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If someone said to you last March...

225 replies

Wowcherarestalkingme · 04/03/2021 19:02

That this would go on for another 16 months would you have believed them? Did you think a year ago that schools would still be closed, businesses going under left and right and still having to wear face masks all the time?
Do you think it would have affected your behaviour in the first lock down?
I was just thinking today that it’s coming up to a year when lockdown was first announced and I truly believed at the time it would all have blown over by Christmas. Never did I think we would still be where we are a year on. And thank goodness for the vaccine!! Just interested in peoples thoughts on how they felt a year ago to now really

OP posts:
FrameByFrame · 05/03/2021 09:42

It's interesting that most of you seem to have had quite strong feelings one way or the other about how long this would last. I keep a diary, and reading back to this time last year, I was in complete confusion. I seemed to veer between "It's just flu" to "We're all going to die!" from one paragraph to the next. What seemed to frighten me most was the 'not knowing'. There were so many conflicting views in the press and media, with scientists saying one thing and the Government saying another, that I didn't know what was going to happen the next week, never mind in 16 months time. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, unless you keep a diary!

the80sweregreat · 05/03/2021 11:57

I think that last year I sort of blanked it out a bit : I went day by day and tried to not wonder too much. I visited a friend in her garden last July and she kept on about how it was going to last a few years and I sort of went ' la la la not listening' ( not to her face obviously, just in my head!) she was just being realistic though to be fair and has a cousin who is working on the vaccines , so she has a bit of inside knowledge.
At the very first , I was actually really scared but that has abated even though relatives have died of it and someone I know of is still in hospital on and off ventilators. I guess I came to terms with it all a bit.

the80sweregreat · 05/03/2021 11:58

I think that last year I sort of blanked it out a bit : I went day by day and tried to not wonder too much. I visited a friend in her garden last July and she kept on about how it was going to last a few years and I sort of went ' la la la not listening' ( not to her face obviously, just in my head!) she was just being realistic though to be fair and has a cousin who is working on the vaccines , so she has a bit of inside knowledge.
At the very first , I was actually really scared but that has abated even though relatives have died of it and someone I know of is still in hospital on and off ventilators. I guess I came to terms with it all a bit.

the80sweregreat · 05/03/2021 11:58

I think that last year I sort of blanked it out a bit : I went day by day and tried to not wonder too much. I visited a friend in her garden last July and she kept on about how it was going to last a few years and I sort of went ' la la la not listening' ( not to her face obviously, just in my head!) she was just being realistic though to be fair and has a cousin who is working on the vaccines , so she has a bit of inside knowledge.
At the very first , I was actually really scared but that has abated even though relatives have died of it and someone I know of is still in hospital on and off ventilators. I guess I came to terms with it all a bit.

the80sweregreat · 05/03/2021 12:00

Sorry that posted three times! .. blame the virus

CloudPop · 05/03/2021 13:21

@notrub

Does anybody else remember watching videos of China's lockdown last January. I know a lot of people were highly critical of it.

China's result was that the lockdown ended some 11 weeks later and life relatively swiftly returned to normal. Travel quarantines were imposed and as a nation, they have largely sat out the rest of the pandemic.

Anyone regret we didn't do the same?

People cry "freedom", but personally I think that UK citizens have had to give up a LOT more than Wuhan residents ever did.

A stitch in time saves nine has never been more apt.

@notrub I've wondered the same thing.
RaininSummer · 05/03/2021 13:29

I definitely did expect it to blow over quickly as that isn't the history of pandemics.

PrincessNutNuts · 05/03/2021 14:13

@Kazzyhoward

There were a lot of people who thought that would be it, and poo-poohed the idea of a second wave.

There were certainly people thinking the very low rates in Summer last year was because London had achieved herd immunity!!!

I keep meaning to keep track of which professional commentators have been consistently wrong all along on covid, so I can remember never to listen to them on anything ever again.

I know we're all a bit of an armchair epidemiologist these days, but some amateurs seem to have more understanding than others.

McSilkson · 05/03/2021 14:17

I predicted the new regime would last five years from (close to) the beginning. Now I'm starting to think that's optimistic.

Klaus Schwab, founder and CEO of the World Economic Forum, says: “Many of us are pondering when things will return to normal. The short response is: never." I'm sure he knows more than I do...

Quartz2208 · 05/03/2021 14:32

I dont think anyone has predicted accurately the way this pandemic has gone you cant.

Mcsilkson I hve read the larger article I dont think it is a depressing statement

www.afr.com/world/europe/when-will-things-get-back-to-normal-never-says-davos-founder-20200714-p55br2

He wants change - he didnt like the 2020 set up

@notrub nope not a chance in hell would I have wanted the response in Wuhan and exactly what that would that mean in terms of the Government that I have. Their normal is very different to ours

MarshaBradyo · 05/03/2021 14:35

@Quartz2208

I dont think anyone has predicted accurately the way this pandemic has gone you cant.

Mcsilkson I hve read the larger article I dont think it is a depressing statement

www.afr.com/world/europe/when-will-things-get-back-to-normal-never-says-davos-founder-20200714-p55br2

He wants change - he didnt like the 2020 set up

@notrub nope not a chance in hell would I have wanted the response in Wuhan and exactly what that would that mean in terms of the Government that I have. Their normal is very different to ours

Same here re China
McSilkson · 05/03/2021 15:27

@Quartz2208

I dont think anyone has predicted accurately the way this pandemic has gone you cant.

Mcsilkson I hve read the larger article I dont think it is a depressing statement

www.afr.com/world/europe/when-will-things-get-back-to-normal-never-says-davos-founder-20200714-p55br2

He wants change - he didnt like the 2020 set up

@notrub nope not a chance in hell would I have wanted the response in Wuhan and exactly what that would that mean in terms of the Government that I have. Their normal is very different to ours

Yeah, well, I've read the book (or some of it): "Covid-19: The Great Reset" (saying nothing):

(Sorry for the length.)

"With the pandemic, the “digital transformation” that so many analysts have been referring to for years, ... has found its catalyst [how convenient]. One major effect of confinement will be the expansion and progression of the digital world in a decisive and often permanent manner. ...forcing more profound changes in how companies operate..."

"During the lockdowns, many consumers previously reluctant to rely too heavily on digital applications and services were forced to change their habits almost overnight: watching movies online instead of going to the cinema, having meals delivered instead of going out to restaurants, talking to friends remotely instead of meeting them in the flesh, talking to colleagues on a screen instead of chit-chatting at the coffee machine, exercising online instead of going to the gym, and so on. Thus, almost instantly, most things became “e-things”: e-learning, e-commerce, e-gaming, e-books, e-attendance."

Make no mistake: this is the world Klaus and co want/are trying to create. We are "consumers", whom they would like to see confined to our homes indefinitely, where we can "safely" and "greenly" consume - from those who own and control everything.

"but many of the tech behaviours that we were forced to adopt during confinement will through familiarity become more natural. As social and physical distancing persist, relying more on digital platforms to communicate, or work, or seek advice, or order something will, little by little, gain ground on formerly ingrained habits. [Socialising - and real life - is to be a "formerly ingrained habit".]"

"If health considerations become paramount, we may decide, for example, that a cycling class in front of a screen at home doesn’t match the conviviality and fun of doing it with a group in a live class but is in fact safer (and cheaper!). The same reasoning applies to many different domains like flying to a meeting (Zoom is safer, cheaper, greener and much more convenient), driving to a distant family gathering for the weekend (the WhatsApp family group is not as fun but, again, safer, cheaper and greener) or even attending an academic course (not as fulfilling, but cheaper and more convenient)."

And there it is. We are being forcibly "familiarised" to all this in the name of Covid-19. Human beings can adapt to almost anything - even not fulfilling the most basic human needs.

Klaus phrases his statements as though they were predictions, when truly they are mission statements. His ilk want and are angling for all of this.

On the bio-security surveillance state:

"the corporate move will be towards greater surveillance; for better or for worse, companies will be watching and sometimes recording what their workforce does. The trend could take many different forms, from measuring body temperatures with thermal cameras to monitoring via an app how employees comply with social distancing [ideas!]. This is bound to raise profound regulatory and privacy issues, which many companies will reject by arguing that, unless they increase digital surveillance, they won’t be able to reopen and function without risking new infections (and being, in some cases, liable). They will cite health and safety as justification for increased surveillance."

They will if they take your advice, Klaus! Great idea! Someone make this guy the head of one of the world's most powerful geopolitical organisations, quick!

StealthPolarBear · 05/03/2021 15:33

"
There was a sense that no Western government would try lockdown - there'd be riots! Society would break down! We wouldn't put up with it. The Chinese government can get away with it, but it's just not the done thing here. A lot of posters saw it as a Chinese problem that whilst worrying wasn't going to have too much impact."
That is pretty much exactly as I remember and made sense at the time. Yet now people seem used to this new state, far from rioting!

Quartz2208 · 05/03/2021 15:46

I think there was a sense no Western government would try lockdown in the way the Chinese government did.

And they didnt. But from it we have the word lockdown either though we have never been locked down. In the UK we have always been allowed out once a day for exercise.

It has always been sold to us as stay at home save lives. It is a very different thing

Look at how China has handled it

www.itv.com/news/2021-01-19/covid-what-restrictions-remain-in-china-after-latest-outbreaks

Particularly the what happens when you have a positive test. That is why it is under control there

We complain in a hotel!

McSilkson · 05/03/2021 15:49

Just a couple more quotes, because this guy has some top insights:

"Over the coming months and years, the trade-off between public-health benefits and loss of privacy will be carefully weighed, becoming the topic of many animated conversations and heated debates. Most people, fearful of the danger posed by COVID-19, will ask: Isn’t it foolish not to leverage the power of technology to come to our rescue when we are victims of an outbreak and facing a life-or-death kind of situation? They will then be willing to give up a lot of privacy and will agree that in such circumstances public power can rightfully override individual rights. Then, when the crisis is over, some may realize that their country has suddenly been transformed into a place where they no longer wish to live."

Yes, Klaus! And you bet that if they are not sufficiently fearful to allow all this, then " the perceived level of personal threat needs to be increased among those who are complacent, using hard-hitting emotional messaging ["Don't kill Granny!"]. To be effective this must also empower people by making clear the actions they can take to reduce the threat. [Don't go anywhere near Granny! Treat her like a leper.]": www.gov.uk/government/publications/options-for-increasing-adherence-to-social-distancing-measures-22-march-2020

If you want to read more from Schwab's manifesto for the global bio-security superstate of the future: www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiZ2_Ljv5nvAhXCgVwKHT3DAwkQFjAAegQIAhAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Freparti.free.fr%2Fschwab2020.pdf&usg=AOvVaw15d_poATgVtUvi3ZaWpk3W

murbblurb · 05/03/2021 15:54

I'm glad I didn't know, although it would not have affected anything I've done. I had something very like mild covid in January 2020 and by the time it had gone it was March, so didn't get a chance to do anything different!

I have learned that we don't have a prime minister, just a puppet, and that we are the mercy of whoever pulls the strings. It is a pity that we didn't have sensible string-pullers this time last year.

BlackeyedSusan · 05/03/2021 16:02

I knew it would be bad first wave so sort of expected that, but hoped it would be imposed quicker and over quicker. I also knew the theory that there was likely to be a second and possibly a third wave especially with schools going back as they did. I am hoping vaccines stop a big third wave. Just living from day to day and getting through it.

MintyCedric · 05/03/2021 16:09

As soon as it got the point of worldwide lockdowns I assumed we'd be in for the long haul.

My cautiously optimistic guesstimate was things to starting to normalise by the end of 2021, not necessarily factoring the arrival of a vaccine so quickly.

The fact I'm now tentatively able to plan things for this summer, despite being clinically vulnerable, is a massive win as far as I'm concerned.

Cloudyrainsham · 05/03/2021 16:13

Last March, no I didn’t think it would go on this long. The figures were really low and I thought it was a huge over reaction.

SaltyAF · 05/03/2021 16:15

Yes but we were constantly dismissed as scaremongers.

PrincessNutNuts · 05/03/2021 16:21

@SaltyAF

Yes but we were constantly dismissed as scaremongers.
Denialists gonna deny for the duration of this pandemic.

I expect they were the same about Chris Whitty's and Patrick Vallance's Graph of Doom last September, and about the roadmap leading to a third wave now.

MarshaBradyo · 05/03/2021 16:33

Some balance that nicely with the constant daily doom.

Ermidunno · 05/03/2021 16:56

I can’t wait for the film industry to start capturing it in 10 years time when we’re over the trauma so I can look at back and think ‘yes it really did happen, it wasn’t a buzzard nightmare/dream’.

HelpFlattenTheCurve · 05/03/2021 16:59

As the first lockdown began in March 2020, I told my kids that this was probably going to last a long while, that it might feel like it was going to take forever. However, I also told them that in a few years, they will look back on it as a strange time that came and went, without being life-defining for them. I said that while crossing my fingers and knowing that could only be true if either I nor my wife gets long COVID or dies from it.

I was assuming at the time that at least 12-18 months would be required before enough improvements in treatments and/or vaccines would become widely available to let some semblance of normalcy return.

Fast forward to today, I am pleasantly surprised at how effective the vaccines appear to be, and am cautiously optimistic that they may even provide enough protection against the more problematic variants to dramatically lower the rate of death and serious illness for people who contract those. I am looking forward to the moment three weeks after my wife and I will both have been vaccinated. Even a single dose, plus three weeks to develop immunity, seems to give decent short-term protection, from what I have read.

What we can do now in the UK in order to make sure that the worst really is behind us, and that the roadmap to unlocking can be followed, is this:

  1. Follow the rules around masks, social distancing, and self-isolating when symptomatic, etc. If we could hang in there for a couple more months, we could enhance the chances of being able to follow the roadmap to reduce restrictions.
  2. Get the vaccine when called, unless there is a really important personal reason (eg personal history of bad vaccine reactions). Side effects suck but they suck less than getting COVID. Also, the vaccine may reduce transmission to others.

I do think there will be a third wave sometime between autumn 2021 and winter 2021/2022, even in the UK, However, I also think that unless the variants are worse than seems apparent, the deaths in wave 3 will be fewer than in wave 2. At least for the UK, I think this is not over , but the worst is actually behind us now.

nowbringmethathorizon · 05/03/2021 17:04

I would have thought they were a sad doom-monger. This time last year I was hoping I'd be going on holiday to Portugal in August.

This year I'm wondering if I'll be alive by August.