymous Internet forums where the implied menace is often denoted as you describe. Or with ..... at the end of a post (my personal favourite).

But of course, when you point it out, you will be accused of being some sort of language academic who knows quite a lot about language usage, including the use of language to persuade, panic and menace people who are already highly anxious.

I’m also a language academic (because we do exist) and if people want to dismiss my view because they don’t notice this sort of thing themselves, that’s fine. Dismissing it doesn’t make it untrue, it just means that people don’t think about the implication of what they write, or if they do, they don’t like it when somebody sees through their malign intentions.

Flatcoke one thing that has helped me is going low media.

I only have a vague idea what politicians are saying from here and from my mum. It's a banned topic for the handful of people I speak to.

I look at an online news source to keep up to date with law changes.

It helps to be as low media as possible.

Boris claims today that all adults will be vaccinated by May. Will people continue to put up with this for the next year or two once deaths come down and after having the vaccination?

Due to the new mutations, sadly I do not see the vaccinations as having such a great effect. We will need restrictions now as newer updated vaccines are produced before we see the case numbers and deaths reduce significantly.

This could all have been avoided if Boris and his ilk has actually followed and listened to scientific advice at the beginning. This shitshow is of their doing

@Caramel81

I think the majority will keep following the rules but maybe 10% of the population will just do what they want when their parents and grandparents etc have been vaccinated

They can only do what's open though. They can't go to a pub or restaurant that's shut, or a gig etc.

@TheMuppetNamedBoris rubbish

and also the delaying of the second doses is a huge mistake, it is not neutralising the SA variant unless the 2nd dose is given
news.sky.com/story/uk-covid-news-latest-updates-in-coronavirus-lockdown-12205059

Due to the new mutations, sadly I do not see the vaccinations as having such a great effect. We will need restrictions now as newer updated vaccines are produced before we see the case numbers and deaths reduce significantly

Unlikely to work I'm afraid ... if the thing's changing that fast there's every chance there'll be another mutation while the vaccines are being updated so that they'll always be chasing their tails

There won’t be any economy to pay for any of this. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do we just stay at home forever not going to work as the mutations increase?

@theotherfossilsister

I might be wrong, but I am really struggling to understand how they will maintain this when the most vulnerable are vaccinated and when numbers in hospitals are down. Surely there has to be some release then? At the moment I am trusting them, but when I hear people from SAGE saying we'll need to lockdown even after the vaccine, I sort of wonder what the point is?

If we listened to the scientists in the first place we wouldn't be in this mess.

Only the other week they were imploring the government to shut the borders because of this new strain and at least have proper, regulated quarantines in place.

Unlikely to work I'm afraid ... if the thing's changing that fast there's every chance there'll be another mutation while the vaccines are being updated so that they'll always be chasing their tails

Exactly why the Gov should have been doing everything in its power to try to stop this situation from getting so bad but they have done everything half heartedly

There’s another from ‘covid phrase bingo’

‘I’m afraid.’

Said with such authority from a position of knowledge.

the government 'strategy' is just to carry on muddling through, they know that as long as the muddling causes more problems for poor people than rich people they'll be golden
if they can crush the poor in just the right way so that they are numb and depressed and stop complaining... all the better✔️