Normal life is back

[ExmoorValley]

I don't know about you but life where I am is pretty much back to normal, masks in shops falling rapidly. People having a good time. Covid barely gets mentioned now. (and yes I know people are still catching it and a tiny proportion will die)

It feels great. So what happened to the 200,000 cases a day doom scenario peddlers on here? They seem rather quiet.......

@CryingAtTheDiscotheque

It is interesting isn't it that people have reduced contacts/maintained mitigations eg masks, despite having greater freedom. That certainly reflects my experience, though obvs the position must vary dependent on location. Not sure whether the govt predicted this or not - it seems counter intuitive and has taken scientists by surprise!

It wasn’t unknown.

Here’s a quote from July 16

Professor Whitty said that the key thing after 19 July was "to take things incredibly slowly", adding that he expects most people will still take precautions.

"If you look over what people have done, and in fact if you look at what people intend to do now, people have been incredibly good at saying, 'I may be a relatively low-risk, but people around me are at high-risk, and I'm going to modify my behaviours'," he said.

Yes, that was the quote I (half) remembered - but I am not sure CW is there saying that he expects people to reduce contacts, just that he thinks/hopes most people will continue with some mitigations. It would be interesting to ask him.

..."if you look at what people intend to do now". I wonder what evidence he is referring to there.

Wouldn’t modifying behaviours include number of contacts?

He’s always been very good at behavioural thinking imo and factoring it in. We’d get fatigued - we did.

I am sure if you have friends and family nanny you are a cause of great concern if you are still unable to enter a supermarket. Will you consider talking to a GP about your fears? It might help to get some support.

No new variant have caused any concern whatsoever

Oh dear. Have you been living under a fucking rock for the last year?

@stepupandbecounted

I am sure if you have friends and family nanny you are a cause of great concern if you are still unable to enter a supermarket. Will you consider talking to a GP about your fears? It might help to get some support.

I'm not scared.

Just socially responsible.

vaxmeup I have never seen so much mixing and socialising in all of my life, if you stepped out of your front door you would see there is far more contact now in the holidays than there ever was in schools and the bubbles etc. Night clubs are open, we are having huge sporting events and festivals and the NHS is nowhere near being on a 'knife edge' that is just an outright lie.

If my friend's dc are anything to go by, there won't be any children left without antibodies, most have had covid already this summer.

People are mixing, carefully in some instances. The huge spike event you see in the autumn is extremely unlikely, even the scientists are not expecting one. I don't know where you are getting this information from or if you are indeed just making it up!

@NannyAndJohn I noticed you stayed away from this thread and have avoided responding to people asking you about you revisiting a thread to ask a poster if they were still 'smug'

There’s space for us all to have different attitudes towards this.

As long as we accept that each of us can behave differently. With legal restrictions lifted that will be a wider variance now.

@MarshaBradyo

There’s space for us all to have different attitudes towards this.

As long as we accept that each of us can behave differently. With legal restrictions lifted that will be a wider variance now.

Well some people don't respect those who still want to be cautious.

I genuinely mean this I feel deeply sorry for you nanny You need help, I hope you have some support and people around you that can help you with this gently in RL.

I am checking out of this miserable thread, you guys stay in the bunker if you want to - the fun is that way >>>>>>

Even if your prophecy comes true you have wasted months and months of a blessed summer missing so many opportunities, so very sad to see what this pandemic has done to some people, the fall out being far worse than even covid itself

Good luck - I am going out for lunch now. We are in Cornwall and it is beautiful to see so many smiling and happy faces, children paddling and eating icecream. This is what life is about, if not now...when? Life is for the living.

Nanny you can choose to be cautious of course you can.

Where people won’t agree is that they have to do the same as you are.

Also usual disagreements about what is happening that go on. But I posted earlier if people want to stay home it’s their free choice. Besides not everyone has money for holidays / events and restaurants. Granted you can still go to parks etc but i already feel like I’ve spent a fortune this holiday and I would do more - more theatre / eating out / everything but it’s costing a bomb.

If people want to do that and can great!

marsha Is as always spot on, we can all choose now that is the point. We can choose how we wish to live.

I am a socially responsible parent by choosing to give my children a childhood, social contact and a life worth living, before they descend into an even greater mental health decline and severe depression. So as much as you feel you are being responsible by locking yourself away, many millions are choosing to do the opposite with the same social responsibility in mind.

Yes Marsha I think you are right - I found the transcript of the Whitty webinar (15 July Science Museum) and he does specifically mention both reducing contacts and wearing masks - though this wasn't picked up in press quotes.

So reduced contacts/ongoing mask wearing was both predicted and has transpired to be the case.

I think Covid has little room actually for all or nothing thinking that some posters have. Those who argue that there is only one way it is going is t helpful particularly when they accuse people who don’t as to not understanding COVId

Because it is far more nuanced than that. There is no definitive path out of this, no certain way cases are going to go because it is a virus and it doesn’t act like we would.

Those who sound caution are correct the problem is that if you do it in a cry wolf kind of way no one listens. @NannyAndJohn is correct in that this isn’t over and we need to be cautious and aware that there is a possibility that this could go downhill fast and we need to respond
The constant lockdown at Christmas bit though and being closed off to anything other than that negative view negates from that

I think Covid has little room actually for all or nothing thinking that some posters have. Those who argue that there is only one way it is going is t helpful particularly when they accuse people who don’t as to not understanding COVId

But we are being cautious - as the data shows?

As a group - with people behaving differently. Overall we are doing what is a good path through atm.

It’s not a fixed situation but right now it’s working.

I’m all for being responsive btw hence dislike term U-turn. I’d prefer people to act on new information.

I think that is the irony @MarshaBradyo I agree I think the majority on these boards are cautious and aware - something some posters don’t realise when they lecture us!

Most people are not travelling abroad.
Most people are still wearing masks in shops and on public transport (yes the numbers are reducing but I’d still say more than half are wearing them).
Most people don’t go to nightclubs and gigs - because they never did!
Many are still working from home - because they can and they want to.

This means that together with vaccinations, previous infections cases are currently at manageable levels.
There is no need whatsoever for the government to re-introduce restrictions.

@NannyAndJohn

No new variant have caused any concern whatsoever

Oh dear. Have you been living under a fucking rock for the last year?

Just a normal rock

@Quartz2208

I think that is the irony *@MarshaBradyo* I agree I think the majority on these boards are cautious and aware - something some posters don’t realise when they lecture us!

I also think the majority are cautious and aware. As Chris Whitty observed in the Science Museum webinar to which Marsha referred, though, there is a range of responses. So although most people are being cautious - indeed, it would appear that most people are being more cautious since "freedom day" - there are some ripping the pants out of it or whatever the phrase is. I suppose the increased caution of the majority means that the pants-ripping is mitigated such that the overall risk level is manageable in the sense of not overwhelming the NHS.

That nuanced picture doesn't seem to be reflected in some of the posts on this thread.

This means that together with vaccinations, previous infections cases are currently at manageable levels.

30000 a day is NOT manageable. Not to mention this is in the height of summer with schools closed.

marsha Is as always spot on, we can all choose now that is the point. We can choose how we wish to live.

Exactly. Last weekend I visited my elderly aunt for the first time in 2 years (she's not local and we couldn't sort out a date last year). When I walked in her first words were 'is it ok if I hug you?' If she'd wanted to stay apart I would have understood but that was on of the best hugs I've had.

@NannyAndJohn

This means that together with vaccinations, previous infections cases are currently at manageable levels.

30000 a day is NOT manageable. Not to mention this is in the height of summer with schools closed.

But lockdowns and restrictions are sustainable either though And at the moment the effect of schools opening is unknown you can summarise the effect bit you can’t know

But I think that is and always has been your issue not knowing

@Quartz2208 - you are right, as ever. Uncertainty is hard to deal with.

It's hard not to judge each other, too. I admire the rhetorical skills of some posters, though. "We can all live how we want to live, of course, but I'm really concerned that you haven't been to the supermarket for a year, that's not normal. Oh, and I'm giving my children a real childhood, which on MN inevitably means holidaying in Cornwall/North Norfolk. So sorry for all you mums who don't want to or can't afford it, or have to work, surely not and your poor DC, what a shame".

OK