All restrictions to be gone by May?

[LemonSherbetFancies]

Anyone else see this?
I would be really pleased if this happened and we could return to normal life.

Of course they should be where's the justification to deny our rights and civil liberties?
Precisely! The default should be no restrictions!
This craziness was supposed to be temporary. We should not just be accepting it as the new normal.

@DuchessofHastings1

I get that. But posters on MN saying 'yes it will be' won't magically make it happen will it?

No it won't but it does help them feel better. It makes me feel a little better when I hear people say it will be, although I know really they don't have a clue.

That makes no sense to me, random internet strangers and their guesses is not what is required here. But I guess if it makes some feel better than that's good if not a bit naive.

I think things could be quite normal by May. I think the government has been super strict since Jan a) because the NhS was in a perilous position and b) they know this is it, it’s their last go of a successful lockdown. SO many people I know say that once the vulnerable people they know are vaccinated and cases are low that’s it they’re mixing otherwise what’s the point of vaccinating. Rightly or wrongly that’s the prevailing view. People are bored, poor and fed up, this is last chance saloon for lockdowns and the govt knows it.

I think there could be considerable easing over the summer, but I expect that it'll be socialising in groups, rather than complete free for all mingling (eg tales of 6, not bars rammed to the gunnels)

And mass participation/attendance events may well not be back this year

And then if that holds over the summer, then perhaps minimal or no reintroduction next winter. Though I expect the requirement to SI if a contact of a confirmed case will continue. And masks in some circumstances (public transport)

Someone on Newscast was saying how all the social distancing laws should be ditched as soon as reasonably possible (even if there are still guidelines in place), and I agree. As long as the South African variant doesn't get out of control and cause serious disease, I hope most of the rules will be ditched once the over-50s are vaccinated.

Exactly @EmmanuelleMakro

Now the most vulnerable are vaccinated what is the possible justification for ongoing restrictions? It’s illegal to have people in your house! Illegal to sit down outside! Illegal to hug your mother. I understand why it’s been the case but it should not go on a minute longer, and I hope someone is tracking all of the changes and makes sure we get every single one of our rights back.

The key indicator is going to be the drop in numbers in hospital. That's still worryingly high.

NHS staff are exhausted, and need a break, before having to plunge in to tackling the backlog

@SmidgenofaPigeon

I would LOVE that OP but yeah, the doonmongers don’t like it.

Sorry but there's a difference between being realistic and being a doom monger. Seeing a situation a certain way doesn't make you a doom monger when everything we know about this pandemic so far is way more on the negative side than the positive.

I'd be surprised if all restrictions are lifted by May. I wouldn't be surprised if we were back in lockdown. That's not doom mongering. That's looking at stats of cases and vaccines, and thinking realistically about what might happen if restrictions were removed that quickly.

My honest opinion that I think is likely is that this time next year will be as close to normal as we will ever get. Anything sooner is a massive bonus.

I live in Australia. We still have restrictions.

I would disregard any source that says all restrictions will be lifted.

I really hope for all your sakes that your restrictions by that point are similar to ours ie no overseas travel, restrictions on large gatherings such as weddings limited to 300 and masks required on all flights and in airports but life generally back to normal. I think a lot will depend on the track and trace systems in place and people’s willingness to comply with these.

@ChairOfThePTA

I hope so. I haven’t been able to go to my 2nd home in the Cotswalds for MONTHS. The flat down by the coast doesn’t count.

Christ, poor you.

Thank you for your kind thoughts @LindaEllen

I just don't want to get my hopes up 😬

@SexTrainGlue

The key indicator is going to be the drop in numbers in hospital. That's still worryingly high.

NHS staff are exhausted, and need a break, before having to plunge in to tackling the backlog

Cancer patients denied treatment dont have luxury of time on their side for breaks

Wolds. Not walds

Maybe it’s possible but I think we need to get number down seriously low over the next month / months.
Then with low numbers and hopefully lovely weather life could resemble normality.

Even if life in the UK returns to what we knew before I dont see holidays abroad being back this year.

Maybe. Hard to know but I wouldn’t say no to it

The Mail have latched into this because it's what the Coronavirus Research Group are asking for. The CRG being a group of Tory backbenchers - middle class rightwing self interested men in the main.

Hopefully Boris will listen to the experts (scientists, economists, education experts) when hes deciding how and when to lift lockdown rather than the CRG.

I have a post from a few weeks ago where I said that if the vaccines went well , I thought that most ( though maybe not all) restrictions would be gone by this Spring . I still think that and May is the last month of Spring so I certainly hope that the article is right.

May will definitely be better than right now but there are still going to be restrictions. I wouldn’t start thinking about ‘all restrictions’ getting lifted until everyone identified for vaccinations has had them and a period of time has passed to show efficacy.

If the government don’t want this to catch them off guard again some things will have to stay for quite a while (testing and isolating for particular symptoms so they can keep an eye on variants and vaccine efficacy).

Social distancing will, I think, be in place for months. The days of sitting next to a stranger at a football match or at a gig or at the theatre etc won't be coming back anytime soon. And Chris Witty said there may be restrictions next winter - possibly preparing us for another lockdown or the tier system being reintroduced.

@Rainbowqueeen

I live in Australia. We still have restrictions. I would disregard any source that says all restrictions will be lifted. I really hope for all your sakes that your restrictions by that point are similar to ours ie no overseas travel, restrictions on large gatherings such as weddings limited to 300 and masks required on all flights and in airports but life generally back to normal. I think a lot will depend on the track and trace systems in place and people’s willingness to comply with these.

It's vaccines that's our way out of this.

I am more than happy to keep social distancing forever Covid or not. It has been sooo nice to not have to do hand shaking for 12 months, or have strangers wanting to hug me.

@Sparklingbrook are you meghan or something?

i miss my family, forget handshaking randomers or whatever.

anyway i hope if corona is on this thread with all his little mutant friends he can maybe let us know his plans for 2021

[quote Stovetopespresso]@Sparklingbrook are you meghan or something?

i miss my family, forget handshaking randomers or whatever.

anyway i hope if corona is on this thread with all his little mutant friends he can maybe let us know his plans for 2021[/quote]
Meghan who? What are you getting at?

I have a baby nephew I have seen 3 times since he was born early 2020 and I haven't hugged my 80 year old parents for a year