So, what are you going to do?

[LaMarschallin]

To the people who are saying they won't stand this any longer:

What exactly do you plan to do?

March on the streets?

Run out of your house and hug your family?

Not wear masks?

Because you can't go to the cinema, theatre, festivals, shops, libraries, cafes, pubs, send your children to school, see beauticians etc without the government's say so.

I'm just interested to know what the alternative is to trying to keep the infection rate down is.

@alwaysplayingplaydoh

I love restaurants and so on but I recognise I can't obviously do any of those things while they're shut.

I will be seeing my family as soon as the priority groups are vaccinated though.

Me too. Will still be a while until second doses kick in but the government are wired to the moon if they think I’m not seeing my parents once we’ve all been jabbed.

Eeek scary people saying they've kept their children at home for a whole year.....

@LaMarschallin

I didn't phrase this well.

I do understand the need to see friends and family (I want to see mine).

What I mean is: once you've seen and hugged them and had a chat...

That may be all you can do for a long time if more and more things are shut down.

But what “more and more things” than “everything shut” as it is already can be closed?

@faerin your post struck such a chord with me.

I've started to quietly break the rules now. I won't specify but anything I think I can get away with. One recent and very unfair rule change was a bridge too far for me.

@firstimemamma Agree, the issues facing this cohort of toddlers/preschoolers are flying seriously under the radar at the moment. Pretty certain, unfortunately, that there’ll be handwringing Guardian articles in a couple of years’ time about how poorly socialised, speech and language delayed, behaviourally difficult etc the ‘Covid Generation’ school starters are.

DD will be fine due to my teaching background, our family resources, time at nursery (thank god they stayed open) and the lengths we’ve gone to during the pandemic to ensure she’s properly socialised (we’ve also continued taking her into shops, on public transport etc, much to the horror of half of MN). But I fear for those who are less privileged, or whose parents are super cautious or have followed the guidelines to the letter and not even allowed them into playgrounds etc. Something of a potential time bomb I fear.

I hope those who are mixing now aren't sending their children to school

@LaMarschallin

Yes, yes I'm wrong.

Crack on and break all the rules you like.

Let's see where that gets us.

Can’t be any worse can it?

Coming out of this the country is going to be even further divided When really anger needs to be directed at the government not people on MN who dared to hug the in-laws

I totally disagree with the governmnent actions on so much and believe that there should not have been lockdowns in this way but that older and vulnerable people should have been protected whilst letting the rest of society carry on. That said despite my strong views which I have held throughout the whole of our family have followed the regulations.

I broke the rules by seeing my 82yo mum in her house in September... that was after legally sitting at the same table in a cafe, far closer than the 3m across her lounge. I haven't seen her since because of the tier system affecting our areas and rising rates through the autumn.

Rates are now tumbling and she had her first vaccination a few weeks ago. By Easter which will be more than 6 months since I saw her, I will be keen to see her again. I've taken things at her pace and have only seen her twice in 12 months.

As a family of 4, the rule of 6 is utterly contemptible. At the point it was brought in, it was legal for me to go to a pub with 5 friends, but not for a walk with one other family. Illogical rules like that that do more harm than good deserve to be broken.

Life is finite and we don't know when ill health or death lie ahead. I learned that at 11 when the policeman came to the door with bad news about my dad.
That's all the more reason to say enough and to crack on with living while the going is good.

I pay attention to the figures including local rates. I've tended to avoid indoor environments even when they were permitted. The only contact my children have had with family was in August- 6 months ago. My 10yo says he can't remember what life was like before. My 7yo's depressed behaviour made me hit damage limitation mode back last June. Spending the majority of the past year isolated from family, school, workplaces voluntary riles, the risk of us being exposed to the virus to pass it on by tiptoeing over the line has been far less than for many other households with access to work, school and family bubbles.

My priority is minimising the harm of social isolation which is damaging us.
The rules have utterly ignored the social needs of children. I don't think anyone would think it wise to send a 7yo out with his classmate on icy pavements to exercise with a friend, and there is no other legal way for him to have contact with another child of his age.

Worst case scenario and we get Long Covid and ruin our health (or any other post-viral health issue) what have we gained by squandering a precious year of good health first? Plus we are all less fit and healthy after being deprived of consistent access to sport and a harsh winter making parks unusuable.

I agree, Bog.

I totally agree I feel that the suffering caused by the regulations will have a huge long term impact which will not be uniform across the country/ages or income brackets. I think that many people feel totally powerless and fearful of even expressing differing views

I would be happy to protest and organise with others

I really hope the tide is turning. Surely the government know they can't keep families away from each other for much longer (deadline Easter)? The young are being sacrificed and if I was an elderly person I would be ashamed of what is happening. I wouldn't want the majority of the population putting their life on hold so I can live a bit longer.

I’ve followed the rules to the letter since the start, even when I thought the rules made no sense and were total bollocks. However, I totally get why people would start to make their own risk assessment when it comes to seeing their family, particularly after vaccinations have taken place.

@LucilleTheVampireBat

Fine, i'll take your response at face value OP.

I have friends coming round this Friday and Saturday for all the drinks. My mum is coming for lunch on Sunday. My beautician friend is doing my nails next Wednesday night. My daughters' boyfriend is staying over too.

Given the opportunity for "civil unrest" as you put it, I would jump at the chance and would do whatever it took. The sheer helplessness of this situation is really mentally overwhelming for me. My life has been taken away from me and I am supposed to accept it for "the greater good". Well, I did, and now i'm done.

My dad's life has been taken from him, literally He died of covid 3 weeks ago, and my mum is broken, and so am I. He was asymptomatic. It's possible the person that passed it into him may have been too. My dad kept to the rules, even though he was longing to go out and see family. He did so for himself, his loved ones and the greater good of everybody.

But hey, @LucilleTheVampireBat your nails are more important.

@lunapeace are you saying that any elderly person who gets ill shouldn't get any treatment, as part of the issue is not to overwhelm the NHS

[quote Chessie678]@gallbladderpain
It depends very much what tiers etc. you have been in. It hasn't been legal for me to see my sister or in laws since October. My baby has met my in laws twice in very narrow windows where that was allowed in their area - that isn't enough for him to recognise them. Some people have not been allowed to mix households inside at all for almost a year and outdoor mixing isn't helpful if you live a long way from family.

And lessons on zoom are not an appropriate education for a 5 year old and in the first lockdown most children weren't even getting that.

My point about the legal regime in other countries though is that they have not for the most part banned all household mixing indoors long term in the way the UK has (in some cases because the government doesn't legally have the power to do so) and they don't seem to have done any worse with covid overall as a result.[/quote]
I accept that about the tier system I didn't realise a lot of places in England didn't have the easing of restrictions. I'm in the UK but not England and we don't follow the same tier system.

Remote learning is fine for clinically vulnerable children and their families though...its been stated on here many times...get our kids back to school and allow the vulnerable families to just learn from home with no teacher input pretty much because the teachers are teaching the rest of the class in school so actually any family in that situation that I know is really finding the benefit to the current home learning provision just unfortunate that it only happens because of school closures.

I work in the nhs. I assess people as party of my job, so I’ve been assessing people every week.

The last few weeks, EVERY family has let slip that they are having people in their house. One woman phoned to cancel because she was having a birthday party (for herself) that afternoon.

Neighbours opposite have visitors most days - three different cars, so routine visitors but not one household. And yes, I know it’s not professionals visiting.

@Pootle40

Eeek scary people saying they've kept their children at home for a whole year.....

What other option do we have ? It's a decision made in conjunction with medical professionals. I don't think you will find a single person who has kept their children at home for an entire year for no bloody reason ! The families i know would love nothing more for their children to be back to school but unfortunately while covid is allowed to spread so freely in schools it won't be possible until it seems we have a vaccination scheme in place which covers children.

@ineedaholidaynow

I hope those who are mixing now aren't sending their children to school

Of course they will be as they have done all along which is why the bubbles don't work and it makes school unsafe for so many families. Hopefully now CEV adults are getting vaccinated many children will be able to return to school because the risk to their parent when they carry covid home to them will be greatly reduced, but people don't see that. They don't see that mixing outside of school and then sending their children in increases the risks to everyone in that classroom, the teaching staff and the immediate family members of the other children as well. In our large school every bubble is connected due to the mixing of kids outside of the classroom and as a result no one had any sustainable education with bubbles isolating left right and centre.

People say they will only comply until x date but in reality it’s all talk and the vast majority will follow the rules.

How many people were on here saying they wouldn’t tolerate another lockdown, or wouldn’t comply after Christmas/once the elderly had been vaccinated etc. I bet very few of them have actually shown blatant disregard for the rules.

We’re all in this together unfortunately and there’s very little any of us can do to change things. Yes, you could go and hug your family but would you really risk it after following the rules for this long? What would be the point of putting you and them at risk just as we’re about to be vaccinated. We’ve done the hard part already.

@twelly

I totally disagree with the governmnent actions on so much and believe that there should not have been lockdowns in this way but that older and vulnerable people should have been protected whilst letting the rest of society carry on. That said despite my strong views which I have held throughout the whole of our family have followed the regulations.

Can you give me an educated example of how this would work. So covid is running freely through the people who won't get really sick we have thousands of cases per day (because cases are only lowering as a result of lockdown) These people need regular medical attention so where do we send them to ? They can't go to the hospital now where most of the staff will likely have covid as result of living in a community where it is rife so where are we having their medical needs seen to for starters? Who is going to fill the jobs so what happens if in your school of 30 teachers 5 of them have conditions which mean they can no longer do that in a community full of covid, who will then teach your child ? Honestly this government really don't care about the vulnerable people the lockdowns are to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed not to keep the vulnerable safe so do you really think if it was a workable solution that they wouldn't have gone down that route a long time ago ?

[quote ineedaholidaynow]@lunapeace are you saying that any elderly person who gets ill shouldn't get any treatment, as part of the issue is not to overwhelm the NHS[/quote]
I'd accept my fate.

I think it’s pretty obvious that people will break the rules that involve seeing friends and family indoors. I’m not sure why anyone would even need to ask the question. And in terms of concerns about those activities prolonging restrictions, the whole point is that some people have reached a stage of desperation where the risk of prolonged restrictions is felt to be less than the risk associated with continuing to not see loved ones in the immediate future. If you don’t feel that, you just haven’t reached that level of desperation, which is good.