Do people really think all will be ok in the next few years ?

[LemonSherbetFancies]

You've got people saying this will never end and then others who seem to think that it will all be over by July with no restrictions. I have been in both camps.
I am definitely of the belief that restrictions will be eased and we will have more freedom. But I also think that there is a going to be a huge knock on effect which will last for years as well as an ever widening divide between the rich and poor.
I think long term unemployment, mental health and economic fall out will be beyond what we realise.
I do think eventually we will recover as a country but it will take years. I am surprised at those who think this will all be done and dusted by the end of the year and into 2022. Maybe it's the middle classness of Mumsnet with many people working from home and saving money? Just think some are in for a shock.

Dh and l had this conversation.

We decided 5 years overal in terms of foreign travel.
Maybe 3 years for U.K. to shake it off?

To answer your question:

I don't think everything will be back to normal by the summer, but I do think things will be a lot better and that'll give us all a lift. Mental health will also improve when that happens.

Things I think will take much longer to sort out are foreign travel and the damage done to some industries in particular.

Eek, Nellodee may well have nailed it.

I don’t think we will get life back exactly the same as it was before Covid. And not all of that will be down to Covid but to climate change.

Next 10 years will be seriously bumpy. Luckily have a highly competent government to see us through

Problem is mental health won't suddenly be restored because restrictions are lifted and the weather is nicer. It will help but some people have lost so much. Family members, friends, livelihoods.
Not trying to be all doom and gloom, just think this is going to be a lot more complex then some people realise.

What Nellodee said. The best years are way behind us.

I have decided not to panic about things which are outside of my control. Yes there are probably hard times to come, but me worrying about it now won't change that or make it easier, it will just make the run up to it awful as well.

@skeggycaggy

What Nellodee said. The best years are way behind us.

Agree with this (even though I don't want it to be true).

I doubt things will return to normal economically for a good few years and many more people than normal will be mourning lost loved ones. But I think the end of most lockdown conditions will feel very like a return to normal for most people.

I think Nellodee has it. Unfortunately.

We may have a few good years between economic recovery eventually kicking in and the climate crisis hitting home.

I think if depends on personal circumstances. Of course, there are going to be millions badly affected by job losses etc but equally millions who aren’t. Equally those who’ve lost loved ones & those who haven’t.

For me, I’m not expecting normality this year but I will go on a foreign holiday if allowed (got two booked) & I’ll continue to do so in the future. If it’s not feesible or affordable than I won’t. I’ve got a hotels booked in Vegas & Toronto in 2022 for a work conference. My bosses can’t bloody wait for us all to be back to travelling.. 2022 is rammed with events all over the country/world. Will it go ahead 🤷🏼‍♀️ Who knows. But it’s planned.

After the last year, I think people will take great joy in just doing the mundane! I can’t bloody wait to be in a room with all my friends, drinking a cocktail & laughing! God, I miss life.

Jesus it’s being cheerful that keep you lot going

My feeling (and it is only a feeling informed by projections by virologists and ecologists and economists etc etc- still all vague) is 4 or 5 years. Trouble is I’m not sure we’ll ever really get back to the old normal. Looks as though we’ll need to live with real possibility of other pandemics.

In shorter term I’m so worried for all those who’ve lost jobs/self employed/a cohort of school and university affected kids, closed and struggling businesses/the arts etc.

I don’t think we’ve fully realised what we’ve been through as we deal with the shit show day by day. I certainly haven’t raised my head and been able to take it all in properly.

I heard that the government have a 3 to 5 year plan. I think that restrictions will be eased over summer when socialising can occur mainly outside and then tighten again into autumn. I personally think that eventually we are just going to have to live with the virus like we do with flu and others. Hopefully the vaccine will continue to be offered which will reduce impact on the most vulnerable

@Allmyarseandpeggymartin 🤣🤣🤣thanks for the lighthearted comment I was about to jump off the roof and probably sprain my ankle

I’m hoping that actually one of the knock ons might be people appreciating the simpler things in life....walks in the country, holidays closer to home, being able to meet up with friends and family....if this summer is similar to last in terms of restrictions I’d be happy with that. The biggest downside I think is the gap between rich and poor and unfortunately COVID has only exacerbated this.

@LemonSherbetFancies

Problem is mental health won't suddenly be restored because restrictions are lifted and the weather is nicer. It will help but some people have lost so much. Family members, friends, livelihoods. Not trying to be all doom and gloom, just think this is going to be a lot more complex then some people realise.

We'll pull through. I mean, crikey, if the world didn't grind to a halt due to a mental health crisis in the wake of the World Wars, I doubt COVID will break us.

Consider the entire history of mankind. The last fifty or so years have been a nice, bright, stable spot for much of the Western world, but it's not the norm and won't continue forever.

For me my biggest worry long term is that my parents live abroad. Many get their family back once restrictions are lifted but many people want international travel to be halted for a long time. That's heartbreaking for us who have loved ones abroad. The idea of facing years without my parents makes me feel sick.

I also think we will be paying for the fallout of this for a long time. Their debts are through the roof, unemployment, even more health costs. I for one will be ensuring I save for my own retirement (I am 30) as I dont think I will have much government support in my old age. I think my generation have a long slog ahead of us. Hopefully it will be better for our kids.

But, I hope we try to continue valuing life once it resumes. I will value my toddler experiencing things on days out, seeing friends, someone handing me a meal at a restaurant, and I really value my garden! I hope we see how lucky we are in many ways, and maybe how there are other ways of living than the rat race.

While I don't disagree with many of the points made here, I imagine we would be in a far better place to weather the coming economic fallout and climate crisis if we hadn't spent billions on lockdown, furlough and business grants. All those countless billions of pounds could have been spent on flood mitigation measures, for example reforesting upland areas, rewilding lost salt marsh and reed beds.

Instead many people have an utterly disproportionate terror of covid, and and no worries about climate change and the environment at all. Seems quite mad.

Yes but I think it’s because one is an immediate threat and the other is in the future, although of course it urgently needs tackling now.

The point remains about the money though, and the disproportionate terror many perfectly healthy young people have of what for most is a mild illness.

I do not buy the Upcoming Economic Crisis.

But I have said for the last year that Covid-19 is a weak trial run for whether or not we can deal with Climate Change. To win the Climate Change game we are going to have to learn to live with less, consume less and work as an international collective team to do that. After all the world is a sphere-like shape, not a cube, so we are not immune to germs or pollution.

We are not all going to have unbridled travel powered by sunlight or hydrogen in our lifetime which, for someone in their twenties, is about all humanity has left.

Our marks for achieving this collective understanding is, at this stage, a bad fail.

Just when I start to become a bit optimistic about things such as the vaccine roll out , someone will send me links about swine flu, bird flu, Ebola, a virus that swells your brain from fruit bats or some other pandemic ' news' I'd rather not read about. Oddly enough it's usually from people who were covid deniers last summer.
I really hope things pick up, but there could be more problems looming and I have heard the scientists say this as well. Life will change and when I think about my 'old' life it goes make me a bit sad , not to mention the debts that are eye watering. It is so sad this has happened.

Why are there so many people on this site who like to pretend they're only being straight talking and realistic when actually they are stoking up fear? It's the opinions stated as fact which get me more than anything.

People can think it'll all be over by July, or they can think it'll never be over. No one actually knows. Speculation is completely pointless.

My perspective is, I'm pessimistic enough to have put any plans for another baby on hold, but optimistic enough that I certainly don't think my best years are behind me!

If I thought the way some of the posters on this thread do I'd have topped myself because what exactly would be the point in being alive

Instead many people have an utterly disproportionate terror of covid, and and no worries about climate change and the environment at all. Seems quite mad.

It isn't really though is it, because covid is seen as immediately threatening to individuals and their families, whereas by the time climate change starts to seriously affect people in the UK (and by seriously affect I mean threatening life, here, on a wide scale, frequently) most posters on this site will be long dead.

I'm not saying I agree with that, but it really doesn't take a genius to work out why people are, at this moment, more frightened of covid than climate change.