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?

@ClaudiaWankleman

Are you honestly finding exercise outdoors with one other person fulfilling *@BustopherPonsonbyJones* ? I don’t think I am alone in finding it completely inadequate, especially after 11 months without seeing the people I want to see. I feel isolated.

This is not snippy I am interested...

Is it isolation if we can see people 1-1?

Or is it frustration at not seeing people in groups and doing the pleasurable activities we used to do?

'don’t think I am alone in finding it completely inadequate, especially after 11 months without seeing the people I want to see. I feel isolated'

Oh yes it is of course inadequate. It is however better than nothing and when there's a highly infectious disease about it is actually necessary 🙄.

'Especially for people who live alone'

So they bubble with another household.

@cansu EXACTLY

“^* it needs to be overhauled not have endless money thrown at it.”

As an nhs worker I completely agree with this. There are so many things which could be changed/improved from a cost perspective.

@LizzieSiddal it's not all about hugging! I need things to resume so my business can make a profit and I can keep a roof over my sons head .how selfish of me !

So they bubble with another household

What if the nearest household they can bubble with is 50 miles away? We’re not allowed to travel.

It’s not going away, despite you following the rules and wearing a mask and being vaccinated.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9239941/UK-faces-second-summer-write-Travel-wedding-pubs-events-warn-lockdowns-killing-recovery.html

“Meanwhile SAGE expert Professor Sir Ian Boyd predicted social distancing measures will be needed for a 'long time to come — perhaps several years.'”

“Conservative former minister Mark Harper - part of the lockdown sceptic CRG group of MPs - questioned when the policy against the virus was going to end, noting if the virus keeps mutating there would have to be lockdowns forever.”

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9239863/amp/Britain-trapped-lockdown-cycles-YEARS-SAGE-scientist-warns.html

“ He warned even if Britain gets on top of the South African strain, there will be more concerning ones down the line. He added: 'My suspicion is that we will experience a damped oscillation of control-release for a long time to come — perhaps several years.'”

Or is it frustration at not seeing people in groups and doing the pleasurable activities we used to do?

I don’t think it matters. The effect is the same. The pleasure I get from social interaction is severely curtailed and I find that sometimes quite overwhelming.
We use the removal of interaction with people we actually know and doing pleasurable activities as a punishment - it’s prison. I think the distinction between this and ‘isolation’ is a bit irrelevant.

It is however better than nothing and when there's a highly infectious disease about it is actually necessary

The infectious disease will be around for the rest of our lives. When will it no longer necessary in your opinion?

Totally agree the digital has limits, and I have reached them.

@cansu

As usual you can see that many people are uniquely concerned with their own situation. Lots of people saying that once their family is vaccinated, they will do what they want. What about others who are not vaccinated? I assume that these people are basically saying they don't care and feel they have no responsibility.

Can't you see the irony in what you've written there? It works both ways.

@PracticingPerson

Totally agree the digital has limits, and I have reached them.

I heard a report on theatre doing VR scenes. They sounded excited. Just really in the wrong direction for me.

It’s like a bad diet after awhile.

Lizzie do you always put other people health before your own convenience?

Cqn someone tell me what they're waiting for? After all the elderly and vulnerable are vaccinated (+3 weeks) what needs to happen before you think restrictions should ease?

I can imagine in 5 years time people on here still accusing people of killing granny and boasting they haven’t left their home in 6 years and don’t intend to ever again.

@LizzieSiddal

One day you’ll have a flashback to writing that and realise how awful it is to mock people for wanting to show love and affection to their parent.

Don’t you think I have parents or children who I desperately want to hug? Well I do, but I put other people’s health before my own selfishness.

It is not selfish to want to hug your mother. We have dipped to a very low level if we think it is. People think they are being good humans telling those who miss their families that they are selfish, but it's quite the opposite. You have actually lost sight of what it is to be human and only see covid. Yes, covid should be taken seriously, but so should the capacity to be empathetic and human.

Most Mumsnetters boast of never answering the door to unexpected callers, having anxiety and no friends. They’ll be in no hurry to end lockdown will they? 😂

@cyclingmad because in the USA they have a rational response and aren’t testing anyone with a little sniffle with highly inaccurate PCR tests. They also aren’t desperately searching for new variants and understand that Covid isn’t the be all and end all and that lockdowns are a huge infringement on human rights! Honestly the way we are handling this is disgusting how is it possible that it has been illegal for some people to see a family member indoors for nearly a year? Yet still people blindly say they will follow the rules for “as long as it takes to be safe”

Covid has made me realise who matters to me and it is only my parents, no other family members, or friends. My parents have their second vaccine at the end of April. We will be seeing them indoors after that and spending time with them each week like we used to before covid.
I would imagine there will be a rule of 6 again then which will make things a little easier.
My husbands family we have seen twice since March 2020 and they live 5 mins away. We would ring them all the time etc and then we realised that they actually never contact us and it's always us. We are leaving it to see how long it takes them, it's been months now. I will quite happily never see them again and I certainly won't be giving up my Sunday for them like I used to.
The only problem for me is that the things I am desperately missing are things that are all shut, such as restaurants, cinema, swimming, holidays, theatres, pubs, things for my kids such as theme parks etc. Unless these things are opened up there will still be a lot of things missing from my life.

StrawberryLipstickStateofMind
No I can't see the irony in what I have said. Everyone is struggling with being isolated from family and friends. I have not been able to see my son indoors for nearly a year now and have to stay 2m from him at all times and wear a face covering even outside. He is learning disabled and I miss him hugely. Nevertheless, I still follow the rules to protect others. Many people have said on this thread that either they have had enough or that once vaccinated they will do what they want. I do think that is very selfish.

The simple reality is - do you want to be safe and healthy or be yet another statistic to add to the 0.12m former Brits and possibly larger numbers with life long post Covid syndrome?

Your behaviour potentially has a direct tangible impact on the health outcomes of someone within close proximity. A pandemic starts with one and super spreads and mutates onwards discriminating only against those with most likely exposure.

Many class leading overseas nations have managed to lockdown Covid through various systematic behavioural expectations and rules with some preferring test, track, trace and isolate to allow the healthy to continue relatively pre pandemic normality while the ill are treated in isolation. In the UK we never had any test, track, trace and isolate and so the only solution is to semi lockdown everyone including the majority healthy. It is not the preferred system but there are no other options as we have per capita world leading fatalities of lives and livelihoods lost because of our combined societal behaviour and incompetent government. Hopefully having managed to secure much of the global vaccine supply we can jab away some of the problem as long as our continued super mutating spreading don’t beat the effectiveness of the vaccines.

It is either this or a free of all no rules (do, see and hug as you wish) no “human rights” limitations and cave man survival of the fittest to see who survives or not! I think most would understand that there are no good or less bad options until this can be contained let alone eradicated. Unlike most nations we are fortunate to have vaccination.

The simple reality is - do you want to be safe and healthy or be yet another statistic to add to the 0.12m former Brits and possibly larger numbers with life long post Covid syndrome?

I'm not sure what you mean by 'former Brits' but as for 'Long Covid', I'm happy to take my chances.

@ResIpsaLoquiturInterAlia most people will be safe and healthy.

Those that are not , some will be suffering from long covid and some will be suffering from .... I dunno...one of the other thousands of diseases out there.
Media scaremongering was made for people like you.

@TwirpingBird
Thank you for that message of kindness, compassion and reason. I fear that many of us are forgetting what it is to be human in all this

It is not selfish to want to hug your mother. We have dipped to a very low level if we think it is. People think they are being good humans telling those who miss their families that they are selfish, but it's quite the opposite. You have actually lost sight of what it is to be human and only see covid. Yes, covid should be taken seriously, but so should the capacity to be empathetic and human.

Most Mumsnetters boast of never answering the door to unexpected callers, having anxiety and no friends. They’ll be in no hurry to end lockdown will they? 😂

@TwirpingBird
@Donoteatthekittens

Agree with both of you!!

The magic money tree will dry up soon enough. Can’t self isolate when you lose your home can you.

YukoandHiro

Yes until me and everyone I interact with is vaccinated - and as I'm under 40 that will be ages“

Hang on in there. Various statements in the past week saying that plan is to have all over 50s vaccinated by May and the entire population by the beginning of autumn. From that, I’d guess at over 40s by June (I think more quickly because the programme is going so well).
June is still a long time, of course it is, but we’ve come so far so fast and that’s what I’m hanging on to.