As numbers go up, will you be avoiding public places?

[Twoforthree]

I will certainly be cutting back on visits when numbers rise higher, even though I’ve had it and am double vacinated. I really don’t want to be ill again. It wasn’t pleasant.
At the moment I’m taking the risk but when masks are relaxed and if/when numbers are higher, I’ll be restricting my movements. I know I’m “low risk” but I still don’t want to be ill in bed again.

Anyone else?

IRL I don't know anyone who doesn't want to return to normal life

It still won't become normal overnight though will it? It was never normal to have 25,000 (and rising) people contracting any nasty virus every day. It won't be normal until you can go out to participate in normal activities without the strong chance of going home with a flu-like illness.

"There were, and are, plenty of other contagious viruses / bugs that would have thrived in these circumstances previously, but no one looked at them with such scorn."

There were no social distancing rules before Covid, but there are now. I kind of understand people hugging their friends if they're the type of people who really need physical contact, but if it's just to be polite or something, I don't really see why you'd do that.

Yes, but myself and my 2 children are vulnerable so I will still be very careful. If none of us were vulnerable then I wouldn’t.

No, I’m more than happy for things to get back to near normal. But I think for some people that’s only going to happen when the media focus on covid cases and death numbers decline.

I think it would be really useful if along with reports of the daily covid case numbers (20,000! 25,000!!) there was also something that contextualised the death numbers for covid alongside that of other causes. So something that says 20 people in the UK died of covid today, which was #15 most common cause of death (or whatever number it is). I think seeing this number in the context of the number of deaths caused by cancer, strokes, heart attacks, suicide etc world help some people get a better perspective.

"Wouldn't anyone want to take steps to reduce their chance of ending up feeling grotty in their bed for a week?"

Depends on the cost doesn't it? If reducing your chance of ending up in bed for a week requires not socialising all summer, then, no it's not worth it. Avoiding a massive event like a football match, yes.

@Gwenhwyfar

"There were, and are, plenty of other contagious viruses / bugs that would have thrived in these circumstances previously, but no one looked at them with such scorn."

There were no social distancing rules before Covid, but there are now. I kind of understand people hugging their friends if they're the type of people who really need physical contact, but if it's just to be polite or something, I don't really see why you'd do that.

I feel like this could apply to anything though. Why travel in a car for a totally non essential reason, just in case you hurt someone / get hurt? Where do you draw the line?! Normal life needs to resume now the vaccination programme is well under way.

Depends what you mean by public? Outdoor walks, pub gardens etc. No. Shopping centres and indoor activities, yes. I really don't fancy long covid.

We're getting on fine with our lives as they are at the moment; this new "freedom" will mean we are more careful about going to shopping malls, for example, than we are now.

We are going on holiday (self catering, with Ocado/ Waitrose deliveries) this month. We will probably go to the cinema (drive in) and theatre (outdoor).

I will probably be restarting work (everyone will be jabbed some 3 times and still wearing masks).

Life will continue and it will be OK. But the pandemic isn't over yet.

@Gwenhwyfar

"as you are double jabbed, the chances of you a. Catching it again and b. Being as poorly with it are so minuscule is it worth sacrificing your freedom and enjoyment of life?"

Is this true? Seems the vaccine reduces hospitalisation and death rates, but not catching it and feeling ill with it.

But if you just get a bit poorly but aren’t seriously ill and don’t end up in hospital isn’t that the same as any number of other illnesses?

To be honest I'll be going to london museums etc in the summer now that masks aren't required at them or in the train. I'd wear a mask if the train was packed though but would try and pick a quieter time so I can sit away from people . Havent done either since the pandemic began as can't see any joy in going around a museum masked.

Might not go back to IKEA though, was there last week and did think I wouldn't fancy it if people weren't masked!!

No not consciously. Had covid this year and double vaxxed. If it's going kill me it will anyway at some point.

However my life hasnt bounced back to pre covid. Some family and friends are hiding away still and I dont buy as much as I used to so I guess I wont be out much anyway.

IRL I don't know anyone who doesn't want to return to normal life

That's probably true for virtually everyone, isn't it?

However, irl, I know virtually no-one who thinks that's actually feasible right now, regardless of restrictions being lifted.

'Normal life' pre-COVID and post-COVID will be different things.

I can understand that for a CEV person or unvaccinated person the risks are greater so that the balance is different for them.

Their risk would be lowered if the rest of us were careful though. I think that's worth making an effort for, don't you? Clinically vulnerable people have had a hell of a time of things. I don't want to be responsible for them having to restrict themselves or put themselves at risk when there are fairly simple steps I can take to mitigate spread, like wearing a mask or complying with number restrictions or doing a quick whoosh with the swab a couple of times a week that takes seconds. Disabled and seriously ill people have restricted opportunities even in normal times and they've been massively adversely impacted by this pandemic. Let's not entrench those inequalities further for the sake of a bit of fabric over our faces.

@herecomesthsun

It's fine for people to express an opinion/ preference re mask wearing on here, why shouldn't they?

They can. What they can't do is tell others what to do.

I will continue to wear a mask, and have just restarted Internet food shopping.
I don't intend to go to indoor pubs etc.
I would like my children to be able to go back to a more normal life though.

I wish more people had a quarter of your compassion MyCreateIsUsernamed

@Twoforthree

I don’t want to be ill again. It was horrible. Isn’t that a good enough reason?

You could be ill from anything at any time. Even before covid you could have fallen ill with one of a whole host of infectious viruses or bacterial illnesses that were much higher risk to you than covid. Loads of people were and still are walking around spreading other viruses that will have you in bed for a week or more. Did you ever worry about it before?

It's ripping through schools, while society pretends there's nothing to see now. Just hoping to get to the end of term.

Is it though?
Less than 4% of children sent home from school test positive.
We have 1000s of kids sat at home, but they aren't ill.
Many of the 4% will also not be ill.
This kind of rhetoric is what drives fear and anxiety in people.

@OnTheBrink1 my point exactly!!

No I didn’t worry about other virus’s before Covid but the chance of catching Covid will still be greater as the numbers rise. I’ve just had lunch indoors in a pub. But if the figure increase the way they are, I really don’t think I’ll continue to feel so comfortable.

I work in a school. That’s where I caught Covid previously. I have no choice to expose myself there until the summer holidays. But I can see myself avoiding indoor socialising/shopping over the summer to try to reduce risk as much as possible - at least until September when bubbles are supposedly going

Loads of people were and still are walking around spreading other viruses that will have you in bed for a week or more.

I'm not sure this is quite right. Covid is relatively transmissible compared to other viruses and as we start to see numbers rising unchecked there is a far higher chance of catching covid than would have been true of, say, flu.

I don't understand people using the word unchecked. We aren't allowing covid to roam unchecked. We have the vaccines, we just have to have faith that it will be enough.

Today’s hospitalisation figures don’t look good. Although some will say they are incidental and people are being admitted for other things. Hopefully that is the case

You could be ill from anything at any time. Even before covid you could have fallen ill with one of a whole host of infectious viruses or bacterial illnesses that were much higher risk to you than covid. Loads of people were and still are walking around spreading other viruses that will have you in bed for a week or more. Did you ever worry about it before?

Well yes, but a global pandemic has a way of concentrating the mind.