Social distancing could last for years

[Donotfeedthebears]

www.bbc.com/news/amp/uk-56475807

So much for removing restrictions on 21st June then!

It's never actually been said all restrictions end in 21st June, has it?

The new normal

seriously bad news for me. I'm deaf and rely on lip reading. Can't use a phone, can't do teams , can't shop, cant even do school runs, basically fuck all. Only form of communication I've had outside my household is via text for ages.

Don't get me wrong, I fully understand why... but ffs, how much longer are deaf people going to be cut off from society 🙄

Will just have to wait and see and hope its not years!

Well anything "could" happen. But that doesn't mean it's remotely likely to actually be the case.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/uk-56158405

“ The fourth step from 21 June will potentially see all legal limits on social contact removed, with the final closed sectors of the economy reopened - such as nightclubs.”

Would you be willing to follow social distancing and mask wearing for years? Interested to see where people will draw the line.

To some extent, possibly. Masks in crowded shops seem a good idea.
I really like the fact that strangers are less likely to be very close to me.
I really like the lack of colds, chest infections and general illness. That has been a huge improvement to my life.
I would rather things happened with social distancing and mask wearing than they didn't happen.

Thing is though that people aren’t social distancing even now. Loads of people out on walks not staying 2m away from who they’re walking with (obviously not all one household). I include myself in that. I’ll comply with masks in public as long as it’s mandatory, but I’m not social distancing from friends and family in my garden/home, especially not long term. I think most people won’t going by all the pics on social media last summer!

People won't accept it for years.... The change between people's behaviours between now and last March shows the tide is turning.

Seems a bad idea to open nightclubs before the 18---- are vaxxed

Nope people won't accept it for years, people will slowly stop doing it, I am suprised people have done it for this long.

I'd like to know what the full context of what was said. Did no one ask further questions? Or has it been badly reported?

Number one question would be "are you saying no one would be able to make a new physical relationship for years?"

So irresponsible to just dump this information which just raises loads of questions, loads of emotions and no answers.

The comment that people are happy with these measures is, frankly, bollocks.

@Dementedswan

seriously bad news for me. I'm deaf and rely on lip reading. Can't use a phone, can't do teams , can't shop, cant even do school runs, basically fuck all. Only form of communication I've had outside my household is via text for ages.

Don't get me wrong, I fully understand why... but ffs, how much longer are deaf people going to be cut off from society 🙄

Will just have to wait and see and hope its not years!

That sounds awful. You might know this already but Teams now has a 'live captions' function that's surprisingly good. I experience intermittent problems with my hearing and have found it helpful.

I doubt that the majority of people would comply with it for years. In some situations, maybe but certainly not as widespread as it is at the moment.

I’m getting a bit fed up with all the negative news reporting. They always seem to want to find the ‘doom and gloom’ story and plaster it everywhere.

@HSHorror

Seems a bad idea to open nightclubs before the 18---- are vaxxed

Indeed.

My suspicion is this will now slip.... Remember these dates are earliest possible ones not set in stone.

As someone who can't wear a mask (or a visor) and had been threatened, shouted at and spat at for not wearing one, I find this really dismaying. I really hope that if mask wearing is here for the long haul, people will be more understanding, particularly once the most vulnerable have been fully vaccinated.

Great, I struggle with masks so all the time they are still mandatory my life is restricted to outdoors-only stuff. I like the outdoors but miss going to a museum etc.

Well people aren't even doing it now...at the tail-end of lockdown...so not sure how that will be enforced 'for years'. But as far as masks go, if that's the trade-off for no lockdown I'll take it!

The headline on sky news app is particularly irresponsible. "Mask wearing and social distancing could last "years" as couple die minutes apart" But actually the couple are from USA. Not that that's not sad but it's a crap juxtaposition with what someone speculated from Public Health England for measures in this country.

Isn't social distancing just being more conscious of personal space...?

I think we need contet for that... things like masks on London tubes in the winter I think are an idea... or make while in hospitals....people will not be wearing masks in supermarkets for years to come unless there are local outbreaks... its just one person's opinion...

Context*

More stuff reported like this just makes it more likely that you'll have people divided into the super scared and those who will think fuck that for a game of soldiers.

So much for middle ground rationality. The media is really doing us a disservice.

Who’d have thought people would be as accepting as they are now, 1 year later? We have adapted.

Remember the shrieking ‘I’m not wearing a mask’ brigade when it became mandatory in the summer? Where are they all now?

See, people have accepted in general that for the greater good we must do this. If that means long term we do this, then so be it. Social distancing is the normal now, I don’t want you near me when I’m in the shops or walking down the street, I didn’t before covid and I certainly don’t now.

The alternative to no social distancing is lockdowns. Think about that for a second. All the bravado in the world of I’m not complying will ultimately result in lockdowns because the virus will continue spreading and mutating.

Honestly the naivety of some people is astounding.

tobee - why don’t you read the article to gain the context?

“People may need to wear face coverings and socially distance for several years until we return to normality, a leading epidemiologist has predicted.

Mary Ramsay, the head of immunisation at Public Health England, said basic measures could be in place until other countries successfully roll out jabs.”

People won't do it for years. Perhaps some people will continue to wear masks by choice like they do in some other countries and maybe some people will avoid crowded place or naturally SD. But on the whole I don't think it will go on for years for everyone.