Is anyone actually going to follow the rules from spring?

[Cloudsurfing]

It will have been a year since being allowed to properly see friends and family. Even in summer last year you still had to social distance so seeing family was difficult, and some areas had tighter restrictions throughout. Everyone I know is going to see family and friends from spring, regardless of what restrictions there are. I am too. The government do know that most people won’t stick to it from then, right?

Is anyone on here actually going to not see family at that point? I know Mumsnet seems to be full of people who are happy to isolate for years if need be, but are you actually going to?

@StealthPolarBear don’t be dim. If you are in your 80’s you’ve lived 80 years of your life without Covid restrictions. It’s still the same tiny proportion of their life that’s restricted.

@Megan2018

I'll continue to follow the rules, as will everyone I know. Fortunately I don't seem to associate with any over dramatic idiots.

It's a tiny amount of time in a lifetime, I do think people are being ridiculous about it. It's really not that huge a sacrifice for just a couple of years.

What a disgusting post.

So the thousands of suicide victims were over dramatic idiots?

That parents stuck at home with disabled children are over dramatic idiots?

The people who feel trapped in abusive situations are over dramatic idiots?

Depends on how effective vaccines turn out to be, if new strains are covered by them etc.
In all honesty its likely we will be following restrictions for some time to come with a CEV child that won't be vaccinated ! If everyone else just carrys on with life without social distancing mask wearing etc, I feel like that then makes it even more unsafe for us to interact with others.
During summer we still followed strict social distancing we haven't seen family in a year now and the children have been unable to attend school for that length of time as well because the risk was still there. Nothing has changed in that respect, it was dangerous for DC to catch the virus last March it is still as dangerous now as it was back then.
If community transmission was really low as a result of mass vaccination and if that vaccine prevented people transmitting it as well then we would potentially meet with some close family members namely grandparents who will have had the vaccine as the risk then that they would pass it on to us would be incredibly low but we are unlikely to go to settings where we would be interacting with other members of the public who we won't know their vaccination status

@itwaseverthus sorry mixed up your reply with another
Fair play to your nan I say

If you are in your 80’s you’ve lived 80 years of your life without Covid restrictions

And you don’t have much time left probably.

Can’t you see why people don’t want to spend much of this precious time left holed up in their houses with no social interaction. There is much more to living than simply existing.

Posters commenting along the lines of 'we should all be doing this tiny, easy thing to protect society, the vulnerable, our institutions' etc. are often the posters most unable or unwilling to consider the micro human cost of repeated lockdowns, social isolation, boredom and forced lethargy.

You cannot just 'put your family and yourself first' in a pandemic though - by which I don't mean, you should not be selfish, or you cannot do that because it's wrong - but because that doesn't work as a concept. A pandemic means we're all connected whether we like it or not, and acting as an individual doesn't work and isn't realisable.

Nobody likes this, everyone's miserable - to say you will keep on doing the right thing doesn't mean you're enjoying it, or that you don't understand (and know) how hard it is, but deciding it's over won't make it so, and in fact it will make it less likely to be over.

Megan, "don't be dim"
I rest my case.
They may die (of something else) without spending time with loved ones.
So yes, it's still the same proportion (thank you) but it's at a crucial part of their lives, yes?
Don't be unempathetic.

@Megan2018 but who wants to spend there final years locked away?
My 87 year old nan doesn't she has followed rules but she is pretty lonely , she has had her first jab anf after 2nd will go out a little more or have people round even if still being cautious as being cut off from the world isn't a nice way to livr

So, with the vaccine programme rolling out, and our freedoms soon to be returned, you think that THIS is a good time to start flouting the rules? You know, catch the virus a few months before you'd be vaccinated and safe?

Ah but if she just does the calculations to convince herself she's being dim and buys a yoga mat she'll be happy and joyous again, didn't you know.

Yes, we have been and will be following the rules regardless of what season it is.

@TheKeatingFive how would the hospitals cope if all over 80s went mixing with people especially their grandchildren who have been at school.

Unless we just assume anyone over 80 doesn't get hospital treatment.

@StealthPolarBear

Megan, "don't be dim" I rest my case. They may die (of something else) without spending time with loved ones. So yes, it's still the same proportion (thank you) but it's at a crucial part of their lives, yes? Don't be unempathetic.

If my 94 year old grandmother can manage to reconcile it I’m sure other people can. We hate being apart, most of my mat leave was in lockdown. It’s really hard. I have plenty of empathy for finding it hard but that’s not an excuse for no longer following the rules. If people stopped feeling sorry for themselves and dwelling on what they don’t have and can’t do they’d feel a lot better. The constant whining “it’s not fair. I want, I want” on mumsnet is worse than that from my toddler

how would the hospitals cope if all over 80s went mixing with people especially their grandchildren who have been at school.

Haven’t the majority of over 80s been vaxxed already? And if not, will be imminently?

Really? You don't think people are different, with different wants needs and priorities?
We are all different. Well done to your grandmother, I hope she enjoys lots of time with family and friends after this is over but you don't get to tell others thwy are wrong for maybe feeling that near the end of their lives they have bigger priorities than not getting covid.

'A healthcare system that only works if everyone is locked down at home, unable to see their loved ones, quite clearly isn’t fit for purpose.'

Oh what rubbish. Germany, Italy etc etc have all had very similar restrictions and they had 'world class' healthcare.

A healthcare system cannot be expected to be prepared for a once a century pandemic, to run with double their capacity just in case. ICU, maybe have 25 beds in a busy city hospital have had 3 times the amount and more of critically ill patients, ditto respiratory wards.

All these people saying by Spring they'll have had enough, I bet they've been seeing family and friends throughout, mn is a magnet for flakey flouters seeking validation and backslaps.

There are bubbles and support allowed for disabled people and those with genuine mh problems.

If I can undertsand that then presumably you can too by your logic

I wish people would quote sources for wild claims - thousands of suicides?

Not every suicide is down to Covid. And I don't believe there have been thousands.

Depends on what cases/hospitalisations/deaths are looking like in my area and nationally. If they are low and falling, then from April/May onwards, it's likely that I'll be allowing inter-house mixing in small groups for me and my children. If they start to climb again, we'd follow rules more closely.

I stayed at my mums on Saturday night. We had copious Prosecco and stayed up until 4am. My god was it needed. We will be seeing my parents at the weekend going forward now. They are early 50s and not high risk.

but what about the other people you and they come into contact with? Just makes a total mockery of the sacrifices other people have made and continue to make.

@Megan2018 have you ever suffered from mh ? If not then please don't judge how this effects others
My mh is more of a risk to me than covid at the moment , and I am following the rules so far, but because you can cope , you fo not know of others situations

If my 94 year old grandmother can manage to reconcile it I’m sure other people can.

She can make whatever decisions she likes. They are of no bearing on other people of a similar age who want to spend this time living rather than simply existing.

No. Once my parents are fully vaccinated, I'm visiting them.

I"m no conspiracy theorist but I won't stand for this moving of the goalposts. "Zero Covid" can fuck right off, and political party's stance on it to me will determine who I vote for. (Apart from Tory, which I would never vote)

@Nuggetknuckles

Those claiming our liberty and personal freedoms are being removed need to think very clearly.

There are those that live in other countries with no freedoms. We are not locked in our homes with the army patrolling the streets and censored internet access, with state regulated food deliveries. In a genuine dictatorship no one would be in the position to even think about having the option of ignoring rules.

You really don't see any middle ground between living in North Korea and a liberal democracy?

I would say telling people they need to have a 'reasonable' excuse to leave their homes, making 'non-essential' travel abroad illegal and forbidding people to visit their families can definitely be classed as major infringements on civil liberties. Now, I'm not saying they're not neccessary in an emergency, but how long does that 'emergency' go on for? There is definitely a debate to be had about just how long it is acceptable to curtail basic liberties in a liberal democracy.