Life isn't going back to normal is it ?

[Dolciedolly]

Just opinions ? I was anxious like everyone not so much now but the government are doing u turns at every move and goal posts constantly being moved I just can't see life going back to normal !!! I literally hate masks and queuing for bloody everything ...just done like everyone

@JovialNickname

I think even though we are apparently getting back to normal, it's not really going to be the case. I assumed when hairdressers reopened, it would be as normal, without the PPE (aside from masks). But no, it will still be with the stylist wearing head-to-toe bin bag with a mask and visor, and gloves. Outside pub opening sounds great - but the rule is that you have to wear a mask unless drinking and seated. So masks outside - that's new and a massive step backwards. Of course I'm glad everything's reopening, but "normal" it won't be.

What else are you going to be doing in a pub garden... don't be so pathetic it's hardly a new masks outside rule.

Op this is a pandemic, they can’t nail it down for you. It’s a first in everyone’s life time. They have stuck to thr road map, demanding more is going to far in my opinion.

We will get there. Thongs are already do much better that last Easter. I remember a huge queue weaving around the car park last Easter. This Easter I went straight in. Cases are low and we have a vaccine.
I am confident that they will be able to stick to road map.

I’m way more confident than I was this time last year. I was s..t scared.

Normal? We are still in a semi lockdown so how can it feel anything like normal?
And things are changing all the time with the pandemic so I don't blame the government if they have to change things too.
This time next year maybe it will be.

Needing a vaccine passport in the uk to attend festivals and sporting events is nowhere near normal

I can't see any government u turns at the moment,and when they do change guidelines,they are reacting to how the virus is behaving ,right now the UK is doing a lot better than a lot of European countries,and a lot of US states
If we ignore the doom and gloom of the Mumsnet threads ,saying the UK can't get anything right ,when we watch international news channel,s many are quite complimentary about how the UK has handled the vaccine roll out

When I watch *

I agree they are sticking to the roadmap, taking it slowly until the vast majority are vaccinated. The vaccinations are going well and cases are staying reasonably low so I am optimistic.

I've been irritated since the start that we keep getting these hyped-up long-term predictions that people cling to, like being back to normal by Christmas...

I was pleasantly surprised that they haven't given a date for social distancing and masks to end, because we just don't know.

I don't love them, and I think social distancing will lapse naturally over time, but I'd MUCH rather be able to go about life fairly normally but wear a mask in shops and stay 2m from people where I can, than constantly go into lockdowns.

We will get there. But I've found paying no attention to predicted dates that are long term helps the mood. I hung onto every date initially, because we needed to replan our wedding. Now I get excited when things are close, and focus on the good things. Outside pubs in 8 days! Haircuts. Visiting people's gardens now. There are positives. You have to look for them, because focusing on the bits that you hate does nothing but fill you with anger, and that affects nobody but you and the people you live with.

I fear social distancing and masks are here to stay for the foreseeable (definitely the next 2-3 years at least), I can’t see what event would prompt the/any government(s) to rethink these measures. It costs them nothing to enforce and they are seen to be taking action etc, and astonishingly most people seem fine with it, so where would the incentive come from to do away with these measures?

I personally hate all of it. There won’t be a return to normal until distancing and mask wearing stops.

What else are you going to be doing in a pub garden... don't be so pathetic it's hardly a new masks outside rule.

HAVING to wear masks outside is definitely new. It's.not pathetic to dislike this. And considering the negligible risk of outdoor transmission (according to Vallance) what is the point?

@bluebellscorner

I fear social distancing and masks are here to stay for the foreseeable (definitely the next 2-3 years at least), I can’t see what event would prompt the/any government(s) to rethink these measures. It costs them nothing to enforce and they are seen to be taking action etc, and astonishingly most people seem fine with it, so where would the incentive come from to do away with these measures?

I personally hate all of it. There won’t be a return to normal until distancing and mask wearing stops.

I fear social distancing and masks are here to stay for the foreseeable (definitely the next 2-3 years at least)

No.

As a op said it will be a new normal. We will never go back completely to what it was like in 2019.

The spontaneity of life will likely never come back in the same way as people will always have in the back of their mind ‘what if the goalposts change again suddenly like Christmas 2020’.

Some will be fine with that, some won’t but everyone will consider the chance that plans may get cancelled last minute in a way they didn’t before all this

@bluebellscorner

I fear social distancing and masks are here to stay for the foreseeable (definitely the next 2-3 years at least), I can’t see what event would prompt the/any government(s) to rethink these measures. It costs them nothing to enforce and they are seen to be taking action etc, and astonishingly most people seem fine with it, so where would the incentive come from to do away with these measures?

I personally hate all of it. There won’t be a return to normal until distancing and mask wearing stops.

When you say social distancing, what exactly do you mean?

You'll feel more optimistic if you skip all the crazy threads on here. People seem to have lost all sense of proportion.

@Womencanlift

As a op said it will be a new normal. We will never go back completely to what it was like in 2019.

The spontaneity of life will likely never come back in the same way as people will always have in the back of their mind ‘what if the goalposts change again suddenly like Christmas 2020’.

Some will be fine with that, some won’t but everyone will consider the chance that plans may get cancelled last minute in a way they didn’t before all this

No thanks. I liked the old normal.

For me, masks have had one of the biggest impacts. I work in a place I can't social distance or wear masks so going to work has been a way of finding a bit of normality. I forget about the pandemic while I'm working and while I'm at home - we haven't had any cases of Covid in my workplace either despite no masks and being open all the way through.

As soon as I go to town I am reminded again that the world isn't normal. I have to queue to go into the few open shops and then wear a mask that blinds me as my glasses instantly steam up. It has definitely had the impact of making me stay home but in the longer term I will remain online shopping rather than supporting local shops as they start to open as I simply can't stand how it is going to town now. I don't feel any particular threat from covid as it has been in our household, picked up at hospital after my dd started a job as a nursing assistant - because her other job let her go because the business was crashing because of covid.

I'm very much looking forward to real normal, not 'new' normal - which isn't normal at all.

I don't see it that way at all. I am quite hopeful. Things are moving forward. It will be over one day.

It's never ending. I hate it. I don't agree with how the government is handling it. Open society back up and let people do their own risk assessments.

@Bluntness100

I also don’t know what you’re referring to. The road map as issued is so far being followed, just some looseness round over seas travel which was to be expected and the Covid passports, which was also to be expected and was always going to happen unless 95+ percent of the population agreed to be vaccinated and if the rest of the world vaccinated at the same time as us ( we need to open our doors and people coming in will be a risk).

I think the goal posts continue to change.

Once Upon a time, the lockdowns were due to the NHS being overwhelmed, couldn't cope and spiralling deaths.

Now it seems to be how many cases they are. With the lateral flow tests (which give false positives), excessive testing..it seems like they have changed the goal posts once again. Then they keep flinging variants out here and there.
No variant so far has been vaccine resistant.

OP, If the government continue to the road map and do not change it, I am hopeful. If they changed the road map, while so many are vaccinated, they know people will just not comply and they know they will get crucified.

Fingers crossed.

@99victoria

Its the lack of spontaneity I hate. We have our grandchildren one day a week and I keep forgetting that we have to book a timeslot in advance if we want to visit the nearby Gardens or Aboretum. It's tricky with a 3 year old anyway because she doesn't understand we have a timeslot and have to be there then. Complete with masks etc.

We couldn't go last week because I forgot until the day before and then all the timeslots during school hours were fully booked. Does my head in!

I completely agree with this. I cba to keep ore-booking stuff. Want to just jump in the car when I feel like it and go!

The booking is such a pain with the weather as well you could book and the weather be unsuitable

Normal! What's that? Personally Ive been fed up with the false hope and empty promises. Im going to take each day as it comes. The Christmas 2020 debacle finished it for me. I felt the goalposts kept changing. Even though I do understand why, it really finished me. I absolutely hate shopping now and avoid it where I possibly can. Like another poster said the spontaneity is gone and the joy sucked out of everything.

@Gothichouse40

Normal! What's that? Personally Ive been fed up with the false hope and empty promises. Im going to take each day as it comes. The Christmas 2020 debacle finished it for me. I felt the goalposts kept changing. Even though I do understand why, it really finished me. I absolutely hate shopping now and avoid it where I possibly can. Like another poster said the spontaneity is gone and the joy sucked out of everything.

I feel the same and goalposts moved again I thought they said back to normal by 21st June does not look like that now