Will the new variant affect your socialising plans?

[User135644]

After things looking promising, the panic is back over this new variant which is causing devastation in India; and has been allowed into this country, some might say due to laxity from the government.

Although things are going ahead as normal on Monday, will it affect your plans at all? I'm not sure i'll feel comfortable in an indoor pub or restaurant yet, but i'm due a vaccine soon so in my case what's a few more weeks after 14 months?

Yes I'm not rushing into indoor socialising any time soon (happy to continue outdoor stuff). I'm going to wait at least another month until I'm vaccinated and it has fully kicked in.

No. We'll be seeing family, seeing DS sing live in his choir, at last, got several restaurants booked. DTeens are booking club nights and gigs. I want to go to the theatre.

We can't live in a twilight zone forever. Some people seem to hope that if we all stay indoors, the virus will die out. It won't. It will always be with us. We have to live with it not hide from it.

Yes. I'm not rushing into indoor socialising any time soon (happy to continue outdoor stuff) until the JCVI release vaccine efficacy data regarding B.1.617.2.

Of course we do @User135644.

Who wouldn't, after being stuck in restrictions for almost all of the last 13 months.

I miss gigs. I love live music.

After Lockdown ended on August 1st I think I was in Tier 3 in October, then the November Lockdown, then Tier 2, then Tier 4 for a week, then the January Lockdown we are still in.

I haven't travelled to stay with my family, I missed my cousin's wedding yesterday, J worry about the effect of all this on my kids.

Why can't the government just get covid done so we can get back to our lives?

It will undoubtedly affect our plans.
Were not seeing anyone that isn't absolutely essential.
We live in an area with high Indian variant rates.
DDs secondary school are keeping their masks.

Restaurants and cinemas are reopening, but we shall not be using them for the foreseeable

It has affected my plans in that I’m going to make the most of every opportunity to socialise and do stuff indoors.
I was going to take a very cautious approach and wait until 21st June before doing these things. but the threat of that being taken away from us has made me determined to live for the moment.
I’ve followed the rules all the way through, enough is enough!

Nope, not in the slightest. Cannot wait to get back in the pub. Speak for yourself with regards to panic being back!

Not changing my plans. I didn’t have any plans to change

@RaisinsRuinEverything

It has affected my plans in that I’m going to make the most of every opportunity to socialise and do stuff indoors. I was going to take a very cautious approach and wait until 21st June before doing these things. but the threat of that being taken away from us has made me determined to live for the moment. I’ve followed the rules all the way through, enough is enough!

Good for you (not sarcasm BTW!) I completely agree with this and it kind of makes me laugh...like honestly what do the people who come up with all these restrictions think people will do ?? We've had months of restrictions, now it's opening up , of course people are going to take advantage... threatening with lockdown again will just make it worse 🤣🤣

Not dramatically as we are keeping social circles quite tight anyway for the forseeable. Just being able to see one’s own mother without worrying about breaking the rules will be nice.

Not until August, then a big wedding to go to.
Unless it gets postponed again.

I think it is reasonable to go out and socialise, but sensible to keep on eye on local case rates and be prepared to cut back if things look iffy. That's what I am planning to do.

I'm going to do as much as I can while I can before it all gets taken away again. Then again I've not 100% followed the rules anyway. More like 90-95% of rule following.

Also I've never been worried about catching Covid anyway. I've only ever done my bit to help protect others.

I'm perfectly happy to stay doing things outdoors for now. Hope the weather improves though.

We’re planning to see my mum and dad, sister, brother in law and niece and nephew in two weeks time. They live about 160 miles away. Because we didn’t realise how quickly things would change, we didn’t manage to see them last summer. Saw my mum and dad last September but not seen my sister and family since Christmas 2019.

So this makes me want to see them more as otherwise who knows when it will be.

My mum and dad have been fully vaccinated for about a month, DH and I had our first vaccinations in mid April and Dsis and her DH are having their first ones in the next couple of days.

No, of course not, I shall be socialising as planned.

We need to open up the country and get some normality back, and the economy going again.

However, we should be sensible...I am not advocating wild parties for 200 or masses of teenagers jammed into a night club, that wouldn't be wise. But meeting friends and family, being able to eat indoors (spaced out tables, one way system, sanitising) and so on is fine.

We can't live out lives in lockdown, it won't work. We could be sensible though; I still sanitise shopping and wear a mask and gloves in the supermarket. I get told it's "too much" but it seems wise to me when there are still serious variants about.

I work in a school and slowly they are becoming more lax with procedures, and I believe masks are to come off older children soon...this does seem unwise. On the other hand, I am happy to stay at a hotel, and will be going out for an (indoor) afternoon tea as soon as possible....many of these places are so clean, and have taken so many precautions, that they are far, far safer than my current workplace, which everyone seems happy to accept (just because it's a school and you all want your children there....)

The country needs to speed up the vaccination programme, and the general population needs to take lateral flow testing more seriously and use it regularly, it would help a great deal.

I'm so glad we traveled down to England ( from Scotland) to see our relatives last weekend. Was going to cancel as our Lake District family holiday late June looked pretty certain, but who the heck knows now.

Not changing my modest plans. If June 21st proposed changes don't happen, can amend or cancel those after that at no cost.

OP, your initial premise I think is incorrect. Not 'some might say due to laxity from the government', but because of laxity from the government.

[quote Pivotthesofa]@Thewiseoneincognito as is your insistence on posting dire warnings on every single coronavirus thread tbh.[/quote]
I have noticed that

No not at all. Covid is endemic and society needs to learn to live with it, as we all live with colds and flu viruses, especially now anyone with any realistic risk has been vaccinated. I'm just living my life as much as possible, as is everyone I know.

Absolutely not. If there is one thing I learned over the last 12 months it's to grab every single opportunity to socialise and travel when the rules allow, in case it is taken away from us again.

Also, I'm vaccinated and so is basically everyone else I know (even under 35s, many of whom were group 6 like me or got end-of-day jabs like DH), and the incidence in the general population is so low as to be vanishingly unlikely that we will encounter anyone with covid.

@PrincessNutNuts

Of course we do *@User135644*.

Who wouldn't, after being stuck in restrictions for almost all of the last 13 months.

I miss gigs. I love live music.

After Lockdown ended on August 1st I think I was in Tier 3 in October, then the November Lockdown, then Tier 2, then Tier 4 for a week, then the January Lockdown we are still in.

I haven't travelled to stay with my family, I missed my cousin's wedding yesterday, J worry about the effect of all this on my kids.

Why can't the government just get covid done so we can get back to our lives?

I agree about music and live gigs. If i've had the vaccine by the time that opens up i'll be there.

It doesn't help for the next few weeks at least, that I don't really see much appeal in sitting in pubs with no music allowed, stay seated, one way systems, put a mask on to go to the toilet etc.

In answer to your question op
Nope
Covid has never got in the way of my plans

@thefallthroughtheair

No not at all. Covid is endemic and society needs to learn to live with it, as we all live with colds and flu viruses, especially now anyone with any realistic risk has been vaccinated. I'm just living my life as much as possible, as is everyone I know.

Good to hear As are we And always have done Nothing or no one keeps me from my family, hugging my family etc If others want to do that I really don’t have a problem with it

Vaccinated here... but I haven’t made any plans for the foreseeable future as I’m trying to be as safe as possible and avoid unnecessary close contact with people so I don’t end up being asked to isolate for any reason. I want to carry on going to work and not pose a risk to the other people I work with or end up with long covid.

The end is insight, the long term gain is much bigger than the short term euphoria people are looking for from Monday- we have a lot to lose at the moment, I don’t think people realise how dangerous the next step is.