People saying ‘we’ve had a year of this’ - what did you do last summer?

[Bubbinsmakesthree]

I keep seeing people saying things like “my child hasn’t played with anyone else in a year” or “I’ve not seen any friends in a year”. I know some people have been shielding or live in areas that have had tougher restrictions for longer...but if not, what were you doing last summer?

I think I’ve been fairly cautious but we still managed holidays/trips away in the UK, lots of (socially distanced) meet ups with friends and family and my children saw lots of their friends. We’ve been to museums, meals out, swimming etc. Other than children not social distancing with each other I don’t we broke any rules. It certainly wasn’t a normal summer but in comparison with the current (really miserable) lockdown things were pretty decent.

Lots of people I know were regularly in bars, making cinema trips, foreign holidays and taking the children soft play (i drew the line well before it got to soft play myself!)

Are people forgetting what actually happened or did some people remain in voluntary lockdown all year?

@ChristmasIvy

Summer was great. We spent a whole month in the south of France.

Good for you and why not. I’m pleased some people lived it, not just existed.

All hotels in U.K. were open in the summer. Maybe not Leicester.

Hotels may have been open but people living in areas with additional restrictions were advised not travel out of their area and some hotels and attractions wouldn't take bookings from certain postcodes.

I would have loved to have done more last summer but where I lived we have been under the highest restrictions since March ( bar 3 weeks in July when it poured down)

I think the local lock down and the school term times did make it very different in Leicester.

Non essential retail reopened end of July, but pubs/restaurants not till 4th August and then it was 1 household only, no mixing.

Schools went back 26th August but swimming pools, leisure didn't reopen till end of first week in September and again, 1 household no social mixing.

Travel restrictions weren't lifted till last week of August so stupidly the shops in the city were allowed to be open but you could only travel to them for essential reasons.

This meant by the time we were welcome in out of city holiday parks, not being cancelled on because of postcodes there were only a few days left of the summer holidays.

Household mixing (socially distanced) anywhere except a park was only allowed once tiers came in in October when we were allowed to have someone round to the garden but still couldn't meet in a house, cafe, museum, restaurant, pub....

So it was a whole summer of waving and shouting at people in the park, hanging in the garden with your household, exploring the many different walking routes and hoping that you'd be able to get to Clark's before the schools reopened to get shoes sorted for the kids.

I do think the restrictions on Leicester were awful and went on far too long with no review.

I am not talking about vulnerable people in any of my posts. Of course if you have a vulnerable family member you would be much more cautious.

I’m talking about healthy adults inflicting stricter, made up rules on themselves and their poor kids. To the detriment of children’s health. During the summer when quite a bit was allowed and encouraged. If you didn’t take advantage of that time you would have been stuck in for nearly a year.

I think there was two schools of thought last summer and neither we’re wrong

There was the

I can see what’s coming i am going to enjoy it whilst It’s allowed.
And
I can see what’s coming, Just because it’s allowed doesn’t mean it’s sensible to do that during a pandemic.

Who knows where we would be if we had all done one or the other.
Would we be in a different position? Who knows

@Pimlicojo

So many people saying foreign holidays were an issue. We had 2 holidays cancelled because the FDCO advised against all but essential travel (booked before the pandemic). We went for a week to another European country which had a small number of cases. Before we went we had to have PCR tests. While there infection control measures were greater than here, with temperature checks at every venue and masks worn at all public indoor venues.

People going on holiday abroad may have contributed. But the virus was already here and we had a higher infection rate than many other countries.

Yes , same for us in October. Tenerife was normal in March for us, despite half a dozen cases up the coast from where we were staying. Then October it wa slime you described. Unfortunately we didn’t get out in December as the testing lab lost my test, despite us hand delivering it 😡

@SuperCaliFragalistic

But cases were very low in the summer. People getting out and about over the summer did not increase the risk to others. The martyrdom on this thread is astounding.

I would agree if we were talking about meeting up over xmas - cases were rising at that time and the risk was increasing, but all the people that sacrificed any scrap of enjoyment all year for fear of infection in the warmer summer months (CEV and their families not included obvs) have done themselves a disservice.

Like another poster I absolutely stand by my decisions to enjoy myself within the guidelines and to take my children on holidays this year.

Agree I intend to take myself off in March for our usual winter break in the canaries. However, although the intention is there I’m not expecting it to go ahead but I will take every chance I can to live my life whenever it’s allowed. Even the prime minster took time off and his girlfriend went to italy with friends so why should we martyr ourselves.

I’m not looking for a medal I’m looking to protect my family and vulnerable child who has had cancer and was shielding. I also followed the rules so excuse me for being pretty annoyed at people that think that not following the rules is ok. We live in London so the rules have been mainly socially distancing for a long time and with a very limited time of people ever being allowed to mix indoors. So what am I going on about?

Bexer56 I completely agree about following the rules. But I'm in London too and I've followed the rules at all times. Those rules were different in the summer to now and lots of things were permitted. I sat in the garden with a friend drinking wine and chatting - it was allowed. I wouldn't be doing that now even if it wasn't winter, because it is not.

Unless cases were zero then we would have had a second wave in the autumn/winter. Whatever any did over the summer.

Zero COVID was never a government policy. So if you were staying in to protect yourself they fair enough. But for the greater good of the country... when schools and universities all went back, everyone back in the office etc. It was all inevitable really. Look at the rest of Europe. It’s the same pattern.

Anyone did

The quarantine restrictions when returning from France were introduced mid August iirc. I know two families who had to pretty much turn round a couple of days into their holiday

@Delatron

I think it’s pretty appalling to stop kids and teenagers meeting up when it was within the rules. If your sense of perspective is that screwed that you sit in your house and barely go out, even in summer when cases were low and we were allowed then that’s your prerogative . But to stop children socialising and playing outdoors with their friends is awful. If teenagers felt scared to do so then that fear (disproportional) has come from somewhere.

The impact of having no social contact and fun for a year is far does far more harm than this virus would to them.

Viruses are seasonal. It was always going to follow this pattern. People sitting on a busy beach in August did not cause the second wave.

Well said and if I see a group of teens when out doing what teens do, I give a silent cheer. If we can be evacuated from an overcrowded airport where there was no sd, no sanitiser and no masks and the. Sit on a crowded plane for 6 hours in the same conditions and not get it, then either me and dh have very strong immune systems or it’s not as infectious or contagious as we were led to believe. 6 of my friends were evacuated that week to different airports, in same conditions on different days . One lady was 74 with a disabled son, and she is a cancer survivor. another lady has heart and lung problems, a kidney transplant and no spleen..guess what..she got no covid either and neither did our 86 year old disabled friend who flew back to cork.

If there was a time for getting it , it was then..surely?

That wasn’t just directed at you delatron by the way 😁

@Loulablake

I’m guessing you live in the south!

For so many reasons, yes!

@Delatron

When restrictions lift this time, will all those who didn’t do anything last summer continue to not go out? When will you deam it’s safe?

Cases will be much higher for the rest of the spring than they were in summer (due to the seasonal nature of viruses). So by your thinking you’ll be staying in until August I guess? But then Covid will still be around and children won’t be vaccinated. What’s your long term plan here?

I'll deem it safe once I've been vaccinated and case numbers have dropped to low levels (maybe 500 a day).

To be honest I'm resigned to living like this for the foreseeable. I'll relax a bit once I've had a vaccine but if community transmission is still high I will stay at home. I can't be arsed with going to places with the 'covid secure' measures in place- constant sanitising, people jumping out of the way if you dare pass them, one way systems e.t.c..too much faff and the joy has been sucked out of everything.

* Well said and if I see a group of teens when out doing what teens do, I give a silent cheer.*

Me too.

@Merrymermaid7

Not been anywhere, not seen my family even when it was allowed apart from outside. My 3 teenage children have not seen their friends for nearly a year apart from school briefly. I have been working from home as a mental health practitioner and my clients have been desperate for social contact but understood the risks and sacrificed a lot to keep themselves and others safe. This type of post will really upset them and others, especially all those working on the front line or NHS. Perhaps you will think about your actions in the future?

One of my best friends is an a&e doctor

Her primary concern....mental health of teenagers as a result of restrictions.

So when restrictions were eased, she and her family most certainly enjoyed the summer

Household mixing (socially distanced) anywhere except a park was only allowed once tiers came in in October when we were allowed to have someone round to the garden but still couldn't meet in a house, cafe, museum, restaurant, pub....

Where I am socially distanced household mixing in the garden was allowed in the summer. I had two friends over (so well within the rule of six) at that time and I'm really glad I did.

I also went to the cinema, ate in restaurants etc. Basically, if it was allowed I did it, because it was fairly obvious that a second wave would happen regardless and I wanted to make the most of the relaxation of rules.

EOTHO wasn't the best COVID policy, but it saved many businesses from going under last year. My family's business is struggling with the restrictions now, but it wouldn't have survived to this point if they hadn't been eased. The business supports 4 households and they would all have been plunged in to absolute poverty and 3 would have lost their homes. They may still do so (and that is a massive worry obviously) but last summer / autumn at least gave us a fighting chance to survive.

People have just forgotten haven’t they?
In the south we were allowed 6 people inside a house (socially distanced) right through until the tiers in October.

People have just forgotten haven’t they?
In the south we were allowed 6 people inside a house (socially distanced) right through until the tiers in October.

I think some people also forget that there were parts of the country who weren't allowed to do that all or only for 3 weeks in July. - I'm not saying you specifically but I've read so many threads where people just don't seem to realise this!

Where I am we've not been allowed people in our house or garden since the end of July, we couldn't meet anyone not from our own household in pubs, cafes or restaurants from mid August and we were told not to travel out of area.
I know people who were refused hotel bookings because of their postcode.
It's been utterly shit.

If we can be evacuated from an overcrowded airport where there was no sd, no sanitiser and no masks and the. Sit on a crowded plane for 6 hours in the same conditions and not get it, then either me and dh have very strong immune systems or it’s not as infectious or contagious as we were led to believe.

Idk, in that scenario I would believe that no one around me had it to give it to me. It's not like you spontaneously develop covid just because you're in a big crowd. If no one in that crowd has it why would you get it?

Yeah it a bit much there was some socialising allowed in different parts of the country through practically the whole summer and even before hand in gardens and outside etc, we also managed a September camping trip with friends the week before you wasn’t allowed to anymore so even though it’s hard I don’t necessarily feel like we really haven’t done anything for a year 🤷‍♀️

@unmarkedbythat

If we can be evacuated from an overcrowded airport where there was no sd, no sanitiser and no masks and the. Sit on a crowded plane for 6 hours in the same conditions and not get it, then either me and dh have very strong immune systems or it’s not as infectious or contagious as we were led to believe.

Idk, in that scenario I would believe that no one around me had it to give it to me. It's not like you spontaneously develop covid just because you're in a big crowd. If no one in that crowd has it why would you get it?

Exactly, but don’t forget this was when the fear was at its height. Sanitise your shopping, isolate your post , people jumping out of your way on paths etc..everyone and everything was seen as as a covid carrier especially in this country. So you can understand after what we’d been through over 3000 in an airport , that was every day , 4 different flights on 4 different days.

No one got covid and no one did get it, not even the really CEV person.
This was all when masks weren’t worn either.

So having come through that ordeal we weren’t going to stay inside when we didn’t have to.

As regards Leicester.
You were chucked under a bus and it was terrible what was done to you.

It was terrible what was done to us too...we’ve only had 160 covid deaths from last March.

If you look at our town obituaries in that period , you’ll be hard pressed to see many people under 60. Most are in their late 70s 80s, 90s and some were even 100.