A significant number are now ok with restrictions remaining indefinitely

[Delphinet]

Firstly, this is NOT making any judgement either way, simply an observation. It seems to me from reactions on here and publically in general that there are a significant and possibly growing number of people who would not be discontent with restrictions at the level they are in place at the moment continuing indefinitely.

My friend at the BoE is predicting unemployment rate of 15%. Going to be hard to pacify the populace and enforce lockdown when millions lose their jobs and homes.

There was a poster on a thread who was advocating permanent home schooling and that soon we would be able via technology to experience virtual holidays and virtual concerts. They sounded very positive about this...

Years ago we went to see WallE at the cinema. I left feeling really depressed: a future where we all sit in armchairs looking at screens as pale fat blobs. It seems some people think this would be marvellous...

I would love to go back to pre-March 2020 life (even standing under someone's armpit on the tube in the summer heat!) but I've been thinking how so many aspects of that aren't compatible with 'living with covid'. Maybe the gov just needs to be honest with us and say that these industries (hospitality, leisure to name only a couple) aren't coming back for a few years as they are not financially viable with SD restrictions in place. The gov needs to fully support anyone affected by this and ensure they get opportunities in other sectors. The vaccines will help a bit hopefully but with a 67% cut in transmission from the Oxford jab this would only reduce infections by a third if vax take up if 75%. I don't want restrictions to continue but I can't bear the alternative either- high numbers of deaths and chronic illness from long covid.

news.sky.com/video/bank-governor-predicts-7-unemployment-high-12208662

@WalrusWife - I think your friend has the wrong information. Forecast is a high of 7% unemployment but improved economic forecast due in part to the roll out of the vaccine.

There are plenty of doomers on here who seem to get warm and fuzzy over being able to screech JUST WEAR YOUR FUCKING MASK AND DRINK SOME FUCKING BLEACH AND STAY AT FUCKING HOME (yes, they always seem the need to enunciate their diatribe with the ‘fucking’, and just loving the fact that they can accuse someone of ‘killing granny’ for going out for a pint of milk or ‘you’re literally a murderer’ because you drive more than 2 mile radius from your house. Anyone that genuinely believes These people don’t exist or insist they haven’t seen it on here (or in the wild) is a big fat liar.

@jabsinarms

I would love to go back to pre-March 2020 life (even standing under someone's armpit on the tube in the summer heat!) but I've been thinking how so many aspects of that aren't compatible with 'living with covid'. Maybe the gov just needs to be honest with us and say that these industries (hospitality, leisure to name only a couple) aren't coming back for a few years as they are not financially viable with SD restrictions in place. The gov needs to fully support anyone affected by this and ensure they get opportunities in other sectors. The vaccines will help a bit hopefully but with a 67% cut in transmission from the Oxford jab this would only reduce infections by a third if vax take up if 75%. I don't want restrictions to continue but I can't bear the alternative either- high numbers of deaths and chronic illness from long covid.

but it seems completely crazy to destroy our way of life for a disease that will with vaccination (by May) have the same death risk as flu. People really need to look at the annual overall death rate, all causes, and realise that yes, Covid will remain a threat, but in the same way that any infection is a threat. Personally I can't bear the idea of a mother of 40 dying of breast cancer because she can't be seen or is afraid of medical settings due to the risk perception that the governemnt has deliberately distorted.

Can people not just accept that other people have different worries to their own? Both valid, health and life vs finances and economy. (Not so much having to miss going out for coffee, that's really not that valid in comparison). Insulting the other group and calling them selfish, (as if your own views aren't just as selfish) is daft and just leads to the other side becoming angry and repeating the behaviour (myself included).

@costco, it really doesn't have the same death risk as flu, it's much higher. Yes, people dying of other things because of it is a huge problem. There is no easy answer to this, it's a mess.

There was a poster on a thread who was advocating permanent home schooling and that soon we would be able via technology to experience virtual holidays and virtual concerts. They sounded very positive about this...

This is such a shit way to live, I can’t even.

We’re humans not holograms. We need human interaction. I’m totally done with this way of living personally.

jabsinarms
You hit the nail on the head when you said the government need to be honest.

The bottom line is they are fundamentally dishonest, have ignore the WHO and been slow to act all along.

What we've had is a year of ineffective measures, then windows of relaxation where some people are understandably cautious and think that 'just because you can, doesn't mean you should' (and will make a range of decisions with consideration for their local case load, their family, the reality of what Covid was doing in other countries). These people are aware of how Covid spread and are generally capable of having a sensible discussion, for example they might say something like we went to stay with my parents in the summer, cases were low in our area, so the travel was a risk factor, but once we were there we avoided popular areas.

Then there's others decide that the aim in life is to maximise any window of limited restrictions on the grounds of 'I was allowed so there and I won't have anyone tell me otherwise... if you didn't go on holiday / mix at christmas / go out regularly under Eat Out to Help Out then that's your choice and if you're miserable then it's because you decided to be a hermit'. These people refuse to accept that their actions on an individual level had any impact because 'the rules said I could'. Presumably they think the virus spreads magically and only other people's actions have a consequence.

@LolaSmiles I honestly think poeple don't understand what life actually consists of. If we just sat in our houses eating and sleeping, and sitting, then we might as well be animals. Of course I went and did thigns in the summer when I was allowed to. I would otherwise have killed myself.

@DareIask

I'm perfectly ok with doing my bit to stop people dying when they don't need to.

This.

Always nice when a Government Plant starts a thread to gauge opinion and never comes back ...

I'm perfectly ok with doing my bit to stop people dying when they don't need to

For how long though?

Don’t you have close family and friends you want to (legally) see?

Aren’t you concerned about older relatives in particular, who you may not have much time left with? How much of that are you prepared to give up?

I find people talking about lockdown like it’s a pause button. It isn’t. It’s time you don’t get back.

costco
But there is a middle ground between:
A) locking yourself in the house all day and telling the world even opening the windows to see sunlight is murdering someone's granny
And
B) But the rules said I could so I went here, there, everywhere, had 23 play dates where I claim that several 5 year olds always socially distanced (hahahaha!), then I went on holiday. Anyone who suggests my actions might have contributed to our current situation are just jealous martyrs who have chosen to make themselves miserable. I have special powers and know that I didn't spread covid so people should stop saying we've had a year of restrictions.

We went out to quieter places locally in the summer because we felt that an ounce of common sense said travelling around the country from a high case area was a fairly stupid thing to do. We didn't see family for the same reason. Then come on here and people will say "yeah but you had your chance to see your family so it's your own fault" with a staggering lack of awareness that maybe not everyone is arrogant enough to think that covid knows not to infect them

Where on earth did you get that from? Most people I know have been strictly obeying it since last March. It's been up it's been down, depressing but also OK. And now we're used to it.

BUT WE KNOW IT'S GOING TO END!

This whole indefinitely thing is ridiculous.

Oh and we're ok because we WANT it to end! Even us introverts want to hug our grans again.

I am pretty sure that's not what any of the recent polls have said!

OK with restrictions whilst they are necessary, yes.

Forever. Why?

Sounds more like it got conflated with WFH forever, which many people and businesses may well be quite happy with!

@o8O8O8o

Since they don't have the police numbers to enforce lockdown, they try to control our thinking instead soft power innit...or 'softly softly catchee monkey' power

Where? How? OP hasn't posted anything to support her stance.

Stop conspiracy frothing!

@LolaSmiles well it's kind of up to the individual what they do within the law. That's how it works.There shouldn't be any value judgements on other people's choices, if they are within the law.
personally, I went on holiday twice, once wiht a friend and once alone for a long weekend. I also went to the office when we were allowed to and to the pub a few times but that wasn't relaly much fun. EAch of those movements means that it is feasible that I might have transmitted the virus, yes. But once the virus is no longer deadly except in very unusual cases, then it goes back into the context of other viruses and bacteria, all of whihc we have been freely transmitting our entire lives.

@LolaSmiles well it's kind of up to the individual what they do within the law. That's how it works.There shouldn't be any value judgements on other people's choices, if they are within the law
Of course there are value judgements on conduct within the law. It comes back to just because you can do something doesn't mean it's a good idea.

People were allowed to go out places in the summer. We chose to go to a quieter beach in our area. Others piled into the popular places and one popular beach town was packed to the point where local residents were reporting being blocked in by the number of cars there, and people who lived there were saying they felt concerned going to the shop because it was so busy.

Damn right I judge the people who were silly enough to pile into busy areas. Maybe had they paused for all of 30 seconds to consider whether going to busy places was a good idea we'd not be locked down again.

It's the same at Christmas. Until the christmas rules were pulled back, I'd worked out I could hypothetically have had 18 people over for Christmas and been within the rules. It wouldn't have made it a good idea though and people would have been well within their rights to question whether 18 people from across the country was a sensible thing to do. They'd also be well within their right to point out I'm a bit of a fool if having seen 18 people I argued "but I was allowed too! If it's in the rules then I'm untouchable. Don't point out that mixing households might have been a bad idea because it was allowed. You're all just bitter and should also have seen 18 people at christmas too".